Knocking on the classroom door softly, Hermione Granger pushed it open and peered inside. At first glance, the classroom appeared empty. A large scroll clutched in her hand, she entered quietly and looked around. "Professor?" she called out, walking towards the front of the classroom.
As she got closer to Snape's desk she heard a strange sound. It was... nasally. Looking around confusedly, she spotted motion at his desk. Eyeing it curiously, it was then she realized that the pile of black she had confused with being mere shadows was Professor Snape himself, and the sound was him snoring. He had fallen asleep at his desk while marking papers.
Unable to supress the smile that spread across her face she edged closer to him, her eyes on his face for any sign that he would wake up. The poor man was sound asleep, hunched over in his chair, with a poisonous green-coloured quill propped in his hand.
'Could things really be this stressful for him that he wasn't getting enough sleep at night, that he would fall asleep right here in his chair?' she wondered, watching him with fascination. This was Severus Snape at perhaps the most vulnerable time Hermione had ever seen him. He always had his guard up during his waking hours and practically nothing escaped him, it was odd to see him like this. It made him more... human. As bad as that sounded, it was true.
Slowly she placed the scroll at the top of the desk, just in front of an ink well so it wouldn't roll from the downward slope of the desk. It was a foot-long essay he assigned her when she had been, yet again, helping Neville with one of his potions in class. It didn't phase her in the least of course, she finished it an hour and a half after dinner.
For a few minutes she just stood there quietly and observed him, the man that put fear into so many students and caused many pupils' nightmares. Hermione realized that she could take advantage of this situation, tweak some marks on her and her friends' papers or perhaps play a prank on him-- the influence of being with Ron and Harry. But then she thought it over and her mind told her 'no,' it just wouldn't be right. No matter how horrible he was, he must have it pretty badly if he would let down his protective barriers enough to allow himself to fall asleep like this, where anyone could find him. No, let him sleep; he probably deserves it more than anyone.
Nodding at her resolve, she stepped around and adjusted the cape around his shoulders so it covered him more and would keep him warm. She also casted a light warming spell on him, just in case the cloak wasn't enough. The spell would regulate his body temperature and keep it at a normal level.
As quietly as she came in, Hermione left with naught but a fleeting glance behind her shoulder at the slumbering professor, smiling softly to herself.