A/N: Thank you to: Vlaire, mysticdarkraven, Nore, momsangel, bugbear1, Sensei-Ninja, spanna and The Grim for your reviews of chapter 1. I'm so sorry The Grim but I wrote this before I got your review, I'll slow it down though. Enjoy...

Coming Up For Air

"Hermione, wake up! You've missed breakfast, here, we got you some toast." She sat bolt upright in her bed, Harry and Ron stood beside it looking and her worryingly. "Are you alright? You don't look like you got much sleep."

"Whhhhhhhhhh, I'm fine," Hermione stretched out, "how did you two get in here? The staircases?" Harry pulled his Firebolt from behind him and smiled. Hermione looked at the clock on her bedside table and leapt up, "my timetable! what lessons have I got next?"

"Herm! Calm down, here look, double Potions." Ron started the sentence cheerfully but his tone had changed completely by the end of the sentence.

"Oh Ron! It might not be so bad this year, I mean we chose to take Potions."

"What I don't get," Harry said, "is how he's gonna teach us all DADA as well as Potions."

"He's probably got a time-turner or something Harry, think about it." Hermione sighed, how could they never see the answer?

The three of them made their way to the dungeons, they discovered Lavender Brown, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were the only other Griffindors taking Potions but all of Slytherin, except a small few were still there. Including Crabbe and Goyle who Hermione had been expecting to fail. Draco Malfoy stuck his fingers up as they passed through the door to a bench near the back, they brushed past Snape who was coming out of a cupboard near the end of the room. Hermione kept her head down, but she was sure Snape had looked at her.

When they were seated Snape gave them the usual beginning of term speech, about how important it was to pay attention and whatever, he had said it so many times it was like he didn't need to think about it. He thought instead of the charming, intelligent girl sitting at the back of the classroom, chewing the end of her quill, possibly the only student listening to what he was saying. He set them a preliminary task, not too simple, just to see how much they'd been thinking about Potions over the summer, not something he'd been doing. At last Dumbledore had allowed him to become Defence Against the Darks Arts teacher. Dumbledore had always told him to wait, and this year, what with Potter needing all the help he could get it was time to try and set aside this differences; much more important things were afoot.

He stalked through the rows breathing icily down their necks, he paused over Hermione, trying to overcome the tremendous urge to touch her, to feel the warmth of her glowing cheek. He muttered a colour-changing spell at her potion as she added a Jobberknoll feather. "Purple, Miss Granger? Did I not specify that it should be blue by this stage?" he muttered and swooped down to her level, their faces so close he could feel her breath on his cheek. She stared at him, searching his eyes for some glimmer of explanation, "but I did it right Sir, I did exactly what you told us to do..."

"It would seem Hermione, that you have not been sufficiently practising your potions over the summer, see me at the end of the class." He stood up and paced to the other side of the classroom.

Hermione touched her burning cheeks, put her head down and continued to work. Suddenly a thought struck her; Snape had called her Hermione! She'd never heard him call any student by their first name before, what made him say that to her, why was she Hermione now? She glanced across at Harry and Ron who were attacking each other with dried Flobberworms under the table. She sighed; they may be 16 but it didn't mean they weren't immature prats, she needed a man in her life, not some stupid boy.

The bell went and a great sigh of relief erupted from all the students not in Slytherin, Hermione made a long show of packing her bag, told Harry and Ron she'd catch them up, and made her way to Snape's desk. He was bent down looking in a drawer so Hermione ran her fingers through her hair and cleared her throat. He came up slowly, his eyes fixed intently on hers.

"Sir, that Potion was perfect, I tested it myself, it was just purple I know, but maybe someone changed it to look like I'd done it wrong." She pleaded.

"How can a potion be perfect if it is the wrong colour? It could be mistaken for something quite different." Snape pulled his cloak tighter around himself. "Well Hermione, can you say it was perfect?"

"Yes, Sir, it was perfect. And why Professor do you keep calling me Hermione?" For the first time she'd ever seen his face appeared flushed, he turned away.

"Slip of the tongue I suppose..." But his face told a different story. "Hermione, I don't know how to tell you this but..." She stared up at him, her once bushy hair (she'd bought herself a pair of magical straightening irons over the summer) was swept back simply into chestnut waves, her hazel eyes sparkling. "I'm...well...rather attracted to you..."

The corners of Hermione's mouth twitched, she began to speak, but before she could, Snape's lips were on hers sensuously caressing the contours of her mouth. They could not stop themselves, their lust overpowering them they plunged even deeper into each other. When eventually they have no other choice but to come up for air, they stood, breathless, panting like dogs after a run. Neither could quite believe what had happened, and Hermione looking at her watch gasped.

"I'm so sorry, I have to go now, I should be doing library study." Snape stopped her with his hand.

"Meet me here, tonight, after dinner, don't tell anyone, steal Potter's cloak if you must." He fumbled with a chain around his neck, he turned it twice and vanished.

A/N: I know it's short, but I ran out of ideas, will try to cover more time in the next chapter though. Well they're together now, and just so you know I have every intention of keeping this fic a PG-13. And excuse me, but Hogwarts may have 1000 students but Snape has a time turner, so QED bugbear1. Now review!