Open Letter

Chapter Seven

Severus gasped and attempted to jerk his arm away from me but I held on tightly and didn't break the contact between my lips and his arm. He stopped his attempt and sat there just looking at me. "I," he began and then just as soon stopped. He reached a hand out to a lock of my hair that was hanging in my face. Slowly he brushed it out of the way letting his hand linger in my hair. "I never dared to hope that you would be able to love me after knowing my past," he said as he stroked my cheek. I finally moved my lips from his arm but only to turn my head and kiss his fingertips.

I looked up at him and said, "I never thought that I would. But then I never knew any of you until you lent me a book while I was in the hospital wing. I'm glad that you've let me know you. All of you."

I started to stand and suddenly I found myself swept up in his arms. I don't remember moving at all. I was just there holding him and being held by him. His height which used to be imposing when I was younger was now comforting. I could rest my head on his chest and feel his chin just above my head. I felt enfolded in him. We stood that way for a long time savouring the closeness of the other. "This just..." I breathed.

He cupped my chin with one hand and tilted my head so that I was looking into his eyes. "Feels right," he finished and then hesitantly moved in to kiss me.

I kept my eyes open. I had been kissed before. My first kiss was Viktor. We were outside talking after the Yule Ball and he asked me if he could. I was infatuated, I admit, not so much with Viktor as with the idea of having someone like me in that way. He was as awkward as I was and the kiss was fairly brief. I had even kissed Ron once when we thought about dating in our 6th year before we decided that we were better as friends. And of course rooming with Parvati and Lavender I got to hear about how most of the Gryffindor boys kissed, that is until they finally settled on each other and broke the hearts of the male Hogwarts population. So I had some experience with kissing and what to expect. But my expectations of Severus had been wrong before and they were wrong now.

When he kissed me, he kissed me completely. He was certainly more skilled than Viktor or Ron, but that wasn't what took my breath away. It was the hungry way in which his lips sought mine. It was the passion that he possessed.

When the kiss finally ended I sighed and hugged him tighter. I rested my head on his shoulder and breathed in his scent. When we grew tired of standing we sat down on the floor in front of the fire and caressed each other's hands and faces. We made our plans for the year, our year together. The year that was going to be our secret.

I was in his N.E.W.T.s level class; I was in practically every N.E.W.T. level class and wouldn't have had it any other way so I was going to have to make use of the time turner again. We decided to use it on occasion to facilitate our meetings so as to not create suspicion over my absence from the library or Gryffindor common room. He showed me spells that would help us to communicate in secret: one which made a letter un-openable except by the person it was intended for, one to charm mirrors so that they would be connected, one which would allow a wizard to utilise the flame of a match to Floo small items to someone else, and several others. Finally we kissed and bade each other goodnight. Through some stroke of good fortune I was able to creep through the halls to my dormitory without being detected.

It was torturous to wait through that whole week till I could safely see him again. At the end of our last Potions class of the week, I raised my hand. As usual Severus pretended to ignore me, but I could tell that he was actually acutely aware of my presence near him. His body language would give him away to anyone who really knew him, but then no one in this class did. I twisted a strand of my hair around my finger, something that I would never normally do because of my hair type but which I did now since it was our agreed upon signal. "Yes, Ms. Granger?" he drawled.

"Sir, I don't believe that I understood all the points you made in your lesson today. Would you discuss them with me after class to make sure that I got all of the essential information?" Translation- Let's work out the specifics of a rendezvous.

"Ms. Granger, if you can't pay attention to my lesson the first time around, then I'm certainly not going to spell it out for you." Translation- I'll let you know by letter.

"I understand, sir." No translation needed.

We carried on that way until Christmas. We were confident that the code we used to communicate during class or in the halls was undetected by anyone. After all, when devising it we had simply used our stereotyped images to our advantage. We had a few close calls, mostly when I used the time turner and therefore couldn't be seen by anyone else. Since I was legitimately very busy with all of my classes, Harry and Ron didn't think much of my absences. They knew that I had the time turner again, but I know that they never dreamed that I would use it to spend time with a lover.

The day before Christmas Eve I awoke to find a package already on my bed. It was wrapped in black velvet so of course I knew that it was from my dear Severus. For such a seemingly puritanical man, Severus was actually quite the sensualist I had discovered. I felt along the package until I found the catch that would open it. I smiled to think that Severus knew me so that he wrapped his gift in such a way that I would enjoy touching the package just as much as I would enjoy what was inside. The box opened to reveal a shimmering puddle of quicksilver with a note floating on top.

The note had Severus's normal seal upon it, black wax with a serpent in the shape of an S. I tapped it with my wand and the note unfurled.

Wear this when you visit me tonight. I think you'll find this cloak to be an improvement upon the original.

S.

I gasped when I realised that the quicksilver must be the folds of an invisibility cloak. I pulled it out of the box and donned it immediately. Underneath the cloak was a little square of paper explaining that this was not an ordinary invisibility cloak, it was a Concealment cloak which not only made the wearer invisible but also had a charm that allowed them to pass through crowds unnoticed. You couldn't walk through walls but you could slide by someone without bumping into them. The answer to all my time turning difficulties.