A/N: There's absolutely no excuse for waiting so long between updates, so I won't bore you all with one. This was quite a quick chapter and I can't really decide if I like it or not. Let me know how it is and i'll decide to keep it or scrap it. Leave me thoughts on where you want to see this story go.

I own nothing except one extremely hectic life.

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Hermioine, Ginny and the boys were sitting in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, discussing the new professor... sort of.

"Why would the ministry send Umbridge here? I still don't understand." Ron was sitting in an armchair, arguing with Hermione about the reason for the ministry official. It had been nearly an hour, and they were both getting frustrated. In the beginning, Harry and the remaining Weasleys were considerably amused by it, but now they were just getting worried. It was a common occurance for Ron to get Hermione angry over some issue or another, but another thing entirely for it to happen on the first night of term. Ron looked as though his ears were about to start releasing smoke, and Hermione looked ready to chop his head off with a spoon.

"Well, RONALD, if you attempted to use that walnut on a stick between your ears that you call a pathetic excuse for a brain, you'd realize that after Cedric's death last year, the ministry would want to know what's going on at Hogwarts!" It was getting bad. The entire room was listening now, and you could tell that Ron was about to lose it.

"Well, HERMIONE, I'm sorry if we're not all walking brains like you. It must come with the bushy hair and buckteeth. It's a good thing for us that not all ugly mudbloods have as big a brain as you do. There wouldn't be room in the castle for anyone else!"

The common just stopped. Everything went quiet. Even the fire had enough sense to lower the sounds of the crackling flames. Hermione just sat there, her face stone. Ron was slowly starting to realize what he'd done. Fred, George, and Ginny looked ready to attack him, and Harry just looked shocked. After a few pauses in the air, Hermione got up and walked out the portrait hole, Ron stuttering the whole way.

The last thing she heard was Ron say "Why'd she leave?" That question was quickly followed by the sound of a chair being toppled over and a fight beginning.

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Severus was stressed. And confused. And nervous. And a whole long list of similar feelings that could be described under similar were, however, three things he knew for sure. FIrst,that he wanted Hermione Granger. Second, the if Umbridge started snooping around the school too much that it would only lead to disaster. And third, that he was extremely grateful that he had first shift for the rounds tonight to help him sort everything out. He surely would've gone mad if forced to stay in his rooms any longer.

He was walking along the second floor corridor, making his way upwards and thinking about the evening. Thinking about her.

She had looked beautiful. He was surprised at how much she struck him. On the surface, he assumed that he'd have had no issue with seeing her again, but deep down he knew that he would. She affected him more than anyone else ever had. She toyed with his emotions, and she wasn't even aware of it. The more he thought about it, the more he came to realize that he'd always cared for her in some form or another. Only just now was she making him question himself, making him rethink so many different aspects of his life.

Severus didn't want to be alone anymore. He wanted someone to care about him, someone to come home to. Someone worth fighting for. He wanted to be with Hermione Granger. And he was going to be with her if it killed him.

...It almost did, too.

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Hermione was running through the corridors, too caught up in her emotions to care where she was going. Tears were streaming down her face and were blurring her vision. She wasn't a prefect for nothing, though, and knew the castle so well she could navigate it in her sleep. She had just started down the stairs to the forth floor when she smacked into something rather hard. She let out a startled shreak, and began to tumble down the staircase. Hermione felt strong arms wrap around her and she realized that she had plowed into a person and they were both falling. What had felt like marble stairs suddenly turned into something soft and squishy.

Finally, her world stopped spinning and she was able to detect a coushining charm beneath her. Sitting up with a wince, she turned to her right to see who she had knocked over.

Hermione almost fainted when she saw him.

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Severus sat up with a groan, a hand on the back of his head. He could feel a small bump forming and was hoping he didn't have a concussion. Looking next to him to see what soon-to-be-dead student had plowed him over, he needed no further information on whether or not he had one. He had too. There was absolutely no possible way that it was her sitting next to him, looking a little worse for wear with tears streaming down her face. 'Tears streaming down her... Oh!'

His anger evaporating and springing into action, Severus was beside her in seconds. He began casting diagnostic spells, making sure that nothing was... broken. 'Shit!' Lighting up his wand, he could tell that he didn't even need a spell to tell that her ankle was broken. It was such an odd shape that even a flobberworm could tell that there was something wrong with it. Through all of this Hermione was silent and unmoving, still in a bit of shock. Her eyes cleared enough that she was able to see Severus looking at her with concern. His eyes kept moving from her to... her... ankle. She looked down and the gates of hell open. Pain washed over her, nearly starting her tears again. She refused to cry in front of him.

"Hermione? Hermione, are you alright?" She could hear the stress in his voice, could see the concern in his eyes. She shook her head 'No', not trusting her voice.

He put his hand to her cheek, feeling the tears that were still there. Seeing her so upset and in pain, he couldn't help it. Leaning forward, he began to kiss her tears away, being so gentle it even surprised him. He kissed her now-shut eyes, feeling the pressure behind them from her tears being held in. He paused before her lips, confused with what was coming over him. He had to do it though. He felt the need so strongly that it almost hurt. Brushing his lips against hers, he paused yet again before kissing her a bit more forcefully. Severus wrapped his arms around her, being mindful of her broken ankle yet still managing to bring her incredibly close to him. Hermione appeared to be coming back into her body, and started to kiss him back. Soon, the two were making out in the middle of the corridor.

Hermione's emotions were too erratic, and she couldn't hold back her tears any longer. Severus pulled back when he felt her tears on his cheeks. Looking into her eyes, he could tell that something was hurting her much more than her ankle. It was an emotional pain, that much he could tell. Whatever it was, it was causing her quite a bit of stress. He just hoped it wasn't him.

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A/N: For all of you that wanted it, I'm trying to work on the Remus/Hermione story I have planned, but this story ^ is my priority. If you want just the first chapter, I have it, but not much more than that.