A/N: Hey guys, I'm back! Thank you all for you reviews and follows, I'm always happy to see that people like my story :) Special thanks to xxxxILoveSiriusBlackxxxx, because I can't do this personally and you seriously give some of the most amazing reviews! Of course that doesn't mean I don't love everyone elses reviews, but I can thank you individually :) Anyway, this chapter is the longest yet, so I'll leave you to it! Let me know what you think xxx :)
They brewed until late into the night. At around two Snape decided to call it a day, but he still had to practically drag Hermione away from her cauldrons.
"I see Potter isn't the only one that's drowning themselves in work."
She shrugged. "It's my preferred kind of therapy."
He met her bold gaze and felt his heart skip a beat.
When he finally convinced her to go to bed, after drinking a steaming cup of camomile tea in the vain attempt to calm her and prevent more nightmares from haunting her, she gave him a shy hug.
He made a face and she laughed.
"It's your own fault for telling me you didn't mind giving me hugs."
Snape growled and shooed her out of the room, before warding the door after them. Hermione had told him repeatedly she could find her way to her chambers on her own, but he insisted on escorting her.
"Cruz has patrols tonight!", he snapped when she wouldn't give in. That shut her up.
When they arrived at the lake-portrait, Severus gave her a curious look.
"What?"
He shook his head. "It's just that you seem to be rather confident around me. You used to be the same in class, but what I have heard from Minerva, you have become rather quiet."
She shrugged. "I feel uncomfortable being the centre of attention. It's probably because of all the newspaper articles. Have you any idea how horrible it is to see your face on the front of the paper every morning? I can understand now why Harry was so upset at times."
Severus gave a dry laugh. "I ensure you I know too well what it feels like. Lucius, Draco and me used to have a bet going whether it was going to be a positive or a negative article."
Hermione rolled her eyes, even though the image of Lucius and Draco Malfoy joking around with Severus Snape was quite strange.
They stared at each other in silence for a moment, until the young witch sighed. "I should really go to bed. Although I really don't want to."
Severus chuckled. He bent over to push her curls behind her ear and she realised that she hadn't paid any attention as to how messy they were. She must look positively horrifying. The professor tore her from her thoughts.
"Peaceful dreams, Hermione.", he whispered, his breath tickling her neck.
He pulled away and looked at her for another second, before turning on his heel and leaving her. She watched as he disappeared around the corner and felt her face flush. Her emotions were all over the place. Between pain, anger and loneliness there was now also some sort of affectionate feelings for her snarky Potions Master, also known as the greasy git and bat of the dungeons. What the hell was she getting herself into?
Desperately wanting to concentrate on something other than her inner tornado of feelings she went straight to bed.
oxoxoxoxo
Hermione was back in the woods running from the Snatchers. She could hear Harry and Ron's laboured breathing as they followed close behind her. She narrowly avoided a tree and jumped over a fallen trunk. Hearing something swoosh in the air, she let herself fall to the ground and roll down a small hill. There were leaves in her face, mouth and nose and suddenly she noticed that she didn't stop falling. She just kept going down and down into nothingness.
Jolting upright in bed once again, she found that it was nearly time to get up. Sighing she read over her Arithmancy homework before going for a shower, hoping that the latter would relax her tense shoulder muscles.
oxoxoxoxo
Later at breakfast a tired-looking Hermione sat in her usual seat at the Gryffindor table and noticed Ginny and Luna excitedly discussing something. She was reminded of Harry's invitation. She still had to send him a reply. Admitting to herself that she missed her friend, she decided that it might be a good idea to meet him. After all, if something went wrong she knew now she had Severus to talk to. Her musings were interrupted when she received a message from McGonagall, asking her to come to the headmistress' office after breakfast. Automatically looking up to the staff table she became aware of Professor Cruz sneering at her and noticed that Snape in turn was glaring at the DADA professor.
Feeling bold, she raised an eyebrow at Cruz and glanced over to Snape when she saw the other professor turn away. He noticed her raised eyebrow and raised his own, the corner of his mouth quirking almost unnoticeably. Hermione relaxed and smiled back, before returning her attention to her slice of toast. For a moment her worries were forgotten.
oxoxoxoxo
Half an hour later she made her way to the gargoyle. "Catnip.", she told the statue and it moved aside. She had had to supress a smile when she was told the password; it reminded her of the random passwords Dumbledore had chosen over the years.
Ascending on the turning staircase she knocked on the heavy wooden door to the headmistress' office minutes later.
"Come in."
The curly haired witch entered tentatively not quite sure what to expect. To her surprise she found Snape sitting in a visitors chair across from McGonagall sipping a cup of tea. He met her eyes, but his face was expressionless.
"Miss Granger, my dear, please have a seat. Would you like a cup of tea?"
She wanted to ask if she had misread the invitation and this was indeed a tea party, but as soon as the thought crossed her mind she dismissed it and politely accepted Minerva's offer. When had she started to come up with sarcastic remarks and further felt the urge to drawl them out in a way too Snape-like fashion? Surly she was spending too much time in the dark wizard's company. Or maybe it was just a side-effect of not being able to cope with one's past.
Sighing she took a sip of her tea, that wasn't quite as delicious as the one she shared with Severus in the evenings. She should really ask him where he got it from. And she should really start to focus, because the headmistress was starting to talk to her.
"I hope you are feeling better, dear. I was going to tell you about Severus being involved with this last night, but you seemed so upset, that I thought it best for you to rest first."
"She also forgot to tell me.", Severus added, a scowl appearing on his face.
"But why are you here?", Hermione asked, slightly confused.
"You are missing the obvious again, Miss Granger.", he drawled in reply, and McGonagall shot him a warning glance.
"I had to ask Professor Snape to give an assessment of your actions and attitude in order to determine your punishment. It is normally a task that falls to your head of house, but unfortunately this position is currently occupied by Professor Cruz herself. Therefore I had to find someone else to do it. As your former head of house I would have been the next best choice, but because I am to judge this as the headmistress of Hogwarts I can't do it either. Thus, I decided to leave this task to Professor Snape. Due to him giving you extra classes he should know you best out of all the professors. He has just confirmed this quite remarkably."
Hermione frowned and felt the panic rise when she thought about all the things the professor could have possibly told the headmistress. Had she been wrong to trust him after all?
She noticed his hand move, as if he wanted to squeeze her arm reassuringly, but he suddenly seemed to remember where they were, so he just looked at her intently. This didn't go unnoticed by McGonagall and Severus noticed her eyes twinkle knowingly. His scowl deepened.
"What did he tell you?", Hermione almost whispered and unconsciously started to chew on her bottom lip.
"He told me that you were an incredibly bright witch that is very passionate and loyal to those she holds dear, but not known to easily lose her temper."
The young witch raised an eyebrow.
"He further told me that he has discovered you to be a fiercely private person that has some trouble wrapping her head around certain things. He also informed me that should I wish to learn more about those things I would have to ask you personally, because he would not break his promise to keep everything you shared with him a secret."
Hermione looked over to Severus and he noticed the emotional sparkle in her eye. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and thank him properly, but that would have to wait. Still, she suddenly realised that the man next to her had the most amazing personality that she had ever encountered, at least when they were in private. He was everything that she had always looked for in people; caring, understanding, criticising and trustworthy. He was also the proof that not everyone was like Ron, for he respected her wishes and by not telling McGonagall about her problems he made her realise that there was at least one person out there that didn't betray her at the first opportunity.
Hermione stared straight into Severus' black eyes. Her amber ones appeared to be on fire, while she was desperately trying to convey to him what she was feeling.
McGonagall was observing the two from her seat behind her desk. The look they shared was so private and intimate that the headmistress was compelled to turn away.
Finally Hermione looked away and swallowed hard, trying to get a grip on her welling emotions.
"What would you like to know, Professor?", she asked quietly after she had properly composed herself.
The headmistress considered this for a moment.
"Is there anything you would like to talk to me about?"
To her surprise the curly-haired witch giggled, even though there were tears glistening in her eyes.
"Professor Dumbledore used to ask Harry the same question."
"Is there anything you would like to tell me, though, Miss Granger?", the headmistress insisted.
Hermione sighed, pushing some errand hair out of her face. "I'm having a bit of a hard time settling back into the normal world, now that the war is over.", Hermione finally admitted.
Severus next to her suddenly clenched his jaw, feeling overwhelmed with the need to drag Hermione out of the room to prevent her from telling the headmistress what she had told him. He knew he was being possessive for absolutely no reason, but he just didn't want the Gryffindor to confide into McGonagall the way she had in him. He had to admit that their relationship – friendship or whatever it was they had – meant the world to him and he didn't want anyone else to interfere.
McGonagall's gaze moved between the two of them before finally settling on Hermione.
"And has this anything to do with yesterday's events?"
Hermione shrugged. "I suppose so. I think Professor Cruz just hit a nerve. Well, maybe that's the wrong way to put it, but she accused me of things that I simply just couldn't take – as you saw in my memory."
She glanced over at Severus for support and noticed his rigid posture. She wished she was alone with him telling him this, and not McGonagall.
"It's as if my wounds from the war haven't healed yet and Professor Cruz put her finger right into it."
The headmistress considered this for a moment and sighed. "Well, see, Hermione, the problem is that I can't just let you go unpunished for throwing a teacher against a wall. I also have to determine how a similar situation between you and Professor Cruz can be avoided in future. So tell me, do you think there is anything that can be done to help you solve whatever issues you are having after the war?"
Hermione looked over at Severus again, not sure if she should reveal the nature of their extra-classes. He was staring straight ahead, not looking at anything in particular. Biting her lip she decided a non-committal answer would be best.
"I'm not sure there is anything that can be done, but to give it time, Professor. However, I do feel quite comfortable talking to Professor Snape and I'm sure that should I ever need to get anything of my chest, he'll lend me his ear."
Snape huffed at her ornate choice of words and didn't say anything.
"Would you, Severus?", the headmistress inquired carefully, a frown appearing on her forehead.
"If I must.", he scoffed. Hermione felt a pang in her chest now convinced that she had done something to offend him.
"Very well then.", the older witch conceded. "Miss Granger, I hope you find a month of detention with Professor Snape to be an appropriate punishment. You will spend an hour with him every evening prior to your extra classes. Be aware that as your head of house, Professor Cruz might come and check on you during those periods. At the end of the month, Professor Snape will inform me of your progress in regard to your attitude towards Professor Cruz, as you must change it drastically. Understood?"
The two of them nodded and McGonagall gave a wry smile. "Well, then, you may leave, otherwise you will be late for your next class."
Snape nodded and practically ran out the door, but in a more dignified way. Hermione uttered a quick thanks to the headmistress and hurried after him. He was already half way down the corridor when she reached the bottom of the staircase.
"Se- Professor Snape! Please, may I have a word?", she called after him, slowing her pace from running to a fast walk when she saw him stop.
"What is it?", he snarled and she stopped dead in her tracks about a meter away from him, taken aback.
"What have I done?", she asked softly, tears glistening in her eyes again.
Snape felt a pang of guilt and tried to cover it up with his usual harsh demeanour.
"Not here.", he huffed and briskly pulled her into an alcove. He was acutely aware of the young witch's closeness; her delicious scent was enveloping him.
"What have I done?", she repeated, almost pleading.
Snape rubbed his face with his hand in frustration, chastising himself for his own thoughts that were turning more and more inappropriate by the minute.
"You have done nothing wrong.", he grumbled.
"Then why are you being like this?" Hermione suddenly felt as if she was choking and a single tear ran down her cheek.
Severus felt a terrified expression spread across his face at the sight of the tear, but quickly pulled up his usual mask of calm. Yet, before he realised what he was doing he brushed the sign of her upset away with his thumb.
"Shh, it's nothing to do with you, it's me. I'm being stupid."
She frowned. "But why? It must have been something I said."
He shook his head. "No… Well, kind of. It's more what came to my mind in response to what you said."
He swallowed and bit his tongue. For some reason he was unable to not explain to her and so he found himself blurting out the truth.
"When you started to tell Minerva about your problems… Ah this is ridiculous, I'm being completely unreasonable!", he growled in frustration, raking his hand through his hair. Hermione was looking at him wide-eyed, trying to understand what on earth had the professor so worked up.
"I did not want you to tell her. I did not want you to share with her what you shared with me. I was being possessive, I am still, but I have no right. I just… I want this to be about you and me, without anyone interfering. And when I realised what I was thinking I got angry at myself, because I…. argh… I am not an unreasonable man!", he snapped and then sighed in annoyance. "I'm sorry. Don't judge me, please. I just don't want to mess this up. After all I'm meant to be helping you."
He tried to turn away from her, but she grabbed his sleeve.
"Severus, listen. I don't care if you are being possessive, because I will not let anyone reduce me to a possession no matter what. And if it eases your mind, I do not intend to tell anyone else about my problems, because right now you're the best medicine I got. Why change something if it is working? When you didn't tell McGonagall… That meant the world to me. You might have just solved my trust issues."
He raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"You respect my wishes and you have proven that I can trust you. Right now you are the only person for whom I can truly say that."
Snape felt his heart skip a beat and his stomach flipped.
"I'm glad I can be of assistance.", he mumbled, shifting uncomfortably. Her admitting that she trusted him did nothing to diminish his inappropriate thoughts.
Hermione reached out to squeeze his arm. "It is appreciated.", she smirked, but suddenly becoming aware that he had gone rigid again, she sighed.
"You know, it's really frustrating how you can go from caring to be ice-cold. Would you please do me a favour?"
He raised an eyebrow, trying to remain impassive.
"Will you stop worrying about what is appropriate and what is not and forget that you are my teacher? I don't care what you are, as long as you are there for me. Oh, and for the record, I'm of age."
She instantly blushed, realising what implications that last statement could have. Suddenly their gazes locked and she saw Snape's mask falling.
His eyes that had been hard as obsidian before now became softer and almost soothing. In Hermione's mind their colour represented comfort. Severus on the other hand found that he had never seen anything as beautiful as the curly-haired witch's sparkling amber eyes.
It was at that exact moment that both of them felt something fall into place inside them and they realised that something greater than friendship might grow between them.
Hermione swallowed hard and Severus cleared his voice, before he finally answered in a low voice "I shall try my best."
She smiled and suddenly found herself enveloped by a pair of strong arms. Severus just couldn't resist embracing her and he felt a smile creep across his face when he felt her relax against him.
After a moment he reluctantly let go of her.
"You really need to get to class."
She nodded and sighed. "I'll see you tonight, I guess."
"Yes, but an hour early, you have gotten yourself detention after all."
Hermione growled. "Damn Cruz! When does everyone expect me to do my homework?"
He chuckled deeply and pushed her hair out of her eyes. "Don't worry, you'll get it done no problem."
She gave him a curious look and then quickly walked away from him, not wanting to be on the receiving end of Professor Vector's wrath.
Snape watched her hurry down the corridor; once again wondering what on earth that witch was doing to him.
oxoxoxoxo
At eight pm sharp Hermione reported to Snape for detention. He smirked and told her to clean the cauldrons, before refocusing on grading first year papers. She frowned at him.
"Seeing that you didn't specify how I should clean them…"
He met her gaze and raised an eyebrow. "You are paying attention, Miss Granger, very good. Now clean those cauldrons so you can get your homework done and we may turn to more valuable distractions."
Hermione felt her face flush and with a flick of her wand she rendered all the cauldrons perfectly clean, before turning back to Snape's desk. "I'm finished, Sir."
He didn't even look up from his parchment. "Let me know if you need assistance with your homework.", he mumbled distractedly and Hermione grinned. Never had detention with Professor Snape been this easy.
For the next hour they sat in companionable silence going about their respective work. At first Hermione had felt a little bit awkward after what had happened between them in the morning, but when Snape didn't act any different than usual, she started to calm down and relax. She had to admit that working around her potions professor was easier than she had expected and she certainly felt a lot more at ease than she ever had doing her study around other students, half of which were trying to get her to do their homework.
Considering Snape's earlier offer for help, she cleared her voice to get his attention after finishing her charms essay.
He looked up at her, eyebrows raised.
"If you were to reverse a concealing charm would you rather use aparecium or specialis revelio?"
She could see the raven-haired wizard carefully choose his words. "If I was suspecting something to be concealed I would first consider the expected nature of the concealment charm that has been used, before making a decision on the proper incantation. But assuming I am lacking that kind of information I would simply use both."
Hermione grinned proudly. "That's what I said."
Severus chuckled. "What was the question?", he inquired after scrutinising the long roll of parchment that was filled with her small, neat handwriting.
"Professor Flitwick asked us to compare the use of two reversal spells for concealment and to come to a conclusion of which is more effective to use. Obviously they are all just as effective if used on the correct charm."
"Ah, I see Filius must think your class is rather lacking dunderheads if he gives you such a trick question."
It was Hermione's turn to giggle. "Well, lucky me, I didn't fall into the trap."
Severus gave her an intense look and to her surprise a genuine smile appeared on his face. "I am relieved to see that you are slowly recovering your confidence. I was already worried the incident with Cruz would have taken a larger toll on you."
She turned her gaze to her sheet and bit her lip. "I'm not sure and you know we talked about this yesterday… Ask any of my professors and you will notice that it's not the case outside this room."
Snape sighed. "I am sorry, Hermione."
Her head snapped back up and she met his eyes incredulously. "What for?"
"I want to help you, but I don't think I am."
The young witch growled in frustration. "Of course you are! Don't ever think what you are doing isn't helping, because right now it's the only thing keeping me sane. If you must know, my nightmares were a little less terrifying before that bloody woman decided to have a go at me."
The professor gave her an almost smile. "I am glad to hear. Tell me if there is any more I can do."
Hermione watched him carefully for a moment. She still wondered some times, how long it would take for Snape to turn back into his rude self and throw her out of his classroom with a sarcastic remark relating to her gullibility.
He slowly got up from his chair and stretched before summoning the list with the potions they still needed to brew.
"Would you like to continue with this?"
She smiled and packed away her stuff.
"I guess this means todays detention is over?"
He scowled at her. "Do you have to ask?"
She grinned, but it faltered when she suddenly remembered something. "What are we going to do if Cruz ever comes to check on me?"
Snape actually rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it; if the case arises I will handle it. I would only ask you to try and refrain from losing your temper. Now, are you going to make the Anti-Paralysis Potion or the Cough Potion?"
Hermione hid a smile. "Cough Potion."
"Thank God."
She frowned at him. "Why?"
"I think I might possibly die of boredom if I would have to brew it again."
It was her turn to roll her eyes and she went to the store room to collect her ingredients.
"You know, I am very impressed that you know all these off by heart.", the potions master commented a moment later when she started to prepare her cauldron.
She just shrugged. "You know them, too. And I realised that things go a lot smoother if I don't have to check the recipe every two seconds."
"Well, everyone else seems to be doing so.", he replied with a hint of frustration.
She raised an eyebrow and quipped "Would you expect me to do what everyone else does? I must say I am disappointed."
"My apologies, Miss Granger. For a moment it slipped my mind that you are in fact an insufferable know-it-all."
She bristled, and Snape felt a little bit disquieted when he sensed her magic pulse around her. Luckily she calmed when she noticed the mirth in his eyes and realised that he was teasing her.
Blushing she turned to her cauldron and started her potion. He noticed that her movements had become more fluid around the workbench, and he felt a sense of pride rising within him.
Two finished potions later and working on the third one, Severus suddenly looked over to Hermione through a cloud of steam rising from his cauldrons. "In your essay, did you consider that some people believe that specialis revelio is actually related to aparecium?"
The curly haired witch didn't look up from her potion for a moment, but when she did her eyes were sparkling with excitement.
"Yes, I actually did some light reading during my free period and found a book that discussed the magical properties of charms. I did some tests on both spells and it seems that specialis revelio is simply an altered version of aparecium. They changed some simple arithmantic equations and that way specialis revelio will work best on objects that have been charmed to be concealed only under certain conditions. I just wonder why no one ever proved that they are related, it wasn't very difficult."
Suddenly noticing a few bubbles on the right hand side of her cauldron she quickly added some flobberworm mucous, before looking up at her professor again. The steam was stinging in her eyes and she tried to wave it away from her with her hand without success. Snape only watched her for a few seconds, before charming the steam to rise to the side and away from them. He didn't even bother pulling out his wand.
"Well, Miss Granger, not many people bother to study anti-concealment charms and when they do, they might not publish their results. Furthermore, there are only a handful of people that know how to run tests on a spell's properties. I am quite surprised that you do, although I guess I shouldn't be. I do believe however that it is not on the syllabus of any of your subjects."
Hermione huffed exasperatedly. "I like to understand what I do, but I only figured out how to test spells at the start of the year. I've been trying to find a way to do it for years, though, because I wanted to know how some spells were very different, but still had a similar effect."
Snape chuckled. "Professor Flitwick would be delighted to know how much interest you show for charms and the like."
"Well I'm sure he wouldn't be as happy, if he knew, that the only reason I didn't find out about the tests earlier is because I was busy learning off potions recipes.", she replied innocently, doing a three-quarter clockwise rotation with her stirring rod to complete her latest potion.
That shut Snape up for a moment. He mumbled something unintelligible and hid behind his hair and the steam that was rising straight up again. Hermione supressed a giggle and crossed two batches of burning paste off the list, before setting up a second cauldron.
Later they had almost brewed all the potions requested, but the professor insisted they finish them the next day.
"Have you decided if you are going to meet Potter tomorrow?", he asked, passing her a cup of tea.
Snape noticed that after their little 'chat' in the morning, he felt a lot more comfortable around the curly-haired witch, even though the nagging voice in the back of his head, reminding him that she was still his student hadn't disappeared. It was now merely speaking with a decreased volume.
Hermione shrugged in response to his question, cradling her cup. "I'm not sure. I really miss him, but I'm afraid, something will go wrong."
"How do you mean?"
"I mean, what if he mentions something that reminds me of something and I break down? He can't see me that way. He already feels guilty, he doesn't need to know that I am still hurting from the war… It's not his fault after all."
Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hermione, I do not want to push you too much, but it is important that you face your past. Mr Potter is a huge part of it, but you have to remember that he is also part of your present. If you wish it to remain that way, you can't run away from him forever."
"So you think I should talk to him?"
"Most definitely. I even believe that it may be able to solve some more of your issues, but you won't know if you won't even try."
She sighed. "You're probably right and I'm sick of running away. I did it for a whole year and I hated it."
Snape gave her a tiny reassuring smile. "In that case you better confirm your meeting with Potter. Write it now and I'll take you to the owlery."
oxoxoxoxo
Twenty minutes later, Hermione fastened a small scroll to the foot of a small brown owl. It had taken her a long time to write the two sentences to her best friend. She knew it shouldn't have, but she still had the distinct feeling that she and her friends had grown apart.
Suddenly she felt Snape moving up behind her. He tugged on a loose curl at the nape of her neck and then twisted it into her messy bun.
"You forgot a piece there.", he mumbled, his breath tickling her skin.
Severus was staring at her exposed neck in front of him and fought to suppress the urge to plant a kiss on her shoulder. Swallowing hard he took a step backwards when she turned to face him. Their eyes met and he felt as if the amber orbs were melting away all his defences. He noticed a beautiful blush rising up to her face and pushed an errant curl behind her ear.
Hermione was hypnotised by his black gaze and instinctively moved a step closer. That moment an owl screeched loudly, as if protesting and the professor quickly turned away, before either of them gave in to the temptation of taking this further.
Placing a hand firmly on her elbow he escorted her to her rooms.
"When you return from Hogsmeade tomorrow, I will show you how to cast the modified patronus we were talking about.", he mentioned absentmindedly whilst trying not to stare at her lips.
What the bloody hell was wrong with him?
The young witch smiled enthralledly. "That's great, thank you, Severus!"
His name from her lips was the most delightful sound that his ears had ever encountered. Unconsciously starting to move forward again, his face came dangerously close to hers. Saving them both at the last moment he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.
"Peaceful dreams.", he whispered, his voice suddenly hoarse, and retreated slowly.
Hermione's heart was beating loudly in her chest and she was convinced that he could hear it. Watching him turn and walk away in one fluid motion, she felt her skin prickle where his lips had touched it. At the thought her heart skipped a beat like it had when the professor had lowered his face to hers, not knowing what he would do. She was almost certain he had nearly kissed her. To her surprise she found that she wished he had.
Shaking her head to get rid of her distracting thoughts, she walked into her chambers and immediately flopped down on the sofa in front of the fire.
She had been more or less conscious for a while, that she felt attracted to the professor, but she had put it down to – and continued to do so – the fact, that at the moment he was effectively the only person in her live that was truly there for her. Stoically she reminded herself that she was technically still in a relationship with Ron and that she had no business trying to start something with her potions professor.
After a quick shower she went to bed and tried to forget about the surly wizard, but it proved rather difficult, because her method of choice to get to sleep was to think about that particular man's arms around her, his scent filling her nostrils and causing her to relax completely.
Preparing herself for a long night, Hermione curled up beneath her blankets and forced her eyes shut.
oxoxoxoxo
Snape, too, went to flop down in front of the fireplace – albeit in an armchair not on a sofa – once he had returned to his rooms. Sighing deeply he shrugged off his outer robes and hung his head backwards, supporting it with both of his hands.
He closed his eyes and desperately tried to get rid of the distinct smell of honey, lemon and clean soap, but it seemed to stick to his clothes. The thought of the curly-haired witch caused his pants to feel tighter than usual and he hated himself for it. The young woman was having serious problems; she was emotionally fragile or even broken and most certainly did not need an old man lusting after her. Still, he couldn't deny that there was something between them; if he were a romantic fool he would call it a spark. However, he was far from one, so he was unable to find a proper word for just what it was that connected them.
He had felt it earlier, when they were stood in the alcove and before, when he shared his mind with hers. Coming to the conclusion that McGonagall was right and he was getting too attached, he growled and got up to make himself some tea.
He desperately wanted something stronger, but he knew that if he did so in his present emotional state he wouldn't stop. The professor hardly drank any alcohol anymore. He refused to allow a drink to make him weak, but he often used it to drown his feelings, something that he had discovered to be entirely unhealthy. Further, he had vowed to not become like his father, once a certain witch that regularly turned into a tabby cat had pulled him out of his alcohol induced reverie after Lily's death.
Just that particular witch, also known as the Headmistress of Hogwarts had requested his presence in her office after lunch to further talk about Hermione and her state of mind and to remind him to stay objective.
Minerva ushered him to sit in the same chair as earlier and placed a cup of tea in front of him without asking.
"How can I help you, Minerva?", he drawled, knowing she wouldn't dictate him to her office to simply share a cup of tea.
"I would like to talk about Hermione. I am truly worried about her."
"How so?", he asked dispassionately.
The older witch frowned. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed. She hardly ever raises her hand in class anymore and she has stopped to spout out paragraphs of knowledge without being asked. It's not like her."
"Maybe she has finally come to her senses.", the potions master growled.
"Severus!", the headmistress revolted.
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I had noticed, but it is no reason to be this worried. She has been through a lot, the students all have."
"But not all of them have changed."
"No, but everyone is affected differently."
"But what about her attacking her professor, I have never known Hermione's magic to be that unstable. She was always the controlled one out of the lot of them."
"Yet she is the one with the greatest power, as you are well aware. Her losing control was bound to happen. And you have seen what the woman said to her, Minerva. Even Pomona would lose her temper if someone spoke to her like that."
Minerva let out an undignified grunt. "Well, I believe it is not easy for Professor Cruz to teach a class full of veterans how to defend themselves."
"From what I have heard she is not doing a good job of it either."
The headmistress sighed. "Yes, yes, but that is a different matter altogether. This is about Hermione. I know she tells you things, Severus, please, I know you promised not to say anything, but I need to know if she is alright."
The potions master bit the inside of his cheek to suppress a frustrated groan. When would the former head of Gryffindor finally understand that he wasn't going to say anything?
"She will be fine. She is having a bit of a tough time at the moment, but we all have to learn how to adjust after a war. Do not worry; I am sure she will turn to me if she feels overwhelmed."
Minerva sighed again, pressing her lips into a thin line.
"Severus, I know you won't like to hear this, but you are not a mental healer and I believe that the girl is suffering from PTSD. We need to help her."
"NO!", he hissed before he could stop himself. "You will not get someone from St. Mungo's to talk to her. She needs stability and rubbing her nose in the fact that something is obviously wrong with her will only make things worse. Have you any idea how hard she is trying to keep this from everyone?"
He was very close to breaking his promise to the young witch and thanked his inner spy for his ability to only let forth as much information as he wanted to.
The headmistress' lips nearly disappeared as she pressed them together even more.
"Severus, you are getting too attached to the girl. You surly must see that seeing a professional healer about this would be best for her."
The dark wizard shook his head in exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I'm the only person she truly trusts at the moment, Minerva. She will not talk to anyone else; it takes her a lot to talk to me about things as it is. Please, don't get anyone else involved."
"As much as I respect you, I do not believe you are suitable to treat someone with PTSD."
He could not hold back the growl forming at the back of his throat. "You know full well that I had problems with it myself. It took me twenty bloody years to finally work myself through all the problems I had. If you do not wish for her to suffer that, you should trust on my abilities to help her through it. She said herself that it was helping until Professor Cruz came along."
Minerva sighed, but before she could say anymore the portrait of Professor Dumbledore interjected.
"Minerva, dear, I believe Severus might be right. You know yourself that many people have trouble confiding into a person they do not know. It is indeed important that Miss Granger experiences stability at the moment and that we allow her to confront the things troubling her at her own speed. If she has also chosen Severus as her confidant, we should try and allow things to continue the way they are, unless Miss Granger's condition should take a turn for the worse."
Severus looked at the former headmaster in silent acknowledgement, while Minerva huffed frustrated. "I just want to make sure the girl receives the best treatment possible."
"Apparently I'm not the only one who is emotionally attached.", he scoffed and got up to take his leave.
"I will inform you should there be any more trouble."
After he slammed the door shut behind him, Minerva slumped in her chair. Dumbledore looked down on her wishing he could place a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Fear not, my dear. You have seen how protective he is of her. Do you need any more evidence to accept what is growing between them? Hermione could not have chosen anyone better to help her through this."
Severus was massaging his temples, whilst considering this conversation. He should really tell Hermione about it, but there was no need to unnecessarily worry her.
Then again, the tightness of his pants was very worrying indeed, especially because he knew that Minerva was nearly as protective of her favourite cub as he was. Somebody help them all, should she find out that he felt attracted to the young witch.
A/N2: I just wanted to add that in case Minerva comes across in a bit of a negative light, don't worry she'll be back to her normal motherly self soon enough. But she is still adjusting to her new position as headmistress and tries to come to terms with everything that Severus has done last year, so she feels very protective of Hermione now that she has proof that something is wrong with her.