Ginny had laughed for an entire minute when Hermione had told her about her full month detention, to relieve her of her nightly prefect duties.

"How did you manage that all by yourself? I mean, I could understand when Harry and Ron were with you, but now? Who is the detention with?"

"Professor Snape."

"What?" If Ginny was surprised at hearing about her detentions, she was evidently more surprised when she heard who they were from.

"How? ...Why?"

"I… may have crossed my line a bit." Hermione replied, avoiding Ginny's eyes. She didn't go into the detail about the Order still being in business.

Ginny's mouth looked ready to drop from her jaw. After composing herself, Ginny managed to say, "Okay, you'll have to be more specific than that. Because I don't think you actually did what I suppose you did."

Hermione blushed pink, "No, Ginny. I didn't do anything like that. I just… got angry and said some mean things, which were inappropriate to say to a professor."

"Oh. And he just gave you detention for that?" Ginny was amazed.

"Well, he's a more understanding man than he lets on."

"Understanding man, eh? Should I be telling Harry and Ron about it yet?"

"No, let them enjoy their vacation in peace. Besides there is no more to this than some stupid schoolgirl crush." Hermione said.

"So, you admit that you are crushing on our foul professor Snape, Hermione?"

Hermione didn't answer but her cheeks were now red and she glanced away shyly.

"I hope you get what your heart wants. After all you've been through; you really deserve it, Hermione." After a gap, Ginny added softly, "And so does Professor Snape."

At exactly eight that night, Severus Snape heard a sharp knock at his office door. He waved his wand at the door which revealed the person to be Hermione Granger like he had expected. She was wearing a loose red sweatshirt and plain denim jeans. She was a sharp contrast from how she had looked the night at the Ball. Even without showing all her curves, she looked beautiful to him. She wasn't a strikingly gorgeous looking girl; you just had to look more closely for her exquisiteness. Her unmanageable bushy brown hair matching with her brown eyes, added a wild character to her face.

"Good evening, professor."

"Good evening, Miss Granger."

"I just wanted to say that I am really sorry for losing my temper in your presence. And I am grateful for your forgiveness."

"You don't have to apologize repeatedly, Miss Granger; or I'll change my mind about your punishment. You'll not be doing any lines, Miss Granger. I find they are just a waste of time, yours as well as mine. Instead, you'll be helping with some of my work."

Hermione knew it would be something like answering his personal letters, she couldn't help smiling.

"I don't think it's going to be as interesting as you are thinking it will be." Snape sneered.

He motioned for her to sit in one of the chairs at his desk and put a stack of parchments in front of her.

"These are the test papers of first-years Potions test. I need you to grade each one of them carefully, if you are in doubt just recall how your own papers were graded in your first year."

Hermione thought back to her first year when she as well as her friends had hated Snape vehemently, but now the things had changed drastically. She recalled how difficult she had found to write her answers satisfactorily for Professor Snape. He was so meticulous that even an extra punctuation mark used to be circled by a red ink.

"I'll be in my laboratory. When you have finished, come and inform me. I'll be taking out a parchment at random to check; if I find any slackness in your work, you'll have to do the entire lot once again, till I am satisfied. Am I clear, Miss Granger?"

"Yes, professor."

"Good."

And Severus Snape stood from his table and walked out of his office, his black robes billowing behind him.

He looked better at the Ball, Hermione thought. Why does he always have to wear that thick high necked coat? To appear imposing to students, she guessed.

Severus Snape had his reasons for staying away from Hermione. He was aware of his growing attraction to her, but the more he was around her the more he had realized that he also liked her presence, her expressive eyes, her smart wits and her big heart. He knew it would be better for him to stay away, keeping his feelings at bay specially since she had started seeing him in a better light than before the war.

Hermione immersed herself in her work, going through the first-year parchments with minute detail. It was a slow and dull job; no wonder Snape had given her his job. When she had finished, she noted that none of the current first years matched the level that she was looking for.

She looked at the clock, it had only been an hour; she still had another hour for detention. She looked around Snape's office and found his calendar. Some days were marked in red but there was nothing explaining the job that was intended to be done on those days. She knew it was too early to bring up that topic with Snape again.

Hermione found Snape working on some potion in his laboratory when she went there with her graded stack of parchments. She watched him engrossed in his work, as he carefully gave the potion counted stirs in clockwise and then in counter-clockwise directions.

"Are you finished with the grading, Miss Granger?" Snape asked; his eyes still on his potion.

That's why he is so good at spying, Hermione thought, impressed.

"Yes, professor."

"I'll be with you in a moment."

Hermione watched in fascination, observing the legendary Potions Master in action. He had an excellent concentration on his work, and his hands moved gracefully and composed. He muttered an incantation before joining her.

His hand moved through the pile, and stopped almost at the bottom as he took out a parchment to evaluate. Hermione saw him go through the entire paper with his scrutinizing gaze, but he didn't say anything till he was finished.

"I see that you have a good eye for grading papers."

Hermione made a frustrated face.

"That is the point of detentions, Miss Granger. You are not supposed to enjoy them. Or would you rather clean the deadpans in the infirmary?"

"No, professor. I'm good with grading." Hermione replied quickly.

"I thought so. You have done a good job, Miss Granger; and took less time than I had presumed. If I didn't have my reputation to preserve, I would've relieved you for the day."

"I could help you with your potion, professor." Hermione offered.

"No, Miss Granger. I need my full concentration for this potion, it is a Replenishing Potion for the infirmary; you would only be a distraction. You can go back to my office now and read some books you'll find in the bookshelves. You can do some research on your project while you're at it."

Snape had turned his attention back to his potion and Hermione retraced her steps back to his office.

When Snape returned back to his office at twenty past ten, he found Hermione sitting comfortably in one of his armchairs by the fire with her legs swinging on its arm; and her nose inside a thick book. She remained unaware of his presence.

Snape cleared his throat, "Miss Granger, your detention is supposed to end at ten."

She looked up startled from her book and got to her feet, "I'm sorry, professor. I lost track of time."

"I don't want that repeated in the future."

"yes, professor."

When she went to keep the book back in its place with a dejected expression, Snape said, "You can keep the book until you finish it, Miss Granger. I know how it feels to leave a book unfinished."

The grateful smile he received was sincere. She is so much like me, Snape wondered.

For the next few days, Snape gave Hermione similar dull tasks, like grading test papers and organizing ingredient stocks.

Soon the next new moon approached. Hermione appeared at Snape's office at 8, still in her uniform robes, Snape guessed she had come straight from the library.

He gave her some third-year test parchments to grade, instructing her to start with her project once she had finished her task.

He joined her in the garden, helping her with the ingredients again. He was pleased to see that she wasn't flinching at his touch this time. At least, she is getting comfortable with my presence, he thought.

Once the job was finished, they called it a night. While she was leaving and Snape could see her in a clearer light, she looked a bit tired. He didn't say anything to her, not wanting to sound over-protective to her.

The next night, Hermione showed up exactly on time, still in her uniform. Snape wondered about her clothes, she never wore uniform to her detentions, only her project which she considered her school work. He still didn't comment on the subject and gave her the task for the night, rearranging the bookshelves alphabetically.

When Snape entered the office at twenty past ten, he found Hermione sitting in a chair by his desk face down on his table with a book beneath her head, her mouth slightly open. He rushed to her filled with concern, but he found that she was breathing deeply, unscathed. She had passed out because of her lack of sleep.

He settled in the adjacent chair instead of going over the other side of the table. A shiver ran down his spine when he observed her face more closely; she had also gone pale. He rubbed his forehead in frustration realizing that she hadn't been eating properly.

Composing himself, he put his hand on her arm and squeezed, "Miss Granger!"

She woke up with a start.

"I...I'm sorry, professor."

Picking up the book she was using as a pillow, she started to get up.

"This was just the last book. I'll be finished…"

But Snape had put his strong hands on her arms and made her sit back in her chair. "There will be no need for that now, Miss Granger."

Hermione found his black orbs looking directly into her red eyes.

"Tell me honestly, Miss Granger. Have you been skipping your meals?"

Hermione looked down at her hands.

"Look into my eyes, Miss Granger. And answer my question." Snape said, lifting her chin with his index finger.

Hermione stammered, "S..some of them, sir."

"And did you sleep since the day before yesterday?"

"No sir."

"And why is that?" his eyes had a glint of anger, and Hermione felt his hand on her shoulder tighten.

"I…I've started s…studying for the N.E.W.T.S., professor." Hermione found it difficult to answer even his questions under his steady gaze.

"But they are months away." He sounded exasperated.

"B…but I always start this early. A…and N.E.W.T.S. are supposed to be the toughest exam I've ever taken."

"You can still take them today and you'll get full marks." Snape said.

When Hermione had opened her mouth in a protest, he put his finger on her lips to silence her. The next instance he knew that it had been a mistake, her lips felt so soft against his fingers. But right now the problem is her health, he thought.

"Now, without any further arguments, you are going to do exactly what I say. I'll order some food from the kitchens and then you'll go back to your room and sleep. Is that clear, Miss Granger?"

She nodded, and he removed his finger from her lips a tad reluctantly.

He ordered some food summoning a house-elf and watched as he made Hermione eat every last crumb. He then personally escorted her back to the Gryffindor Tower.

"Drink this, Miss Granger."

When she had raised her eyebrows sniffing the vial he had handed her, he said, "It's kind of a healing potion. It'll help with your sleep and lack of nourishment."

He watched her drink it and hand her the empty vial.

"Have a good night, miss Granger. Sleep well."

"You too, professor."

The next day, Hermione avoided Snape's eyes for the entire day. She was embarrassed for being caught at her most vulnerable self. But she was also grateful for taking such care of her.

That night, as Hermione entered Snape's office he started by asking, "Miss Granger, how are you feeling today?"

"Very well, professor. And thank you for taking care of me last night. You were very kind."

Snape let her last sentence sink into his mind. Nobody had ever called him kind. Nobody. He couldn't explain the sudden warmth that filled him hearing her say those words.

"You have a very important job to do today, Miss Granger. You'll be making your study schedule. When you are finished, come and show me at my laboratory. You'll just have to keep making it until I am satisfied." He said, before exiting leaving his billowing robes in his wake.

After five futile attempts, Hermione finally got Professor Snape's approval on her study schedule, which was much generous to have her satisfaction. She promised to herself that she would change it as soon as the detentions were over.

Snape however, seemed to be able to read her thoughts. "You'll stick to that schedule for the entire term, Miss Granger. If you want to continue your project. Now, go and do what like best. Read about your project topic. And before you leave, I want a brief summary of your research."

"Yes, professor."

For the remaining detentions, Snape only made her study about the project or her own course materials, giving her none of his extra work. He was impressed about her research on the project and encouraged her to implement her own ideas to the potion which were to make it less expensive and more efficient.

However, Hermione was unhappy when the detentions were coming to an end.