Just so everyone knows, I do try to post some artwork regarding my fanfictions at

shadowtat. deviantart. com Do put spacing between that address! Anyway, sorry it took so long. I had to reformat my computer and several things were lost when I had thought I was successful in saving them so I had to rewrite this chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Looking for Love

Chapter 10

Snape's Horrible Secret

Hermione had to admit that Snape had taken the shock of seeing her pictures really well. He had even joked about it. She had half expected to get a detention for at least a month for taking Ginny's dare.

Hermione slipped her sweater over her head in a daze as she thought about her Potions Master. She had to admit that she liked having him around as a toddler but she did miss the adult Snape. After all, she did have a crush on him. She wondered what it would be like to have him back the way he was before. Would he be cold to her again? Does he fancy her like Ron thinks? There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but didn't have the courage to do it.

She sighed and transfigured some of his clothes into something a little warmer. She shrunk one of her cloaks to fit his little size and went out into the sitting room where she had left him in Ginny's care.

"Come on, Professor! Is there anything I could do to avoid detention?" Ginny pleaded. Hermione frowned at the two.

"Detention for what?" she asked.

"For those pictures I took of you," Ginny said. Hermione glared at Snape who sat smugly on the sofa with his arms crossed defiantly.

"I don't know, Miss Weasley. I do not appreciate people messing with my things," he said lazily.

"I know! What if I gave you copies?" she asked.

"WHAT?" Hermione exclaimed but was ignored.

"Hmmm…now we're getting somewhere," Snape said thoughtfully. He wasn't really going to give the girl detention, but he did want to have fun scaring her into believing he would.

"You can't be serious!" Hermione cried out in embarrassment.

"Why not? The pictures were taken in my office, on my desk, and in my chair," Snape said smoothly. "Actually, I think I will take you up on that offer, Miss Weasley."

"Awesome! I'll make you the copies tonight!"

"GINNY!"

"What? It's keeping me out of detention and you look hot anyway," she said dismissively and left Hermione gaping at her. Snape was pressing his lips tightly together to suppress the laughter that was threatening to spill out.

"Miss Granger, are those me?" Snape finally asked once he regained control of himself.

"Oh…um…yes, they're for you," she said and handed him the clothes.

"Oh look, they're all black. Imagine that," Snape replied and walked into the room to get dressed.

"Professor Snape must have the hots for you!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Why? Because he wanted copies of those pictures?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well yeah! This is Professor Snape we're talking about here. It's not everyday he wants pictures of a half-naked woman," Ginny said.

"How do you know? He might have an entire stash of pornography in his chambers with chains and straps hanging from the ceiling," Hermione said.

"I can assure you, Miss Granger, there is no such thing in my quarters." Both Ginny and Hermione turned to see Snape standing there with his little black cloak draped around him and glaring at them. Hermione's face went crimson and Ginny snorted when she saw it.

"I…uh…that is…I…" she stammered, but couldn't think of what to say.

"I understand that most students presume that I sleep in a coffin or have shackles on the walls of my chambers to keep people prisoner, but I can assure you that my rooms are quite normal," he said stiffly.

"Sorry, sir," she replied lamely.

"Hmpf! Are we leaving?" he asked grumpily.

"Yes." The two girls grabbed their scarves and put their coats on. Hermione brought over a small Slytherin scarf for Snape and knelt down to wrap it loosely around his neck.

I could have done that myself.

Hermione picked him up and held him close to her as they made their way out of her rooms and to the grounds. Luckily, she didn't have to worry about Malfoy and his two idiot friends anymore since they were expelled from school and were currently awaiting trial for assault. She hadn't been to Hogsmead since she had started taking care of Snape. It was going on the fourth week since the Potions accident and she was beginning to worry now. She thought they would have changed back by now.

Harry was already waiting with Neville in his arms as they came out. Ron was carrying Seamus and looking as impatient as ever. Once Hermione and Ginny were in front of the boys, Ron took one look at Snape and turned up his lip.

"Why did you have to bring him?" he asked. Hermione glared.

"What did you want me to do with him? Leave him with Lavender?" she asked scathingly.

God no…

"Well yeah," Ron said as though it were the obvious answer.

"No Ronald! He is my responsibility and I want to bring him with me," she said angrily.

Take that Weasel!

Ginny stifled giggles as she watched Hermione cuddle Snape closer to her as if protecting him. It was really quite cute. Ron rolled his eyes and walked away muttering to himself about how Snape had Hermione wrapped around his little finger.

Harry laughed and walked along side Hermione with Ginny right next to him. He was completely oblivious to the death glare that Snape was giving a very frightened Neville. Suddenly, Harry stopped dead in his tracks. His eyes were wide with shock and disbelief.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Hermione asked. Ron heard her and turned around to see what was going on.

Harry looked at Neville whose face had gone a deep shade of red. Slowly, Harry moved Neville away from him and held the boy at arms length. He looked down at his sweater and then at Neville's pants to see a rather large wet stain.

"Why?" Harry asked monotonously. Ginny burst out laughing and collapsed to the snow covered ground. Ron and Seamus were right there with her until a loud resounding noise made them stop for a moment. There was a look of utter disgust on Ron's face as he held Seamus also at arms length. The boy had laughed so hard that he shit his pants again. It was no surprise that he was still laughing hysterically even more so at what he had just done.

Ginny was in tears as Harry waved his wand to clean himself and Neville. Ron's face was scrounged up in disgust as he quickly cleaned Seamus who was still laughing to the point of tears. Snape was just looking at them like they were all complete idiots.

Wow…I have no words for this…

Hermione eyed both the kids and then held Snape away from her uncertainly. She wasn't sure that he wouldn't end up doing something like that especially after he had messed himself in front of her and Professor McGonagall once.

"You're not going to do something like that, are you?" she asked. Snape flattened his brows and looked at her in an unimpressed manner.

"No, Miss Granger, I do not intend to mess myself in any way," he said flatly. She nodded and cradled him comfortably in her arms again, but he continued to glare at her.

"Don't be angry. You've messed yourself before to get back at me so I had to ask," she said with a huff.

I should do again for suggested it!

Hermione walked with her friends, trying to stifle her laughter as Harry kept eying Neville warily. Ron seemed to be being very careful with Seamus too because he was known to mess himself and have no shame about it.

Once they arrived in Hogsmead they went straight to Honeydukes. She was surprised to see little Snape eyeballing several things. She wondered if he had a sweet tooth. Harry and Ron were stocking up on their sweets while Hermione browsed carefully. She wasn't found of too many sweets, but there were a few she didn't mind having. She set Snape down and watched as he scampered off to the other side of the shop. She merely raised a brow and continued looking, every once in a while selecting something she liked.

"Mione', your little child just shoved me out of the way," Ron whined as he made his way towards her.

"Ronald, he is Professor Snape not my child. Besides, what do you want me to do? Spank him?" she asked in annoyance.

"Well yeah, I think you should. Somebody needs to," he huffed. Ron looked down to see that toddler Snape was standing next to Hermione with narrowed black eyes. "What do you want, you little bugger?"

"Ron! Stop talking to him like that!"

That's right! Listen to Hermione! Wait…did I just call her, Hermione? WHAT THE FUCK!

"Mione', you're brainwashed," he said sourly.

"I am not!"

"You do anything for him," he pointed out. They both looked down at Snape who looked like he was playing innocent as he looked back up with doe eyes.

"I do not," Hermione said with a frown. Ron rolled his eyes.

Snape smirked and held up a strawberry flavored lollipop. He looked at Hermione with a pleading expression causing Ron to roll his eyes again and massage his temples.

"He made Neville pee on Harry so you shouldn't give him anything!" Ron told her flatly.

"Actually, Ron has a point," Hermione said to Snape, eyeing him.

Oh really?

Severus lowered the lollipop and gave his best pathetic face yet. His lower lip trembled as he stared down at the floor like a heart-broken child. He even threw in a few sniffles for good measure.

"Oh no! Don't cry!" she exclaimed, quickly picking him up.

"Don't give into him!" Ron warned.

"Shut up, Ronald! You're hurting his feelings! He's just a baby and should be able to have some candy!" she snapped.

Weasley, give it up. She's mine now!

"What?! Are you serious? He's playing you!" he said in disbelief.

"Leave him alone! You always have to pick on him," she said scornfully and stomped off.

Severus looked back at Mr. Weasley and smiled triumphantly before raising his hand and giving the red-head the finger. The look on Weasley's face was priceless. He just stood their gaping in disbelief. Hermione never noticed the little middle finger Snape gestured to her friend.

Hermione ended up buying several more sweets for Snape before she and her friends went to Three Broomsticks. She gave Ron a warning look when she saw him glaring at Snape.

"Do you want a butterbeer?" she asked little Snape.

"No. I want a fire-whiskey," he stated. She thinned her lips and shook her head.

"You can have one when you're back to normal. For now, you're going to drink something none alcoholic," she replied firmly. Snape knew that she wouldn't go for the sad face on that one.

"Fine, I'll have a bloody butterbeer," he grumbled.

I can't wait to be myself again so I can get completely smashed!

Snape sipped his butterbeer and listened to everyone talk about what they were going to do after they graduated. He wasn't surprised when Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley mentioned they wanted to go into Auror training. He was surprised, however, when Miss Granger said she didn't know what she wanted to do.

"You have no idea at all what you want to do, Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"No. I honestly haven't thought much about it. At one point I wanted to work at the Ministry, but I don't want anything to do with them now. I don't know. I'm sure I'll think of something," she replied.

"Maybe you could work at Hogwarts," Harry suggested. Hermione snorted at that.

"As what? A Professor? What would I teach?" she asked.

"I don't know," Ginny replied.

"History of Magic," Snape suggested. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "What? Professor Binns has been there since I was a student and I recall nodding off in his class several times." The students snickered and nodded their agreement to that.

"I don't know," Hermione said uncertainly.

"Then why don't you pick a field you want to get into and become an apprentice at Hogwarts?" Snape asked in frustration.

"I can't now. Ginny is starting under Professor McGonagall, Neville is under Professor Sprout, and Luna is with Professor Flitwick," she replied, sipping her own drink.

"I haven't taken an apprentice," he stated after a moment.

"You never take apprentices," she pointed out.

"If Potions is the field you want then perhaps I will," he replied, shocking everyone into silence.

"Really?" she asked. He looked at her with his usual impatient look.

"I wouldn't have suggested it if I wasn't serious," he sneered.

"Well Mione', maybe you will get some sort of repayment for putting up with the little bastard," Ron said. Hermione reached over and smacked him upside the head.

"Don't call him that!" she snapped. Ginny snorted just as she was drinking her butterbeer and ended up going into a coughing fit. Harry patted her back and hid his amusement from Ron who was red-faced and glaring at Hermione. Seamus and Neville merely hid behind their drinks. They knew better than to mess with the fiery young Gryffindor.

Snape looked at some of the other tables and noticed some of his Slytherins were there. He knew that these students were harmless, but he had learned a long time not to trust any of them. Millicent was currently arguing with little Pansy who was pouting and glaring at her about something. Pansy glanced over at their table and noticed Snape's glare. She immediately looked away obviously afraid of him.

That's right! I may be small but I am still the evil Potions Master!

Once they all finished their drinks they left and headed back to Hogwarts. Hermione was carrying Snape while he sucked on his lollipop, but her hand accidentally slipped under his little coat. Her fingertips brushed the soft skin of his side and he giggled softly.

NO!

Snape was mortified when he noticed Miss Granger looking at him oddly. He looked away, trying not to give her a clue as to what she had just done. She was unaware of it, of course. When she shifted him a little higher, her fingers put pressure on his side and he let out another little giggle.

GOD DAMMIT WOMAN!

Now she was looking at him curiously. He stared right back with a look of complete horror. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever, before Hermione finally spoke.

"Did you seriously just giggle?" she asked.

"No."

"I think you did," she replied.

"I think you're delusional, Miss Granger."

"No, I am not."

"Just keep walking."

Hermione wasn't deterred that easily though. She applied a little pressure to his side again and he giggled loudly. His head snapped around to stare at her with wide horrified eyes again. The look on his face nearly broke her resolve. She knew if she started laughing, she wouldn't be able to stop.

"Professor Snape, you giggled," she stated.

"Well stop touching me there and I wouldn't," he scowled blackly.

"Oh. My. God," she said, shaking her head and biting back the laughter. The evil Potions Master, Professor Severus Snape was ticklish. She smiled as they headed back to the school.

Fucking shit! She knows now!