Hermione wished she could stop crying. Of all the things to shed tears over, this was certainly a foolish one.
Despite this, she still wept. It hurt deeply to have someone you admired be cruel to you.
As snot ran down her face and mixed with tears, she wished she had a tissue. Her wish was suddenly granted when a handkerchief was dropped onto her lap. She looked up quickly to see Severus Snape gazing down at her with distaste.
"Clean yourself up, Miss Granger," he said coldly. "You look horrid."
With that he turned and continued down the hall, Hermione staring dumbly after him. She remembered her manners suddenly and called out a quiet thank you, but he either couldn't hear her or simply didn't care. She was guessing the latter.
Dabbing at the snot that had been coming dangerously close to entering her mouth, she looked around her. The other girls who had been slighted were listless, and if they had seen Professor Snape's strange display of...something, they had no interest in anything beyond their own sorrow.
None of them, Hermione noted, had received a handkerchief despite their tearstained faces.
Turning back around, Hermione looked down at the handkerchief in her hands. It was, of course, plain black. No pattern, no Initials, no embroidery, nothing.
Hermione looked back up and gazed down the hall, fingers tightening around the cloth. And interestingly enough, for a moment she forgot all about her sorrow.
Severus didn't know why he had given the girl a handkerchief. It was a mystery even to Severus himself why he done such a thing or why, when he had seen her hunched over and trembling, he had felt a harsh wave of pity.
Perhaps it was because she reminded Severus of his own schooldays. Young and foolish, with a crush on someone who you really ought not to love. Though, he supposed, that was how most crushes were.
The sad truth was he had not gotten Lilly and Miss Granger would probably not get Weasley. Even if she did, the redhead did not deserve her.
James Potter had not deserved Lilly Evans, and Ron Weasley did not deserve Hermione Granger.
Realizing that he was getting too invested in his students love lives (or his students lives in general), Severus decided that he needed to use his time doing something more productive and headed down into the dungeons to work on a potion.
Early the next (he looked at a clock and sighed) morning, Severus was startled by a knock on the door. Turning the heat down on a cauldron, he walked quickly over to the door and opened it.
Looking like a frightened puppy, Hermione Granger stood there. She was (thank goodness) in normal clothes.
He gazed down at her, waiting for her to tell him why she was disturbing him at such an hour.
"I'm sorry to bother you, sir," she said, her voice unusually soft. "But I thought I should return this."
She held up the handkerchief he had given her. He stared at it for a long moment before looking back at her.
"Why would I need it back?" He asked coolly, preparing to close the door. "It is of no value to me."
But surprisingly, she took a step forward, her eyes tearing up."Sir, thank you so very much."
He watched as she wiped furiously at her eyes. He then took a step back, uncomfortable at the show of emotion. Seeing the look on his face, she dropped the handkerchief in his hand and turned around before hurrying out.
Once she was gone, Severus stared at the black cloth for a long time. He sighed deeply, realizing that he really should finish what he had started.
In all honesty, the thought of going after Miss Granger like some noble Prince wasn't all that bad. Ha, he thought miserably as he walked out. That's an image.
If there was one thing Hermione was good at, it was pulling herself together and that was what she would do.
Of course, that had been a really stupid thing to do.
Returning a used albeit cleaned handkerchief to a man who despised you? What was she thinking? But in the end, things would probably go back to the way they were before, no change whatsoever.
Hearing footsteps behind her, Hermione Ignored them, assuming it was a fellow student until a hand came down on her shoulder.
Turning around and looking up, Hermione stared into dark and uncertain eyes. Snape placed the handkerchief into her hand and closed her fingers around the soft cloth.
"I think," he said softly, hesitantly. "That you need it more than I."
Well, Hermione thought, looking away so that he wouldn't see her blush. Perhaps things wouldn't be the same after all.
A Note: Through some shenanigans involving the time turner in her 3rd year, Hermione is on the cusp of turning seventeen in this fic.
If you've been around a while, you might remember I took down this fic a while back. I have decided to repost it now. Keep in mind that this is sort of a free story, with no certain direction. The characters may sometimes be ooc. But if you have a hint of interest, I hope you stick around.