Edited 2017-10

Everything except the storyline belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Chapter 7

When Hermione left, Elora appeared in front of him and simply smirked, seemingly highly amused. He glared at her but she laughed and disappeared, along with the remnants of the tea. Severus pinched the bridge of his nose. He did not understand how he could let all of that happen.

The small electric spark that resulted from her fingers touching his had taken him off guard. He had looked at her and saw she had noticed it too. The slight reddening of her cheeks and the sudden tremble in her hands were enough to alert his spy senses.

He hadn't noticed he was staring at her until she glanced up at him and her eyes widened slightly in surprise. Again, he noticed the gold that lined her pupils. With her hair tied back in a bun; her face looked somewhat more angular, sharper, highlighting the strengths of her character.

A lock had once more escaped its confinement and before he knew it, he had stepped closer to push it behind her ear, just like he wanted to do earlier. He then and there decided he didn't like that she still called him professor, and thus invited her to call him Severus, adding her own first name as an afterthought.

When she sighed, he felt an almost uncontrollable urge to kiss her, and he quickly stepped back so he could not act on the impulse. He had not even noticed his hand had lingered at the base of her neck until then. He used his own potion as an excuse to walk away from her and compose himself.

What on earth happened?

He never lost control of himself like that before (not counting his youth, of course). Obviously, he noticed her glancing at him in confusion, but he put on his neutral mask again, not showing any of his own thoughts and emotions, as if nothing had happened.

He walked down the stairs and into his library. He wondered what the look on Hermione's face would be when she discovered this place but quickly shooed away the thought. There she was again, as if she never quite left his mind. He found it aggravating - but surprisingly not unpleasant - to have her in there.

He shooed away that thought as well, and blindly grabbed a book from the shelves, hoping some reading would distract him. It turned out to be a book about the possible side effects of certain potions and potion ingredients.

This made him think of something else he needed to solve. He cursed when he realised that train of thought led to Hermione as well. He needed to ask her where and how she was planning to fight her addiction.

It didn't take long for Severus to realise Hermione was avoiding him. Had his behaviour completely spooked her? He tried to catch her in the hallways, but she always managed to elude him or to be accompanied by a colleague or student.

He grudgingly admired her for it. He always had the canning ability to seemingly appear out of nowhere, and his years working as a spy only honed this ability. He considered simply going to her chambers in the evening but decided against it. If he really spooked her, he didn't want to make it worse. And if he was frank with himself, he didn't trust he could prevent himself from repeating the incident.

When the exams started, the sheer workload of overseeing them, grading the poor concoctions the students called potions, and calming some overly stressed Slytherins, made him give up his pursuit of Hermione.

Two days after the last exams, he was walking towards the library when someone holding an absurd amount of books walked straight into him and nearly fell. His quick reflexes allowed him to both steady the person, now identified as Hermione, and freeze the books in mid-air in one fluent motion. He ignored the tingling in the hand that was supporting Hermione at the elbow. When she was firmly standing again he quickly let go of her. He sneered.

"Did all that reading turn you blind?"

Hermione blushed and looked down. "I'm sorry professor, I wasn't paying attention."

He raised an eyebrow. "Obviously," he drawled.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, plucking the frozen books out of the air. "Severus," she added, so softly he nearly missed it.

The effect it had on him was both extraordinary and profoundly disturbing. He hesitated and watched her stack the last of the floating books in her arms.

"There is something I would like to know Miss Granger," he said.

She looked at him questioningly. He lowered his voice, realising they were still standing in the hallway.

"Where were you planning to deal with the withdrawal effects?"

"Oh," she said, looking slightly taken off guard, "I haven't yet given it much thought, to be honest. I guess I'll simply stay here and see what happens."

She smiled up at him. He looked at her, exasperated.

"You're not serious are you?" he said.

"Why? You said it was no big deal."

He kept staring at her in disbelieve. How could someone so smart make such a stupid decision? She shuffled her feet, obviously getting nervous under his stare. He let out a sigh and shortly squeezed his eyes shut. He was going to regret this, but he did feel slightly guilty for understating the symptoms.

"That won't do, you're coming home with me to rehabilitate."