Oh god! All of you wanted more! I feel so happy! How could I disappoint you? I can't stand begging eyes! Just like Severus in chapter one ^_^ I want you to know that all of your reviews are highly appreciated, and at least looked through 7 times, if not more. Really, I live for your reviews, all of them!

I must say again that I had never expected this to be reviewed so graciously… I thought it was all too dramatic…

Oh—just one more thing; I changed the title a bit.. It was supposed to be named "Just one more minute" instead of "moment". It's something that Rowling said about the mirror of Erised, if I'm correct. Or something similar. And I replaced the stuff Lis pointed me on.

I have to get one more thing off my skin before letting you read the story… You have got no idea how much it pained me to not be able to give you another chapter right the other day. Really, I worked as hard as I could, and your reviews were a great support for me!

'Just one more minute' never is enough

Spending time with Ron was much more relaxing than I had expected it to be. We hanged around a bit, and his jokes even made me forget my sorrow for a while. When we arrived at the lake, Ron suggested to sit down. I tried hard to fight back the memories of Severus and me sitting there.

"I'd rather walk, thanks." I said with a forced smile. "Besides, it's getting very cloudy. We'd better return to the castle."

I was right. Before we could had turned around, big raindrops fell down. By the time we'd gotten to the castle, we were already soaking wet.

I had almost reached the door, when suddenly somebody gave me a powerful shove from behind. I swung my arms around in an attempt to regain my balance, and let out a small scream as the ground closed very fast…-- Beng. I tasted the mud, and quickly pulled myself up, trying to wipe the dirt out of my eyes and nose. I almost had to vomit as I swallowed some grit, and felt clotted pieces of filth slither down my leg.

My hair—My untameable hair that I this morning finally had managed to get it the way I wanted it—now was all bushy again. Angrily I turned around to see who had done this, and was not surprised at all to see Draco Malfoy standing against a tree, grinning.

"Draco!" I exclaimed furiously. He had been on my skin for some weeks now. I suppose he somehow had began to suspicious something, although not enough to begin to imagine how things really were.

"I'm so sorry, Granger," he said icily, rolling his eyes. "I didn't see you! Of course not because I couldn't see you ugly head of hair—I mean, even a blind man can see that—but I must have looked the other way."

I tried to calm myself down, but involuntarily my hands searched for my wand in my robes. Ron had his already pointed at the serpent-like boy.

"Attacking a girl from her back!" he said with a disgusted look. "How weak! Did you father teach you that, Malfoy?"

Draco didn't respond, but his eyes rolled from me to Ron, and back.

"So, you're dating a mudblood now, eh?"

I saw Ron's face was expressing nothing than anger, and knew he was going to attack Draco—But I was faster.

"Obsidet Animum!" I shouted, and a blue beam of light hit Draco. He took some steps backward, and had a very dazzled expression on his face. He regained balance, but the puzzled look stayed. He shook his head, and stared at his two hands. Then he hit with one hand his other, and muttered something.

Ron laughed loudly. "Wow, Hermione, what did you do to him! I'm sure we didn't discuss that in class!"

I grinned also as Draco stumbled around a bit, his hands stretched out before him.

"It's a confusion spell," I explained. "I read it in 'How to Attack Someone Properly'. I had never used it bef—"

"Miss Granger!" a familiar voice interrupted my sentence. I swallowed before turning around to see nobody else than Severus Snape standing in the doorway. Was it just my imagination, or did he truly wince as our eyes met?

Now that I looked at him better, I saw he seemed exhausted; His face was paler than ever, and I could see a vein just above his temple beat very fast. Too fast. I knew it—He was having one of his chronic headaches again. Normally he would've taken a potion, that would lighten the pain a little bit, and sit down somewhere, doing nothing. Standing out here in the rain was not going to help him.

I suddenly felt the urge to do something about it, I wanted to ease pain, help him relax. He was looking so intimidating, but I knew that at this very moment he was suffering awful pains, and couldn't bare much. I bent my head, and put my eyes down.

"Thirty points from Gryffindor for hexing a student!"

I felt my cheeks burn. Why did he, of all teachers, had to be the one to catch me on that. I'd even prefer a disappointed McGonagall above Severus, especially when he was in a state like this. Ron jumped up.

"But it was Malfoy's fault, sir! He first threw her—"

"I don't care what he has done!" roared Severus. "There's not magic allowed on other students!"

A tear fell down from my eye, directly on the ground. I wished Ron wouldn't argue anymore. He had no idea how much energy he was taking from the professor. Ron didn't stop, anyhow.

"But that slimy git called her a mudblood!" he shouted indignantly.

"Ten more points from Gryffindor for your language, Weasley!" barked Severus. Suddenly there was some maniacal laughter, and as I turned around, I saw Draco laying on his back on the ground, holding his feet with his hands, and rocking back and forth.

"Get inside before I deduct more points." Severus said, and I could've sworn I heard him sigh tiredly.

Pissed off Ron stepped passed Severus into the castle, but I actually didn't want to do the same. I looked up at him, my mouth noiselessly forming "You need help".

I didn't know if he got the message, but he stretched out his finger, pointing at the door behind him. I immediately noticed how his arm was shaking.

"I told you to get inside!!" he bellowed. I winced, but went in, not wanting to give him anymore trouble. In the Gryffindor common room, Ron had probably just told the story to the rest, because all of them groaned loudly, and started to shout things in a heap.

"Fourty points?!"  Fred exclaimed, throwing up his hands. "Come on!"

"Yeah!" George agreed. "You didn't even blow anything up!"

"God—He's such a waste.." someone else said.

"—No heart at all!"

"—Not even brains…"

It snapped. I was hungry, soaking wet, dirty, had cost Gryffindor 30 points, had ruined a what seemed nice walk with Ron, had set up the one I loved, and now was in the middle of this.

"Stop it!" I cried, covering my ears with my hands. "Just stop insulting him—for once!" There had fallen a painful silence, wherein everybody was staring at me in amazement, most of their mouths gaping open.

"He's a human just like you," I continued.  "He has got a mind and feelings, even though you might not realise that."

Ron was the first one to get his control over his actions back. He jumped up, and walked to me.

"Hermione," he said softly. "That guy has been dragging you through the mud since your very first day at Hogwarts. I know how much you appreciate your professors, but…"

"Get lost, Ron." I said disgusted, and walked out of the room. Fortunately nobody ran after me, and I quickly got a clean pyjama, and took a long, warm shower. Not only dirt disappeared with the water, but also tears, a lot of tears. And there was nobody's shoulder to cry on. As soon as I lay down on my bed, I fell asleep.

*~*~*

Severus made sure Hermione was gone, before bringing both his hands to his temples. He doubted this pain was human.

"Mom, gimme a cookie!!" It was Draco again. He was sitting on his knees now, his arms put around a tree and he hysterically bounced his head to it. Severus realised he had to help this boy quickly, before he would hurt himself anymore. He grabbed his wand, and tried to concentrate.

"Finite Incantatem." Nothing happened. Damn that girl. She had put a very strong spell on Malfoy, and Severus didn't know if he still had the strength to break it.

He took some more time to focus now, and tried to forget his headache.

"Finite Incantatem!" he shouted, and this time he felt power being released from his wand. Malfoy abruptly stopped pounding, and grabbed to his head.

"What the--?" he exclaimed when he saw blood coming from his head, but then he noticed his professor.

"I suggest you go see Madame Pomfrey, before returning to your dormitory," Severus drawled. Malfoy jumped up, and quickly walked past the Potions Master.

"Yes, sir." he mumbled. He was in such a haste that he didn't notice how heavy Severus' breathing was. The tall man quickly clung onto the door, and put his teeth together.

He wished he had stayed in his classroom instead of going outside to keep an eye on Hermione and Ron.

Get in then!, a small voice in his head said, and Severus decided to do so. The rain and cold wind weren't going to make him any better. He quickly closed the door behind, and slowly started to walk down the stairs. He now literally was blinded by pain, and with every step he took, he felt like his head was being squashed against the wall.

Finally, after what seemed hours, he reached the dungeons. Now, the door to his private room was only a few metres away. He groaned as he realised he needed to get his potion, or else he would be troubled the whole night.

He hold on to the wall and moved forward, step by step. Twice his head hit a torch, and by the time he had reached his office, he had not enough sight to find the case with the potion, let alone the little bottle with the potion. When he couldn't even find the strength to swear, he let himself fall on his desk.

"Hermione," he cried out before becoming unconscious. "Hermione…"

*~*~*

He woke up next morning. His back was stiff, and his head was still pounding, but at least he had his sight back. He stood up, and quickly drank something from the bottle labelled with "XJ501". He never used the actual names to put on his potions. If you had no knowledge of potions, then it wouldn't be easy to steal the right potion here. Only Severus knew the codes.

As he looked at the clock, he saw his first class was almost arriving. Darn it, there wasn't even time for a shower or a cup of coffee. He groaned as he remembered his first class were the last year Gryffindors and Slytherins, for two hours. He quickly started walking to his classroom.

*~*~*

I was having mixed feelings about the upcoming Potions lesson. On one side, I was afraid Severus would piss me off even more than normal, and that he would take every opportunity to deduct points from my house. I knew that actually, for a fact.

On the other hand, I would have the opportunity to watch him again, and listen to his silky voice. That was a good thing.

At least that's what I thought.

A/N: I was thinking again… Thank you for your reviews.. I made a (very) little poem for you!

I may not write for money,
I do get a reward.
A good review makes my day,
And truly warms my heart.