Disclaimer: As if!
AN, part I: Okay, so this is catagorized as Humor/Romance, so here you go...
Part XI: Circe the Fool?
1.
Circe left his office before he could think of a plausible reason to accompany her. He watched until she was out of the dungeons, then made his way to the fireplace.
"Headmaster's office; password: jujubes." A swirl of green flame later, he was dusting himself off in front of a slightly bemused headmaster.
"Severus! What an unexpected pleasure."
"Headmaster, would you do me a favor and play along with a scheme of mine?" He quickly recounted the salient details, and was relieved when a mischievous twinkle lit Dumbledore's eyes.
"I've always wanted to put one over on Circe," Dumbledore admitted.
2.
Snape left just as the Gargoyle admitted Circe to the spiral staircase. She entered Dumbledore's office with a distinctly disgruntled demeanor.
"My dear, whatever is the matter," Dumbledore asked, opening his arms invitingly.
Circe stopped and scowled at him. "Is it true?"
"Well, Severus asked me to tell you it is," he replied calmly. His phrasing made Circe perk up. He continued when he saw she was in a more receptive frame of mind.
"I think it will be very enjoyable to watch them continue their dates while trying to keep it secret."
Dumbledore twinkled at Circe. She nodded, smirking.
3.
Once he reached his office, Snape gathered up a handful of floo powder and spoke to the fireplace. "Headgirl's room; password: Please." He stepped into the green flame and a swirl of robes later emerged facing a very surprised Hermione, along with Potter and two Weasleys.
Stymied by the presence of her friends, he hesitated before saying, "Miss Granger, forgive my intrusion."
"Shall we leave?" Ginny asked, winking at Hermione. Severus, catching the by-play, couldn't restrain a blink.
To everyone's surprise, it was Severus who answered. "No need. You three could be useful in our game."
"Game?" asked Ron, worriedly.
4.
Everyone agreed to help the charade, although grimaces were exchanged between the boys at the implications of the game. After they hashed out the details to Severus and Hermione's liking, her friends left them alone to "discuss" other things.
A nice, long, healthy debate later, Hermione and Severus let their lips rest as they cuddled up on Hermione's settee.
"I'm looking forward to not being a student," Hermione admitted after a while.
"Mm," said Snape, nuzzling her neck with his nose. "So am I," he growled lustily.
"Not long, now," she added with a smile.
"Nope," he answered, smiling back.
5.
Snape and Hermione managed to meet outside a couple days later. Needing to collect ingredients, he took her for a leisurely walk through the forbidden forest. Supposedly, he was alone, while Hermione was studying in her room. In actuality, she leaned on him as he pointed out valuable herbs and fungi.
Snape found it odd that they didn't encounter any creatures, good or bad, as they perambulated, but he was grateful. Little did he know that they were being followed by an interfering old coot and a meddlesome crone who sighed contentedly as she watched Snape kiss Hermione's hand lovingly.
6.
As the end of term neared it became harder to find the time for dates. More often than not Severus would slip into Hermione's quarters via floo only to find her studying with her friends. She never insisted he leave, so eventually he brought papers to grade. He'd listen to them quiz each other, smirking at how bossy and impatient Hermione became.
Therefore, he was surprised when one day he flooed in and she was alone, with no open books in sight.
"I've been waiting for you," she said, advancing on him slowly.
He smiled salaciously, and met her halfway.
7.
Hermione surprised him again when she knocked on his door one evening during his office hours.
"Miss Granger, do you have an appointment?" He asked, masking his surprise and delight with a scowl.
"No, Professor Snape, but I was wondering if you could help me with some properties of lacewing I don't understand," she answered, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
Snape quirked an eyebrow at her obvious move. "What really brings you here?"
"I would think that was obvious, Professor," she replied.
He didn't get a chance to counter, as his mouth was soon otherwise occupied.
8.
Severus decided to repay the favor the next opportunity he got. When he was done marking essays, he flooed in to find Hermione and her friends studying as usual. He adopted his fiercest scowl, aimed it at them, and spat, "Out! Now!" He was quite pleased at how quickly the interlopers disappeared.
"What the hell was that for?" Hermione demanded angrily, when she saw him smirking.
He decided to use body language to answer.
When they came up for air, Hermione narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "I do have to study, you know."
He silenced her qualms with another kiss.
9.
It was a while before they could meet again, as Hermione insisted on studying with no distractions for the NEWTs. Besides in class, the only time Severus got to see Hermione was when he brought her midnight snacks. He was only slightly disgruntled to have her shove him out immediately with only a quick kiss for thanks.
At the end of the last day of testing, she appeared in his office wearing a smile.
"Severus, I'm no longer a student."
His eyes lit up before he remembered their plans. "What about our revenge?"
"What revenge?" she replied whilst kissing him.
AN, part II: Okay, you guys will probably not like the next part, which will be coming soon. I stuck to my original challenge of keeping to 100 words for 100 chapters, despite the temptation to expand beyond that (Okay, so I cheated a little with hyphens in one chapter, but come on...). So, to finish it off without going over the limit, I needed to skim a bit in places. Anyway, the next update is the last, and sorry, it's gonna be short (6 'chapters')