Snape In Love

Chapter 42

You touch every place in my heart

"The Fat Lady was very loath to let me in just now, Hermione, even though I knew the password!" I grumbled as she let me into her room at the top of Gryffindor Tower. "And another thing, I don´t think I´ll ever understand that wizard!"

"Who? Professor Snape?"

"No! Dumbledore!"

"Dumbledore?" she repeated, clearing a space on her bed for me to sit down.

"He knew about the book, don´t ask me how!"

"Oh, yes, the book," she said mysteriously.

"What is it? What have you found out?"

"I need your help, to get the proper sense of it. Book learning and cleverness can´t compare to innate skill, you´ll probably have a feel for it when you see it...but I think it could work!"

"You mean I could get rid of the Dark Mark?"

"Well, the circumstances would seem to suggest so..." she said evasively.

"And they are?" I demanded, beginning to feel a little impatient, since I had already had one enigmatic conversation that day and was in no mood to decipher a second.

"Here, read for yourself," Hermione replied, handing me the book and a long scroll of parchment written all over in her meticulous hand.

I pored over the scroll for several minutes, while Hermione paced the room nervously and tried to concentrate on her packing. My heart raced as I realised the implications of what I was reading, and the absolute necessity of keeping it from Severus, and it swelled as I imagined the amazement I would see on his face when he realised what I had done.

Eventually I looked up.

"Well?" Hermione asked anxiously. "Are you going to do it?"

"Of course I am! How can I not?" I answered, my eyes shining with hope. "This is meant to be, Hermione! I´m sure of it! Why else would I have found it the way I did? And why else would Dumbledore seem to know so much?"

"Maybe you should ask him about it?"

"I don´t know. I get the feeling this is something I need to work out for myself."

"We´ll have to work on that last passage, though. It worries me, it suggests dark magic."

"It would have to, though, wouldn't it? The Dark Mark was put there using dark magic. I might look in the Restricted Section, while you're away, there may be something there. If not, well...as a last resort there's always Knockturn Alley..."

Hermione's eyes widened, but she nodded and said,

"Yes. Yes, alright then. I'll be back in two weeks, if not sooner. Let me know if you make any progress, won't you? And don't do anything stupid! You´d be better seeing Dumbledore about it. I think you´re going to need his help."

I climbed back out through the portrait hole and glared at the fat lady as I closed it behind me. She merely fanned herself and looked down her nose at me. Rolling my eyes I made my way back to the dungeons, hastening back to Severus.

I found him sitting cross-legged on the floor in the little library, muttering to himself. There was a large, untidy pile of books in the middle of the main room, and as I had poked my head in to see what he was doing, a flying book had only narrowly missed hitting me as it was tossed carelessly on to the heap.

A smaller pile of books, these rather more neatly stacked, was set at his right, and he used it to unfold himself to his feet in that enclosed space when he realised I had returned.

"Ella! You've been gone for ages! How long does it take to say goodbye, anyway?"

He stepped out to me, picking his way through discarded books as he went, and I embraced him warmly, noticing his clothes were covered in dust and his face smudged.

"You've been busy, I see!" I observed. His left eyebrow arched.

"Well, someone had to do it - and I need you to go over some of these with me. The ones in there." He waved his hand behind him. "These out here are useless. We don't need them. The house elves can take them to the main library, and Madam Pince can decide what to do with them," he finished dismissively.

"Fine," I agreed. "So, let's get rid of these before we start looking at the keepers, shall we?"

A short while later we had transferred the books we wanted to look at more closely at our leisure into the bedroom, where they were stacked neatly on the table by the fire.

"Where do we start with these? What are we looking for?" I asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Several of them are heavily annotated and revised by hand," Severus said, removing his frock coat and holding it up in one hand while he dusted it down with the other. "I want us to look at why. We need to decide whether Gruber was a complete madman, or an unsung genius."

I watched as his long, tapering fingers removed the dust from his coat with elegant sweeping movements, and sighed as his long hair flicked forward over his face with every stroke he made. I could not take my eyes from him. Trying to concentrate on our conversation, and remembering the scroll I had just read, I asked curiously

"What was his field?"

"Botany, and, to a lesser extent, potions," replied Severus abruptly, now unbuttoning his trousers, stepping out of them gracefully and brushing them down too. He laid them with his frock coat over the back of a chair and turned to me, dressed only in his shirt, boxers and socks. A lazy smile crept over his face as he saw the way I was looking at him.

"What?" he said teasingly.

"Let's not start work on those just yet. Come over here."

He smirked, but made no move.

"And what do you suggest we do instead?" he asked, unbuttoning his shirt deliberately.

Crossing to him, I slid my hands up his chest and slipped the shirt from his shoulders, the magnetic force of our love making us lean into each other. I raised my face to his, searching out his lips for a kiss, but he was evidently in a teasing mood, for I was allowed only the briefest brush of his lips over mine, and then his hair was brushing my cheek as he leant over to whisper in my ear,

"Divestio!"

I was naked, and melted willingly into his embrace. His arms snaked around me and pressed me to him, and I looked up into his eyes, seeing hypnotising lust reflected there. An ache pulled at me, so strongly I felt almost in pain, and my heart, pounding against my chest, was ready to burst with anticipation. His mouth swooped on mine at last, his hair tickling my cheek, kissing the corners of my lips, flicking his tongue over my bottom lip, dipping it inside my mouth until I groaned with pleasure.

He walked me backwards towards the bed and we climbed on as one, burning with our mutual desire. I ached to be possessed by him, and felt myself dissolve in the molten heat of his passion. His mouth felt wonderful as it claimed mine once more, moving over it with an intensity that was almost savage in its passion, a part of my very existence now.

I reached down for him and his breath hissed between his teeth as he pressed against me. He dipped his tongue in my ear and brushed his hand over each of my full breasts in turn. The compelling combination of his fingers and his tongue made me shiver and writhe against him. At last his hand trailed down my body until it reached the burning flesh between my thighs. I sobbed out my pleasure and then held my breath involuntarily as he teased me until I felt I could endure no more. His mouth was on mine again, kissing my lips, then my breasts, biting and licking my nipples until I moved into him and clung with my arms around him, burying my face in his soft, smooth neck.

"He knows me so well," I thought, "He knows every single secret of my body and he worships it with every touch..." I was rising higher all the time, in a warm, wet, delirious wave of feeling, and I knew I needed him now, needed him as close as possible.

"Stop, Severus, please!" I begged, pushing him off me and onto his back. He drew me over on to him and I sat astride him, breathless. His eyes bored into me, hypnotising me, holding me, and in answer to my unspoken need he took my hips in his hands and lifted me until I was poised above him. He held me there, still, for a few incandescent moments, and then lowered me gently, exhaling with a groan. I felt completed by him, and my eyes rolled back in my head as I surrendered to the wonderful sensations his body provoked., both of us beyond thought now. A heat burst from him deep inside me, and my body began to tingle as convulsions swept through me. He sat up, clasping his arms around me to hold himself upright, trying to prolong our ecstasy. Finally, once the wildness had faded from his eyes and our breathing had slowed, he flopped back on to the bed, taking me with him so that I lay across him, my head across his breast. I sobbed uncontrollably with sheer love for him, the intensity of my orgasm having overwhelmed me completely.

He stroked my damp hair from my brow, and held me close.

"Are you alright?" he murmured.

"Yes," I gasped, "Oh, yes!"

My eyes were level with his forearm as he stroked me tenderly, and I studied the Dark Mark carefully, crying all the more in the knowledge of what I would be able to do for him. For all that I wanted to savour every single moment I spent with him, still I could not help but wish the time to fly by until the baby was born, so that I would be able to carry out my plan.

Severus pushed me off him after a while in order to turn and spoon into my back. I leaned back into him and sighed contentedly as he nuzzled my neck, enfolding me in his strong embrace. A few moments later, his grip slackened and I felt his breathing slow and deepen. He was slumbering now, and I closed my eyes, stroking his arm gently as it held me, and soon I felt myself begin to sink into that delightful torpor that is the precursor of sleep.

I woke to find Severus nibbling insistently on my ear.

"Mmm," I murmured, stretching luxuriantly and reaching behind my head to touch his cheek.

"We have work to do," he reminded me, nuzzling my hair.

We spent the rest of the day sitting by the fire surrounded by books, engaged in long periods of companionable silence interspersed with heated discussion over ingredients, translations, Gruber´s modifications and seemingly pointless discrepancies and divergences from accepted practice. We each played off the other´s knowledge, arguing, sparring, yet spurring each other on to new levels of understanding. It was draining, exhausting even, but very rewarding. I was reminded of when we had first met, and had had similar discussions in his office, sitting together at the large table there, our heads bent together until deep into the night. Severus had found another version of the healing balm from the Almanack, in a larger volume of Gruber´s containing rare botanical references, and I had seen a spark of intense interest in his eyes as he had shown it me. I had noted that while it contained a detailed recipe there was no mention of the series of incantations and other circumstances as laid out in the almanack, and I assumed that Gruber´s notes here predated the Almanack´s

Eventually, Severus sat back and threw down the copy of "Magickal Mandragora" he had been studying and ran his hand over his eyes.

"That´s it, I´ve had enough!" he announced tiredly. "Tomorrow we´ll try some of these potions. And I´ll prove you wrong about the Healing one! The notes suggest it may be effective in the removal of - well, this." He thrust out his left arm, almost carelessly, but I saw pain and hope in his eyes.

"We´ll see," I replied, trying delicately to keep our conversation light, not wanting him to dwell on it just yet, "but I think you´ll find my translation makes more sense."

"But it isn´t absolutely correct!"

"I know, but the sense is there. I have a feel for it."
"A feel for something isn´t the same as being right! Potions making is a subtle science - "

" - And an exact art, yes, I know, you´ve told me."

He raised an eyebrow and continued,

" - And instructions must be followed to the letter!"

"Depending on how the letter is translated!" I insisted, and we spent the next ten minutes engaged in a very spirited and enjoyable discussion about semantics and etymology, which somehow ended with the removal of all of our clothing.

"Severus, " I panted as he lay me on the bed and covered me with his body, "Why is it that we always end up in bed?"

He stopped kissing my neck for a moment and said huskily,

"Can you think of anywhere better to be?"

I had to admit that I could not, as his mouth burned its way down my body once more.

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The next few days were blissful for Severus and me. We wandered the grounds and the cloisters freely, simply enjoying the silence and the undisturbed intimacy it afforded us. We could walk along the corridors arm in arm, pausing whenever and wherever we felt the need to steal kisses, without fear of being caught out by speechlessly shocked students. Then, when we were so drunk on desire that we could barely stand, we would return to the dungeons where our bed awaited us, and our lovemaking would make us weep with joy.

One such lazy afternoon had ended like that, and we lay entwined with our noses rubbing together gently as we gazed into one another´s eyes. I would have felt completely happy and at peace, but I was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"My back aches," I complained, and Severus frowned slightly with concern. He began to rub my back gently and said,

"Do you think we overdid it just now?"

"I don´t know...no, I don´t think so. My tummy feels tight too...I think I´m having contractions."

"What?" he said, his eyes widening in alarm as he lifted his head from the pillow. "It´s too soon, you can´t, not for four more weeks!"

"Oh, well, shall I tell it to stop, then?" I snapped sarcastically as I sat up and looked down at myself.

Severus sat cross-legged in front of me and put both of his hands on me.

"Tell me when it happens again," he ordered.

"I can´t, it could be half an hour or more, so there´s no point in your sitting there like that!"

"What do you mean, half an hour? Have you had these feelings for long?"

"On and off since yesterday, yes."

"Yesterday? And you tell me now?"

"Well, at first I thought the baby was just lying awkwardly..."

"Oh, good grief, Ella! What were you thinking? Hah, stupid question, you evidently weren´t thinking at all, were you?" he burst out, his voice rising all the time as he spoke.

"This is the first time I´ve ever done this, you know!" I retorted defensively.

"Right, get dressed," he ordered, leaping off the bed and pulling on his trousers. "Can you walk?"

"Of course I can walk!"

"I´m taking you to see Poppy. Now."

I got up resentfully and glared at him, irritated.

"Don´t look at me like that, Ella," he said silkily. "You know I´m right."

"Stop talking to me as if I´m one of your more challenging third years!" I replied petulantly.

"Then stop acting like one!" was his acid retort.

We bickered all the way to the infirmary but we both knew our hearts were not really in it. When I got another stitch in my side again he held me as tenderly as ever, murmuring to me as he rubbed it away, and with a long, passionate kiss at the door to the hospital wing, our argument was forgotten.

Severus hovered anxiously at my bedside while Madam Pomfrey examined me.

"Well?" he demanded as she finished palpating my stomach.

"False labour, that´s all. The baby´s head hasn´t even begun to engage yet. You´d know about it if it had, you´d be very uncomfortable!"

"You mean it gets worse?" I retorted, trying to sit up.

"So, is it coming?" Severus asked impatiently.

"No, Severus, I just explained that!" she replied tetchily. "Ella´s body is just having practice contractions, nothing more. Now, Ella dear, just try to carry on as normal. Exercise as much as you can, and keep on - well, keep on doing whatever it is you´re doing when you´re alone, it will help bring labour on when the baby´s ready to face the world."

I blushed and looked at Severus sheepishly, but he was still frowning at Madam Pomfrey and didn´t notice.

"Are you absolutely certain?" he pressed.

Madam Pomfrey answered him with a withering look, and turned to go back to her office, calling back,

"Come back next week, Ella, I need to see you more regularly from now on!"