Hermione chewed on her lower lip as she regarded herself in the mirror. The clothes looked nice and everything. Her hair, well, she'd finally found a stylist who could tame it so while it was the same length as she'd worn it for years it was far more manageable and controllable. So it looked nice today.

She knew she looked healthier than she had two years ago. That wasn't saying much, but she was still very glad that they did not have any magical mirrors. Severus assured her that she looked fine. She just felt as though she had not gained a proper amount of weight back from that year on the run. He assured her that she did not look unhealthy to him. She also felt bad because for this event he'd treated her to a very nice dress. Nothing nice she had from before the war fit her anymore, between the weight loss and her figure changing.

He assured her it was no hardship to buy her one dress when some wives would demand several. He wanted her to feel good about what she was wearing and how she presented herself to not just him but everyone she encountered. At the bookstore or on campus.

She believed him, but she still felt as if she was taking advantage of his generosity rather horribly. Yes, he paid her a wage, but not enough to do a complete wardrobe overhaul.

"Are you sure this looks all right?" she asked him.

"Hermione, Love, you look fine. You are truly breathtaking without distracting from the bride, which I do believe is frowned upon in these instances."

"I just," she took a deep breath.

People were going to see them together for the first time knowing they were married at this wedding today. A lot of people. She wasn't sure how many magical people would be in attendance since it was a muggle ceremony. She knew more than a few would be, though. There would be people from the Ministry there, no doubt. That would include reporters surely since they got together at a war memorial service.

They'd done an interview with Luna in January as they'd arranged at Christmas. Harry, Neville, and Ginny had come with and the six of them had a nice day overall. No mention of Ron, or his absence, had been made. She'd felt his absence, because clearly if the four of them had come, Ron had been invited too and declined. She was pretty sure he'd be there today so she'd see him again whether she wanted to or not. Not that she was mad at him. She wasn't. She understood his reaction. He was hurt, but his reaction was hurting her. It wasn't just Ron, other magical people would be there. And they'd know. They'd look at them. They'd wonder if they'd been involved when she was a student despite their denials.

She didn't really care, other than people thinking she'd do that. She was most concerned about  Severus. He was right, people were going to think what they wanted to. They couldn't go overboard with their denials, that would be suspicious, too.

From her understanding the article had met with mostly favourable responses. Not being active in the wizarding world they didn't know for sure. Both had declined Luna's offer of sending them any owls she received directed to either of them. There were some who'd replied to the article quite disgusted at the idea Luna told Hermione (not Severus), but she assured Hermione those responses had been far fewer than the ones indicating they were glad Severus had found peace and happiness.

It was Susan and Justin's wedding Hermione was dressing and fretting over her appearance for. It was a muggle wedding because while Justin's parents knew of the wizarding world there were just too many guests on his side of the guest list to give all of them the knowledge.

She took a deep breath as she cast a spell to pile her hair on top of her head with some stray strands purposely left down. The stylist she'd found tried to show Hermione something new she could do with her hair every time she went in for a trim. She told Hermione she took it as a challenge. Hermione wasn't sure if that was good or bad, but she was learning to care for her hair in different ways. Ways she liked. It was kind of fun, and Severus seemed to enjoy seeing the different things she did with it.

She put the finishing touches on her makeup and then slid on a new pair of dressy flats versus heels and she was ready. She was hoping that Severus would dance with her a few times and did not want her feet to ache by the end of the night. She was as ready as she was ever going to be. It was a formal wedding, so Hermione's deep emerald green gown coordinated very nicely with Severus' (obviously) black suit. He'd opted for a gray shirt, which she had to admit looked very nice on him. She'd never seen him dressed up like this, he was always dressed nicely but casually at the store. She was pretty sure she wasn't going to be able to take her eyes off of him all night.

"I assume by that rather possessive look in your eyes that I pass your inspection?"

"You'll do," she said, smirking at him.

She closed the distance between them after grabbing the wrap he'd given her to wear with her dress in case she got cold (silver of course, which made her roll her eyes with a chuckle when she saw it) and her clutch. The dress was entirely too expensive, but he'd insisted she deserved something not transfigured for tonight. He seemed to think how she was dressed would be more of a reflection on him than what he wore. She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him, tugging lightly on the lapels of his suit coat.

"In fact, you'll do so well I cannot wait to get you out of that suit later."

"I assure you my thoughts are very inline with yours then."

"Well, that bodes very well for the night for both of us, doesn't it?"

"Indeed."

He offered her his arm. Justin and Susan had set up rooms in both the church and the reception site for wizards to apparate to, which was appreciated by many. Severus and Hermione elected to close the store for the weekend and drive, however, because they rather enjoyed doing things the muggle way for now. A weekend away was welcome, too. He admitted he hadn't had much occasion to drive prior to the last year or so, so he enjoyed it.

He'd owned the car prior to her running into him. She would have paid good money to see Severus Snape buying a vehicle. The stories her father had told about his experiences left Hermione wondering if anyone was hexed during Severus' experience.

She took a deep breath in the church parking lot while Severus got out and walked to her side in order to open the door for her and hand her out. They didn't go out real often, certainly when they did it was nothing fancy or formal so it surprised her almost every time how well-mannered he was. She'd wondered more than once why a witch hadn't snapped him up. Their loss was her gain, though. She was very happy with the way things had turned out and considered herself rather lucky.

She hoped he did, too. They didn't talk about stuff like that, though. It wasn't that they avoided topics like it, they just didn't come up. She knew he was happy as she was, but putting voice to that seemed somewhat more than either of them were ready to do yet.

They made the way up the church's steps and into the foyer. It was a pretty old church, not unexpected given Justin's heritage. There was quite a crowd. Judging by the number of people not looking at the church and the muggle-dressed people she guessed most were muggle, or at least muggleborn.

"Hermione," she heard Harry call to her from their left.

She smiled, offering him a quick wave, and took another deep breath.

"We will be fine," Severus whispered in her ear. It was as if he was reading her mind.

She nodded, squeezing his arm just a bit. They walked toward her friends. She imagined he was probably as nervous as she was. These were her people not his.

Hermione scanned the room quickly to see if there was anyone Severus might know that wasn't a friend of hers, and there wasn't. She supposed there wouldn't be really, Susan nor Justin would have invited someone like Draco to their wedding.

"You look amazing," Ginny said, giving Hermione a hug.

"Thank you," she said. "You do, too."

"Thank you," Ginny beamed.

"Severus," Harry said after a moment's hesitation, offering the other man his hand. Severus took it, looking very much as if he was coming to terms with the fact he was going to be on a first name basis with his archnemesis' son.

"Harry," Severus offered. Hermione was pretty sure all standing together at that moment let out a breath of relief.

"Ginevra, you do, in fact look lovely."

"Thank you, Severus," she said, stammering a bit over his name.

"Luna, Neville, Weasley. Nice to see you as always," he drawled.

"You, too," Luna beamed with a look on her face that said she knew things others didn't.

"Yes, Sir," Neville said and Hermione smirked at her former classmate. "Severus I mean."

"We should sit," Luna said.

Ron said nothing, but he did sit with their group. There were a few other students from Hogwarts there but not many and none they knew real well.

There was someone there from the Daily Prophet, but at least it wasn't Rita Skeeter. She likely didn't realize the Golden Trio would be there. They'd cut a break there.

"No doubt our appearance will make the paper tomorrow," Severus said against her ear once they were just waiting for the wedding to start.

"I know," she said. "I just hope Susan and Justin's wedding is not overshadowed by that," she said.

"It won't be."

"I hope not. I would feel very bad."

"You cannot control reporters, Hermione, muggle or not. Our appearance with Mr. Potter to a function such as this is an expected occurrence I would presume. If the Prophet makes a big deal out of it, that's on them not you."

"I know that."

"Good."

She slid her hand to his cheek and kissed him. "Thank you."

"Anytime, Love."

They'd never actually said ‘I love you'. Him calling her love was the closest they'd come. Sometimes she thought she should say it, but she still wasn't entirely sure he loved her and that scared the crap out of her. If his calling her love was just a thing he did and he didn't mean it as in I love you and this was still basically an agreement to him. Well, she was fairly sure it'd crush her. Not to mention the embarrassment of him knowing she'd taken an agreement and turned it into something he'd never meant it to be.

So she kept quiet, preferring not knowing at this point in time. Foolish and weak she realized but it was what it was, especially since she didn't really believe in divorce. She'd much rather not know he truly did only want an agreement. She didn't think he did, she just wasn't ready to find out.

Overall the night was fun. Harry and Ginny rode with them to the reception so Ginny could experience riding in a muggle car. Ron spoke very little to Hermione and said nothing to Severus but was on good behaviour for the most part. No hexes or dirty looks happened. She considered that a win.

And he did dance more than just a few with her. She could tell he didn't really want to but knew she did. And that made her fall in love with him just a little bit more than she already was.

Sure enough there'd been more than one picture in the Daily Prophet of Hermione and Severus as well as Harry and Ginny, Neville and Luna, and Ron with his date. Thankfully none of them took away from Susan and Justin's wedding. She was an employee of the Ministry after all.

They were a little more than merely sidenotes, though, with quotes from their friends (even Ronald) saying that they were a private couple, they absolutely had not been involved romantically until well after Hermione left Hogwarts, and any information as to their being ready to rejoin the wizarding world would be carried by the Quibbler not the Daily Prophet.

Hermione told Severus they owed everyone quite a bit for those statements. Severus agreed without hesitation. There were times that it was good to be best friends with The Boy Who Lived. This was definitely one of them.

No one found them, though, so evidently Molly Weasley hadn't sold them out. Hermione was relieved. She knew Severus was, too. They were both busy over the summer and didn't want to deal with reporters or curious bystanders coming to see them. It helped, she supposed, they'd closed the store down a couple of times to take small excursions, over nights like they did for Susan and Justin's wedding. School would start for Hermione again and their ability to do that would be greatly reduced. Severus always gave notice before closing the store. He mentioned hiring someone part time so that she could focus her attention on her studies. He hadn't to this point, but she knew he'd think harder on it before next summer.

Hermione's favorite had been a long weekend in Paris.

They'd done the touristy things like visiting the Louvre, the Opera House, and the Père Lachaise Cemetery. Interestingly, the cemetery had probably been Severus' favorite. Bizet, Moliere, Wilde, various people associated with Napoleon (good and bad), but the most impressive to him seemed to be an American singer.

Her not knowing who Jim Morrison was led to an evening listening to not just The Doors but other sixties psychedelic rock bands like The Byrds, Yardbirds, Jefferson Airplane as well as more soul sounding artists like James Brown and The Temptations.

She'd been shocked to find out that Starship was a later incarnation of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship. She had no idea and had heard "We Built This City" and "White Rabbit" more than a few times in her life.

She wasn't sure she would forget the excitement in his eyes at playing these bands for her for a very long time. It was probably the most animated she'd ever seen him. He was like a kid and she found it incredibly charming and humbling that he'd expose himself to her in that way. She suspected no one else had seen this side of him.

And if she was keeping tally on such things, she'd say that they'd had probably the best sex to date afterward. Not that sex between them was bad or unfulfilling. They'd spent so much time getting to know one another from a foreplay standpoint before actually getting to sex that she'd be insulted if it was bad because he certainly knew what pleased her. However, there was a rawness, an innocence, an almost childlike wonder in him that night that she'd accepted his sharing such a personal piece of him with her and didn't find him less.

Less what she wasn't sure. He had been raised a muggle until he went to Hogwarts so why he thought anyone would judge him or think less of anything about him because of his love for muggle music or art was beyond her.

The next school year started and little had changed as far as their involvement in the wizarding world or their existence being rather private. Harry was a frequent visitor, seeming to know they weren't going to step foot into the wizarding world more than they already had yet. Ginny came with him sometimes.

Today it was just Harry.

"No Severus?" Harry asked.

"He's downstairs."

"Avoiding me?"

"I don't think so. When school is in session he has to brew around when I can work the store. He prefers to get as much as he can done during the week so we have some free time to spend together on weekends."

"Oh," Harry said. "That's actually … nice."

"Well, yes. Were you expecting something else?"

"I don't know. I've never really seen him be nice," he shrugged, giving her a rather shy smile.

"He wasn't mean at Susan and Justin's wedding!"

"Well, no, put like that. Okay, considerate. It's actually considerate that he wants to spend time with you."

"Once the store is closed I'll go down and brew with him," she said with a shrug.

"Do you like that?" He shook his head then and laughed. "Of course you do!"

"Yes," she said simply.

"So," he said and Hermione didn't need to be a mind reader to know he wanted something. He was here for a reason today. He didn't usually come by unannounced these days.

"Yes?"

He cleared his throat. He was clearly nervous and she wondered what that was about. Had something happened? No, if that was the case, he'd just come out with it. "You know Ginny and I are getting married in April."

She laughed softly with a nod. "Yes, I'm aware. I'd have to be living under a rock not to be."

"Well, I wanted to know if you'd stand up for me."

She stared at him for a minute, certain she'd heard wrong.

"For you?"

He nodded, smiling widely as if he enjoyed the idea of getting one over on her. "Yeah. I know it's untraditional, but I'd feel like our marriage was getting off to the wrong start if you don't."

"I, um."

She wasn't even sure what to say. She'd assumed when Ginny hadn't asked her that she and Severus would just be guests. She was fine with that. A little hurt, but knew it was weird to have her away from their world. She also knew she hadn't been a very good friend to Ginny after the war. She knew Ginny understood, but she wasn't going to be mad at her friend for choosing someone else to be in her wedding.

"I've left you speechless?"

"Well, yeah, I just assumed," she shrugged.

"That we weren't going to ask you? No, actually we haven't really fought about much to do with the wedding, but who was going to ask you was something we actually almost ended our night not speaking over."

"Harry…"

"I'm serious, Hermione. You're family. I don't get someone to walk me down the aisle like Ginny does. I don't have my parents or Sirius. I have you. I want you standing next to me. Who else is going to fix my glasses for me?"

She laughed softly, feeling tears in her eyes at the memory. He didn't need anyone to fix his glasses anymore, obviously. It was nice of him to say so, though.

"If you're sure."

"Yes!"

"Of course I will, Harry, I'd be honoured to be your … best woman?"

"Well, second best, but yes."

"That means Severus is going to be sitting alone."

"Yeah, well, I assume Charlie or George will sit with him."

"I'm not sure that's going to sell him on the idea, Harry."

"I think he actually likes them. I mean at least somewhat."

"Do me a favour?"

"Okay."

"Let me talk to him about it tonight and I'll owl you if my answer changes."

"Why do you think it might?"

"My being Ginny's bridesmaid is a little less attention-grabbing than being your best woman, Harry. The Prophet…"

"Yeah, I know. I'll take care of it. I promise. I mean, your name will appear, obviously, but I am on it. I don't want them there either! It's my wedding day."

She sighed. She trusted Harry and knew he wouldn't want the attention anymore than she did. "Okay. I just don't want to take the focus away from your day. Susan and Justin's wedding was different. We were just guests and Severus wasn't expected to be there."

"I know."

"I trust you."

"By the way, Ron's dating someone."

"Oh? That's good, isn't it?"

"I think so. I just wanted you to know. I didn't want it to be a surprise and have that be turned into something sinister by anyone."

"Thank you. Is he serious enough that you think he'll still be dating her by April?"

"I was thinking about Christmas…"

"Oh, Harry, I don't know. At your house?"

"I can arrange for something to be at my house if that means you'll come."

"That I really have to talk to Severus about. Last year we did way more than either of us was expecting, which was fine. I'm just not sure he's up for a repeat."

"It'd just be the two of you otherwise, though."

"We're okay with that, Harry. Really. Last Christmas was almost too much. I'll talk to him about it and let you know. Maybe we could do something just the four of us or six of us if Ron's agreeable."

"I'll talk to him and find out."

"I think I might be able to get him to agree to that easier than another night at your home."

He grimaced. "It's not so … dark anymore."

"I imagine you've done a lot to prepare for Ginny to be living there."

"Yes! I'd love for you to see it now. I think Sirius would be proud."

"I'm sure he's very proud, Harry, of everything you've done."

They stood from the table they were sitting at then and hugged before she walked him to the door.

"Take care, Harry, and thank you. I'm very flattered."

"You're family. There's really no other option for me."

"Let me know what Ron says."

"Will do. Good luck with school."

"Thanks."

He left then and Hermione returned to the bookkeeping she'd been doing when he showed up. Fortunately, Severus was as detailed as she was so it wasn't difficult to pick up from where he'd left off. She had an order to place, too. There were times she wondered how Severus kept this store and did his brewing before she'd come along. Then she supposed he hadn't had anyone or anything to take him away from working.

Working himself to an early grave.

She knew, too, that after nearly twenty years of working as a spy, a professor, and potions master that he probably didn't know what to do with any amount of what he'd view as excess time on his hands.

And anyone who said he wasn't spying during the years Voldemort was inactive didn't know the man or what exactly Albus Dumbledore had expected from him. Contacts had to be kept, an image had to be presented and maintained, and pureblood students had to be treated preferentially. If he'd taken one wrong step between 1981 and 1995 then the outcome of the war would have been very different.

And he'd have been killed, likely in 1995. Possibly, Dumbledore could have found someone else to spy, but it was doubtful they would have been able to accomplish what Severus had.

Life would have been very different for everyone without Severus Snape.

It still mystified her why he'd made the offer he had to her. She didn't understand it, but she'd stopped trying to figure it out or she'd drive herself crazy. And wonder if they'd ever truly be happily in love. She'd like to think so. He deserved that as much as she did.

She closed up the store when it was time, extinguished the lights, and made her way downstairs to his lab.

"Hi," she said after she'd watched him for a few minutes from the doorway. He knew she was there. He had wards on the lab to alert him to interlopers. Huginn didn't look like much, but he would protect his owner's property.

"Harry has left already?"

"Yeah, he wants me to be in the wedding."

He glanced at her then, curiously. Clearly he was not understanding why that surprised her.

"You expected that, no?"

"As his best woman."

"Oh," he said, brow furrowing as he let that sink in. "And you said?"

"Well, I said yes but that I'd talk it over with you, too. I mean, that will likely draw way more attention than if I'd just been one of Ginny's bridesmaids."

"You and I both know it was matron of honour, or well, the route Harry's gone. Did he have reasoning?"

"He said he doesn't get someone to walk him down the aisle and he wants his family next to him."

"What's there to discuss, Hermione? He's the groom, it's his day…"

"Well, it'd mean you'd sit alone. He thought Charlie or George might sit with you."

He nodded after a moment, as if thinking over that statement. "They are tolerable," he said.

She snorted softly. "He thought you might not be too troubled by them."

"I don't need people assigned to me as if I'm hopeless. I can sit alone and be just fine with that."

"I think he doesn't want you to have to, Severus. I think it's important to him that you not feel like you're there by yourself. That you're more than just my plus one."

"Noted."

She watched him as he portioned out this, mixed that, and poured things into vials. She didn't know what he was working on today. She loved watching him work, his hands were really lovely to watch. When he used them on her particularly.

"What else is on your mind, Witch?"

"Nothing."

"The blush on your cheeks says otherwise."

"I was thinking of your hands on me," she said.

She wasn't used to speaking so boldly. She hoped they'd get there sometime, but it was still new to them to where talking about their sex life away from the actual act wasn't done often. He was by far better at it than she was.

"And this makes you blush?"

"When I think of your hands on me while your fingers are inside of me, yes, it does."

"I see," he said, his voice deepening a bit in a tone she knew went hand in hand with arousal.

"I'll let you finish…"

"Hermione," he said.

"Yes."

"Give me twenty minutes and you can have my hands and fingers, or any other part of me, wherever you wish."

"But we haven't even had dinner."

"Mm, we are adults last I checked and can eat dinner whenever we wish to. We can even eat it in bed if we so choose. If my wife is thinking about carnal things this early in the evening I would be a fool not to ensure those thoughts come true."

"Do you need help? The sooner you get done…"

He peered at her over his cauldrons and equipment set out for the potions he was working on.

"That time again?" he queried.

"I don't think so."

Now that she was eating consistently and food that was not just nourishing but filling, her hormones seemed to be a little more under control when it came to feeling like this at different points in her body's cycle. When they'd first started exploring she'd been turned on all day, every day it seemed. That hadn't necessarily changed, but she wasn't quite as needy. Maybe it wasn't her body and was just the fact she had an outlet for those moods now. Every month though within a day or two of her period starting she was insatiable. That wasn't the case today.

"Well, by all means then, Wife, come assist."

She crossed to the table he was working at then and waited for his direction as far as what he'd want her help with.

His hand fell to her hip as he brushed her hair away from her neck with his cheek to kiss it.

"Is now too soon?"

His voice was a warm caress against her neck before he closed his lips over a spot. She groaned softly as she felt him suck and lick at the skin there.

"Your potion…"

His hand at her hip was pulling her skirt up slowly. Too slowly and she cried out when she finally felt his skin against her thigh before he reached to cup her bum and slide his hand down between her legs. She wore stockings, but ones that stopped at her thigh. He liked those a lot. Today was no different it seemed.

"Mm, a skirt and the stockings I like. Was that with this in mind?"

"Not consciously."

"Mm, subconsciously then perhaps. Your mind is a wondrous thing."

He kissed her neck then and she gasped as he cupped her mons with his palm.

She gripped the table in front of her with both hands as he slid one and then a second finger inside of her, shifting against him to adjust. She went to the balls of her feet to get the right position. His thumb found her spot and she cried out, biting her lower lip to stop from being too loud.

"No, don't," he murmured against her ear. "Cry out, Hermione. Let me hear you come undone around my fingers. I know how much you like having them in you. I know they're not my cock, but you always seem to find them a more than suitable substitute in moments like this."

She whimpered as she pressed herself against him, taking his fingers deeper inside of her as the pad of his thumb hit her nub just right. She wasn't sure what came out of her mouth but it was something along the lines of praising Merlin such talented fingers were hers. He chuckled against her ear, whispering how wet and warm she was around his fingers as he worked to bring her higher and higher toward that point she wanted to be.

"Fuck, Severus," she said when his thumb got just the right movement and pressure to bring her off.

"I will do that later. I promise," he whispered, kissing her cheek once he was obviously assured she'd finished. He brushed her ear with his nose before kissing her there. "Okay now?"

"Uh huh," she murmured. She pressed back against him and he hissed.

"I want you, too, Love, you know I do. Give me twenty minutes, Hermione, and you can have your wicked way with me the rest of the night."

"Promise?" she asked and he chuckled.

He drew his hand away and she watched over her shoulder as he licked each finger. He smirked, knowing very much that she got aroused just watching him do that. She didn't think he realized why she liked it, but the reason didn't matter. It got her hot and he liked making her that way. So, win-win for both of them.

"Want me to pinky swear, too?"

She scoffed. "I could have waited…"

"I did not want you to wait."

"But you didn't…"

"I didn't need to in order to obtain pleasure, Love. Hearing and feeling you come undone brings me immense pleasure."

"I could still help?"

"You could help by taking yourself upstairs and getting into our bed."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," he said.

"I didn't cause you to ruin the potion, did I?"

"No, this one is not as dependent upon the temperature when transferring it to the vials as some are."

"Good," she said, sighing softly as he drew completely away from her and adjusted her skirt back into its rightful place.

"I like when you wear skirts," he said, caressing her bum through the skirt.

"Me, too," she said and he chuckled softly. She knew that he did. She did, too, for exactly this reason. "I'll see you upstairs then."

"Indeed you shall, Wife. Oh, and Hermione?"

"Yes," she said, pausing in the doorway.

"That would have been worth a ruined potion."

She knew she was blushing again, which caused him to laugh, not just chuckle. She left then, taking herself upstairs to wait for him.

Story ©Susan Falk/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com