Senses

Chapter 29

A/N: I wanted to apologize for the massive delay. My computer crashed and I lost many of my files. The typhoon made my part delivery delayed. Hopefully, however, we'll be back on track now! Sorry to make you all wait! Kind Regards, R.

Severus groaned deeply, a soft chime disrupting his dreamless sleep. He'd been up until near dawn with Albus trying to come up with a plan that would fit into all the others that were currently at play. There was something to be said about too many cooks in the kitchen.

His head turned heavily, his hand coming up to wipe the sleep from his eyes. The weight that had lulled him into rest was still present making it even harder to pull himself around. A soft sigh tilted his chin down into soft curls and for a moment he felt solace. Lowering his hand down, he took a moment to just appreciate how far the girl had come.

Her face was full but the rounded edges of her features were gone giving way to the more refined features of maturity. Her hair had finally grown back to the length that he was accustomed to seeing her have and the curls had grown soft, like chestnut waves. It wasn't the tangled mass he'd always assumed it to be, it was thick but silky soft. He couldn't count the times his hand had found its way through when bringing her comfort but it felt nice all the same.

The dark circles under her eyes were nearly gone, removing the heavy sunken in appearance. Her lashes were long, longer than he had ever seen. She had just a small dusting of freckles right under the scar over her eyes and he wondered idly if they had covered more of her pale skin before she'd been cursed.

A small shift turned her head to the other way and when her body adjusted to the change Severus suddenly became very aware of a heat between his legs. It was her heat, pressing down on his biological response to mornings but the sensation of her adjustment ticked something in his brain causing him to frown.

Sure it was a natural response, nothing that a healthy man wouldn't have had but it a was the circumstance if the situation that felt like a bucket of ice water. He was very grateful that even in his sleep-heavy haze he was able to retain his control but he was agitated that he'd had the response at all. Biology or not he was not the sort of man to find himself in bed with a woman half his age junior.

A quick throat clearing brought his hands under her arms and a careful, though a rather painful adjustment, moved her off of him and onto her back beside him. He paused to catch his breath before feeling Mother Nature pulsed through his body and so-with gritted teeth, he pushed himself out of bed.

oOo

Hermione woke to an odd feeling of clarity. A most welcome if curious feeling. The small whispers that had been plaguing the quiet moments of her day seemed to have gone away. A deep sigh brought her hands up to her face where she rubbed gently against her heavy eyelids. Her stomach was empty and rather vocal about it but the call to the bathroom was much stronger.

With caution, she opened her eyes to find herself still in his bed. Her eyes told her that it was very much into the late morning and for a moment she almost questioned it before she remembered what had happened the night before. Was he alright? Had he gone somewhere to seek more medical attention? Was he...gone?

A low whine turned her onto her side and towards the door where a small note appeared to be tacked to it. Her brows furrowed as she pushed herself up carefully. Her shoulder and were stiff but lacked any real pain. This observation brought a small-if sad-smile to her face as she was able to recognize the side effects of his bruise salve.