A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed.
Hmm, that went better than expected, she thought as she walked around the room, helping with the students' potions and making corrections if needed. She occasionally glanced at the professor, who just continued to grade. Or so it seemed to her. He was giving her occasional glances, like she had been him. Of course, they were only to make sure she wasn't making a mess of things. Right, Severus, just keep telling yourself that. The truth was, he was quite drawn to her and he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off her, only barely managing to get his gaze back on the papers in front of him before she saw him looking.
Class continued like that. Snape sat and only got a couple of papers graded while Hermione walked around and got to know some of the students. Halfway through class, all the potions were done and Severus took a break from (not really) grading papers to grade the final products.
He walked around the class, handing out points and taking them away. He gave the most points to the Slytherins, of course, but did manage to give quite a few to a Gryffindor named Sarah, whose potion was the first to be finished correctly. Severus sat back down as the students cleaned up. Hermione sat next to him in the chair by the desk. The bell chimed, the students filed out and they were left alone. "What's next?" she asked.
"Nothing," he answered as he moved the parchments into nice piles, organized by class. "First years are my only class until after lunch on Mondays." He relaxed into his chair. "But if you would like something to do, I have some potions that Poppy needs replaced. You could help me, I suppose."
"Sure," she said, with much more enthusiasm than Snape really needed. She stood and was about to grab one of his extra cauldrons (you know, in case someone decided to pull a Neville, she thought) when she felt his hand on her arm. She turned to face him.
"I don't usually do my own personal potion-making in my classroom." He walked to a portrait of a bubbling cauldron.
"Oh." She followed him to the portrait. He whispered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Shakespeare' and the portrait swung open. Hermione followed Severus into what she assumed to be his private rooms. She was correct. She found herself in a large living room, decorated in a deep navy blue. Hmm, not black.
He motioned her through a door that stood to the left of where they stood. She obliged and was met with a large, beige room. It was filled with ingredients and cauldrons of all different sizes. "My own personal playground," he said from behind her. There's something different in his voice. Is it glee? He stared at the woman in front of him, watching for her reaction as she looked around the room.
"It's amazing," she said as she met his eyes. There was something in his eyes that she couldn't quite describe as well. They stared at each other for a few moments before Severus looked away and walked toward the small table that sat against the far wall.
"I've got a list of all the potions Poppy needs. Why don't you pick some of the ones you're comfortable with and get to work? I've got more than enough cauldrons and we've got a few hours before lunch." He handed her the list of potions and waited for her to pick some to work on.
It took her awhile, but she finally settled on three that she knew well. She handed the list back to him, indicated which she would be working on, then got to work gathering her ingredients and setting up her cauldrons. Severus did the same, preparing the ones she had not chosen.
