Don't Stand So Close To Me

Chapter 2

In Which Several Interesting Things Come Up

-------------------------

The beaker smashed into the wall with a satisfying crash and the tiny shards of glass tinkled to the floor, taking some of Snape's frustration with them.

But not much.

He snatched up another one and hurled it at the exact same spot on the wall. Dispassionately, he noticed that his aim was improving. As well it should be, considering that, from the amount of glass on the floor, he had destroyed at least five of them so far. Now, Snape was not usually a destructive person. He disliked breaking things, and wasn't fond of messes. But as of right now, he had no idea what else to do.

Damn her. Damn her, damn her, damn her.

No, not really. It wasn't her fault, after all. She cheerfully went about her Know-it-all ways, not noticing him. Except when he assigned extra homework.

Damn!

He peered into his mirror in weary interest. Was there anything attractive there?

No, he concluded. Liquid, inky eyes that were much too narrow. Sallow skin from being inside too much. Perhaps if he were a bit more cheerful, it could be called 'a lovely pale color'

Snape snorted. Cheerful. Yeah, right.

Dark hair that always looked greasy. His body was alright. He was skinny by nature, and had that slight plumpness that spoke of perhaps being starved in the past, and now his metabolism was overcompensating. Then there were the scars, which he refused to get rid of. They were constant reminders of the sacrifices he had to make. High, intimidating cheekbones. Thick, dark eyebrows. And that bloody nose!

As he stared disconsolately, he noticed two things. One – he was looking into a mirror. Not just a I-hope-I-don't-have-spinach-in-my-teeth glance – he was actually looking at himself for the first time in years.

Two, his image was slowly fading. He wasn't surprised, really. This mirror was a rare find, an attempt at making another Mirror of Erised. It had a shadow of the Mirror's desire-showing abilities, it wasn't nearly as strong. It couldn't show dead people as they were, for example. It might show them, but only as a still frame, perhaps from a memory of whomever was looking into the mirror.

It might, Snape realized, show him looking attractive.

Before he could reprimand himself for such a silly thought (he didn't care! Looks didn't matter!) the mirror had changed. Snape realized with a lurch of his stomach that it showed –

– Ms. Granger. Hermione, rather. He tried out the name in his mind rather uneasily, and found that it tasted delicious. Snape looked back at the mirror after a moment and gazed at Ms. Granger (Hermione!) letting himself revel in quiet contentment for a moment, at least. She was lying on her bed, the window open and making her glow. She was reading, of course (did she ever stop?) and stroking – bloody hell! So that was where Longbottom's blunder had run off to! Snape allowed himself a moment of distraction wondering how you could possibly stroke a liquid – but there is was. One hand held the book open, the other absentmindedly ran fingers down that damn potion, making it turn a pleased shade of blue. As Snape watched, something she was reading made her smile.

His stomach gave another hearty flop, and his heart plummeted.

-------------------------

The fireplace roared green and Dumbledore stepped out into Snape's living room. He saw with some concern the shattered glass on the floor, and the mirror that had nearly been thrown across the room. The elderly man walked swiftly to the mirror, muttering Reparo to the broken glass, and set the mirror back on it's engraved feet.

And noticed the fading image of Miss Hermione Granger. He frowned a little in thought, then decisively spoke a spell and jabbed his wand into the air. In front of him, words formed delicately.

Severus Snape : Pacing the castle and grounds with utter disregard to civility and decent facial expression.

Dumbledore chuckled at the spell's odd personality and indignant tone – then sighed in sympathy at Severus's predicament. The lovely phoenix waiting near the fireplace sighed too, a reassuring note.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, of course, you're right. It will all work out in the end. But poor Severus," The phoenix let out a sound that was suspiciously reminiscent of a snigger.

"You terrible thing!" Dumbledore said amusedly to it as they hopped into the fire. "That was most impolite for such a noble bird!"

Fawkes just made another amused noise.

-------------------------

Snape sneered at the dismayed look on Hermione's face.

"That's right, Miss Granger. Your potion is unacceptable. Surely you don't think you're incapable of making a mistake?"

Hermione peered at her potion, obviously baffled. She had done everything right!

Snape sneered yet again. To his amazement, there was something more than just offended pride on her face. Could it be...hurt?

He stepped forward and looked into her cauldron again. Yes, it was almost correct. Scratch that, it was almost perfect. It looked exactly the same as his did when he made it.

"The directions clearly say foaming, not frothing," he said icily. "You receive ninety out of one hundred marks, Miss Granger."

Hermione's mouth opened in shock, and she pushed her way in front of her professor, frowning into her cauldron. Maybe it was a little too dark, but...frothing? Foaming? They were exactly the same thing! Why did he always have to torment her? She admired him so much. Occasionally, she even went low enough to call it a crush. So why did he hate her? Why her, of all people? Did he feel threatened? Jealous? It was all so ridiculous! She felt tears treacherously coming to her eyes.

Snape was having an equally difficult time controlling his feelings. She pushed in front of him, and he took a deep breath to try to control himself. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect, as he took a heady breath of her scent. He had no idea what it was, but it was sensual without being overpowering. And – Merlin – she was so warm...he took an involuntary step backward, but stopped halfway.

I don't want to step back.

I have to.

I really don't want to.

She's a student.

He wrenched his body back, almost tripping in the process.

My God, Severus, this isn't how a Snape isn't supposed to act...this isn't how you are supposed to feel...

Don't stand

Don't stand so

Don't stand so close to me

-------------------------

I LOVE MY REVIEWERS! No, really, I do.

Thanks to Nelys1, GeekGoddess1andAstaildiarfreak for the encouragement.

Thanks to Madelynn Rae, Natsuyori, and k8ebug (hug) for the continued encouragement.

Thanks to Vickie211 for the in-depth and thoughtful review...fanfic needs more people like you!

Thanks to Kerichi, the review goddess. (we're not worthy! we're not worthy!) chuckles I'm working on reading your story. Unfortunately...don't have too much time on my hands. But I AM reading, I swear!

writes furiously to make y'all happy

I'm going trick-or-treating...yay! Going as Trinity. Anyway, I'll try to post another chapter this weekend. Maybe two, I'll have to talk it over with my muse.