Through Tinted Windows

Chapter 14

To trace a line down the dip in your back

Lave it gently with a soothing tongue

To have it fade like a soft memory

Is a fearful nightmare I come to face...

------------~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~------------

When Severus woke, the feeling of being satiated and wonderfully warm gave him the impression that he was still dreaming. Fresh fruits and female muskiness entered his nostrils as he took a deep breath that he almost sighed in exhalation. He wanted to just burrow deeper into whatever it was that was making him feel that way - this utter pleasure that he had not felt in his life since his brief encounter with Helene. The subtle slide of flesh against him, jerked him to awareness and his eyes cracked open and rested them tenderly on the tangle of hair that greeted his vision. Hermione's body was still tucked in his embrace, her warm back against his chest. Recollections of their wonderful afternoon together came back to him in one big rush and with it a warm and fuzzy feeling filled him. Strange and unfamiliar, yet right at the same time.

He bent his head and nuzzled her neck, tightening his hold around her waist. She stirred and she wiggled her way around to face him, causing flashes of arousal to spike through him at the contact of her silky skin with his. He let out a rough growl and captured her lips in a searing kiss. He broke the contact off abruptly and he moved away, leaving her dazed and confused.

Hermione eased herself onto her elbows and watched with a bit of devilish delight as Severus walked naked to the bathroom, watching the taut muscles of his backside ripple as he went along his way. Whether he was aware of her staring at him, she wasn't sure, but she did not take her eyes off of him, even as he bent down to fill the tub. A gentle smile warmed her features and she lay back down, staring at the ceiling, contemplating the wonderful experience she just had with Severus.

Her thoughts were cut off at the sight of Severus beside the bed. He stooped over and moved to carry her. She would have protested had it been anyone else, but there was something terribly romantic about being held by the man that one loved with all their heart. She clung onto him with her eyes closed as she was brought towards the bathroom.

"It's so nice of you to prepare a bath for me," she murmured, snuggling closer to his body. "It's just what I needed."

"Who said it was only for you?" he asked, smirking wickedly as her eyes flew open and her jaw dropped several inches.

As if to prove his word even more so, he stepped into the tub and placed her on her feet, but holding onto her hand with one of his. He cautiously got down and lay back, leaning against the side of the tub, tugging her down as he did so. A Cheshire smile settled on her lips and she settled between his legs, knowing that this was going to be the first of many enjoyable baths she would take.

After the intense, mind-blowing sex in the bathtub and a thorough rinse afterwards, the two slipped back into bed, exhausted once again by their nightly excursions. Hermione fell asleep the instant her body came in full contact with the bed, not feeling Severus move her into his hold once again, or the tender kiss that he planted on her damp forehead. He could not help but feel the wonder of the moment; just how wonderful things actually ended up for him. It also scared him at the same time. There were so many possibilities that he would lose her - may it be for problems that would arise between them or if there were some psychopath Death Eater still out to avenge the Dark Lord.

His stomach grew tense at the thought of losing someone so precious once again, knowing that if he did, he would not be able to live with himself any longer. Tightening his hold on her, he buried his face in the nook between her shoulder and neck, breathing in her feminine scent as a sign of reassurance. It was a while before he was able to sleep, the unease set aside.

------------~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~------------

Severus woke up a few hours later, just as the light of dawn began to trickle into his chambers. Squinting his eyes, he shifted, realizing that at some point while he was asleep, Hermione had turned to face him and even threw her leg over his, loosely keeping him in a possessive hold. He couldn't help the smirk that formed on his lips. He wanted to wake her up to arousal, but he knew she was in need of her rest. Besides, he justified, carefully extracting himself from their entangled position, we still have a few more days left. We will just make the most of it. With that in mind, he left the bed and treaded across the room to put on a pair of his black trousers before he headed to the kitchen to get some coffee.

Hermione came to consciousness slowly, the events gliding through her memory like a wondrous dream. Smiling, she reached over only to feel a cold and empty spot where Severus had been. Alarmed by this, she shot up and threw back the covers, running to the door, only pausing long enough to grab Severus's overlarge shirt to cover her. Hurriedly, she made her way out to the hallway and - smelling the wonderful aroma of caffeine in a hot mug - headed to the kitchen, knowing that she would find who she was looking for there. Just as she had suspected, Severus was leaning against the kitchen counter, sipping on a steaming cup of coffee.

She gave him a 'once-over', appreciating the angles of his body and wishing she could undo the pain he had experienced with each scar that had adorned his body. Her eyes traveled back up his torso to his face where she noticed that he was observing her. A glint in his eyes told her she looked like the ultimate feast of a starving man. With a knowing smile on her face, she sauntered over to the cupboard and manually reached up to the high shelf, allowing the lower half of her half of her body to show as the shirt she put on rode up.

There was a loud clatter from somewhere diagonal to her and suddenly she was hauled away from the shelves. Squeaking in surprise, she began to flail her arms and legs about in the air but stopped when her bottom was placed on the countertop. Chocolate met smoldering black for an instant - heavy breaths mingling together - before Severus swooped down to capture her lips in a fierce kiss, demanding entrance to her mouth. Their tongues danced fervently against one another as he squeezed her breast rhythmically with one hand and kept her body in place with the other. Hermione brought her legs around his waist, only to have them brought high so that her ankles flanked both sides of his head.

She looked at him through the clouded dreamy expression inquisitively. His gaze burned into her body as he restrained himself for just a moment - long enough to say "Watch me while I take you."

Her brows lifted slightly in curiosity, wondering how she would be able to even witness such a thing. Swiftly he made a move to open the fly to his pants and after a frustrating moment, he pulled himself free. In one fluid motion entered her. She gasped at the sensation of being filled by him again, seeing the movement with her own eyes as her upper body supported by her arms. Their breaths mingled together as they watched his erection slide in a slow, smooth motion into her lubricated passage. It did not take long before his pace became brutal and fast, the passion mounting within him as he pushed himself in and out of her wet core; his hands gripping her hips with raw possession. It wasn't long before Hermione found her release, followed by Severus soon after.

Her legs slid down the slick skin of his forearms, resting at the inner part of the joint. He was not ready to take himself out of her, enjoying the last spasms of her inner muscles. Finding his strength once again, he kept her impaled upon him, locking her legs around his waist and, with that there, he began to walk towards the living room. Since she had joined him in his cottage, the fantasy of having her in that certain room had always haunted him. It was high time that you did something about it, too, a little voice reminded him at the back of his mind.

He was just about to place his hands upon the wooden barrier when a distinct presence and scent alerted him that they were no longer alone. Knowing their position left the both of them quite vulnerable he shook Hermione to get her attention. When she looked at him with clouded eyes, he felt the twinge of the excitement run through him again, but he clamped it down, knowing that it was not wise to go through with what they were doing at that time.

Leaning in, Severus whispered huskily into her ear. "We shall continue this in due time, dearest. But right now, I need to remove myself from your lovely little body."

As he spoke his words, he disconnected himself from her, causing her to moan in protest. He set her down on her two feet and began to fix her appearance as well as his own, disheveled as they were and pushed aside the painful erection that screamed for release. Once they both looked somewhat acceptable, he took her hand in his and with a deep breath entered the living room.

Just as he thought, there was the Headmaster, seated upon the settee, comfortably, munching on a plate of lemon drops he had most probably conjured while he waited for the couple to show themselves. The old wizard noticed them and with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, stood up to greet them.

"Ah, Severus, Miss Granger!" There was a knowing smile on his face that said it was quite obvious what the two were up to. Being who he was, however, he never said anything directly, unless it was quite important. "I take it that the stay is not as bad as the both of you had anticipated?"

"It isn't," the Potion's Master replied dryly, his eyes watching the older one warily as he looked at their clasped hands. The three did not say anything for a while, each one watching the other two. Severus finally took it upon himself to speak first.

"Albus," he began, taking things from a more informal approach. "If you have come to tell me I am not allowed to be a professor at Hogwarts anymore for this 'scandalous' relationship of Hermione and mine, then I willingly accept. I cannot think of leaving her now." He tilted his head up and looked defiantly at the Headmaster, showing he was ready for what he was expecting and damn proud of it.

The older man merely chuckled. "Now why would I do such a thing? Miss Granger is certainly not a student at Hogwarts any more. Of course she used to be, but then again so were you. There is nothing really bad about your intimate association with each other."

"Then, may I ask what you are doing here? Have they added another condition that we aren't aware of as of now? Or is it something of greater importance than that?"

"Actually," Dumbledore began. "I merely stopped by to congratulate the both of you on your new-found relationship. And also I hope that you have finally figured out the true power behind the auction."

Hermione regarded the man with a confused look. "I don't follow. What do you mean by 'power of the auction?' It seems quite ordinary to me."

The twinkle in his eye grew and Severus tensed. "My dear child, I have to say that I am quite surprised you could not tell." Tipping his head to let known he was about to unveil the truth, the couple unconsciously drew closer towards one another, as if afraid of what he was about to say. "Very well; the truth is that the ones behind the auction wanted all their clients to be satisfied. In order for such a thing to happen, the coordinators scrounged the world in order to find the match of each bachelor and upon finding them, had a bar of chocolate they produced sent out to each one and to merely disguise it so that it would be low profile, they added the other women who were already guaranteed not to win."

Severus looked at the other man doubtfully, not really believing that what he said was true. "How are you so sure that the ones that were 'hand -picked for the bachelors' actually won?"

"Dear boy, do you believe in fate?"

The younger professor shook his head. Dumbledore then tried another angle.

"Do you believe in destiny?"

He shook his head again. The other man sighed. "Well if you did believe in such, then you would know that such an outcome would be considered as one or the other. As common as this may sound, the two of you were supposed to be together, despite age and background. You match each other with wit, passion... even the sharpness of your tongues could be considered equivalent."

The couple looked at each other slyly. What the old wizard said was true. They were both the best in their grade and together they had their clashes, meeting the other with just the same amount of razor-sharpness. And just a few hours ago, they found out just how much sexuality actually filled them. It was quite disconcerting to know that they were meant to be, however, as they looked back on their impressions of each other with their previous relationship. Severus, though quite grudgingly, had to admit that due to Dumbledore's insistence to joining the auction turned out to be quite a good thing. What he had thought would be a waste of a good vacation became an experience that he knew he would never want to relinquish, even the beginnings of their little week. He actually ended up wondering what would happen if none of this would have happened, he would probably ended up spending his days grading papers and resenting his existence. She was what he needed and it was a blessing that she had the desire to stay with him. His envy of others had faded as he could now classify himself as one of them - someone who loved another who loved him in return.

Hermione knew she probably would not have thought twice about her lover had they not been brought into the scenario they were currently in. For truly, would she have actually seen herself actually kissing a man who was considered an enemy to her schoolmates and house - a man who had been on the side of an evil entity for longer than she had been alive. She had known nothing of him - and probably would have never known anything about him - had she not consented to joining in the auction. Something niggled at the back of her mind, however, and she could not help but speak - no doubt on behalf of herself as well as Severus.

"But, Professor, if you truly honored the auction and its rules then why did you consent to the wishes of Meg by allowing her to find us?" There, she said it. Now, it was up to Dumbledore to answer.

What she had not predicted was the fact that he would regard her with a curious look. "I never gave out any information to anyone concerning your whereabouts. And I certainly do not know who this 'Meg' character is."

"Wait a moment, are you telling me that you had not even met my muggle friend at all? I thought Harry sent her to you."

"The only person who has a name akin to 'Meg' is long since passed away, dear child," he quietly informed Hermione. There was a delicate frown on his brows and his blue eyes lost a twinge of its sparkle. "I am telling the truth. You know that I am not one to mislead if the subject is of importance."

Severus's eyes narrowed down as Hermione's widened slightly with fear. "If you had not given her access to my cottage... then -"

The two looked at each other and in unison they said, "Krum."

------------~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~------------

Viktor paced his apartment, his hands wrenching at one another as the impatience and anger boiled inside him. Another was with him, the name of this individual remained unknown to him, but he knew that person had business with Hermione. The two had an arrangement. Once he was finished with Hermione, the other would get her. He only wanted to screw her anyway.

The two were waiting for the right time to move in as their previous plan of using that stupid little girl had failed. It was quite inevitable that they would come to this stage where force was required to get her away from the old senile man. Viktor's partner sat quietly on a single chair, watching him as his constraint could not be kept any longer.

"That's it! I don't care what you say," he growled at his companion. "I am going now. Waiting is just a waste of time. We could have her out of there right now if we didn't have to wait a blasted lifetime!"

"Ah, but patience is as virtue and waiting for the absolute key moment is what we need," the other said with serenity.

"Damn waiting for the bloody key moment! I'm going at this very moment!"

With that said he disappeared with a pop leaving the other alone. He did not see the lips quirk in dark amusement or hear the deep rumbling chortle that permeated through the empty room. Things were going as planned and he didn't even know that he was part of the whole scheme. Getting out of the seat, the person whistled towards the large fireplace and took the powder from a little bowl on the side and throwing the stuff down just as the individual had been taught, shouted, "Hogsmeade."

------------~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~------------

"Oh bloody hell, why didn't I see that from the start? Meg knew better than to do such a thing. She respected my time here. She was the one who told me to go! How could I have been so slow? That's why she was -" Hermione rambled to herself, pacing in worry.

"Hermione that's enough," Severus commanded, taking her by the shoulders and stopping her.

She looked up at him with shimmering eyes and he scowled, disliking the fact that she was crying. Dumbledore had been eating his lemon drops slowly as he watched in curiosity as to how the two would handle the circumstances. So far Hermione was acting unnaturally impulsively, not using her intellect at all to keep level-headed. It seemed that with Snape around, she could act as weak as she pleased. Apparently, however, it was obvious that the potions master did not appreciate this and was doing the best he could to placate her.

"Dearest," the younger man crooned, holding her close to him. "I need you to calm down. We cannot figure out what to do or how to handle this if all you do is act like a nutcase."

Still as blunt as you always are, eh, Snape? the headmaster thought with a raised brow. He still did nothing to interfere. He watched as Hermione nodded her head against his chest and took in a shaky breath to calm herself. Despite the crudeness of his words, it did wonders to Hermione's state and in just moments the girl was looking clear-eyed at the two of them.

"The first place we must look is my apartment," she stated grimly. "That is probably the only place that Krum would probably strike. I just hope that we aren't too late."

Severus nodded at her and Dumbledore slowly got up. "If you would like, I am here if you are in need of assistance," the old wizard offered kindly, placing a gentle hand on Hermione's tense shoulders.

The soft touch seemed to sooth a part of her and she loosened up slightly, smiling gratefully at her old Headmaster. "Thank you, Professor Dumbledore, but I think that the two of us can handle this alone. We will keep in touch with you should anything turn up, however," she said.

Nodding to her, he looked up at Severus, who looked grim as ever. The scowl had not let up, but the nature of his expression was different, giving the headmaster a proud feeling. He was hoping that somehow things would work out. And it had. "Take care, dear boy," he acknowledged.

Moving away from the two, he went to the fireplace and took some floo powder before he spoke his destination clearly. In a puff of smoke and ashes, the old wizard was gone. Hermione let out a pent-up breath and leaned heavily onto Severus's bare chest, needing his support. She had thought that the terrors would be gone, but it merely seemed to escalate after she had kicked Krum out. Her past problems resurfaced and it was now hurting her friend and great companion in the muggle world.

Abruptly she pulled away and hurried out the living room, heading to the bedroom. Severus followed stealthily, knowing what she was doing and knew he was going to come with her. By the time he got within his chambers she already had her undergarments on and was jumping about, trying to pull up her pants. He couldn't help but notice how adorable she looked doing that. She paused long enough to shoot him a glance.

"Are you going to change or not?" she asked questioningly as she buttoned her pants.

"Yes, I will," he replied silkily and made his way to the closet. Upon opening it, he heard Hermione's snort in amusement. He turned and frowned, wondering what it was all about.

"Your wardrobe is colorful as ever I see," she commented wryly.

Looking back at his clothes, he smirked. On all the hangers and placed on the shelves were heaps and heaps of black cloth - not even a stitch had any other color on it. He helped himself to a set of clean clothes and just as he put on his shirt, Hermione walked to the door. "Come on, Severus," she urged.

Knowing her impatience, he buttoned up the shirt quickly with the help of magic and followed her as she stepped out of the cottage. She grabbed hold of his hand quickly and together they apparated to the shady nook that they had used as a place to arrive when they were visiting the apartment the other time. Filled with dread, she clasped Severus's hand tightly in hers and she made her way out of the shadows to the apartment. As she went up the stairs, she let go of his hand and began to run, feeling the fear peak as she neared her destination.

Upon arriving, she cried out, seeing that the front door to their apartment was ajar. That was not a good sign. She could hear no sound from inside, heightening the panic that was already boiling over in her. With a shaking hand, she pushed the door farther open and froze.

Severus got to her as quickly as he could and found her staring into the apartment with a blank expression on her face. He came up behind her and peered in and saw a sight that he was hoping she would not have to bare witness to in her lifetime. There on the floor of the main living room was the body of a young girl. Blood had been saturated into the carpet that had adorned the place. The girl in the middle of the living room floor was dead.

Hermione shook her head before her eyes rolled back. Her legs gave way underneath her and she fainted.