Continuous Affair

Sleepless Nights

Hermione sat in bed with a large book on her lap. She had the lamp by her side lit and Severus lay by her snoring loudly. Usually he was the one that couldn't sleep, but the day before school began Hermione always had troubles. She peered at the clock on the wall directly across from their bed a heaved a heavy sigh as she read 3:47.

She flipped the blankets off her legs and moved into the bathroom looking at herself in the mirror. She noticed the dark bags forming under her eyes from the recent sleepless nights she had endured.

She turned on the faucet and splashed some cold water on her face several times, and when she stood back up she jumped suddenly from seeing a tall dark figure standing behind her in the mirror.

"GOD SEVERUS!" She put her hand on her chest and glared at him intensely. "You scared me half to death. I didn't even hear you come in."

"I'm sorry dear. I didn't mean to."

"You were asleep. You need your rest."

"I need it? You haven't slept in 3 days Hermione."

She blushed slightly as he said this. She was hoping that he had slept enough that he hadn't know, but of course nothing got past him.

"Don't act like I don't know. I may have been sleeping, but I can tell when your not. The lights are annoying and you move too much." He put a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it gently as he gently pressed his nose into her hair. She smelled like lavender and he loved it more than anything.

Over the years, she had learned to tame her messy curly hair and had it pulled back most of the time. Tonight was no exception. She had pulled it back into a ponytail and wore it loosely. Severus enjoyed running his fingers through it for some odd reason, the same way that she always readjusts his buttons.

"You should go back to sleep Severus, I'll be fine."

"Hermione, let me go get you a potion. You need your rest for tomorrow or else you won't survive the day." He exited the room as silently as he entered leaving Hermione alone again to judge her appearance in the mirror.

She was only 22 (almost 23) but she was beginning to show signs of aging because of the toll her job took on her strength. She scoffed at herself as Severus reentered the bathroom carrying a small potion bottle. "Here."

"What is it?" She looked at him skeptically because there was no label on the bottle.

"Don't you trust me?"

Hermione laughed before replying "no" and then taking the vial from his hand.  She uncorked it and sighed before pouring it into her mouth and swallowing as fast as she could because it tasted like the nasty cough syrup her mother gave her as a child.

"Now. Let's get you back to bed and you can get some rest. We have a busy day tomorrow." Severus said as he took her hand in his. She started to walk but then stopped all of the sudden. "Hermione?"

"What the hell did you give me?" Hermione asked as she swayed a little before her knees buckled and she began to fall to the floor.

Severus quickly grabbed her waist and moved an arm under her knees and lifted her up. He stumbled slightly, but once he found his footing, he was able to carry her into the bedroom and lay her gently on the bed.

"It's fascinating to see how quickly potions work on you." Severus chuckled as he pulled the covers up to her waist. He leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead and turned off the lamp to her side.  He crossed around the bed and took his place next to her and moved his arm on top of her waist and rested his nose in the crook of her neck and slowing began to doze off.

Hermione woke up to her husband wrapped around her waist and their legs intertwined.  He snored lightly and she playfully shoved him off causing him to jump slightly before burying his face into the pillow.

"Come on dear." She sat up rubbing her eyes then leaning over to lightly scratch Severus' back and he moaned with sleep. "Nice little stunt you pulled on me last night."

"It's not my fault you couldn't make it to the bed." Severus groan from his pillow. "You should really learn how to hold your potions."

Hermione chuckled slightly and pulled herself off the side of the bed letting her feet hit the cold floor. She walked to the bathroom dropping her clothes one at a time on the way. She knew how much it bugged Severus when she left things lying around and she hoped it would coax him out of bed.

She reached into the shower turning the water to hot and soon the bathroom was filling up with steam. She looked in the mirror and tied back her hair and scratched at her exposed stomach.

The stress of teaching took a toll on her, and she had grown thinner over the years but was still able to maintain a very sensual shape. She poked at her hip bones and have a frustrated sigh and she climbed into the shower and let the hot water beat against her back. She closed her eyes and put a handful of lavender soap on her shoulders and rubbed it into suds.

She heard the bathroom door open and saw Severus' black figure through the frosted glass. "Hermione?"

"Hmmm?"

"Stop leaving your clothes lying around!"

She opened the shower door and peeked her head around to smirk at him. "You're in a sour mood this morning. If it bothers you so much, why don't you come in here and teach me a lesson professor."

He rolled his eyes as he unbuttoned his pajama shirt and stepped out of his pants and boxers. He walked to her and planted a kiss on her wicked smile before joining her.