Snape In Love

Chapter 48

Now I'm Home Again, Back In My Old Place

We had several hours more sleep that night, but I was still exhausted when Persephone woke up again early the following morning. I couldn't wait to get back home to Hogwarts, where I felt I would truly be able to relax, and where I knew our friends were eagerly awaiting our return. The doctor discharged me and Persephone after Severus and I insisted that Madam Pomfrey would be on hand at all times to keep an eye on us.

St Mungo's had a central courtyard, and it was here that the Portkey was to be activated. Severus wheeled me down there in a wheelchair with Persephone in my arms, while Sirius carried our bags, and soon we were standing together in the centre of the courtyard, holding on to a small porcelain table clock. Severus stood behind me, with his arms wound reassuringly around me, and we both held little Persephone's unwilling hands on to the clock lest she be left behind.

"Don't worry," Severus murmured into my hair, "Don't think about last time."

"How did you know I was thinking about the abduction?" I enquired, turning my head round to look up at him. He lifted an eyebrow and looked at me knowingly, and then, with an unpleasant tugging in my stomach, everything around us winked out of existence and I felt weightless, disembodied. I had a moment or two of blind panic, when I could feel neither Severus' arms around me nor Persephone's small body clasped to me, and then I was jolted back into reality, and sank back against Severus with relief as we landed on Hogwarts' front lawn.

Persephone held her breath, her tiny arms flailing, and then her mouth opened to emit a bawl of outrage at her unpleasant experience. I lifted her to my left shoulder and cupped her head in my hand, jiggling her up and down and shushing her. The Headmaster came down the steps to greet us, accompanied by Hermione, Harry, Remus and Madam Pomfrey.

"Ah! The latest in a long line of Snapes, and taking after her father, I see!" he smiled.

"Hmph!" muttered Severus darkly. "It's her mother that can't bear to travel in the normal way! And Ella's the one with the temper, too!"

Dumbledore looked at Severus over the top of his glasses and said mildly,

"I was merely referring to her hair, Severus!"

Sirius sniggered and was rewarded with a sharp scowl from Severus, which went unappreciated since Sirius was already at the steps being greeted by his godson.

After everybody had welcomed her, Severus and I led the way to the dungeons, to show Persephone her new home. I was exhausted by the time we got there, and sank gratefully on to one of the new sofas. Severus walked around the room appraisingly, before coming to sit down beside me. He took my hand in his and when I asked uncertainly,

"Well? Do you like it?" simply squeezed it.

Professor Dumbledore waved his hand and soon everyone was holding a glass of fine claret,

"To wet the baby's head!"

Pleased as I was to see them all, I wished nevertheless that they would leave us in peace, and after their glasses had been drained, and Madam Pomfrey had been persuaded to hand Persephone back to her father, our guests departed. After Severus had closed, locked and warded the door behind them, I asked again,

"Well?"

"Well what?" he replied absently, running his hands along the spines of the books on the shelves, which had previously made dusty towers in his office.

"Do you approve of what I've done?"

"Would it matter if I didn't?"

"Yes, of course!"

He was silent and had his back to me so I couldn't see his face, and his sudden change of subject perplexed me.

"Has anyone but you been in our bedroom? Like Hermione?"

"No, I'd never let anyone in there! It's - it's our sanctuary!"

"Good..."

"Severus!"

"You want to know what I think?" he said musingly, turning to face me at last. "I think it's like Persephone."

"That's too cryptic even for me, Severus. What do you mean?"

He sat down beside me once more and put his arm around my shoulders, stroking Persephone's cheek with his finger as he smiled at her softly,

"I mean, it's the perfect marriage of Slytherin and Ravenclaw!"

"Not too much Ravenclaw?" I teased.

"Never too much Ravenclaw," he replied, staring into my eyes before moving in for a searching, lingering kiss.

"Can we put Persephone in her cot now?" I murmured languidly as he trailed soft kisses along my jaw and down my neck.

He drew back and looked at me thoughtfully. It was evident that there was something on his mind.

"Why did you leave a space on the shelves? Over there?"

His question was hesitant, careful, as if he feared hearing my answer.

"For all my books. My parents' books." His hand still rested in my lap, and I squeezed it, looking up at him.

"You've never been back, have you?" he asked quietly, his eyes staring at a fixed point on the wall opposite.

"I've never felt strong enough to face it, love," I said gently. "Not until now."

His brows drew together and he sighed.

"Have you decided when you want to go?"

"Well, I had wanted to go before the wedding, but then Persephone showed up early, and..."

"We'll go next week," he interrupted decisively.

"You're coming with me?"

He turned to face me and looked at me gravely.

"I don't want you to go through it alone. And - I owe it to you. And to your parents. I owe it to them to always look after you."

His eyes, full of remorse and regret, searched mine for my assent.

"Thank you," I said softly and drew him back to me. We sat, for a long time.

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Later, we stood arm in arm, looking down at Persephone as she slept in her crib, her black hair sticking out at all angles against the whiteness of the sheets.

"She's so beautiful!" Severus whispered.

"You keep saying that!" I smiled, squeezing his waist.

"It keeps on being true!"

I turned to him so that I could wrap my other arm around him too, and buried my face in his chest, breathing his scent.

"Come on," I said. "We'll leave the door open. We'll hear her if she wakes."

"Mmm," he said reluctantly, following me back into the living room. Curled up together on the sofa once more, alone at last, I pushed him back so that he was lying on his back, his head resting on the arm. I lay across him and his arms gripped me tightly as he pulled me up to him. My hair fell across his face and he tangled his right hand in it, drawing my head down to meet his. He moaned softly as my tongue flicked across his lips, and kissed me with a sweet hunger that took my breath away. Unshaven, his rough skin scratched my cheeks and skin and contrasted seductively with the soft, smooth wetness of his lips and mouth. Breathless, my heart pounding against his, I pulled away and began to kiss my way down past his jaw to his neck and the hollow below his Adam's apple, unbuttoning his shirt as I went.

His hand tightened in my hair and he pulled my head back so that he could look me in the eye as he said in a low voice,

"Don't, Ella. You're being very unfair!"

"Why?"

"You only gave birth yesterday! You're starting something we can't finish. You must know the effect you're having on me."

I could feel said effect pressing into my stomach as he spoke, and I smiled as I shifted against him, watching the way his face changed as I stimulated him.

"Ella..." he warned, and I laughed softly as I backed down the sofa so that I could unbutton his trousers.

"I feel fine, though. Honestly. And there are other ways of making love, Severus, you know that!"

"Aah!" he groaned, closing his eyes and arching his back as I released him. Sliding off the sofa so that I could kneel beside it, I leaned over him and took the base of his shaft in my hand, squeezing firmly as I lowered my head. His hands gripped the side and back of the sofa convulsively, scrabbling at the soft leather, and I smiled smugly at the effect I was having on him as he twitched involuntarily. I felt Severus' left hand in my hair then, and after a few moments he tensed and I knew he was close to his climax. I felt a dull ache in my uterus as my post-delivery body could not help but react to his arousal, and then he was coming, and I put my own discomfort to one side as I concentrated on intensifying his pleasure as much as I could. His breathing soon quickened, and as I looked up I saw his eyelids fluttering as soft moans began to escape his throat. Soon, he arched his back, his hips jerking, and he cried out my name in ecstasy as the salty rush of him was released in wave after wave of bliss.

Afterwards, as his hand slackened in my hair and fell to one side and he sighed heavily, I lifted my head and climbed back on to the sofa, stretching out beside his still-trembling frame.

"Did you like that?" I asked in my most sultry voice, slipping my hand under his shirt and caressing his chest. He let out a long, shuddering sigh and I was just about to feel immensely smug at how vulnerable I had made him feel, when the dreamy, half drunken expression on his face became a smirk. His eyes were still closed, and he replied,

"Not bad. In fact, you get better every time..."

"Hah!"

"...But I think if you practice a lot over the next few weeks, you'll get really good at it!"

"You patronising git!" I said, pinching his nipple hard.

"Ow! There was no need for that!" he complained, wriggling round to face me and wrapping his limbs around me.

"Oh, you think?" I asked. "You just gave me a grade of 'could do better'! And stop smirking like that or I'll pinch you again!"

We teased one another good-naturedly for a while, and then rested our hands on the other's cheeks as we gazed into one another's eyes. I had to admit, my exertions on Severus' behalf had weakened me more than I had anticipated they would, and I was relieved at the opportunity to relax in his embrace, with nothing to get up for, and no forthcoming separation to dread.

"This is nice," I said after a while.

"You can't have a companionable silence without breaking it, can you?" he said sardonically, grabbing my wrist as I tried to slip it back under his shirt once more.

"Ah-ah!" he laughed, kissing me deeply, teasing the tip of my tongue with his. "Come and shower with me? I need to change out of these clothes."

"You just want to tease me with your body, don't you?" I murmured.

"Me tease you? Isn't Mother Nature meant to re-direct all your, er, primal urges into caring for Persephone?"

"Yes, but Mother Nature obviously reckoned without you, didn't she?" I grumbled. "And stop smirking!"

Severus summoned a house elf to bring us lunch, and we sat in dressing gowns at the dining table, feasting on bread, ham, pate and salad, feeding one another sweet cherry tomatoes. When we heard Persephone in the next room, Severus' face split in a huge grin, and he sprang to his feet to go to her. Picking up my goblet of icy cold milk, my fourth that day, I followed him into the nursery and sat in the nursing chair in the turret. Severus kissed Persephone tenderly and passed her to me, pulling the rocking chair until it was opposite mine and sitting down to watch us curiously. Afterwards, we took her through to our bedroom and lay on the bed on either side of her, getting to know her.

We didn't venture out from the dungeons at all over the next two days. We ate at our new dining table, played with our new baby, and desired no other company but our own. Severus was a devoted father and I made the most of his dedication by resting as much as I could. Madam Pomfrey was assiduous in our aftercare, visiting so frequently that Severus, in the end, told her firmly that should she be needed, we would send for her. I feared his evident impatience would offend her, but her sometimes-prickly nature all but evaporated where Persephone was concerned, and she accepted his instructions with reluctant good grace.

On the third day after Persephone's birth my breasts became full and painfully swollen, and Persephone would feed greedily from one, milk dribbling down her cheek, while the other leaked copiously, much to Severus' fascination. He would watch as if hypnotised by the regular movements of her jaw as she fed, and after several minutes of quiet contemplation one day, he said,

"I still want to reclaim them, you know!"

"What?"

"When she's older. When you've...stopped."

"Why wait?"

His eyes burned into me, and I shivered.

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On the third day there was a knock at the door. It was Hermione, and Severus yawned loudly as he closed the door behind her.

"What do you want, Hermione?" I heard him ask brusquely as I emerged from the bedroom with Persephone in my arms.

"I wanted to see how little Seffie has settled in," she said, coming over to me and cooing.

"Persephone has settled in very well, thank you," Severus said shortly, glaring at her as he went to close the bedroom door behind me, standing in front of it with his arms folded.

"And how are you two?" she asked dubiously, looking at my milk-stained tee shirt and unbrushed hair, and at Severus' half-open robe. He saw her brief glance at his chest, and he glared at her, drawing his dressing gown around himself quickly, opening the bedroom door once more and disappearing within.

"Don't mind Severus," I told her, smiling tiredly. "He had a bad night."

"How about you?"

"Fine! Tired, but happy," I smiled, passing a sleeping Persephone over to her as she sat down on the sofa. I curled up beside her, my legs under me, and rested my head on the back of the sofa.

"Oh, Hermione, I never realised how tiring it would be - and how little I'd mind!"

"Well, you look, er..."

"I know. Dreadful! But tell me how much motherhood agrees with me anyway, will you? How I'm radiant, beautiful, tatty hair included!"

"It does, and you are all those things!" Severus admonished, coming up behind the sofa and leaning over me, letting his hair flop into my face.

I turned my head to smile up at him, and reached my hand to cup the side of his neck, pulling his head down to mine for a kiss.

"Ella!" he murmured disapprovingly, straightening and glancing at Hermione, irritated at her presence, before moving to the sofa opposite and sitting down stiffly, his arms folded. I noticed that he was fully dressed, in his shirt and frock coat, and looking down at his buttoned trousers I saw that he was wearing shoes too, for the first time since our return home.

"Are you going somewhere, love?" I asked, looking him up and down deliberately. A slight frown flickered across his face, I presumed at my use of the endearment.

"No, I am merely - dressing in a more suitable way to accept - guests," he answered stiffly, grimacing over that last word.

"Getting stuffy again, in other words!" retorted Hermione with a mischievous glance at me.

Severus looked at her sourly and, to my surprise, held his tongue. He sat there silently for the remainder of Hermione's visit, listening to our conversation but not participating, save for flicking his eyes between us as we chattered, and sighing heavily here and there. Eventually Hermione rose to leave, looking at me knowingly as she said,

"Well, I'm sure you've had enough of me for one day!"

I shot Severus a look, daring him to reply, but he simply raised his eyebrows at me questioningly.

"You will both be coming to dinner tonight, won't you? To celebrate Harry's birthday?"

"Oh, God..." muttered Severus faintly, breaking his silence at last.

"Yes!" I said firmly, glaring at him. "Of course we'll be there!"

I took Persephone from her and saw her out, then went over to Severus and sat down in his lap.

"What was all that about?" I asked, putting my free arm around his neck and stroking his hair.

"I don't like being forced to be sociable!"

"Well, I know that, love!" I smiled, nuzzling his cheek until his frown disappeared. "But why are you dressed so formally?"

"I just didn't feel comfortable with her here. In our home. I'm her teacher!"

"You were her teacher."

"Until only a couple of weeks ago. And I know she's your friend, but...it's all too familiar!"

"You'll get used to it, love. Look at you and me! You unwound with me, didn't you?"

"I had rather more of an incentive in your case!" he commented, running his hand underneath my tee shirt to stroke my back, sending a shiver through me.

"Well, get used to being sociable tonight - look on it as practice for next week, we'll be the centre of attention all day!"

"Five more days..." he said wonderingly, kissing my neck just below my ear. "Five more days and we'll be married."