The Serpent and the Lioness

Chapter 23

oO Day Three Oo

Morning light warmed the sleeping figures on the bed. Both had shifted during the early hours. Their combined body heat having prompted their rearrangement. Hermione now laid completely overtop of Severus. Hip to hip, her legs parted beneath his that had moved to accommodate her change in position. Her head rested under his chin turned away from the window, her hair—a riotous mess, fell over part of his face and arm that remained stretched out to the side under her pillow.

One hand rested over his heart, under his, while the other had been tucked under, holding the outstretched arm's shoulder. Her tank top was crooked leaving her half of stomach fused with his. It moved in time to the deep rhythm his sleeping body provided. The blanket had been tossed carelessly to the side and was partially falling off the bed but neither one seemed to care.

Severus groaned softly as a beam of light broke through the dusty window and turned his head the other direction. He shifted his hips slightly to account for his adjustment before settling back down. The weight on his chest was hardly any bother but the hair that threatened his breathing was another matter. He brought up a hand blindly and pushed the soft curls from his face before resting it back down over his heart. The fingers beneath his palm twitched slightly but didn't make any moves. He felt her sigh deeply against him and he did his best to stay still for her comfort.

He was just falling back into a light sleep when the woman overtop started to squirm and mewl with discomfort. He peeked his eyes open just to assure himself that she wasn't having another nightmare.

Mother nature had woken Hermione, her blissful sleep disrupted by the mischievous deity. She squirmed trying to prolong the inevitable. Something was pressing up into her lower stomach and it was not helping her current predicament. Though the more she tried to adjust the worse the pressure against her became. With a soft sigh and heavy head, she pushed her eyes open frowning at the brightly lit room that taunted her with the new day.

A low groan passed her throat and she reluctantly dragged her arms to her sides. She was so warm. From the top of her head down to her toes. She didn't ever want to move. It took her a few seconds to realize that what she was lying on was breathing and it made her brain spark to life in a dizzying rush.

She had gone to bed alone. Of that, she was very certain. A faint memory played itself off like a dream and her eyes snapped open. Rigid pale flesh met her gaze and the slow rise and fall of it confirmed her suspicions. She was laying with Severus, correction, she was laying on him. That meant the pressure she was feeling against her lower stomach was his...

Her entire body flushed bright red and she very slowly tilted her head up. He was awake, she could see his dark eyes through the small slits of his eyelids. He blinked very slowly at her before letting out a soft sigh and closed his eyes completely. She felt him try to adjust but all her mind could focus on was something she refused to acknowledge.

With as much grace as she could muster with limbs that had still not woken, she pushed herself off the side. Their skin peeled apart rather lewdly but Hermione couldn't be bothered with being embarrassed about that. Her eyes flicked down his frame before he rolled onto his side away from her. The blanket that had fallen came up from the floor and he pulled it around himself settling back down.

Hermione wanted to cry out when his skin was hidden from view but her body had other priorities. With a small huff, she rolled the rest of the way off the bed and padded, a bit clumsily, to the bathroom.