"Oh, Severus..."

Severus let his head drop again, his hair shielding his expression from her view.

Without thought, Hermione found herself kneeling on the rug in front of him. As she reached out with both hands to push the hair from his face, his eyes locked on her tear-stained visage, locked as surely as if he ransacked her memories with Legilimency. When she rose up to press her lips to his forehead, she realised her knees had stiffened in the time they spent drinking each other in.

"Severus, you're everything, don't you understand? All I want, ever, is your love."

---

"I appreciate romance as much as anyone. If you want roses and stolen kisses, I won't deny you that, but, Severus, you already did everything right. You don't need to court me because I'm already in love with you."

Severus's hands reached out to cradle her face as her hands still framed his. His lips brushed the dampness from her cheeks slowly and carefully before they pressed against her own.

They arose together, lips never breaking contact until Hermione's tip-toe stance faltered. She rested her cheek against his chest, listening to the accelerated beat of the heart that she owned.

---

"So..." His beautiful voice was hoarse and cracked.

"Severus, all I want is you and a world where we can be together."

"Ever aiming high," Severus answered.

"We're here now. We both have parts to play if we want that world to be real, and there will be times when those roles keep us apart. But we're here now, even if it's just a moment. Had we but World enough, and Time,_* I'd give you your perfect romance, but we don't live in a perfect world and chances are one or both of us will die before that world exists."

---

"You will not die." Severus's words were as fervent as a prayer, and Hermione felt tension in the air like an upcoming storm.

"I might," she whispered. "Perhaps I'm not in as much danger as you, but you were right about Vol—"

His fingers stilled the word on her lips.

"You were right about the Dark Lord's influence over the Ministry, and it can only get worse."

"You would be safe here," Severus suggested.

"I would be useless to you here and if he ever suspected..." Her voice faded, and she couldn't meet his gaze. "And Harry needs me."

---

She felt him stiffen at the mention of Harry's name. "Severus, I can't give up now, any more than you can."

"I gained the impression that you and Potter had become... estranged," he said, with such careful calmness that she knew he was inwardly seething.

"We are. We were. That doesn't mean I abandoned Dumbledore's mission. Haven't you ever had a friend who did something so bad that you loved them and hated them all at the same time? Right now, I don't even want to look at Harry or Ron. Everything's too raw, but if I found another clue..."

---

"Severus." She cupped his face again. "It's not about choosing between you and him. It's that the world can't afford to lose either one of you. I'm... incidental."

"Hermi—"

"Listen! This war is bigger than you and me, and no one knows how it will end. All we can do is keep putting one foot in front of the other and see where it takes us. And when we get a moment like this, together, we have to cherish it, and cherish each other."

Severus willed the tension from his body, drawing her close. "Tell me what you want."

---

Hermione took a short step back, enough to let him see her clearly, not so far that her hands couldn't rest on his pectorals. "I want you to be happy. I know it can't be that way, but I want us to be one thing that you never have to worry about. I'm sorry for being... crabby. It's just I guess I've been promising myself—"

"That I would sweep you off your feet?" Severus suggested.

"Something like that. But it was stupid. It's been so long. We have things to discuss..."

---

Her words tailed off as he scooped her into his arms. "Severus?" she asked softly, her eyes searching his face as her hands wound around his neck.

"As you say, it's been a long time and we have much to discuss." He kissed her on the forehead and then carried her through to his bedroom. "Too much, I think, to do justice to your plan for the evening and get you safely back, but there's no reason why we cannot be comfortable," he said, lowering her onto the bed.

Hermione scooted backward, stretching out her hand. "No reason at all."

---

He kicked off his boots and unhurriedly removed Hermione's trainers before he sat down on the bed and rolled into her arms.

Hermione held her lower lip prisoner between her teeth as she watched his lithe movements.

His fingers slipped into her hair and he drew her face to his, one taut thigh sliding between Hermione's jeans-clad legs as they tangled together. He rolled her on top of him, creating a delicious pressure by bending his leg. His lips teased gently at her lower one until she released it. "My job," he whispered and nibbled softly on the sensitive flesh.

---

The mewling sound that rose from her throat was distressingly akin to that of a lost kitten, and she froze in embarrassment.

He let his head fall back when her hips ceased their instinctive rocking.

"I thought we hadn't time to make love?" she asked quietly.

"We don't." His lips slowly lifted at one side, his eyes alight with knowledge. "Exploring the responses of a new partner, learning how best to please them is something that takes time. That doesn't mean we can't do something to ease your tension." He lifted his knee higher, pressing more firmly.

"Oh... O-o-oh... Severus."

_{* To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell}