Chapter 1: Hell Of A Morning After

{A/N: Wanted to see something different with (SSHG), so I decided to write this, not an altogether original concept, but it seemed as good a prompt as any.}

My Thanks to all my readers and reviewers Enjoy-S.S.

Severus Snape's Quarters, Slytherin Dungeons, Hogwarts...

Hermione Granger entered Severus Snape's quarters not knowing what to expect. Snape appeared to have been largely unaffected by the jerk wizard from the night before. Still, it had been her suggestion to go to that pub. There wasn't a sound as Hermione continued inside. The smell of firewhiskey had been pretty thick as she stepped through the front room. She sighed knowing full well that what ever that creep said had actually gotten to Snape wither he showed it or not. She hoped the man didn't spend all night drinking himself into a stupor. He had been quite the slave driver during his post-drinking moods.

"Hello." called Hermione. "I'm here Professor."

The bushy haired witch ventured down into the private labs figuring he had gotten an early start. It was always the norm when he was in one of his black moods. She tried her best to stay out of his way. Especially, when he had been drinking the night before. With a sigh Hermione stepped into the well lit private labs, a definite sign that he had been working all night.

"Severus, are you in here?" she asked a bit concerned when she caught sight of the broken glass.

She stepped around the tables and gasped when she found Snape unconscious on the floor. She immediately dropped down by his side and checked to see if he had been breathing. She had been relieved when the pale torso of Severus Snape had indeed been rising and falling with the familiar motion of breathing.

Hermione looked him over. There was a small cut on his head from the fall but he seemed to be relatively unharmed. She woke him with a conjured picture of water that she threw on him. Snape suddenly jolted up in reaction to the freezing cold water hitting his skin. Hermione stood up with her arms folded across her chest.

"AHHHH!" had been the first thing out of his mouth as he tried to get his bearings.

Hermione waited.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!" he shouted shaking from the combination of cold air and his seething rage.

"I had to wake you up." replied Hermione simply.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have you cleaning cauldrons from now until spring?" he asked.

"Give me one good reason why you decided to brew and test a potion on yourself without taking the proper precautions?" asked Hermione.

Snape blinked vaguely remembering his antics from the previous night.

"Potion?" he asked.

Hermione directed his attention to the shattered phial on the floor.

Snape suddenly felt his head pounding.

"Potion." he said. "I-I remember doing something last night...obvious I was drunk...but to concoct an entire Potion in one night?"

Hermione had been stunned that he had been at a loss when it came to an explanation.

"Do you have any idea what you created?" she asked.

Snape shook his head.

"I can't remember much of anything." he replied.

Hermione sighed and walked over to a small black shelf attached to the wall. She pulled a small phial with an orange looking substance and handed it to him.

"Drink this." she instructed.

Snape looked at her for a moment. He briefly wondered who had been the master and who had been the apprentice here but his pounding head forced him to submit to her wishes. He took the phial and drank down the orange liquid. He yawned as it seem to quickly take effect easing his headache and dull sense of nausea.

"Better?" asked Hermione.

"Much." he replied. "What was that?"

"An improved grade of Pepper-up potion." replied Hermione. "I figured with your drinking you'd need it."

"Are you implying that I may be an alcoholic, Miss Granger?" asked Snape with an arched eyebrow.

"No." replied Hermione. "You just tend to drink more when you're in the mood to punish yourself for some unknown reason."

Snape rolled his eyes. Now she wants to be observant? Where was all this when she was his student?

"You should go lie down." said Hermione summoning a broom to her as she began to sweep up the bits of broken glass from the phial. "You know that you're tired and you get cranky this time of day when you run on so little sleep...plus you're back is probably killing you by now from your night on the cold stone floor."

Snape gave her a dirty look hating that she had been right.

"Don't touch anything." he warned.

"Of course." replied Hermione. "Far be it from me to go fiddling with your precious lab without you to hover over me."

Snape glared at her once more and made his way up the stairs. He did his best to ignore the pain still not ready to give her the satisfaction of being right about him.

"I'll get you, your lunch when you wake up." called Hermione after him as she continued sweeping.

Snape disappeared upstairs and she turned her attention back to her task. She shook her head realizing that whatever that creep said at the club the night before had really gotten to him if he was testing random potions on himself. As she swept Hermione came across a piece of broken phial with what looked like a drop of whatever potion Snape ingested left on it.

Skillfully, she collected the sample and stored it away for future reference.

Snape's Bedroom, Slytherin Dungeons, Hogwarts...

Snape climbed into his four poster bed after discarding his trade mark robes and frock coat. He had tossed his dirty white shirt into the hamper of his bathroom along with his trousers. His boots were on the other side of the room tucked neatly beneath his favorite reading chair. He eased beneath the soft cotton sheets recalling how cold the lab floor had been and much too hard to on his aching back. He had been half-way sleep when Hermione came through the door and walked over to him. She had not seemed to care that he had been in bed or that he hardly had a stitch of clothing on.

She seemed preoccupied with cleaning the small cut on his forehead.

"Will you leave me alone." said Snape annoyed. "You're worse than Minerva and Poppy put together."

Hermione chose to ignore him as she continued to clean his cut gently scraping away dried blood and healing it with a flick of her wand. Snape groaned like a petulant child as she concluded her doting and turned her attention to him.

"When was the last time you've eaten?" she asked.

"I believe it was yesterday Poppy Jr." replied Snape. "Some times I wonder who's apprentice you are, mine or her's."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.

"You can't learn anything from a dead Potions Master." she said. "Especially, if you kill him yourself."

Snape chuckled at this. Three years with him and she was already holding her own in a verbal joust. When she first came to him for apprenticeship she had been so timid and jumpy every time he raised his voice. It had been hell trying to get her to stop whimpering whenever she needed to say something to him.

"You may have a point there." said Snape rolling his eyes. "Insufferable-know-it-all."

"Get some sleep." said Hermione smiling from her minor victory.

"I will if you hurry up and leave." he replied.

Hermione smirked and made her way over to his bedroom door.

"Sweet dreams Professor." she said teasingly.

Snape picked up one of the extra pillows on his bed and tossed it at her in a bid to get her to speed up the process of her leaving him be. She laughed rushing out the door before it hit her. He layed back down in his bed feeling his heavy eyelids close. Hermione Jean Granger, Gryffindor Princess, and insufferable know it-all now resident pain the the arse. Thought Snape.

Snape drifted off to sleep. His body ached from head to toe and spending the night freezing did little to help the already acquired injures from his service during the second wizarding war. The warmth and softness of his bed had been more than welcome as he caught up on his much needed rest.

The Front Room...

Hermione sighed as she curled up in one of Snape's arm chairs near the fireplace. She borrowed a book from his bookshelf to occupy her until it was time to bring him, his slept for what seemed like hours as she read much of the afternoon had disappeared as a result. He had been extremely fortunate that he decided to pull this little stunt in the summer time. The school had been mostly empty for the break which gave him more time to see to her apprenticeship.

The young Gryffindor witch sighed as she finished her book and looked up at the clock. After another 30 minutes she found herself falling asleep waiting for him to awaken. It had been a disastrous night and a strange morning. Hermione had cleaned up Snape's quarters and his lab from his antics from the night before. She had known the house elves had been there for much of the work but she had never been comfortable with summoning them and Snape never liked them in his quarters without his permission.

The clock continued to tick away the hours of the day while both Snape and Hermione slept.