Disclaimer: The characters of Hermione, Severus, McGonagall, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Voldemort, and Crookshanks belong to J.K. Rowling.
She left five years ago. Five years...For five years he has sat in his dreary dungeons thinking about her. For five years he's wished that he wasn't a greasy haired git; wished that she would come slay the demons that haunt his dreams, but his screams in the middle of the night still go unanswered. How he hoped that she would come back. He would give anything just to get a glimpse of that chestnut-colored hair or her luscious lips curled into a beautiful smile. But who was he kidding? Why would she come back to Hogwarts? Even if she did, why would she want to see the professor that she despised most?
He shakes his head, trying very hard to get her out of his mind. Maybe a midnight stroll would do. He could catch two unsuspecting Gryffindors snogging in a corner and give them a months worth of detention. Smirking to himself, he leaves the dungeons. After an hour of meandering the halls he finds himself outside Gryffindor tower.
"Severus, is everything all right?" Professor McGonagall asks as she steps out of the portrait hole.
"Ah...Yes, everything is as it should be," he responds back first surprised then angry for being caught day dreaming.
"Since when do you stand outside my house's common room, voluntarily? And at one in the morning?" she asks frowning at him. He just glares at her. "This isn't the first time I've seen you standing out here. Dare I say that this all started when Granger, Potter, and Weasley left?"
"You're treading on thin ice, Minerva," he growls.
"I learned long ago, Severus, not to pay attention to your threats." She smiles when he doesn't protest. "Do something about the situation you're in and do it soon. I don't want to catch you hanging around my house anymore." Again, he growls at her.
"Oh and when you finally tell Miss Granger how you feel, give her my best." She slips by him before he can respond and goes to do her nightly patrol of the halls. He sighs to himself and slowly walks back down to the dungeons.
She sat alone on her couch in her London flat holding a red pillow with gold trimming. She couldn't believe that she graduated from Hogwarts five years ago. It felt like decades ago. Hogwarts had felt like her home so much that she thought of herself as guest in her parent's home in Portsmouth when school was out for holiday brakes or the summer. It just made matters worse that her parents never wanted to try and understand the wizarding world. Instead, they thought it was easier to view her as an outcast like some wizards and witches did because she wasn't a pureblood. She was able to ignore the comments her rival housemates tossed her way except for one man's. And as hard as she tried, she couldn't get him out of her head.
"Earth to Hermione!" Harry says waving a hand in front of her face.
"Oh what?" she asks shaking her head. Harry looks at her concerned.
"Umm…since when has that pillow been green and silver?" he asks pointing to the pillow that she's been clutching. She looks down at it, sighs, then lifts her wand that's still in her hand and changes the pillow back to it's original colors. "You want to tell me what's going on?" he asks taking a seat next to her.
"No, not really."
"Why don't you just go talk to him?"
"Talk to who?" she asks surprised.
"Come on, Hermione. You've been doing things like this since we graduated from Hogwarts. Changing pillows, couches, dinner plates, and the carpet to silver and green.
Just go talk to him." He puts a hand on her shoulder and stands up.
"What? You're leaving? But you just got here," she whines.
"Ginny and Ron wanted me to check up on you on my way home from work. And judging from that silver and green pillow, I'd say that you'd rather be alone to think about how you're going to tell him that you've been in love with him for years." Hermione's jaw drops to the floor.
"Are we both on the same page as to who "He" is?" she asks, dreading the answer.
"You must be really in love with him if you'd think that Ron and I wouldn't notice the looks you'd give him while he was instructing the class on how to perfectly brew the polyjuice potion," Harry says smiling.
"That obvious, huh?" she sighs.
"Only to the people who know you best." He smiles again before kissing her on the cheek and disapparating. She looks to the spot where her friend stood only moments before.
"Maybe I should go tell him," she says to herself.
Please review and let me know what you think. I have a few more chapters written. If you want to read more, I'll post them.