Hermione stared at Ginny silently for a moment. "What?" she asked finally.

"Snape knew how to get rid of that sticking charm," Ginny said, smiling brightly. "He knew! Maybe not the first time you were stuck together, but he most certainly knew the second time around."

Hermione's mouth dropped open. "Oh my goodness," she murmured softly. She scowled irritably. "I can't believe him. He could have fixed the problem and he didn't. That man is just horrible!"

"Hermione, I think you're looking at this the wrong way," Ginny said with a small smile at her friend's obvious frustration. Hermione arched a questioning eyebrow. Ginny's smile widened as she said "Look at it this way: Snape knew how to get rid of the sticking charm but didn't, leaving us to come to the conclusion that he wanted to remain stuck to you. Unless, of course, he left it to teach you a lesson, but I really doubt it after seeing the way he kissed you downstairs."

Hermione shook her head slightly. "What am I supposed to do now?" Hermione asked with an anxious expression.

"Well, how do you feel about all of this?" Ginny asked with an expression of great interest. "Are you attracted to him?"

Hermione started to say no, but she was cut off by Ginny crossing her arms and giving her a knowing look. Hermione blushed and sputtered slightly. "Why did you ask if you already knew the answer?" she demanded.

Ginny giggled. "Maybe I just wanted to hear you say it," Ginny replied with a cheeky grin. "So, when did it happen?" she asked.

"When did I lose my mind, you mean?" Hermione said dryly. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I've been working closely with Professor Snape for a while now. I've always admired his skill and intelligence. He's always so sarcastic, but he's sort of funny in his own way. He's got some good in him, but he's been forced to hide it for so long." Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment. "Sometimes, he's almost kind to me. You should have heard what he said about me at dinner with my parents."

"What did he say?" Ginny asked.

"He told them that I was one of the best students Hogwarts has ever had," Hermione said, recalling the conversation with her parents. "He said that I did well in all of my subjects and that I'm the first apprentice he's ever taken."

"Wow," Ginny said, looking impressed. "That's really high praise coming from Snape. Now, we just have to figure out where to go from here. I'll have to think it over, but I want to find a way to watch the two of you together. Maybe we can give him a little push in your direction. So far, it seems that charmed mistletoe is pretty effective with him..."

Hermione laughed. "No more plotting for tonight Ginny," she said, shaking her head. "Tomorrow is Christmas, so let's just get some rest. We'll worry about Snape later."

Downstairs, in the dining room, Albus and Minerva were listening to Snape's account of what went on at the Granger home. "And then we went back to the garden and apparated back here," Snape said, concluding his story.

"Interesting," Albus said smiling. "I spoke with Mrs. Granger myself shortly after you left her home. I hear that the dress robes looked stunning on the young Miss Granger," he said with a knowing look in Snape's direction. Snape scowled. "However," Dumbledore continued, "Stephen Granger didn't seem to appreciate your enjoyment of the view. Mrs. Granger, on the other hand, seemed to find your company most enjoyable and said that you are welcome back any time." Dumbledore smiled brightly. Snape sneered, but remained silent.

"Enjoyment of the view?" Minerva said with a snort of laughter. "Severus, it's nice to know that you're still human after all these years."

"I wasn't enjoying the view," Snape growled in protest. "Miss Granger entered the room wearing her new robes and I merely looked at her. Her parents would have thought I was rude if I completely ignored her presence." He folded his arms disdainfully over his chest.

"Now, Severus," McGonagall chided gently, "since when do you care about people thinking that you're rude?"

Severus Snape shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "The headmaster requested that I be polite and agreeable," he said, trying to defend himself. He sneered when Minerva smirked at him.

"There's no need to argue," Albus said calmly, not wanting to frustrate Severus further. "I merely wished to hear that your visit went well. Minerva and I will be going back to Hogwarts now. We'll see you tomorrow. We'll all be having Christmas dinner together after the meeting."

Snape groaned at the thought being forced to sit through another meeting. He nodded irritably at Minerva and Albus before walking out of the room. Albus exchanged a mischievous grin with Minerva before leading her out of the room to go back to Hogwarts.

Harry and Ron were getting ready for bed and discussing various pranks that they had been plotting with Fred and George. "By the way, Fred and George told me that someone blew up that mistletoe that Fred charmed," Ron said looking over at Harry.

"It was probably Snape," Harry said laughing. "It sounds like the sort of thing he would do."

"Well, that's what George said," Ron told him, buttoning up his flannel shirt. "George asked Dumbledore what Snape had against mistletoe and apparently Dumbledore refused to comment."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Well, I don't know," Ron replied with a shrug. "But, apparently Dumbledore kind of chuckled when they mentioned it. Fred reckons that Snape got himself caught in the mistletoe." Both boys laughed at the thought.

"Who would he have gotten stuck with though?" Harry said, as his laughter subsided. "Maybe Tonks. Or McGonagall." Ron made a look of disgust. "Or Hermione!" Harry said loudly, in realization.

"Hermione?" Ron asked doubtfully.

"She left with Snape today to see her parents," Harry said, lowering his voice. "They came back to the sitting room, so to leave they'd have to walk under that mistletoe."

"So, maybe after he they... you know... he blew up the mistletoe," Ron said, beginning to look angry.

"That may not be what happened," Harry said quickly, trying to soothe his friend. "We'll ask about it. You'll just start a fight with Hermione if you accuse her of snogging Snape."

Ron nodded reluctantly. They each climbed into bed and fell silent for a moment. Each was surprised to have their thoughts consumed by images of Hermione. Images of her beautifully curved body and lovely face eventually lulled them to sleep.

Hermione woke early the next morning and rolled over to see if Ginny was awake. Ginny was still sleeping peacefully so Hermione got up as quietly as she could ignoring the gifts at the foot of her bed, for the time being. She slipped on her jeans, a warm red sweater and a pair of fuzzy red slippers. Picking up a small package, covered in green wrapping paper and silver ribbon, she left the room silently. Hermione walked down the stairs and into the dining room and saw Professor Snape sitting at the table, drinking tea and reading the Daily Prophet. "Good morning, Professor Snape," she said softly.

"Miss Granger," Snape replied noncommittally, glancing up briefly from the paper.

"Happy Christmas," she said hesitantly.

Snape merely grunted in reply but he looked up at her with mild surprise when she suddenly set the package on the table and pushed it toward him. "What is this?" he said suspiciously, eyeing the gift.

Hermione raised a slightly amused eyebrow. "I would think that would be obvious," she replied smirking. "Just open it," she said gently.

Snape swallowed and pulled the wrapping paper off of the box. "She used Slytherin colors," he thought. "Interesting. What on earth could this be?" Snape lifted the lid on the box to reveal what appeared to be six vials with wide silver rims. He looked up at the young Gryffindor in confusion.

"I thought these would be useful to you when you're making potions in your lab," Hermione said softly. "They're unbreakable and there's a charm on them to prevent the contents from being spilled accidentally. The silver rim is to help distinguish them from your other vials. The name of whatever potion each vial contains appears in silver writing on the front."

Snape lifted the vials out of the box and inspected them carefully. Tentatively, he dropped one on the table to make sure that it wouldn't break. Hermione smiled slightly as he scrutinized the gift. Upon closer inspection, Snape realized that "Severus Snape" was engraved in elegant letters on the silver rim of each vial. He gazed up at Hermione for a moment before reaching into a pocket inside his black robes. He pulled out a small package that was wrapped in dark red paper that reminded her of her dress robes.

Carefully unwrapping the package, Hermione tried to hide her shock that Professor Snape had a gift for her. She lifted the lid and gasped in surprised. Inside was a delicate gold necklace with a small round pendant. She looked closely at the pendant and saw that it had the Gryffindor lion etched onto it. She turned the pendant over and saw that it said "Hermione Granger-Potions Apprentice" in tiny letters on the back.

Hermione looked up at Snape to see that he appeared to be attempting to seem completely uninterested in her reaction. She offered him a small smile. "Thank you Professor Snape," she said. She walked over and sat down next to him. "Would you please put it on me?" she asked quietly.

Snape took the necklace from her and waited while she turned her back to him and moved her hair out of the way. The potions master carefully fastened the necklace around her neck and wondered briefly what she would do if he caressed her. Hermione turned back to face him with a smile. "It's beautiful," she said blushing slightly.

"Ah," came the voice of Dumbledore from the doorway. "Happy Christmas everyone." He looked around. "I see that the Weasley's are not early risers," he said chuckling. "What have we here?" Albus had spotted the box of vials sitting on the table. He walked over and picked one up, looking at it closely.

"I gave them to Professor Snape," Hermione said, furious at herself for choosing such a ridiculous time to blush. Dumbledore looked up at her with his eyes twinkling merrily.

"And what did he get you?" Dumbledore asked enjoying the way Severus was shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Hermione glanced nervously at Snape before she lifted the necklace from her chest. Dumbledore carefully inspected the pendant on both sides. "Severus has always had excellent taste," he said smiling. Snape glared at the headmaster in irritation. "Must he comment on everything?" Snape thought angrily. "It's not as if I asked what he thought about it."

"I think I'll go and see if Ginny is up yet," Hermione said standing up. "I'll see you a little bit later." She glanced between Professor Snape and the headmaster and hurried out of the room.

"A necklace, Severus?" Albus asked, not even attempting to hide his amusement.

"It's a keepsake," Severus replied stiffly.

"Of course," Albus said with a bright smile. "How very... practical." Snape growled at him and resumed reading the Daily Prophet.