"Have you seen Hermione, Professor?" Harry questioned, emerald eyes wide as he surveyed the crowd. She was nowhere to be found, not even the slightest sign of full brown curls.

"I have not, and I am not your Professor anymore, Potter, Severus will suffice." He sneered, his own black eyes flicked about the room, the enchanted ceiling sparkled stars down on them. There was a plethora of flowers, though having no functional use in potions their names were lost on him. They were lovely to look at, he supposed.

"Right, call me Harry then." He said, half-interested as he stared across the crowd, Ginny could be seen on her tip-toes across the room, looking for her soon to be sister-in-law as well.

Severus smirked, well, perhaps not if the bride did not show.

"Yes, Harry, well, I will go look over there, please, carry on your futile gazing and standing in one place." Severus shook his head in irritation at their antics and slipped away, his black eyes surveying effectively as he slipped through the room.

She wouldn't be amongst the crowd if she was having second thoughts. She would be somewhere private, somewhere quiet so she could gather her thoughts.

Honestly, these people considered themselves her best friends.

Indeed, he knew of many- a veritable plethora- of close friends who would allow their loved one to marry someone so completely and utterly wrong for them.

He shoved down a derisive snort as he slipped from the great hall and into the empty corridors of Hogwarts. They could occupy themselves with the gesiculating crowd, he was more than willing to wager they would find nothing.

Dunderheads, he'd not been wrong about that.

SSHG

Hermione stood, her head leaned against the cool stone wall of a blissfully dark alcove, she'd gone off in search of peace and had luckily found it in the quiet halls of Hogwarts. Night air drifted in from an open window and cooled her flushed skin.

It was her wedding, she was meant to be excited, she knew that. She was meant to be head over heels, feeling that nothing better could ever happen for her, she was supposed to be elated.

Joy, there was definitely supposed to be joy. Instead- no instead she felt she was at a funeral, she loved Ron though, didn't she? She had for so many years, how could she have second thoughts now, now, on her wedding day?

She must have lost her mind! She imagined her friends would be losing their minds searching for her.

Was it too late to call it off, could she cancel the wedding, bring it to an end, the disaster of a marriage she was walking into, before it even began?

It would disappoint a lot of people, a lot of Weasleys. Her hand fisted over her chest, where her heart felt like it was going to pound out of her chest and head for the hills.

She loved him though, didn't she?

And if she didn't, why hadn't she figured it out sooner? She had, she just never wanted to admit it to herself.

Her fingers clasped her forehead, eyes drifted closed as the cool breeze caressed her skin again. She didn't want this, this wasn't what she wanted at all, was it?

No.

Ronald Weasley did not understand her. Did not understand why she wanted to work as far from the Ministry of Magic as possible. Couldn't wrap his mind around what would possess her to decide her time after college should be spent becoming a Professor.

The truth was, she wanted to teach Transfiguration, and McGonagall was willing to teach her, to mentor her. It was a wonderful opportunity, she'd already mastered her Animagi form, which, for those interested, is incredibly difficult to do. It takes discipline, Ron thought it was stupid.

Well, she was beginning to think he was stupid.

She sniffled, her eyes watered and she was glad for magic that kept her makeup from smudging all over.

Suddenly her cool breeze was blocked and her eyes snapped open to see a thick expanse of black wool stood before her.

"Your dunderheads appear to believe you would hide amongst the masses of your guests, I saw fit to find you and warn you of their search efforts before they could come and drag you to your fate." Hermione sniffed, sobbed, and then burst out crying in front of him as he stared down on her. Severus cocked a black eyebrow, unsure how to handle a sobbing witch, they weren't exactly his area of expertise, despite all of his time as a head of house.

Witches who came to him sobbing were often redirected to Poppy, or Pomona, hell even Minerva was a better choice than himself.

"I can't do it!" She cried, her arms encircling his chest before he could stop her, leaving him stood, palms out, with a sobbing witch draped across his middle.

"Yes, well, there, there?" Severus patted her back nervously, his eyes wide with his shock as he tried to deduce the next best course of action. He needed to extricate the witch from his middle first and foremost, and then he could speak with her, hopefully without tears.

No matter how he pulled though, she didn't budge, only stood there sobbing into his black dress robes.

A muffled sob broke from the witch and she pulled back, away from him with a sad little laugh.

"I'm sorry, that was out of line." She turned, her back and the incredibly long train of her silver and blue gown toward him. He blinked at the cascade of cool brown curls down her bare back and had to stop himself from sucking a breath.

When exactly had she developed into such a gorgeous woman? It was no wonder Weasley had a mind to snap her up as quickly as possible.

"Would you…" He cleared his throat. "…like to speak about your worries?"

Hermione sniffed. "They aren't worries, or doubts, I had worries and doubts when I said yes. I can't do it. I just…I can't. I don't love him, I thought I did, but I don't, and Circe I've screwed everything up!" She crossed her arms across her stomach, hugging herself across the smooth silk of her gown, Severus, always one to think before acting stopped himself from hugging her to him.

"Don't marry him then, just…take him aside and tell him, let him know how you feel. You've not screwed anything up until you've bonded yourself to him for all eternity with no chance of freedom from the bond. Once you have married that is it, Hermione, you will not be able to go back."

"Thank you, for your honesty." Her shoulders drooped her hands fell to her sides.

"What, if I may be so bold as to ask, sparked this sudden realization?" Severus stepped closer, his hand fell to her shoulder and she tensed beneath him, just enough.

"You would like honesty in return?" She tipped her head and her soft hair brushed his fingers he took a deep breath, eyes locked on the honey highlights amongst deep brown strands.

"I cannot respect anyone who is not honest."

Hermione sniffled, exhaled and finally, finally after minutes of silence spoke.

"You, I saw you." She took a deep breath, her shoulders rigid as he stared at her, the peak of her lower back before it was consumed by blue silk, the long tendril like curls of dark caramel holding his gaze.

"That's absurd, Miss Granger." She tensed at his use of surname, the bitter laugh in his voice and turned, amber eyes burned into him.

"It is most certainly not." Her voice was shrill and she had to remind herself to tame it down, she did that when she grew upset, it annoyed even her at times. "Why do you think I came back to the shack? Shoved a bezoar in your mouth and poured potion after potion down your throat? It wasn't because I liked seeing you half dead on the floor, your blood all around you, your neck torn to shreds!" Her fingers fisted at her mouth, her breathing had grown labored and he blinked down at her.

"I am twice your age."

"Oh please! If that is your greatest argument then you have no ground to stand on at all." She bit out, her eyes narrowed on her feet, she wouldn't look him in the eye. Couldn't endure his hatred for her. And that was it, wasn't it? Why she'd started dating Ron, why she'd eventually agreed to marry him?

He was good, he was honest, he was kind, he was a bit goofy, but he was reliable- so then, it didn't matter that he didn't set her blood on fire, or make her tremble with passion with a simple word.

He was reliable.

And the wizard she wanted, truly, deep down, was not.

He was cold, and dark, and hard, and even if she was willing to fight for him he'd never let her. She'd never stand a chance against Harry's mum, the beautiful redheaded witch with emerald eyes and the wizard's heart.

Hermione hated herself for even looking at him, if she hadn't she'd already be married to a comfortable wizard with a good personality.

Severus' fingers grasped her slender shoulders and she gasped, eyes shot up to meet his and he could see it there, swirling in the amber depths. She loved him, she wanted him, she hated him, and she desired him. What an odd thing it was, to find out his former student, his former student who'd grown into such a beautiful woman cared for him.

He could have missed her, lost her to Weasley as easily as he'd lost Lily to Potter.

He tensed in front of her.

"I don't suppose I do, really, have a good argument for you. You are so incredibly foolish, foolish for caring for a bastard like me." She whimpered, a deep noise that rattled pain through him. She was hurting, hurting because of him, for him.

He really was a bastard. He knew it as soon as his fingers trailed up her neck to grasp either side of her face, held her there staring up at him.

He needed to run her off, scare her into marrying Weasley and having as many ginger babies as she could bear. He didn't want to though, he was so selfish, so incredibly selfish.

He wanted her for himself, to have his babies, to bear his name. Damned as it was he didn't care, he wanted to give it to her.

Her fingers grasped his elbows, eyes drifted closed as he held her face in his hands. She wanted him? Truly? It was so strange to him, but then, it made sense, she had come back for him, stayed with him until she was certain he was alive.

She'd brushed blood caked hair from his face and held him close to her while her friends cared for each other outside, nearer the castle. Hermione Granger had loved him in his lowest moment, her hands fluttered across him and brought him comfort, her body heat seeped from her and into him, her spells kept him breathing while her potions worked.

Her magic may as well have been a part of him already.

"Merlin, witch, you are in me already aren't you?" He groaned into her forehead, his lips settled there. He could feel her tears as they slid down her cheeks, caught by his grasping fingers as he held her.

"I always…" She sniffled again. "…always had a crush, it just changed, sometime during the height of the war, while we were out hunting horcruxes, after Dumbledore, and everything and I knew, I knew you had to be hurting, and I hated that I couldn't help you, couldn't stop their anger. Then, then we had things that had to be done, but I knew, I knew it was you- leaving us food when you could, necessities you thought we'd need. And the necklace, it was killing me inside, and then Ron left and you were there, and you were a light at the back of my mind, and I knew we'd be okay." She breathed, her eyes drifted closed as he pulled back to look down at her, so lovely.

"How could you possibly have known?"

"Who else? Who else could protect our location? Who else could know where we were without being found out? Who else cared enough about Harry's well-being to be sure there were things he needed?"

"I cared for your well-being as well." His voice had deepened, dropped to a new level that made her shiver.

"Don't…" She breathed, eyes closed as he held her face. "…don't tell me things, make me hope, my heart, it can't take anymore hoping and being let down. I can't lose anything else, I won't be able to put myself back together."

His hands released the sides of her face and she thought he was going to leave her, instead he wrapped her in his arms, his cloak enveloping her in warmth and the scent of spices, of potions, and parchment.

She took deep breaths, afraid she would wake up, that it would end at any moment and she would be in her bed, beside Ronald once more.

"Tell him, tell them, you will not be getting married today, tell him how you truly feel and then..." He cleared his throat, afraid himself to get his hopes up. "…Then find me, in the dungeons, in my chambers. Come to me and I will wait for you. If you do not come I will know you chose the safe route. What is probably the right route."

They broke apart and she stared up at him, a deep breath.

"You better be there." Her fingers reached up to cup his cheek, amber eyes bore into his face.

"I will."

SSHG

"So, you don't want to get married then?" Ron, Harry, and Ginny all stared at Hermione slack jawed as she gave a little nod. Still dressed in a lovely wedding gown and looking like she was ready to go down the aisle. She'd even managed to pin her unruly hair back up in an attempt to look put together.

She thought it would help, when she didn't feel completely put together, thought it best she looked ready to walk down the aisle.

She wasn't though, not if the words she was saying could be believed.

"I'm sorry Ron, I just, I don't know, I really thought hard today and I realized that I'm just not ready." She brushed a curl back from her face, Harry looked faint. Ginny was holding him up as he leaned against her, his six-foot frame barely supported by her much smaller size.

"But, we're still umm, we're still together though, right?" He rubbed the back of his head. Hermione cocked an eyebrow, forced herself not to groan.

"No, Ronald, I'd say you're not together anymore if she's changed her mind about getting married." Ginny interjected, eyes blazing as she stared at Hermione. She was reading her like a bloody book, just like she always had and it was making Hermione incredibly uncomfortable.

"Look, I'm sorry, I'll give a formal apology to everyone out there and of course I'll find a way to pay your parents back for their half of the wedding." Hermione rambled, her eyes were twinkling, Harry had nearly fainted, Ron was stood staring at her, his jaw still slack, and Ginny was watching her with hard eyes. Something else was going on.

Ginny scoffed. "You paid for almost the entire thing anyway. I doubt they'll care for your generosity with what you're doing." She bit out, it stung, but Hermione had been expecting their response to be rather harsh. Had mentally prepared herself.

Harry eased into a chair and stared into space, still completely lost on what to say. Ron followed suit while the two women stared one another down.

Something in Ginny's expression changed suddenly and she softened.

"It was him, wasn't it?" She whispered, stepped closer so the boys wouldn't hear, Hermione gave a nod.

"I couldn't go through with it." Ginny gave a sad nod, her eyes flicked to a certain blonde Ravenclaw on the floor.

"We all have to go for what we want." She hummed, her eyes drifted over the witch, her arms swinging over her head as she danced to the beat of her own drum.

"No matter what anyone else thinks." Hermione bumped her hip with hers and smiled. Ginny returned the smile with one that was much softer.

"I should have known as soon as you vanished." Ginny admonished herself and Hermione shook her head.

"It was a long time ago we had that talk, it wouldn't have been at the front of your mind."

"True." Ginny's eyes flicked to Luna again and Hermione cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, just go dance with her already, ridiculous, I'll get Harry set up with Draco and take Ron to your mum." Hermione watched her friend lick her lips subconsciously, nod, and dart off toward the dance floor where very few confused guests were dancing.

She set about getting Draco first, settling him with Harry- despite the blonde's confusion- and then took Ron by the arm to lead him to his parents.

To say Mrs. Weasley was displeased would be an understatement. Hermione flinched but endured the lecture as the woman fussed over her.

Then Ron came to his senses and he was talking to them and suddenly Hermione was in front of a crowd of people, eyes wide, trying to explain why there wasn't going to be a wedding and how everyone should enjoy the feast anyway.

Finally, two hours after she'd made her decision she found herself leaned against a wall in the dungeons, exhausted from the day's events. Still her heart pattered harder in her chest than necessary and her stomach was doing flips and she just couldn't bring herself to take the seven or so steps to his chamber door.

What if he'd changed his mind? What if he realized she was still just a stupid little girl?

What if he didn't even answer the door?

Steeling herself, with more courage than she thought she possessed she chose to grit her teeth and knock gently on his door.

When the door swung open to reveal him there, as casual as she'd ever seen him her breath caught in her throat. Whilst she probably looked a fool dressed in her wedding finery, gown and hair all done up, makeup done, he had dressed down. She had to admit, Severus Snape was delicious in his relaxed state.

He had discarded his dress robes and cloak, his frock coat gone and only a loose white dress shirt occupied his upper body, untucked from a pair of black trousers and unbuttoned three buttons down. She wanted to touch the soft skin she could see peaking from between those buttons. He wore a pair of black socks but his boots were discarded by the door and he stood, staring at her with a cocked eyebrow, a tumbler of what looked like firewhiskey in his hand and his hair pulled back low at the nape of his neck.

"Breathe, Hermione." He smirked and she heaved a deep breath when he stepped aside to let her in.
"I'd started to wonder if you'd decided on the proper route, the safe route." He purred, lead her to a chair and she fell into it, eyes wide as she regarded him.

Her tongue darted out to lick her lips and his eyes locked there for a short moment.

"Yes, well, there were quite a lot of people to let down. Honestly though, I think Harry took it harder than Ron." She blushed when his eyes didn't leave her and looked down at her hands in her lap, the fine silk of her gown bunched on her legs.

Gowns like this weren't meant for sitting.

"I'm certain it was an incredibly uncomfortable experience." He hooked her fingers around her own tumbler of firewhiskey and moved around behind her, her heart was pounding in her chest, her eyes wide on the amber liquid in her glass.

Deft, slender fingers tugged the pins that held her hair loose and it cascaded down around her shoulders, bunchy curls wild around her face. She gasped, almost inaudibly.

Those same fingers hooked into her curls and drew another breath from her lungs as he held her, tipped her head back so she looked up at him.

"You are so lovely with your hair free, you should never pin it back so mercilessly." He hummed, almost as if in thought to himself as he stared down at her eyes, they matched the whiskey in her glass and he smirked.

His hands inched forward to cup her jaw as he leaned over her, eyes boring into her as her lips parted.

"I must admit, there was always an interest, I just never considered- thought it would be returned." Her eyes fluttered as she stared up at him, a low mewling sound burned out of her throat.

"Of course it is returned. I've never, I've never met a man so…" She trailed on a breath.

He released her jaw and came around to help her stand, settling her firewhiskey on a low table as he pulled her to her feet.

"So what, Hermione?" His black eyes burning into her, straight through her own eyes into her soul.

"So incredibly entrancing." She exhaled, the breath caressing his bared skin and burning a heat low in his stomach.

"Entrancing you say?" His fingers grasped her hair, tipped her head back so her neck was exposed.
"You are making a mistake little witch." She shivered when his jaw drug along hers, his breath soft on her neck.

"Am I?" She rasped, Severus breathed deep, inhaling the soft scent that drifted from her. She smelled like roses, soft and feminine.

"I should make you go." He grunted into her neck, his nose still drifted across her flesh, his lips hadn't managed to touch her yet and still she was unraveling beneath him.

"You should make me stay." Her eyes fluttered closed when his face drifted back up to hers, strands of hair that had slipped from their bonds tickled at the side of her face.

"Do you wish to leave?"

"Never."

"I cannot promise you what Weasley did." He nipped her jaw, her breath hitched.

"I don't want what he offers, I want you." She managed, her eyes fluttering.

"I've killed." He growled, pulled back to stare her in the face. He needed her to know exactly what she was getting in to.

"I don't care what you've done." She stared him straight in the eyes, her face tilted forward as he released her hair.

"And this?" He growled, ripped his shirt sleeve up to expose the dark mark, a deep black that marred his smooth, pale skin.

Gentle fingers reached out and he forced himself not to tear away from her. Her eyes were soft on his face as delicate fingers caressed his arm. It was his turn to shiver beneath her hand.

"I don't care, it's part of you, a part of you that makes you great." She asserted, her gentle hands bringing up his arm and laying soft kisses to the marred flesh.

He groaned and let his head fall back. "Hermione…"

SSHG

Her lips were on his arm, so warm and sweet as they trailed the cursed flesh he'd drug along as a burden for most of his life. It dulled the pain, cooled the sense of remorse and regret that burned him from the inside out on a daily basis. Her eyes met his as she pulled back, his face tipping back down to stare into her.

As if she could see inside his soul she stared directly into his eyes, not flinch, not a wince as he moved toward her more, his hands coming up to tangle in the beautiful fall of her curls.

"Why you would want me, an ugly, bitter old man I will never understand." She smiled softly, those sweet lips turned up for him and him alone.

It made his heart clench in his chest.

He couldn't give her what she deserved, couldn't give her half what she deserved. Yet still, here she stood, before him, soft eyes and sweet lips and kind words.

It was enough to make his head pound, if all the blood had not rushed to other regions during her affections.

"You are none of those things, I don't see you that way at all." She implored, her eyes burning into his and he could only stare back, his mouth dry.
"You are courageous, and sensual, and handsome, and so very, very attractive." She wet her lips and pulled up onto her toes, made herself tall enough to whisper in his ear.
"You are so incredibly sexy." She nipped the lobe and fell back to her flat feet with a satisfied smile at his low growl.

She was in his arms before she could twitch, before she could move to pull away, if she'd wanted to. His lips found hers with a ferocity she'd never have gotten from Ron and she returned his fervor, her eyes falling closed despite herself.

His tongue begged for entrance, his large hands trailing her silk covered hips and thighs, shifting to her bum and squeezing there as his tongue delved into her mouth. He groaned at the sweet taste of her, the subtle hint of a fine champagne still lingered there.

She was a delight for his pallet, sweet and savory and her small moans into his mouth sought to tear him to shreds as he pulled her flush against him. His firm erection dug into her stomach and she groaned, shifted her hips to wiggle against him and brought her hands up.

First slender fingers simply locked behind his neck but she found that wasn't enough and finally she managed to bury the digits in long, soft black hair. His lips were still attached to hers. Taking her in and breathing her as if he needed her to survive.

The thought brought another deep moan from her throat, her fingers tugged at his hair gently and he growled, his teeth nipped her lips before he pulled away.

"You are certain you want this, me?" He lay his forehead against hers, black eyes searching and she smiled, her swollen lips seemed to beg to have his on them again.

Her fingers clenched in his hair, driving a sharp pain to his scalp that immediately dulled and he closed his eyes with a hiss.

"I want you, and no one but you." She squealed when he lifted her by her hips and her long robes vanished, leaving her in nothing but her soft white knickers and bra.

"I will ruin you for any other wizard, you will want no one but me for the rest of your life." He growled into her neck when her legs locked around his slender hips.

She shivered and groaned at the words, not a threat, a promise.

She'd never want another regardless, though she hardly had the words to tell him that.

He walked her, his teeth on her neck, collarbone, and then jaw as he carried her to his sleeping chambers, the dim light flaring to life in response to its master as he entered with her in tow.

He settled her softly into the bed, his black eyes raking over her partial nudity as the light played off her skin. She seemed to glow there, her legs pointed toward him, bent at the knee and he couldn't help but kneel there at the foot of the bed. His lips, his hands beginning at her calves as he kissed and massaged his way up her body.

His teeth nipped the flesh of her thigh, her hip, her stomach, her ribs as she hummed and mewled beneath him, her muscles twitched under his ministrations as he worked his way up and up. Soon his lips were on hers again, kissing, pulling low groans from her as he slipped an arm beneath her to unclasp her bra.

She let it go with no resistance, completely absorbed in his kiss and he nipped her bottom lip, his fingers playing at the edge of silky nickers.

"Gods witch you are so impossibly lovely." He caught one of her curls around a finger as he stared down at her, flushed and wanting. Her leg raised and dragged along the inside of his thigh, stirring his already firm need for her.

"I don't think we're quite even, Severus." She cocked an eyebrow at him and he smirked. His black eyes glittered in the lowering light as he pulled himself from the bed but she stopped him with a hand.
"Leave the lights turned up, I want to see you." She bit her lip and marveled when he gave in to her request, the lighting coming back to its bright glow as he pulled first the white shirt from his shoulders and then began on his trousers.

She watched, lip caught between her teeth as the trousers and boxers hit the floor of his cool rooms and he was stood proud before her, all lean musculature and firm bodied.

For someone who professed to be an old, ugly man he certainly stirred something in her.

She rolled pulled onto her hands and knees and crawled to him, her movements slinking as she finally came to him and licked her lips.

"You are marvelous." She whispered, her lips finding his stomach, his hard cock dragged across her breasts and forced a moan from her lips as he kissed up his lean stomach toward the center of his chest. He buried his fingers in her hair, his black eyes gleaming as he took her in, on her knees, his cock at her chest.

"Fuck." He growled before his lips were on hers again. He pushed her back, his body above hers very suddenly and she had to focus hard to make her legs disentangle from beneath her into a more comfortable position.

She groaned when his kisses moved downward, his teeth dragging along sensitive skin and making her eyes roll back in her head.

He finally found the soft folds of her womanhood and parted her legs to look upon her. Very pleased to find her already soaking, ready for him.

Still he parted those full lips with his tongue and licked a long line up her slit before slender fingers pulled them apart. He delved in, two fingers buried in her up to the knuckles as he played at her clit with his tongue, teasing and nipping at it until her back arched off the bed and she was panting his name.

He smirked into the sweet pink of her womanhood and inhaled deeply before he pulled a finger free and replaced it with his tongue, his nose rubbed at her clit and a pleasured humming noise coming from her as he held her by the hips to stop her thrashing.

She came, hard, her thigh muscles twitching as she cried out his name and fell limply back to the bed. He lapped at her, lazily for another moment before he pulled himself up her body, his tongue flicking out to lick his lips and holding her gaze.

"Merlin…" She exhaled, as he pulled himself to her face, his lips kissing at her jaw and chin lazily before finding her mouth again. His cock was a hard rod now, so impossibly ready for the witch that it was pulsing near a painful rate.

Red and engorged, the head leaking little drips of pre-cum.

"You are on a contraception schedule, yes?" He questioned, barely able to stop his cock from burying itself inside her slickness and never leaving. She gave a little nod, biting her lip.

"I am." She gave a nod, she hesitated for a moment and he wondered if there was anything else to be said, instead she glanced down between their bodies to find the hot iron that was his arousal and bit her lip.

"Are you ready?" He was pleased, incredibly pleased, by the wide eyed look on her face. She chewed her lip more and gave a little nod.

He was so incredibly large she could only shift her hips and inhale deeply, knowing he would take care with her.

Still, his promise to ruin her lingered hot in her mind.

She would never want another, never.

"Please Severus, I've waited so long." She pulled up to kiss him delicately and he groaned, his legs shifted between hers and she locked her thighs around his hips, the head of his hot cock playing at her folds. Both groaned at the sensation before he broke the tight ring of muscle, a hiss at her tightness around him as he eased inside.

He held her to him for a moment when he was in her, to the hilt, as they say, and gave her pause to roll her hips and experiment with the feel of his rather impressive endowment.

She groaned when a simple roll shot shudders through her body, his cock right there against her g-spot, rubbing at her.

"Oh, oh move, please move." She cried, her eyes closed and he caught her jaw as his hips pulled back, his length removed almost fully before he thrust back inside rather roughly. She grasped to him and he groaned.

"Look at me, please witch." He growled and her eyes snapped open, soft honey that held his own gaze as he moved, they moved in sync, she met every thrust with a shudder until finally he'd driven her to release. He slammed into her, one more time, sent her spiraling over the edge before her clenching and spasming walls milked him for every last drop.

He exhaled, fell to his side and clutched the witch to his chest, his fingers played lazily at her hair.

She breathed heavily, her eyes closed as she curled into him, tight in his side with her leg thrown lazily over his.

She was sticky, and hot, and so incredibly sated that she would have been hard pressed to move.

"I knew you could give me so much more." She exhaled before falling asleep. Severus didn't know what to make of her words but, he could figure it out in the morning.

He lay a delicate kiss to the top of her head before he drifted off beside her, never so happy as he was with the runaway bride in his arms.