Chapter 2 - Slip of the Mind
Severus Snape walked into the dungeons, briefly noting that Slughorn had not put away the potions yet. He rolled his eyes at the man's laziness. He was probably still enjoying his dinner, which, in his case, could take hours.
He glanced at the potions and huffed. They were dangerous and should not be left out. He flicked his wand and the Veritaserum immediately began magically siphoning itself off into the empty vials that sat in the supplies cabinet. No telling what might happen should a student get their hands on that particular potion.
His thoughts briefly turned to some of the potions that he had Miss Granger working on, some of them quite advanced, and smirked to himself.
She should be proud that she had been able to get an apprenticeship with him before she was even out of school. She was the only person, besides maybe Leslie Wright in Slytherin, whom he would even consider taking on as an apprentice.
He turned himself towards the other potion and he was suddenly hit with scents that overwhelmed him. Blackthorn, ink, and…no, it couldn't be…sandalwood?
The memory that hit him strongest was the sandalwood. He had come back early in the morning from a Death Eater meeting, something which never happened, but it had been an extremely trying night. The Dark Lord had apparently not been in a good mood, and the word "crucio" had passed his lips as soon as Severus had passed through the front doors.
He had gone to the first place that he could think of that was closest, and had ended up at Grimmauld Place. He remembered stumbling up the stairs, stripping off his robes, trying to find something else to wear that didn't smell like blood. He had poured through the closets and found a pair of black jeans that had probably been left by Lupin, as they were a favorite Muggle clothing of his…which was lucky, as they were about the same size…
He grabbed the jeans, and a shirt that lay discarded on the closet floor, and then headed towards the bathroom. A shower…yes, that's exactly what he needed. That would make all of the difference. He pulled his aching body into the shower relishing the feel of, at the same time wincing at the water that beat against his back and shoulders.
As Severus rolled his shoulders, easing the inward aching, a faint smell reached his sensitive nose. It was earthy…but light. It was sandalwood. Not exactly a scent that was bad, but not one to be expected.
None of the men in the house that he knew of would dare use something so…so un-masculine. Though, he had to admit, he enjoyed it. But none of the women he knew would ever wear something so simple. They all wore flowery, over-the-top scents that could clog up a room faster than any potion vapors. This was rather unique…but not worth his time to ponder on. He quickly put it to the side and instead focused on his shower.
He quickly finished and stepped out, pulling on the jeans, although somewhat awkwardly as he was not accustomed to wearing Muggle clothing, especially not jeans.
After pulling the black shirt on, he looked towards the sink for anything to brush his teeth with. He could just use a cleansing charm on his teeth, but they never felt as fresh as when you used an actual toothbrush and toothpaste. He'd never fully gotten out of the habit that he'd learned when he was younger, growing up in a half-Muggle home.
To his surprise, a toothbrush sat there on the counter. Not wanting to take any chances, he cast a quick cleansing charm on the toothbrush and then reached for the toothpaste that was also sitting on the counter right next to it. He began to brush his teeth, and for a moment, he thought that he heard a noise. He lifted his head, but the sound ceased. He gave a mental shrug and went back to brushing his teeth. He absentmindedly fingered his wand in his back pocket with his free hand and then placed his hand back on the counter.
Suddenly he was aware of the door opening. He looked up to see Hermione Granger standing in the doorway, wearing a robe and holding a small bag in her hand. She was frozen on the spot, and he stared for a second before pulling out the toothbrush and whipping out his wand, briefly remembering to spit into the sink.
"What…are…you doing here, Miss Granger?"
She was still frozen, but soon found words to respond to him. "I-I was just…g-getting my things, P-Professor…" Severus was unsure as to what she was talking about, but then he remembered the toothbrush that was, at the moment, still resting in his hand. It was now obvious that it must have been hers.
He lifted his hand towards her, the toothbrush still in it. "Is this yours?"
She nodded, and he watched in confusion as her face slowly turned red. Why she was reacting in such a way, he did not know, but it made him slightly aware of the fact that even though his jeans were zippered, he had not buttoned them…and his shirt was still open.
Her eyes dropped, and he slowly lowered his wand, suddenly aware of the awkward situation they were in. Even if they hadn't been teacher and student, the situation would have been awkward…their status merely made things worse. He used his years of training as a spy to not react and simply act as though nothing were amiss. He cast a quick cleansing charm on the toothbrush and then began to walk towards her to return it to her.
Her eyes suddenly snapped up as he approached and he saw the surprise in them. She remained in her petrified state as he placed the toothbrush on the counter next to the sink, and he continued to carefully watch her as an odd feeling came across him…was it?...no, it couldn't be…but it was. He felt sorry for what he'd done. Well, there was no time like the present…
He picked his words carefully. "My apologies, Miss Granger. I've had…a long night, and was merely cleaning up after…shall we say, some activities of a sort?"
Severus hoped his words had the desired effect, but he remained unsure as she stood there, completely silent. She hadn't spoken a word for a while, and he briefly wondered what she was thinking of, and then his mind drifted to the fact that she was wearing a robe…and he was barely dressed. His hands itched to reach for the button on his trousers and his fingers were dying to twitch his wand and have his shirt fastened as well. But he withheld…he had to seem unaffected.
He watched with curiosity as she tightened the belt of her robe and pulled the sides of it even tighter than before. Her hand reached up and he watched with inward amusement at the fact that she was attempting to tame her untamed hair.
He suddenly realized what he was doing and stepped forward to try and leave, but she glared at him.
"Sir?"
He bit his tongue, at first debating whether or not to let his biting remark fly, and decided it would be best. "I would like to leave the lavatory, if you don't mind, Miss Granger? Or are you planning on keeping me captive until you've recovered your senses? Because if that is the case, then I fear I will be stuck here for the next century."
He waited for Hermione's eyes to drop, but instead he watched with some inward admiration as instead she tightened her jaw and lifted her eyes to his, openly taking him on, defying him in the only way that she could without being entirely disrespectful.
"It's not a problem…Sir."
She moved to the side as far as she could, but he immediately realized that it would be impossible to not brush against her. The bathroom was too narrow, and the door wasn't open very far. He had no other choice in the matter.
He didn't hesitate however, and slid right by her. He was taller than her, and because he was, he was suddenly overwhelmed with the scent of sandalwood, which he then realized came from her hair…she had been the last person to use the shower. Luckily he had already passed by and was no longer in physical contact with her as this thought lead to an embarrassing reaction on his part, one that was particularly male.
She had been the last in the shower…unbidden, an image of his student in the shower popped into his head. No…no. He shook his head, banishing the image from his errant thoughts. He was not going to put up with his mind wandering in such a manner.
In the back of his mind, however, something quickly saved and filed away the image and the feelings that came with it…
He managed to break out of the memory that overwhelmed him, and he gave the cauldron a cautionary look.
It was obvious that he was going to have to particularly cautious with this potion from now on. It was arousing feelings that shouldn't be there…but of course, something in the back of his head whispered, it only works on pre-existing emotions…
Severus realized that the one strong memory had been suppressing the other two memories that were associated with the other two scents that had assaulted him as well. As he cleaned up another potion, one that was not the Amortentia, he let his thoughts linger briefly on the memories, savoring them for a few secretive moments. No one had to know the thoughts that ran through his head…he was adept enough at Occlumency that he didn't have to worry about the Dark Lord seeing these thoughts.
Ink… It was his first lecture of the semester for his fifth year potions' students. He stood in front and watched the students scrambling for quill, ink, and parchment. His eyes caught on Miss Granger as she carefully pulled out fresh parchment and a brand new ink well. As she dipped her tawny colored quill into the seemingly black ink, he caught a brief shimmer of color in the ink. Green. The smell seemed amplified at that moment. He watched for a moment longer as she seemed to almost reverently write down each word, as though they actually meant something to her…and then he snapped back to his memorized lecture…
Blackthorn... It was the first Quidditch match of the season and Draco was playing. He knew that Lucius would be quite put out if the boy's own godfather wasn't there to support him. Severus loathed going to the matches, but he needed to stay on the Malfoys' good sides. As he strode across the lawn, he could smell the blackthorn trees as they were in full bloom…and then he brushed by Miss Granger. He realized that he had passed by her a little too closely, but now the scent of the blackthorn and the sight of her were ingrained in his mind as he continued to the teachers' section of the Quidditch stands for the game, forcing himself to not look back…
He pulled himself out of the other memories that had surfaced, slightly ashamed that he had let himself indulge in mere memory. Memory was memory. It was past and nothing could change it, no matter how one tried.
Just before he cleaned up the potion, he gave it a long look…and he wondered.
What was it that she smelled? Did she smell potions' ingredients from a supply cupboard? Or did she smell parchment from spending hours bent over not only her own, but other's work as well, as she attempted to help her two idiot friends who took shameless advantage of her brilliant mind? Did she smell something that might remind her of him…?
Severus quickly destroyed that idea as soon as it surfaced in his head, and then with a flick of his wrist the potion was gone…except for a small vial that mysteriously found its' way into his voluminous robes and another that was put onto Slughorn's desk. It was a small vial of the Veritaserum that he'd vanished earlier, and he left it there, clearly distracted as he walked out of the room.
He couldn't be entertaining such thoughts of her, especially as she was his apprentice. They worked together, alone, in the evenings and on weekends, and such thoughts were dangerous.
Very dangerous.
His mind flitted to the potion that was in his robes.
It merited further study…
Part 2/?
