Snape In Love

Chapter 37

And After All Is Said, Is Said And Done

Not even the prospect of having to speak civilly to Sirius and Remus over dinner seemed capable of wiping the smile off Severus´ face as we dressed. Every time I looked at him, it was playing around his lips.

As we walked along the deserted lower corridors Severus took my hand and laced his fingers through mine, slowing his pace so that I could keep up.

"You´re waddling," he observed, looking sideways at me.

"So? You´re swaggering!"

"I am not!" he said, mildly affronted.

"Yes you are. And you can´t stop smiling. If any of your students saw you now, they´d be scared to death!"

"Well, I can stop that. I doubt you could walk normally."

"Bet you can´t. And I am walking normally, for a heavily pregnant woman!"

" `Heavily pregnant´? Mmm, I like that description of you!" he said, turning to me with a self-satisfied smirk and slipping his arm around my waist to pull me to him.

"Well, you won´t like it so much when I´m moaning at you all the time because I´ve got heartburn, or backache, or..."

He silenced me with a fervent kiss.

"Oh, I think I will," he murmured when we broke apart, his black eyes boring deep into mine.

We arrived at the top of the stairs just in time to see Remus and Sirius disappear into the Great Hall. Severus looked irritated and sighed peremptorily,

"Come on then, let´s get it over with!" and let me lead the way.

"Lupin, Black," he said awkwardly as we approached the staff table. They looked up at us enquiringly, and he continued, "I´d like to...thank you both." His lips tightened, and his eyes darted between them as he gauged their reaction. "We, er, owe you a debt of gratitude," he finished stiffly, holding out his hand to a bemused Remus, who nevertheless recovered himself and shook it, smiling broadly. Turning now to Sirius with a pained expression on his face, Severus again held out his hand. Sirius took it and shook it firmly, looking serious.

"Any time, Snape."

Severus inclined his head, and pulled back my chair for me to sit down.

"So," said Remus brightly, breaking the slightly awkward silence, "are you going to the Quidditch final a week on Saturday? Ravenclaw and Gryffindor?"

"Oh, yes!" I enthused.

"That all depends, Ella, on whether or not you could manage all those steps at the moment," noted Severus.

"Of course I can!"

"I don´t know, Ella, look at what you were like after we climbed that hill, the day of the storm..." Sirius trailed off as Severus leaned forward to look across me and glare at Sirius suspiciously.

"Hill? Storm?"

"Nothing, love, never mind," I said, trying to mollify him and defuse the situation. "I´ll be fine, and I´m looking forward to it. I haven´t had chance to see a match all year!"

Severus opened his mouth to pass comment, but obviously thought better of it, and simply frowned instead.

Sirius suddenly discovered that he had something of great importance to tell Professor Vector, who sat on his left, and so Remus and I launched into a spirited discussion about the relative merits of the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor teams. Discreetly, I put my hand on Severus´ knee as I talked across him, and after a while he began to join in the conversation, interjecting dry observations of his own.

The meal was soon over, and mentally I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe, from now on, the ice would stay broken.

"I wonder if we could double-date with Hermione and Remus?" I thought to myself wryly, smiling as I imagined what Severus´ response would doubtless be to that suggestion. Remus sped off to spend some time with Hermione before she settled down to a few hours of study, and Sirius wished us goodnight and beat a hasty retreat before Severus could ask him any difficult questions.

Those questions, however, were reserved for me, later on.

It was a very pleasant June evening so I persuaded Severus to go for a gentle stroll around the grounds. He agreed, on condition that we head for the greenhouses so that he could have a chat with Professor Sprout about the mandrakes, whose leaves he wanted her to dry in a particular way.

"That way, there´s a point to it, isn´t there?"

"There doesn´t need to be a point to it, it´s just - a romantic thing that couples do!" I said, exasperated.

"Hmm. Alright. Anyway, the exercise will do you good."

Rolling my eyes, I took his arm and ducked underneath it so that it was around my shoulders. Looking around uncomfortably in case any stragglers in the Entrance Hall had noticed, he saw the dark look on my face and had the good grace to look slightly sheepish.

"Come on, let´s get on with it," he said, and then I just had to laugh.

As we reached the bottom of the steps leading from the great oak doors, Severus turned right as I tried to go straight ahead.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Well, if we go this way, we can go through that archway and cut across the Silent Quadrangle, through the Whispering Cloisters, and then we´re nearly at the greenhouses."

Despairing of him, I gently reminded him of the reason for our stroll.

"If we go this way, we can go through the rose garden, and have a lovely view of the lake from Godric´s Seat!"

"Ah. Well, we´ll go back that way," he replied, trying to sound enthusiastic. Smiling, I acceded, and he slipped his arm back around my shoulders without being prompted. I looked up at his strong profile as a warm breeze blew his hair back from his face, my arm around his waist, and our hips touching as we walked. His eyes darted everywhere, checking across quadrangles, down corridors and up staircases. He was tense, fearful of encountering students, I supposed, obviously unused to any public display of human feeling yet keen nevertheless to make the effort in my case. However, we encountered no-one on the way to see Professor Sprout. The cloisters were cool and peaceful, the only sound made by our echoing footsteps. I felt so at home here, I thought, resting my head against him.

"It´ll be the summer holidays soon." I mused. "The whole school will be silent, just like this."

"I can´t wait," he replied dryly, darting a glance at me. Our baby would be born then, I thought, and I shivered deliciously and snuggled a little closer to him as we walked, delighting in his strength and his nearness.

Professor Sprout was in the largest of the greenhouses and I sat down on a stool while she and Severus discussed the mandrake leaves. It was still quite warm, and the air in the greenhouse was stifling, making my head feel heavy and dulling my senses, so after a while I decided to wait outside. I leaned against the cool stone of the perimeter wall, grateful for its solidity and its shade, and Severus came out shortly after, having reached an agreement with Professor Sprout about the best course of action to take with the mandrake leaves so that we could continue our walk.

Passing through a small archway on to the side lawns, we made for Godric´s Seat. The lawns at the side of the castle started at the castle´s outer wall, atop a rocky outcrop with a precipitous fall to the lake below, and from there swept down gradually to meet the water, ending in bullrushes and a marshiness underfoot which was quite dangerous for the unwary.

Godric´s Seat was about halfway up the incline. Legend had it that the founder himself had sat in it every morning to watch the sun rise. Nowadays, it was a popular place for romantic assignations, although tonight it was deserted.

"I´ve never sat here before," said Severus, sitting up straight beside me. "I usually only come here to take house points from canoodling students."

I laughed and took his hand in mine.

"And are you up to a bit of canoodling yourself tonight, Professor?"

He gave me a sideways glance.

"That depends. Are you going to tell me what Black meant at dinner? Hills and storms? What did you do with him when you were both - over there?" he said, a distinct note of jealousy in his tone.

I had known he would ask me this eventually, even without Sirius´ slip of the tongue at dinner, and I wondered exactly how much to tell him. All would be, of course, far too much, but Severus was far from stupid and if I hid too much he would just be suspicious and even more resentful of Sirius. Eventually, I simply said,

"We went out in a horse and cart, explored the countryside. One day we climbed a hill and got caught in the rain. It came out of nowhere. I´d been puffing and panting up the hill, it was steeper than I´d thought. That´s all."

"You were alone? With him?"

"Well, yes."

"How often?"

"Er...well, quite often, really. Every day he was there."

Severus´ face darkened and he scowled across to the mountains beyond the lake.

"He likes you. Always has. Did he flirt with you?"

"He helped me. He cheered me up, and most importantly, he made me see sense over you! He brought me back to you, Severus."

Severus leant back against the stone of the Seat and looked at me.

"Yes, I know he did. It´s just - I don´t like the fact that he´s always had such an easy way with you. Intimate." He lifted his chin up and looked at me appraisingly.

"No, not intimate! Friendly! This is intimate..." I finished, slipping my arms around his neck and splaying out my hand underneath his hair as I pulled his head down to meet mine in a gentle kiss. "And this..." I whispered, taking his hand and putting it on my breast, moaning as he stroked it and then drew me to him, our kiss deepening as his body moulded itself to mine.

"No-one´s like you..." I breathed into his hair as he kissed my ear and my neck hungrily, making me tingle with anticipation. "No-one even comes close, it´s always been you. Oh, let´s go back now, Severus."

"By way of the rose garden? To admire the pretty flowers?" he murmured teasingly down my ear as his hot breath tickled my neck, sending a quivering sensation down to the small of my back.

"By way of the shortest route possible, you beast!" I growled as he chuckled throatily, moving my hand from his knee, upwards. I stroked him firmly, and he gasped.

"Take me to bed, Severus. Now."

"My, you are being assertive tonight, aren´t you? A more suspicious mind than mine might think you were trying to keep something from me..."

"There are no more suspicious minds than yours, Severus!"

We stood up unsteadily, and began to make our way back to the school. As soon as we were inside I began to run my hand up and down his back as we walked, something he found very disconcerting, especially as I accompanied it with frequent comments of

"I want you. I want to make love to you," and "I´m going to kiss every inch of you. I need to feel you inside me."

After a while Severus, who had been shooting me smouldering glances, could take no more, and he stopped, taking both my shoulders and pinning me against the wall of the corridor leading to the dungeons. I could feel his arousal pressing against my stomach as he spoke.

"There are people around, Ella! Anyone could hear you!"

"I can´t see anyone but us," I answered innocently.

"Well," he spluttered, "Do you want me to be spent before we even get back?"

"Ah, so you do like it when I `talk too much´!" I purred lasciviously. He gave me a long, calculating look, and his mouth twitched slightly at the corners. I could almost see inside his head, and wondered what would be his next move.

Suddenly straightening up and adjusting his frock coat, he said shortly,

"Come on! What are we standing around here for?" striding off and pulling me along by the hand behind him. I stumbled after him, trying to match his long strides and failing miserably, finally giving up and taking three hurried steps for each one of his.

"Severus, I can´t keep up!" I complained.

"Good, you won´t try to talk at the same time, then, will you?" he retorted smugly.

"Why do you have to spoil my fun...this isn´t fair!" I muttered, and heard him laugh softly.

When we reached his rooms I was out of breath and had a stitch in my side. Clutching myself, I swore at him under my breath as he locked the door behind us. He came up behind me, concerned now, and said,

"Are you alright?"

"No!" I snapped. "Ouch!"

He looked at me with ostentatious sympathy and said,

"Now, you see, this is exactly why you need to think long and hard about the Quidditch match on Saturday."

"Why, in case some evil git makes me run up the wretched stairs?"

Struggling to keep an unconvincing semblance of innocence on his face, he held out his arms and shrugged,

"I can´t imagine who you mean!"

"Just get rid of this stitch for me, can´t you?" I grumbled as he took me in his arms, laughing, and began to rub my side gently until I relaxed against him, sighing contentedly.

"Mmm...that´s better," I yawned, and buried my face in him, enjoying the sensation of his long, sensitive fingers as they massaged me. "Oh, who taught you to do this? It feels wonderful..."

"Erm...Ella?" he asked.

"Mmm?"

"We´re here now..." he cajoled, nuzzling into my hair, "...and you did drive me to distraction all the way here..."

"And you did drag me along and make me strain myself!"

"Well, now I´m straining! Down here!" he murmured, unbuttoning my clothing deftly.

A few moments later we were blissfully entwined on the bed, and his mouth and his hands were all over me.

************************************************************

A week passed. At last the NEWTS were over and Severus no longer needed to split his time between his students and me. I did not mind our enforced separation whist he took his classes, since I had plenty of things with which to keep myself occupied; writing to Madame Maxime, helping Hermione with her studies, attending the Infirmary for regular checks with Poppy Pomfrey, to whom I had begun to feel quite close, and, of course, daydreaming about the baby and about Severus.

Severus, for his part, had found it most frustrating. When we were together, his attentiveness was so intense that it overwhelmed me, but although he was dedicated in his determination that all of his students perform to the best of their potential, he fretted when we were apart and insisted on knowing my every move and where I was at all times.

I rejoiced in his devotion and saw nothing oppressive in it. After all, I was in the enviable position of knowing exactly where he would be when he was not with me, and could watch him in the emerald whenever I liked, and I felt safe in such certainty. Having put him through everything that I had, I could easily understand his fear of losing me, unlikely as that was.

Stretching languorously as I awoke one morning, I smiled as I felt strong arms tighten around my stomach and thighs. Severus had moved down the bed so that his cheek was pressed against my belly, and he was snoring softly. So caught up in the joy of being reunited, we had spoken only briefly of his impending fatherhood, but his behaviour and his attitude spoke volumes and I knew that he was eagerly anticipating the first week in August.

I knew that I would be unable to extricate myself from his close embrace without disturbing him, so I ran my hand through his hair and said gently,

"Severus? I need to get up, love."

"Mmph? Oh." Sleepily, he looked up at me and loosened his grip. I moved down the bed and smoothed his sleep-tousled hair from his face before kissing him tenderly.

By the time I returned from the bathroom he had moved back up the bed and he now lay sprawled across it on his stomach, with his face buried in my pillow. He was asleep again, and I climbed back into bed and stretched out beside him, my arm around his waist and my cheek resting on the satin-smooth pillow of his back.

There wouldn´t be many more lazy mornings like this, I thought, almost sadly. At least, not unless we woke earlier than the baby, which seemed unlikely, since neither Severus nor myself could by any stretch of the imagination be considered morning people. I sighed and let the arm around his waist trail lower until my hand brushed the dark thatch below his abdomen. I ran my fingers through it and then let my hand creep lower until it curled around his semi-quiescent member. It soon sprang to life in my hand and I chuckled softly as I scraped along its shaft with my nails.

Grunting, Severus rolled over to face me, finding my lips for a sleepy kiss even though his eyes were still closed. I pushed him onto his back then, and straddled him. His eyes opened drowsily and a slow smile spread across his face as I lowered myself on to him.

"Good morning!" I said as he gasped his delight. He took my hips in his hands and positioned me before moving his hands to caress my full breasts. I responded to his touch and to the look on his face, until I could take no more and leant down over him so that my hands were either side of his head, and my hair was brushing his chest and his face. The sensations were incredible, and he began to breathe my name, and stroke my back, which was enough to send me over the edge, my internal muscles contracting, holding him where he belonged, triggering his own release.

Afterwards I lay across him, breathless, watching his chest rise and fall. Eventually he shifted me off him so that he could lie facing me, and he began to stroke my belly, as he so often did now. He searched deep into my eyes, and smiled as the baby began to respond to his touch.

"You really, really want this, don´t you?" I asked softly as I traced his lips with my fingertips.

"Yes..." he murmured, hypnotising me with the intensity of his gaze.

"I´m sorry I shut you out for so long."

"It´s all in the past now. And we have to think about the future."

He kissed me then, and I forgot to wonder what he meant because his lips were so soft, so pliant, so demanding, and he tasted so sweet. When he released me at last I felt giddy and drunk on him, and I sighed sadly as he got out of bed and padded into the bathroom. As soon as I heard the sound of the shower, I followed him.

I watched him for a while as he stood under the pulsing jets of water, his arms raised over his head as he washed his hair. Sneaking in behind him I put my arms around his waist.

"You took your time!" he complained, and he turned and held me, the water coursing down over us, making my body slide against his deliciously. He muttered a charm,

"Aqua savonis!" and soapy water began to gush from the shower heads, so that all we needed to do was stand there and run our hands over one another´s bodies.

"This is a very nice way to shower," I murmured against his lips as his hands massaged my breasts and ran up and down my back.

"Well, I think I need to pamper you..." he replied, kneeling at my feet and directing his attention to more intimate areas of my body.

"Ah!" I gasped as his nose nuzzled me, and I reached out reflexively to try to gain purchase on the slippery walls of the shower cubicle, fearing I would lose my footing. I muttered a charm,

"Aqua claris!" so that Severus wouldn´t get soap in his mouth, and he chuckled and said,

"Pendulacorpus!"

I felt my arms and back pinned to the walls of the shower, so that I could not fall, and Severus looked up at me intently before burying his nose in my hair once more. I cried out as I felt his tongue, hot and insistent, begin to lick me, my pleasure insistent and unbearable. I wanted to tangle my fingers in his hair and press his face into me, and I gasped out,

"Severus! Let me go! Oh, love! Oh, please! I need - I need to - Ah!"

Severus shook his head violently from side to side, refusing. This together with the unexpected stimulation of his large nose against me set me screaming as I climaxed, writhing uncontrollably, still pinned to the wall. At last, he lifted his head and looked up at me, self-satisfaction on his face as he smoothed back his dripping hair.

"I love to hear you scream my name," he smirked, releasing me from the charm so that I could slide slowly down the wall and into his waiting arms, where I curled up and cried with emotion. Kissing my hair, he rocked me until I had calmed down, holding me as the water coursed over us, keeping us warm.