Snape 3
7
The period was halfway through and not a Gryffindor had smiled. Hermione was noticing a subtle change in Snape; he spoke less and glared more. At least he was reacting. That was the point.
Snape, on the other hand, was furious. How dare the sodding blockheads mock me? How bloody dare they? He had been thinking this for some time when he decided he would act like he didn't notice, but then a more intriguing thought manifested itself… why not take down their leader? Surely he could sway this situation to his advantage if he could out- Snape Granger.
The students were all standing by their desks, brewing potions. The Gryffindors looked truly immersed in their work, for once. Every now and then one would turn to look at a Slytherin and raise a brow in contempt at their ineptitude. Snape began gliding gracefully between desks, occasionally stopping behind a Gryffindor to pressure them into making a mistake. No one did. Snape stopped behind Hermione. She was busy slicing ice root and did not even notice his presence. He smirked and stood for a minute. She seemed to sense him, as she momentarily paused. As she began putting the root in her cauldron, Snape bent close to her so that his mouth was almost touching her ear.
"Hermione, I loathe you," Snape whispered, ice dripping from his voice. Hermione froze. She was overwhelmed by his proximity to her, and a feeling of déjà vu made her blood cold. Suddenly she remembered her dream. All the details came back to her, as clear as Snape standing beside her. My god, she thought. Holy hell. He knows? How could he possibly… is he reading my mind?
Nervousness made its way across her features. By the time she turned to face Snape, he was halfway across the room, praising Malfoy for an exemplary potion. She put her hands flat on her desk and tried to control her breathing. She willed her face to stay somber, and her cheeks to resist the need to blush. A moment later, she had regained her composure and was carefully adjusting the heat under her cauldron. She glanced over at Neville; his potion was, surprisingly, still intact. Hermione wondered whether he would actually have to mess up on purpose today. She soon forgot about it, however, and was so engrossed in her potion making that she did not see Snape come to stand behind her again. This time, he did not wait for her to notice him. He brought his index finger gently to her neck and slowly trailed it down her spine, to her waist. She stiffened. The blush she had been fighting burst into full bloom and she could not bring herself to do anything. Déjà vu again. This was also in my dream. Except we had been alone, in the dark, in each others arms… her blush deepened. She had to stop thinking like this if Snape was reading her mind.
Finally her face cooled. She looked around the room. No one seemed to have seen them… oh thank you Merlin. After the relief came a wave of anger. How dare he? How dare he embarrass me like that? Those are my private thoughts. No low down snake of a human being is going to get the best of me. An idea formulated in the back of her mind, and when she consciously realized it, it was the closest she had come to cracking a smile all day. She finished her potion with a few minutes left in class and cleared her throat quietly. This was the sign for all the Gryffindors to look up. They did. The Slytherins were oblivious, and kept working.
Hermione corked her potion vial and brought it to Snape's desk. He was standing behind it, facing away from her, scribbling some instructions on the chalkboard. She walked toward him and gathered her courage. Now or never. She slowly brushed by him, making sure her body grazed his, and trailed a finger along his back, right above his waist. Without stopping, she went to her seat and waited, with the rest of the Gryffindors, for his reaction.
He had frozen mid-word. His hand lingered at the chalkboard, unable to move, as he fought for control of himself. Redness crept slowly into his cheeks. He stood stock still for what seemed like forever, then closed his eyes and reopened them, as if trying to blink away a dream. He swished his hair about his head to cover his face, and continued writing as if nothing had happened.
The Gryffindors were dumbstruck. This had finally put them over the edge. Snape was blushing? The greasy git, the man with the most impenetrable control over his emotions in the entire wizarding world, maybe even the entire world, was embarrassed by one of his female students? Ron's mouth was agape, and he was in good company. Half of the classroom, the Slytherins finally having taken notice, was staring wide- eyed at the scene in front of them and trying to decide what to think.
Snape could not get a coherent thought through his head. Did she just… touch me… I can't even, oh hell, do I want to turn around… Merlin help me … Granger just… oh damn it Hermione, thank you for that ungodly wonderful… calm down, calm down, calm down.
At that moment, the bell rang, and he was spared the agony of facing his class. When they put their potions on his desk as they left, he could feel their dumbfounded eyes scalding the back of his head. "Miss Granger, if you could stay behind?" he growled, still facing the chalkboard. Harry and Ron gave her sympathetic smiles as they left. When the room was empty, Snape turned around. His face was back to its emotionless glare, cheeks comfortably pale. Hermione's, however, were beginning to redden in fear, as she half expected him to obliviate her to the next century. Instead, he crossed his arms and said simply, "same time tonight, Miss Granger. We will be brewing your occlumency bane." And he turned once more to the chalkboard as she walked out. The corners of his lips twitched upward.
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Hermione had once again received an enthusiastic reception when she entered the common room. Eventually, she had managed to escape and went to watch the Ravenclaw Quidditch team practice with Ginny. They were sitting in the stands, not really paying attention to the practice, because Ginny was intent on interrogating Hermione.
"So he read your mind?"
"As far as I can tell."
"Do you like him?"
"Gin, what? No, of course not. I mean, he's smart and interesting and all if that's what you're asking."
"No, I'm asking if you like him… you know…" she started humming 'here comes the bride'.
Hermione blushed. "No."
"Oh don't even try. You know you do. I know you do. I know you know you do. There's nothing to hide." Ginny gave her a sly smile.
"Fine Gin, what if I do?"
"Then I have something interesting to think about when I'm bored and you have yourself a love story."
"Yeah, I don't think so."
"You made him blush."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but secretly was pleased that Ginny saw that as a good sign. "Oh Merlin, it's time to go. I've got to meet him to make potions!" Hermione bid goodbye to Ginny and left briskly, heading for the castle.
"Go get him!" Ginny called after her.
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Hermione made her way lower and lower and finally arrived in the dungeons. There was a perpetual fog down there that still made the hairs on her arms stand up. She tentatively knocked on the door to Snape's office.
He immediately opened it. She looked inside. The place was overflowing with house elves.
"Miss Granger, it appears we will have to move tonight's plans to my quarters. There seems to have been a bit of an infestation in Hagrid's hut, which the elves have only finished cleaning, and now the godforsaken creatures insist on making up the time the should have spent in my office. If you will follow me."
His quarters? Her heart leapt. His quarters? His personal, never set foot in by a student, absolutely off limits quarters? Hell yes I will follow you.
They walked deeper into the dungeons a way, and came to a dead end. Snape raised his hand to the stone wall and the wall glowed green. Slowly it became transparent, and he stepped past it, motioning for Hermione to do the same. She did. And immediately, she hoped she would never have to step back out.
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AN: Oooh do I have a nice next scene planned. I don't think I'll have time to write it today, but I'll try, I'll try…right now I've got to go watch the commercials in the super bowl. That's the only good part. The heck with the game. ; ) Have a nice night at your parties.
