bAuthors Notes:/bIWarning! This fanfic contains implied Teacher/Student affection (although hidden)! If this isn't your bag, then get the hell out, and don't flame me! /I

bSummary:/bIHermione Granger brings a bit of hope into Severus Snape's life, via a small gift./I

bDisclaimer:/bIHmmm...Disclaimers are so boring...I know! Haiku!

                                                I'm glad you like it,

                                                Now go thank J.K. Rowling,

                                                I do not own it./I

buMelancholy Valentines/b/u

            Valentines Day was most likely the work of an extremely pissed off Satan, Severus Snape had conclusively decided so years ago. Or if not Lucifer himself, it was at least his right-hand man. Who else could have come up with such a twisted idea for torturing him? And what brainless idiot decided to fill one day with such Sugary sweetness, even Albus Dumbledore would develop cavities trying to take it in. Ugh, it was just what the world needed; a day of candy and sentiment...And far too much pink, Snape thought with a wince as he entered the Great Hall.

            Indeed, the only word to describe the Great Hall on this particular morning was pink. Pink banners festooned every wall, pink flowers bloomed out of every crevice, and pink balloons clouded what one could only hope was an ominous, gray sky. Severus had finally managed to fight off the enchanted cupid dolls that were flying around long enough to sit down when the worst of all arrived. Draco Malfoy, clad only in a pink toga, was floating to Gryffindor table, and Ginny Weasely. Shutting his eyes quickly, he muttered a quiet oath.

            Happy "painful reminder you're alone" day, indeed.

            *********************************************************

            Hermione Granger chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. The seven years she had attended Hogwarts had, unfortunately, been unable to rid her of that particular habit, and had even added another one that often led to the first... Snape-watching. She supposed it was all the little bits of reconnaissance she did during the mealtimes of her first year that had started it. Those "legitimate" surveillance missions had led to longer, unnecessary ones, to absentminded trips to the dungeons and daydreaming in Potions... And, lately, to dreams at night as well...The kind of dreams you would not want your mother to hear of...

            An involuntary smile played on her lips and her honey eyes softened as she watched her object unceremoniously whack a fluttering cherub in mid-air. She knew that man better than he knew himself.

            It was during her fourth year that she had begun the "TLC for Snape" project. A small gift on Christmas, Halloween and End of Year, and on Valentines... A single black-red rose. That was the first gift she ever sent him, and the reaction she stumbled upon had sealed him in her heart forever. Quietly sliding into Potions early, she had seen her cold potions master let a single tear fall...Right onto her gift. She had continued the plan ever since. Not that she thought he would-

            Dear sweet Jesus, was Malfoy in a toga?

            ************************************************************

            Severus Snape stood outside his chambers, tapping one long, elegant finger against his slightly less elegant nose. He, the unflappable git himself, was nervous. Every year 'she' sent it, but every year he felt a strange panic and thought 'she' forgot. What if she'd forgotten him? What if she'd moved on, or decided he wasn't worth it? Thoughts assailed his troubled mind, ripping his protective mask away, leaving him vulnerable...The last thing he wanted to be at this moment, he thought with a snort. And, for all he knew, Dumbledore could be sending these flowers just to puff up his self-esteem. Having sufficiently convinced himself of the insignificance of the one bright spot in his life, Snape took a deep breath and opened his door...

            To a single, perfect, rose.

I Erm…C'est finis! One-shot, unless you guys decide it should be a series…/I