Severus stayed in Miss…Professor Granger's care for several days while his bones finished mending and he worked on regaining his muscle strength in that wing. During this time, he was astonished, to say the least, when he learned about the woman that she had become. First of all, she was nothing but kind and caring to the stray bat that she had rescued. He had never been as pampered in his life as he was for those few days. She held him, stroked him, and called him a handsome fellow – Him! - all while feeding him juicy exotic fruits that she had apparently acquired in trade from Longbottom. Yes, he was quite aware of the irony that the fruits of that particular boy's labor were keeping him alive and well. The lad had been a disaster in the potions lab as a student, but Severus had to grudgingly admit that he was definitely more than just proficient with his work in the greenhouses. The fruit that came from his personal stock was leaps and bounds better than the general stock that he normally received from Lonny and the other house elves. He only wondered what Granger had to give up in return. Surely she didn't….? They weren't…? He had seen Longbottom out on the grounds and in the greenhouses many times while he had been out flying and he had to admit that the boy…the man…was quite different from the terrified, chubby boy who had been such a nuisance in class. Maybe he and Granger really were together now. They had always been friends, after all. His curiosity flared and he vowed to find out…even if the thought caused a strange little niggle of displeasure for some reason. Therefore, he was quite pleased when Longbottom visited Hermione's room himself one day to deliver some more fruit. Severus soon realized, however, that his fears about a relationship between the two Gryffindors was groundless – especially since the boy couldn't even go five minutes without a mention of Miss Abbott.
Meanwhile, during this time, Severus also attended class with her. He would joyfully glide down the corridors, stretching his wings (since it was entirely too cold and stormy to exercise them outside) before he joined her in the classroom on the special perch that she had magicked up just for him. After being around people for the first time in five years really, he learned a few things about himself. The first was that he didn't hate other people as much as he thought he did. He found that he could tolerate Professor Granger much more as an adult than he had ever been able to while she was a student. Also, surprisingly, he didn't even mind being around children again. In fact, as he watched Granger teach, he finally realized that he had been a right bastard as a professor! He had justified it back then by rationalizing that he had to put up a bit of a front for the Slytherins. Yes, that was partially true. However, in reality, he had liked the feeling of power that he got from putting the students – especially the Gryffindors – in their place. He didn't have to use the Muggle practice of psychoanalysis to know that it was a knee-jerk reaction to the bullying that he himself had experienced from James Potter's Gryffindor gang. He also knew that it had been worse when the man's son had come to Hogwarts. The boy had simply reminded him too much of the father…and Severus had made him pay for his father's sins against the boy that the professor used to be. He had also included the boy's friends in that payment plan, too. Then he remembered how, despite all that, the boy and the girl still tried to save his life that night in the shack. It was then that the little worm of guilt that he had been feeling around Granger suddenly grew snake-sized.
Also, as he watched from his perch while Professor Granger taught her classes, he felt a…pang…for what could have been. The woman's teaching style could not have been more different from his own! She made continuous rounds and checked on each on every student's progress and offered words of encouragement and/or advice - instead of the acidic remarks that he would have found necessary. As a result, her classes thrived. There was no other way to describe it. He had observed classes from all years and all houses and they were all successful. Even when her own version of Longbottom, a young lad she addressed as Mr. Dornoon, blew up a cauldron, she just sighed and vanished the mess. Then, instead of yelling or berating, she simply asked him what went wrong. When he couldn't tell her, she had him to go back step by step until he told her that he had added an entire spider eye instead of a pinch of a powdered one. He then smacked his own forehead in disgust when he realized his mistake. The professor did smile slightly at that action, but she didn't laugh. She did however tell the boy that he would need to join her in the potions lab that evening – not because he was in trouble, but because he needed the practice to learn how to brew that particular potion correctly. The boy simply nodded because he knew it was the truth and it was evident that he bore his teacher no ill will. Severus had to admit that the entire situation had been handled smoothly from beginning to end without any raised voices, laughter, or jeering from anyone. What made it even more amazing to him was the fact that Mr. Dornoon was a Slytherin, and a cousin of the Malfoy family. Severus knew that Granger had far more reason to hold a grudge against that House and that family than most…and yet she had treated the lad just like she had the Lions that she had taught in the previous class. In fact, one of the Gryffindors – a girl, at that – was also told to come to work on her potion again in the evening when she couldn't get the thickness right, no matter what she did. Therefore, it seemed as if no favoritism or special treatment occurred in this professor's classroom. It was all unexpected enough that it certainly made him pause and consider…well…a lot of things actually. However, it was the first time that he had ever really wondered if he could have done things differently in the classroom. Would things have been better if he had treated all of his students the same? After all, even if Slughorn did play favorites, he was always at least fair to the rest of the students, as well. He had even given young Severus a chance, after all!
Bat Severus watched the Granger girl…woman…in her chambers, as well. He soon realized that he had never been in a position to casually observe a woman at leisure in her home since he had never been in a long term relationship. His lifestyle as a boarding school professor and a double agent really had not promoted that level of domesticity. Therefore, he found that he was fascinated with watching the little things that she did. First of all, he realized that she talked to him a lot. Him! He got the distinct feeling that she was lonely…why else would she spend so much time talking to a bat? When she wasn't talking, she was working, however. He noticed that she sang those Slavic songs while she did manual and menial chores, but that she was almost eerily silent when she worked on her intellectual pursuits. He watched as she piled her unruly, but not unattractive, mane on top of her head and as she absentmindedly twirled the curls that always fell out of their restraint. He watched as she lounged by the fire reading or grading student papers. He watched as she sipped her tea or nibbled on a biscuit. He would not, however, allow himself to watch her in her bed chamber. He felt that it would be taking his liberties too far and that she might not be able to look past that kind of behavior if he ever figured out how to communicate with her. Once she realized that her bat friend was really Severus Snape, things were going to be difficult enough without having to contend with any past indecent behavior.
However, there was one memorable occasion where she came out of her room, shirtless. She was wearing a bra, but he had still been distracted by the mounds of soft flesh on display. However, that was before he saw her scars. He had never seen someone as heavily scarred as he was before (courtesy of both his father and the Dark Lord's punishments) – except for possibly Mad-Eye Moody and Professor Kettleburn. However, they were men and somehow seeing the knife marks and other numerous scars across Granger's otherwise delicate neck and shoulders seemed so wrong. However, then he saw the rest and if a bat could growl in anger, he surely would have. First, he saw the unmistakable result of Dolohov's curse from that infamous night in the ministry. The heavy purple slash diagonally bisected her abdomen all the way from under her right breast to her left hip. Even though he had not known the extent of her injuries, he clearly remembered the night she received them because, while the others were mourning the Black mutt, he was in the lab making up potions and salves for her and her other injured friends. However, he had never seen it in person, and therefore, he had no idea that the wound had been so severe. Judging from the look of the scar, Hogwarts could have lost Granger that day. Where would Harry Potter have been then? Then he saw the scar carved into her forearm and everything else paled in comparison. He just stared at that hateful word thinking about who had given it to her and how it had happened. During his stint as Headmaster, he had heard from the Carrows about the Trio's capture by snatchers and then their subsequent escape from Malfoy Manor. Then, he suddenly remembered Granger's disturbingly altered appearance that night that he had laid dying on the floor of the shack. His thoughts were interrupted, though, when he suddenly saw her staring at him while he was staring at her arm. She quickly recovered, however, shook her head, and said in a self-deprecating tone, "Yes, I am well aware of how attractive it all is. Is it any wonder that I am single? Viktor didn't mind too much because he had so many scars from Quidditch himself. However, nobody else seems to be man enough to handle the sight of them for too long. Anyway, I just came back in here for my book. I have decided to relax with it in a bath. Do bats bathe at all?" she paused to stroke his ears. Did he just imagine it or did her fingers slip down on purpose to stroke the scars on his neck as well? "Hmm…I actually don't know…I better research that." With those words, she turned away and grabbed her book off of the lounge and disappeared back into the bathroom - leaving him alone with his dark thoughts – and the now basilisk-sized guilt that squirmed inside of him.
He didn't quite realize that after that incident, she watched him as closely as he watched her. It wasn't long before she drew her own conclusions about exactly what was happening – especially after seeing Lonny's reaction to the bat in her chambers. She soon knew the who and the what, she just didn't know the why or how. However, she assumed that there was a reason for it and simply decided to wait and see what happened next instead of taking action herself. She continued to pamper the poor beast, however. Even if her suspicions were correct, one way or the other the animal obviously needed some love and affection in its life.
One day, about a week later, she told the bat that it was time to start brewing the complex Wolfsbane potion for both Miss Lake and Miss Peterson. Miss Lake was a first year student who had been another victim of Greyback's sick obsession with children back when she was only five years old. Miss Peterson was a third year student who had been bitten when an unknown werewolf had attacked her isolated village towards the end of the war. However, despite some grumbles which she instantly and publically put down, Headmistress McGonagall had welcomed them both to Hogwarts with open arms - especially now that she had a competent Potions Mistress who was more than happy to brew the potion every month for both them and Mr. Alders. He was the kindly owner of the bookshop in Hogsmeade who had been bitten during a previous attack on the village. However, he had still come with Aberforth to fight for the Light at the final battle. Hermione had always liked the man and, therefore, was happy to ease his burden – especially since all it took was a bit of time and a potion.
