"This doesn't make any sense."
"No, it doesn't, does it?"
Hermione had seated herself in the chair in front of Snape's desk, crossing her legs into her robes with her arms across her chest, taking on the position of an insolent child. She was very cold, and, for the most part, disbelieving.
"Why would you invite me to be tutored privately by you during the summer holiday when you were the one that expelled me from your class in the first place?"
"I'm still trying to figure out that one myself, Granger." Snape stood behind his desk, for some reason refusing to sit down. He, too, had his arms folded across his chest, mocking her manner from the waist up. His fingers treaded lightly across his arms, denting detail into his robe, a different position of light, under each tap.
Hermione examined him with narrowed eyes, searching for something to condemn. "No you're not. You would never do anything without a reason for doing it. I know you too well."
"Do you?"
"Your personality may be complex, but your human instincts are the same as everyone else's, Professor."
"If you know me so well, then tell me this. What is the reason that I am giving you this opportunity? Guilt?"
He finally sat down and leaned closer to her, so close she could smell his breath. It was not so unpleasant, but his teeth could do well with a whitening job and maybe a few years of braces. Hermione had a beautiful picture in the back of her mind of handing this impossible man, this dark beast, over to her parents and letting him suffer under the drill, and without the anesthesia.
"No." Her voice had fallen to a harsh whisper and her elbows rocked to the table, palms supporting her chin. "Only under the rarest circumstances do you feel guilty."
"I assure you that there is no biography in the school library about me, Granger. It is impossible for you to know everything about me."
"I know you well enough. I lived in the same house as you for a majority of the summer. Whether you like it or not, I still know you a lot more than I'd actually prefer."
He frowned and tented his fingers over the crooked bridge of his nose. "Have I not changed?"
Hermione closed one eye, as if observing him in one dimension would allow a more accurate view of internal differences. His black gaze cut into her own eyes ruthlessly, and she felt as if her retinas were being torn apart.
"Not as much as you should have," she answered quietly. " It's like a part of you hasn't realized that you can be yourself again."
"What does it matter?" He was on his feet again and the chair he had been sitting in was thrown off to the side. Hermione sat straight up in her own, startled, and stared at him wide-eyed, apparently afraid that he would do the same thing to her. "I don't matter right now. What's important is your education."
Hermione couldn't cut the bitter tone out of her voice. "Oh, so only right now is it important."
He sniffed. "Yes, actually. And if you would like the offer to remain, I suggest that you use a more respectful tone with me. I am still your professor."
Hermione rolled her eyes and looked to the side, changing her focus to what looked like a baby pig floating in a gray-green slime. Her stomach grumbled in disgust. "You haven't been my professor for a month and half, since you kicked me out of your class."
"Do you want to take the NEWT or not, Granger?"
She turned back to him, and he could see a rim of wetness forming on the bottom of her eyes. She stared at him furiously, but her features softened as she took in what he had said. "What?"
"The NEWT. Don't tell me that you've already forgotten what it is."
She scoffed and rubbed a hand across her eyes, suppressing a yawn. It was growing incredibly late, and she had to be up reasonably early the next day. "Of course I know what it is. I could honestly take it after summer?"
"Yes, they have one test session that allows students who were not able to take the test the first time, for various circumstances, to take it. It might be more difficult, but I believe that you would-" He cut himself off, fortunately catching a compliment before it was able to slip through his careless lips. Instead, he resolved with, "You might be able to pass."
"Where would I stay while you're tutoring me? At Hogwarts?"
Snape snorted. "You do not expect me to spend my holiday at Hogwarts, do you? Granted, the halls would not be filled with the little brats, but there's still the imposing doom of running into someone like Sybill Trelawney every time I choose to wander somewhere."
"But she doesn't ever come out of her tower," Hermione answered sulkily, mind not completely focused on what he was saying. Her mind was turned toward where she would live…if he was suggesting that she would live with him, he was out of his mind.
"She enjoys the sun." Severus groaned. "Take my word, you do not want to see her sunbathing in the summer."
Hermione shuddered and Severus pushed onward, desperate to push past what had almost been a friendly moment onto another matter. "I will be staying at my Manor. It's in the Lake District near Windemere. Quite a bit of rain, small population, mostly Wizarding. There are a few Muggles, and no tourists. Does that appeal to you at all?"
Hermione was unnerved by his promise of isolation. This was beginning to sound like a worse idea every moment, but Severus Snape held the key to her future. And he dangled it in front of her like she was a trick dog, standing on her hindquarters and reaching for the hard-earned treat that was just out of reach of her starved jaws.
"Not really." No one would be able to hear me scream.
"Good." He didn't hear Hermione's growl of apprehension and continued onward, sounding more long-winded than Dumbledore. "Don't expect to have much free time, you'll be working for most of it." Hermione thought that was fine, as long as he left her alone. "And keep out of contact with the house elves as long as possible. They're not quite…healthy."
"Professor, couldn't this wait until I arrive?" There was no disrespect in her tone, only a slight whiny note that reminded Severus of how late it was becoming. "I need to talk to my parents before I decide anything. May I owl you when I arrive home?"
He gazed at her reproachfully from the corner of his eye. "Very well. I will be here until the thirtieth. If I do not receive a response by that day, I will assume that you are not coming."
Hermione nodded and climbed to her feet. She was off-balance but he did not seem to notice, or if he did, he didn't care. "Thank you, sir," she mumbled, starting to make her way for the door.
"Save your thanks, Granger," he retorted as she began to close it, slowing its progress with an unsteady hand. "You will be regretting it once you begin work as my student once again."
Hermione shook her head and closed the door, hugging herself for warmth as she walked down the deserted corridor. Her last time in the dungeons, she thought. How odd that it would be now, that her life at Hogwarts was over.
And what on earth was in this for him?
Thanks to: Joshua Glass (*grins* something, indeed), Lacewing (I figured that Hermione is the kind of person who has to accept what she's been given (it was kind of her fault), and tried to look for the best way to improve it. So instead of having her sitting around whining for the rest of her life, I decided that she should probably get a job. Good choice? Of course...it doesn't matter anymore :) ), Miyu-DeSang (I'm glad you understand it now, it sometimes helps to re-read things. Thanks for reviewing), Dues Ex (hehe, down boy. You have it worse than my crush on Snape. Or Viggo Mortensen. Actually...no, you don't. I seriously wished that I had known that Viggo was in Seattle so I could stalk him. I missed him :( ), c[R]ud[E]dly (Hm, I have a beta now so their shouldn't be. She wouldn't miss them :). B&tB is my favorite fairy tale, it rocks), Anarane Anwamane, Chibidaima (oh yes, it will), Who cares what my name is, StuntChini (ooh! Hope! :D), Akasha Ravensong (perhaps just him, I've never met any real person like him. Unfortunately), and krisleigh.
And, of course, thanks to my beta Laia, who is now going on vacation. If you find any errors in the next few chapters, it's not her fault, it's mine.