DISCLAIMER: I sadly do not own anything that the wonderful J.K. Rowling created and unfortunately, that means Harry Potter. Darn!

Summary: Hermione is in a foul mood because of the upcoming exams. How was she supposed to get anything done with people in her way of her precious studying? And don't even get her started on that bastard of a professor, Snape. Insufferable, frustrating and downright irresistible…

The Attraction of Intellect – Chapter 2

…AND with a lovely blurp, the dark blue potion that Hermione had neglected to supervise started to feebly bubble and turn a nasty shade of green. Instantly, her concern for the potion snapped her out of the rather delicious revere.

Quickly taking the beaten ladle she stirred the potion feverishly and added snake skin, but to no avail. It was completely useless. With a shameful sigh and downcast eyes, she dropped the heavily coated ladle back into the cauldron, rested her elbows on the grimy work surface and covered her eyes in defeat. This was the cherry on top of her bad day: she could not remember the last time she had ever screwed up a potion. And it was all because of Snape's fault! Her head snapped up and Snape saw a wild look in her eyes and her mouth drop open in bewilderment.

"You made me screw up the potion. You bastard!", she screamed. A resounding slap was heard when her palms made contact with the desk. With wild panting, she drew herself to her fullest height and attempted to glare at the potions professor.

Snape smiled inwardly as he took in the sight of an enraged Hermione. Her bun had come completely loose leaving the beautiful mane of hair to fall down her back. A rather reddish tinge had come over her features as she tried to control them to make herself look intimidating. Instead, she looked like a cartoon character, almost about to burst. Snape was half expecting steam to be coming out of her ears. He smirked and her glare just grew.

"I did no such thing, Ms. Granger. If it weren't for your obviously wandering mind, you wouldn't have wasted such a valuable potion. A complete dunderhead, such as yourself along with the first years, could have prevented such a loss if you had simply paid attention." He casually walked over to the fuming Hermione and leaned over to glance into the cauldron.

"Hmm, just as I suspected. You completely fucked it up." Hermione was close to tears but would not let her guard down. "And I mean, absolutely fucked it up. Beyond repair, no hopes of ever getting use out of those precious ingredients." Snape casually inspected his nails. "So, Ms. Granger, what are we to do? Another detention? Loss of House points? Some emotional pain and humility?". He tapped his chin with his index finger to draw out the unnecessary pause. "I know! How about all? 50 points from Gryffindor, another detention next week and as for the emotional pain and humility, why, that came with the detention."

She was at a loss for words. No professor had ever been that cruel to her. Or, at least, had never said such things to her face. Hermione could not wait to get out of the dungeons and back to her room. That was the one place she could let her guard down; her sanctuary. It was almost too much for her to handle. Why does he have to do this to me? He already knows how much I hate to be wrong, to mess up. Stop dragging it out and let me go! Her body had slackened and was hunched over slightly in defeat. She couldn't meet his eyes, the shame and humiliation was unbearable.

Snape watched her with annoyance. He was annoyed at himself and at the woman before him. Shit. He had gone too far, even for himself, and he knew it. He just wanted to beat her senseless with his superiority and she was now, obviously, a pulp. But he was annoyed at her for not standing up for herself or storming out of the classroom. Snape knew it was his fault and he felt uncomfortable as he realized this. He wasn't a completely heartless bastard, he just felt as a professor it was the best not to showcase his emotions. Shit.

Clearing his throat, his eyes turned back towards Hermione. "You may go.", was his quiet answer to solitude for both of them.

Without looking at the man that had just absolutely broken her spirit, she silently collected her things and with heavy footsteps, left the dungeons. Snape shut the door after her and closed his eyes. He needed to go easy on her. He knew well enough that even the strongest have their breaking points and when they pass that line, there is no going back.

*Author's Note: Oh lordy…Snape was a poo-head and he knows it (hey, even poo-heads have feelings!). How will he make it up to Hermione? Hmmm, wait and see!

Sorry for the extremely late update. College, ya know….

Thanks for reading and please review to let me know how you like it so far! I appreciate it sooo much! :)

~QueenOfTheBrassQuill