Chapter 13 - To Catch A Slytherin
Hermione had tried to come up with her plan, but after coming up with several possible scenarios and then realizing major flaws in every plan, she had given up.
To hell with Ginny's idea!
Being Slytherin to catch his attention was not going to work…she needed to be who she was. A Gryffindor.
After all, there must be something about her that Severus was attracted to besides the something physical that apparently only he saw. She might as well simply be herself in winning back his favor, as any other way might disappoint him.
With that in mind, she picked up the small vial and slipped it into her bag for the time being.
She didn't have Potions the next day, but the day after that, she did.
She cast a brief Tempus and saw that it was already a little past midnight, a bit late for her to be going to bed, but she shrugged her shoulders.
Who cared if she was a little bit late to breakfast the next morning? With that in mind, she blissfully laid herself down under her sheets, and let herself fall into a deep and uninterrupted sleep, not a single dream crossing her mind.
The next morning, she surprised herself by waking up before her alarm even went off.
Grabbing her wand from the nightstand, she waved it at the small charmed book on the same nightstand. She'd made it a long time ago, and it had been better than a normal alarm…because it was three times as annoying as a regular one and would only go off if you used the proper counter-charm.
She pulled herself out of bed and dragged her body to her dresser, pulling out her proper uniform that sometimes annoyed her to no end.
Begrudgingly, she slid on her gray skirt and white shirt, along with the vest lined with her house colors and pulled her robes over the whole ensemble.
She had slept well, and her mind was actually clear on what she needed to do…she needed to talk to him.
Hermione had come to the conclusion the night before, and now was more certain than ever, that the only thing that she needed to do was to talk to him. He was good with words, as was she, and neither of them were very good with emotions, so it would most likely be easier to simply talk it out than to deal with it any other way.
She quickly finished dressing and grabbed her bag, determined to have her breakfast as quickly as possible so that she could figure out how to corner him.
As she sat at breakfast, she barely noticed the taste of the food, as she was too entirely distracted by what was going on inside of her own mind. The thoughts whirled around in endless circles, almost making her literally dizzy with the rapidity at which they moved, but she finally managed to quiet them down and come to a few safe conclusions and ideas that would be the safest. But, first of all, she needed to return the Verita…
That was it!
Quickly swallowing whatever it was that she had been chewing, she bolted from the table and rushed back up to her room, quickly undoing the wards and stepping inside.
"Accio Veritaserum!"
It rushed across the room to her hand and as she looked down at it, Hermione smiled.
No, she wasn't going to use it on him…she was going to return it to him. It would be the perfect excuse to see him outside of his usual office hours, as well as creating the perfect opportunity to talk to him about what had happened between the two of them. And the beauty of it was that it was so simple. No complicated involvement of any outside people, risking the chance that it might go horribly wrong.
Originally, she had planned on returning the potion to McGonagall, but this opportunity was too good to pass up.
She could talk to him… No.
She would talk to him.
Determination in her stride, she made her way down to her first class of the day, Arithmancy, and slid the vial into her pocket, silently placing a protective spell over it as to ensure that it wasn't stolen or that it would accidentally fall out during the day.
The class started, but she found her attention not entirely focused on what was going on, her mind still on the fact that she was going to talk to him that day.
Deciding that she was far enough ahead that she didn't need to necessarily pay attention, she mentally reviewed the few scenarios that might occur…
She already knew what she was going to start off with. "Professor Snape, I need to talk to you about…what happened between us…"
However, it was the after that she was truly worried about. He would react in one of four ways. The first scenario, and the most likely to occur, was that he growled at her to leave his presence immediately and to not breathe a word of the incident to anyone.
The second scenario, in her mind, was less harsh, and it was where he would lift his head and give her one of his signature glares and then say to her, "It was an accident, Miss Granger, nothing more…I expect to see you at the next appointed time we meet…" There was a distinct possibility of that happening, but then, of course, there were the last two scenarios in her mind, the third highly unlikely and the fourth an utterly fantastical imagining of her own mind.
The third scenario involved him standing from his chair, motioning for her to sit down and then very carefully explaining to her that though they had both acted on their mutual attraction towards each other, attraction was all that it merely was, and that, as adults, they could both move on, but possibly maintain a healthy friendship.
The last scenario, however, was something akin to soft-core porn…
She would walk in, he would stand and close the door behind her with a wave of his hand, and then they would meet each other in the middle of the room, kissing once more, hands roaming freely over each other's bodies, soft moaning and whispers of affection the only sounds in the room as they moved their way over to his desk, which he would then lift her up and place her on it, allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist…
Hermione could see it in her head all too vividly, and she shifted in her chair as she felt her face flush slightly at her thoughts.
She discreetly glanced around to see if anyone had noticed, but everyone seemed too focused on Professor Vector to notice that she was uncomfortable.
She glanced around, making sure that no one noticed her, and silently cast Tempus, and saw that it was only nine-fifteen.
Professor Snape had office hours from three until five on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and dinner was at five-thirty…she would have to either wait until after dinner, or take the chance during the half-hour period that he had between his office hours and the evening meal.
Thinking it over carefully, she decided to take the risk and grab him just as his office hours ended.
The decision made, she turned her attention back to the lesson and took a few notes on some things that she might incorporate into her next experimental potion.
The rest of the day passed by infinitesimally slowly, but, soon enough, it was ten-till five.
She left the library quickly, almost forgetting to return the books she'd borrowed in her haste to make it to his office before he disappeared into his private quarters to do whatever it was that he did during his usual half-hour break before dinner.
She approached his door, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.
Carefully, she lifted her hand…and then gently rapped on the door.
"Come in…"
Taking a deep, calming breath, she adjusted the strap of her bag, she pushed open the door…
Part 13/?