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HGSS

Hermione Granger stood outside the Potion's classroom, brows furrowed in thought. She was fifteen minutes early and could not decide if she should just wait it out or knock on the door. Being early for class was one thing; the door was usually already open for the students. Being early for detention was another. Unconsciously biting her lip, Hermione decided to simply wait it out and not risk any chance of losing house points, finding herself thinking back to the cause of her detention earlier that day.

The numbing solution wasn't particularly hard to make, so she found herself with enough leisure to look over towards the surrounding cauldrons belonging to her classmates. When she saw Neville about to add tongue of newt instead of eye of newt, she hissed at him, saving him from exploding his cauldron in the nick of time.

Unfortunately, one Severus Snape was privy to the whole incident and insisted that if she could not focus on her own cauldron in class, she would have to practice in detention. Indignant, Hermione protested about unfairness, causing Gryffindor to lose twenty house points for "cheek."

Still upset about the incident as a whole, Hermione thought it best to give Snape no reason to make it harder for Gryffindor to win the house cup, so she continued to wait. Finally, at precisely eight o'clock, she knocked on the door. "Enter," said a silky voice from inside of the room and soon enough she found herself in front of the dour professor.

"I take it you can brew Pepper-up Potion?" Snape questioned the girl in front of him. "Of course sir," she replied. "Good," he said, eyeing her for a moment. "Poppy is running low so I need you to make a triple batch."

"Anything else?" Hermione replied with a sigh. Pepper-up Potion was not difficult to make, but there was an hour in between the second-to-last and final step. All hopes for a short detention were dashed.

"That will be all," Snape replied curtly and Hermione got to it.

As Hermione chopped her daisy roots, her eyes strayed towards the dark man sitting behind his desk, marking papers. Ever since the fall of Voldemort, and the knowledge of all the Professor had done for the light, her respect for him had grown to something more. Hearing the tales of his heroism struck her heart and she found that no matter how cruel to her he was in class, she couldn't help the attraction she felt. In fact, she had been looking forward to detention tonight, minus the possible point deduction of course.

As she added the daisy roots and began to stir, she didn't notice a pair of black eyes resting on her, a thoughtful expression brightening their usual stoic mask. As her potion was left to simmer for a few minutes, Hermione found herself daydreaming about the domineering man that had lately invaded not only her subconscious, but many of her waking moments as well. The potions master's eyebrows lifted as he peered into her thoughts. It was a nasty habit, breaking into students' minds but the flush creeping up Miss Granger's neck was appealing. He was curious to know what had caused her reddened state.

Learning he was the cause, stimulated a similar response on his pale countenance as well as a stirring in his trousers. 'So Miss Granger fantasizes about me,' he thought to himself, calculating his next move. It was no secret to the Potions Master that he desired her. She was no longer the insufferable buck-toothed know-it-all with bottlebrush brown hair. In fact, he found her quite lovely. Her hair had grown into soft curls, her teeth were fixed and she no longer found it necessary to jump up and down with her hand raised after every single question he asked. Naturally, he still gave her hell; she was a Gryffindor. It was only fair. Added to that, it was important that his desire for her remained unknown.

His plan had been to court the witch after graduation. He was aware of her interest in potions and due to Minerva's meddling learned she had hoped to approach him with an apprenticeship in the field. The ever-interfering head of Gryffindor took it upon herself to convince him of Miss Granger's worth in hopes that he would at least consider her, and consider her he did.

Severus Snape was aware he was not an attractive man, but Miss Granger never did seem to hold much towards appearances. She was cerebral in nature, and it was his hope that she would find his mind alluring enough to become amenable to a physical relationship. He would start off slow, drawing her in with his mind and engaging her intellect with debates and conversation. He would begin with light physical contact, in a nonsexual way such as brushing past her, or a light shoulder massage when she was stressed. In time, his hopes were to woo Miss Granger and make her his. With this new revelation however, his world was spinning.

Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined himself as the star of her fantasies, at least, not without some careful and calculated prodding of his own. Snape had only assigned Miss Granger with Pepper-up Potion because it was needed, but he found the hour-long wait before the last step might work greatly to his advantage. He peeked into Miss Granger's mind one more time, this time delving deeper. He had to know how deep her attraction to him ran before making a move. If it was a fleeting fancy, he could encourage it, but would do nothing untoward just yet. If, however, it ran deeper, he might have to break his self-enforced rule concerning relations with students. It was not unallowed at Hogwarts so long as the student was of the age of consent and willing, but never had the potions master even considered such a thing until her.

As he dug deeper into her mind, his eyes brightened further. It seemed as if this attraction was not a fleeting fancy. 'All the better for me,' Snape smirked to himself with that thought. Surreptitiously warding the door and casting a silencing charm, he reviewed Miss Granger's classroom fantasies in his mind, waiting until the proper moment to pounce. As Hermione added the second-to-last ingredient and set the timer for an hour, she looked up to see her Potions Professor staring at her heatedly.

HGSS

A/N: Love it hate it? Review please. The rest of the story should be up by the end of the night.