Sorry this chapter took a day longer then I had hoped, but it was hard for me to write, lol. Hope you like it anyway. It might be a little hard to update this week… though I'm not at school for the next week, I've got something on every night, and don't write to well during the day, which might explain some of the cheesiness in this chapter, lol!

Enjoy nonetheless (I love that word)

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Chapter Forty Three

Saturday was a day which equalled celebrating for the Seventh years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They had finished their schooling at the school, were leaving in five days never to come back. They did not have to face any other exam, hand in any more assignments, complete any more homework. Most had applied for jobs and were content to wait for the NEWT results, letting them know if they had been accepted into their chosen career or not.

Hermione Granger was not one of these students, perhaps the only one. She had no made any applications for jobs; she had not been able to decide. Her friends told her she was being foolish – she was the smartest in the year and didn't know where she wanted to do. Perhaps that was the reason the day after exams finished, the day after everything was over, she found herself heading for the dungeons straight after breakfast, to do research with a Professor.

Or perhaps it was just that she desperately wanted to know just why she had experienced something not many did with this particular man.

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Standing at the door of the Potions Master's office, Hermione felt a slight amount of fear run through her body, causing her fist to tremble as she raised it do knock on the office door. After spending a night celebrating half-heartedly the end of exams, she had laid awake for hours, pondering what she had remembered. The dream.

What could it have meant - the fact that their minds had shared the dream? How could it have happened – he opening his mind to her and she accepting the invitation, neither of them realising? As she stood outside the door, waiting from him to answer the door, she was somewhat unsure if she truly wanted to know the answer to the question her mind had asked till the small hours of the morning.

But the door was flung open before she could change her mind and depart from the dungeons, and she was faced with her Professor standing above her. Once again he was not wearing his teacher's robes, only his pants and top, his hair hanging limp and damp around his face. Hermione managed to stop herself from pointing this out to, hoping that he'd forget about it and let it dry naturally.

"I see you came, Miss Granger," he said quietly, his lips set in a line. She willed herself not to pay attention to those lips. "Never going to give up the chance to learn, will you?"

"There is no reason to, when there is so much to learn," she responded in what she desperately was a calm voice. She must have said something right, given the tiny quirk of his lips and the raising of an eyebrow before not for the first time, he turned from her and strode into his private rooms.

She followed, listening to him. "I choose to, like you it would seem, study in here as opposed to my office, I doubt you would mind, seeing as you have spent more then enough time in these rooms already." She watched as he moved to the bookshelves. "I've already flipped through a few useless books; I am almost in doubt that there will be much worthwhile in my collection."

"Surely there must be something," she insisted, glancing around at the books which covered every spare inch of the room. Part of her wished that she had started spending a little time with him earlier in her school years, so that she might have had the chance to read more of these books.

"There may be, so we will begin here. I have asked Madam Pince if there is anything in the library regarding such a matter to Floo it to these rooms." As if picking up on her surprise, he turned to her, cocking an eyebrow up. "No, Miss Granger, I did not tell her just why I was looking for such books. The insufferable woman gave up long ago asking me for details as to what I research in my time."

Hermione nodded silently, still feeling somewhat surprised that he was actually going to allow her assistance. Despite her having every reason as to why she should be allowed to, being rather involved in the situation, part of her had still been expected him to turn her down.

She watched as her Professor walked slowly around his sitting room, stopping to pull a book or two off the shelves. Finally, after a few minutes, he motioned for her to take a seat in one of the armchairs as he took up the other, placing the books on the table between them. He handed her one, entitled Dreams Throughout History by Alexia Hoshack. Leaning back in the armchair, she opened the books and began to read.

For the next three hours, the two of them sat in a usually comfortable silence, both reading, now and then stopping to read something out that might have been of interest. By lunchtime however, when the Professor summoned lunch for them, they had hardly gotten anywhere, which was starting to frustrate both of them.

Over a plate of sandwiches, Hermione brought up the questions about the dream that she knew could not have been answered by any book. "How long have you been having those dreams, sir?"

He looked quite thoughtful for a moment, chewing his sandwich. She nearly giggled at the amusement of the entire situation. She was eating a plate of sandwiches of all things with the feared Potions master, who wasn't wearing his usual menacing robes, and the pair of them was researching something they had shared.

But she was brought back to reality as he answered her question. "Once again I'm afraid that I can't give you an honest answer other then I don't know, because I don't." He sighed, looking at the rug again. "I remember waking up after having some sort of dream, but couldn't remember exactly what had happened. When I did begin to remember the…" a tremor ran quite visibly down his spine. "I wish you hadn't seen it, it was too much for me to deal with, I can only imagine how you're coping," he said, with no accusation of weakness behind his voice.

"You said in the dream that I had to understand," she reminded him softly. "You said it yesterday."

He looked uncomfortable, taking another bite of his sandwich, taking his time in chewing it. "You were already there, how could I stop you from seeing it? And yes, I do believe that you had to understand. Just perhaps it might have occurred in a better situation. One might not learn so well when they are busy screaming their heads off in horror." His words were said with a smile that did not quite match the sadness in his eyes. "What else could I do, Miss Granger?"

"You followed me into the room," she pointed out. "You could have stopped me."

"I didn't know what was going on, I thought…" he seemed as though his throat had clogged and she watched in interest as his face flushed. "I thought perhaps that you were just there in the dream, I didn't realise that you were dreaming with me. By the time I realised, it was too late."

She almost giggled as she pictured Professor Snape dreaming about her in some way. But then she remembered the dream that had taunted her last night, and sobered instantly. Instead of giggling, she went forward with her questioning. "Why did we end up in here during the dream, sir? Does that often occur?"

He shook his head. "No, which was what lead me to realising that this was not the regular dream that I am forced to live with." He brought his face up to meet hers, his black eyes boring into her. "My dream usually ends as I reach… as I reach… never have I been transported back to my rooms in such dream. It was then that I realised that it was indeed you in my dreams, not simply a… creation of my mind, for lack of better word, I suppose."

Hermione realised with surprise her Professor showed no hint of surprise that she might be in his dreams, and only that she really was there. Well, it wasn't as if he was any stranger to her dreams of late, she remembered, with a faint blush.

"What happened when I woke up, sir?" she asked politely.

The man seated across from her visibly paled, and his attention turned to the sandwich in front of him and only that. He spoke to the sandwich as well, when he chose to talk. "I woke up barely a moment later, it would seem. One moment you were there and I was…" his voice snagged for a moment, and she watched him gulp as he tried not to say kissing you. "One moment you were there, and then the next you were gone. You just vanished." He stumbled out, quickly putting the rest of his sandwich into his mouth as though to avoid having to say anything more.

"Sir…" she began quietly, before letting her voice trail off for a moment. His eyes looked straight into hers again, and she felt the need to look away, as though to protect her soul. She wanted to ask why he had kissed her in the dream, knowing full well that she would remember, but couldn't find the words, and in truth, didn't want to cause an awkward situation between them now. So she kept quiet, searching his eyes for the answer. Instead, she glanced at the empty plate of sandwiches, and suggested that they continue.

Half way through the afternoon, the fireplace in the corner, which until then had been burning at a very low level, for even in the dungeons the air was warming, turned green, and several books tumbled out onto the rug. Professor Snape stood and snatched them for the floor, looking through the titles silently. Before she could ask about them, he turned back to the fire, grabbed some Floo powder, and threw several of the books back to what she could only guess was the library.

"Old bat knew I already have those books, I am quite tired of her acting like a third year who won't listen to instructions," he snarled a the fireplace, even though she knew Madam Pince couldn't hear him.

It was then she found the courage to ask another question that had brewing in her mind. "Professor, could the fact that you are an accomplished Legilimens have anything to do with the sharing, you opening your mind to me?"

"No, Miss Granger, it could not. A Legilimens can pry into other people's minds, as you surely know, and are quite apt at keeping people out of theirs. If I had shared a dream of yours, I might have suspected it, but since you shared a dream of mine, and you are not a Legilimens, we can discount that theory." He finished with a small sneer, which infuriated her, but she tried so hard not to show it. She looked down at her book, feeling her cheeks flush.

It was ten o'clock before either of them realised the time again, having managed to skip dinner once again without meaning to. Hermione eyes were starting to itch, and she stifled a yawn.

"Stay a moment longer, Miss Granger, I'll summon some food for us." Professor Snape said quietly, stretching his hand out for the book that was lying closed in her lap.

"The House Elves won't mind you asking for two meals so late in the evening?" She asked, feeling a slight amount of disbelief.

His lips gave a small quirk which might have been an amused smile. "They have become quite accustomed to me requesting meals at any hour of the day or night." He informed her, but offered not explanation beyond that. So she sat back and watched as he thrust more glittering powered into the fireplace, and proceeded to ask the House Elves of the Kitchens for two servings of the evening meal. Within a moment, he held them in his hands, bringing them back over to the armchairs. "Eat, Miss Granger," he commanded softly. "I know you've not done much of that lately."

She turned her blushing face down to look at the plate sitting on the coffee table in front of her. "I've been busy studying, sir."

"Well, now that you are not studying, you've no excuse, and if I you did, I would accept none." He picked up his own knife and fork.

Chewing carefully, she informed him that it was a Hogsmeade day tomorrow, to celebrate the end of exams. "Perhaps I could have a look in the book store in the village for something on this, we've not gotten very far today." Her eyes lingered of the stacked books, and the small, discarding scribblings they had made during their reading.

A look of disgust crossed his face. "I had plans to go to the village tomorrow, but if it is going to be infested by students celebrating and no longer regarding me with any kind of respect, then I believe I shall stay here." His eyes sought hers though. "But perhaps, yes, you could have a look around for something that may be of assistance… if you little friends will allow you to."

With horror, she realised what she would be in for once she returned to the Common Room that evening – surely Harry and Ron would be awake and waiting for her. She'd not left the dungeons all day, and had only seen the pair briefly at breakfast, not bothering to tell them where she was going. She knew exactly what they'd say if she told them… "It's the end of exams and instead of spending time with us, you're down there with the greasy bat?" they'd both probably say.

Trying not to grimace at the thought, she nodded to the Professor, but as soon as she'd finished her meal, she set the plate down and reached for one of the few books they'd not read yet. Maybe if she stayed longer, by the time she returned to the Common Room, they'd have both gone to bed. She knew it was terrible that she was avoiding them, but she was tired of their childish reactions. If she wanted to spend time with Professor Snape, that was her choice.

It was with a slight shock that she remembered that she didn't only want to study about this dream down here; she wanted to spend time with the man himself. Over the top of his book, sure that he was not paying her any attention, she surveyed him. He was an older man, obviously, with black eyes that seemed as deep as well, and an intellect to fill two or three as well. She almost laughed out loud when she realised that she'd not been paying any attention to his hair today – nor had he, it seemed, for it was not in its usual greasy state. He had not used magic to dry it, and it sat around his face in a clean, puffy sort of way. It was far from perfect, but an improvement none the less.

Remembering all the hours she'd spent in his chambers this year, she couldn't fight back the small smile that settled over her face. It'd been nice, she decided, spending the time with him – he might not have been the most entertaining company, but she knew that after Harry and Ron, entertainment was not what she needed. Instead, he had been someone to sound tiny ideas off – even if she was unwilling to tell him everything about what she was studying.

In her mind's eye, she saw him as she'd seem him in their dream again. He had been so full of sorrow, just like that night on the Quidditch Pitch, when she'd admitted that she worried about him, when he admitted all that he felt about the war. But in the dream, he'd been sorry for her, for what she'd seen. She remembered him holding her tightly against him, rocking her gently. She remembered, once again, him kissing her.

"What is it, dare I ask, that you find so fascinating about me at this moment, Miss Granger?" His voice cut through her memories of the desperate kiss he'd given her, of his lips pressing against hers. She cleared her head to see him looking at her with the utmost curiosity.

"I… I was just thinking about the dream, sir." She admitted in a whisper. "Why do you think that you shared it with me?"

She noticed his nostrils flared slightly as he looked away. "That, is yet another question, I do not know the answer for, Miss Granger. But I do intend to find out. Perhaps it is just because of all the people in this godforsaken castle – you are the one whom I seem to… connect with." They both blushed at his words. "But really Miss Granger, there is a bigger question on your mind, and although I know what it is, I wish you to ask it." An eyebrow rose upon his forehead.

Hermione blushed furiously. But she opened her mouth to speak anyway. "Sir… in the dream, before I woke up… why did you kiss me?"

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Find out next chapter, lol. I need time to decide for myself why he did, LOL! Along also with the trip to Hogsmeade.

Hopefully next chapter will be up tonight, but for now, who's up for lasanga?