* 49 *

Snape was overwhelmed with a furious flurry of emotions.

He was outraged. Livid. He saw Harry grab hold of a delicate ringlet of Hermione's soft brown hair, and Snape gritted his teeth so hard that he might have considered asking Hermione's dentist parents for dentures.

He also knew he would not be able to lash out at her about this. Not again. He had no right; she had made that clear to him when she has scolded him for overreacting the first time. Part of him sorely wished he had kept quiet that time so he could question her about it this time, because where the first time had been questionable, this time was clearly a show of more than just friendship between the two of them. Wasn't it?

He looked at Hermione's face. It was adorned with an incredibly blithe smile, one that Snape knew was not his own doing. What had caused it? From what he knew about Hermione, what made her quite happy, and made her break out into a big smile like that, was feeling loved and accepted for being smart as well as an insufferable teacher's pet.

Heh, Snape's mind thought in brief humor, thinking of the indecorous connotation attached to the term now, given their history.

The two he watched now got up to leave, breaking Snape out of his reverie. He immediately stood up himself, only half-focused on the fact that he had apparently already pushed his chair in and was making his way over to both of them now. He knew exactly why, however; something had to be done.

But when he was about to depart from the Great Hall to go after them, to have some kind of conversation with the young witch, he felt a hand on his shoulder, holding him back.

Snape looked over his shoulder to find Dumbledore staring at him. The reflection cast back by his glasses was foreboding, his expression unreadable, but unquestionably full of concern.

"Severus, I believe that we need to talk."


By the time Harry and Hermione had reached the exit out of the Great Hall, there were already rumors beginning to circulate.

"What's going on there?" Padma Patil asked her sister idly as she saw the two of them walk by. They were clearly huddling closer than usual, and that look on Hermione's face was positively girlish. They had to be up to something, possibly a suspicious plot against the Slytherins or two…

But Parvati quickly offered another explanation as they continued walking. "I think they're dating."

"What?!" Padma shouted, and immediately heads turned to look at her from up and down the echoing staircase to see what the loud fuss was about. She covered her mouth, but it was halfhearted; she didn't mind at all as several people started her way to join in on the conversation.

"Did you see them?" Padma said louder when Harry and Hermione had definitively cleared the staircase up to the Gryffindor common room.

"I did. I don't know what that all means, but I did," Seamus agreed.

And soon, the whole group was abuzz with the thought that Harry and Hermione were together. And that meant about a fourth of the school – all those who called the Gryffindor common room their home – heard all about it.

Not everyone believed it. "Oh please," Dean said, already seated in the common room by the time the rest got up there. "Those two have been friends forever, nothing more. They're probably just scheming about something instead," he said, his tone wary. Of course, it wasn't that Dean didn't want it to be true; quite the contrary. Hermione and Harry having developed something would certainly keep him from worrying about Harry whisking Ginny away… He could get her back eventually so long as The Boy Who Lived weren't an obstacle; he knew Ginny had had a thing for him for ages. He just couldn't believe it would be so easy, that something so impossible between the two best friends would have finally happened after so long.

"But they look way too mischievous like that. There has to be something else, yeah?" A room full of contemplative nods was the response Seamus got.

But just then, Ron walked in, and everyone grew silent. They peered at the redhead curiously, ascertaining his reaction to Harry and Hermione giggling like schoolgirls with each other. If the two were together, he'd be the first to know, right?

"You're all way too bloody noisy," he grumbled as he came in the room. Everyone exchanged glances. Did he hear them?

"What were you all talking about so loudly?" he continued, proving he didn't. He wrenched a finger in his ear and moved it back and forth dramatically to make a point.

"Harry's dating Hermione," Seamus said plainly. Every pair of eyes in the room looked daggers at him.

But Ron didn't seem fazed, at least not in the way they expected him to be. He just shook his head and laughed. "Have you gone mad?" he asked simply, plopping himself down in a chair to relax. "Harry and Hermione," he said aloud, laughing again jokily. This was certainly a more interesting conversation than starting his essay, but then again, even talking to Hermione about House Elf rights would be more entertaining than that.

"Come on. I know those two better than anyone. If something was up, I would know," Ron said, his arms splayed somewhat to the sides. He looked around the room, surveying everyone's faces.

To his words, there was tangible disappointment in the room, especially amongst the girls. They wanted to be able to gossip this piece of news up, but it was likely that if Ron himself didn't know, it probably weren't true at all.

Humbled, some of them groaned and turned away, getting back to their regular business. Ron just tsked and shook his head back and forth again, turning and deciding to at least look at the blank piece of parchment before him. Maybe he could dare it to write itself.


The way to Dumbledore's office was amply familiar to Severus by now. He had gone to see the headmaster many times over the years, for various meetings both of boring school importance and for more personal, morbid discussions that concerned the future of all of Hogwarts and more.

On the way there, several portraits turned to look curiously at the two professors sauntering by. They noticed the rare bothered expression of Dumbledore's face, and a Snape that looked as if he were on death row.

When they came upon the headmaster's office, even Fawkes was immediately aware that something was amiss. He gave a weak twitter and cocked his head to look at the new arrival. Dumbledore went behind his desk, but did not sit down, choosing to lavish attention on Fawkes as he thought more thoroughly about what to say, what he could say.

"Severus," he began evenly. He yet stared forebodingly at his phoenix, not turning to face the Head of Slytherin.

"Yes?" Severus responded. His insides had grown completely silent. He was not panicking; instead, there was but a stillness that pervaded him, no matter how much his deeper mind wanted to lash out in every direction at that moment.

"It has come to my attention…that you have a special…interest, in Hermione Granger."

There was absolutely no point in lying when caught stiffly red-handed like this.

"Yes," Severus affirmed numbly. He was as stiff as a statue as he watched the headmaster with an unwavering gaze. He wished to be with Hermione now, both to have the discussion he had been intending to when he saw her just minutes prior, but also to hold onto her now one last time before their secretive little world came crashing down upon them.

Dumbledore turned his head to look him in the eye, inspecting him closely after such an admission from the hard-faced man. He analyzed him, and it was in a way that Snape had never felt analyzed before. It was as if the headmaster dipped the sharpest parts of his intellect into Severus's soul, like a quill into sordid ink.

"And you clearly do not wish to see her with Harry Potter, even as affectionate friends," he continued.

"Yes," the Head of Slytherin replied once more, his countenance adroitly unshaken despite the hoary wizard's impetrating scrutiny.

Dumbledore nodded. He appreciated that Severus appeared to have no interest in lying to him, or coming up with any silly excuses. His blue eyes radiated almost childlike curiosity as he beheld the stern man before him. Severus was a dour man, one who disliked showing emotion at every opportunity he could possibly suppress it, and had more of a habitual scowl on his face than the portrait of sour old Thinneus Dumpkin in the hall. Yet even still, he had just admitted his fancy for a particular young witch, one that had always beguiled the headmaster, the fact of which was likely no coincidence.

Dumbledore had always found Hermione Granger a spectacular conundrum. She was brilliant and incredibly hardworking, and as rational as many fully grown adults dreamt to be. He found it no mere luck of the draw that both he and Snape should find such traits in a student exceptionally interesting, even though the details and extent of their fascination differed in such key conducts.

Dumbledore decided to get to the point of what he was saying, as even though Severus did not show his discomfort, the headmaster knew those sable eyes well. They were imploring him to get on with it, whatever the old wizard's reaction may be.

The headmaster took a breath, then said, "I will be gone this Christmas, Severus. I believe I have already told you why." His blue eyes dimmed as his mind swirled with the knowledge and weight of what he must do. Severus nodded silently.

"While I am away…" he started with a brittle voice, but then stopped to take a moment. His withering visage clearly showed every sign of being unwilling to leave, but he composed himself with another drawn out breath. "It is my request to you to not…complicate matters between Harry Potter and Miss Granger, whatever the current status of their friendship may be."

Snape's lip twitched at this personal entreaty. Dumbledore caught his eye and, from the slight change in the Head of Slytherin's face, felt he may need to clarify his precise meaning.

"I am not going to say that what is going on is advisable," he said. "I don't believe anyone could," he admitted bluntly.

Severus's eyes remained hard, but at last, feeling the corners of his mental resilience finally begin to slip, he anxiously started to fiddle with his hands behind his back.

"But that is between you and Miss Granger, and…"

Severus held his breath.

Dumbledore's gaze was undressing his every fear. "…So long as your actions are able to avoid concerning the other members of the staff, I will not take any punitive measures."

Snape finally took in a whole breath. When he let it out, it trilled ever so slightly, but he could feel that with it left the anxiety that had been clinging mercilessly to his insides like wizard's glue.

"You do realize, however, that if should any of the staff be alerted at any point – and they in turn come to me for a resolution – I will have to take matters into my own hands, as a proper responsibility of the headmaster at Hogwarts," Dumbledore presaged.

Severus nodded curtly, but his shoulders and body were becoming more relaxed. He was overall quite distinctly less worked up than he had been only a minute prior.

"I am not asking for you to turn a blind eye to Miss Granger yourself, Severus," Dumbledore continued meaningfully. "I am asking that you not do anything to set her off during her Christmas, or purposefully sabotage what may very well turn out to be her happiness, for her sake," he said. If Severus didn't know any better, he would say the headmaster now spoke with an almost foreboding tone.

He concluded hauntingly, "For surely, Severus, if I may say… I feel you may live to regret it."

Severus's lip curled. He did not like Dumbledore making such a private comment to him after already giving such incredibly meddling and intrusive advice, especially given what the older man knew about the Potions master's shadowy history. But he would let it pass this time, for he knew the man well, and thus understood the good intentions with which he spoke.

Severus could also not begrudge him the fact that he may be right.

"Speaking of Potter," Dumbledore said suddenly, definitively clearing the blackened air with a crisp and upbeat tone. "I do so wish you would deliver him this message at Slughorn's party."

Severus made a face.