Alive

Chapter 2

Hermione stirred in the bed she now occupied. Not wanting to wake, instead wanting to remain in the slumber that brought her him. The dream. The slightly sore witch wanted to cry at how real it felt. Severus. He had returned for her, saving her from her own demons that seemed to swirl around her, while she cried out to him. And in return, he cried out to her. 

And then he was there, reaching his hand out to her. Time frozen as he did so. And then she was pressed against him, and they Apparated to his manor.

Hermione turned and buried her tear stained face into the pillow beneath her. Inhaling the scent that it brought, a choked sob being ripped from her as the smell reminded her so much of Severus. She felt the side of the bed she didn't occupy shift, but she payed no mind to it. Too absorbed into her own grief to notice. 

As she cried, Hermione continued to play the dream in her head; wanting them to be real as she laid there in her bitter reality. 

Once inside the Manor, Hermione had looked to him again. Reaching out to his face, wanting to make sure that he was real. She trailed her hands down his chest, knowing that he wouldn't approve of such contact, but not caring at that moment. She had missed him dammit....still missed him. Arms still around her, she felt him suddenly pull her tighter. She remember gasping, and looking up to meet his eyes. His eyes. Obsidian black, void of any emotion, now held a heat to them she not know existed. And then it seemed as if it had all happened in a blur. 

Because she was kissing him then. Or had he kissed her? She couldn't remember, but oh how she remembered the intensity and... desire that that kiss held. 

When he was alive, Hermione expected little to no affection be thrown her way. Their marriage... not by choice, was a last effort to reconcile the feud between the Light and Dark. One from the Light, and one from the supposed Dark, married to bring together the two opposing sides. It was predicted that in order to bring peace to all, the two must be joined in matrimony.... Well it might have worked, if it wasn't for Severus not truly being a member of the Dark. So instead of peace, it brought the continuation of war, but this time ten-fold. 

Not even a week into their marriage, and Hermione found herself pleading with her husband to flee with her. To escape the carnage that she knew would engulf them. But he was stubborn, and before she knew it she was whisked away to the Burrow. Left only with a chaste kiss to the lips, that to this day, she wasn't sure whether it was real or not. And then he Apparated back to who knows where. And she was left broken. 

But in her dream, in her desperately real dream, she knew then that he had kissed her on the edges of the Burrow. Because the smell, was the same. And the heat of his lips, matched the heat of his in the dream as he began kissing her throat. The only thing new, was the desire. Oh the desire. The thought of it made the witch cross her tired legs. Resulting in a small pain that brought her back to what happened nex
She had wrapped herself around him in the dream, his kisses reaching lower and lower until he suddenly stood erect. And in a quick motion, he wrapped her up in his arms and proceeded to carry her up his flight of stairs. She hadn't remember thinking anything but Severus, as she began to kiss his jawline. A low growl ripping through him as they finally reached his bedroom. 

It was her first, and he knew that.... had to have known that. Because the care and gentleness he showed her...The intensity and concentration that he granted her. She had doubts of whether or not she loved the man she married, but after his death, and the pain she endured... she knew she had.

 No doubts though of his affection crossed her mind as he made love to her. She knew he was secluded and to himself, a man of few words when it came to showing his affection or gratitude. But he didn't need to, not in her dream. 

There was pain, but he distracted her from it with long kisses and soft caresses. And before she knew it, the pain was mixed and then replaced with pleasure. And she wrapped her legs around him carefully, encouraging him that he could go faster. 

Oh just thinking about it now, made her flush with desire to be with him. Because when they finally reached their climax, Severus had bent his head into the crook of her neck, whispering his claim on her in a gruff voice that made her toes twitch with longing. 

Now laying here, in the bed that smelled so much like her husband, Hermione couldn't help when a fresh wave of tears decided to pool past her eyes and onto the soft cotton sheets beneath her. Crying out his name into her pillow as she does. She thought though that she felt the side of the bed she wasn't laying on, lower  but she wasn't sure. And she swore she heard the sheets rustle, even though she was hardly moving. 

Pulling her head from the pillow, Hermione strains her ear for another mysterious sound. 

"Hermione?" the voice from her dreams questioned, laying a hand across her stomach as it does. Jumping slightly, Hermione slowly turns where she laid not daring to believe just the voice; but having to see the face she hoped belonged to her husband. 

But even as she laid there, looking at the face of her husband, Hermione still couldn't find it in herself to believe it. Severus? But.... he died. Didn't he? 

Hermione knew the questions were silly, but.... she had dreamt of him being alive and in bed with her as if the war had never happened. But unlike her dreams, she couldn't find her voice. Instead she just stared at him, as he stared at her; concern causing his brows to furrow slightly. He soon cupped her face in his one hand, the action causing her to gasp. 

"Your alive," Hermione choked out desperately. 

"It would appear so...wife." 

Seeming to understand her confusion and tear stained face, Severus pulls her face close to his and kisses her lip softly. Pulling back, Hermione opens her eyes quickly to see the smirk from last night tug at his lips again. "Was last night not proof enough?" 

Hermione shook her head yes, before burying her face into his shirtless chest. 

"I thought you were dead," she stated hoarsely, "I saw you die, watched as your eyes glazed over and you took you final breath." Pulling back now, Hermione shakily looks to her living and breathing husband. "How?" 

She watched as a sad smile played across his face, his brows knitting softly before speaking. "Before you came into my life Hermione, before we wed, I always had that brewed potion that could put a stopper on death in my personal storage. And I knew that if a life threatening situation presented itself to me, then I take it with me and use it if need be. But to be honest with you... At the time, I wasnt sure if I wanted to live anymore. I wasn't sure if I want to put a stopper on my death. I had no incentives, no reason to live anymore if given the option.

"But then we were wed, and suddenly I had an incentive. And so that night when you begged us to run away, I knew I would have to face my death but put a stopper on it before it could consume me." Single tears stated sliding down her face, but he caught them all as he continued. 

"In order for the potion to work, you must drink it before your expected death, and then you must die. Your body has to shut down momentarily, potion running through ones system as it does, so that it knows where to heal and then revive you. You saw me momentarily die wife, I had only wished you would of saw me come back." 

Shaking her head, Hermione gave a watery smile; amazed at the cleverness that is her husband. "I won't even question why it took you a month to find me, but all that wind last night... That was you making your grand entrance wasn't?" The question held no bitterness, and Severus' smirk showed that he knew that and that-yes-that was his grand entrance. 

Overcome with emotion, Hermione proceeds to kiss her husband much so like she did last night. Feeling the slight press of his morning erection against her abdomen, showed that just as last night, this was heading to a very good place. 

END