Disclaimer: It all belongs to J.K. Rowling. I merely enjoy playing with her creations.

Authors Note: I cut the original Dove Wisdom down to size- they will be reposted as oneshots. And reedited..

Warnings: Nothing, actually. Unless you object to a slighty- OOC Snape.

Rating: K

Title: Live Your Dream

Stuck in detention instead of studying for her Charms exam, Hermione was pissed, to say the least. And all because she'd stupidly looked up at Professor Snape when he had passed her cauldron! Sometimes she hated that man. He was so- so- evil. She couldn't put it any other way. He probably stuck me in here just so I don't get the chance to study. Hermione sliced the flobberworms with exaggerated precision as she glowered at the man sitting at his desk in the front of the darkened room.

Unfortunately, he saw her gaze and asked coolly, "Is there something you need, Ms. Granger?" She fought down the urge to bare her teeth at him and growl, and won, just. Instead she shook her head and glanced back down at her work, not trusting herself to speak. He makes me so MAD! She seethed quietly, viciously throwing the ingredients into the boiling cauldron.

She didn't notice how Snape watched her, and she certainly didn't notice the eyebrow creeping up to his hairline as he watched her throw the herbs and organs in almost haphazardly, as if she didn't care how they mixed, so long as she got out of here. This was unlike her, and he had noticed it in class. Hence, the detention.

He watched as she stirred the puce- colored liquid violently, and a little of it sloshed over the sides as she turned the fluid in the opposite direction, as per the instructions. He didn't expect her to stare in surprise at the spilled potion and neglect the larger batch, and he would never have expected her to let go of the stirring spoon to sit down abruptly and rest her head on the table.

Severus got up and glided over to her, saying as he went, "There's no use crying over spilt milk, Ms. Granger. Clean it up and continue."

Hermione ignored him, instead concentrating on the solid feel of the desk under her forehead, and the pattern of the grain of the wood as it pressed into her skin.

She didn't care anymore.

Seeing the ugly liquid trickle over the edge of the cauldron had made her almost unthinking rage melt away to nothing. Watching as it slowly wormed its way down the side of the pot, she had felt a strange sense of loss, as if the ruined potion was saying to her 'You cannot even brew a batch of Pepper- Up Potion correctly. How can you dream of succeeding in life'?

She closed her eyes and pictured being in bed, sound asleep, wrapped in her favorite blanket wearing her most comfortable pair of pajamas. That was where she wanted to be. Hermione didn't even twitch when the hand came down on her shoulder. She was already more than half asleep as she thought of her bed.

Severus hauled her upright and settled her against the back of her chair. He frowned at the student, seeing that she was more exhausted than a student had a right to be. He called a chair over to where he was with a wave of his hand, and sat down across from Hermione. Slipping his hand into his sleeve, he pulled out a vial of smelling salts and waved them under his pupils nose.

She jerked upright with a pained expression on her face, and watering eyes. Glaring at him, Hermione complained "Why'd you do that?" Seeing that she was indeed awake, Snape put the vial back into his sleeve and, leaning back in his chair, brought his ankle up to rest on his knee and clasped it as he contemplated his student. She watched him warily, having only just realized that he was so close to her.

After a few moment of silence, Snape leaned forward and spoke. "I understand that you feel the need to be that smartest student in your year, and I understand the need that drives you to that goal. But I have never before had to resort to smelling salts to wake a student in detention. That tells me something about you Ms. Granger, and I wonder if it is good." He paused to consider his next words. Hermione shifted in her seat, and listened guiltily as he went on.

"I have seen you brew a Pepper- Up Potion surrounded by the idiots in your class, blowing up cauldrons left and right, exploding simple potions with their stupidity, Ms. Granger, and you have unfailingly given me outstanding work in such situations. I wonder, then, why it is that you are falling asleep in a solitary detention that consists of nothing more than brewing a potion that I know you understand?" He waited for her answer.

When it came, he was not surprised. "I guess I have been working myself to hard for my other classes." She admitted slowly, and Severus cocked his head. "I believe, Ms. Granger, that you have been working yourself to hard for all of your classes. Is that not true?" She nodded reluctantly.

"Why do you work yourself so hard when you already know all of the material?" He asked next, and Hermione fidgeted nervously as she supplied him with an answer. "I have this drive to know everything that I have ever leaned by heart. I don't understand it, but it's there. I want to be able to do anything without being tied down to one thing. It has always been a dream of mine that I could be able to do anything I set my mind to. So I learn everything I can." It felt strange for Hermione to be confessing her deepest dream to her scary Potions Teacher, but it was also, in a weird way, easier than when she had told Harry of her compulsion.

Snape nodded, and came to a decision. Leaning forward, he said, "Listen to me very carefully Ms. Granger. If you have the ability, live your dreams, but if in the pursuit of your dream you harm yourself, it is up to those in authority to place boundaries on you to ensure your well being. That being the case, I am going to write you a note to excuse you from class for the next two days. I want you to sleep, and forget about schoolwork. You will not be penalized for the work you will miss."

He took in her expression as he talked. First fear of what he was going to say, then incredulity as he showed his softer side, then amazement as she took in the fact that her greasy old potions master was the one who was going to give her two days off of school. When he finished speaking, he wrote out a quick note and gave it to her. "Go to your dorm, go to sleep, and stay asleep until you wake up. When you get hungry, I'm sure Potter's elf will be delighted to get you nourishment."

Hermione took the note in a daze. What just happened? She ruined a potion and topped that by falling asleep, and somehow Professor Snape decides she's hurting herself by studying. "Sure, Professor." Was her absentminded response. Snape chuckled too softly for her to hear, then handed her her school bag and steered her towards the door. "Goodnight, Ms. Granger." He said as he pushed her out of his class room.

"Goodnight, Professor." He heard as he shut the door behind her. He shook his head and cleaned up her mess with a flick of his wand, put everything away with another, and returned to his essay grading with a sigh of relief. No more students to distract him as he marked his papers.

No relationship other than this teacher showing rare concern for the health of his best (not that he will admit it more than once) pupil.

Review, please. Thanks