Newly Edited Chapter! Enjoy!

Snape had kept his word with Madame Pomfrey about keeping Hermione off her feet and not keeping her too late but that didn't mean that she didn't have almost the same amount of work to get done. While he had finally left the task of cleaning the classroom to the house elves, Hermione was still scrubbing cauldrons and he had demoted her from the job of grading essays… or any assignment for that matter. She had to remain silent just as before, only during class, but she was under so much more stress. Snape had returned to his former self once more and all the walls that she had been able to break down that night with him were built back up and much stronger. The Potions Master made a point to scrutinize everything she did and insulted her even more so than when she was his Gryffindor student through the years. He was cold and showed hardly any emotion to her… even the students were suffering from his demeanor… their grades could prove it.

Hermione had taken to tutoring only Ginny, without Snape's knowledge, in her own quarters so he would not see but they could still be close enough for supplies and ingredients. Once Snape had returned to his class from his absence, all extra credit assignments and tutoring were done away with and Hermione never heard the end of it from her Professor about how she should never have been allowed to teach his class and that she would never become a suitable Potions teacher, for she could never become a Master in Snape's opinion. And of course, her days of crying had resumed like normal once more and Hermione was becoming exhausted. She couldn't understand how someone could be so cold… and yes she knew about his life and everything that he had gone through, but that was no excuse for his bad manners and behavior directed at her and his students. It was extremely hard to watch how polite and respectful he was to all the other staff members during meals and teacher conferences only to have it turned on her as soon as they were alone.

She was fed up with his attitude but did not dare make a scene like she had before. She knew if she did, that Snape wouldn't even bother arguing with her and would just terminate the apprenticeship. So Hermione put up with his antics and games for a solid month and a half. Ron had failed to visit her in weeks and Hermione was beginning to fall… her happy disposition that she would put on, even in front of Snape, had been faltering. Ginny had told her that Ron had stopped writing her as well and had Harry just add in a quick 'love you' for him when he would send letters. Hermione thought she couldn't have been happier when Ron agreed to continue their relationship but she couldn't believe how miserable she was without him or Harry around… she felt like crawling into a hole and never coming out. The damage that Snape was doing was tearing into her heart and breaking it down. She started to care less and less about her appearance as he ripped almost every last shred of dignity left from her.

Taking more interest in reading than interaction, she had resigned herself to her bedroom over the weekends when Snape didn't have any remedial chores he wanted her to do and she would just read her way into another world… letting herself take on the book as her own life. It was the only way, she figured, for her to get her own sense of worth and something to look forward to every night before she had to relive her hell that was Snape each day. Once Halloween had hit, Snape's disposition had turned for the worse because of all the students getting a sugar rush throughout class when they would sneak candy in and munch. Even the rest of the staff was tired of all the hyper first years running around and all the 'scary' pranks that the students would pull on each other and even on the teachers. This made her cheer up somewhat, reminding her of Fred and George, and all their years of mischief and pranks pulled on the staff and one of their favorite targets, Filch. But after everyone had started to relax again, Snape seemed to simmer down, only a fraction of course, but Hermione saw more relief coming from the Potions Master than she had seen in a while because the worst holiday in Hogwarts, or so he thought, was finally over.

A knock at Hermione's door had gotten her attention away from her latest book. She stood up and answered it looking out and not seeing anyone until she felt a small tug on her jeans. Hermione looked down to find a familiar house elf smiling shyly at her.

"Mister Snape asked Figgy to come retrieve Miss Granger,"

Hermione rolled her eyes to herself, "Has he resorted to sending a house elf to get me now when the Potions classroom is a door away?" she muttered, clenching her teeth.

"Come with Figgy, Miss." He took her hand in his and led her towards the classroom.

"G'day Miss." Figgy smiled brightly at her as he hummed his way up the stairs to the teacher's common room, leaving her.

Hermione watched him go before mumbling to herself and opened up the door to the classroom. Snape didn't pay her any attention as he scribbled away at his desk when she walked in. Hermione cleared her throat, annoyed, trying to get his attention.

"How becoming of you, Granger." He lazily said, commenting on her throat clearing.

Hermione just shot him a glare of distaste before she sauntered up to him, waiting for orders to do something since the cauldrons had been cleaned three times already and it was the weekend. He glanced up at her, annoyed at her standing there,

"Yes?" he snapped.

"You called?" her voice was dripping with sarcasm. She was normally very respectful during the weekdays but when he would summon her to do his dirty work on a weekend, no less, just to make her suffer, she wasn't so sweet.

"Oh yes," he mused, like he just now remembered why she needed to be there.

He stood up and retrieved an old book off of his shelf and flipped through the pages like they were his old friends, handling them with care and delicacy. Once he found the page he was looking for, he smoothed out the old paper and set it gingerly on one of the student desks. Hermione walked over to him when he summoned her with his hand and stared down at the book that looked older than he did.

"What am I doing today?" confused at the book lying in front of her that Snape was reading quickly through.

"You are going to attempt a potion today, Miss Granger." Snape murmured as he kept reading, his lips moving silently with the written words on the page.

Hermione was shocked… he had never had her help with brewing potions when he got lists from the hospital wing or requests elsewhere, so why did he want to teach her now? So suddenly? Without any preparation?

"Amor Oblitus," Snape stated, "is what you will be making today."

"Oblivious Love?" She answered back, interpreting the Latin name. Hermione cocked her head… why had she never read of these potions?

Snape nodded, very teacher-like, "Yes. It is a very complicated potion-"

"Sir? Why have I never heard of these before? The other potion you made at the beginning of term… Vulneris Morsis… I had never read anything on that as well as this Amor Oblitus."

He looked at his student like she was daft, "Why would I assign you something that you already know of and have probably made? I have confidence that you can brew almost everything in the Potions textbook, to some degree, and even those books in the library you always used for your… escapades… for example," he raised his eyebrows, "the Polyjuice Potion?"

Hermione had figured he knew that she had stole ingredients from him from so long ago, but she ignored his comment since he didn't seem to care at the moment, "I have never heard of these before… why doesn't the library have these?"

"Students should not have access or even information to potions like this. One wrong move, one second too late, Granger, and you are dead. These are extremely advanced for even the most skilled witches and wizards. Don't… disappoint me."

She was extremely excited as she gave him a smile and ran over to the storage closet to pull out the ingredients that she had read from the book. Snape resumed his position at his desk, content with Hermione at the moment. The next two hours, Hermione spent cutting all the ingredients the book called for but she was unsure of some of the techniques that it listed to cut and open them. She looked back hesitantly at Snape from time to time and noticed that he wasn't even watching her. Did he have faith in her? Did he lie about the potion being so deadly? Or did he just not care?

As she lit the flame and started adding her liquids first… timing herself as the book listed, and she nervously dropped in two hearts, drained, of a dragon fly and watched the liquid turn a dark eggplant purple just as the book had said it should. She smiled, standing up straighter, having more confidence in herself, she quickly started adding more to the potion, keeping in time with the seconds and minutes that things needed to be combined and stirred. She kept this up for a half hour before she needed to let the potion simmer for twenty-seven minutes exactly before adding more ingredients. She set a timer that Professor Snape had given her and waited. She turned around, watching her Potions Master diligently writing… she thought more highly of him when he treated her like this. She could get accustomed to the routine if he would only keep his attitude the way it was right then.

Hermione smiled, he had complimented her by giving her an extremely advanced potion, knowing that she could properly brew anything from the textbooks he used for his classes. She appreciated his faith in her skill level and competence… something he had never revealed to her before. He is not my teacher anymore… we will be colleagues soon enough… perhaps he really does believe in me… will he give me his blessing to finally teach or will he keep me by his side as his apprentice forever? Hermione shuddered to herself at the thought, still watching him.

Snape looked up from his work and at the young witch who stood there, examining him, for several minutes, "Is there something wrong?"

"No I am just waiting for the potion to simmer," she smiled at him.

"Why don't you go prepare the ingredients that needed to be added in next?"

"Already done sir,"

He looked worried but lowered his head back to his writing; keeping one eye on Hermione who turned around when the timer went off. She proceeded to add in the triangular cut petals from an angel's trumpet flower and poured in the blood red ptolemy from a measured vial. Snakeweed and starthistle were added next and Hermione began to stir the draught in a number eight formation for five counts before stirring once clockwise and then followed with a crosshatched sequence. She didn't notice Professor Snape stand up from his work and quickly walk over to her to stare at the liquid. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her to him,

"What's going on?" she tried to pull away from his tight hold on her as he led her towards the door out of the classroom. Wriggling out of his grasp, she backed away from him, towards the potion, looking at him with frightened confusion, what was he trying to do with her? He had pressed her up against his body…

"Granger, watch out!" he called for her as the potion exploded in the cauldron.

She felt strong arms wrap around her with a cloak shielding her from what was happening and she fell to the ground, hard. She looked up and saw the shattered cauldron and potion floating above them as if frozen in the air. Bringing her gaze back down, she saw Professor Snape lying next to her, trying to collect himself and sat up. He worriedly looked back at her,

"Miss Granger, are you alright?"

Hermione could smell his distinct scent as he turned her over to look at him, "What did I do wrong?" she asked sorrowfully.

Snape looked relieved as he awkwardly unwrapped himself from her and removed his cloak off of her body, he helped her sit up and her hair was wildly sprawled out down her shoulders and back, coming undone from her clip because of the explosion. Whatever spell Snape used, it hadn't worked all the way or he had been too late because there were pieces of the cauldron on the ground and smoke filled the room.

"How are you feeling?" he gazed at her while checking her pulse which was going abnormally fast but he expected it because of the explosion.

"I'm alright," she whispered, still shocked from everything.

Snape stood up and hesitantly scooped Hermione up in his arms and placed her in the chair at his desk, "Stay here, you have a cut on your cheek." He retreated to the back of the classroom and pulled out a small wooden box and placed it on his desk. Hermione saw bandages and wipes resting neatly organized inside when he had opened it with miniature vials of medicine all lined up in a row.

She sat there patiently while Professor Snape added a few drops of a pink liquid to a small piece of cheesecloth and dabbed her cheek. She screamed out in pain,

"What was that? That hurts!" She crouched back, away from him while holding her cheek in her hands. He tried to come near her again and she pushed his hand away, "No! You are not putting that on my face again!"

"Miss Granger, this will disinfect your cut in case there was a small chance that the potion was on whatever cut you, which I am assuming it was." He tried to come near her again when she pushed his hand away; he looked extremely annoyed as she whimpered,

"Please don't." But Professor Snape grabbed her chin a little roughly to have access to her wounded cheek.

She flinched as he came closer, and then decidedly, he put his hand down that held the cheesecloth and sighed, frustrated, wait. She bit her lip, realizing that he was just trying to help her, as she stared at him helplessly, "Sir…" she quickly and shyly grabbed his free hand in her own and squeezed his tightly.

He started to protest, "Miss Granger I'm going to have to disapprove of this. This isn't appropriate-"

Hermione just looked at him with glassy eyes full of unshed tears that were threatening to fall. Her gaze pleaded with him so she could have something to hold on to when the cloth would touch her wound. Snape gave a harsh glare that read that he was not pleased with the contact but would let it pass considering the situation… he brought the cloth back to her face and dabbed at her cheek. The pain was unreal as she held her breath and grasped his hand with all her strength, entwining her fingers with his to get a better grip. Hermione shut her eyes tightly as he worked while a silent tears ran down her cheek from the sting. Once he took the cloth away, Hermione opened her eyes, watching him one handedly throw away the cloth in the small bin and took out a bandage. He tried to take his hand away, almost self-consciously, but she wouldn't let go, holding it tightly still,

"How can I put this on with one hand?" he muttered to her.

She closed her eyes again tight and never answered. He sighed, grabbing his wand off of his desk and muttered an incantation as the bandage floated up to her cheek and laid itself across. Snape watched Hermione's lip quiver at something touching the sensitive cut… since when had she been intolerant to pain? He shook the thought off, realizing that he had never cared for her wounds before… that was Madame Pomfrey's expertise, not his own and he wanted to keep it that way.

As she opened her eyes once more, Snape noticed the appreciation in her light brown eyes as she gave a small teary-eyed smile at him. He tried not to watch her too much longer as he abruptly stood up; finally breaking loose of the grip Hermione had had on him. She blushed as her hands fell to her lap…. She had been holding on to her Potions Master for dear life while he was cleaning a small cut… she sighed, embarrassed at her reaction to such a small wound. She had a hard time with pain even though she had experienced it most of her life at Hogwarts with Harry and Ron. She blushed even harder, what would Ron think of the situation? Would he be furious or would he be thankful to Professor Snape? She shook her head… definitely NOT the latter.

Hermione stood up slowly as she stared at the destroyed cauldron and the liquid that was still bubbling in the air, "I'm so sorry Professor, I don't know what went wrong…"

"Your silverweed shouldn't have been cut early." He stated like it was obvious in that same teacher-like voice, as he picked up chairs and desks that were flipped over, "It releases fumes when it is cut up and that is what the potion needed."

Hermione bowed her head down embarrassed, he continued matter-of-factly, "Once the fumes are gone, the weed's potent structure mixes with the starthistle and creates an explosive."

She picked up the papers that had been blown off his desk and replaced them back on it in a neat stack. Hermione shyly glanced at Professor Snape as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to get all the strands out of his face and then turned to the concoction in the air and pointed his wand at it,

"Posuere Potionem!" The spell made the floating potion and cauldron disappear right before the two.

Snape turned back to Hermione with a stern look on his face but said nothing as Hermione wrung her hands together, "I'm sorry Professor…" she turned to the door that led to the teacher's quarters and started walking towards it.

"Where do you think you are going?"

She turned back around and looked down at her feet miserably, embarrassed that the one time she got such a great opportunity to show him what she could do, she botched it all up. She stood there waiting for a reprimand when she heard his voice demandingly ring through the classroom,

"Try again, Miss Granger."

Her head shot straight up and found Professor Snape standing next to a student desk with a cauldron and ingredients waiting for her.

She couldn't believe her eyes… he must have been in a good mood, "Are you sure?" she smiled.

He raised an eyebrow and strutted towards her, "I can resume your previous responsibility in cleaning cauldrons if that is what you want."

She shook her head no and gave him a large smile, "Thank you Sir!" She wanted to skip over to the cauldron but decided to refrain herself and just walked happily towards the desk that held the supplies she needed.

He walked back to his desk and sat down, taking up a quill once more and resumed his work. No sooner had he done this when Hermione walked up to his desk a little nervously. He didn't look at her as he kept writing.

"Yes?"

"Will you help me this time so I get it right?" Hermione spewed out, awkwardly.

He raised an eyebrow, "The infamous Hermione Granger is asking for help?" he kept his eyes focused on the parchment but had stopped writing.

Hermione blushed, "I don't know everything, sir… and I need your help. You are my mentor are you not?"

He looked up at her, showing no emotion, "Try not to blow anything up this time, Granger."

She smiled as they walked towards the cauldron and turned to Snape, "I have never even heard of half of these ingredients…"

Snape took the initiative and started pointing towards the different components and explained what each were and what purpose they served… it seemed that Hermione had gotten more things mixed up than just the silverweed. Hermione listened intently to everything Snape had to say, even through the insults, and took notes as well.

"Start adding the unicorn blood and wartcap powder to the cauldron and stir those together before you start a flame." He scolded her when she tried to light the wick underneath the cauldron.

As time passed, Hermione started to get the hang of it until the intricate stirring during the point of simmering, "You severely misjudged the effort involved when you need to simmer. Different techniques in stirring are used for different types of potions and," he turned to her, eyeing her warily, "remember this Granger," she grabbed her notes and waited for Snape to continue his lesson with her, "Unless a potion recipe says specifically to not mix the ingredients together, then you need to stir. Different techniques and designs are suited for whether or not a potion's substance is thick or thin, a poison or medicine, or lumpy or smooth."

He folded his hands behind him, watching the young witch grab the stirring instrument and start the number eight formation and he sighed again, "Miss Granger! Stirring helps the potion mix! If you are stirring in the very middle, how will anything bond together? When you do this configuration, you need to swipe all the way along the sides of the cauldron, to mix what is left on the outside, towards the middle to meld correctly."

"Professor? What is a cross hatched formation?" She asked, remembering that that was something she did not know about when she was making the potion previously.

She watched him pull up his coat sleeve slightly to not it get messy in case of a mishap and she got a slight preview of his dark mark tattoo from being a deatheater. She tried not to stare as he picked up the stirring utensil and demonstrated the correct way, "Now you try."

Hermione took the instrument from him and tried to imitate what he had just done but was unsuccessful because of her distraction from his arm. Snape hissed, "Did you not watch me at all?" he grabbed her hand roughly, trying to not let Hermione see his uneasiness at the contact, and guided her through the pattern, "Three stripes vertically coming towards you and four stripes horizontally from right to left."

Not knowing what came over her, Hermione asked him for more help, "What was that sequence you were mixing in the potion you made before?"

He moved closer to her, ignoring her blushes, and tried not to be bothered by their proximity, as he guided her hand in the intricate design, "The important thing to remember is making sure each stroke goes all the way through the potion, starting from one side of the cauldron and finishing at the other."

"But I saw your hand move with the stirring rod, what was that?" she asked him, moving a bit closer, trying to catch his distinct scent again.

Snape noticed her slight move towards him but ignored it, brushing it off as her trying to get a better position to stir, "You move your wrist up when you're starting away from you… vertically and as you come towards you, you move your wrist back down… this helps for a smoother mix instead of just pulling it towards you roughly."

The timer rang just in time; Snape pulled away instantly and separated himself from her with a few good feet in between them. He had been close enough to smell her hair and perfume… he could even feel the heat from her body. He would not let that happen again.

"Now it is time to add the silverweed," Snape grabbed the grass-like stems off the table, "Instead of cutting them and risking losing all of the gases and fumes trapped inside, you should fold them in half twice. It breaks them just enough for the potion to draw in the fumes without the worry of losing it before putting it in." He handed Hermione the plant and watched her fold it in half once and then once more.

"Like that, Professor?" she asked, happy to see him nod in approval. What were these feelings coursing through her? She had a newfound energy and didn't know what to do with it. She was almost giddy… how was that possible?

She placed the folded plant in the mixture and watched the liquid instantly dissolve it and turned a dark gold color, emitting a light yellow steam. She read the potion recipe in the book and found no more ingredients listed except for a neatly handwritten word below the list in a familiar script, Peppermint.

"Professor, did you write this?" she pointed to the lettering of a certain Potions Master.

"Yes, peppermint leaves help to flavor the tonic and also helps to preserve the liquid longer than normal."

"Preserve?" Hermione asked as he retreated to the closet and pulled out a small vial with dried peppermint leaves.

He poured some into the palm of his hand and took a pinch of it with his thumb and index finger and threw it in the mixture, turning the liquid white, "Potions do not last forever, Miss Granger. Just like muggles and their food, there is an amounted time given for each mixture's shelf life."

Hermione watched him turn out the flame with his wand and grabbed a cloth and wiped his hands off from the peppermint. He turned away from her and started to clean up the ingredients, "Bottle up the potion." He ordered her sharply.

"Yes, sir." She stood next to him, taking the cauldron out of its holder and poured it into a large round vial. She could smell his scent next to her again as he made swift movements, picking ingredients up and putting them back in the cases and such. He smelled so wonderful! She had to mentally kick herself, what was she thinking? He was her teacher! That was so inappropriate for her to be thinking. Why did she move closer to him… try to draw out his stirring lesson… not wanting him to let go? It was probably just the fumes of the potion… it was Oblivious Love anyways.

Snape walked past Hermione and she was able to breathe his scent in again… it was electrifying! Why had she never noticed it before when she went to school all those years? She shook her thoughts and labeled the potion and wrote Amor Oblitus in her neatest handwriting, trying to match Professor Snape's. She set it on his desk as she watched him gracefully pull off his familiar black cloak and laid it on the back of his chair as he sorted through his papers quickly and organized them into a neat stack.

"Professor?"

"What?" he snapped, a little harshly.

She flinched but stepped closer to him, "Can we do this more often? I don't think I have ever learned so much before in one day… I really enjoy- I mean… appreciated your time helping me learn more about brewing."

He raised his infamous brow, "Next week. Now leave before I have Mr. Filch escort you out."

Hermione grinned widely, "Oh thank you!" she wanted to jump for joy but stopped herself when she saw Snape eyeing her, amused.

She quickly made her exit through the doors that she had originally come in from earlier that day. Once she shut it behind her, she leaned against the door for support and started giggling to herself. What was going on with her? The last time she could remember acting like this was in her second year with her secret crush on Gilderoy Lockhart.