A/N: Hello, I'm sorry this took so long. It's not a terribly long chapter, nor was it terribly hard to write. But all my time seems to be flying out the window, which is probably going to be true for the next few months until I get into the swing of things I'm afraid. Very sorry, but thanks for all the reviews, don't think you've been waiting your time writing them, I do love reading them.

- CHAPTER SEVEN -

Persuading the Professor

"You're prepared to listen to me?" Snape and Hermione were still standing in the blustery Hogsmeade street.

"I just want to know the facts before I decide how I feel about it."

"But I can't tell you, and," his sneer returned, "you wouldn't understand."

She could see the fire burning in his eyes, "look," she said calmly, "let's go back, I can hardly hear myself in this wind."

He looked as though he was about to make a snide comment, but surprisingly thought better of it, and followed her back to the castle.

She walked silently back to her office, and opened the door, "are you coming in?"

"No,"

"Then why are you here?" she asked curtly,

"I'm going this way," he smirked and continued down the corridor with a swish of his cloak.

She sighed and went into her office, throwing her cloak onto an armchair and collapsing into it. It was several moments before she noticed the small owl zooming above her head.

"Pig?" she looked up as he twittered loudly and flew down to land on her head. She reached her hand up and grasped a fistful of feathers. He hooted indignantly.

"Well what d'you expect if you don't come down?"

He zoomed back down and onto the arm of her chair, just staying still long enough for her to pull the parchment from his leg. Then he flew away and out through her open window, which she realised had caused all the papers on her desk to spread out around the room.

She unrolled the small piece of parchment and then with a pang of guilt remembered she hadn't written a single letter to Ron since the beginning of term.

Dear Hermione,

You've probably been really busy, so I don't mind that I haven't had any letters, though you did say you'd write. Work's been the usual, what about you? It must be weird going back. I guess there must be loads of new teachers; I hope you're not working them all too hard.

Really missing you.

Lots of love

Ron

She scanned the letter, and threw it aside to join the other scattered papers. He had never had much talent in expressing himself in words. But she just felt so hopeless; she had forgotten to write to him, and hadn't even missed him.

She heard a scratching from behind the door into her room and it suddenly opened, an extremely flustered-looking Crookshanks bustled in and leapt onto her lap, mewing angrily until she extended her hand to stroke his head.

Glancing at the clock on her wall she realised that it was already dinner time, she pushed Crookshanks off her lap and went down to the Great Hall.

Snape was already seated and seemed to be making a point of avoiding looking at anything but his chicken and gravy pie. She frowned at him as she sat down, but soon found herself joining Flitwick's and McGonagall's discussion about Switching Spells. As their plates cleared she noticed that Snape was about to get up, she waited until he'd left the table and then walked after him as quickly as she could without looking odd.

She managed to catch up with his long stride as he turned down some steps into the dungeons. She reached her arm out and gently tugged a corner of his flying robes. He span round.

"What?" he spat angrily.

"I want to know why."

"Why should I tell you?"

"Well for one I'm not going to stop following you until you do."

He smirked, "Don't worry; I'm good at hiding from people."

She scowled, "I have to know. I don't think I could rest without knowing. Don't I deserve to know why and how my best friend died?"

"I wouldn't expect you to understand it." He pulled her hand from his robes, and again she felt the strange sensation running up her arm even from his strong grip.

"I'm not asking to understand it, I just want to know." She locked her eyes into his, as if she was about to jinx him, "please tell me, I can't help you until I know."

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP MUDBLOOD!" he bellowed. "YOU'RE JUST THE SAME!"

She shot him a furious look, "I'd expect better language from a Professor."

"You're not going to leave me alone are you?" he growled,

"No, not unless you can come up with a pretty good reason, and you haven't so far."

"Damn you girl! Why? Why? Why?" he muttered to himself.

"Why don't we go into your office?" she had noticed they were standing right outside it, "the Slytherins will be coming down from dinner soon."

"You just don't know when to stop do you?"

"No." she said defiantly.

He scowled at her and opened the door to his office. She walked around the room before she got to his desk, looking at all the objects encased in their slime filled bottles. "Is that Graphorn horn?" she asked pointing at a jar of fine grey powder.

"Yes," he muttered distractedly, pulling it from her hands and replacing the lid, "and don't touch it, you have no idea how expensive it is."

"Oh I know, we had to buy a quarter of an ounce of it for NEWT potions, I couldn't buy anything for months afterwards."

"Yes, well, all the more reason to leave it alone." He stalked back to his desk, and gestured to a chair in front of it.

She sat down, the chair was impossibly uncomfortable, but she resisted the temptation to comment on it. He went around the back of his desk and stood with his fingers pressed down on the tabletop, glaring down at her. She coughed quietly, and he seemed to notice that his fingertips had gone white from the pressure with which he was leaning on them, and sat down, but he did not move his gaze from her.

"So," he snarled,

If Harry had been there Hermione knew he would have been the first to say, "So what?" she smiled a little at the thought of it, and then fixed Snape with a steely look.

"I want to know everything, everything that you know."

"But Miss Granger, surely you wouldn't believe the word of a murderer."

"I want to hear your story," she looked into his black tunnelling eyes, which seemed to reach far out into the depths of the universe; pinpricks of light twinkling in their deep chasms.

She felt as if he was going to jinx her; staring at her, without blinking, for a very long time. Her eyes began to water so she hastily blinked and tried to stare back at him. But he had a smug expression on his face, he'd thought he'd won already; she needed to persuade him to talk.

"I don't care if you spin me a whole lot of lies, just as long as they fill the gaps in my knowledge." She said pointedly,

He shot her a foul expression, but somehow it did not anger her as it might have done before. She had nothing left for him to take from her now; she was not scared.

A/N: Hmm, ok, this chapter wasn't needed at all, but it's here so make the most of it ;)