Author's notes: This is an old story that I left on hiatus for a long time (and by that I mean... years), that I've just started re-writing with plans of finishing it completely... this might take ages though, wish me luck!

Chapter 1 – I'm wide awake, it's morning:

It was early Thursday morning, and the sun was just about to rise over the hill near the Burrow. Hermione was wide awake in her bed in Ginny's room. She'd been awake the last hour or so, she couldn't sleep at all. This was the day she was to return to Hogwarts for the very last time – her seventh and last year at Hogwarts. She was excited, no doubt about it. Not just because it would be an exciting year, but also because she would be head girl; all the responsibility excited her. The first rays of sunlight shone through the window and Hermione looked up. She knew it was still early, but she could wait any longer so she got out of bed anyway.

She'd spent her whole summer at the Burrow. It had been an amazing summer, a quiet summer for once. She didn't really know why, but she felt more like the Weasleys were her family than her own family. The distance magic had created between her and her mother and father the last six years was now greater than ever. She knew they tried to understand, she knew they cared about her and she knew they wanted her to be happy. But it wasn't easy for any of them. It was like her mother had just started to realize that Hermione was a part of the magic society and in a year she would be free from them, and they would have no idea what she was up to and what she was doing.

So when Mrs. Weasley had suggested to Hermione and her parents that Hermione stayed with them over the summer, Hermione's mother had started crying, saying Molly was just looking to take her daughter away. Hermione's father on the other hand had been quiet and then said it was probably a good idea. So she'd left. She hadn't spoken to them all summer, and for some reason, that didn't bother her.

Hermione looked over at Ginny in the opposite bed, she was still sleeping. Hermione considered waking her up, but changed her mind. Ginny had been up late last night with Harry (There's no knowing what the two of them had been up to out in the dim moonlit garden) and was probably tired. She quietly got dressed and opened the door as quietly as she could. She tiptoed down the stairwell and into the kitchen. It was all quiet and it sort of surprised her that she was the only one up this early the day of their departure. She sighed and waved her wand to make a pot of coffee.

"Now, now miss Granger. You of all people should know you're not allowed to use magic outside of school?" Hermione jumped and spun around, dropping her cup of coffee in the process, even though she knew who it was the moment she heard him utter her name.

"Severus, what are you doing here?" Hermione exclaimed with a hushed voice and stared at her professor who was just standing there, leaning on the wall, staring at her.

"Well, right now I'm staring right at the one thing I've waited all summer to rest my eyes upon," he said, taking a step towards her. Hermione shot a glance around the kitchen in a worried manner.

"But Severus, haven't you taken into consideration that the whole Weasley family and Harry are all in this house and Molly will probably wake up any moment and…" She stopped herself and looked up at him as he stepped even closer so that they were only a few steps apart.

She inhaled and could smell the mystical smell of potion ingredients that always surrounded him; the smell Hermione loved so dearly. She closed the gap between their bodies and welcomed his embrace eagerly. It felt so good to feel his strong body against hers once more. She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder. She thought about the very first time she was this close to his body, inhaling the sweet scent of his person – feeling the warmth of his robe – feeling his hands caress her back the way she loved so much.

-FLASHBACK-
Hermione's footsteps echoed down the dark hallways of the dungeons. She felt just as she felt every time she walked down these dark hallways; excited, nervous and happy. She'd been professor Snape's apprentice for two weeks now, and she was certain she'd learnt more those past weeks than she'd done her previous six years at Hogwarts.

She had to admit that being alone with Snape was very different from being in a classroom with him. He never barked at her or made mean remarks about the way she worked. She was surprised to admit that he was really sweet towards her in private. He explained stuff that he didn't really have to explain to her; the values and way of use for each of the ingredients, why they prepared them in such a way and so forth. They often ended up discussing completely different things when they first got started. She'd even heard him laugh at several occasions, and she felt close to him. And she knew it was a weird thing for her to do; feel close to someone who has treated you as rubbish the last six years; someone who has always denied you when you both knew you were right. It was weird for sure.

She'd often wondered why he picked her to be his apprentice this year. As far as she'd understood, Snape had always hated her because of Harry. She would have asked him why if she hadn't been afraid that it might ruin what they'd built up already. It was a sort of friendship - in a weird way, and of course, in a professional way. She would at least have thought he'd pick one of the Slytherins as his apprentice – Draco, for instance. But he hadn't. He'd chosen her; a Gryffindor and Harry Potter's best friend. Even though the war was over and Voldemort was gone, Snape hadn't exactly befriended Harry.

She reached the door to his study and breathed a few times before she quietly knocked.

"Come in." the professor replied from the other side of the door and Hermione pushed the door up gently and peeked inside. Snape was sitting behind his desk at the front of the classroom and he didn't look up as she entered.

"Professor," she greeted and walked over to his desk. He was bent over something that looked like papers that were being graded.

"Ah, miss Granger," He looked up at her and smiled barely at her. "You can just continue where you left off yesterday, I have to finish grading these papers, and then I will assist you."

Hermione nodded and got ready to work on the potion she'd started yesterday. She wasn't sure what it was, the professor has just given her the recipe and asked her to follow it to perfection. She never asked questions about the potions they were making. She knew they were for Snape's private use and rarely had anything to do with the school at all. So she never asked. She just did as she was told. Sometimes Snape told her what the potion was for, but rarely.

After stirring and blending for almost an hour, she heard the professor get up and he came over to her cauldron.

"That looks very good, miss Granger," he said in approval.

"Professor?" asked Hermione.

"Please, Miss Granger, I think you could use my first name when we're working together, my title seems a little too official when you're helping me with work that doesn't concern the school," he replied.

"Severus," she said testily.

"Yes, Hermione?" he turned to her. For the first time, their eyes met.

Hermione stared into the black pools in his eyes, and without thinking she lifted her hand up and moved his hair back from his face so that his eyes were clearly visible. Snape stood completely still under her touch and watched her eyes. Hermione wasn't sure what she was doing, but she moved her hand down and brushed her fingertips over his lips and chin. Still Snape stood completely still. She moved her hand down his neck and onto the silky soft fabric of his robe. Then slowly, slowly he lifted his hand and caressed her cheek softly.

They continued to stare into each others eyes until Snape put his arms around her and gathered her in a warm embrace. She held onto him and he caressed her backside. Then he slowly pulled away, but still held onto her and stared into her eyes. Hermione slowly inched closer, tiptoed and brushed her lips across his. First testily, but Snape still held onto her, so she did it again. The next time she did it; he captured her with his lips and brushed his tongue across her lips as a silent plea for entry.

Hermione opened her lips greedily and welcomed his tongue with her own. They both got more demanding and moved their hands over the other's body. Snape slipped his hands under Hermione's school-robe and opened it so that her legs were visible. He let his eyes travel up and down her body a few times before nodding in approval. Hermione smiled and kissed him again. Snape tugged at her robe and it fell to the floor and he dragged her with him to the back of his classroom and into his private chambers.

Hermione paused for a second and looked around his chamber. There was a sitting area in the corner to the left, and shelves with books and other casualties filled all the walls. There were two doors, one that was on the opposite wall – it was closed. Another door was for a cornered room a bit more to the right. Everything was dark and in velvet and as they entered, multiple magical lights lit all around the room. Snape looked down at her and stroked her curly hair back from her eyes.

"It's beautiful," she whispered.

"You're beautiful…" Snape replied and kissed her forehead. Hermione touched his soft robe and looked into his eyes.

"What are we doing, Severus?" she asked. He smiled down at her. "I've been wondering the exact same thing from the moment you pushed my hair away and caressed me. Should we stop, Miss Granger?"

"Like you said Severus, I think you should use my first name when we're on such a personal level." She looked up at him and smiled.

"You know I am your professor and old enough to be your father…?" he said. She smiled.

"I don't care," she replied, simply.

Snape tugged her hand and looked at her for a moment. Hermione tiptoed again and kissed his lips. He took it as a sign of approval and pulled her over to the sofa, laid down and pulled her on top of him. She squirmed in passing at the sudden movement, but settled on top of him and kissed him again.

Snape caressed her backside and moved up her arms to her neck. Hermione let out a little sigh and kissed him deeper. After a minute or two Snape started moving his hands further down to her legs. He moved one hand slowly up between her legs, but not quite there and down again. He did it again, but this time he let his fingers move briefly over her knickers. Hermione paused the kissing and grabbed his hand carefully by the wrist.

"Severus, I…" Snape stopped and looked into her eyes. He was still quiet. "I… I haven't done this before." Hermione whispered and looked down not to meet his eyes.

Snape pushed her up into sitting position very carefully and followed right after. She was still staring at her hands in her lap, as if she was ashamed. Snape put two fingers under her chin and lifted her head up so he could look into her eyes.

"I didn't know, Hermione. I'm sorry." He said and kept staring into her eyes.

"No, don't be sorry. I want to…" she looked down and Snape still stared at her with the same calmness. "Could we take it slow?"

"Well, are you sure you want to?"

Hermione leaned over and kissed him briefly. "Yes," she said.
-END FLASHBACK-

Hermione slowly pulled away from his embrace and looked up at him.

"What are you doing here?" she repeated.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" he asked as he bent down to kiss her. She kissed him briefly but pulled away. "What happened to keeping this a secret? I don't really think snogging in the Burrow-kitchen is the subtle way of doing it!"

"I just wanted to see you, hold you, once before tonight, a little bird told me you'll be head girl. That means I won't get to see you until really late this evening. And excuse me; but I can't bear having to watch you for the whole feast without being able to do this…" he said and then leaned down and kissed her.

"I've missed you too, Severus. But god, this is not in any way, a good idea. Not here," she said. Snape looked like he was amused by her nervousness.

"Seeing you isn't the only reason I came here. I have a message for Arthur. Seeing you was the main reason, but not the only reason. And also, I wanted to tell you who the head boy will be, and you're not going to like this at all." He sat down at the kitchen table and Hermione started cleaning up the mess from her coffee.

"Who is it then?" she asked, and turned to look at him. "There's only one person at Hogwarts I could think of that would really make me unhappy if he made it head boy…" she said, and shifted her feet back and forth.

"It's Malfoy," Snape said. Hermione let out a grunt of frustration and turned back to her coffee.

"And I have to share a dorm with that twit?" she said, and didn't turn to look at Snape. "Yes," he replied.

"I guess I'm stuck with Malfoy for a year, then…" she said, and sat down with her coffee. She looked at him over the table and he looked back at her. He was so beautiful. She couldn't understand how she'd ever found him repulsing. His skin was so pale and smooth; his hair was so silky black. He always wore a face that showed an incredible warmth when he looked at her. It made her feel safe when he held her hand and he looked at her the way he did right now.

-FLASHBACK-
It was spring-break at Hogwarts and Hermione was in her dorm getting dressed in casual clothes. Her uniform was on her bed next to her, and she had to admit she was happy she wouldn't have to wear it for at least a week. The Gryffindor tower was completely quiet; she was the only one there. Finals were in less than a month, and when Dumbledore had announced that they would all get a week off, no one said no to spending a week at home; except for Hermione. She was still at Hogwarts, and she was happy.

There were no students in the castle, and the only staff that was here was Hagrid, Filch and Snape. It was the latter she was interested in. She wasn't sure what kind of relationship they had, but it was something very special.

She finished getting dressed and left her dorm room and went down the winding staircase to the Gryffindor common room. She was wearing her favorite blue jeans, worn out, dark blue so-called 'converse All-Stars' that was really popular in the muggle world, a red plaid button-up shirt and she had her dark gray shoulder bag with her.

"All set, Miss Granger?" Snape said when she reached the bottom of the staircase. "You look beautiful," he smiled at her and took her hand in his. He leaned down and kissed her cheek.

They left the castle together and headed down to the west side of the lake, and in a quiet meadow by a small beach they settled in the grass. Snape conjured a picnic blanket and food in a basket. Hermione leaned back on her elbows and looked up at the sun. Yes, she was happy.

They ate in silence, fruit, bread and cheese and a delicious grape wine. It wasn't an awkward kind of silence; it was a pleasant kind of silence.

Snape looked over at her. She was lying on her back with her eyes closed and a faint smile on her lips. He smiled at the thought of her, and the fact that she was his. Hermione opened her eyes and looked at him.

"What?" she asked and looked confused. "Nothing," he said "I just can't help thinking how lucky I am," she smiled at him. "Well, if that's not a cliché, then I don't know what is," she got up and leaned over and kissed him.

"I love you, Severus. You're not lucky; you're mine," she purred in his ear. "That's exactly why I am lucky," he said and kissed her again.
-END FLASHBACK-