A/N: Hermione's doodles on an assignment get her called into Professor Snape's office. My first Snermione, so I hope I did okay. RxR. FxF. I do not own Harry Potter.

Submission for:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (Challenges & Assignments): Defense Against the Dark Arts Assignment #3 - writing a romantic or tragic scene that takes place in a DADA class or classroom. This assignment must be under 5k and incorporate the prompts 'first,' 'text,' and 'kitten.'

Hogwarts Fair 2014 Challenge/Competition: Niffler Lucky Dig

Represent That Character! Challenge II

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" Hermione said quietly as she entered the DADA classroom. It was after dinner and Professor Snape had requested her presence. This was the first time she had ever been called to speak to a teacher and she was a bit nervous and admittedly a bit curious as to what it could be about. As far as she knew, she hadn't done anything wrong, but with Snape, even breathing heavily could get you on his bad side.

"Yes," he drawled as he placed his quill down. He had been waiting for her and had thought to preoccupy himself by scribbling his random thoughts. If anyone were to read his text, then they would have thought him utterly mad. But he would be caught dead if anyone saw how his mind truly worked. He put the scrap parchment away and pulled out the stack of recently graded papers. "Do you know why I've called you here?"

Hermione blinked. She had been standing there for a few minutes, waiting for him to say something more and when he finally did, she missed completely what he had said. "Pardon, Sir?"

Severus rolled his eyes and sighed, "Please, do keep up, Ms Granger." He rifled through the stack before pulling out one of the assignments and holding it out to her. "I wanted to ask you about your last essay."

Now Hermione heard him that time but she still was at a lost as to what could be the problem. She came closer to the table and took the parchment from her. It hadn't yet been graded and there were no marks on it besides her delicate script. She back at him bewildered.

"Top corner, Ms Granger," Snape said waiting for her to find the mark on her own.

She looked and then asked hesitantly, "You mean the doodle of the mother cat and her kitten?"

Snape snatched the assignment back and indeed there in the top left corner was a small drawing of a cat and a smaller one beside it. He growled, "Not that corner, Ms Granger, but that." He pointed to right corner.

Hermione leaned over the desk, her curly hair falling over her face as she looked down at the parchment between them. In something that looked like her hand-writing were the words, "Hermione Snape" in a swirly heart.

Hermione blushed, hiding her face with her hands and she stood up. Had someone else written it there to embarrass her or get her in trouble? No, she had guarded that assignment with her life, even when Harry and Ron wanted to copy it.

But she couldn't recall writing it herself. She thought back to her time in the library and how spaced out she was while she worked on it. Had she done it subconsciously?

Hermione stepped back, her hands now flying to cover her open mouth. She had developed a slight crush on her professor a few years ago. Although he was so hard on her and her classmates, trying to get his approval drove her to work harder. She admired his devotion to his craft. And through her research in the library, she found out just how much it took to be a potions master, how intelligent someone would have to be, which just made her love him more. But she never wanted him to find out, and certainly not like this.

Snape was eyeing her with a look she couldn't really understand. He didn't look angry and he didn't look angry. He looked as if he was deeply thinking, and sizing her up.

Hermione began to stammer, "Professor, I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry. I-"

"Ms Granger," he said slowly, before rising from behind his desk. He walked up to her in two long strides and Hermione was frozen on the spot. He had never been this close to her and she wondered what would happen next.

He cupped her face and pulled her into a deep kiss. Hermione's eyes popped out of her head before she fell into the kiss. She had never expected something like to happen in her wildest dreams. But it was. In the DADA classroom. At night. She knew this was wrong but she didn't really care right now.

He bit her bottom lip, startling her and she gasped into his mouth, allowing his tongue to slip inside. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. She could feel a strange heat rising in her chest as her body was pressed to his. She had never felt this way for Viktor or even with her imaginings of Ron.

His hands moved from her face to rest on her hips. He gripped her tightly and she couldn't help the moan from escaping her throat. But upon her sound, he pulled away suddenly and Hermione noticed the cloudiness in his eyes before they regained focus. He looked at her a moment longer before he stepped away from her. He adjusted his robes and said quickly, giving her a hard look, "No one can know what happened here." He moved behind his desk, resumed his seat and said quietly, "You are dismissed, Ms Granger." Still light-headed from the kiss, Hermione just nodded before running out of the classroom.

The feeling on her lips still lingered on his, even though she had left five minutes ago. Now it was quiet once more and he was left to his own thoughts. He thought back to when he had been marking her assignment. To say he was surprised to see the comment was an understatement. He knew what these kind of doodles meant, but none were ever directed at him. And then this was a student crush on a teacher, which were known to be fleeting and irrational.

But Ms Granger was not an irrational girl. She would not be one to just have a random crush for the sake of it. She was intelligent, evident not just from her assignments but from how she carried herself. She had definitely grown up, in all senses of the word. She was ambitious and eager to learn, but she also wanted to pull others up with her - a Gryffindor trait that was indeed admirable.

He had only intended to confront her about it tonight, to find out if it was truly just a school girl crush, half-hoping it would be. But she was here, and she was flustered and he saw in her eyes that the attraction was there and it wasn't fleeting or irrational. There looked to be something deeper.

Then he acted on impulse, something he prided himself on not doing. He enjoyed it. She was just as soft and light as he imagined she would be. And he could tell she enjoyed it as well. But this could never happen again. He could not lose himself around her again.

Severus sighed before pulling out the scrap parchment. He stared at his long spidery handwriting which decorated the faded paper. This had been his thoughts before she came into the classroom. While there were intelligent notes and odd comments, there was one that was often repeated on the page. Though not in a swirly heart, the sentiment was the same as her assignment's: "Hermione Snape". He ran a stroke through every instance of her name.