I watch her as she sleeps, curled up in the armchair, book open with her hand balancing it precariously on the arm. She looks so relaxed in sleep, her usually overactive brain taking a rest. She fall's asleep there often, a few nights out of the week at least. It still surprises me that she allows herself to be so vulnerable in my presence, something I've voiced to her a few times. Shes simply scoffs, waving my comment away. Apparently she trusts me.
It's an unusual feeling for me, being trusted unreservedly. It's happened very rarely, if ever, in the past, and it's an alien concept. I was surprised again when I found I actually liked the feeling. She's wormed her way into my heart, much like the way she wormed herself into my potions lab, then my quarters. She has her own quarters of course, down the hallway to mine. As an apprentice, she earned the right to stay in the castle, as have the apprentices to the other teachers.
I refused at first, of course it is my nature to argue with Albus. Anything he thinks is a good idea makes me immediately hate the idea. He didn't force her on me, not at all, merely told me to choose the student with the most potential in my subject. As it turned out, I had to fight for her. Minerva and Filius both had her down as their first choice, although Filius was quite happy to relinquish his claim. He was happy to have Potter as his apprentice. Minerva was more adamant, but as our first and second choices were the same, it was left to the student's to choose. Draco decided he would rather study Transfiguration than Potions.
When the apprenticeship started, I was cold to her, snappish, my usual dour self. Of course, my personality hasn't changed in regard to her at all, except she has grown used to my barbs, knowing I do not mean them as they sound, not in regard to her. She's burrowed herself into my life, and while I could most probably dig her out and throw her aside, I have no wish to do so. She has a year left in my company, which in turn, means I have a year left in which to woo her. Prove to her that I can make her happy, make her want to stay with me long after she gains her mastery.
I feel her eyes on me sometimes, especially when we are in the lab. When I catch her staring, she blushes, looking away. Every time it happens, I feel a warm glow inside, a hope that grows with every passing day, that she cares for me the way I care for her. She spends an inordinate amount of time with me, inside the lab and out. When it first began, she would knock on my door shyly, asking to borrow a book, or ask a question about a potion we had been working on. Now though, she knocks on the door with confidence, without a word she walks in, sitting herself in 'her' armchair. We exchange few words on these occasions, she knows she is welcome, I know she enjoys being here.
When she first began to fall asleep in the armchair, I would wake her up, smile to myself as she got up sleepily from the chair, bidding me goodnight as she stumbled off to her own rooms. Now, I cover her with a blanket, enlarging the chair slightly so she has more room. I move her book from the arm, placing a bookmark in so she does not lose her page. I smile at her, though she cannot see, before I go to my own bed.
When I wake up in the morning, she is always gone. The blanket folded neatly on the back of the armchair, her book gone from the table. She is always awaiting me in the lab when I arrive, a smile and a coffee waiting with her. I dream of the day when she will share that smile and coffee in my quarters, after a night in our shared bed.
I have a year to make that happen. A Slytherin never back's away from a challenge, and yes, Miss Granger is a challenge indeed.
Written for the Monthly Oneshot Competition using Prompt #32 Book
Written for the Jury Of Your Peers Competition for Non-Canon