A/N: Everything recognisable belongs to JKR
Hermione and Severus enjoyed the solitude the remainder of the holidays brought, but it was soon back to reality as the start of the new term arrived and the rest of the students with it, many of them adorned in new jumpers and hats, carrying new satchels, and showing off new gadgets they had received for Christmas. After having the castle to themselves, it was a bit jarring.
They avoided the crowds in the corridors by spending a majority of the next few days in her lab working on another variant of the memory potion. Severus had been pleased with the ingredients she had thought to incorporate. Although they didn't traditionally combine and were known to produce side effects, each ingredient was carefully chosen to cancel those effects out, hopefully leaving a potion that would be pure enough to seek out and recover any missing memories. Hermione thought he was even more pleased by the fact that it required extensive brewing times which gave them more time to indulge in one another's attentions.
She had never thought that Severus Snape would be a particularly affectionate person, but it quickly became apparent that affection was something that he craved. If they were walking side by side, his hand would brush hers questioningly until she reached her fingers out to intertwine them with his. When they were seated together, it was never long before his fingers would dance slowly across her back until they came to rest on her shoulder and pull her close to him.
However, there was always a hesitation in his actions that made her feel a bit sad. She wanted to attribute it to a relationship being a new experience for him, but she couldn't quite get that explanation to stick. Affection had always flowed freely between herself, her family, and her friends. If Severus had lacked that growing up, then she would see to it that he was showered with the same attentions she had been, and his birthday was the perfect opportunity to do so.
His birthday arrived bitterly cold and snowy. Hermione was struck by the grimness of the day - it had rained all night and turned the snow into a grey sludge that matched the sky and made the air feel even more icy. Even the portraits appeared to be shivering as she passed through the corridors on her way down to Severus' lab. It was slightly too early to find him at work yet, but she left a parcel for him on the sofa and removed the Christmas decorations that were still hanging by the fireplace. After conjuring some streamers and a small banner wishing him a happy birthday, she was satisfied with the change in the room and headed off towards breakfast.
She was just packing her Herbology textbook into her satchel and preparing to take off for her class when she spotted him in the doorway of the Great Hall. He had grabbed a bacon roll from the Slytherin table and was eating it hurriedly, exchanging a few words with his housemates between bites. He was already on his way back out the doors and in the entrance hall before she caught up with him.
"Severus!" she called, causing him to stop in his tracks. He turned toward her, a smile playing at his lips.
"I thought I had missed you. Thank you," he said, grabbing her hand and giving it a slight squeeze as she caught up with him. They took off for the greenhouses. "This will be great for Quidditch." He reached up to stroke the new black scarf against his throat. Although her knitting had improved, she was pleased that he wasn't fussed over the slightly uneven width in places.
"If you find the warming charm to be a bit much, I can always adjust it," she offered.
"It's perfect. I've already been out to the forest to do some checks and I didn't feel the cold the whole way there and back." She couldn't help but beam at his compliment and leaned up to give him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Come on in, you two," called Professor Sprout, holding open the door to Greenhouse Three. "I've got a lot to cover today, and I won't get through it if you dawdle."
Hermione felt a flush rise to her cheeks as Severus dropped her hand and they hurried in to the greenhouse together.
After a harrowing two hours harvesting venomous tentacula leaves, they were released, and decided to forgo their usual library time in favor of lounging in his workroom. They feasted on cauldron cakes that Hermione had ordered from Honeyduke's, and she had conjured some balloons to float about the room that chirped "Happy Birthday!" anytime they floated near. (Severus appreciated the sentiment, but eventually banished them to a corner of the room.)
He was seated upright on the sofa and she was stretched across the length of it with her head against his leg. He was stroking her hair absentmindedly while reviewing some of notes when Hermione couldn't resist breaking the silence they had lapsed into. "Had you really been wanting to kiss me for ages?" One of her favorite things to fall asleep to was re-living the moment he had first kissed her - the way she felt, the tension in the room, and his admission after he had done it often left her with a butterflies in her stomach and a smile on her face that she often woke up with.
"Oh yes," he replied. "I couldn't stand you, either, so I hope you understand how confused I was."
"Couldn't stand me?!" She sat up, indignant at his response. She knew that he had been wary of her, but couldn't stand her? She thought she had done reasonably well to reign in her more annoying habits and remain relatively inoffensive.
"Of course not," he began matter-of-factly. "You not only had the nerve to sit at my table in the library on your first day, but you also assumed that I would help you after we were forced to sit together in Potions," he shuffled his notes and put them down, finally turning his full attention toward her.
"I assumed that you would help me? I believe Slughorn assumed that!"
The corners of his mouth turned up in a slight smile. He was enjoying winding her up.
"The only reason I kept sitting around you was to make sure the werewolf didn't try anything. I might have been given an award for special services to the school if I fended off an attack."
Hermione gave him an incredulous look. "You enjoyed the competition of trying to get to the library table first. You enjoyed gloating if it was you."
"I certainly did not. I just enjoyed exerting my superiority over you."
"Shut up, Severus, I know you enjoyed watching me just as much as I was watching you." She nudged him playfully.
"Oh, you were watching me?" he asked. "I never would have known if it hadn't been for you slipping me potions ingredients, casting spells for my protection in class… Gryffindors have no subtlety."
"You enjoyed the attention." She rolled her eyes and reached for a cauldron cake. She nibbled on it - it was full of lemon curd and white chocolate.
"I do have a confession to make." Severus reached for one of his own and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully.
"Oh?"
"Yes. I may have taken that parchment from you that day I met you outside the greenhouses."
"Really!" She nearly dropped the remainder of her cake. She remembered that day - that was the first day he had spoken to her voluntarily. And she was surprised he had done it. How many students would have gone out of their way to return something that had been dropped? But if it was taken...
"You were too wrapped up in your own reading to notice that someone had accio'd something out of your bag," he continued to explain. She was surprised he had been able to get away with it. And she had thought that he had been too wrapped up in his own reading and observing Lily Evans to notice her!
"Severus!" When she had questioned him she had never expected him to open up this much. Despite her protestations, she was enjoying this.
"I was desperate to know what you were doing. I'm glad I did it, though. Helping with your research has been the highlight of my last year," he admitted.
She was glad he did it as well. She enjoyed the time she spent with him because of it, and he had taught her so much through their work together. He had become invaluable to her research and experimentation, and she felt that she had grown, personally and academically, through their partnership. And, she was pleased that it had brought them together, of course. She had never expected to find Severus Snape to be her ideal romantic partner, but now she had trouble imagining him as anything else in her life.
"And when exactly was it that you realized you wanted to kiss me?" Hermione asked, probing further.
Severus finished off the cauldron cake he had been holding before he answered. "I think it was when you turned Black down for the Yule Ball. You said that you would rather go with a hippogriff. I was tempted to find one just so you could prove your point." He smirked at the thought.
"I wish you would have," she teased. "I think it would have saved me a lot of stress."
"And you?" he asked.
It was his birthday. She would let his ego be stroked. "I knew I had been fighting a crush on you. My mood lifted considerably whenever I saw you, but I think it was after the Yule Ball, when you asked to borrow my potions notes. You didn't need them."
"I did not," he confirmed.
"But it was later when I finally admitted it to myself - I think I had planned on you being in the library and when you didn't show I was unreasonably disappointed."
Severus grabbed her hand laced his fingers through it, raising it to his lips before lowering it into his lap and tracing the outline of their hands together. They sat in silence, Hermione enjoying the feeling of the light touch of his fingers against hers.
"We waited ages." She stated after a time. She knew the reason on her part, though she shoved that uncomfortable reminder of the possibility of changing timelines to the back of her head.
"I wanted to make sure you were a worthy candidate for my affections," he teased.
"A worthy candidate!" she scoffed.
"Yes, well, once I knew you weren't an idiot, it was full steam ahead. I did have my worries about Lupin, though. You did spend an inordinate amount of time with him."
"Remus Lupin never desired my attention as anything more than a friend," she explained. "I can confirm that he doesn't desire anybody's attention, and probably will not until he comes to terms with his condition."
"Less talk about the wolf, please. More talk about me and how great I am." Despite his teasing, he was really enjoying this conversation as well. He was more relaxed than she had ever seen him considering some of the topics of conversation.
She rolled her eyes and leaned up to kiss him.
"That works, too."
They stayed in his workroom until dinner forced them to separate and Severus assured her that it was the most pleasant birthday he had had in a number of years. The only other thing he requested was a small lock of her hair - which she granted, after a severe promise from him that it wouldn't be used in anything like Polyjuice. "Of course not," he had replied. "Your hair - in the light - in the sun -" he began to blush. "It glows gold and copper - it's one of the loveliest things I've ever seen."
Their days continued in comfortable variations of this: attending classes and meals, spending time in her workroom or his (although Hermione preferred his - it was more comfortable and there was less of a threat of Dumbledore or McGonagall stopping by unexpectedly), and spending their evenings in the library. When he asked her what her plans were for the day, or he informed her what his were, there was always the unspoken question of her joining him.
In the evenings when it drew near to curfew, Severus usually accompanied her back to Gryffindor tower. Although there had been no corridor attacks for weeks now, she was thankful for his company, and they usually lingered outside the entrance to the tower until the Fat Lady began shooting them disapproving looks and chiding remarks.
Life was pleasantly quiet for a few weeks until Hermione arrived at breakfast one morning to find the din of the Great Hall was a bit louder than usual. Through her read-through of her Potions text that morning, Hermione's ears caught the names "James Potter" and "Sirius Black" thrown around by a number of students, and when she looked along the Gryffindor table, found them to be missing, though that wasn't a highly unusual occurrence. However, when she attended Potions to find Severus missing, her stomach began to turn in knots, and she desperately hoped that the two were not connected. As soon as Slughorn dismissed the class, she went to Severus' lab to find it empty, and then ran up to Gryffindor Tower to see if she could find anything out.
She was lucky - Maeve and Alfie were just on their way out of the portrait hole when Hermione approached.
"Sorry, but have you seen James or Sirius?" she asked them.
Alfie's eyes widened. "You haven't heard?"
Hermione shook her head.
Maeve immediately launched into an explanation. James Potter, Sirius Black, and Severus Snape had been caught out of their beds by Argus Filch, and they were having a fantastic duel in the entrance hall. Apparently Filch was still scrubbing at the scorch marks.
Hermione's stomach dropped. Severus had been on his way back from accompanying her to Gryffindor Tower for the evening, and she was fairly certain that James and Sirius were on their way back from the kitchens - she had heard Peter mutter the word "eclairs" as she passed through the common room. Words were traded, (though no one was quite sure what) wands were pulled, and the three of them were in the hospital wing again.
Hermione sighed in exasperation. "Thanks," she hissed through clenched teeth before climbing through the portrait hole. She was tired of this, and she had only had to deal with it for a year. Six years of being bullied - six years of always having to watch his back - no wonder Severus hated James Potter and Sirius Black.
She spotted Remus across the common room playing gobstones with Peter, and had stalked across the room to them before they even had time to acknowledge her.
"Remus - why do you never stop James or Sirius? Why do you allow them to be so cruel?" Hermione screeched, her eyes flashing in anger. The few other students in the common room stopped what they were doing to watch the trio.
Remus jumped at her words, shocked out of his concentration at the game and looked up at her, taken aback by the anger directed toward him. He opened his mouth to reply but Peter immediately jumped in.
"But we weren't - but Snivellus -" he stammered.
"And you!" Hermione pointed at Peter. "You two may think it's okay to stand by and let things happen, but it's not - it's really not - and you're just as bad as they by allowing them to do things like this!" Hermione turned and climbed back through the portrait hole before they had a chance to reply. She raced down to the hospital wing, full of fury at the injustice of the situation. Severus had been doing so well, he hadn't been subject to any sort of irritation or bullying for weeks now, and Hermione had hoped that her presence had put an end to all that - but she should have known that they just wouldn't be able to resist, that they would seize any sort of opportunity that they had to antagonize him.
When she entered the hospital wing, there were three beds with curtains drawn, and two beds toward the end where James and Sirius were chatting almost merrily. She had planned on sitting with Severus, but the sight of the two was just too much for her.
"You!" She pointed at Sirius Black, her raised voice causing him lose concentration and drop the pitcher of water he was charming to float across the room toward them. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the infirmary. She saw curtains part behind her. "You! And him!" She pointed at James. "You two are terrible human beings, picking on another student for your own amusement! Just because they're from another house!"
"Miss Granger!" Madam Pomfrey appeared from the confines of her office. "You need to leave -"
"They need to hear this!" She shook her head at Madam Pomfrey, continuing to point at the pair. "They heard what the Sorting Hat said just as much as everyone else did. If anyone is responsible for turning anyone to the dark side, they are with as much as they torment other students!" Hermione turned her attention back toward her housemates and took a step closer to them. "I am tired of you two walking around like you're Merlin's gift to this school, but you know what? You're not - you're really not, you're no better than Hippogriff droppings on the bottom of someone's shoe."
"At least we're not fucking one of them," Sirius remarked offhandedly to James. The other boy sniggered at his comment.
Hermione snarled in fury and before Madam Pomfrey could stop her, pulled out her wand. "Avis oppugno," she whispered. Small birds shot out of the end of her wand and flew straight for the pair.
"Miss Granger, this will be reported to your head of house! Leave at once!" Madam Pomfrey shouted after her, but she was on her way out of the door already. She was pleased to hear several shouts of pain from behind her before Madam Pomfrey had a chance to vanish the birds.
She didn't know where to go. Her frustration had abated slightly, most likely as a result of her attack on the boys, but she was still filled with restless energy from the injustice of the situation. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the familiar gargoyle at the entrance to Dumbledore's office. "Blood pops," she muttered. The gargoyle obediently opened and Hermione took the spiral staircase to the top of the landing. Dumbledore was not in his office when she arrived, so she took her usual seat in front of his desk. The portraits were all pretending to sleep, but at times seemed to forget to snore and would crack an eye open to make sure she was still there before launching into their pantomime with enthusiasm once more. It was late afternoon when he arrived, and she could see the sun setting from his window.
"Ah, Miss Granger. I believe Professor McGonagall is looking for you," he informed her, removing his travelling cloak and holding it toward a coat rack that grabbed it eagerly.
"Yes. I guess I should apologise, Dumbledore. I've never done anything like that before, and I completely understand that I am fully deserving of detention. It's just - the sorting hat warned us at the beginning of the year to come together, to put aside our differences, and - to see them continually picking on Severus and the other Slytherins - and Severus was accompanying me to the Tower! He was making sure I got there safely!"
"I understand, Miss Granger," he nodded as he seated himself at his desk. The portraits were all awake now and nodding along with him. "I have come to understand that you have a soft spot for the boy."
Hermione felt heat rise to her cheeks, but continued on her tirade, refusing to address his comment. "I don't understand why they do it. I don't understand why they pick on weaker students - I don't understand why they pick on people who are different than them if they're in other houses, especially when they are so inclusive in their own house."
"I can assure you that Mr. Potter and Mr. Black have had plenty of time in detention to reflect on their actions, and will no doubt be given much more time before their tenure here is finished."
"But it doesn't stop them, does it? It's not fair to anybody to be picked on because they're from a different house -"
"You must admit, Miss Granger, that some of the houses do not make it easy on themselves." He had his fingers steepled before him now and was looking at her pointedly over them. Hermione wanted to let out an exasperated sigh. They had had this conversation before.
"Dumbledore," she took a deep breath, trying to choose her words so as to not cause his wand to light up. "You are…" she felt her tongue began to pull toward the top of her mouth and stopped. He gave her a warning look. "Slytherins have more uses in this world than playing the villain, and far more than you believe to be possible." There was an uneasy quiet for a moment before he answered her.
"Thank you, Miss Granger. I appreciate your insight."
"Hear, hear!" she heard Phineas Nigellus' familiar voice pipe up from behind Dumbledore. Dumbledore twisted slightly toward the portrait and gave it a slight smile before turning back to Hermione.
"Now, I believe that, admirable as your spell was, we have a detention to arrange." He made his way to the fireplace and threw a small amount of floo powder in. "Minerva?"
He stood back, and a few moments later Professor McGonagall came through the fireplace with an elegance that Hermione wished she could master.
"Dumbledore?" she asked before her eyes caught Hermione's form in the chair behind him. "Miss Granger!"
"Good evening, Minerva. Miss Granger and I were just discussing her plans for detention. She was so guilt ridden over her actions that she felt the need to speak to me directly. Are you amiable with her brewing potions for the hospital wing for the whole of next week?"
Professor McGonagall seemed both grateful and slightly disappointed that she did not have a chance to speak with Hermione. Although they got on well, Hermione had done her best over the last year to have the least amount of contact possible with Professor McGonagall unless she was summoned to her directly. "Yes, that is absolutely fine, Headmaster."
"And I will let you pass on the compliments that Madam Pomfrey had over Miss Granger's spellwork. No doubt a reflection of your skill as a professor, Minerva," he continued.
"Yes, certainly admirable, but Miss Granger, if you do find yourself angry at your housemates again, please do bring the matter to myself," she admonished, her accent growing thicker in her reprimand.
"I'm sorry, Professor." Hermione replied. She had gone all afternoon without feeling any sort of guilt about her actions until now. There was something about Professor McGonagall that made her desperately eager to please her, and she was struck with the older woman's disappointment in her.
Dumbledore clapped his hands. "Fantastic! All settled. Have a good evening, Miss Granger. Minerva, I have a matter to discuss with you…" Hermione took her leave and exited down the stairs.
Hermione was in her bed reading over the next day's Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson when Lily made an appearance. Her eyes darted around the room, taking in their surroundings, but the pair were alone. Sita was out with her Hufflepuff boyfriend, and Mary was at a Charms Club meeting.
"Hello, Jean," greeted Lily quietly, setting down her satchel.
"Hello," she returned, sitting up and closing her book, bracing herself for Lily's reaction. How angry would Lily be that Hermione had deliberately attacked her boyfriend?
"I've just come from the hospital wing," she continued.
"Oh?"
Lily sighed. "I really wish you hadn't done that, Jean."
Hermione bristled. "I wish they hadn't acted like complete arses - if you had heard what they said to me, I'm sure you would have done the same."
"I know, I know - I got the gist of it - but James isn't in a good place right now, and Sirius isn't either because of it." Lily lowered her voice despite their privacy. "James' dad has been told he has Dragon Pox and they don't know how long he has. His parents told him over Christmas."
Hermione was taken aback at the news. Although she had grown up reading loads about Harry, she hadn't ever bothered to look into Harry's family history. But regardless of that, she found it difficult to feel sorry for James. "Getting bad news doesn't excuse someone to be a terrible person."
"No, it doesn't but James and Sirius aren't exactly the most mature people, are they?" Lily sat on her bed heavily. Hermione was suddenly reminded of herself and the long conversations she used to have with Ron about Harry and his behavior, especially over the summers after their fourth and fifth years. It was difficult dealing with his moodiness and trying to be sensitive toward him while also begging him to be rational. She could imagine Lily doing the same. Maybe it ran in the family.
Hermione shook her head in agreement with Lily's statement. "They're not."
"I'm doing my best to keep them distracted, Jean, but I can't be everywhere at once." There it was - the echo of that same frustration she felt at trying to keep Harry happy and distracted, but still trying to live her own life.
"I'm not asking you to be, Lily. I'm just asking for them to stop bullying Severus."
Lily sighed again. "Well, I've tried to convince them to leave you alone - you both alone - but I have a feeling that they're going to retaliate. I wanted to warn you."
"Thank you, Lily." Hermione opened her Defense book again and tried to immerse herself in the lesson, but found her mind racing through their conversation until she fell asleep.
She didn't dare try to visit the hospital wing again, especially if James and Sirius were still there. She knew that Severus would be alright under Madam Pomfrey's watchful eye, and would understand her decision to stay away.
She was surprised the next evening when Remus sat next to her at their library table. She hadn't seen him or Peter since she had blown up at them, and she did feel deeply sorry over it. He had no more control over the actions of his friends than she did over Harry and Ron's - or even Severus'.
"Remus - can I just say that I am so so sorry for yesterday - I really shouldn't have yelled at you. Or Peter," she added, thinking of the smaller man's efforts to defend his friends.
"I agree - on both counts, actually. No, you shouldn't have taken it out on me, and though in that instance I couldn't help because I wasn't there - there are many times where I should, but do not prevent James and Sirius from doing harm. Their friendship means a lot to me, and I don't want to endanger that."
She nodded in agreement.
"Just tell me how shocked they were when birds went flying in their direction, please," he leaned forward with an eager look on his face.
"I can't even do that! I thought Madam Pomfrey was going to murder me so I had to leave right away!"
He sighed, his head dropping down to his chest with his deep disappointment. "Such a shame."
Remus opened his satchel and pulled out some books. They sat in silence for a few moments.
"James and Sirius," he started. "They're having a bit of a rough time right now -"
"Lily has said, yes." Hermione interrupted.
"They knew something has been wrong - James' dad has been ill for a while, and it's been a big blow to them. James is really angry, and I think he's taking his anger out on whoever or whatever is there. He and Sirius have spent loads of time at the pitch hitting bludgers at one another to distract themselves, but he's also started throwing hexes at other students. He gave a Ravenclaw antlers the other day."
"He needs to be careful," Hermione warned. If he wasn't, he could easily spiral into something much darker. With that behavior, it was no wonder that people suspected him of killing Peter Pettigrew.
"I agree," Remus whispered, ducking his head back toward his work.
Madam Pince walked by, staring at them and their table full of books and parchments suspiciously, so they worked in silence for a while.
"I've missed this," Remus said, rolling up his Transfiguration essay. "It's nice to sit and do homework without James and Sirius turning every bit of paper into impromptu Quidditch balls and Peter giggling his head off about it."
"Severus is going to be busy with an independent project for the next few weeks. You're very welcome to join me. Although I have a detention to serve at some point..."
"I'm sure James and Sirius will be busy as well," he replied with amusement. They worked together quietly for the rest of the evening, enjoying one another's company until Madam Pince cleared them out of the library.
The next morning she was surprised to hear her workroom door open to reveal Severus wearing a thick bandage around his left arm.
"Detention later?" he asked.
"Yes," she confirmed. "Brewing for Madam Pomfrey all this week. You?"
"The same. Dumbledore had a word with Slughorn and saved me from scrubbing trophies." He raised his arm. "I can still brew with this."
"Not too bad then?" she asked, securing the mice back in their cage. "I didn't expect to see you for another few days."
"Not the worst," he answered, crossing to her. "Can I just say - you're brilliant."
Hermione beamed at him. "One day you'll stop showering me with compliments like that."
"Never," he laughed, pulling her to him with his free arm and pressing his lips to the top of her head.