Disclaimers: I do not own anything from the books of Harry Potter and I'm certainly not making any money from this story. Everything you might recognise belongs to J K Rowling, her editor and Warner Bros. (Though as far as I know, the plot, and some minor characters, are mine.)
Summary: One usually says that "bright minds think the same", but do they listen to their hearts – especially when the minds are as stubborn as those of Severus Snape and Hermione Granger?
Author's notes: I was slightly depressed, I've got my first flame, but you can't please everyone and everyone else and especially Portkeys Miss-Mione and DarkLady4 cheered me up greatly with your reviews. I also presume I should be happy that this reviewer (the one with the flame) seemingly read all of my chapters before she (he?) threw up.
Thank you so much for your reviews. I also want to thank those of you who were kind enough to answer my question. I'm glad that you seem to prefer this pace, I do too. (Thanks for sharing your opinions with me:-).) There is one thing that's bugging me though; I keep getting reviews from people telling me that the saying is wrong and I'm starting to get slightly annoyed at this. Do you think I should change the title to 'Great Minds Think Alike' or keep this version? I can't make up my mind, on one hand I like my title, on the other, it's sad that I apparently irritate so many people.
DarkLady4 – Thank you for your review. I was happy the entire day when I had read it. I'm afraid that I haven't read the fanfiction you're talking about. The author is no longer active and can't find it. It's a shame really because I would really love to read it.
Elektrikstorm – I'm glad you like it. I've just got three words for you – really cold house. This is how I learnt to drink tea and now I actually like it (even the unflavoured ones, I'm too grown up for my own good).
JustBecauseI'mAgUrl – I know exactly what you mean.
Noneyah – I would appreciate greatly if you would expound your criticism a bit more. It would make it easier to take in consideration if I knew what you mean. I would also like to point out that the summary as well as the story is about denying feelings. Thank you for giving me your honest opinion and reading all my chapters.
Portkeys Miss-Mione – Oh, I didn't interpret your review as if you thought my story too slow, it just made me think. I greatly appreciate your views and I think (hope) I've got good news for you. I've got a few more chapters just waiting to be edited and then posted and I'm currently writing four chapters at the same time. I keep getting too many ideas and need to finish them.
Bright Minds Think the Same
Chapter nine – NEWTs
Like Harry had assumed no one saw Hermione for the next week. She was completely occupied by her revisions and her tests. In the mornings she had theoretical examinations, in the afternoon practical ones and during the evenings she went through books and notes at an amazing speed. The examiners had arrived and were the ones to test her so that no one could accuse her results to be due to her esteem with the staff, well most of them anyway. Monday she did Herbology and Astronomy, Tuesday Charms and History of Magic, Wednesday Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy, Thursday Transfiguration and Ancient Runes and Friday Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions. She had no time to think about or do anything else, she barely ate, and although this behaviour was quite expected it didn't go unnoticed.
Snape was practically scolding himself. He knew very well that Her…, Miss Granger, only regarded him as her nasty Potions professor and perhaps as an extremely horrible and unfair man and he himself couldn't see her as anything but an annoying know-it-all and a tedious woman, girl, he tried to tell himself without succeeding. She wasn't a girl; she was a woman, a woman with never-ending questions and who lacked the ability to keep quiet. The only problem was that her questions were very advanced and most interesting, that she had all the reason to be a know-it-all and that he quite enjoyed listening to her tirades and discuss different matters with her. Without really realising that he actually missed her, he found himself waiting for her to come down to his library and sit in 'her' armchair reading a book. He also found himself wondering why the normally so clever witch didn't eat properly. Surely she should understand that she was in danger of collapsing if she continued like this. He had heard Madam Pince complain about the fact that she had to throw her out of the library in the nights. The Potions master shook his head firmly and started to collect a cauldron and ingredients; he needed to think about something else.
Friday afternoon found Severus Snape with a terrible headache. It wasn't completely unusual for him to get them; it took so much energy and concentration to control every single student in his classes so that no one would do a fatal or even lethal mistake. He wished that more students were at least a bit more like Miss Granger, except from the questioning part. However, today was unusually horrible. It felt like something was expanding inside his head, pressing on his skull and trying to make his head explode. He knew from experience that no headache potions would be of any real use, but perhaps, if he took one, he could trick his head into believing that it worked and the pain would subdue somewhat. He swept into his classroom to collect a vial from one of the drawers in his desk, but stopped abruptly. Damn, shouldn't Miss Granger's Potions examination be over by now?
"It's quite alright. Professor Snape." the examiner ensured him. "Miss Granger was just cleaning up. Well, I better be going. Good luck in the future, Miss Granger." he said and left while Hermione continued to wash her cauldron. Snape noticed that her face was chalky white, but forgot about it when he drank down the potion. With a groan he pressed his fingers to his temples. It was apparent that that his mind couldn't be fooled.
"What's the matter, Professor?" Hermione asked. She was done tidying up and had seen his unusual behaviour.
"I fail to see how that is any of your business, Miss Granger." He tried to scowl at her, but it was too painful. With a deep sigh he gave in. "Alright," he spit out, "I have got a headache."
"And headache potions don't help?"
"Obviously." Apparently headaches did nothing for his temper.
"I've got something that might help." He lifted an eyebrow as if to say 'What could you possibly have that would work, when none of my potions does, you silly girl.', but immediately closed his eyes and pressed harder at his temples. "Believe me, Sir, I know all about headaches."
"Why am I not surprised?" he said, but made no further protests.
"Alright." she said and transfigured Snape's chair into a large armchair. He gave her a strange look and with a shrug she said "Well, I am in Professor McGonagall's house, am I not? Now, for once in your life let your facial muscles relax. It's no wonder you get headaches." Hermione told him in a bossy voice. She blushed furiously at her own words, but Snape obeyed her without a word. She then transfigured the empty vial into a glass and filled it by the sink. She took a white tablet from her bag and approached him.
"Now place this at the back of your tongue and swallow it with water immediately, or it will be a very unpleasant experience." To her great surprise Snape did as he was told and leant back in his chair and with light fingers she massaged his temples and the top of his jaw. Had she not been so tired that she could hardly stand, she would never have gone through with the last phase, but as she was, she did what she did for her friends (and herself for that matter) when they had really bad headaches. Snape, on the other hand, was far too relieved from feeling the pain diminish to pay attention to the treatment of his head.
Ten minutes later he felt the last of the headache disappear and he realised that the treatment of his head had stopped. He turned around and saw Hermione standing a few steps behind him. Her face was as white as one of Madam Pomfrey's sheets and she looked at the opposite wall with empty eyes, her arms hanging limply at her sides.
"Miss Granger." he called. She walked around the armchair without seeming aware of what she was doing and when she stood right in front of him she collapsed. He managed to catch her and without really thinking he placed her in his lap and placed one arm around her to keep her from falling. With his free hand he took up his wand. He summoned some fruit sugar from a cabinet and then a glass of water. He poured the sugar into the water and let it melt.
"Hermione, you must drink this. Come on, open your mouth, cara." he called softly as he stroked her cheek. He wasn't quite aware of what he was doing. The only thing he knew for certain was that he needed to help her. Had he not had all his focus on the young woman in his arm he would have realised that his stomach clenched with fear. He held the glass to her lips and by stroking her throat he managed to make her swallow. He continued to pat her cheek and calling her name in a soft voice. He finally managed to get a reaction. She stirred in his arms and her eyelids started to flutter. At this point he snapped his fingers and a house elf appeared in front of him. If the elf was surprised to see the teacher all students feared sitting with one of them in his lap, she, like any good house elf, hid it completely.
"Miss Granger needs something to eat, preferably with a lot of sugar and nourishment in it, is that clear?" he ordered the elf.
"Yes Sir, Nabby gets food for good Head girl." A few seconds later Nabby was back with a tray with a bowl of chicken soup, sweet grapes and chocolate mousse. Snape thanked her and told her to place the tray on the table in his library.
During this time Hermione had regained consciousness. She was still dizzy and she couldn't even open her eyes and definitely not move. She had no ideas where she was, but she felt completely safe. She was wrapped in a scent of dried herbs and lit candles with strong arms around her and she felt at home. She heard a deep velvety voice call her name softly and she finally managed to open her eyes. They met and locked with ebony ones and the voice stopped for a while before it spoke again.
"Hermione, you stupid girl," it said gently, "how much have you been sleeping this week? And have you eaten at all? You can not treat your body like this. If nothing else, sooner or later it will affect your mind." Suddenly she realised exactly where she was and whom the voice belonged to, even though she had never heard it speak like this before, but she felt so safe that not even her subconscious objected. She wanted to stay like this forever.
"There is food waiting for you in the library, but you better wait before you go anywhere." She nodded slightly and relaxed in his arms again. Snape held her tight, afraid that she might faint again. He rested his chin against the top of her head and closed his eyes as he felt her thumb caress his hand. Comfortably aware that Nabby would make sure the soup didn't cool, he let Hermione rest against his body. Although he couldn't understand why, it felt completely natural to sit like this with her.
Half an hour later Snape gently stroked Hermione's hair and called "Do you think you will be able to walk to my chambers? A house elf brought you food, but I thought it much easier to eat in the library." She nodded and he rose, still holding her tight. He knew it was against better judgement, in reality it was against his whole being, but the students and the professors were all in the Great Hall having dinner, so he placed an arm around her to support her. "I know you need to rest more, cara, but you need to eat first if you do not want to faint again. Come with me." Hermione was still too dizzy to reflect about what he had called her and he was still too worried to notice what he had said.
As they had missed dinner by now, Snape ordered Nabby to bring him food as well and they sat down by the dark table. Hermione felt her brain start to work properly again when she had eaten the soup and started to feel rather uncomfortable. She remembered curing Professor Snape's headache (what had she been thinking, or not thinking as the matter was in this case, given him the entire treatment and not just the tablet?) and she realised that she must have fainted because her next somewhat clear memory was resting in his arms, not wanting to move ever again. Why had she felt like that? She tried to blame it on her weakened state, but she could still feel her body tingle where it had been in contact with his body and his scent lingered in her nose, making her feel safe. She couldn't understand nor place her feelings and she was perfectly convinced that the only reason he had helped her was because she was a student under his care and not even the most terrible teacher at Hogwarts would leave a student on the dungeon floor.
"I wanted to thank you for helping me, Professor," she said rather shakily, "and I also think I owe you an apology. I'm so sorry that I caused you so much trouble." her voice trailed off.
"That is not what you are supposed to apologise for, Miss Granger. Apologise for not eating and sleeping properly even though you knew perfectly well that you would pass your NEWTs." He tried to scowl at her, but by some reason he didn't succeed and exactly why didn't he? He was an expert on that particular expression.
"Well, I'm still sorry, Sir, and I'm still grateful. Thank you."
"Then I think I shall have to thank you as well. What did you give me to cure my headache? As you forced me to swallow it without tasting it, I could not detect the tablet's ingredients."
"Believe me, you wouldn't have wanted to taste it; it's disgusting. I remember the first time my mother made me take one. I was only five and I thought it was candy so I chewed on it. I can still recall the taste. It's worse than soap."
"You are babbling, Miss Granger."
"Sorry. Anyway, it's Muggle medicine. It helps against a lot of different things. There are two sorts. One sort contains something that is called paracetamol and I've found that it's the best alternative for fever. The pill I gave you contained ibuprofen, which I think helps best if you got a headache or menstrual cramps. However, both sorts are supposed to be suitable for all of these conditions" Without thinking Hermione had entered her combined Head girl / academic roll, but she still felt rather uncomfortable when she realised that she was discussing very female things with Professor Snape of all people, even Professor Flitwick or Professor Dumbledore had been a better choice, but to her great surprise he continued the discussion quite eagerly, a true scholar.
"I have never heard about these ingredients. Tell me, does this only apply to you, or have you heard anyone else who has noticed the same difference? And do you know if they have the same effects on men?"
"Except when it comes to the female condition, yes, they do work the same way for men. Both men and women are humans you know." Again she had spoken without thinking and she prepared herself for loosing points.
"As opposed to students, you mean?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. Hermione was the only one that had ever held any promises of being able to match him in this kind of duel and it entertained him. (Should he be completely honest, she probably did match him, only she was too polite and respectful as he was her teacher.) Why he didn't know, but he let her get away with it. He told himself that the only reason was because it amused him to see her face when she bit her tongue as she realised what she was doing and when he was taking points from Gryffindor.
That was it. To whatever cost she couldn't let him get away with that comment. "Last time I checked I was still human and so are my classmates, as a difference to some teachers."
"What are you insinuating, Miss Granger?" he asked with narrowed eyebrows.
"Professors Binns and Firenze, Sir." She answered perfectly politely and worse, innocently.
"Very well then, shall we continue this meal so that I might spend the rest of the evening in peace?" They started on the pudding and it didn't take long before they were back to discussing headache cures.
Author's notes: Lots to say in these notes today. I hope you are patient. Firstly, I'm sorry for the lack of fantasy when it came to naming the house elf. I played with versions of the name Dobby (what else) and found that I liked Nabby. I thought it a quite cute name for a female elf. Secondly, I'm not sure if the proper English names are paracetamol and ibuprofen, but I hope you know what I mean. I would also like to add that the information Hermione gives about them is my personal opinion (though I've got friends who share it).
