Snape In Love

Chapter 39

Lazing On A Sunny Afternoon

When I awoke the next morning Severus was pressed tightly against my back with his arm firmly around my waist and cupping one breast. I leaned back into him contentedly and he responded in his sleep by sighing heavily into my ear, his hot breath tickling my neck. The sunlight was already streaming through the window, the tiny panes of leaded glass diffracting it in places so that rainbow colours danced on the sheets as I moved. I whiled away several minutes watching them, idly playing with the sheets, then I held up my left hand so that the light reflected on to the stones in my ring. After a while the insistent pressure of the baby on my bladder forced me to get up, and I carefully picked up Severus' arm and placed it gently behind me, before slowly climbing out of bed.

My morning ablutions complete, I dressed silently in the coolest dress I could find, most of my belongings still being in my own rooms, and I opened the door into Severus' office. Closing it shut quietly behind me, I clapped my hands to summon a house elf. It was Winky, and I asked her to prepare a picnic for two. That done, I went over to Severus' small round desk and noted with satisfaction that all the scrolls there had been marked and placed in a neat pile, ready to be returned to the students.

"Good," I smiled to myself, "Those are the last exam papers of the year, so he won't have an excuse to say no!"

Satisfied, I went back into the bedroom. Severus was sitting up in bed looking sleep-dishevelled and irritated, and was surprised to see me enter.

"What're you doing? Why were you out there?" he demanded.

"I was talking to Winky, I didn't want to wake you!" I said cheerfully, crossing over to him and clambering back on to the bed.

"You're up to something, aren't you?" he asked suspiciously. "I can tell..."

Running my hand gently up and down his thigh, I said casually,

"It's such a lovely day, I thought we might have a stroll, take a picnic..."

"A stroll? You?" he replied, his eyes widening in amused surprise. "What, exactly, constitutes a 'stroll' for you these days? Or were you thinking we could have a picnic at the end of the corridor?"

I slapped him playfully and said,

"I think I can manage to go a little bit further than that! Say, to the oak tree at the end of the herb walk? It's very peaceful there, and shaded..."

"Another lovers' hideaway!" he commented sardonically. "Let's see, the NEWTS are over, it's a Sunday, and it's hot - oh yes, it'll be totally secluded, apart from about two dozen sixth and seventh year couples with raging hormones and chronic acne!"

"Well, you can scare them all off, then, can't you?" I replied, exasperated.

"I might have some work to do..."

"Your marking's all up to date." He raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "I just checked. And anyway, you've obviously forgotten that it's the last Hogsmeade weekend of the year. There'll be nobody around. All you'll have to do is relax."

He forced a tight-lipped smile and held his hands up.

"Very well, you win. This time." He reached out to pull me towards him for a kiss, one hand cupping the side of my head, under my hair, and the other resting on my belly.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather stay here?" he murmured.

"Well, we do have all day," I smiled, slipping my hand underneath the sheets and finding my quarry more than ready for me.

By the time we reached the oak tree it was nearly lunchtime, and the sun was beating down on us mercilessly. I had persuaded Severus to leave his frock coat and robes behind, so all that he wore was black jeans and a white cotton shirt. The top three buttons were undone, but his sleeves remained fastened by way of eight buttons on each cuff. He looked devastatingly sexy, I thought, stealing glances at him as I walked alongside him, like a romantic hero from a Muggle novel. He kept looking up at the sky, then down at me, perplexed.

"What's wrong, Severus?"

"You should have worn a sun hat. You'll get too hot. I can conjure one..."

"I don't need a hat. Not with all this hair. I'd boil!"

"Well, you look too hot."

"I am too hot."

"We shouldn't have come..."

"Yes we should! Look, there it is, see how cool and shady it looks!"

At last we were there and Severus unfolded a large tartan blanket. I lowered myself on to it with a sigh of relief, and he handed me a flask of pumpkin juice from the picnic basket. Sitting down beside me and folding his long legs until he was sitting cross-legged, he looked around suspiciously.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone about..."

"Told you they'd all be in Hogsmeade," I said happily.

"Hmm."

"Of course, Hermione said she and Remus might not go, when I told her I planned to come here with you."

He looked at me sharply.

"Hermione and Remus." he said flatly. I nodded. "Might come here instead. To be with us."

"For a while."

"Did you set this up?"

"Would you mind if I had?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Hah!"

"No, really, why?"

"Because I'd rather be alone with you, of course!"

"You are such an old romantic!" I laughed, pushing him back so that he was lying on his back and I was lying over him. His lips soon responded to my kiss and he held me tightly, flicking his tongue into my mouth and moaning softly as I sucked it gently. At length he pulled away and replied, good-naturedly now,

"No, I'm not! I just want you all to myself, that's all"

"Well, it'll be nice to be a real couple, and spend time with another real couple."

"Look at us, look at you, how much more real does it get?" he replied. "And you're making it sound like a - - 'double date', and that's just unbearably twee, Ella, it's not on!"

"Are you really angry with me?"

He sighed and took a bunch of my hair in each of his hands, pulling it to the back of my head and twisting it round itself, so that it stayed off my face.

"I don't know why, but no, I'm not. I think you'd know about it if I was! No, you've done far worse. But you're so scheming! You should have been a Slytherin."

"Eighteen months ago I would have been mortally offended if you'd said that!"

"Well, then, there's hope for you yet..."

"Mmm..." I sighed as his hands ran up and down my back and we kissed once more.

We were so wrapped up in one another as we embraced that we didn't notice the huge black dog approach, so when we heard its soft

"Woof!" we started in surprise, sitting up hurriedly to find it panting at the edge of the blanket, its tail wagging furiously.

"Padfoot!" I said reproachfully as Severus tried to compose his dishevelled features. The dog gave a joyful bark and ran off, much to Severus' disgust.

"Bloody show-off!" he snarled, grumpily straightening his hair.

A few moments later, Sirius was back, in human form this time, with Remus and Hermione.

"Hello! Lovely day!" smiled Remus, whose arm was draped casually over Hermione's shoulders. She looked radiant and beamed at us happily.

"Oh, fancy seeing you here!" answered Severus sarcastically.

Remus set down a huge picnic basket and laid out another blanket, next to ours, while Sirius said,

"Well, I'm off then!"

"Oh dear, aren't you staying, Black?" Severus asked in mock disappointment

"No, I only came along for the walk - and to do a recce, to make sure Hermione and Remus didn't, er, interrupt anything!"

The outraged expression on Severus' face was priceless and I had to hide my smile by turning away.

After Sirius had gone, Severus gave me a dark look before setting about transfiguring some napkins into cushions. Placing these at the base of the tree under which we sat, he leaned back against its trunk and said in a seductively low voice,

"Come here."

He looked at me intently, holding out his hand, and opened his long legs so that I could crawl between them. Leaning back against him and resting my head under his chin, I sighed happily. He put his right arm around my neck and stroked my left shoulder, then moved it down so that it was resting on my tummy while his left hand played with my hair. His left knee was raised and I snaked my arm underneath his thigh, embracing it.

"Mmm, this is nice..." I murmured, and he kissed my hair, nuzzling, before leaning back and closing his eyes.

I looked across to Hermione, who was sitting cross-legged beside Remus, stretched out on his front. She was running her fingers through his hair, a soft smile on her face. She looked up and caught my eye, and understanding passed between us as we smiled happily.

"Have you been here long?" she asked.

"Half an hour or so, that's all," I replied languidly.

"It's been very peaceful!" muttered Severus, pointedly.

I pulled a long-suffering face at Hermione, and she grinned at me mischievously.

"Oh, Professor Snape?"

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"I was wondering...since we're all 'off duty', and since I'll be graduating on Friday, and you won't be my teacher any more...would you call me Hermione?"

Severus lifted his head and looked across at her suspiciously before leaning back again and saying in a bored tone,

"Under the current circumstances...I would be...delighted. Hermione."

"Oh, good. And can I call you Severus?"

His head snapped up again and he began waspishly,

"I don't think..."

"I don't think Severus would mind at all, would you, love?" I interrupted as I elbowed him in the ribs. He looked down at me, lifting an eyebrow, and I smiled lovingly, reaching up to caress his cheek.

Frowning again, his only response was

"Hmph!" and he leaned back once more.

I grinned at Hermione and asked,

"What are your plans for the summer?"

Remus turned over on to his side and propped himself up on one elbow, smiling up at his girlfriend.

"Tell them your news, Hermione!"

"Well, I'm going home for a couple of weeks, and Remus is going to pop over to meet my parents, and then I'll be coming back here! I want to make sure I'm here when the baby comes, Ella!"

I felt Severus sigh, and groan resignedly.

"That's brilliant!" I enthused.

"Yes, and then next year I'm going to stay on at Hogwarts and specialise in Transfiguration and Charms! Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick are going to tutor me, and use me as their classroom assistant too! So, in effect, I won't be a student any more, I'll be on the staff!"

"Oh no..." exhaled Severus, but he began to caress my stomach tenderly and I knew that part of him was pleased, for my sake, that she would be around.

Remus slipped his arm around her waist as he sat up and said happily,

"It's great, isn't it?"

"Wonderful!" I said sincerely. "Isn't it, Severus?"

He was silent for a few seconds longer than was polite, and then commented peevishly,

"Why choose Transfiguration and Charms? Why not Potions?"

"Well, my skills lie in those areas, and..."

"Oh, rubbish, Miss Gra - er - Hermione!" You're one of the most skilled students I've had in years, you'll be wasting your talents!"

Hermione looked at him in disbelief.

"Oh! Professor, I didn't...oh!" She paused, flummoxed.

"At a loss for words? How novel!" Severus commented dryly.

"Well, it would have involved an awful lot of your time," she said, recovering herself slightly, "And you'll have other more pressing concerns by September...Severus," she finished.

"Hmm, that's true. But I still insist that you let me teach you how to make that Wolfsbane potion for your boyfriend. As you say, I shall have better things to do."

"I'd love you to!"

Severus closed his eyes and settled down again, holding me closely and sighing. Hermione looked at me, shaking her head in disbelief, and I smiled, disentangling myself then from an uncooperative Severus, and sitting up to empty the picnic basket.

The house elves had provided us all with enough food to feed an entire classroom full of students, but Remus, at least, who was always ravenous, managed to do justice to it. Conversation centred mostly on Hermione's plans for the following year, and the Wolfsbane potion, and Severus became quite animated, and so involved that eventually he called her by her first name without even thinking about it, and even forgot to frown when she did the same.

Eventually, sated on conversation and good food, Severus and I relaxed against the tree once more, our positions reversed. I sank into the cushions, blissfully relaxed, and after a while he lay down next to me and rested his head in my lap. I was overwhelmed with happiness as I felt him slowly lose his self-consciousness at such a public display of intimacy, and he closed his eyes as I stroked his forehead, cheek and hair with my left hand, while my right slipped inside his open shirt and rested on his chest. He murmured softly as his baby shifted inside me against his cheek, stroking me tenderly, and eventually I felt his breathing become heavier as he dozed off.

Remus, too, was sleeping off his lunch, so Hermione came to sit beside me to admire my engagement ring, and we whispered over it together. After a while, the conversation had turned to our respective lovers and Hermione said,

"Doesn't Prof - I mean, Severus - doesn't he look different out of his robes?"

I sniggered, and she said,

"Oh, Ella, you know what I mean!"

"I suppose he does..."

"And, er, hasn't he got long legs?"

"Yes, I know!"

"He's like a different person, when he's with you, isn't he?"

"No, I don't think so. To me, he's always just the same...oh, Hermione, he completes me, you know?"

"Are you talking again?" came a low voice, and Severus opened his eyes, looking at me questioningly.

"About you," I said dreamily as he sat up. One quick glance from him was enough to send Hermione back to Remus, with a laughing smile at us, and she settled down, resting her head on his stomach and closing her eyes contentedly.

Severus was still staring at me, and I reached out my hand to touch his lips.

"What is it?"

"You," he said, hypnotising me with his gaze. "I think I'd like us to be alone now."

He moved closer to me, on all fours, and moved in for a tender kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer still, and his shirt fell open so that I could look down and see his chest. I longed to run my hands over his bare flesh then, all of it, and I answered his kiss with one of my own, hungry for him.

"It'll take me ages to walk back..." I complained.

"We'd better set off now, then, hadn't we?"

Pulling me to my feet, Severus re-transfigured the cushions into napkins and packed up the picnic. As we turned to leave, he said "Bye, Lupin. Miss Granger." He looked at her meaningfully, and, understanding the need for formality for another week, she replied,

"See you later, Ella. Professor Snape."

Once we were out of earshot I pulled Severus to me and hugged him, feeling the warmth of his skin through the thin shirt.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?"

He looked down at me lovingly.

"I bore it."

"Oh Severus, you enjoyed it! I could tell!"

"In parts," he shrugged noncommittally. "Now come on!"

"What's the rush?" I asked slyly.

"I think you know very well."

"You were right, though. It was a long way to walk. I feel tired already. I'll be fit for nothing by the time we get back to the dungeons..."

He turned to me slowly and looked at me quizzically.

"Fortunate for you, then, that all I need you to do is lie there, then, isn't it?"

"Oh, really?" I smiled.

"Don't deny me, Ella!" he murmured in a low voice, taking my face in his hands and trying not to smile.

"I wouldn't dare...Professor..." I sighed, letting him walk me backwards until he had me pinned against the trunk of a small tree.

"Maybe I should just take you here..." he whispered, his eyes travelling all over my face.

"But Severus, those spotty, hormonal sixth and seventh years will be on their way back from Hogsmeade soon," I teased. "We could be seen!"

His lips barely touching mine, he said menacingly,

"That sounds like a denial to me!"

"So...punish me!" I replied, darting my tongue over his lips.

"I'd love to," he said, bending to nip the top of my shoulder. "Then again...perhaps a short, sharp, shock of a punishment, followed by a prolonged period of...mmm...reconciliation would be more effective?"

His voice was like rich, sweet honeyed velvet, hypnotic and low, whispering heat all over my neck, chasing the goosebumps it caused as I let my head fall back to expose more of the sensitive flesh there to his insistent lips.

"Yes..." I moaned, "Oh, yes, that sounds wonderful..."

I felt his lips draw back form his teeth and he sniggered softly, nuzzling my ear with his nose.

"As you wish..." he murmured mockingly, drawing back from me and saying in a ringing, authoritative voice,

"Accio broom!"

"What?" I said, aghast as he grinned wolfishly down at me.

"Your punishment, my love! It's about time you reacquainted yourself with more traditional modes of transport!"

"Oh, no!" I objected. "Not a chance!"

A moment later Severus tilted his head, hearing the swishing of something approaching at high speed. He held out his right hand to arm's length, and it was soon filled by the handle of an exceptionally handsome ebony broom. He grinned smugly, and looked it up and down.

"Well? What do you think?"

"It's...well, it couldn't be anyone else's, really, could it?"

He lifted his eyebrow enquiringly as I reached out to touch it, caressing its sleek handle, which felt curiously warm to the touch, and so smooth it could have been lacquered. Its contoured shaft ended in a neatly trimmed and shaped brush of ebony twigs, which glittered as the late afternoon sunlight fell on them through the dappling effect of the trees, and I noticed that they were discreetly sprinkled with a golden dust. The effect was very tasteful, and very expensive. I had no idea of the make or model, and assumed that Severus had had it custom made to his own specifications. In spite of myself, I thrilled at the thought, and a small part of me was actually desirous of mounting the thing without further delay.

As if sensing my thoughts, since he could most assuredly see them shine out through my gaze, his next words were,

"Shall we?"

The spell was broken. I looked up into his amused face with alarm, and immediately demurred,

"Oh no, definitely not, I can't, not like this, what if I fall off? No, no way, I've told you before, you won't get me on one of these - "

"Ella, stop babbling!"

" - Oh dear!" I finished as he stepped behind me and slid the broom between my legs in one graceful, fluid motion.

I was trapped. Severus was leaning into my back and I could feel his mouth in my hair and his thighs nudging against mine. His arms were around me, gripping the handle in front of me, leaving me no means of escape. The broom was hovering underneath me, vibrating softly through my thin summer dress, and making me deliciously aware of how little I was actually wearing.

"Just relax," he instructed soothingly, and I closed my eyes, half in fear, half in response to the mesmerising cadences of his voice and the unusual physical sensation of being astride his broom. He pulled gently upwards on the handle, and I felt a gentle shifting in my stomach as we began to hover, a few feet off the ground.

"Are your eyes open?" he asked.

"No!" I quivered, leaning backwards into him and gripping on to his arms.

"Well, open them!"

Hesitantly I opened first one eye, and then the other, to find the ground was still within easy reach. Still further away, however, than I could safely fall.

"Oh!"

"Don't worry! Do you really think I'd do anything that would put you and my child in danger?"

With those words he pulled up on the broom again and leaned forward slightly. The broom responded immediately, and we flew forward several yards, gaining height all the time. It was fortunate that his question was rhetorical, for the sight of the copse we had just left, its tree tops now a good twenty feet below us, had rendered me incapable of any further speech. A desperate moan escaped my throat, and he chuckled softly,

"Relax, love! It's fun! Come on, it is! I can't believe you don't like this!"

He pressed his elbows into my sides, so that he was enfolding me as securely as he could while still keeping both hands firmly on the handle. Slowly, I began to relax, and as he felt my shoulders drop and my thighs relax against his, he murmured,

"Better?"

"A bit," I answered grudgingly, aware more than ever of the heat of his body surrounding mine, the hardness of the broom between my legs, and the absolute surrender I had had to make, and continued to make, to Severus' will. I was completely vulnerable, at his mercy, my fate in his hands. And it felt so painfully and unexpectedly erotic that I gasped out his name in a rush,

"Severus!"

"What is it? Are you alright?"

"Yes, I..."

"Good. Let's try it a bit faster, shall we?" and I shrieked as the broom began to thrum and we climbed higher and faster, banking gently to the left and swooping over the lake.

"Not the lake! Not the lake!" I yelled in dismay, and we banked again, climbing towards the Astronomy Tower now, over the greenhouses, past the roof of the Great Hall, over the many quadrangles, down past Gryffindor Tower, round the castle to the main entrance, and then we were flying faster than ever before, so fast that my skirt flew up around my thighs, flapping against my chest, and the cold rush of air blew through the thin fabric of my briefs and made me close my eyes once more, and bite my lip.

By the time we reached the Quidditch pitch I had decided that I was quite enjoying myself, because of the particular combination of circumstances, however, and not because I had revised my opinion of broomsticks in general. Two swift, exhilarating laps of the Quidditch pitch later, I was laughing giddily and tilting my head back as far as I could in order to fasten Severus' lips to mine in a hungry kiss.

As I turned back to him the wind had whipped my hair across our faces and he lifted one hand from the broom to brush it from our mouths, letting it fall then down over my breasts and thence to the intimate area where my body met the shaft of the broom. He quickly ascertained my state of arousal and his lips smiled against mine.

"I told you you'd enjoy this, didn't I? Hmm?" he whispered seductively, pulling the broomstick up slightly so that both it and his long, knowing fingers pressed more insistently against me.

"Ah!" I moaned. "Oh, no, Severus, put your hand back on the broom! I'll fall!" I was aroused, but not able to forget that we were circling at least eighty feet above the ground.

"I told you, I won't let you fall!"

"Severus!"

"Alright, but it seems such a shame," he continued mockingly as he removed his delicately stroking fingers from me, deliberately tugging at my briefs as he did so, so that the cold rush of wind teased my burning flesh with even greater force than before, making me shudder and throw back my head. With an audible smirk he enfolded me completely once more and I was left breathless as we careered towards the castle at full speed. Mystified students on their way up the lawn towards the main doors looked up at their fearsome potions master whooping with gleeful exhilaration as he flew his pregnant fiancée back to the school.

We circled it twice, descending slowly, and finally I was returned to safety on the blessedly solid lawn of the Silent Quadrangle. Kissing my neck ardently, Severus slid the broom from under me slowly and deliberately, running its shaft insistently between my thighs as he withdrew it, lasciviously murmuring,

"Mmm...Oh, that was very nice, wasn't it?" as I trembled violently. I sank to my knees immediately it was no longer supporting me, my legs wobbling so severely that they were unequal to the task required of them.

"Oh, God!" I muttered, brushing my hair back from my face. Severus laughed and tossed the broom to one side, flopping down on the grass in front of me and propping himself up on one elbow.

"You evil bastard!" I said slowly, staring into his smugly self-satisfied, beautiful, wonderful, adored face. He reached up for my arm and pulled me towards him, forcing me to recline sideways on to him, leaning against his chest. Slipping our arms around one another, he lay back until his hair spilled all around him on the grass underneath, and mine, far longer, joined it, blocking out the sunlight for us both, curtaining our lips so that they could perform their intricate dance in sweet seclusion.

Both of his hands were around my neck and he stroked my cheeks with his thumbs as I kissed him. At last we broke apart, and I shifted so that I could lie against him, using his chest as a pillow. His hand dropped to cup my breast and I sighed, the urgency of my desire subdued now by the intoxicating taste of him. I felt drunk on him, dazed, exhausted after the heady rush of our flight and his deliberate smoking sensuality, and while part of me yearned for the privacy of our chambers and the full intimacy I knew would take place later in our bed, the greater part of me preferred, for the moment, to lie against him in languid contemplation of the sky while his fingers idly traced circles around my nipples and his chest rose and fell with a hypnotically regular rhythm.

Eventually he stretched underneath me and ruffled my hair.

"Come on!" he ordered, sitting up and helping me to do the same. "I can hear footsteps, someone might be coming. We can't let people see us like this!"

"But it's okay for them to see you tearing through the sky on your broom, yelling your head off?"

"Ah. Well, no, but let's not give them still more to gossip about!"

Grumbling, I got to my feet, regretting having lain on the hard ground for so long.

"Fit to walk? Or shall I fly you through the corridors?"

"Hah! No thanks, I'll manage!" I answered dryly. "I think I've done quite enough flying for one day!"

"Oh, I don't know," he murmured, his eyes downcast before flicking up to mine slyly. "You seemed to find it quite arousing!"

"That was all you, and you know it!" I retorted as he held out his hand to his broom, which shot into it with alacrity.

"I saved you a very, very tiring walk!"

"For your own nefarious purposes!"

"Of course!" he smirked, slipping his arm around my waist and caressing my skin through the thin, slippery fabric. "You've been...punished...enough - now it's time for that prolonged reconciliation..."