A/N: Some Teacher/Student relations in this chapter. Nothing too drastic but just a warning.

Chapter 14: Flaring Feelings

The summer passed slowly for Hermione. She kept to herself most of the time, spending little time with the boys. She found herself succumbing to her night terrors that were beginning to come more frequently. They were almost the same every time; Viktor convincing her to walk with him, kissing and touching that she liked, and the boy pinning her to the ground and raping her.

One night, however, it was Harry pinning her to the ground. And the next night, Ron. She had lunch with Professor Lupin one day, and the same night, he was the one assaulting her. She awoke, crying, every night. Glancing over, she noticed Ginny glaring at her. After a few nights, the redhead moved her things and began sleeping on the floor in the boys' room.

Hermione was awoken by one particularly bad dream where Viktor's face then warped into Harry's, then Ron's, and even into Draco's and Neville's faces. She awoke and was unable to find sleep again. Making her way down to the kitchen and sighed. Eyeing the cabinet containing all of the alcohol, she smirked and pulled out a glass of firewhiskey. She had never tried it before, but someone had snuck it into the Common Rooms several times so she had seen its effects. She poured a glass and downed the whole thing in one. Bad idea. She grimaced as it burned her throat, her eyes watering. She felt the effect immediately. She smiled, her head spinning slightly. What she hadn't expected, however, was to feel so randy. She hadn't felt like this since before Viktor had raped her.

Weighing her options, she made her way up the stairs to the small attic room. She opened the door, which surprisingly, was unwarded. She smiled, seeing the sleeping man in the bed and stumbled over to it. Lifting the covers, she climbed into the bed and studied the sleeping mad facing her. She leaned in and placed a kiss on his lips.

Severus awoke to the feeling of something against his lips. His first instinct was to grab his wand, but he stopped, realizing what was going on. He, too, had been drinking that night, from the same bottle, in fact. The evidence was the nearly empty glass on his bedside table (though that had not been his first). Not opening his eyes, Severus pulled the small body close, returning the kiss with fervor.

Hermione, feeling brave thanks to the drink, pushed the man onto his back and moved to straddle him. She ran her hands down his bare chest as she moved to kiss his neck.

Opening his eyes, Severus smiled. He had had this dream before…several times in fact, and it was one of his favorites. Just like his previous dreams, Severus ran his hands down the girl's sides and pulled her nightie over her head. He felt himself get hard as he took in the sight of her perfect body, much more beautiful than he had seen it before.

Hermione bit her lip and sobered up, just enough to realize what was happening. "Professor, I…" she began when his lips claimed hers once again. Tears sprung to her eyes as she attempted to push him away, hitting his chest repeatedly. "Please…stop…" she begged.

Severus glanced up at her, his eyes going wide when he realized that he was not dreaming. Hermione Granger was, indeed, on his lap with her shirt missing. She was also crying openly. Severus crawled out from under her and pushed her shirt into her hands, working hard to cover his erection. "Miss Granger, what on Earth are you doing here?!" he yelled.

Hermione choked on her sobs. "I…I thought I was ready…" she cried as she pulled her nightgown back on. "I…had a drink…downstairs…" she bit her lip. "I woke up from a bad dream so I had a drink of firewhiskey and it made me…" she stopped, blushing. "I'm really sorry…"

"Get out!" Snape yelled. "Go back to bed! Get out!"

Hermione opened her mouth to apologize again but stopped and turned, leaving quickly. She made her way back into her room and warded the door, lying on her bed. Sighing, her pulled herself together. Snape lighted something within her. He made her feel warm and gave her butterflies. She shook her head; she had to be going nuts. He was cold and had thrown her out so quickly. Then again, she had put him in a compromising position. She had not missed the way her had held one of his pillows in front of him. She pulled the covers up tight and cried herself to an uncomfortable sleep.

Severus paced his room slowly, his cock painfully hard against his pajama pants. Part of him, the logical part, wanted to obliviate the girl so they could go one as if that had never happened. However, the other part of him (which he was working quite hard to restrain) wanted to pin her to the bed and fuck her senseless. He grimaced at the thought, realizing how horrid he was. "You are her teacher…that is just plain disgusting."

Downing the end of his firewhiskey, Severus warded his door and climbed into bed. He growled and pushed the covers back. Mentally cursing himself, he slipped his hand into the waistband of his pants and finished himself off quickly, trying to picture the polar opposite of Hermione to get him there, though his mind went straight to the damned bushy-haired know-it-all.

A/N: Its short and sort of deviates from the plot, but I wanted to add something like this in…its mainly establishing the fact that Hermione is now aware of the feelings she has for Snape. Sorry if you don't like it…let me know either way.