Disclaimer: The characters, settings, etc. of the Harry Potter series are not mine. I just play with them.

Part Nine

Severus found that he could avoid Miss Hermione Granger quite easily. All that he had to do was slightly adjust his habits. Firstly, he began by taking his meals alone in his dungeon. This eliminated almost all of the occasion he had for socializing with her. In the comfort of his dungeons, he no longer had to listen to Dumbledore's twittering or McGonagall going on about her trip to Egypt to study ancient cat worship or Hermione giggling every three seconds.

Secondly, he decided to not listen to Dumbledore and would not take him up on any of the suggestions he made. When Dumbledore said that the weather was particularly pleasant and the grounds looked particularly lovely, Severus knew better than to accompany him on his walk. When Dumbledore stated that certain females were missing his company at mealtimes, Severus ignored him. And when Dumbledore asked if he had spoken to Miss Granger, Severus replied that he had not recently had that pleasure, making sure to infuse his voice with as much sarcasm as possible.

Severus had also taken to frequenting the library at odd hours. He would go very early in the morning to conduct any research. He rarely consulted the books within the confines of that room, often bringing them back with him to his dungeon. He found he easily managed to avoid running into Hermione there by doing this, and was only once nearly seen by her. He had been able to get away unseen, though, and no harm had come of it.

But despite the fact that Severus had managed to avoid seeing Hermione during the day, he soon found that he could not escape her at night. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he dreamt of her. His dreams varied in scope from the very lewd to the very tender, but they were too frequent for his liking. He dreamed about her eyes, her hands, her hair, her laughter; he dreamed about the way she had looked up at him that night of the wedding; he dreamed about what he might have heard had he let her continue to speak that night on the street.

He found the dreams to be very disconcerting, and reacted to them as if they were nightmares. He was unable to fall asleep again after awaking from them. He did not want to close his eyes and see her staring back at him.

Dumbledore continued to come every morning to sit in Severus's easy chair and speak with him. They talked about the weather, mostly, and as the school year drew nearer, they began to speak about the incoming students, the ones who were returning, and whether or not Slytherin had much of a chance for the house cup.

Severus was no fool, though, and knew quite well what Dumbledore was after. So during all conversations, Severus kept his gaze decidedly fixed on his lap and answered Dumbledore's questions as shortly and perfunctorily as possible. Dumbledore was not to be discouraged, though, and kept coming day after day to speak with him.

Dumbledore had come and gone on the first of August before ten o'clock. Severus, who had been suffering from headaches for the past few days, had decided to return to bed after he had said good bye to the headmaster, and had been lying, quite peacefully, for half an hour when someone knocked on his door.

At first, Severus thought he had been dreaming as the knock was very faint. He'd stared at the door with one eye for a few moments when he heard it again, much louder and far less timid. Severus sat up in bed and raked one hand through his hair, hoping to make it look slightly presentable. "Come in," he called.

The door opened a few seconds later and, very hesitantly, Hermione Granger stepped into his room.

Severus did not want to acknowledge the flood of emotions that accompanied her sudden appearance, but he felt he was unable to ignore them. There was, at first, sheer delight in seeing her beautiful face, followed quickly by concern when he saw her cheeks were tear stained and flushed, and that her eyes were reddened and rather puffy. After his concern came confusion, proceeded by embarrassment, and succeeded by a strong resolution to be cold and indifferent towards her.

"Miss Granger," he said softly, hearing the steel in his voice and hoping she did, too. He thought by her sudden flinch that she'd heard, and he was pleased. She would not take him for a play thing, again. She would not lead him on and make him believe himself to be in love with her. He would stand up for himself this time and would do her no more favors, no matter how badly he wanted to take care of her and kiss away her tears.

"Severus," she replied quietly as she stepped further into his chambers and closed the door behind her. "The headmaster said you were awake, so I did not think I would be disturbing you if I came to visit."

He cleared his throat. "As you can well see, Miss Granger, I had gone back to bed after the headmaster left."

"Yes," she replied. He noticed that he gaze never wavered and she held his quite steadily. "I see that."

"To what do I owe this pleasure then?" Severus asked, pulling back his covers and extracting himself from his bed. He moved quickly to where his dressing gown was hanging and grabbed it down, wrapping it around his body as quickly as possible. His pajamas were not by any means revealing, but he felt insecure in them nonetheless.

"I received a letter from my mother," Hermione said as he turned to face her.

"Indeed?" Severus asked, walking past her towards the easy chairs and settling himself into one. "And what of it?"

"Well," Hermione began, following him and sitting in the seat across from him. "She wrote about you."

"Did she now? And why did she do that, Miss Granger?"

He saw her cheeks flush, and for the first time since she had entered his chambers, she directed her gaze to the floor. "Elizabeth told her about the dinner we had at their home. She told her that she thought it was very likely that we might soon be married. My mother told Elizabeth that she had no idea that I'd had a boyfriend and when Elizabeth told mother your name, she was very surprised."

Severus nodded though she did not see him. "Amazed and disgusted that the slimy git of a potions professor had captured her darling daughter's heart?"

"No," Hermione replied, looking up at him. "Quite pleased."

Severus did not respond. He did not know what to say. No one could be pleased about such a thing. The general public viewed him as scum, even after his contributions to the war. Too many had been taught by him and too many knew that he was, first and foremost, a bastard. He was a cruel, cold, angry man; none of his other characteristics mattered much to anyone, for none of them outshone his most prominent and most disagreeable ones.

"Are you surprised?" Hermione questioned.

"Very," he responded. "I imagine you told her what a horrible man I am when you were a child. Most parents do not forget the evil men who torment their children."

"You never tormented me, Severus," she replied in a very soft voice.

He sneered at her. "I remember a few points in your schooling career in which I was very rude and very cold to you, Miss Granger. Did they not cause you to run up to your rooms and write a letter to mummy about the mean old professor Snape?"

He was amazed to see her simply smile at him. "My mother and father would like to meet you, Severus."

"No, Hermione. They'd like to meet your boyfriend. They'd like to meet the man everyone is convinced will soon propose marriage to you," he paused to frown. "They certainly have no interest in meeting me."

Hermione cleared her throat. "To be quite frank, you are my boyfriend, Severus."

For a moment, Severus was convinced he had swallowed his tongue. "Excuse me?"

"Well we may not be very physical, but we certainly do other things as couples would. Before your sudden removal to the dungeons, we used to socialize quite frequently. We went out together. We even hugged on occasion. And despite your awful propensity to call me 'Miss Granger,' you've treated me quite nicely. It was as if you had feelings for me. And as well guarded as you think you are Severus, there are chinks in your armor. Eventually, it was not that difficult to confirm my suspicions and see that you reciprocated the feelings I have for you."

"Which are?" he asked with every effort in making his tone as indifferent as possible.

"Love, I believe, is the right term for them, Professor. Feelings of love."

He felt his mouth drop open, and he made no effort to close it. Yes, he was gawking at her and yes, he would catch a few flies, but the woman had just confessed to being in love with him. What was more, she confessed to knowing that he was in love with her. But how could she have known? Was she a Legilimens? Or had he mistakenly looked Dumbledore in the eye and provided the old man with information to share with her?

Her grin grew in size. "I will take your silence as an affirmation of your feelings, then."

He tried to answer but was only capable of responding with a few stuttering noises in gibberish. Hermione laughed at this and stood from her seat. "I am going to write to my parents and tell them that we won't be able to make it out to visit them for a few weeks." She walked back to the door and opened it. "I'll leave the next step to you, Professor. Come and find me when you are ready to take that step."

She walked out into the hall and closed the door behind her, leaving Snape to gawp at it.