Chocolate Enchantment

Chapter 32: One More Down and 33: Adulthood Acknowledged

Chapter 32: One More Down

When Severus arrived a few hours later, the sun was beginning to set, and Hermione had worked her way through half the front garden, cutting back overgrowth, pulling weeds, and tidying up. She greeted him with a curt hello, then turned her attention back to the weed she was yanking out of the ground with all the ferocity of a she-lion.

Severus had felt her anger for the past few hours, sensed her location, but had been unable to leave his place at the Dark Lord's side. Now, he looked down at his wife and saw the pale skin of her arms and neck turning pink from sunburn and knew she had been too angry to think ahead. He wondered, as she hacked at an overgrown rose bush with a kitchen knife, if she planned to sleep that night or finish all of the considerable work the yard still needed before taking a break.

"What happened?"

"Idiot, pig-headed, stubborn . . . " She continued the mantra under her breath, but he could tell her anger wasn't directed at him. Strangely enough, he thought part of it was directed back at herself.

He allowed her to mutter for a little longer, then seeing the cuts and scrapes on her unprotected hands, pulled her to a standing position. "Who are you trying to punish: the idiot you're maligning or yourself?" Severus lifted her hand and uncurled it from around the knife. "I was under the impression, wife, that you are a witch—one rather talented in the art of transfiguration. Surely you could have turned this into a more appropriate tool."

"I didn't want to, didn't care. I'm just so angry I want to pummel someone." She pushed her hair away from her face, and he felt desire spur through him. Power all but radiated from her, anger turned to good effect. There was something sleek and feral inside her—something aching to get out. He could feel it. And while gentleness had been the thing she needed most when she worried about her parents, today what she needed was action.

And he was happy to provide.

He pulled her into the cottage, leaving the screen door to slam behind them as he led her to the bedroom. When they arrived, he cast a healing spell on her hands, cleaning and repairing the damage she had done to herself, then carefully set his wand on the nearby bureau. "You need to expend some energy? Expend it on me." He lowered his head and took possession of her mouth. She kissed him back with fervor, tugging at his jacket, fumbling with his buttons, and yanking on his hair to pull him closer at intervals. With a growl, she lunged, and they fell onto the bed.

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When they lay panting some time later, Hermione felt considerably better than she had expected. Three hours of hard labor in the yard were nothing compared to a high-energy romp with her husband. Being in his arms provided a shelter, a comfort she hadn't known elsewhere.

"So now you've used me and are ready to cast me aside for other activities, perhaps you would condescend to tell me why you were so angry in the first place?" The soft circles he was caressing along her back were in opposition to his accusing words.

She would have smiled if she weren't so disgusted with Ron, and even more with herself for taking the bait he'd thrown out to her. She accused him of acting like a child, then she reacted to his awful words, sharing something that was best kept secret. "I had a stupid fight with Ron. He made me so angry I said things I shouldn't have."

"Oh, did you divulge the location of my favorite freckles, denounce the Cannons and tell him that the Wasps would trounce them in the finals?" His fingers slid up her back to her shoulder blades, then lingered to smooth over that skin.

It tickled a bit, and Hermione decided she couldn't have this conversation with Severus in their current position. He wasn't going to be happy with her when he heard. She pulled away from him, and though he appeared reluctant, he let her go. After putting on a robe, she tied it, then walked back to the bed and sat on the edge. He watched her, his patience about fifteen times greater than anything she would have thought him capable of owning only six months earlier.