Disclaimer: I haven't said this in a while; I don't own any of this. I'm just having a great time with it. JKR still owns it. :(

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Hermione woke up the next morning, momentarily wondering who was lying next to her. Her eyes flew open when she remembered that she was currently in Severus Snape's bed. To her surprise, he was already awake and simply looking down at her. She blushed and reached up, self-consciously, to smooth down her hair. "Good morning," she mumbled in embarrassment.

"Good morning," Snape replied smoothly, wondering if perhaps she regretted sleeping in his bed. He barely masked his surprise when she snuggled closer to his chest.

"I'm so glad there's no class today," Hermione said pulling back a little and admiring the bare chest of her potions professor. He was in better shape than she would have expected. Not making eye contact, she slowly ran her hands across the muscles on his chest and stomach, smiling when he shivered slightly.

Struggling to maintain his self-control, Snape got off of the bed and held out a hand to her. At her curious look, he said "We're going to walk around a bit to see if your health has returned to normal." He guided her to the edge of the bed, and waited as she stood up slowly.

Hermione grimaced as sharp pain shot through her head. Her eyes watered and she felt like her legs wouldn't support her for much longer. Her knees buckled and Snape quickly caught her in his arms. "What's wrong with me Professor?" she asked shakily.

"Severus," he corrected her with a little smirk. "You were hit by three stunning spells and you hit your head. That, on top of the fact that you passed out after that argument with Mr. Weasley. You need time to recuperate. That means more bed rest."

Hermione blushed. "I guess I don't really have a choice," she said quietly.

"Of course you don't," he said with another smirk. He had her lay back down and gave her another potion to take. "You're friends will be stopping by to see you after lunch today, so get some more rest. I will be grading papers in the next room." With that, he turned and left her alone. He was not looking forward to having a bunch of Gryffindors socializing in his private rooms. It didn't help that he was feeling quite angry with himself because of his lack of restraint where his apprentice was concerned. He'd have to work on that.

After lunch that day, Harry and Ginny arrived in the bedroom, followed by a rather grumpy looking Professor Snape. "Feeling better?" Ginny asked sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Pretty good," Hermione said with a little smile. "I'm still hurting, but I'll be ok."

"Ginny had a fit last night when we met up with Ron in the common room," Harry said shaking his head. "I'm sorry he reacted that way. It was a big shock for him. But, that's no excuse for being such a prat about it."

Before Hermione could comment, Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall walked into the room. "Wonderful to see you Miss Granger," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "You gave us all quite a fright, but I knew Severus would set you right."

"She's still weak Headmaster," Snape said scowling.

"And understandably so," Dumbledore said with a little nod. "We brought a few more visitors with us." Severus narrowed his eyes, and turned to see Remus, Tonks and Moody enter the room.

"Hermione!" Remus said happily. He approached the bed and embraced Hermione warmly. "We hadn't seen you since they left Hogsmead with you, so we thought we'd check up on you."

Moody stepped further into the room and looked over at Snape. "Keeping her in your room now Snape?" Moody asked, his gruff voice laced with amusement. "How very convenient."

Snape snarled and stepped away from the group and into the shadows. Dumbledore and McGonagall exchanged grins and turned their attention back to Hermione. Tonks was currently smoothing out her robes after tripping over the chair that was sitting next to the bed.

"You should have seen it Hermione," Tonks said enthusiastically. "We thought you were a goner when those stunners hit you. I've never seen Professor Snape move that quickly before. He was on his knees beside you before I even realized what happened. After that, Harry got really aggressive. You would have been proud." She thumped Harry on the back, while he looked slightly embarrassed.

"I am proud," Hermione said flashing Harry a smile.

"And I suppose we should all thank Severus for coming to Miss Granger's aid so quickly," McGonagall said with a mischievous smile.

"That's right," Moody chimed in gruffly. "If he hadn't been paying such close attention to her, we might not have realized that she'd been hit." McGonagall gave a rather unladylike snort of laughter. Tonks appeared a bit confused by the comment and why McGonagall found it so funny. Harry and Ginny clapped their hands over their mouths, determined not to laugh or smile in Snape's presence. Remus was looking at the floor while Dumbledore suddenly became very interested in the ceiling. Hermione blushed crimson and remained silent.

Snape's face was white with rage, but he refused to comment on Moody's statement. Ginny, feeling sorry for Snape, suddenly decided to direct the conversation away from the angry potions professor. "So, what happens next? Surely, You-know-who hasn't just given up," she said.

Dumbledore looked at her for a moment and then said "We don't know of any other plans as of yet, but Professor Snape has assured has that Voldemort still intends to get Miss Granger."

"I suppose it's good that she'll be staying around here then," Harry reasoned. Tonks looked at him in confusion. "She's Professor Snape's apprentice, and she'll continue working with him after graduation," he explained. Tonks nodded in understanding.

The group enjoyed talking for a while before Dumbledore finally cleared his throat. "I think we should leave Miss Granger to her rest," he said giving her a kind smile. "Miss Granger, I'm so glad that you're recovering. Have a good night." With that, he turned and left the room. The others muttered their good-byes and left as well.

Finally alone with Snape once again, Hermione felt a blush creep up into her cheeks. She looked up at him to see that he was carrying another vial of potion toward her. "You should be feeling much better tomorrow," Snape said stiffly. He watched as she drank the potion obediently. He took the vial from her and set it on the nightstand.

Snape sat hesitantly on the edge of the bed. Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it shut again. She felt so embarrassed. She sat up a little and looked up at his face with determination. "Are you going to stay with me tonight?" she asked. Once the words left her mouth, she flushed and looked down at her hands.

"If that is what you wish Miss Granger," Snape replied smoothly.

"I thought that we had agreed that you'd call me Hermione," she said with a shy smile.

"So, we did," he said, his lips turning upward slightly. He stood up and walked into the bathroom, returning moments later wearing only pair of cotton pants. They were such a dark green color that they almost looked black. Hermione watched his graceful movements as he approached the bed once again. She moved over a bit so he could climb into the bed next to her.

Hermione's heart rate quickened when she turned over to face the man next to her. He was gazing at her intently with an unreadable expression. Her breathing hitched when he reached out to take her into his arms, but she didn't hesitate to allow him to hold her close. She tipped her face up to his and was pleasantly surprised when he kissed her. She eagerly wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed against his mouth as his hand caressed her hip. He pulled away from the kiss to take a look at her. "How are you feeling Hermione?" he asked in a silky tone.

"Just fine Severus," she replied, smiling coyly at him. He responded by rolling her over onto her back and resting himself against her. For a moment, he merely looked at her face, as if memorizing her features. Silently, he began running his fingers through her curly hair. He lowered his face to hers again and kissed her. The passion in their kissed increased quickly. His hands wandered over her body, caressing and exploring. Hermione moaned with pleasure as he trailed kissed down her neck to her breasts. He moved the fabric of her shirt slightly to reach the warm flesh underneath.

Suddenly, Severus stopped and pulled away from her slightly. Hermione looked up at him in frustration. Why had he stopped when she had been so obviously enjoying it?

"We can't," Severus said, a little breathlessly. "You're still ill. I don't want to risk the chance of a relapse." He moved off of her, trying to ignore the way his body was rebelling against his decision.

Hermione sighed and nodded. She snuggled up against his chest and said "Good night then."

Stroking her hair slowly, he said "Good night Hermione."

The next day, Hermione was feeling well enough to go to her classes. She spent the day taking notes and completely ignoring Ron. She was still very hurt by the things he had said to her. Ron seemed to be ignoring her completely as well. Harry had disappeared during dinner saying that he was going to go have a little talk with Ron.

"Are you working with Professor Snape tonight?" Ginny asked as the girls left the Great Hall.

"No," Hermione said. "He said that I could have the evening to myself and we would work tomorrow. I suppose he doesn't want me to do to much today. I'm still not feeling completely like myself."

"Well, let's go to your room then," Ginny said cheerfully. "We could talk," she added with a little grin.

Once they were safely inside Hermione's room, Ginny wanted to know what happened at night when Hermione was alone with Professor Snape. Hermione blushed and told Ginny some of things that had occurred. Ginny looked gleeful. When there was a knock at the door, Ginny opened it, allowing Harry to enter.

"Hey Harry," Hermione said sitting down on her bed and smiling at him.

"Hermione was just telling me about the little snogging session she had with Professor Snape after we left yesterday," Ginny said grinning. Hermione blushed.

"Wow Hermione, that's pretty disgusting," Harry said in an overly cheerful sounding voice. Ginny and Hermione collapsed into fits of giggles. "I'm only joking Hermione," Harry said with a smile.

"No you're not," Hermione retorted.

"You're right," Harry said with a grin. "But, I did make you laugh, so you'll forgive me."

Hermione and Ginny rolled their eyes, chuckling. A moment later, there was another knock at the door. "Who is it now?" Hermione asked looking over at her friends.

"I'll go and see," Ginny said getting up and going over to the door. When she opened it, she saw Ron standing there. "What do you want Ron?" she asked stiffly. Ginny was still furious with Ron for the way he had treated Hermione.

"I really need to talk to Hermione," Ron said, peeking into the room.

"Why?" Ginny said coolly. "Is it an emergency? Is your ass on fire?" She peered around him as if expected to see flames behind him. Behind her, Harry snorted with laughter while Hermione bit her lip to prevent herself from smiling.

"I just need to talk to her," Ron said.

Ginny stepped out of the way to let Ron in. He stepped into the room and the others just looked at him in silence. After a few moments he cleared his throat. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry," Ron said looking at Hermione. "I shouldn't have said those things to you. I was being a prat. I was mad and really shocked, but you didn't deserve that. I don't think I'll ever be happy about it, but you don't need my permission to do anything."

"Well, I see the chat with Harry worked," Ginny muttered.

Hermione smiled slightly. "Thanks Ron," she said.

"So," Ron said awkwardly, looking down at his feet. "Snape?" Hermione blushed while Ginny and Harry exchanged smirks. At least they weren't arguing.

To those I didn't get a chance to reply to, I'm sorry. I was trying to post this as soon as possible.

I know you probably all want to kill me for the little scene with Severus and Hermione. Forgive me. It's coming. I promise. The time just wasn't right.

cherbi161: Virtual brownies! Yeah! Thanks. I was so worried about that last chapter. I almost didn't post it. I was going to just rewrite the whole thing. I didn't know how my readers would react to him getting in bed with her and going to sleep without a sex scene. I had having computer problems. I hope that works out ok for you.

bootyful77: I'm not pretending. I do truly care about my reviewers and I value their opinions and suggestions. Obviously, that includes you. lol I wanted to smack Ron in that last scene, and I was the one that wrote it.

Humanity74: So you liked the silky chocolate pants? Mmm... Yummy. Yes, I think I prefer bare as well. My fiance has a bare chest and I just love it... So, that explains why I would lean that direction with that particular... ahem, aspect of Severus Snape. But, it's a plus that you agree. Don't worry, I won't push myself too much. I'm having fun, so that makes it easier to deal with the slave drivers. lol And yes, your strange reviews crack me up.

SlytherinsDarkAngel07: Yeah, the spork thing about made me die laughing. It seems that I've been laughing a lot lately. A pic of Severus... Sounds quite nice. winks I feel sorry for Ron too. He's liked Hermione for a long time, and he was really let down when she rejected him. But, he shouldn't have been such a... butt head about the whole thing. Then again, I made him do it, so it's not entirely his fault. lol

Shdwcat27: Well thank you. Really. I can't tell you how much such kind and encouraging reviews mean to me. We Southern girls have to stick together. grins You know, I usually write the way I talk and at first I had a hard time not typing "ya'll" in the dialogs. lol

Chiccoree: Thank you so much. You're so kind. And, yes, I understood you just fine. I was actually very shocked when you said English wasn't your first language. Which language is first?

GoldenShadowfire33: Oh no. I hope your stomach feels better. :(

CapnSilver: Yeah, I was just a little too happy to do some injury to Hermione. lol It's for a worthy cause. You know, I had absolutely no intention of making this story this long. Oh well.

Candycanechild: I didn't see your comment as negative. It was constructive criticism. I think I'll tweak that section a bit. I looked back at it, and I don't much care for how I worded it either. My beta needs to hurry up and come home. lol No, my fiance hasn't read it. He's not a big reader. I may have to talk him into it though. I'm just the tiniest bit proud of my work. :)

Linthilde: Thank you! You're so sweet. I will definitely check out your story. I love Jack Sparrow. :)

StrGzr974: I'm glad you liked the way I did Harry. I was afraid that people wouldn't care for him being used as comic relief in so many chapters. I think he can be really funny and I wanted to expand on that. I really love his character.

Portkeys Miss-Mione: A Hermione award too? Well, aren't I just a lucky girl? lol Thank you.

dictionary-search: Thanks, I may take you up on that offer. I'll have to see when my beta's coming home and I'll let you know.

FireKidd: Wow, you're a little scary. lol I laughed so hard reading your review.

hopeless-romantic: That's a cool name. :) So, the name Remus is in mythology? I'm not familiar with it. I can't even believe that. It's your real name? Wild!

Paranoid Sarcasm: Well, it sounds like you have a good time babysitting. You should feel cool. I love reading your reviews, and I think you're pretty cool, if that counts for anything.