A/N: Hello my lovelies… I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has left me reviews… it feels so heart-warming to have this hobby of mine appreciated. Especially when I feel like my writing skill is waning a bit.

I have two shout-outs before I let you get on with the story:

Dash, whom has helped with this story so much; firstly she chose whether to make Hermione a student or teacher, secondly she gave me the idea to turn Severus into a chair in the last chapter and so I give her full credit for the hilarity that ensued from that. As for this chapter, she inadvertently inspired the name of the gargoyle. I'm sure that there was something else but my brain is mush.

Nyx/Phoenix, who inspired the internal musings and panic of our dear flustered and caught-out Severus with her reviews from this story on H.I.S.S. I tried not to go completely verbatim but I was hopefully close enough that she recognises her influence.

Well without further ado, I shall leave you to enjoy. Please feel free to review. I do so enjoy the comments…

Chapter 6

Fuck! How much can she know? What can I say? Lie, Lie, I need a good lie. I just came through the floo into Minerva's office? No! Minerva would have said if I was 'due' to visit. A secret short cut for staff from the dungeons to this floor, opening out just the other side of the gargoyle? No… she knows all the secret passageways thanks to that map from the damn Marauders. Fucking Potter. Screwing my life over. Again! There's always the truth…

As he watched the first tear drop from her honey-cinnamon eyes, wide with disbelief and betrayal, he couldn't bring himself to confirm her suspicions.

No. Not the truth. Come on Severus, you lied for a fucking living. You lied to Voldemort. For years. Why can't you think of one damn thing, a redeeming thing, to say to Hermione Fucking Granger? I'm just going to have to wing it.

"Miss Granger, I…" he stopped as her eyes narrowed and she pulled herself up to stand only a few inches away, facing him.

"What?" She asked with all the venom he had used against her for years. "What could you possibly have to say to me?"

"Hermione, I'm sor-"

"Don't bother. I've been far too forgiving for far too fucking long. I am so done!" She spat angrily as she began to walk away.

He watched her begin to walk away. Knowing this moment was critical if he wanted to find himself back in her good graces and then in her arms, he reached for her arm before she could get too far away.

She tried to pull away. It was too much; she had to get away from him. She could barely look at him right now without every part of her insides wanting to crumble into nothing. She felt so betrayed. He'd read all those private thoughts and fantasies without her permission. She felt violated.

The gargoyle had told her everything. How Snape had left the previous night with her manuscript; how he'd returned this morning with it looking extremely tired, walking a little off and talking to Minerva about it.

Hermione had been too overwhelmed to ask the stone guardian what had been said but now as she attempted wriggle out of the grasp of the man she simultaneously loved and hated most in the world… well, she didn't really hate him. She never could but it damn well felt like it in that moment.

"Dammit, Hermione. Stop wriggling and listen."

His voice was loud, impatient and so deliciously deep that, as she was in such close proximity, having been pulled somewhat against him to stop from getting away, it ricocheted off every nerve ending, slid over her skin causing goose-pimples to prickle and pop all over her. She felt a pulse stir between her legs and her nipples tighten inside her uniform.

Stupid, illogical body. Don't do this to me. I'm mad at him. She thought as she continued trying to get away, pulling helplessly, needing to escape, to cry more, to just breathe and get her stupid, traitorous body in check.

Severus was struggling to hold on to her, she was lithe and wily and almost got away from him twice in the fight she was putting up. After a minute or so he was beginning to lose his patience. He brought his other arm up to grab her second wrist and pulled her flush against him – hoping that if her desire was as intense as she'd written about, as strong as she had explained to Minerva, then his scent and proximity would overwhelm her to the point she would simply stop fighting and succumb to her senses.

It worked. He felt the moment she stopped fighting. Her knees buckled slightly, her petite form went completely slack as she gave up her fight and sobbed against his chest. His arms loosened their grip and moved to cradle her.

The silence of the next few minutes was broken only by her sniffles as she released her anguish and his deep breathing as he took advantage of being a whole head taller than her and breathed in the scent of her hair – cherry bark, almonds and... What was that third scent? Nothing he recognised, at least nothing he was sure of. It was completely foreign to his memory and yet there was a familiarity to it – it reminded him of honey and musk. Could it possibly be… her… arousal?

She had stopped sobbing, stopped sniffling and stood, leaning against him, relaxed but very still as if she moved he would disappear and this moment of pure bliss, of getting to be so close would reveal itself as a cruel invention of her imagination. She could hear his heart beat, sure and steady in his chest where her head rested. She could feel his strong arms around her – impossibly black fabric over porcelain skin which she imagined to be littered with scars over tight muscle and sinew. He felt… strong and warm and… everything.

There had been no intention of giving up the fight but he was so close and he smelled so good – lemon grass, black pepper and cedar wood, all combined in his mouth watering scent. There was something else too, something that was uniquely his and she'd caught the fragrance before as she'd brewed amortensia in her sixth year and watched the identifying smoke curl. Through the haze of emotional turmoil and feelings of betrayal as she replayed the words of Bruce, the gargoyle, she felt her body betraying her too. It was reacting to his presence in the only way it knew how – extreme arousal. Her heart beat faster than she thought was healthy, her hands were sweaty where they rested on his chest near her chin where they had given up struggling and tried feebly to push him away. The tightened peaks of her chest were almost painful where she was crushed against him and as for lower… well that was in what she had affectionately labelled 'Snape-state' – there was something akin to an oil slick at Niagara Falls happening between her legs and she was powerless to correct it.

"Hermione…" he said softly after an unknown amount of time had passed.

Too softly, his voice had broken her reverie and she shivered at the baritone as he began to draw her to face him. She didn't feel ready to look into the eternal depths of his midnight black eyes; surely she would shatter when she fell into them.

"I… I can't… Professor, please, I just can't." Her voice croaked, hoarse from the sobbing as she avoided his eyes.

He was holding her almost at arm's length and his heart just about snapped in two as she averted her eyes to avoid him. He wanted to see her desire in them… he wanted to surrender to it.

"I think…" he began as he put a single, pale slender digit under her chin and lifted her beautiful earth-toned eyes, flecked with the fire as deep and intense as the planet's molten core, to his, "…it is about time you started to call me Severus."

It took a moment for his words to register but when they did he saw those stunning eyes glow with love and excitement and desire. Her pupils expanded quickly and she moved her face slowly towards his, one hand reaching behind his neck to pull his lips down to hers. As bold and courageous as her house of Gryffindor demanded, she licked her lips in what she hoped was a seductive manner and focused her gaze on the palish, slim entrance to his mouth.

"I'm still mad at you…" she whispered half-heartedly before closing the gap between them with one slightly more forceful tug downward on the nape of his neck.

As her soft, warm mouth met his, Severus allowed her the moment of boldness, the initial exploration of his lips. He owed her the chance to do this on her own terms and as she was apparently still mad at him… he realised he rather enjoyed her version of madness. Her hands moved to grab at his shoulders just at the moment that she tentatively traced the seam of his lips with her tongue.

Oooo, you brazen little thing. Why does that surprise me after reading her…

Nothing else mattered and thought completely left his considerably controlled mind as she moved closer to him again. She was flush against him, making him realise there was a slight move to her hips, rubbing against his trousers, against his cock and causing it to stir whilst her tongue attempted more firmly to gain entrance.

Fuck it. He finally thought and allowed her to feel both his moment of submission to her questing tongue and his hands grabbing at her waist, one of which then continuing its journey to her delightfully rounded and pert backside. He allowed her gentle intrusion into his mouth, enjoyed the sensation of her unhurried exploration but after barely a minute it wasn't enough and he grasped her tighter and rather than his own tongue dancing with hers, he fought her for dominance. She gave in almost immediately and seemed rather happy to do so if the soft moan was anything to go by.

"Siiiiiiiiiir…"

"Professor! Professor!"

"Come quick. Hellllllp!"

Three teenage girls in black and green uniforms were hurtling toward Severus and Hermione at an alarmingly fast rate, all with panic stricken faces. They were fifth years by the look of it.

The kissing couple jumped apart and Hermione slunk away quickly to hide around a corner and listen to what had the younger witches so panicked. Slytherins were usually never so animated. Professor Snape was just straightening his robes and looking conspicuously around to make sure Hermione was out of sight, when the three young witches approached him.

"What is it?" He asked, no trace of their moment left in his voice, eyes or posture.

"It's Moon, sir. She's in the prefects bathroom, in the… in the bath. Peeves did something. Now she can't get out and the water keeps getting hotter."

Severus rolled his eyes.

If it's not one thing, it's something else. When will I learn my lesson and bloody quit.

"OK. Miss Clawson, lead the way. Miss Dashon, please alert the Headmistress. I would not wish to embarrass Miss Moon by seeing her in a state of undress. Miss Snowdon, go to Madam Pomfrey for a cooling draught and a possible scalding salve, have her bring them straight to the prefect's bathroom."

"Yes, sir," came the chorus of teenage girl voices as they scattered to their various tasks.

Hermione shivered at the command in his delectable voice as he delegated instructions like an army squadron leader. She decided to get a little payback on Minerva for her betrayal. She wasn't truly that mad now that she thought about it. She'd got a soul-blinding kiss with Severus out of the whole thing and she had given her permission to show him after the fact. That didn't mean the Headmistresses didn't deserve a little payback.

Miss Dashon nervously walked toward Bruce the gargoyle and asked for emergency entrance. Hermione disillusioned herself and quickly moved behind the younger witch, nodding toward the gossiping brute of a guardian. As Head Girl she could authorise things like this. Bruce accepted her authority and allowed them entrance.

A/N: Another chapter complete, back to bite size, sort of; another cliff-hanger, they're becoming a habit again. Oh how my coven is going to yell at me. Love it. I am sure you all may have guessed that I do it intentionally to wind them up. Never fear though, more soon.

As per the rules of our 100 Title Challenge, at least one Coven member had to be included in this fic and I chose four – myself included and took the bullet of being the one trapped in the bath and almost getting scalded to death – Billow Man to the rescue!

Love and Blessings

Moonbeam Out! x