"Miss Granger? If we could go inside please?" McGonagall said to Hermione. This pulled Hermione out of her flashback, "oh, sorry. Of course" Hermione said as she led them inside.
"Would either of you like some tea?" she asked her professors. "No thank you, dear. "Where are your parents?" McGonagall asked her. "They're at work" Hermione said wondering why they would want to know. "It'd be best if you got them to come home, what we need to discuss needs to be with them also" her transfiguration professor informed her. "Okay, I'll just call, be right back" Hermione said as she walked into the kitchen to grab the phone.
She dialed her parent's dental office and told them to get home as soon as possible. They told her it would take about ten minutes. Hermione sighed and looked over at her professors; Snape looked really good in muggle clothing. His teaching robe covered up what appeared to be an amazing body. Hermione could see the muscles through the shirt he wore.
She thought back to when she had felt those muscles holding her. "Miss Granger? I know that you are smart enough to see the wall there" Snape said as he helped her up. "Sorry sir, I was distraught" Hermione replied. Severus looked at her puffy eyes and said, "Yes, I can see that." Hermione sighed and wiped the last remaining tears from her eyes.
"Can I hide out in your classroom, sir?" she said, praying he would say yes but knowing he would not. "Whatever for Miss Granger? Just go back to your dorm" he replied. Just after he said that, he saw two fourth year slytherins come down the hall.
They looked at Hermione and bust up laughing, not noticing their head of house in the shadows. "So even poor muggle loving purebloods don't want you, mudblood" one of the boys said. Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes again but would not let these kids hurt her.
She was going to yell at them but a calm silky voice beat her to it. "Mr. Norse, thirty points from slytherin for disrespecting a superior. Miss Granger is a prefect and you ought to not use that word again" Snape sneered. The boys nodded and practically ran away before they got detention.
"I suppose Miss Granger, if you do not want to face anyone just yet I could use an extra pair of hands" he told her. Hermione smiled, "yes thank you sir" she said. Snape opened his classroom door then waited for her to go inside; after he walked through himself he warded the door.
"What do you need help with?" Hermione asked. "Well you cannot tell anyone even Potter and Weasley, but I am trying to brew a better version of wolfsbane. Something Lupin can take to avoid transforming at all" Snape said as he went to the cauldron he had been working at before he heard someone running around the halls.
"Wow that's amazing. I'd love to be of help" she gushed. They spent the rest of the afternoon trying and failing at the potion. When dinnertime hit, Snape turned to her. "Would you like to go to the Great Hall or I could have something brought here" he offered. "If its okay, I'd really like to eat here" Hermione smiled. "I wouldn't offer if it was not okay" he said.
"Missy!" he yelled, summoning the house elf. "Yes sirs, whats can I do for yous" Missy said. "Can I get two dinner plates here please; do you have any allergies or preferences, Miss Granger?" Snape asked. Hermione shook her head, surprised he was being so kind to the elf and her. "The special is fine, whatever it is, thank you Missy" He told the small elf. Missy smiled and disappeared.
"Thank you so much for letting me be here professor" Hermione smiled. "You were clearly upset and I am not completely heartless" he said. "Why have you been so kind tonight?" she could not help but ask. "Albus told me that you know of my role" Snape said. "You mean as a spy?" she said.
"Yes and since we are alone, I can be myself without worrying the dark lord will know I showed kindness to a Gryffindor, let alone a muggle-born one" Snape said. "So you mean it is all just an act?" Hermione wondered. "No, I really am cruel. Teaching children potions is very frustrating. They do not seem to understand how dangerous potions are. I do not think it is that difficult to follow simple instructions" he said. "Not everyone is as interested in learning as you and me" she laughed.
Just then, Missy returned with supper. Snape transfigured a quill into an extra chair for his desk and pulled it out for her. "There are gentlemen left" she smiled. "Well, I was raised right" he said then cringed thinking about his childhood.
"What were you so upset about?" he said. "Now that I think about it, it sounds silly. This morning I was so sure I was in love with Ron. I yelled that I loved him in front of most of the school at lunch" she blushed. Snape burst out laughing. Hermione had never seen him smile, let alone laugh. He looked very attractive to her when he stopped laughing and simply smiled.
Then she realized he was laughing at her so she got offended and glared at him. "I'm sorry; it is just that you could do better than Mr. Weasley. You are a very intelligent young woman. I believe you would need someone closer to your brain capacity" he explained. She sighed and decided to cut him a break; he had been so kind to her tonight.
"What did Potter tell you of my past, my Hogwarts years?" he asked. "Just that his father picked on you" Hermione said. "Yes, I was bullied in school. I was a skinny boy who always had his nose in a book. I was a lot like you, studious. When I was in school, I also fell for my childhood best friend. In my fifth year, we had an intimate relationship but she never told anyone and didn't let me tell either. At the time I thought nothing of it, now I know she was ashamed of me. She was everything to me. I had been embarrassed and she defended me, I lashed out at her. That was the day our relationship, our friendship ended. I tried to apologize, however she would not hear anything of it" he said.
"That's awful; I fight with Harry and Ron all the time. Sometimes we say hurtful things but we always forgive each other" she said. "Well this was very bad. She was like you muggle-born and I used the word those fourth years used on you" he admitted ashamed.
"Clearly you don't think that though, you won't even say it and you were friends with her for years. Sometimes people say things in the heat of the moment and you were embarrassed, if it had been me I would have forgiven you" she blushed. "You truly are remarkable then" he said.
They ate the rest of their food in silence. After dinner, they went back to work on the potion. When it was a half an hour before curfew, Snape turned to her. "You should get back to your dorm, however we have gotten closer in the last several hours then I have in several months. Would you like to come back to help me finish up?" he asked. "Yes of course. I can't wait to finish this, not only for professor Lupin but every werewolf out there" she beamed.
The front door opening brought her out of the past. She walked out of the kitchen and saw her professors still sitting on the couch. She greeted her parents and they all sat in the living room looking at her professors.
"There has been word that you-know-who is after you, Miss Granger. The order would like to place a member here for the duration of the summer to protect you" McGonagall said. "Okay, to protect Hermione we will take someone in. When do they arrive?" Hermione's father asked. "Mr. Granger, he is here. Severus is very capable of protecting you all and he was the only one without summer plans" McGonagall said.
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