Previously entitled Drowning in Kisses. The title was changed because, quite frankly, I cringed every time I read it. 

Warning for descriptive scenes of rape. H.x 

Severus stared at the Witch who remained in the crumpled heap on the floor. "You don't mind if I have a drink, do you?" 

Hermione shrugged. Severus's cloak tickled the wooden flooring as went to pour himself a drink from a crystal decanter. There he stood by the fire place, with a glass of Ogdens in his hand looking almost regal. Hermione's insides melted and she felt a warmth in her stomach that she hadn't felt while they had been separated. 

It struck her as odd, that Severus Snape, the most moody and unforgiving old git, would welcome her with open arms when she had been nothing but horrid towards him. It only made her feel worse that he was so willing to absolve her. Hermione thought that she deserved to be scorned for her actions.

"Miss Granger, perhaps I was wrong about you." Snape said after a period of him staring into the embers.

"Severus?"

"You really are the brightest witch of your age." The man smirked as he looked at her in his devilish way.

Hermione drew a blank. "I don't understand."

Severus continued, in his eyes Hermione could see the pained expression which was concealed by his goading expression. His eyes were timid, almost as if he was frightened. "You are honest and you do not seek reward or your own personal gain for your actions."

Staring at him incredulously, Hermione didn't know what to do. Her heart sped up and she dug her knuckles into the floorboards to disguise her shaking hands.

"You are beautiful on the inside and on the outside. Don't you see? You are everything a man dreams of." Severus sounded irritated at this point.  "And every man who has ever held the pleasure of knowing you has wronged you, greatly."

The words that came out of Hermione's mouth made her sound naive and immature. Even she cringed. "Except you, Severus."

The way the man held onto his glass of whiskey concerned Hermione, she was scared that his grip was going to cause the glass to shatter. "I have failed you greater than most ."

"What on Earth do you mean?"

"When I signed up to be Potions master of this goddamned school, Dumbledore drilled it into me that it was my responsibility to look after each and every student who ever sought my help. Be they Slytherin or not" 

"I have failed you, Potter and Weasley each and every time you were in danger. Imagine how it felt to see you get escorted into the study at the manor. I had failed you again. I knew what was going to happen and I did nothing." 

"When you lay convalesced in my bed, I was worried that you'd wake up and run. I was concerned there would be some post traumatic effects, depression or what not, and you would no longer be the know-it-all chit who id become accustomed to. Now we are on the verge of war, and yet again I have put you in danger."

Severus collapsed into his arm chair, with enough force to make it squeak backwards a couple of inches. The amber liquid in his glass sloshed dangerously. 

Hermione was outraged. She stood up and crossed her arms defiantly. "Look, can we just agree that we've both been pretty shit to each other over the years? But its hardly the time to focus on that. If I were lay dying in The Great Hall in 2 hours time then I'd be bleeding out and lamenting that fact I'd never told you how I truly feel."

Snape didn't meet her eyes, so Hermione continued. "To reiterate, if you die in this bleeding battle. I will kill you myself Severus Snape. I hate to break it to you, but whether we win or not, I'm not leaving you for all of the galleons in Gringotts."

In response, Severus chuckled. He actually laughed. It was a sweet sound. "Bloody Gryffindors." He muttered, having a hard time trying to stop a grin from erupting across his face.

"I don't care whether you want me or not." Hermione pointed a finger at the man in the arm chair and started to walk closer to him with every cry.

"I don't care whether we simply return as friends or if something more than that happens." Their knees touched at this point.

"I promise you that there is a snowballs chance in hell of you getting rid of me after all we've been through together. I didn't put up with you being a grumpy, old bastard for nothing."

Severus was highly amused by this display. His heart was thumping at double speed as he listened to the girl's rant and watched as the firelight reflected into her face. She was as high strung and spirited as always and that is exactly what he had always admired about her.

"Are you insinuating that "something more" might happen between us?" Severus asked. He placed his now empty glass down on the carpet.

Hermione blushed up to her hairline. "You are a very difficult man to read, Severus. It is impossible to know what you're thinking."

She chewed on her lip for a split second of hesitation. "Id like to see our relationship develop into something that we may be able to call a partnership one day."

Reaching forward without a hint of reluctance, Severus placed his hands on Hermione's hips and gently guided her to sit on his lap. His movements told her she could back out at any moment. Having such beautiful girl so close to him, caused Severus's dick to betray him. He could see the dimples at the corner of her mouth when she smiled. She could see the little honeyed flecks of gold in her lush brown eyes. He could smell her scent. He resisted the urged to run his hands all over her body. Instead, he sat stiff as a board, afraid to screw it all up.

Hermione ran the back of her hand across Severus's cheek. His eyes were fixed on her delicious plump lips. "I needn't tell you that i'm a broken man?"

"No."

"Or that it is unwise to court someone so much older than you?"

"Nuh uh."

"Or that I'm a grumpy old bastard and nothing is ever going to change that?"

"I already knew that."

"Of course, you little know-it-all."

Hermione shivered, even though she was plenty warm. She could feel Severus's breath against her lips. The inches seemed like miles. With a last ditch effort, Hermione closed the gap and kissed him lightly.

Neither seemed to know what to do, and so they paused. Hermione panicked. Afraid to deepen the kiss in case he didn't consent, afraid to move away in case he did. Severus was in shock. He had never felt so... whole. So complete. She was nothing like Lily.

His hand cradled the small of her back, his other went her neck and cupped her face. He pressed his lips firmer to hers, unable to stop the smile on his face as the sparks grew. Hermione sighed contentedly and grabbed the front of his robes. He was kissing her back!

When her sweet tongue begged him for entrance, who was Severus to deny her? In fact, he didn't think he could deny her anything ever again. She was so addictive, so beautiful. She made him feel younger with just a touch of her lips. 

They parted reluctantly. Severus's face was unreadable and it didn't help Hermione's nerves. "Hermione." Severus whispered.

Her cheeks were flushed and her smile was impish, Hermione quieted the man. "Severus."  She once again covered his lips with her own, this time filled with confidence.

Severus found it hard to believe that this was the same witch who lay in her virginal gown, unconscious on his bed for days. Surely she was not the same girl who would sit on his sofa, paralyzed by her own demons for hours on end. No, she had developed so much since he had taken her into his care. It would be entirely selfish of Severus to take credit for her transformation. After all, Hermione would argue that it was her bossy Gryffindor nature that got her through.

The way she felt pressed up against him, Severus would be inclined to agree with anything Hermione said.

Although, she was sat across Severus's lap and snogging his face off, Hermione noticed that the man did not let down his barriers. She did not expect the leopard to loose his spots. In fact, she rather enjoyed his wittiness and snark, but had rather hoped that he may be able to show her some kind of emotion.

"Stop thinking so loud." Severus grumbled, moving to nip at her neck.

"Stop using legillimency on me." Hermione's voice shook, as the man did wicked things to an otherwise untouched area.

He snorted. "I don't need to. You are thinking loud enough for the whole castle to hear. In fact, I daresay that you've already given your position away."

"Git." Hermione sighed. She could not be angry when Severus was doing devious things with his mouth.

His lips found hers again, melting the tension. Hermione could feel the arousal in her tummy and between her legs. The half-hardness that she was sat on felt uncomfortable but not unwanted.

She wondered what was going on in Severus'sb head, and where he thought this was going. Thoughts raced through Hermione's mind of the night that had started all of this. The smell of unwashed male filled her nose and caused her throat to spasm. The ghosts of forceful hands on her hips, and pulling her legs apart and on her throat made tears fill her eyes. The pleasure that was building in her womanhood felt wrong.

Hermione pulled away, her breathe escaping her as though she had just plunged into a lake of ice. The darkness began to surround her as she panicked to get the water out of her lungs, but everything was so cold. Every touch was pain. The weight of the water was pushing down and crushing her, and Hermione still couldn't draw breathe. Her face felt wet. Maybe she was drowning. Dying.

She knew something wasn't right. She had been in Severus's lap, safe and warm against the fireplace. She was breathing him in, and had had no trouble doing so. Yet Hermione was still numb.

The sounds of those horrid men that night was all the she could hear. The sound of them laughing as Bellatrix dragged her knife across her untouched skin. She could hear as they cheered, the moment that Voldemort had given them permission to have her. They leered and tormented her. Their foul breath inside of her mouth. The feeling of their dirty cocks down her throat stopping Hermione from screaming. The grunts and the moans as they came inside her bleeding pussy. She was just another toy for them to fuck.

When Hermione had regained consciousness, Severus had said that there was extensive scarring in her nether region. She recalled him helping her the bathroom and seeing the blood that indicated she had yet to fully heal. The months of emotional agony came flooding back, and it made her want to vomit.

"Hermione." The faintest whisper of her name brought her back into the room. Her eyes which had been squeezed shut were sensitive to even the low light of Severus's front room. Her breathing was coming out in pants, and tears and snot were streaming down her face.

"Its okay, take your time." Severus said, watching the girl cry and wondering what on Earth he was supposed to do.  He had never been someone to comfort others. One would have to be an optimist in order to be able to do that. Severus Snape was a realist. He saw things with incredible insight, but his skills seemed to lack when it came to emotions. Female emotions even more so.

He thought about dipping into her mind, but dismissed it. She would surely not appreciate that. Instead he placed a light finger on her cheek, which was rosy with her exertion, and began moving it in small circles as he had on other occasions.

Severus observed as her chest heaved in order to get air into her lungs. She hardly even noticed he was there.

He had seen people disassociate before, many times under the strains of torture. But this hit differently. Severus wanted to hide his precious girl from the woes of the world. He was a Slytherin, he was no protector, but a predator.

Hermione leaned her face into his hand and looked at him with sad watery eyes. "Im sorry, I don't know what happened." She choked.

Digging into his pocket awkwardly with his spare hand, Severus produced a monogrammed handkerchief. "I think we both know what happened, Hermione."

Her head hurt from the pressure as Hermione coughed into the handkerchief. She delicately wiped her eyes and blew her nose. "Perhaps. Although I have longed for this enough, that I thought my past would not prove an issue."

Severus stroked her face as the girl continued to catch her breath. "You are a clever young woman, Hermione. You are admirably headstrong, but even you are allowed to be affected by the horrors you have experienced. You cannot put a bandage on a broken leg and expect to run for 10 miles the next day."

Hermione dropped her head onto Severus's shoulder. He swallowed deeply, knowing he was going to regret his next decision. "Although I cannot promise when I will be able to see you alone like this again, I think it advisable that you go to bed"

The war was upon them. Severus was to make his move the following evening, he was to send word to both Voldemort and The Order tomorrow. For now, he didn't want talk of conflict to ruin their last perfect moment together. If Severus was to survive this war, then he would be incredibly lucky indeed.

With a great deal of reluctance, cursing Severus in her head, Hermione climbed off of his lap and gathered her cloak from where it had fell upon the floor. She paused at the door, knowing full well that should she leave his office, she may never see Severus again.

"Headmaster Snape?" She peaked at the delectable man, who had not moved from his chair.

"Yes Miss Granger?" He grinned, flexing his fingers.

"Please be careful."

"I am nothing but careful. Now off to bed, before I deduct house points." Severus definitely looked younger when he smiled.

______

When Hermione returned to the Room of Requirement she was exhausted and disheveled. She was surprised to see the room was lit bright and packed to the brim with people, even given the hour of the night.

She tried to remain unnoticed but was spotted by Luna, who wore something akin to a muggle military shirt, with a flowery skirt that reached her ankles. Hermione had learnt not to question the younger witch's fashion choices. 

"Hermione, you look suitably bedraggled. Is everything okay?" She asked.

Avoiding Luna's eye she replied. "I'm fine, thank you. I was a little upset earlier but I'm okay now."

Luna smiled. "Oh okay. I was going to say, you remind me of Alannah Whitewood, when she comes back from her midnight escapades with her boyfriend."

Freezing in shock, Hermione widened her eyes and gaped before she was able to collect herself. "Luna!" She wad horrified to be compared to such a randy Ravenclaw.

"I meant no offence Hermione." She said looking rather sheepish after Hermione's outburst.    

"Sorry Luna. I'm a little tired. What's going on?" She addressed the crowd, which yet again, Harry and Ron were stood at the front of.

"I believe the term is 'rallying up the troops". I'm afraid that they're going to burst into song any moment." Luna smiled, dreamily.

Snorting, Hermione looked up at the table upon which the boys stood. She didn't feel so rallied when she saw Ron's dopey face and ginger mop. Harry was trying his best. The crowd cheered and heckled at the boys, and Hermione was glad for her social invisibility.

"We have a secret weapon up our sleeves." Harry announced.

Skeptical, Hermione bounced on the balls of her feet. The Order of the Phoenix were hardly a secret weapon, where Lord Voldemort was concerned. She doubted that Harry had some other magic trick that he intended to be a show stopper. In fact, their most likely secret weapon was Severus Snape, the man she had spent half of the evening snogging. (And the other half crying into.)

She was oddly fine, knowing that that was the last chance she may have had alone with Severus. As much as it pained her to admit it, Ginny was right. Hermione would have completely tormented herself should she have remained silent.

Nevertheless, there would be time for romance and sex, after this mess was over.