Chapter Four

Still sat at his old desk, Snape wondered if he'd been too harsh on the girl. Then again, she had been cheeky enough to lie to his face. "Library book" indeed! He had to admire her nerve. He knew well the intimidating reputation he had amongst the students. One of them had clearly found his old textbook. He had to admit, he had no recollection of leaving it at the school, but his later years at Hogwarts had been fraught to say the least, and he was hardly surprised to have overlooked it. Possibly Potter and Black had stolen his belongings at some point and thrown it into the Whomping Willow or stuffed it into a suit of armour or something else asinine, and it had somehow been found later and made its way back to the dungeons. He could only surmise. But he would have it back. Particularly as Potter was clearly using it to curry favour with Slughorn, passing off Snape's achievements as his own. The nerve of the boy - every inch his father's son!

He'd made a mistake in the way he'd confronted Granger in class though, getting up close to her like that. Dumbledore had advised him to develop a rapport with her, not terrify the girl. Normally he wouldn't have given it a second thought - he certainly didn't care for the emotional comfort of his students, in fact he revelled in discombobulating them. But as he'd braced himself on the desk, looming over her, his arm had brushed her shoulder. He didn't know what effect, if any, it had had on the girl, but the sudden accidental touch had made him feel like he'd been Confunded momentarily.

Snape had been very careful to avoid any further contact with her until leaving her desk, taking a moment to compose himself. Why should a meaningless touch have made him feel that way? A man who kept himself to himself, Snape surmised it was merely a natural reaction to such an unfamiliar sensation, and nothing deeper... or more sinister. Human contact was not something prevalent in the Potions master's life, now or ever. Now even more sceptical about the Headmaster's suggestion that he spend time with Granger, he Vanished the parchments he had been grading and swept off out of the dungeons in the direction of the Defence classroom, silently wishing that Apparition was allowed in the castle as he started the long climb to the Third Floor.


Snape hadn't set a deadline for Hermione to bring him the "library book" they had been using to cheat in his Potions class, but for the next day or so she pondered how she might be able to get it without Harry finding out. Again, she contemplated using her Felix Felicis, but she was reluctant to use such a valuable resource on something so comparatively trivial, no matter how seemingly difficult to accomplish.

Knowing how badly the professor wanted the book made her redouble her efforts to find out the identity of the Half-Blood Prince as well. Perhaps he was actually a well-known figure in the wizarding world after all, although Ron had no knowledge of such a person. But then Snape was an experienced Potions master, and she supposed it wasn't all that likely that Ron's interest in famous wizards extended much past whoever was playing Keeper for the Chudley Cannons that season.


Ginny had heard about Hermione's run-in with Snape during the lesson, and was trying to cheer her friend up while they were studying in the library together one evening.

'Don't worry about it, Hermione, it's just Snape! Who even cares what the old git thinks?!'

Her friend remained silent, but a faint blush crept over her face. Ginny's expression turned from one of mild indignation, to horror, to amusement.

'Oh my gosh, Hermione! Do you fancy him? Do you fancy Snape?!'

'No!' Hermione retorted hotly, her face feeling even hotter by the second. 'Of course not! Why do you say that?' But Ginny wasn't fooled for a moment.

'Seriously?! I know we're not exactly spoiled for choice here, if you're talking teachers, but literally anyone would be more fanciable than Snape. I think I'd rather go out with Filch!'

Ginny dissolved into giggles, while Hermione shushed her friend insistently, fearful that other people might overhear, although luckily their part of the library seemed fairly deserted.

'Alright, alright, calm down. It's just a silly crush,' she tried to downplay the situation as much as possible. If Ginny went and told Ron, he'd tell Harry, and then she'd never hear the end of it...

'Oh, yeah, I can see why you'd fancy the dungeon bat, Hermione. Is it that sinister billowing cloak of his that does it for you, or the greasy hair?'

'Oh shut up Ginny,' Hermione snapped, a little more irritably than she'd intended. 'Looks aren't everything you know. I'm not exactly a supermodel, even after Madam Pomfrey fixed my teeth!' Then she lowered her voice slightly, 'Besides, he has a certain something about him. Mysterious, you know? He's always quite well dressed, under the cloak,' She tried fervently not to get distracted thinking about what lay beneath Snape's cloak, 'Don't you wonder what sort of life he has?'

'He's a Death Eater, Hermione. And we all know exactly what sort of life that is...' Ginny looked more serious all of a sudden, concerned.

'Dumbledore trusts him. The professor's obviously given him a good enough reason to believe he's on our side now,' Hermione protested, as always.

'You-Know-Who trusts him as well, Hermione, if you believe Snape's actually even working for the Order of the Phoenix. And You-Know-Who's one of the most powerful Legilimens ever, Dad says. He knows when anyone's lying to him. I hate to say it, but if he's let Snape live this long since he came back, he must be loyal to him.'


Concealed by shadows in one of the rows of shelves, Severus Snape had paused for a moment upon hearing his name. "Old git" - so far, so expected. But then the Weasley girl had said something quite unexpected. So unexpected in fact, that he wondered if he'd heard correctly, although Granger's flustered reaction seemed to indicate there was indeed something to her accusation.

So, Hermione Granger had a crush on him, did she? Snape's finely-honed skills at reading people, developed through years of necessity, had let him down on this occasion. He normally prided himself on knowing more about most people than even they were aware of about themselves, however this was such an unexpected revelation that it had never even occurred to him that it might be a possibility. It might explain her clumsy attempt to compliment him at Slughorn's Christmas party though. Perhaps it wasn't just seasonal cheer that had inspired her to be kind?

She'd so far managed to conceal any overt signs that she harboured any real kind of attraction towards him though, although to be honest, he didn't really know what he would have looked for had he suspected anyway. The female of the species had always been somewhat of a mystery to him. Some wizards seemed to have an innate ability to fall into relationships at the drop of a hat, but perhaps due to his strained upbringing, that was one skill that eluded him. He'd always told himself that he was happy with it that way anyway, at least since Lily's passing.

Snape was also surprised to learn that Granger didn't consider herself to be any great beauty. While there were perhaps more classically pretty girls at Hogwarts, she was certainly far from unattractive. Either she'd slowly blossomed over the years into a lovely young lady, or he simply hadn't noticed until recently. Mind you, the girl was in her sixth year and had therefore probably only just come of age. Bratty, shallow girls held no interest for him, but he had to admit she was different: more mature, emotionally speaking, than her peers, with a brilliant mind. An irritating voice in his head told him "She's got the full package. Brains, beauty, a kind spirit, and for some unknown reason, she's taken a liking to you."

Casting a wordless Disillusionment Charm over himself, he inched closer to the edge of the shelves to better eavesdrop, keeping a wall of books between him and the two Gryffindor students.


'It's not funny you know Ginny! Even if he's not working for You-Know-Who, I know he'd never... feel the same... about me. I'm not daft enough to think it might actually come to anything, I just have to wait until the crush passes I suppose. We all swooned over Lockhart that year he was here, I expect I'll fancy Flitwick next week!' Hermione joked to her friend, trying to make light of the situation although inside she had an uncomfortably heavy feeling, like she'd swallowed a bag of bezoars.

Changing the subject, she told Ginny that she was going to ask Professor Dumbledore if he could give her a few lessons in Occlumency. The youngest Weasley knew all about Harry's disastrous attempts at learning the skill, but was politely supportive of Hermione's plans. They were all developing the feeling that something big was coming, and no-one knew when things might take a drastic turn for the worse in the war, and it wouldn't hurt to be prepared for all eventualities.


Stealthy as he ever was, Severus Snape made a silent retreat from the library, deep in thought...


A/N: So perhaps our prickly professor is starting to thaw a little? ;)