He arrived at his office and though he did not see her, he knew she was there. Without saying a word he extended his arm for her and if her hand trembled a little as she took his elbow, Hermione told herself it was the anger that was swelling within her like a stormy tide.
Her feet had barely touched the parquet tiles of his hallway when she sprang from him as though she'd been jinxed. She flung the cloak to the floor at his feet and raised eyes to his that glittered with a frosty anger. "I won't need that again, Professor Snape. I am not returning to Hogwarts. I am not a child you need to tote around to keep in order," she spat. To Hermione, to even think of continuing the cosily domestic pattern of travelling to his lab and working alongside him for even one more day was more than she could bear. The pain of being of being so close to him, knowing she was but a diversion when he forgot himself but that he felt nothing more for her would surely kill her if she had to face it for much longer.
She was mortified at the power of her feelings for him, the sheer need that threatened to submerge her at his slightest touch. He was a ruthlessly efficient spy. He read emotion with deadly accuracy. It was a skill that kept him alive for so long under Lord Voldemort. To think she could hide the secrets of her weak and foolish heart from him was a doomed dream and so, she had to open distance between them.
Snape lifted one eyebrow as the cloak fluttered to the floor. It was the only visible reaction he showed to the display of temper. "Very well, Miss Granger. If you do not care to save your own hide, then why should I lose sleep over it? So here you stay. But I warn you, if you do anything, anything at all to threaten the safety of the other members of the Order who are driving themselves to the brink for you and I will not be responsible for my actions," he said with venom.
In truth his heart constricted painfully at the idea that she would be out of his sight for even one second while Lucius Malfoy hunted her. The Death Eater did not know she was here and his sources were confidant that he had no suspicion of it. But his former ally was devious and had connections of his own and could not be under estimated. Hermione had so much courage, that stubborn streak of independence that could lead her oh so easily to trouble. Snape knew only one thing, he would not be able to survive if anything were to happen to her on his watch.
"Do not worry, Professor Snape. I will not fight you anymore. We do this your way until the time turner is safe and Lucius stopped. I am grateful to Harry and Ginny, to Ron, Molly and Arthur all of them for what they are doing, fighting for me and no I do not wish to make that task any more difficult or dangerous. Because they are my friends, not just a job I have to do, a responsibility I have to discharge," she said, rage in every word. There were tears glistening in her eyes but this time, they came from the fury she felt.
"And I am grateful to you, Professor. Always the professional, always keeping duty first, no matter how distasteful it is to you," her voice rose shrilly and she turned towards the stairs, wanting only to get away from the sight of him, standing in front of her a strange look on his face. If she believed him able to feel real emotion, she might have been tempted to think she had hurt him.
He reached out and gripped her arm in a savage grasp, swinging her back to face him. His black eyes were like shards of flint.
"You would preach to me, like a sanctimonious sprite? I ought to open that door and fling you through it and to Hell with all of it. And we both know that I am capable of it," he snarled.
He loomed over her looking darkly ready to do exactly what he had threatened. "You have shown me much more of what you are capable of than I ever wanted to know, Professor," she whispered and he released her as though burnt.
His face was a mask, devoid of any trace of emotion but his eyes looked bleaker than death itself. Suddenly there was an aching silence that Hermione longed to break. She wished to call back the words, she wanted to reach out to him but there was a glacial severity in his face and the ever aloof, cold and controlled Professor Snape stood before her, as unreachable and remote as the face of the moon.
He stood to one side, giving free access to the stairway and gestured with a sweep of his hand that she was free to pass. Hermione understood that she had been dismissed. He did not so much as look in her direction as she passed.
