Sweet love, sweet love, trapped in your love

I've opened up unsure I can trust

My heart and I were buried in dust

Free me, free us

You're all I need when I'm holding you tight

If you walk away I will suffer tonight

Bound to You – Christina Aguilera

Severus sat before the fire in his sitting room pensively, his right thumb sliding over the smooth, unmarred skin of his forearm almost absently as the flames danced in front of him. He had fallen asleep worried for his mate, awaken with her already conscious, if not groggy and still slightly disoriented, and free of the mark that had bound him to his infernal master.

As both Hermione and Severus had been asleep during the entirety of the process, Poppy's running theory was that the Dark Lord had attempted to summon Severus while their magic was tangled. The result had been panic on both sides of their bond, namely Hermione's, as the dark foreign magic had attempted to pull Severus awake and away from her. Hermione's magic had likely surged in, severed the connection to cease any pain Severus had been feeling, and somehow obliterated the grotesque magic worked into the dark mark successfully.

Poppy was still trying to figure out just how that last part was feasible.

"Lucius Malfoy still bears his mark," Severus had pointed out. "They defected for Draco and Narcissa never wanted him bound to the Dark Lord to begin with."

"But Lucius doesn't feel the pain of summons," Poppy had argued back. "For all we know the connection is severed, but the full extent of the magical signature of that blasted curse wasn't destroyed in the process."

Severus counted his blessings while wondering if they could prove Poppy's theory and, if so, would Lucius Malfoy consider muggle means of tattoo removal if necessary to remove the rest of the brand from his person.

All Severus knew was that while he still had a war to fight, he could breathe. Never again would he be forced to answer his master's call. Never again would he have a master.

Unless of course, his witch counted, since he was still bound to her, after all.

And now he could truly feel her.

Since insanity and brilliance often run in the same circles, Tom Riddle had been both clever enough and neurotic enough to make his mark deadly if bestowed upon a muggle born. Severus assumed that particular bit of spell work was as much of a precautionary measure as it was a gamble. It kept the inner circle 'as clean as one could expect given the times' and ensured that if a muggle born did worm their way into Riddle's ranks, an example would be made.

They can pretend to be like us, he would likely hiss under such circumstances. But no matter how hard they try, they'll never succeed.

Severus counted a few more blessings when he remembered that 'safety net' of the mark after Poppy had left his chambers earlier in the morning. He and Hermione would have dropped dead during her first potion lesson seven years prior if the hex had been able to come through the bond and kill her, him following closely after, if not immediately.

Instead, he'd been unable to feel the bond at all, except for mate deprivation-like symptoms. The strain on their bond due to the dark mark had caused him torment, though at the time he hadn't understood why one eleven year old girl with untamable hair had affected him so. He'd grown to loath her, wrongly label her as unnecessary in his mind, and due to her lack of magical maturity, Hermione had been blind to the bond as well.

Until her birthday, when Tom Riddle's bigoted, idiotic, ridiculous failsafe was finally able to prey upon her as well.

Severus' blood boiled as he, almost without trying, was able to feel the unobstructed bond connecting him to Hermione. If he gave it more than a moment's concentration, he could almost feel the ghost of her pulse like a quiet, steady drumming in the back of his mind.

Before, when he felt for her it was as if he were peering through a very small keyhole, a claustrophobic tunnel that allowed very little wiggle room, not at all unlike the sensation of apparation. Now, it felt as if they might not even be separate people. His occlumency shields did not shut her out in the damaging way they had previously, but did provide them with privacy. If they both reached out, they could speak from across his chambers without ever having uttered a sound. A quick experiment with Albus had, to Severus' great relief and pleasure, proved that his shields merged with hers against external assailants.

Any other witch might learn that she didn't need to study occlumency so long as she stayed near her mate and immediately stop obtaining instruction. Hermione, of course, was determined to be able to guard her own mind in the event that they were separated. Thankfully, her typically unhindered access to the majority of his mind meant she could feel how his shields were erected for herself, and she'd figured out how to mimic them by the third time Albus had unsuccessfully attempted legilimency on them.

Severus could only partially bring himself to care who'd been covering his classes. If the newness and comfort that came with having a proper, healthy bond to one's mate ever wore off, then perhaps he'd be more concerned, but he doubted such would be the case.

Draco still looked at Lily's son as if he'd hung the stars of the constellation he was named after by hand after painstakingly creating each one, regardless of whether the two were quarrelling or not. Nevermind the slew of mated students he'd never paid attention to that had also lost their wits as they'd lost their hearts.

The atmosphere around him shifted slightly. Just enough for his senses to heighten, enough for him realize Hermione was nearer now than she had been moments prior. Glancing over his shoulder, he found her standing in the doorway, unsure, and hadn't fully registered the invitation he had planned to extend verbally before it was received telepathically.

There were worse learning curves, he decided. She couldn't doubt that he wanted her near when she could feel it for herself, unfiltered, in the privacy of their minds.

"How are you feeling?" he asked quietly once she'd sat beside him on the rug. It was only her second day awake, including the day he'd woken up markless, and she was still recovering.

Where he only felt some semblance of residual soreness as an after effect of the dark mark, Hermione had been put through hell while living with a nearly one-sided mate bond. She'd need a few more days to get her bearings, which he selfishly planned to spend watching over her.

"Better," she said quietly, answering him after several moments of silence.

He stopped toying with his forearm, determined not to obsessively reassure himself that the mark was truly gone, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. The accompanying rush of warmth and endorphins, courtesy of their bond, made them scoot closer to one another.

Severus suddenly remembered the conversation he'd had with Dumbledore earlier that morning with a slight frown. Albus had made a fair point, however, as it would be difficult for him to go back to his normal routine, and Hermione to hers, when they needed to prioritize the health of their relationship.

"I assume you've made plans for after graduation?" he asked her. "Or at least have some idea of what you'd like to do when the war ends?"

The 'if' in his statement went unspoken, but she heard it nonetheless.

"Nothing practical," Hermione answered bitterly, thinking back on more than one discussion with her head of house concerning the same topic. "Ronald wants to be an auror, of course, and expects Harry to follow him. I'm not sure what Harry wants aside from something quiet."

He rolled his eyes. "Because you'll be trailing after those two forever, naturally."

"No," she muttered, nudging him in the ribs for his sarcasm. "But it's been explained to me several times now that my preferred career path is neither a field in which women succeed nor conducive to pursue in Britain. I've yet to come up with something else."

He glanced down at her, though she was glaring at the flames and didn't notice his half hopeful, half shocked expression. "You want to go into Potions?"

His voice betrayed him, as did, he assumed, their bond, and Hermione glanced up at him with flushed cheeks. "Well, yes," she mumbled. "It's challenging. Interesting."

Severus tried hard to fight the urge to laugh, but a smirk still managed to tug at his lips. "And Minerva suggested you try another industry? Transfiguration, perhaps?"

Hermione frowned at him. "You're laughing at me."

"I'm laughing at Minerva," he corrected. "Surely she's told you her concerns?"

Still frowning, Hermione nodded slowly, clearly confused. "Well, there's only four potions masters in Britain, for starters, yourself included, of course."

He bit the inside of his cheek, certain she wouldn't take kindly to him laughing in her face. "I'd noticed."

Glaring at him, she continued, "And she didn't think any of them would accept a female student."

"She knew the other three wouldn't. She suspected I'd refuse to accept you specifically," he clarified, still smirking. "That point is neither accurate nor moot."

"Hardly!" she argued. "It's compromising enough that I'm still a student now. I can't imagine what the Prophet would say about an apprenticeship."

He raised an eyebrow, still resisting the urge to snort. "They'd fawn over such a traditionalist attitude." When she stared blankly at him, he sighed and grumbled, "There really ought to be a wizarding culture class for muggle borns," before launching into a more thorough explanation. "It was common practice, especially in the past, for a wizard to take his witch's magical education into his own hands, especially if he had already obtained a mastery. The apprenticeship period was even used to define the scope of an engagement. Once the witch completed her training, in some cultures that added to the 'quality' of her womanly status. Masteries were often officially completed and celebrated in conjunction with the couple's nuptials, as a result."

Hermione's cheeks were even darker in the firelight and he finally chuckled. "Did you only just now realize that we're quite thoroughly stuck with each other?"

"No!" she snapped, embarrassed, and looked away. "It's just...you're comfortable with the idea which isn't...It just seems backwards. It's...difficult trying to anticipate how you'll react to things. Instinct says one thing; the bond says another."

"You freed me from a madman in your sleep," he reminded her. "A madman who was indirectly suppressing our connection. There's still a learning curve ahead of us. One that will be helped along if we see each other more often than our current schedules will allow."

She gave him another confused stare and he felt his brow twitch upward again.

"Albus, meddling old fool that he is, thinks you should take your N.E.W.T.s early. He was hoping you'd be interested in a teacher's assistant position, which would of course be in my classroom, but hopes you might be more interested in a potions mastery to make that arrangement less glaringly transparent," Severus continued.

"He's not very subtle," she muttered.

He snorted. "Not particularly, no. I do agree with him as far as your exams are concerned. You could have passed them in your fourth year if we'd let you try. It's insulting to your intelligence to have you finish a school year you don't need."

Her cheeks pinkened again. "And I'd start my potions mastery immediately after? With you?"

He gave her a look. "No, I was thinking one of the sexist fools should be responsible for your training, even though they're all pitiful excuses for masters on a good day."

"I get the most modest of the bunch, then. Excellent," she quipped, quirking a brow of her own and pulling another chuckle from him.

"I never claimed to be modest, witch. I'm sure you've enough unnecessary social Gryffindorisms for us both," he said.

"Well, I am supposed to be your better half."

He hid a smile by pressing his lips to her hair, which still smelled faintly of the vanilla shampoo Potter had brought from her rooms the day before. The quiet assault of endorphins and contentment the bond rewarded his action with was overwhelming, but he wouldn't trade it for anything.

He'd drown in her so long as no one took her from him. Thinking of all the times he'd saved Potter's arse, and hers by default, he held her a little tighter. She could have passed through these halls and left without him ever knowing who she was, without him having the chance to revel in the only good thing life had bestowed upon him.

He would drown in her and she in him until together they relearned how to breathe. Because they already knew that they could only truly suffocate if they were separated.

A/N: I can't believe Part 1 is over already! Thank you guys so much for reading along. You're just the loveliest bunch.

I promised details about Part 2, so here they are:

I don't know when I'll finish writing Part 2, so I don't know when I'll start posting it. If Part 1 focused on bringing Severus and Hermione together (and revealing the bond) then Part 2 can be described as their actual romance arc, as well as addressing the ramifications of Severus's sudden, unplanned defection from the Death Eaters properly, and finishing out the war. More happens. Severus and Hermione might even actually kiss or something. I don't really write smut, but when I say romance arc, I'm throwing "lust" under that umbrella as well as all the lovey dovey stuff we're all here for, yeah?

THIS FIC WILL BE MARKED COMPLETE UNTIL I BEGIN POSTING PART 2 - Part 2 has so far been written as a continuation of this fic, with "Chapter 15" starting a few days after the end of this chapter. I only have about 3-4 chapters written so far of Part 2. I'm very busy until the year ends, and next term is my last official term before I graduate (college, I'm almost done with a 2 year degree) so I'll have very little writing time.

THAT SAID. I pick Disillusionist9 up from the airport tommorrow. If you haven't followed us on tumblr, we'll be up to some shenanigans and might stream some video games or something. We don't know what we'll do yet. It may only end up being a weekend long "drunk/tipsy" asks games session. Who knows, but you guys should TOTALLY come say hi. Come ask me things about Part 2 if you want. I'll avoid fully answering truly spoiler-y questions, but I'll try to answer what I can! :)

Otherwise, I will see you lovely people when Part 2 debuts!

xoxo

~K