Severus Snape A Soul Undiminished

Chapter 21 - Bath

Severus was not yet ready to return back to his home at Hogwarts. He had stayed after school to work with the Potter boy, trying to prepare him for what was to come...to strengthen his mind against the threat of Lord Voldemort. He didn't know what had set him to attack the boy by throwing insults about his father. Yes, actually he did know. He knew that he must use all that was in his arsenal to give the boy a fighting chance. He had said that the boy was weak, like his father, but he knew differently. It was also something else... Harry reminded him of Lily, Harry's  mother...  but also James, his father. When Harry had turned to attack his own thoughts, Severus revealed his own weaknesses, but those were of the past. Even though he would never be rid of the past, he was no longer weak, and he was able to keep Sirana from being revealed in his thoughts. Harry was as prepared as he could ready him for, and it was becoming dangerous for both of them to continue. He tried to tell himself that was the only reason he had abruptly ended the lessons with Potter, and yet he still felt the sting of shame and regret. He set off to begin his mission for Lord Voldemort. He knew he must maintain a balance of appearances versus outcomes. He also knew that neither Lucius or Voldemort must learn of Sirana, and if they did, he must be prepared to explain, or at worst... he couldn't consider that yet. He must not fail... he could not fail.

It was late now, and he was tired to the bone. He entered quietly, knowing Sirana was most likely asleep. He was glad that there was enough left of their shared lunch that he left for her earlier, otherwise he would be apologizing again to her. He poured himself some wine, planning to stay up a bit to prepare his lesson plan for the following day. Suddenly he heard a noise, and it was not coming from the bedroom where he assumed Sirana would be. He drew his wand and stealthily followed the sound. The door to the bathroom was closed. Surely she wouldn't be in there since there were adequate facilities in the bedroom. He opened the door and stepped in quickly, prepared for anything... almost anything. Sirana was sitting in a steaming bath, holding a book in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. His abrupt entrance had startled her, and he found it quite amusing that she was in a quandary as to how to place the items she was holding down to cover her nudeness. Severus wondered at her shyness, since they had shared exquisitely intimate moments already.  They were still new to each other in many ways though, and although he longed for the day they would no longer be, a part of him enjoyed the journey of discovery.  She choked out a hello as he walked to the side of the tub. "As I predicted, taking a bath for the sake of bathing. A very muggle thing to do," he said, not revealing in his voice if he was just teasing her. She managed to sit up and gently dropped the book the the floor, but she couldn't set down the wine glass without raising herself out of the water. As much as he was enjoying the sight, he didn't want to add to her discomfort. He pulled out his wand, and with a quick word, there was now a thick layer of bubbles to protect her modesty.

"Thank you, Severus," Sirana said, more at ease now with the blanket of bubbles. "I'd slept so late this morning that I wasn't tired," she explained. She looked up at him. He looked tired, and it looked like the exhaustion reached deep into his eyes. "Won't you join me? I've just ran it, so it's still quite warm," she said with unexpected boldness, mostly teasing... mostly. When he started to unbutton his jacket, she couldn't stop her mouth from dropping open. She quickly shut it when she realized it. 'Bluff...called,' she thought. She seriously did not know where to look. She didn't want to look away, but she felt herself blushing from her ears to her toes. His own gaze was unrelenting as he shed his jacket and proceeded to work on his shirt. He was quite impressive, his body standing over her, and she found she could no longer meet his eyes, instead taking in the whole glorious vision of him. She took a sip of her wine, her mouth suddenly parched, He reached out and took her wine glass, taking a long drink for himself, then sat it down on the floor to join her book. He stepped towards the back of her, and she slid forward, taking the cue that he was going to sit behind her. He settled in behind her, his long legs stretching along beside her, and wrapped his arms around her, drawing her in tightly to him. It felt like nothing she had experienced before... he was a dangerously handsome man, and the closeness of him touching her was exciting in a way that was a bit overwhelming, but he also felt familiarly warm and comfortable wrapped around her, like a favorite blanket.  She laid her arms atop his, and relaxed into his body.

Severus felt the trials from the day seep out of his body, the hot water working to relieve the tension in his muscles, the feel of her in his arms working to relieve the tension in his mind. He heard her light snore and kissed her lightly on the top of her head. He hadn't realize he had fallen asleep himself until he started to feel the chill of the water on his body. They must have slept there for at least an hour for the water to be so cold. He reached down to grab his wand, which he had placed on top of her book before he had gotten in the bath. He quietly charmed the water, and it slowly started warming up again. Severus felt Sirana stir, and she woke with a yawn, her arms stretching out high above her. The lovely sight and the unintentionally sensuous movement succeeded in rousing him from any tiredness left in him. He wrapped her with his arms once again, then leaned down to kiss her bare shoulder. Severus was rewarded with the sound of a contented purr. He kissed across her shoulders, gently moving her damp hair to make a trail of kisses to the other side of her neck, where he settled in with a deep, hot kiss. He kissed her neck down into her collarbone, then as she turned her face to meet him, he consumed her mouth in a fiery kiss. He grabbed her hips and pulled her up against him, and she moaned in his mouth. When he started moving her against him, seductively grinding her against his hardness, she pulled her mouth away from his, leaning her head back against his shoulder. He reached one hand across her to grab her breast and ran his other hand down the front of her, diving it down into the water to slide between her legs. Severus slid his fingers deep into her, and he groaned his satisfaction when he found her already slick with desire for him. He felt her stomach tighten, and she curled forward, a throaty gasp coming from her.  Feeling her response to him heightened his already hot-blooded desire. Severus leaned forward with her, maintaining his grasp on her, and drove his fingers in deep, pushing them in hard with each stroke, unrelenting until he felt her warm wetness gush over him, her tight sleeve squeezing over and over in the shockwaves of her orgasm.  Severus closed his eyes, his mouth open, his mind relishing in the pleasure he was able to elicit from her. The sounds escaping her lips were glorious, and he did not give her time to recover before spinning her around and lifting her on top of him, then sliding her down onto him. She cried out his name in a breathy whisper, her breath catching as he grabbed her waist with his hands and drove her down onto him. He pulled her up and down onto him, again and again, in long hard strokes, the water churning in the tub. Severus watched her lustfully as she leaned forward into him, grasping at his chest, pleading in sounds and words that it was too much for her. In one last thrust he found his release, releasing his own deep throaty cry of pleasure. They lay heaving together in the still warm bath, unwilling to unjoin. When the water finally started to cool, she raised up and brushed his long damp hair back from his face, then kissed his nose and forehead tenderly. Severus grabbed her tightly, then in one swift move, lifted them both up and out of the tub. She had only brought one towel, and he used it to dry off her beautifully quivering body, and then handed it to her for her to follow suit, appreciating the intimacy of her attention. He swung her up in his arms, and again carried her into his bed. Whatever had transpired that day was no longer weighing on his mind, and he fell to sleep in her warm embrace.