The Herbology Professor ~ Severus Snape x Male Reader

Morning After

~Following Morning~

Your POV:

The moment I woke up this morning, the previous nights events rushed to mind, causing my lips to quirk up in the form of a smile.

To my delight, upon opening my eyes, I realized Severus had stayed this time, as all I saw in front of me was his dark hair. I hummed happily, wrapping my arm around his torso and over his chest, pulling his back closer into my own chest in the process. He subconsciously grabbed my arm with his hand and held it against his chest.

A stupidly large grin grew on my face, which I hid in the crook of his neck, leaving a few gentle kisses there. He groaned and began to wake at this.

I stopped once I knew he'd finally woken up,

"Good morning."

"Morning.." Severus responded, sounding rather groggy.

"I didn't know it was possible for your voice to go any deeper. But here we are." I joked.

Severus remained unmoving in my embrace and didn't bother to respond, as though he wanted to continue sleeping.

"Why didn't you leave this time?" I asked curiously.

While waiting on a response I carded my other hand through his hair. He relaxed against me and replied with his signature drawl,

"I couldn't have even if I'd wanted to. Not after last night."

It took a moment to click in my mind as to why he couldn't just get up and go, but once I'd realized, I laughed into his shoulder,

"Sorry about that."

He responded with nothing more than a short grunt before going quiet again. Continuing with my stroking of his hair, I felt like sleeping again as well. So, a short moment later, we were both out like a light once more.

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Severus' POV:

The smell of caffeine woke me from my slumber. I sat up slowly to diminish the pain a small bit, though it did next to nothing. Seething, I leaned back against the headboard, closing my eyes in the process.

"Ah, you're finally awake." (M/N)'s voice caused me to peer over in his direction.

He sat down beside me, holding two mugs filled with coffee.

"Finally?" I asked.

"Yes, well, it's already past noon." He replied while simultaneously handing me the coffee.

Hearing this perplexed me, as I'd never been the sort to sleep in at all.

The coffee however, was refreshing to me. (M/N) left me to finish it whilst he slipped into the lavatory. Alone with my thoughts, I processed everything that'd occured in the past 24 hours.

'I slept with him.. a second time.'

I was unsure what to think in that moment.

'Was this going to become a regular occurrence? For us to chat over tea and then.. spend a night in his bed..?'

My thoughts were cut short however when (M/N) entered the room once more, dressed in nothing but a robe. A blush rose to my cheeks.

"I've run us a bath. You're free to join me whenever you like." His offer sounded as though it would relax me, so I accepted and allowed myself time to finish my coffee before joining him.

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Your POV:

I heard the bathroom door click open and peered over my shoulder at Severus who seemed quite shy all of a sudden. I looked away in hopes that it would help him feel more comfortable. He slowly stepped into the bath and sunk into the foam that sat on the water's surface.

He still seemed rather unsure, so I reached a hand out and gently took his wrist, coaxing him to come closer. Severus allowed me to do so and relaxed his back into my chest. I then picked the shampoo bottle off it's rack and lathered some in my hands. Running them through Severus' hair, I noticed him relax further into me and lean his head back against my hands.

'He was enjoying this.'

Smiling, I squeezed out the excess shampoo into the water, took hold of the water nozzle, and turned it on. The water needed a moment to come out warm, so once it was at the correct temperature, I washed the shampoo out of his hair.

The conditioner followed shortly after. I let it sit in his hair a little bit and began washing my own while waiting. Severus' hair felt nice and silky after having been washed.

"Forgive me for asking this.. but, do you wash your hair frequently? Because it looks much cleaner now after having washed it." It sounded ruder after I'd actually said it.

"Not often, no." He didn't seem hurt by the question, which relieved me.

"Well, I recommend you do. You have really nice hair." I stated whilst washing the conditioner out of it.

After squeezing the excess water out of it, I continued working on my own hair.

"I suppose." Severus spoke in a mumble once more.

Both of us had clean hair now and spent some time just enjoying the warmth of the bath. Severus had reclined back against me and rested his head on my right shoulder. His eyes were closed, but his mouth remained parted slightly.

I was unsure how long we'd spent in the bath, but it was obviously longer than I'd planned.

One after the other, we stepped out and dried ourselves. I was the first to finish changing and realized Severus didn't have anything clean to slip into,

"Would you like it if I leant you something to wear? I could wash your robes here. That way you can put them on before you go."

Severus accepted the offer and wrapped the towel around his waist as he waited for me to bring him something. I brought him a simple pair of comfortable trousers, undergarments, and a sweater. I then walked out and gathered his clothes for a wash cycle.

°••°°••°°••°°••°°••°

Severus and I weren't really in any rush to go anywhere or do anything, so I insisted he stay and just chat a while. We sat on the sofa located near the large window in my room and talked about the book he'd borrowed from me. He was quite enthusiastic about the creatures he'd read about while asking me which ones I'd encountered myself during my trip. I told him some more stories of my travels, which he seemed intensely focused on. His passion for the subject was endearing to me.

"I enjoy these talks very much, Severus." I stated after concluding another story.

"As do I." He replied.

After a moment of silence, I remembered that the laundry should be ready by now and got up to retrieve it. Severus followed me and then took the clothes into the bathroom to switch into them. Upon walking back out, he looked stoic as always. As though he hadn't just spent the night here.

"We'll meet again next week, yes?" I asked Severus at the door of my office.

He nodded his head, giving me a look that told me he was looking forward to it as well. I smiled and bade him farewell before re-entering my office.

Sitting down, I realized I did still have some grading to catch up on and sighed. Flipping through some of the tests, I noticed there was a note sandwiched between two of them. It read,

'Here is this week's list. Hopefully this is simpler than usual.'

The list of potions ingredients made me chuckle, as that was exactly what I'd forgotten to ask him about before he'd left. Setting it aside for later, I continued grading.