Continuing Tales

Cliché

A Harry Potter Story
by Alexis.Danaan

Part 14 of 26

<< Previous     Home     Next >>
Cliche

4 months, 3 weeks:

Severus would never be handsome, she knew that perfectly well; his features were too sharp, too severe; his lips too prone to being pressed thin and his brows often marred in a frown. Hermione knew all this, had practically grown up knowing it, but lying in bed next to him as he slept soundly she couldn't deny that he made her blood rush hotly through her veins and her groin tighten in anticipation.

He was arresting. The contrast of his dark eyes and hair next to his pale skin drew the eye over and over again; the tall length of his body seemed made to be fit against hers, his hands were steady and gentle as they roamed her body and from his lips slipped naughty endearments that she never thought to hear from a man like him.

It was times like this, the early mornings before they fully woke, that she could admit to herself that she was falling in love with him, and probably a little too fast.

He had only lasted three weeks sleeping on the cot in Sebastian's nursery. It had been entertaining to walk into the room three or four times a night to find Severus already up and holding his son as he cried. He would then hand him off to Hermione and settle back down on the cot, his eyes open and glittering in the dark, as Hermione rocked and fed Sebastian from her chair.

Despite his apparent efforts to keep their living together chaste they had tumbled back into bed before the second week was out. Neither of them made the open decision to hold off on sex when he first moved in but it seemed that both of them acknowledged the need to at least try to live together without the tension of sex hanging over them. It had sort of worked. Either way, Hermione wasn't complaining.

"Wake up, Severus," she whispered, trailing her fingers over his chest and watching goose bumps follow in her wake. She always knew the moment that he fully woke because his entire body tensed for a second before he seemed to realize where he was. Hermione wasn't sure if it was because he was not yet used to sleeping in her flat or if it was a habit ingrained in him from years as a double agent.

"Must you wake me early, woman?" he grumbled, opening one bleary eye at her. She beamed at him, fully alert. "Ugh, smiling, too."

"You make it sound as if smiling is a crime," she said, keeping her voice low for his benefit as she wiggled to his side, resting her chin on his ribs and slinging an arm over his stomach.

"This early? It is."

"It's nearly nine you ninny," she told him.

"It's what?" he sat up, slightly more alert. Dislodged from her place she sat up too and grinned as he eyed her fully dressed form. "How long have you been awake?"

"Couple hours," she shrugged. "I thought I'd let you sleep since it's a Saturday and you don't open till eleven."

"I'm okay," he said, slipping out of the bed and reaching for the familiar black robe. She caught a flash of bare arse before the silk material wrapped around him. "Where is he?"

"With your best friend," she grinned up at him.

"Bloody Potter," Severus grumbled. "I'm going to shower then, avoid him for as long as possible."

"You do that," she said, standing up and sliding up to him, slipping her hands into his loosely tied robe.

"Care to join me?" he asked, his voice a bit hoarse from sleep.

"And leave Harry to watch Sebastian without Ginny or Lavender to supervise him?" Hermione teased.

"Point," Severus agreed even as slid his hands up her arms and over the light cotton robes she wore. "What are you even doing in here, then? Our son could be in danger."

Hermione grinned and rose up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips, feeling the scratch of his unshaven chin. "I'm going to meet with Kingsley today so Harry is going to watch Sebastian while we're gone," she said, stepping back. "I was going to pick him up and grab lunch for us. Shall I meet you at your shop?"

"That would be agreeable," Severus said quietly, turning for the door. "I have a meeting with potential client at one but it shouldn't take long."

Hermione nodded and left Severus to his morning ablutions. Walking back into the sitting room, she found Harry sitting on the couch with Sebastian sitting up on his lap. The babe let out a happy cry, his feet kicking out and a wet smile spreading across his face at the sight of his mother. "How's my boy?" Hermione asked, plopping herself down next to Harry.

"Where's Snape?" Harry asked. "Still in bed?"

"He's having a shower if you must know," Hermione said, reaching out to her son and letting him grab hold of her finger. He waved it up and down, squealing as he did so. He had become a lot more vocal in the past few months which was both adorable and irritating, especially when it was late at night and he decided he'd rather babble on and on instead of sleep. She thanked god for Severus more than once because having him stay meant that there was one other person besides her to get up and walk with their son until he fell back asleep.

"Ugh, too much information," Harry shuddered.

"Then you ought to not ask questions you don't want the answers to," Hermione said, an echo of her old school self. Harry grinned and rolled his eyes.

"How was I supposed to know that—"

He was cut off by the abrupt tapping of an owl at the window. Hermione got up quickly to let it in, always afraid that one of the many Muggles around the area would see owls swooping in and out of her flat. She had finally let up on the wards allowing other owls in to her place roughly a month ago when the fervour had seemed to die down. She still got the occasional letter but since she rarely went out in public and no one had spied Sebastian yet, those had become few and far in between.

"It's from St. Mungo's," Hermione observed curiously, cracking the seal as Sebastian let out a little cry of happiness. Hermione looked up to see Severus enter the room. He was in his full teaching outfit, sans the outer robes. "That was fast," she refrained from commenting on his outfit, knowing that he wore it because Harry was around.

For reasons she couldn't quite get around yet, Severus had issues with showing himself as someone other than the nasty Potions professor to others; being affectionate with her was completely off the table when anyone but their son was around. She had accepted it, mostly.

"The wonders of magic," he drawled, arching an eyebrow

"Clever," she retorted, rolling her eyes and opening her letter. She read the first couple of lines before she let out a huff. "Huh. I've been summoned to a disciplinary hearing."

"What's wrong?" Severus asked, walking up beside her to lean on the arm of the couch nearest her and read over her shoulder. "Ah, it seems Healer Bray has found the rat."

"Really?" Harry looked up, letting go of Sebastian's hand. "Who?"

"No idea, yet," Hermione said. "It just says that my presence is required next month to deal with the issues surrounding my contract with the hospital."

"They wouldn't be summoning you if they didn't already have a good idea of who it was," Severus said.

"Huh," Harry said, looking thoughtful. "My bet is on that smiley bloke, the Roger fella, the one that Snape verbally eviscerated in front of his co-workers."

Hermione and Severus stared at Harry for a moment before the young wizard realized that no one was speaking and looked up. "What?" he asked defensively.

"I am merely astounded that your vocabulary as improved so much, Potter," Severus said, his tone cool. Hermione hid a giggle with a cough and swiftly changed the topic.

"You humiliated him in front of his peers?" she turned to Severus. "Why?"

"He refused to tell me anything about your condition," he responded with a shrug.

"Which means he was only doing his job," she reminded him. "If you should be angry at anyone, it should be me, no?"

"Are you offering to have an argument with me?" Severus asked, his tone expressing mild disbelief. "I assure you, I'll win this one too."

"You did not win the last—" Hermione began, hotly.

"Okay!" Harry said, standing up with Sebastian. He held the babe out to his father, who grinned happily at the tall man and reached for him as he was transferred. "Isn't it time you got moving, Hermione? Do you really want to be late when you're begging for your job back?"

"She is not begging, Potter," Severus informed him coolly, turning his son in his arms so that the infant could face him. "Though the concept of strategic negotiation may be beyond you, I assure you that Hermione is more than capable of convincingMr. Shacklebolt to take her back as an employee."

"I thought you'd be against her going back to work," Harry said, ignoring Severus' insults. "You're actually supporting this?"

Severus looked a mite uncomfortable as his gaze darted quickly to Hermione's.

"Hermione is a grown woman and capable of making her own decisions, I am not her keeper, Potter," he said stiffly.

"Well, no, but you are her—," Harry broke off, suddenly looking awkward himself. "You're her—her—well, boyfriend just doesn't seem to suit you, does it?"

Severus arched an eyebrow at him and Hermione fought down another giggle at his dry, "Indeed. Your powers of deduction are astounding, Potter."

"Yeah, yeah," Harry grumbled. "And you're a git."

Hermione saw Severus' mouth twitch, almost as if he wanted to grin but had suppressed it as the unmistakable tapping of an owl on glass met their ears once more. Harry turned around and looked curiously at Morgana on her perch before turning back to Hermione with an inquiring look.

"Aren't you Miss Popularity today?" Harry remarked.

"Apparently," Hermione said, opening the window and freeing the bird of its burden, "though this is a welcome change from what it was before. It seems that even the Wizarding world has gotten tired of hearing what a w-h-o-r-e I am," she said.

"You're spelling swear words now?" Harry said, a sardonic grin playing about his lips.

"I don't want Severus to murder me either, Harry," she murmured distractedly, cracking the seal on the scroll.

"While the thought of murdering Potter certainly has its merits," Severus said, walking up behind Hermione to see what was making her frown, "why would I be harming you?"

"Hermione is concerned that you would hex me into little bits if my habit of swearing in front of Sebastian results in his first word being a curse," Harry admitted with a grin.

"They would not find your body, Potter," Severus promised, glaring at the younger wizard.

"You would kill the Boy Who Lived?" Harry grinned.

"You would no longer be the Boy Who Lived, I assure you," Severus said dryly. "Perhaps they could call you—"

"That little shit!" Hermione spat suddenly, reaching the end of the parchment and looking up at the stunned faces of Severus and Harry.

Harry made a strangled noise and pointed at her dramatically. "Hypocrite!" he accused.

"Do shut up, Potter," Severus muttered, transferring Sebastian's weight to his hip and holding out a hand to Hermione. She passed the parchment over and growled deep in her throat.

"It's from Healer Bray directly," Hermione said, waving her hand in the direction of the parchment. "You were right about it being Roger."

"And?" Harry demanded. "What's being done of it?"

"He has been suspended without pay," Severus read aloud, "until a review can be made by the Board of Governors of St. Mungo's Hospital and an interview conducted with Hermione as to her wishes to press charges."

"You can press charges?" Harry asked, shocked.

"Technically, yes. As a representative of the hospital, he broke that contract that I signed," Hermione said, frowning. "I don't know if I will though."

"Well," Harry mused, "at least Healer Bray is actually giving you information instead of just summoning you to a hearing."

Severus finished reading the parchment and rolled it back up, tossing it down on the end table before Sebastian could make a grab for it. "Perhaps we should discuss this later? You're about to be late."

"Oh shi—" Hermione bit her tongue and sent an apologetic grin towards Harry before she turned and bestowed a kiss upon Sebastian's black mop of curls. "Be good for Uncle Harry," she told her son and, before Severus could back away, she stood up on her toes and planted a kiss on his cheek as well. She grinned at the arched eyebrow he sent her way before spinning around and plucking her purse from the couch. With a wave and an 'I love you!' to the room in general, she disappeared into the Floo.

Cliché

A Harry Potter Story
by Alexis.Danaan

Part 14 of 26

<< Previous     Home     Next >>