A/N: Thank you to my loyal reviewers, and my new reviewers! Reviews make me happy! Extraordinarily happy! I appreciate them…a lot! They give me new muse.
Disclaimer: I so don't own Severus, Hermione, Harry, Remus, or any of the other characters. Nor the setting. The plot, however, is my own.
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Hermione didn't know what she should do. Her spree of bravery was over, and she now dreaded flirting with Snape. Ginny was going to freak. Oh, wait. Ginny might not be talking with her anymore, after what had happened the night before. With Blaise. She was still running as she hit the Entrance Hall and almost collided with Remus Lupin. She stammered an apology and took off, pushing open the doors to the grounds. She ran towards the Whomping Willow. Only the Shrieking Shack would be able to offer any quiet, and not many people would think to look there. She threw a rock at the knot that temporarily immobilized the tree, and slid down the miniature slide leading into the passageway. Pulling herself up and brushing her clothes off, she climbed through the tunnel to the shack, where she sat on a half-eaten chair.
Tears, this time un-spelled and unbidden, trickled down her cheeks. How could she be so stupid? This wasn't normal for her, to be so daring as to say that to him. Yes, she may be in Gryffindor, but it was a rare occurrence when her bravery boiled forth behind her carefully constructed barrier. And that was usually when Harry and Ron needed her, not when she wanted to flirt with…with…boys! It was, as Snape said, out of line and uncalled for. Why had she done it then? Surely she didn't like him that much!
It was unfair, really. How did he know that she did or didn't mean it? How did he know what she was thinking? He didn't know, he shouldn't know. He was definitely overreacting! She still couldn't believe it, though, that she had actually said that. It wasn't like her. And she knew that. Now. Why in the world was she obsessing over it like that? That wasn't like her either, and she usually didn't let the things Snape said get to her. It was more of a Harry and Ron thing to do that. Then again, before she had hated him. Now…it was different. Oh, she still liked to entertain the fact that she hated him, but it still was a different kind of hate. She had always respected and admired him, beneath that hate, but her hate had slowly started to dissolve, she supposed, since he had saved her life at the beginning of the school year, less than half a week ago.
She was broken from her reverie when another person entered the shack. Hermione startled, but then managed half a smile when she noticed that the intruder was Professor Lupin. Speak of the devil! She had just been thinking about him, in a way, if you are a skimmer and just look for the conversation. "Hello," she croaked, her tears slowly coming to a stop.
"I just wanted to apologize for attacking you that night," he said, "They blamed Snape for it, and Dumbledore was able to convince them to let him keep his job because of his status as spy." She supposed that 'they' referred to the school's governors, instead of the teachers. The teachers and parents really had no say in the way the school was run. In the end, it all went down to the twelve governors.
She nodded, and said, "I understand, Professor. It's entirely alright."
"What did Snape do to you?" he asked, looking concerned. "You came up from the dungeons pretty fast there."
She stared, agape, and whispered, "Nothing," even though he really had done something.
"Hermione." The tone of voice he used was enough that she was sure that he would get it out of her eventually, so she might as well get it over with now. Oh God, was she really going to tell her favorite Professor what she did to Severus Snape?
Yes, apparently she was going to. "Fine. He yelled at me, because I was pretending to be a vegetarian to get on his nerves and he had done that growl thing and I told him that itwassexy…" she said, saying the last few words fast enough for Remus to pause before looking at her oddly. She attempted to process whether this was a look of extreme anger or extreme amusement or extreme horror. It was hard to tell with him, sometimes he approved of things, and sometimes he disapproved.
"You told Snape…that his…growl-sounding voice…is sexy?" Remus managed, trying not to laugh at her. It was funny, really. A student had finally flirted with the notorious Professor Snape. "Hermione, you are mental! Of course he yelled at you! Severus is not one to welcome that sort of thing! You should probably apologize!"
"Some help you are!" she muttered, and turned away before saying, "Please, please, don't tell anybody!"
"Don't worry, I won't," he said, still trying not to laugh, and then, "Hermione, if anybody else catches you up here, you might very well have to do more detention." She shuddered, and stood up, preparing to leave.
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Meanwhile, Severus was in his office writing a letter to somebody. A troubled expression was in his eyes, and he knew why. He was afraid that the Granger girl hadn't meant what she said, that it had been a dare. That's why he had thrown her out. Because he was afraid, afraid that she had only flirted with him because the Weaselette had told her to. There was no way that a talented witch like herself would flirt with him of her own accord; it just wouldn't make sense. He frowned, and pushed that thought out of her head. The Weaselette was made at the Granger girl, because of some petty boy thing. Something that had to do with Blaise Zambini. That one wasn't going to tell him anything, though.
He sighed, and signed the letter, sealed it, and started the trek upwards to the Owlery, and thought to himself that he really needed his own owl. When he reached the Entrance Hall, he was startled to see that the Granger girl was speaking to the werewolf, and that they were laughing about something. He felt a stab of jealousy, and continued on his way.
"Professor!" Great. That was her voice. He turned again, and raised an eyebrow. In the three steps he had taken after seeing her with Lupin, the pair had parted ways and Granger had caught up with him. He didn't know whether to be dismayed or overjoyed. He chose indifference.
"Yes, Miss Granger?" he asked, a smirk on his features as he surveyed her. She had been crying, he noticed. He had made her cry. Had she really meant what she said?
"I j-just wanted to apologize, sir. That was uncalled for," she said, looking up at him with unwavering determination…and sincerity.
"Hermione!" another voice came in, and he assumed it to be one of her three best friends. He held up a hand, and looked over. The Weaselette.
"Come by my office tonight at eight for another detention for questionable statements, Miss Granger. You still have one to finish, but that will be next week," he turned and stormed off towards the staircase, letter in hand.
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She had been certain that if Ginny hadn't interrupted, he would have said something else. But she had another detention! Oh great. Another extended period of time with Professor Severus Snape. It was exactly what she wanted, really, but she still wasn't sure of herself around him.
"Yes, Ginny?" she said, realizing that it mirrored almost the same words that Professor Snape had said to her just seconds before, even the slightly annoyed tone of voice. Ginny, however, didn't catch that nuance, and she smiled brightly.
"Guess what?" the younger girl asked enthusiastically, seeming to jump with happy, excited energy even though she wasn't really moving. Hermione lifted one of her eyebrows and Ginny did a victory dance. "Blaise Zambini just asked me out!" Hermione laughed. She had known he would, surely she should have told her younger friend. But no, she hadn't had time.
"I know."
"You know everything! It's not fair! So why are you out of your detention already?" Ginny asked, curious about the reason Hermione was out of the dungeons so early. She was supposed to be under Snape's close watch until later that evening; breakfast had barely passed. Hermione flinched, and Ginny became rather…mischievous…in appearance. "Why Hermione! What did you do? Or…what did he do?"
"I flirted with him. I told him his voice sounded…" she paused, and the next word came out as a muffled squeak, "sexy." Ginny squealed in mock horror, and shook her head, and Hermione continued. "He threw me out. I serve today's detention next Saturday, and I have another one tonight at eight."
"I'm sorry about last night, though, 'Mione. It's my fault…I over-reacted," Ginny said, and continued, "Wonder what he wants to do tonight!"
"GINNY!" screamed Hermione, at the very lewd look Ginny had given her, coupled with the waggling of the eyebrows. That girl was a wild child, and Hermione was certain that Ron went to great lengths to keep her under control. As if that was possible.
"Sorry. I have ears you know," Ginny muttered. "We need to plan what you're going to wear!"
"Ginny. It's a detention. Not a date." Sometimes Hermione wasn't sure about her friend, but it was fun sometimes. Like, not when she was viewing detention as a chance to impress a professor, as Hermione was sure that Ginny was, in fact, doing.
"But you can still impress him!"
"Why are we having this argument in the Entrance Hall? Anybody can hear! Even him!"
"Sorry." Man, there was a lot of apologies in Hermione's life that morning.
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A/N: Yeah, it's not very good, but I wasn't entirely sure how to continue. I felt that Lupin would apologize for the Great Hall thing, though, and that he would help Hermione with her predicament. Even though he really didn't.
