Chapter 4

The week went on with little integration between the two professors, Hermione was avoiding him and he was just generally busy. They'd catch each other's eye in the corridors and smile at each other, sit next to each other at dinner but were always interrupted by other teachers or food. During this week, Hermione had had a few interesting encounters with Snape. Or Severus as she has now been granted permission to call him. The first encounter was when she was patrolling through the dungeons during her rounds in the evening. Some of the seventh years had left a dung bomb out in the hall way near the slithering common room entrance and seconds before it went off, Hermione was grabbed from behind and pulled into a broom cupboard. Before she could blink, her wand away out and at his throat as her eyes adjusted to the somewhat dark room, and her instincts faded away. Soon she could see a mildly amused Snape looking at her as she pressed him up against the wall a threatening spell on the tip of her lips.
"Nice evening, isn't it?" He asked her casually and she huffed in annoyance, shoving him off of her and backing away.
"Why the fuck did you just kidnap me Snape?" Hermione practically yelled at the man and he laughed. It caused her to stop in her anger and actually look at him. She had never really seen him like this before, so relaxed and happy and actually laughing. It sounded like bells swaying the wind, it was completely entrancing.
"You were about to be pranced, a bomb of some kind I presume. I was saving you." He said, his voice still amused and just as she remembered it. Smooth and deep, almost like silk. She had always loved his voice, even when he was using in to insult her.

"Right, well thanks I guess." She said. His hair want greasy in this world, in fact, it looked quite soft and wavy. He wore it a bit longer just sitting past his shoulders and his skin was clear and smooth, almost perfect. She reluctantly admitted to herself that he was in fact, a handsome man.

"Your hair is falling out you know." He said after a moment of staring at each other in silence. Hermione sighed and reached up to lessen it only to find that long delicate fingers were already there. Snape had stepped closer to her in the process, their bodies a hairs width apart as he worked her hair tie out of her tangled mane she called her hair.

"You should wear your hair out more often." Snape said as he released it, letting it tumble down her back and rest near her arse. He ran his fingers through it gently, a word she never would have associated with the man before he until now. She never would have thought of her mean and nasty professor Snape to be gentle, but then again she never thought of Remus lupin as aggressive or energetic and yet she could see that in him her. The world really was Turing upside down.

"Why?" Hermione couldn't help but ask.

"It's beautiful." He said as he took a step back and held out his hand for her to take her hair band back.

"Thank you." She said, a small blush gracing her face at the unexpected compliment. She heard him laugh at her and she stuck out a leg and kicked him lightly in the shin.

"Shut up." She muttered and he laughed still and his smile was infectious.

"Do you think it's safe to go back outside now?" Hermione asked and he raised an eyebrow at her, a smirk on his lips.

"What, is being in a broom cupboard with me too much for you?" He asked.

"Reminds me of when I was in school, being accounted I the hallways and shoved into broom cupboards. But in those situations there was usually a lot more sex involved to be honest. I'm rather a little disappointed." She said snark Illy and Snape said nothing to that, just looked at her. She could tell that he was unsure what to say to that and that was exactly what she was aiming for. A speechless Snape was also something she had never seen before. Although the statement was entirely untrue, she liked the affect it had on him. She had meant to shock him, and shock him she did.

The next encounter with Severus was awkward if not somewhat unexpected. Hermione had caught two six year Slytherins hewing first years, so she had carted them down to snaps office, only to find him not there. It was nine in the evening so she wound through the dungeons to his quarters with the two boys in tow NAND knocked angrily on his door. There was swearing from behind the door and the boys chuckled at the sound of the usually stoic professor losing his infamous cool and then he opened the door, clad in only pyjama bottoms. His hair was sleep tussled and messy as he glared at the intruder's naff do Hermione couldn't help it when her eyes drifted down to his surprisingly toned bare chest. A pretty blush stained her cheeks as she noticed the light mattering of dark chest hair that trailed down and disappeared into his pants.

"Oh, Hermione. What brings you down to the dungeons at this time of night?" He asked, smirking at the reaction she was having to seeing so much of him. Her anger at the two boys was seemingly forgotten as she just stare at him.

"Hermione?" He asked as she continued to stare.

"Hmm?" She said, looking back up into his dark coal eyes to find them looking at her curiously.

"Oh, right. These two were hewing first years, Hufflepuffs I think. Since you're the head of Slytherin, you can deal with them. I fear my punishment would have been far too harsh." She said and he nodded looking behind her to see the two sixth years, some of his favourite students trying to hide their amusement.

"Right then. Detention tomorrow and the day after at eight in my classroom. Now go away." He declared and the boys ran off quickly, laughing.

"Was there anything else you wished to discuss professor granger?" He asked.

"Ah, no. That's about it. I'll let you get back to bed." She said and he just smirked at her as she rushed away from him. She could feel his eyes following her until she turned the corner.