Dreaming of You
By: acrophobia1322
Chapter Three:
What Goes Around, Comes Around
Severus was on top of her, very close to her soft body. He could breathe her in, smell her very essence. Feel the silkiness of her chestnut hair against his fingers. Take in the warm chocolate color of her eyes as she stared into his. And then, in a quick moment, it was over. His eyes opened and he groaned as the loud screeching of his alarm went off. He grabbed his wand from his bedside table and flicked it, making the sound end. He rubbed his eyes and sighed, fully aware of the dream he had had. He didn't linger on the subject; he got up and got dressed.
He walked into the Great Hall less than fifteen minutes later, not as much strictness in his step as there usually was, and he failed to notice anything that would require taking points from any students for the whole breakfast period.
"Severus, are you quite alright?" asked Dumbledore, looking past McGonagall to stare at the Potion's professor.
"I'm fine." There was no bite in these words (which was odd all in itself). Just exhaustion.
"Would you like to take the day off?"
"No."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes. I just need a moment with my pensieve and then I'll be just fine. I'll take care of it tonight," Severus replied. 'If I can stay sane enough today.'
He absentmindedly looked over to the Gryffindor table and spotted a familiar brown, curly head near the front, with Harry Potter on one side, and Ronald Weasley across from her. His eyes narrowed and, as he did every morning, he shoved his plate away. He couldn't eat with the thought of a naked Hermione Granger floating through his head. It was so vivid, as if it actually happened. Her skin was so soft, her breath so warm. He inwardly shuddered and stood up.
"Severus?" questioned McGonagall.
"I'm going to set up my classroom for my first period," he stated, and then left the Great Hall, sweeping past Miss Granger.
Hermione shivered as she felt Snape pass by. She looked up and saw him leaving the Great Hall, looking extremely agitated. She finished her toast and grabbed her bag from beside her, getting up to leave.
"And where are you going?" asked Ron, a piece of toast scraped with jam dangling from his mouth.
"Ah," breathed Hermione, looking suddenly apprehensive. "I-I'm going to drop my stuff off in the Potion's classroom and then ask Professor Snape a question about my aiding time before going to the library to pick a book to read."
"Ah! Should've guessed that," Harry said, swallowing a mouthful of eggs. "See you in Potions?"
"Yeah," replied Hermione before exiting the Great Hall.
She stepped into the Potions classroom rather slowly. She stopped suddenly when she heard a foot tapping on the ground.
"A little early, aren't we, Miss Granger?" Snape breathed, looking at her back. She turned around to face him. He was leaning against the front of his desk, robes draped over the side of it, with his arms cross and a foot tapping lightly on the ground.
'Oh, bloody…' she thought and began to blush. The classroom was a little hard to face after her most recent dream, which took place in the Potions classroom, on a desk…She shuddered. "Er—yes, Professor," she managed, trying to simmer down her red face. "I was just going to drop my stuff of so that I can make a quick run to the library. I was also wondering…well…"
"'Well' what, Miss Granger?" Snape snapped, his foot still tapping on the stone floor. "I haven't got all day." His voice was at a lack of icy sting, however, as Hermione noticed. His face was somber and his eyes were trying very desperately to stay focused on her face.
"I was just wondering if you were alright. You looked…aggravated this morning when you stormed out of the Great Hall. I was just wondering if anything was bothering you," she said, taking a few steps toward him. He was looking into her eyes when suddenly he choked. Hermione knew immediately that he had been reading her mind. After his regained composure, he rubbed his eyes and glowered at a nearby desk.
"You know, it's incredibly indecorous to read your students' minds without just cause," snapped Hermione. "Especially when mine is plagued with dreams so…" Hermione stopped and watched him, feeling her face reddening even more. "…interesting." He was giving her a rather odd stare and it was unnerving her. "Professor?"
"Tell me, Miss Granger," he began, "how do you feel when you wake up from having these dreams?" Hermione's eyes widened and she covered her warm face with her hands, turning a shade that even Ron could not compete with. "Do you feel disgusted that you are having dreams of touching me and being touched by me in return?"
He felt foolish asking those questions but he had to know. The dreams he was having, they were…pure bliss to him for some reason. He had noticed her in hallways and in class. How could he not? She had changed in the seven years she'd been at Hogwarts, dramatically. Her hair still was slightly bushy but was mostly a mass of curls. She had lost the baby fat she had had no partiality for and filled out in quite a few places. She was no longer a little girl but a young woman…but she was still his student. He watched her with unwavering eyes.
"I don't feel disgusted, Professor," she murmured, stopping but a foot in front of him, "merely perplexed. I never thought I could have dreams like this. I never dreamed I could have dreams like this."
"Cute," he muttered sarcastically.
"It's an odd feeling, really," she continued, acting as if she hadn't heard him. "My stomach clamps and it feel…woozy. Is that normal?"
"Highly doubtful," he replied.
"Well, I was just wondering if you were alright," Hermione said after a long, drawn out, awkward silence. She checked her watch. "Oh, drat! Class is about to start now! I guess I won't be able to make it to the library after all."
Snape watched her sit down and was going to say something when the bell rang, signaling for classes to begin, and all of his first period Advanced Potions class swarmed into the room, each sitting at their respective seats. He grimaced and tapped his wand against the blackboard, watching as the instructions appeared.
When the class was over, Hermione told Harry and Ron to go on ahead. They shrugged and left as Hermione finished packing up her things. Snape was sitting behind his desk, pretending to grade papers while listening to her shuffling around. When she started to move toward him, he looked up, fixing his face with a glower. She disregarded it rather reluctantly and walked behind him.
"Miss Granger, what are you—" he stopped when he heard her gulp. She was leaning over his shoulder from behind him and he could smell her, almost touch her. "Miss Granger?" Hermione gulped again, wondering if she should have continued or just gotten up and walked away.
"It wasn't disgusting," she breathed in his ear, her face turning bright red. "I promise it was anything but disgusting."
Snape's head jerked up and he looked her in the eye. She nodded at him and started to leave when he grabbed her by the wrist. He spun her around, pointed his wand at the door, muttered something, and then wrapped his arm around her waist. Her face was red as a tomato and her breathing had completely halted.
"P-Professor?" she asked. She hadn't planned to have that effect on him, not that it wasn't completely unwelcome. "Um—I have Transfiguration next." She watched him bury his face in the crook of her next and inhale deeply. "Professor?"
Snape suddenly came back to himself and released her, backing away sharply. What the bloody hell was he doing? The way they…no…the way he had been acting was very unprofessional. He grabbed his wand, pointed it at the door, and removed the locking charm.
"Go," he said quietly, turning from her and putting a hand over his eyes. "Go to Transfiguration. Do not tell anyone of what has just transgressed, understand?"
"Professor…" Hermione whispered, taking a step toward him but he held up his hand to halt her.
"Do you not listen?" she snapped, the ice returning to his voice. "I said go!"
The brunette took a few steps back, giving him a wounded stare before turning, picking up her things, and leaving the room, glancing back at Professor Snape, who had hunched over his desk, his back to her. She left, making barely any noise except for the soft clank the door made when it closed.
"Damn it!" he hissed. "Damn it all!" He took a deep breath and stared down at his desk before jolting off it, looking at it as if it were disgusting. 'I'll never look at a desk the same way again!'
He sat down behind his desk and covered his eyes, trying to regain his composure. What had he been expecting? She was still his student and he was still her professor…nothing more than a professional relationship could ever take place. He scowled as the third year Ravenclaws started to enter his classroom and began to get ready for class.
Hermione entered the Transfiguration classroom two minutes before the bell rang. She sat down by Harry and Ron and they both raised an eyebrow at her.
"We thought you'd be late," said Ron. Hermione gave him a look.
"I'm never late for class," she whispered in reply. Harry was going to say something but McGonagall appeared to give them their assignments.
The day passed and Hermione soon found herself heading back to the Potions classroom, her stomach clenched uncomfortably and several large butterflies flapping around inside it. She pushed the classroom door open and entered. No one was in there. She stared around it for a moment and then moved over to a door at the back. She knocked.
"Professor?" she asked, pushing it open slowly to reveal his chambers, but they were also empty. She sighed and sat down in the chair across from his at his desk.
What was she supposed to be doing? She didn't know. She shrugged and stood up, just walking around the room, examining it more closely than she ever did. She was about to come out from behind his desk when something caught her eye. Something silvery. She looked under his desk and saw a pensieve sitting on the floor, glowing ominous silver. She pushed the chair out of the way and looked into the pensieve. The most recent memory was swirling on top and it made Hermione gasp and jolt upward, banging her head on the top of his desk. He was either having thoughts about her in certain…ways or having dreams similar to hers. Her heart started pounding in her chest.
"Miss Granger?" came a familiar voice. Hermione jumped in fright and her head hit the top of his desk again. She moaned in pain before sliding out from underneath it and standing up. "Miss Granger, what, pray tell, were you doing under my desk?"
"Erm—" she began, the cogs in her mind working faster than usual. She felt around in her pocket and held out her quill. "I—er—I dropped this!"
He didn't look entirely convinced. His eyes locked on her and she looked away quickly. He was trying to read her mind again. Well she wasn't going to let him this time. If he found out she'd looked into something as personal as his pensieve, she was sure he'd become insanely angry. He opened his mouth to say something but the door flew open and Sylvia Poreschi stepped in, Justin by her side once more.
"Severus!" she called. "How good to see you again!"
"Sylvia," he hissed, giving her a look. "My aide is with me now. She and I must begin our work. We cannot talk right now."
"But we need to," she whined.
Snape checked the time. "In 25 minutes, Sylvia. I'll come to your room and speak with you, but at the present, I have to begin teaching my aide, as you must also. Now go." Poreschi frowned and then left the room. "My god, that woman…" Hermione gave him a questioning look and put on an amused smile. "Entertained?"
"She seems to like you," Hermione replied.
"Too bad I don't return her feelings," he growled, sitting at the chair behind his desk. His foot tapped something and he looked down. Hermione's stomach clenched in fear when she saw a look of anger cross his face. "You were looking at my pensieve, weren't you?" Hermione was silent and she looked away, her face turning red. Snape got to his feet and strode over to her, grabbing her shoulders firmly. "How much did you see?" Hermione squeaked when her back hit a wall, hard. "Answer me!"
"Nothing!" she cried. "I only saw your dream…I think it was a dream! But that was all! I promise!" His grip on her shoulders tightened and he forced her harder against the wall. "You're hurting me!" She tried to pull his hands from her shoulders but was unsuccessful. "It hurts…"
His hold on her shoulders relaxed but he didn't release her. He took a step back so that he was no longer crushing her body against the wall. She looked up at him with fearful eyes. He leaned in and searched her face a moment before speaking.
"Do you enjoy knowing that I read your mind, Miss Granger?" he asked her, his voice low and dangerous.
"N-no, sir," she choked out.
"Do you know that looking into my pensieve is like reading my very personal thoughts?" he continued. Hermione nodded. "Yet you did it. Did you do it to get retribution for the times I've used Legilimency on you?" Hermione shook her head.
"I was just genuinely curious, Professor," she murmured, her heart hammering in her chest and the blush spreading fast over her features at their closeness. Her breathing was shallow and she felt smothered. "Um—have you been having…odd dreams as well, Professor?"
"No," he lied.
"But your pensieve—"
"No."
"But—"
"Enough, Miss Granger," he snapped and checked the time again. "We have fifteen minutes left. Sit down so that I may begin showing you how to plan your lessons." She didn't move as he went over to his desk. "Miss Granger, did you hear me?"
"Huh? Oh! Yes, sir!" she blurted and dropped in the chair in front of his desk.
They went over lesson planning, though Hermione paid less attention than she normally would have. Everything was just so…confusing. She didn't know what to make of the man in front of her. He could be insufferable but…something about him made her feel awkward and childish. It made her impetuous. She shook her head, quickly took in as much as she could before demonstrating it for him.
"Good," he breathed, watching her write down a fake agenda for a class. He checked the hourglass clock on his desk. It read 'She was supposed to be at dinner five minutes ago'. He sighed. "Well, our time is up. It seems our lesson extended five minutes more than it was intended to. Gather up your things and go to dinner. I expect you here tomorrow."
"Right, Professor," she replied, quickly picking up the thing from around her.
"And remember, Miss Granger," he began in a low, silky voice, "what happens in here, between you and I, stays in here, between you and I, understood?" Hermione nodded and left.
'This is going to be the oddest year I've ever had…and probably the most stressful,' she thought as she made for the Great Hall.
A/N: Well, there you have it. What do you think? I tried hard to make it look good. Is Sevvy too out of character? I don't know. He just doesn't feel right to me. What is he lacking…? Oh! Also, I revised the first to chapters. I'll put them up sometimes next week, okay? Anyway, review and help me out before I totally fail in this.
Oh, D.Y.K., I thought about deleting this and starting another one. I wrote the first chapter for it too. It was called Purely Professional. But I think I'll wait until I get Writer's Block on this before I start that one.
Thanks for all the great reviews so far. IPTUS!
Acro
