Quickly starting from his daze Snape looked around to see if there was anyone around before gliding towards Hermione with his annoyance at finding her there barely contained.
"Miss Granger, I would have thought you would have been on your way back to the Muggle world by now" he sneered as he stopped beside her table. All but jumping out of her chair in surprise Hermione quickly attempted to rein in her fear and alarm, clutching the book closely to her chest as she bowed her head a little.
"N… No Professor, I'm not leaving Hogwarts for Christmas" she stammered while she tried to gather the courage to look him in the eye, yet inexplicably she felt like she had been caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar, or perhaps a little more accurately, the restricted section of the library. Snape's frown deepened as he regarded the girl before him, the long line of her neck revealed by the great tangle of her hair resting behind her shoulders, that garish ribbon causing his fingers to twitch at his sides with the desire to pull the wretched thing from her hair.
"And is Professor Dumbledore aware of your continued presence while all the other students have already left?" he asked coldly, hoping to catch her and be able to torture the girl all the more.
"Indeed I am aware Severus, in fact it was by my request that Miss Granger remained. Special arrangements for her stay are being made as we speak" Dumbledore replied as he seemed to glide towards them, as always a ridiculous smile plastered across his face, his eyes twinkling as they settled upon Hermione. Raising her small chin with a weathered looking hand he smiled tenderly down at the young woman, a small smile slowly tugging at the corners of her mouth as she looked back up into the caring old man's face.
"Now why don't you run along to your common room my dear, someone will be along to fetch you soon, but for now I need to talk to Professor Snape for a moment" Dumbledore said warmly while his eyes flickered to Snape for an instant.
"Yes Professor" she quickly replied before shoving her books into her bag and all but running to the door, Snape watched with a small amount of satisfaction as she did indeed break into a run once she reached the corridor, yes run my dear, run as fast as you can from me he mused. However, his brief moment of pleasure was broken by Dumbledore clearing his throat, rolling his eyes and sighing he grudgingly turned to face him and said in a voice that spoke of annoyance,
"What do you want Albus?" He despised the mischievous twinkle he saw in the old man's eyes as Dumbledore smiled at him and laid a hand upon his shoulder, he knew that twinkle, he hated that twinkle, it meant that Albus was just about to make his life a living hell.
"As you know Miss Granger will be staying with us for the Christmas holiday, I fear with the Dark Lord still seeking power that it would be too dangerous for one so closely connected with Harry to be roaming unprotected in the Muggle world…" Dumbledore began, Snape's suspicion rising more every second that the man spoke.
"Yes Albus, I am well aware of the Dark Lord's capabilities and thought process..." Snape said in reply, his voice taking on the tired and dejected tone that spoke of a weariness so deep within his soul that it broke Dumbledore's heart every time he heard it.
"Yes of course you do Severus my boy," Dumbledore began apologetically, the twinkle fading from his eyes for a moment as he looked upon the worn and broken shell of a man beside him. "And so of course you can understand why I feel the young woman should stay at Hogwarts for the holiday…" he continued in a lighter and slightly devious tone, a tone that made Severus' brow furrow as he peered into the twinkling blue eyes watching him.
"And what exactly does this have to do with me?" he asked, almost entirely convinced that he did not truly want to know the answer.
"Well, obviously the poor girl cannot be expected to stay in Gryffindor Tower alone the entire time that the other students are gone, she will need a chaperone, someone to keep her company…" Dumbledore continued, his lips curling in the faintest trace of a cunning grin. Snape's frown deepened as he began to glare at Dumbledore, his lips drawing back in a sneer.
"Once again Albus, what does this have to do with me?" he asked, already dreading the answer that he knew was coming.
"As you know, many of the staff have gone home to spend time with their families for the holidays…"
"No Albus, absolutely not. I will not play babysitter to that know-it-all Gryffindor!" Snape hissed as he began to turn and walk away.
"Severus!" Dumbledore said in a voice that made the air tremble, a voice that took Snape back to his childhood days when that voice still held sway over him, the voice that although he would never admit it to anyone, still did. Letting out a long and heavy sigh he turned back to face Dumbledore, his eyes narrowed and full of hatred for the meddling old fool who always somehow managed to make him suffer more than the Dark Lord ever could. "Now Severus, I would not ask this of you unless it was necessary" he continued slowly.
"What about Minerva?" Snape asked hopefully, "surely she is far more suited to taking care of the child than I am. Hell, she would believe that the sun shone out of Miss Granger's arse if she did not already believe that it shone from yours" he continued with a barely repressed grin, Dumbledore's reply coming as a frown shot at Snape from above his half moon glasses.
"Minerva is unavailable, as am I and Remus, we have work to do at Grimmauld Place, I'm sorry Severus but you are the only option we have." Snape bowed his head, gripping the bridge of his nose fiercely between his fingers, breathing deeply through clenched teeth in an attempt to subdue his mounting frustration.
"What about the Weasley's? Molly worships the girl, fancies her as good as her daughter-in-law, she would be happy to have her" Snape suggested, clawing desperately for a way out of playing nanny.
"Trust me Severus, I had indeed thought of that option myself, but Miss Granger has already expressed her refusal to spend the holidays with the Weasley's. I believe she may have had a fight with Mr. Weasley" Dumbledore said, his voice growing into a whisper as though he were revealing some important secret.
Cringing as the realization settled upon his broad shoulders Snape shook his head slowly, his hands moving from the bridge of his nose to massage his temples as he fought back a crippling migraine.
"There is no other option, you are sure?" he asked solemnly without raising his eyes, his fingers continuing their relentless endeavor to suppress the headache that was quickly growing behind his eyes.
"I am sure" Dumbledore replied softly, reaching out to gently squeeze Snape's shoulder as if in apology, though deep down he was clapping his hands excitedly like a small child who has just received exactly what he wanted for Christmas. Nodding slowly and turning away from the Headmaster Snape mumbled a very disheartened "very well" before shuffling off towards the seclusion of his dungeons, to at least relish in its silence for a few moments before it would be invaded by the one person he perhaps despised more than Harry Potter.