The next week it only rained at Hogwarts. The weather was dreary, cold and the wind howled like a wolf crying to the moon.

The atmosphere in the potions room was quite the same. Severus found himself sitting at his desk, every day, wondering what he could have done to avoid the silent treatment from the History of Magic professor, and the woman he was starting to fall in love with, Miss Hermione Granger. Even the students noticed that he was lashing out, and even more so than usual. Whenever he caught himself thinking about her during a class he would find an innocent student to yell at to be quiet, even though you could hear a pin drop.

Every breakfast, lunch and dinner, Miss Granger would seat herself at the opposite end of the table from Severus, which confused the professors even more as they would chat and sit together just a week ago. Hermione would chat and smile and laugh with whoever was beside her to mask her anger and sadness. Severus, although, would stare at his food, eat a few bites and retire to the dungeons out of grief and frustration.

Two weeks after Severus' confession, he started to get a glimmer of hope in his eyes and felt like he was recovering better. But that was only because he had finally snapped himself out of his misery and concocted a plan.

Nervous footsteps echoed in the corridors as the man in black robes made his way up to her chambers. A bouquet of pink lilies in one hand, a sweaty mess in the other. As he reached the door he took a deep breath, curled his free hand into a ball and knocked on the door. As the door opened he smiled but the smile faded as she took one look at him, rolled her eyes and slammed the door in his face.

"Miss—Hermione! I know what I did was wrong but I wanted to know what you dreamt of, what you felt, what your inner most desires were!"

Hermione shouted at the door, not bothering to open it. "So why didn't you just ask then Severus? That was an invasion of my privacy!"

There was a long pause. Severus collected himself and spoke "I already lost the first and what I thought was the only love of my life. I couldn't bear the thought of being hurt so deeply again. I wanted to know for certain."

Another long pause. Snape could hear her delicate footsteps pacing back and forth in her chambers.

"Hermione, this lesson is the most important and most valuable when learning how to love someone truly and deeply… forgiveness."

Hermione let out a long sigh and walked towards the door. She opened it and looked at Severus straight in the eyes. She had never seen such guilt and sadness in his eyes before. He held out the lilies.

"When learning to love someone, you must realize that sometimes they may not deserve your forgiveness but you care too much not to. Or in my case, I care too much to give up."

"Did you say… you loved me?"

Severus smiled. "Indirectly, yes."

"Tell me directly then." Hermione said as her eyes started to well up slightly.

Severus nodded. He took her hands in his and looked deeply into her watery eyes. "Hermione, I love you."

Hermione didn't understand what she was feeling. She never heard such sincerity before in someone's voice and she had never felt such an overwhelming urge after hearing those words. The first time Ron said he loved her was after the war and of course you can't help but say it back. At the time it felt like they were friends again, not lovers. Every time Ron said he loved her it felt hollow, like she couldn't say it back. Now she knew that wasn't love at all.

"I love you too Severus. " She whispered as she lunged into him and locked him in a deep, passionate kiss. He lifted her into his arms, walked into the room, shut the door behind him and laid her down on her bed.

"Is this a lesson as well?"

Severus smirked. "In what way Hermione?"

She giggled. "Lesson four: after fighting you must consummate the relationship again with make-up making out or… intimacy of the same sort."

Severus chuckled. "This is where the student becomes the teacher. Teach me this lesson Miss Granger."

The next morning the two sat beside each other at the head table and received many confusing looks from the professors again. Many of them were getting suspicions, but since it was so close to Halloween, no one bothered to care. And many of them had their own secret affairs, bringing up this would unlock many things most wanted to stay hidden.

The two kept glancing at each other and giggling until the end of breakfast. They exited the great hall together and just as Hermione was about to turn a corner to get to her class, Severus grasped her hand and stared deeply into her eyes as she turned around.

"It's time for the final lesson Hermione."

Snape dragged her around the castle, the opposite way from her class. She kicked and fought against him but Severus wouldn't let up. Eventually they ended up at the room of requirement. Severus opened the doors and threw Hermione in with all of his might as she was still resisting.

"As I told you numerous times while we were getting here, I have requested a professor to fill in for our classes as we had important matters to discuss about post-war conditions or some rubbish such as that."

Hermione was on the floor, her hands behind her as she stared at Snape in shock and horror. She was furious; no one takes her away from her work and the childrens education. And she never would have expected him of all people to drag her away, especially with the first few tests and quizzes of the semester about to take place.

"Severus, why did you take me away from my job, drag me to the room of requirement and aquire an empty room with a concrete floor which you threw me onto?" Hermione exclaimed as her voice became harsher and louder with every syllable.

Severus walked over to her and extended his hand in an effort to help her get up. He smirked and as she rose up from the concrete floor, he pulled her into his arms and held her very close. Again, Hermione was caught off guard and confused, but her anger started to subside as she accepted the fact that she would rather be in his arms than teaching a History of Magic class. He caressed her hair with one hand and the other was slipped around her waist, holding onto her as if it was the last moment they would spend together.

"Hermione… I would have given anything to have this kind of silence and moment with you before the war. No distractions, no stress, no war. I cared… and still do care so deeply about you. This school year has seemed like a dream. You've grown up to be a very bright and beautiful young witch and I am honored you'll even talk to me let alone kiss me and have relations with me."

Severus kissed her on top of her head and kept holding onto her. He could feel Hermione quivering in his embrace out of nervousness. He chuckled. "Hermione… I suppose what I'm trying to articulate is that… I couldn't stand the thought of a world without you before and during the war… and now that you're mine…" He pulled her back so he could look into her eyes. He slowly dropped down onto one knee and pulled a ring out of his black robes. His heart was pounding like mad, as was Hermione's. Her eyes welled up with tears of joy as he opened the box to uncover a sparkling diamond ring.

"Miss Hermione Granger… I may not be wealthy and I may have been a death eater… but I assure you I will do the best to provide you and our family an incredible life full of happiness. Will you marry me?"

Hermione smiled and nodded through her tears. Severus slipped the ring onto her finger and stood up to lock her in a deep embrace.

"Congratulations Hermione… I have nothing left to teach you. You've fully learned how to love me."