Disclaimer: Just because I updated slowly does not make me J.K. Rowling, who owned everything related to Harry Potter. Sheesh.

A/N: Look, I know I did not update in almost 3 months, and I sincerely hope that it is not going to be a habit or something... Poor me, I have so many to do I hardly find anytime to eat or sleep! *weeps* *looks around and see readers glaring down angrily* Aren't you sympathetic with me? No?

I need to thank you all for giving me so much patience and stayed with me. A special thanks to silver-springs77 and Metallicafangirl who nicely pointed out my mistakes. I will try my best to improve!

LuNa LoVeGoOd5: Thanks, I am flattered! Hope your computer is working okay now, so that you can leave me a review... ^^

ShinHee Tae: Be careful with this chapter, it may lead to even more tears! I nearly cried writing it!

Louise Luvgood: Of course Hermione won't ask that from Adely. That would put Adely in a difficult position and Hermy won't want that right? I have only 15 chapters, including this. Ff.net gave me 4 more chapters, I don't know why. *kick stupid ff.net*

Real-fan05: Strange... you laughed? Someone said they nearly cried... *puzzled* I loved it when people quote me, yay! *dance*

Ezmerelda: Oh have I misled you? *innocent eyes* Hehe...

nesscafe: There will definitely be kisses and many more! *evil grin* But you'd have to read and wait and see!

Kittie: I am sorry, I know this is not quick enough! You can hit me as you like! *eyes closed really tight*

Akasha Ravensong: Glad you liked it!

HPFanficLuvr: Thanks for the suggestion, it is very detailed! And Sevvie is great of course, that goes without saying... *dreamy look*

crazy2: Thanks!

Teri: Raspberries are also in short supply here... pity, I loved them! All I ever get is frozen ones...

Sly Snake Slytherin: Who wouldn't be? I am definitely jealous of Hermione... but they are meant to be together! And I am sorry for the wait, hope you like this chapter!

Auriana: Thanks! Glad you like it!

willow-nymph: Thank you for reviewing!

silver-springs77: My Goodness!! That's a stupid mistake!! Thanks for pointing it out to me. I am not American nor British that's why. *bang head on monitor*

julkat007: Thank you!

Metallicafangirl: You are one observant reader aren't you. I loved it because it means someone is really reading my story carefully. I will not make that mistake again! Thanks!

Bullwinkle435: I hope u find this chapter lovely as well. I have finished reading your story and would like to say congratulations to you! Keep writing!

Merry the Psychotic Coconut: Thanks! I am so happy that someone liked the dialog! Heaven knows how difficult it is to write a convincing one for a non-native speaker.

tenniStar514: HG/SS seems repelling to many but many of the best fan fiction revolves around them! Ron will get better, don't worry. And keep reading!

Queen-Ditz: I am sorry for the wait, hope the new chapter makes it up!

Absinthe Faerie: Thanks! Ff.net now provides author alerts, doesn't it? I haven't tried it yet but it sounds quite helpful.

rebecca89: Thanks!

Liberty1: Yes! Sevvie is breaking down... even more than you think! *cackle* Scroll down and read it now! Oh boy!

evilbon32: Miss, can I put you on a challenge to write an entire page of review for me? *big hug* I loved your reviews! And once again thanks for reading my chapters so thoroughly.

Procyon Marie: Thank you!

Noriko M. Chijinu: Thanks! *in tears* You're so considerate! As for your story, I loved it! Write more when you've time!

Makalani Astral: Sorry for my poor grammar, that's because I am not a native speaker. English is my second language! But still I will try to be more careful. Thanks for your review!

abigfan: I am back, with the newest chapter! Thanks for reviewing and staying with me (and my story)!

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~*~*: You'll have to wait for the kiss, woohoo! *evil author laughs*

Casiana Joy: Yeah I am Chinese and a proud owner of a stupid Chinese computer that can't read English right. *kicks computer*

metallicverb: Thanks! I will try my best to write quicker!

michelle: Am so sorry for the wait, I hope it is worthy!

Phew, I will say no more crap cause you are all eager for the new chapter, right?

*audience throws shoes and tomatoes and screams, "Just let us read already!"*

Whoa! *dodges* Okay, okay... *mutters* Touchy...

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Hermione sat up in her bed, blinked, and laid back down. The pillow was once too soft to her liking, but now she buried her face into the cool soft fabric of it, sniffing the familiar smell of her shampoo.

How had she got up here? When had she fallen asleep? Last night passed like a blur, a blur too good to be true. Maybe it was just a dream.

She sat up again, knowing that it would be useless to stay in bed all day dwelling in fantasies. She struggled out of the sheets and pushed the curtains apart. Immediately she felt a coldness ran down her neck. Grabbing a scarf, she walked over to the bathroom. A dim gray light filled the room, the morning was breaking. Hopefully, I could do some revision before breakfast, she thought as she stepped into the warm water.

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The day was about to start.

Soon the sun would rise, its brilliance would fill Hogwart's ground, and so would the mindless chatter of the students. He sighed at the slowly brightening room. The fire was burning low in the fireplace.

He hadn't had a wink of sleep whole night- he couldn't. He tried pacing around the room, he tried turning a bit on the bed, but nothing helped. Admitting defeat, he sank into his favorite armchair and looked into the fire pensively. He did not know how many thoughts had passed through his mind, he just allowed them to, to ran in circles in his head.

Why had he embraced her? Why must he succumb to his desires once more? Hadn't the past lessons been quite enough, enough to warn him what terrible consequences this could bring? Yes, yes, they were enough, but how weak was the flesh! He stood up and started pacing the room with his hands behind his back.

Could he give her what she wants? No. Her young face appeared in his mind, her tinkling eyes, her ringing laughs. No, no, she deserved more. Much more than he could ever give. He had no sense of humor, he was old, he was not appealing, he could not fly with her. He could not give her a sense of security, he could not promise to be by her side whenever she needs him, he could not tell her everything she wanted to know- given that he was a spy. All he could offer was a cauldronful of potions and his heart.

He stopped in his tracks and looked up at the ceiling. And why would she want that?

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"Good morning, Dean, Neville," the girls greeted the boys in the Great Hall.

Hermione took a seat next to Neville, who poured her a goblet of orange juice. "Thank you," she smiled and helped herself with a piece of cake.

"Where is Harry?" Asked Lavender while poking a strip of bacon from Dean's plate. Dean shook his head and got himself another piece.

"I'm here," said Harry appearing out of nowhere. "Hermione?"

"I'm coming," Hermione saw Harry tilting his head toward the door and got up.

Once the two were alone in the corridor, Harry pulled Hermione behind a pillar and crossed his arms. She turned her eyes away uneasily.

"So," Harry cleared his throat. "Was it over?"

Hermione did not answer right away. Not that she had forgotten her promise, but how could she tell Harry that not only wasn't it over, but it progressed last night? Well, it was just a hug, but it was a hug from Snape. She had not thought it possible for his arms to bend that way.

"I- we-" she rubbed her hands nervously, touching the scar on her left middle finger.

Harry looked at the scar and saw that it was a fresh wound. "What happened? How did you cut yourself?"

"It was not a hallucination," she whispered, touching the throbbing scar again. "It was real..."

"What was real?" He could not quite catch that.

"Nothing," she smiled at him, and seeing his apprehensive expression, quickly changed the subject. "Ron kissed me the other night."

"I'm sorry," it was Harry's turn to look apologetic. "I shouldn't have told him-"

Hermione stopped him with a hand. "He's your best friend."

"Yeah," shifting to another foot, Harry didn't look too relieved at her understanding. "Um, I, uh, better have some breakfast before the first lesson."

Sorry, Hermione apologized to his retreating back. She should have told him all about last night, but selfishly she wanted to keep it all to herself for the time being. A memory shared only between her and Severus, a moment treasured in her mind forever. She would tell her friends one day, but until then, the embrace would be a secret.

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She had not imagined it to be so hard. To steal a glance of him, that was.

It was her regular detention, and tonight she had the luck to brew yet another batch of dreamless sleep potion. Hermione was tempted to try brewing it with closed eyes but thought better of it. Instead of talking with him like she usually would, she focused so hard on her potion that her head felt like it was going to burst.

What should I say? What should I say?

This was just ridiculous. She could talk to him fine before, why couldn't she now? But her mind was blank- there was nothing for her to say, it seemed. At the same time her mind seemed crammed, incoherent thoughts, unspeakable questions. She knew what she wanted to say, of course. There was something she wanted to say so badly that the only way to prevent it from spilling out was to keep her mouth shut.

What are you doing in the kitchen last night? What does the hug mean? She wanted to know.

Do you... like me?

The thought struck her like a meteor. She was sure that he could hear the thought, and reflexively took a peek at him. Coincidentally, he turned at that split second and their eyes met.

Look away! Her mind shrieked.

And she did. Before anything in her mind could flow into his, she turned away. But she could not stop her cheeks from flaring red when she added the Belladonna essence with a trembling hand. The potion hissed and she nearly dropped the vial.

Get a grip, Hermione Granger, She reproached herself angrily. Picking up the jar of crushed dragon fangs, she took a deep breath and counted from one to ten. One. She twisted. Two. She twisted again. Three... Four... She tried harder and a stinging pain arose on her fingertips.

But the cap wouldn't budge- her palms were too wet with sweat. Five...

Suddenly a big hand snatched the jar away from her. Effortlessly he opened the jar and dropped some dragon fangs into her cauldron. Then he put the jar back onto the bench and returned to his work.

Come on, say it, say Thank you! But no voice would come out from her mouth, and silence continued in the dungeon. If the atmosphere could not be classified as 'awkward' before, it definitely could now. She watched as the potion simmered in the cauldron and was suddenly irritated that he didn't try to say something.

Tell me what does that mean! She cried in her head to no one in particular, and no answer came back, like a stone dropped into a well too deep. Is it pity? Do you go around hugging students because you pity them?

Maybe it was just a dream, a dream after all.

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What had happened that night? Or rather, what was happening?

He strode down the hallway, heels clicking against stones and cloak swishing behind. He walked in great big steps, not bothering to hide his presence with his usual feline grace. In fact, he wanted to storm, to lash his frustration on someone, to holler. But those were emotions, things that he was so used to conceal. To holler would be similarly difficult for him as to smile.

Smile. The first thing that flashed across his mind when he saw her was to smile. She seemed to be in a hurry. He stopped in front of her and hid the twitching of the corners of his mouth.

She stopped as well, knowing that there was no way to creep past him without his noticing. "Good morning, sir," she greeted under her breath, eyes on ground.

"Miss Granger," he acknowledged, glaring at the frizzy mess that was her hair. Wasn't she going to look up?

"Professor?"

He had not seen her for a week. Oh, sure, they had met in lessons, in detentions. But he had not seen her, as in seen. If he had not known her better, he would have thought that she was evading him.

"Uh, professor?"

"Yes," he answered, berating himself for slipping into a reverie.

"I need to go," she began to walk past him, eyes still focusing on her shoes. Maybe she really was evading me, the thought flew across his mind at that instant, and before he could stop himself he reached out to grab her shoulder.

"Professor?" She sounded quite taken aback, and looked up with her innocent eyes, enquiring.

He let go of her so hastily that one would think he had been burnt. "I, um, what lesson are you having?" Heaven help me- I sounded like a hormone-driven teenager asking somebody out. How long had it been since his last stutter?

"Arithmancy," she replied and flashed him a small smile.

Before he could say anything, she walked away. He looked at her thin red robes billowing in the winter wind, and thought of her tiny body feeling so fragile in his arms the other night.

He should have at least returned her smile.

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"I blew it," Hermione said once she sat down beside Lavender. Professor Vector eyed her disapprovingly.

"Where have you been?" Lavender whispered.

"I-"

"Miss Granger," Professor Vector drawled in a warning tone.

Hermione fell quiet and took out her inkbottle and quills. Order was restored in the classroom, the only disturbances were quills scratching against parchments and an occasional turn of page. She enjoyed the peacefulness of lesson, she really did. She had always liked Arithmancy. Nothing brought her mind together like Arithmancy did, but today not even an extremely difficult problem could clear her head.

She had never thought of what to do after confessing to him her feelings; in fact, she had never considered telling him at all. What now? She asked herself constantly. What happens after the hug? It should have been enough, knowing how demanding that was for him and how she never expected anything to come out of this stupid crush.

"Pssst," Lavender nudged her arm suddenly.

She jumped and scanned around the room, but the Professor was no where to be seen.

"Professor Vector's just given us a break," Lavender rolled her eyes. "Where were you?"

"In my own world," Hermione put down her quill and yawned.

"Obviously," Lavender took a look of her work and said. "You should not take th- wait," she giggled and pointed at her friend's parchment. "Is this what I think it is?"

Hermione blushed heavily and snatched the parchment back.

"A heart? You were drawing hearts when we should be working on question fourteen?"

"It's not a heart," Hermione retorted faintly.

"Yeah? Then what is it?"

"A drop of ink," she answered unconvincingly. At once a long string of laughter escaped Lavender.

"I saw him just now," Hermione continued but was interrupted by another snigger from Lavender. She glared at her friend who was holding her sides as if in great pain. "I don't know how to react..."

Finally managing to contain her laughter, Lavender chastised gently, "Don't tell me you've ran away again." And seeing Hermione's lowering head, she sighed, "Hermy!"

Professor Vector came in at that moment with a cup of hot tea in hand. Hermione had never been so glad to see her. Picking up her quill, she started to frantically scribble down the new question while at the same time fully aware of the heat radiating from Lavender's glare on the back of her neck.

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Another night of silence.

He turned sideways to glance at her. Shadows created by the flickering fire dancing on her face, her curly bangs draping across her forehead. She was not pretty, only mysterious. And he was suddenly suffocated by it all. The fire cracking beneath the cauldrons, the simmering potions in them, the dungeon itself; and, most of all, their time spent together here. She was so close to him, inches only.

Merlin knows how much it takes of him to not just pull her into his chambers-

-and have a good night's talk.

Yeah, right.

Fine, don't believe me. He flouted at the smirking tone of the voice at the back of his head. To talk with her seemed to be the only thing on his mind these days. He had so many to ask.

Is this all a big joke? Is this yet another trick you and Potter plotted on me? If it's not, then why all the evasiveness now?

His stomach churned up at the thought of those questions. They had swirled in his mind for weeks, pulling him deeper into the bleak hole of despair. He knew that dwelling on them was probably most harmful to both his physical and mental health- only yesterday Albus warned him about taking points from every single student within his sight- but he could not help it. He had not a wink of sleep last night. Again.

No, she would not have to answer any of those questions. He knew she would cry hearing them, let alone answering any. So no, she would not need to answer them. He wouldn't ask. The questions could just live in his own mind forever. What did it matter anyway? What difference did it make even if it was only a trick she played on him? No, no, it made no difference. He could never bear to hear her admitting it. So if it made her happy, he would let it be, he would let her play her game. Maybe she would even get a laughter or two out of his stupidity, or maybe she would defend him when Potter and Weasley cursed him.

"At least he gave me a good laugh last time he hugged me," she would say.

He closed his eyes briefly, painfully. An awful pain struck his chest like a sabre. She reminded him too much of that past, and he had thought that once was definitely enough. He had not imagined that he could still be hurt in this way.

But still he wanted to talk to her. Because if he couldn't hear her voice any sooner, he might die...

"I am done, professor," her timid voice repeated what she said every night.

Done being alone with me. Done with yet another silent detention. Done with torturing me. He waved a hand wearily, not looking at her.

And this was the worst part. He felt like a coward every time she leaves. He could have stopped her, grabbed her, ordered her to stay. But every night she slipped, like quicksand between his fingers.

He walked over to a cupboard, took out a glass and a bottle of Firewhiskey.

All he could do now was to numb himself.

----------

"Hermy," someone was waving a hand in front of her face. She blinked. "Hermione?"

"Oh, hi," she pulled a smile that looked worse than a grimace.

"What are you doing here outside?" Ginny asked and took her hand. "Merlin, you're all chilled!"

"I, um, forgot the password."

"You're kidding, even I remember this month's password," Neville replied incredulously and gave the correct password to the Fat Lady. "Lions rule."

"It's Ron's turn to set the password this month," Ginny rolled her eyes and climbed into the Common Room.

"After you," Neville gestured.

"Wait," Hermione looked about and exclaimed, "I forgot my bag!"

"It's almost curfew!" Called Neville at Hermione who ran down the hallway. She did not stop. Neville shook his head and got into the welcoming Common Room as well.

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Should she knock? Or should she just tip-toe in and grab her bag?

She pushed the door and thankfully, it did not creak. She peeked through the tiny gap.

Severus was no where to be seen.

Feeling braver, she pushed the door wide. Her bag was right there beside the cauldron. Walking as quickly and quietly as she could, she reached the bag and turned, beginning to leave-

"What are you doing here?"

She nearly jumped out of her skin and fell backwards. His strong arms were around her in a second, pulling her to her feet. She gasped for air and caught a stinging scent of alcohol from him.

"What are you doing here?" He repeated, and she could not tell whether he was angry or not. Looking up, she immediately noticed his face, much redder than usual, and a thin film of perspiration on his forehead. Fumbling for her handkerchief, she accused,

"You drank."

"I did," he replied, catching her hand. Hermione looked at him in surprise. His eyes were shining and she could see herself in them- a scared little form with a wrist in his grip. She tried to take her hand back, but his grip though not hurting, was insistent.

Scared? Am I scared?

Yes, she was. And he knew it. Contrary to what she usually felt around him, she was scared. The man in front of her was not Severus. Severus was cynical, sarcastic, cold, but he never scared her. This man here radiated danger, and her mind was screaming for her to get away from him. She took a step backward, but he was quicker than her. He took her other wrist and pushed her to the wall. Immediately she was locked between him and the freezing door.

"What," Severus said, drawling each word out slowly. "Are. You. Doing. Here?"

"I- I- I forgot to take my bag," she stuttered. This man was not Severus! Severus was not in there, where was he?

"You shouldn't have come back down," he breathed onto her face. Hermione hated it.

"Please let me go," she began to wriggle. She was frightened. Where was Severus? He would never talk to her like that.

The man tightened his grip, and Hermione felt tears welling in her eyes. She looked down, not wanting to appear weak.

"You're hurting me. Let me go," she said croakily. Did she sound like she was going to cry? "Let me go!" She cried, more strongly and determined this time, and attempted to yank back her hand. She needed to escape from this man, he was not Severus...

"We need to talk!" He pulled even harder.

"Severus!" She could no longer hold back her fear, and cried out for help. He would come to her rescue, as he did before. Big tears rolled out from her tightly closed eyelids. "Where are you? Where are you?"

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"Severus!"

Instantly he became himself again.

Oh gods, what am I doing-

He did not know what to do. Instinctively he took her in his arms, and as she clung to him helplessly, sobbing uncontrollably into his shirt, he felt a terrible guilt mixing with a wave of emotion pounding in his head.

What was this emotion? Why did it hurt so much?

He kept patting her back with pathetic skills. Where should I put my other hand? He wondered.

"It's okay now, everything is fine," he would like to say something else, but this was the only thing he could think of. He wanted to bang his head.

But then, he was never good at consoling and comforting others, and he was not easily comforted either. Seeing how her sobs were gradually quieting down, he thought that perhaps his consoling was not so bad, after all.

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He was back.

She could feel it. Although he still reeked of alcohol, he was back.

Almost immediately she felt safe. Nothing could harm her when he was with her. He took her in his arms, just like the day they met in the kitchen. He was patting her back, but he did not know that the tears she was crying were tears of joy, tears of relief.

He was so bad at this, she smiled in his shirt.

He probably had not comforted anyone in the recent decade... she thought and realized that he was talking. His voice sounded even deeper when her ear was pressed to his chest.

She sat up, looked at him, and smiled. This same face frightened her half an hour ago, but now Severus was back behind those black eyes, and his frown was no longer threatening but only sent a pang of warmth up her body.

"Sorry," he apologized, and Hermione realized that was what he had been doing for the last ten minutes. She smiled broader, blinked and caused another tear to fall. He brushed it away with a calloused finger.

"You must not have known how pretty you are when you smile with that tear," said Severus lowly. Hermione caught it very clearly, though, and her whole face and neck turned into a vivid shade of crimson. Severus seemed to realize what he had said, and looked away uneasily.

After what felt like an eternity of silence, Severus cleared his throat,

"Come, I'll fix you something to drink."

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"Sit here," he ordered.

"But I-"

He pulled her onto his lap and put the steaming mug into her hand.

"-I'll be too heavy," she finished her sentence, blushing again.

"Nonsense," she did not exactly felt like a feather to him, but he was not satisfied. He mentally reminded himself to make her eat more. "Finish the honey."

She sipped the honey slowly, glancing at him every second sip and seeing that he was looking directly at her, blushed and turned her attention back into the mug.

He waited with a patience that was not known to most of his students.

"Honey?" She enquired with a raised brow once she finished the beverage.

"With calming potion," he reluctantly admitted. "Only a teeny drop."

She looked back into the mug, and Severus caught her secretive grin. Taking the mug from her, he put it onto the end-table next to their armchair and turned to face her.

"I am sorry," he said formally, hiding the overwhelming guilt from his voice. Picking up her hands, he examined her wrists and was distressed to find livid red marks on them. Wordless, he accio-ed some healing cream and gently rubbed it onto her wrists. She winced, but did not say anything.

Once Severus finished applying the cream, she looked straight into his eyes. "I am okay."

"It's my fault," he replied simply.

"No it is not," she said heatedly, and holding his face with both her hands, forced him to look at her.

"I should not have drunk and hurt you."

"I should not have left my bag, then," she retorted, then in a mellower tone, "You never meant to hurt me."

"No, but I did," he covered her hand on his face with his own, and sighed, "we need to talk."

"But we are talking."

"That's not what I mean," he took her hand from his face but did not let it go. Hermione looked at him and an understanding glowed in her eyes.

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"How did it get this far?" He wondered.

She giggled softly. "I don't know. How did it get this far?"

"I don't know," he protested. "You started it."

"Maybe you should try asking the goddess of fate," she said, resting her head onto his shoulder. He reflexively put his arm around her.

"I am not talking to Sybil Trelawney," he replied quickly and Hermione laughed.

"That's not what I mean by fate."

"Fate didn't bring us here," he began curling a piece of her hair with his index finger. "Your food did."

"You haven't even tried them," she said, not mad but half amused. "Adely told me so. You left the food untouched everyday. But then, it probably is the best that you didn't try them, because they sure looked like they were poisonous..."

Severus covered her mouth with a hand and stopped her rant. "I tried your dessert."

"You did?"

"Only because the elf insisted so."

"I didn't order Adely to force you to eat anything. That would put her into a harsh dilemma," she replied, puzzled.

"It insisted probably because it likes you and did not want your effort to be wasted."

"Adely is a 'she', not an 'it'," she frowned but brightened up. "How did you find the dessert?"

"A little salty," he answered frankly. "I understand that it's difficult to tell the difference between sugar and salt."

"I can tell sugar and salt apart," Hermione sat up indignantly but was being pulled back down by Severus.

"Yes, I'm sure you can."

"The pudding is only salty because, um," she cleared her throat. "Because, ah, I was crying when I was making it."

"I finished it."

"You did?" she asked again with widened eyes.

"I like salty puddings," he said seriously.

A string of mirthful chortle escaped her, and she laughed into his neck like a Christmas bell. Severus listened and sighed in contentment. What he would give to let time stop at this moment, having her in his arms and hearing her laughs. Yes, this was his idea of happiness.

The fire burned lower and he added some logs into the fireplace. They cuddled together in cozy silence.

"What will become of us?" He asked serenely into her hair.

"I don't know," she yawned and snuggled closer to him. He summoned a blanket and wrapped it around themselves.

Soon he, too, was sound asleep.

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Hermione stirred and moved closer to the source of warmth. Something brushed her face.

"Go away Crookshanks," she mumbled groggily, swatting the thing weakly with her palm. Crookshanks sniggered.

Crookshanks sniggered?

Her eyes flew open and met with a pair of jet black pupils, looking at her amused.

"Good morning, Miss Granger," Severus greeted her, sounding happier than Hermione had even heard him.

"Good morning professor," she closed her eyes again and hid her face into him.

"It's seven thirty."

"Why on earth did you install a window in a nice, cool dungeon?" She complained, having every intention to stay where she was.

He sniggered again. "Get up, you lazy Griffindor."

"Mm hmm," she gibbered incoherently into his shirt. Then, lifting half an eyelid, whined, "I never knew you are a morning person."

"And apparently, you aren't," he replied. "Get up, or I'm going to pick you up."

Hermione got up quickly hearing that, and stretched. Severus stood up as well.

"My legs are numbed," he noted.

"I told you I'd be too heavy," she said apologetically.

His lips twitched and he had the peculiar urge to laugh out loud. "It's not you, it's the armchair."

"Yeah, right," she scratched her head and began to walk away.

"Wait-"

She stopped by the door and looked at him. Severus saw her hair sticking out in every direction and wanted to laugh again. "We'll have double Potions after lunch."

"I know," she said, still not completely awake.

"And-" he swallowed, finding it difficult to say.

"And?"

"Why did you evade me in my lessons?"

"I-" she wanted to say that she had not, but she knew that would be a lie. A lie that he could see right through. "That's because I don't know what to do besides looking away."

"Oh." That's it? Severus wanted to ask more but thought that it was probably not the best time to do so. "So..."

"See you in the Great Hall," she gave him a dazzling smile and was gone.

He fell back into the armchair and rubbed his temples. What had happened last night? One moment he was in agony, and the next moment she came in and brought him back to earth. Heaven, even. From the corner of his eye he saw the empty bottle of Firewhiskey, and felt that he was the dumbest man ever walked on the surface of Earth. To suspect, to presume that Hermione Granger, a fifteen-year-old Griffindor girl, would play such foul tricks on him...

I really have been in this spy business for too long, he decided, and walked into the bathroom whistling.

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A/N: Hope you like this chapter! I nearly cried writing Sevvie's agony. Please tell me if this is too OOC to your liking. I hope not, though! By the way, I have Msn Messenger finally, my email is robotobias@hotmail.com, add me if you want to and we can talk about Sevvie! The next chapter will probably be out in about a month, please be patience and wish me happy birthday! My birthday is on 22nd Jan, which is the first day of Chinese Lunar New Year. Please review and toodles!