She drove them in her mother's car to the used bookstore ten minutes away. She loved this store. When she bought muggle books, this was where she liked to go. They had been at the bookstore for over an hour, she was looking at the nonfiction section, there was a huge stack next to her filled with books selected by her and him.
"I am going to go back to the classics, stay within my sight" he said to her as he walked across the store. She smiled and started looking where she left off. Not even two minutes later, a group of three girls approached her. "Nerdy Granger, we saw you through the window, of course you would be here in a bookstore by yourself instead of with people" Alyson Cook, a girl that lived down the street from Hermione, said. Hermione ignored her.
"You know it's no wonder your parents sent you away to boarding school" she taunted Hermione. "They did not send me, I got accepted there and chose to go" she said. "Whatever. I just wanted to tell you to stay away from David; he is going to be my boyfriend soon" Alyson said.
"Does he know that? I don't think he will go out with you" Hermione told her. Alyson laughed. "What you think he wants you?" she laughed more. "No, I have no interest in him other than friendship" Hermione said. "Whatever" Alyson rolled her eyes and turned to leave.
Hermione sighed and went back to the book shelf. "Are you ready Miss Granger?" Severus asked after a few minutes. "Fine, let's go" she said. When they left the store, Hermione was silent as they walked to the car and she drove them back to her parent's house.
When they got inside, she turned on him. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!" she screamed. "I've no idea what you mean, Miss Granger" Severus said, playing dumb. "That! You used to call me Hermione, we used to be friends, what happened?" she screamed.
"Nothing happened. It is completely inappropriate for me to use your given name or to be friends with you" he said. "Why? Why is it so wrong with being my friend? I thought you liked me" she whispered hurt. "Do not pretend you don't know what this is about. You know I consider you a friend, possibly the best friend I have ever had" he screamed at her.
"Then what did I do wrong?" she asked in a normal voice. "Nothing. You did nothing wrong, I did. I almost forced my attentions on you" he said as he looked down in shame. "Forced? Forced? Do you have any idea how much I wanted you to kiss me that day?" she said. "Really?" he asked as he stepped closer to her. She nodded as she grabbed his hand. She looked into his eyes, willing him to trust her and take a chance.
"We can't, you have another year of school. If once you graduate, we still feel that way, perhaps we can come back to the subject" he said. "Are you anticipating not feeling this way soon?" she asked. "No but you will" he said lowly and she knew he did not want her to respond by the look on his face. He let go of her hand and took a step back.
She supposed she would just have to hold on till graduation, and then she had a chance of getting what she wanted. I should have known Severus Snape would never touch a student of his she thought. "Okay, but can we at least be friends again? It will be a long and awkward summer if we are always walking on egg shells around each other?" she asked.
"Yes, I suppose that would be acceptable. Professors are allowed to be friends with their students. Albus had no problem when we worked together" he said. They had worked on the project together till the end of last year when they had to stop. Hermione thought they were close to the cure.
"Would you like some tea? I could make some sandwiches for lunch" she asked him. "That would be nice. I could help you" he said. She shook her head indicating that she did not want help. As they ate they chatted about their summer so far. She told him about the books she had been reading and he did the same.
"I'm telling you, they are together" Severus told her a few hours later. "No way, he is so old" she said. He laughed. "Even old men need love too, besides they have been together since before I was a student" he said. "How do you know?" she asked.
"My first year, I was called to his office because I was fighting with Sirius. He had gotten almost all of Gryffindor house to call me Snivillus. After a few days of being called that by them, I snapped and cursed Sirius. I do not remember what curse it was but I was called to the headmaster's office. As I was approaching his office, I heard voices and…" he said. "You, being you, had to spy" she cut him off with a smile and teasing tone. He laughed.
"Yes, I did. Anyway, it was Albus and Minerva. He had walked her to the door and leaned in and kissed her. Of course, once I got to his office he knew what I saw. He asked me not to tell anyone what I saw. That they did not want anyone to know. There are rules about a headmaster dating his staff, so they chose not to tell anyone in a way to not deal with it. Since that day I have told no one except you. Nobody on staff knows about them except me and Lupin, he is far too observant for his own good" he said chuckling.
"I like when you let your guard down and show me the real you. You really are great" she said to him with a bright smile. He smiled to and they went back to discussing the latest advances in potions.
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