A Likely Story

Chapter 15 of A Likely Story

When she first arrived back at Snape Manor she caught her breath in shock. A path had been made in the snow from the Apparation point to the front door, and that was the least of the differences. Snow had been removed from the roof, and every window was lit with a pale candle. As she approached the door, she noticed that the bushes on either side, which had been so unkempt as to warrant ignoring on her first visit, were now carefully pruned into perfect spirals, tapering to points at their tops. The door was an entirely different color, and a new doorknocker, a phoenix of gray marble, had been installed. Nevertheless, she rapped with her knuckles on the door itself, just in case.

Lupso opened the door immediately and ushered her inside in his usual silence. She thanked him before he could disappear with her bag up to the room Severus had prepared. She looked around.

The hallway, which she'd barely seen last time in all the excitement, was lit with wall sconces. Here and there a portrait was quite obviously missing, but the ones that remained were stunning as they chatted demurely amongst themselves, looking as though they'd been freshly cleaned. The floor, as well, shone in the candlelight.

From the stairs, Severus watched anxiously as she took in the improvements he'd made to his parents' home. Even in his childhood, it had never looked like this. He didn't know if it EVER had, to be honest. Certainly to him, it had seemed that Snape Manor must always have been the dark, desolate place he'd grown up in. Now, however, as he watched her eyes roam the walls, newly repaired in some places, he felt a stirring of pride. Perhaps it would not be so bad to stay here after all, especially if she would be staying as well.

As she ventured into the parlor she'd seen before, he went downstairs to join her. He stood in the doorway as she noticed the freshly cleaned rugs, their colors only slightly faded. What they lacked in coloration they made up for in softness.

A fire blazed in the grate, which had been dark before. That had been a difficult cleaning job, requiring all three elves. The entire chimney had been blocked. The chandelier, twinkling above her, had been lowered and thoroughly cleaned as well. The thought of her return had driven him to even get his own hands dirty, dusting beside his Elves, and helping them with the obnoxious critters which had taken up residence in other parts of the house. It had taken them the entire week and a half of her absence, but the house was now entirely safe, with the exception of the dungeons, which even Severus did not feel comfortable entering.

As she ran her hand over the arm of the chair, he spoke. "It was safe," he said quietly. "I kept that much of my mind."

She turned, not surprised by his presence in the least, which he thought odd, until he remembered the mirror over the mantle. He wondered briefly if she'd watched him mooning over her like a schoolboy the whole time.

"Yes, I see the other one is gone," she said quietly, gesturing towards a table that one of the Elves had moved down from the library to fill the space of the missing chair. He nodded. The atmosphere was entirely too tense for his liking. He'd already apologized, after all. What was left? Why hadn't things gone back to the way they were between them before?

He got his answers as Hermione came towards him. "Severus, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about Victor. I should have realized something like that might happen. I mean, I'd specifically told him 'no groupies,' but I should have known - " she left off as he began to laugh at her quietly. Apparently she thought she owed him an apology as well.

"You were not at fault," he assured her, noticing the distressed look on her face. He ran the back of his hand over her cheek and she closed her eyes. "Come, dinner should be ready shortly." He took her hand and led her into another room. Along one side was a huge table, meant to seat nearly 20 people. It was clean, but bare. They passed it by and he pulled out a chair for her at a much smaller table near one of the tall windows that lined the room.

As they ate, she told him about her exams, Victor and the new couch, and anything else she could think of. He listened, thinking back to how jealous he'd been of her easy conversation with Warrington when they'd attended the convention together. He had that now. Unbidden, a slight smile took up residence on his face and wouldn't leave. He nodded at the right times, and made the appropriate comments, all the while fingering an item of jewelry that had been sitting in his pocket for the last two days.

It had been his mother's, though whether his father had bought it for her or not, he didn't know. As he'd been cleaning, he'd come across the ring and matching necklace in a deserted room. They'd been housed in a small velvet pouch and thrust into the bottom of a chest of drawers. The clothing had long since been moth-eaten, and he had the Elves dispose of everything else in the dresser. Then he'd wrapped the necklace to give to Hermione for Christmas. But the ring he kept with him.

He'd decided the previous year, as she tended his burns, that she was the one he wanted to marry. He'd waited a long time to find someone he could converse with as an equal, someone with enough spirit to stand up to him and enough compassion to care for a person as cantankerous as he. Now that he'd found her, and risked losing her more times than he was comfortable with, he wanted to ensure that she would never leave. The difficulty was in finding the right way to ask.

Hermione continued to tell him about school. Her Potions Mastery was halfway complete, but she wouldn't see her grades from this term until she'd returned to Geneva after the holidays. She talked as much to distract herself as to occupy him. Ordering lingerie online was all well and good, but now that she was here, where she'd have to wear it, she was becoming increasingly nervous. After they'd finished dessert, served silently and taken away silently by Lupso, she decided abruptly that she wasn't wearing the lingerie that night. Unbeknownst to her, Severus decided he wasn't giving her the ring that night as well. Neither quite understood why the tension between them simply faded away, but they were both grateful for it.

They spent the rest of the evening, and most of the next day in the Manor's library. Severus and the Elves had cleaned it, but it was still full of dangerous books about dark magic. The entire room was a 'Restricted Section,' which only seemed to feed Hermione's curiosity. He stayed close to her, in case she should open a book she couldn't handle.

They settled into a routine of a late breakfast, and a daily walk through the greenhouse, which Hermione loved. In addition to the Vanishing Verintigi, there were many other rare and beautiful plants. Severus explained that he used the greenhouses to cultivate most of what could be found in his private stores at Hogwarts. They shared a smile, both thinking that she was familiar enough with his private stores to need no further explanation.

They spent the evenings in the library, where Hermione had instructed Lupso in setting up an evergreen and gathering decorations for it. Severus had brought an old rug, which he'd found rolled and stored in the attic the previous week, and spread it before the fireplace, and beside the Christmas tree. By Christmas Eve nearly every cushion in the Manor had made its way to that carpet, and they sat in the midst of them, laughing over the single box which resided under the tree.

"I've been under strict orders not to leave campus," Hermione explained, trying to swallow her nervousness. The time had come to share the gift she'd bought for him, but she was having a difficult time deciding what to say. "All I could get you from the campus bookstore was another book, and I got you that last year."

Severus nodded in understanding. He had not expected her to give him anything. Truthfully, he hadn't expected to have anything worthy to give to her either, until he'd come across the jewelry. He knew that even if he'd looked all year, he wouldn't have found anything better. Still, he was finding it more of a challenge than usual to steer the conversation in his favor. He kept his eyes on her as she continued.

"But I got the idea to order it from the Muggle internet. I was glad it arrived in time for me to bring it along." She bit her lip, unsure of how to continue.

Now Severus was truly puzzled, as she had not placed anything under the tree. The only package was her necklace. He very much wanted to give her the ring first, however, which is why he'd decided to do it tonight. She had fallen silent, so he took his chance and began.

"Hermione, I've been thinking a great deal about our relationship lately." This introduction brought her head snapping up to his. He could see the beginnings of panic in her eyes, and continued quickly. "I realized that it was unfair of me to be so possessive of you when I had yet to make my intentions clear." He paused for a moment, turning his eyes away to get his bearings. Then he reached out and took her hand. "I think we've reached a point in our time together that requires a deeper commitment - no, requires isn't the right word. We've reached a point that deserves a deeper commitment. Even if you say no now, nothing has to change." He fell silent and waited, reminding himself to breathe.

Hermione wasn't exactly sure what to say, as she wasn't exactly sure what he'd just said. Her mind, focused as it was on the soft material that whispered against her skin under her robes, couldn't quite grasp what he was talking about. In fact, all she could concentrate on, really, was the decision to which she'd come regarding their physical relationship. Naturally, as her mind replayed his last words, she came to the conclusion that he was referring to sex.

"I've been thinking about that as well," she said, swallowing hard. This wasn't at all how she'd imagined it. She'd hoped that as they sat together on the rug this evening she could simply kiss him and let him find his way to the lingerie she wore on his own. She certainly hadn't envisioned the oddly formal discussion in which she found herself. Nevertheless, she was a Gryffindor, and she was not going to shy away.

Severus, for his part, was taken aback by the news that she'd been thinking about marriage as well. Surely she would have mentioned it to him, if that had been the case? Had she been waiting for him to get around to it all this time? She looked rather unhappy. Perhaps she'd been hoping he WOULDN'T propose? A sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach and he wondered if it wouldn't be a good idea to discreetly summon a House Elf to interrupt them.

"I've got to admit this isn't what I expected," Hermione said suddenly. "I mean, if you wanted to sleep with me, couldn't you just have - I don't know - started kissing me or something?" As soon as she'd fallen silent, she looked chagrinned. "I'm sorry," she said defeatedly. "Look, I just - "

"Wait a minute," he said, finding his voice with difficulty. "You think I'm asking you to have sex with me?" At her confused nod, he started to laugh.

She stood indignantly. "Well, for your information, it's hard to think of anything else just now with this ridiculous thing on!" she huffed, pulling her robes suddenly over her head to reveal a gown made entirely of loosely knotted black lace. Her breasts strained against the halter style top, seemingly less concealed than they'd been as she'd tried the garment on in her room the night before.

Severus stopped laughing instantly, his lips parting in surprise. Hermione, tapping into her inner predator, knew at once that she was in control of the situation again. She took a step towards him and he was on his feet a moment later. His eyes traveled over her, lingering anywhere that the lace was sparse. It took quite a while for him to find her eyes again. By the time he did so, she was extremely uncomfortable.

"And for your information, it's difficult for me to think of much besides this ring in my pocket, though I must admit you're easily the best distraction yet." He raised it slowly for her to see as Hermione's face turned a lovely shade of scarlet. He wanted very much to run his hands over that lace, and everything that was under it, but first he wanted to see his ring on her finger. He didn't have long to wait.