hi

thanks for the reviews! im sorry about the late update, but i havent had time to write anything lately.. this is not the last chapter :) there will be at least five more I think..

xx andrea

Chapter 20 – Friends

Hermione opened her mouth immediately when she noticed that the door into Severus' office was closed. There were so many questions she wanted to ask him, but only one seemed ready to leave her mouth.

"How was the meeting?" She mumbled, pulling him into a hug.

Severus struggled against her arms and stepped away from her. He glanced at her with disdain and ignored her bewildered eyes. "What on earth do you think you are doing? You might hope I am one of those silly little school boys, but I can assure you that you're wrong. So wrong. If, and just if, there is any possibility for us to have a relationship of any kind, you better control yourself. It seems like you've forgotten that I am the teacher here." He took a pause to breath and tried to ignore her eyes, where tears were welling up. "To answer your question, that is not of your concern, Miss Granger." Severus headed to his desk and sat down behind it. "What are you waiting for? Sit down; I have some important matters to discuss with you. Actually, they're concerning you."
"Yes, Sir." The young woman stuttered and did as she was told.

"This might come as a shock to you, so be prepared for bad news." He paused to let her catch his words. "For some reason I don't know, the Dark Lord wants you. He wants me to bring you to the next summoning. Albus doesn't want to put you in that risk zone so he planned to give you detention that day, so you will not be able to leave Hogwarts." Severus explained curtly and ran a hand through his hair to make sure it was flat.
"Yes, Sir." She nodded nervously.

"Not a word about this to a single person, understood?" He snapped.

"Yes, Sir." She repeated.

"Isn't your vocabulary bigger than 'yes, Sir'?" He raised an eyebrow. "Seems like the insufferable know-it-all is in a loss for words? Am I right?" He sneered slightly and gazed at her for a couple of seconds.

"No, Sir. You're not right. First of all, I want an explanation. Maybe you're just playing a charade now, who knows? Unless you're that bastard I thought you were from the beginning."

Hermione said ice-coolly. The sadness had flown away and was replaced with anger.

"I won't have you speaking to me like that." He snapped. "Fo…"
"For the love of God, can't you do any better? Seriously, I couldn't care less if you deducted house points… Detention, yeah, sure, my life can't get any worse than what it already is. Give me one year worth of detentions with Filch if that makes you feel better."

'Why? Why me? Why do I have to endure this insufferable girl? The worst is that she's so right. Whatever I do, it won't affect her in the way I want to.' Severus thought angrily.

"Miss Granger, surely you don't want to…" He began, spitting out the words.

"Oh you shut up! I'm sick of hearing your sarcastic sentences!" Hermione rose and was on her way into Severus' quarters when she felt him grabbing her left wrist.

"There is other ways to affect you, Miss Granger." The man hissed in her ear and pressed her body onto the wall. He pressed his lips against hers and parted her lips.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Hermione gasped as Severus left her mouth for a few seconds to take a new breath. "You stop right now!" She shouted, really afraid of knowing what he was able to do.

"Indeed. I don't find any pleasure in this. See it as a warning." He muttered and stepped away from her. Finally he realized what he had just done.

"How dare you? I've never ever felt more insulted. What the hell Voldemort did to you under that meeting is very much my business. Now you tell me! I thought I meant something to you, but apparently you're a very good actor. I hate you! You have no bloody right to treat me like you just did. I… I." Her voice trailed off and she burst into tears and sank down on the floor.

Severus stood there, watching the young woman crying in front of him. And worst of all, it was because of him. He immediately knew that he'd gone too far. Not only had he failed the chances he had to make her love him, he had also destroyed the faith he had in him.

"Hermione, I…" He started but she cut him off.
"Miss Granger to you." She muttered between the sobs. "Why? Why did you do this to me? This morning, you were so…"

Now it was his turn to cut her off. "Miss Granger," He started, calling her by her last name to show her that he had respect for her. "A relationship with me can be dangerous. Very dangerous, for both of us. I think it's best for us both if we keep the normal distance between a teacher and a student. It's certainly not appropriate if we go on like this. I'm sorry if I created hopes in you, it wasn't my intention." He explained with a sad look on his face.

"I thought you felt something for me, professor."

"I do. What I didn't tell you was that, the other day, Albus asked me if I was having an affair with you. He also told me that it was highly inappropriate. Forgive me. I never meant to hurt you this way. I do think you're a nice girl and…"

"So that's the problem, you see me as a girl, thank you very much." She snorted.

"Hermione, you're not of age. Well, what I was going to say is that I do think you're clever, funny and beautiful, but I can't continue this." He said softly, looking into her brown eyes.

"We're still friends, aren't we?" She asked, suddenly very insecure.
"Indeed. Come on, we can't stand her all day. I fancy a good book and a cup of tea."

Half an hour later, Severus sat in his living room, reading a novel and sipping on his tea. He was so concentrated on the book that he didn't even notice when Hermione entered the room. Slowly, she approached him and stopped when she was right behind him. She unbuttoned his robe and dragged it off him. Her small hands started massaging his shoulders and she smiled.

"Hermione, I told you not to do things like this." He muttered quietly and turned around to meet her eyes.

"Friends do this, Severus." She whispered and turned his face away from her. When she didn't hear any protest, she started massaging him again.

"My friends didn't do this." He stated, slowly relaxing as he felt her hands against his body.

"Okay, maybe not, but I do it. I just want to feel your body, is that so wrong?" She asked innocently and smiled inside.

"Hrmm…" He cleared his throat. "Maybe no, but I still think it's a bit odd. Just don't tell anyone, will you?"
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Because it will get you expelled."
"Surely Albus will allow a relationship like this."
"You wouldn't dare." He said, threatening her.

"Oh I would." She almost burst into laughter as she saw the look on his face. "Hey, I'm just kidding! Of course I won't tell anyone. Oh come on, don't look at me like that!"

"I know." He smiled slightly to her surprise. Suddenly he rose and lifted her up from the floor and sat down again with her in his lap. To her surprise, he started tickling her.

"Stop! Stop it!" She exclaimed between the roars of laughter.

"Why should I?" He smirked, happy with his position.
"Because if you don't, I'll have you killed tonight."

"Fine. I want to live." He chuckled and released her. To his surprise she didn't stand up, instead she leaned on his thorax.

"Hermione, friends don't do this." He teased her.

"Who bloody cares? I don't."