Snape was annoyed. No matter how much he droned, snapped, eliminated points, there she was; sitting at that ancient desk, chestnut colored hair covering her face like a veil while her small, delicate hands eagerly took notes during her Potions tutoring. She was like an energy and patience draining sponge.
"Miss Granger," he growled.
Bright and suspicious eyes appeared from under her mass of curly hair, "Yes Professor?"
Severus's tall, imposing figure leaned over her desk, shadow covering her like an eclipse, "Why are you here?"
Hermione's dark eyebrows knitted together, "What do you mean? I'm here to get tutoring so I may-"
"YOU," Snape interrupted, "had perfect marks in my class, as well as all the others you attended. I doubt your over-worked brain could have forgotten so much. YOU Miss Granger have no business in wasting my time any further, as, as you can clearly see, are the only one here."
And this indeed was the truth. Hermione was the only one in Hogwarts to have signed up for the optional potions tutoring. While others would have quivered at the rather large echo Snapes' voice was creating, Hermione took her education very seriously, and thus felt it appropriate to speak out. Looking directly into his black eyes, she said firmly, "Forgive me Professor, but the only persons time who is being wasted his mine. I am here of my own free will, when, as a matter of fact I would rather be out doing other things. If it is my goal to become a Potions Master myself, I feel this extra tutoring is essential. And, as you are probably the most talented Potions Master living or otherwise, your name on a job application would greatly increase my chances at being hired at the Ministry. SO, lets stop doddling, and get this over with."
For once, Severus Snape, bane of all students, dungeon bat, and emotional stump, was speechless; the arrogance of that silly girl! The nerve! Never before had he felt more insulted, enraged or…alive. In all his years of teaching, no student had ever managed to make him bite his own tongue. It excited him in curious, and very dangerous ways. His eyes bored into hers, but she showed no sign of looking away from him. This also pleased him, once again, in more ways than one. And while he knew that fraternizations with students were completely forbidden (and quite punishable), he also understood that Hermione Granger was no more a student than he was.
After the final battle, it had taken many, many months to make Hogwarts livable again. Although Hermione, Harry and Ron had been given leverage and allowed to graduate without completing the school year, she had chosen to come back and finish what she had started. Snape had to admit he admired her nerve, especially her desire to be in the same room as him even after his apparent betrayal when he'd been allowed to come back and live under the castles careful eye. And while he was no longer considered a teacher by traditional standards, he still stepped in on occasion to tutor or assist in other ways.
He closed his coal black eyes and took in a deep breath. While he knew what he was about to do could ruin him all over again, he figured, 'Oh what the hell…." if he didn't do it now, he may never be able to do it again.
Striking out and grabbing a chair from a nearby desk, he turned the back of the chair to face her, and straddling it, began to unbutton his coat, "Get this over with indeed…" he drawled, long, lithe fingers plucking the small buttons on his cuff.
The young, former Gryphindores woman's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Flourishing the robe from his surprisingly broad shoulders and onto the floor, he sat down so gracefully he could have been confused with a dancer. Arms coming to rest on the back of the chair he spoke again in that quiet, thunder filled voice, "You challenge me Miss Granger, so now, I challenge you."
Hermione's skin immediately erupted in goose pimples, never before had she seen the Potions Professor so close before; his skin was surprisingly smooth and clear, eyes dark and filled with some emotion she couldn't read. She felt frozen, as if his tremulous lulling of his voice filled her up like an ice flow.
Cocking his head to one side, and smirk crossing his pale, full lips he whispered, "You are the most infuriatingly brilliant woman I have ever had the displeasure to meet. Never before have I had someone able to irk me the way you do. I often have nightmares in which you take center stage. You, Miss Granger, have no reason in even stalking my lessons as you have surpassed them. I have become thoroughly convinced your only goal in life is to torture me into academic submission."
"Torture you?" Hermione's infamous temper had somehow managed to bypass simmer, and immediately turned to boil, "You have done nothing in my seven years plus at Hogwarts except to torment my friends and myself! I always have listened, and taken notes, locked away your lessons and near every word! I look up to you bad choices or no, whether you like it or not! You, Professor Snape, are nothing but a rude, exasperating man who has no other lot in life than to make others as miserable on the inside as you are!"
Immediately after she spoke, Hermione wished she could have magically conjured a foot to stuff in her mouth., and as a matter of fact was still considering it. What she truly desired though, was to know the punishment her words would bring down upon her. Snape's face was unreadable, arms still crossed on the back rest of the chair, long sleeved white shirt stretched across his shoulders with dark hair creating a dramatic contrast against his pale skin. It was then he leaned forward, aristocratic looking nose coming so close it nearly touched Hermione's, "You do not listen," his voice was surprisingly soft, though the edge of ice still lurked below the surface, "You are so absorbed in my apparent short comings you do not even realize I complimented you."
Hermione's hazel eyes narrowed, "Be that as it may, it was double-edged."
Severus barked out a laugh which cause his former student to jump, "I would call you a silly girl, but that isn't quite true anymore is it? By God's where has the time gone?" and then he gave her a look that made her heart very near stand still. The feeling had suddenly grown tense and almost intimate, Hermione felt her breath hitch, and wondered what spell was really being cast.
"Miss Granger," his words were hesitant, "I have known you many years, I have watched you grow into the young woman you are. I suppose the true meaning of all this, is that I am possibly the last person you would want on an employment referral. My reputation is as tarnished as my soul. You are far more stubborn, and insecure than you yourself realize."
How had Hermione never noticed how soft his lips looked? Or how thick and rich his hair was? She struggled to pay attention to the words he was saying, but it was becoming difficult.
"You must have faith in your own abilities," Snape continued, voice quiet and silky, "You are gifted in ways I have never seen other students, and I apologize for being harsh. I could say it is because I knew your potential, and when you were a child yes, that was the truth. But now," and it was here he faltered. Hermione had at some point leaned close to him, so close he could feel her warm breath on his skin. His eyes closed as he took in her scent. She'd been eating chocolate, and damn him, he couldn't find the strength to pull away from her. Severus had always wondered what it would feel like to be this close to a woman, and Hermione was the only one who'd ever dared to be this near to him. Lily was an unattainable infatuation, his only and dearest friend. He'd betrayed her, and he had mourned her like no other since. It was only recently that his attraction to Hermione Granger had taken hold, as wrong and flawed as he was.
And now she sat before him, wide-eyed, and beautiful. Her body was petite and thin, giving her a graceful, nymph like quality which he found enticing. Her hair was the opposite, thick and curly; how he wanted to run a large hand through that hair and kiss it. While some found Severus solitary and aloof, no one truly knew the sensual, tactile man he truly was. Although he'd never been with a woman, he had often imagined it: slow and passionate, tender and filling.
"I want you."
The words came out before he could stop them. A mistake, a terrible mistake. Silence took over, two pairs of wide, scared eyes looking into each others. Trembling, he shoved himself away from the chair, away from Hermione's still form, her mouth agape. Snape spun away from her, hands tearing through his hair, "Go," he commanded, rage spilling through, "leave here. Do not come back."
Although he did not turn to look at her, he could see her in his minds eye: she'd be standing now, hands clutched to her breast, doe-like eyes looking after him with something between a cross of fear and wonder. And he knew she would have no real thoughts of leaving, and this was perhaps what frightened him the most.
"Miss Granger," his voice roared as he desperately tried to bring back the old him, "I will not tell you again, leave my classroom! Or-"
"Or what?" was the tense reply from behind him . She was wary, and rightfully so, "Professor, I don't think I understand quite what's going on,"
He faced her now, eyes dark and on fire, "For once," he growled out, "I'm glad you don't." and with that he grabbed the back of her hair, and crushed her lips to his.