Thanks for the reviews everyone :). No, Snape doesn't hate Hermione, as you will read in this chapter. And she does reject him at first, but the she opens her eyes. Enjoy.

He'd been in love with her ever since she'd thrown up all over his robes after Viktor had broken up with her. He'd been half-angry, half-pleased when Hermione had been dumped by her long-time boyfriend – angry, because the Bulgarian Seeker had wounded his beloved and pleased, since he couldn't stand to see her with another man.

But he didn't have a chance. He knew that it was forbidden to pursue a relationship with a student. Besides, even if she weren't his student, Snape didn't stand a chance because he knew very well that all Gryffindors, not to mention Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs - no reason why she should be an exception) hated him. It was his own fault, but he really had no intention of mending his ways.

His heart had skipped a beat - no pounded, when he'd seen Hermione outside the Potions classroom. At times, he cursed himself for feeling like an immature schoolboy. He didn't even trust himself to be near her anymore. When he'd stood so close to her this afternoon, it'd taken all his strength to stop himself from pulling her into her arms and ravishing her soft, pink mouth. He longed to run his fingers through her bushy brown hair. Never mind the fact that she wasn't as beautiful as all the other women he'd been with. Never mind the fact that she was bossy, and an insufferable know-it-all, as he'd once called her. All he knew was that right now he wanted her.

He'd tried to stop himself from feeling this way about one his students. He knew it would never work out between them, but he couldn't help it – he was head over heels in love with Hermione Granger.

Sometimes, Snape would feel so angry with her, angry that she could make him feel this way without even trying. When Viktor had left, Hermione was devastated so much that she burst into tears in front of Snape. He'd wanted to hold her in his arms, kiss her face and comfort her. Instead, he just turned away from her, disgusted with himself.

Sometimes, he came so close to approaching her and telling her how he felt. How would she react? Perhaps she would stare at him blankly. Perhaps she would run away. Perhaps she would call him a pervert. Perhaps…

He was surprisingly good at concealing his emotions.

At first he'd thought it was just an infatuation and that the emotions would just go away if he spent some time apart from her.

Fat chance.

The feelings had just become stronger. His love for her often overwhelmed him to the point of keeping him awake night after night, trapped in this delightful madness.

And now as he stood a few feet away from her, listening to her complain about him, Snape wondered what he ought to do. He completely desired her good opinion, but he wasn't about to go out of his way and start being nice to her and her friends. He was tempted to give her detention, but decided not to - he didn't trust himself to be alone with her.

The Gryffindors wrapped up their conversation and turned to leave – only to find themselves face to face with a very angry-looking Snape. He scowled at them. "Five points from Gryffindor," he said, "for standing unnecessarily outside the classroom."

Then he spun around and walked away, his black robes billowing behind him.

He went directly to the staff room – the place he went to when he wanted to think. Luckily the room was empty; he took a seat on his favorite arm-chair, thinking about what Hermione had said.

He hadn't meant to be so hard on her, but he didn't like it whenever his students disobeyed him.

But then again, he had never been in love with a student before.