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Chapter 7- Confusion
During the next few days, Hermione found herself in a constant state of confusion. She loved Ron, even though he was a prat. So why had her body responded to Professor Snape the way it did? Hermione could make no sense of it. In addition to all of this, Hermione couldn't quite figure out Ron's behavior. He seemed distant, both physically and emotionally. He hadn't spoken to her since that night in the Room of Requirement and he was avoiding her like the plague. This was why Hermione was so surprised when Ron approached her at dinner three days after "the incident."
"Hermione?" Ron asked. He was staring at his shoes to avoid looking at Hermione. "After dinner will you meet me in the Room of Requirement?" When Hermione arched an eyebrow at him, he began sputtering an excuse. "No! Nothing like last time! I just wanted to talk to you; and I don't fancy anyone overhearing us. Please, Hermione?"
"Alright," Hermione conceded. "But if you even think about touching me, I'll hex you." Ron paled visibly, but nodded. With a slight wave, he ran out of the Great Hall.
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After Hermione finished dinner, she began to slowly make her way toward the Room of Requirement. She hadn't been alone with Ron since that night, and she was nervous. She just wasn't ready for a physically intimate relationship yet.
Upon entering the Room of Requirement, Hermione let out a sigh of relief. Inside she found two comfortable looking chairs facing one another with a coffee table in between them. Ron was already seated in one chair and was facing a roaring fire in the fireplace to his left. Hermione sat down in the remaining chair and waited for Ron to begin.
"Hermione, I've been doing a lot of thinking these last three days. I realized that what I tried to do was wrong. I want to apologize. I'm so sorry that I tried to make you do something that you felt uncomfortable doing. I love you, and I should respect your wishes. I just got caught up in wanting to be closer to you and just assumed that you would want to be closer to me, too." He said. His face took on a sad look during his last sentence.
"Ron, don't doubt that I want to be with you too. I'm just not ready yet. But someday, I will be."
"Someday soon?" Ron looked up hopefully.
"I think so." Hermione replied with a small grin. She stood up to hug him and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. "Now I have to go."
"Snape?" Ron asked.
"Professor Snape, Ron," Hermione sighed. With one last hug, she left Ron and headed towards the dungeon.
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"Good evening, Miss Granger," Professor Snape drawled. "Today we can actually begin a potion worthy of our intellect." Hermione blushed. Snape had complemented her! She didn't think that she had ever heard him complement anyone other than one of his precious Slytherins before. "Tonight we are going to begin the Invisibile a tutti i nemici potion. I doubt that you've ever heard of it. It is a forgotten potion that was rediscovered only days ago by the Headmaster. He has an entire collection of one-of-a-kind books. In a particularly dusty, hidden book he stumbled across this potion. If we succeed in brewing it, it could help Potter defeat The Dark Lord"
"How does it work, sir?" Hermione asked. Her eyes were brimming with curiosity; it wasn't often that she learned of a new potion, having read about most of them throughout previous years.
"If properly brewed, it will make Mr. Potter invisible to all who mean to do him harm. This is considerably more useful than an invisibility cloak for two reasons. One; there is no way to detect or see Mr. Potter for twenty-four hours from the time he ingests the potion. There are ways to see people hidden beneath and invisibility cloak. Two; everyone who remains loyal to Mr. Potter, will be able see him and therefore help him. Although I do believe it would be interesting to see just how far the Boy Wonder could get without help, Dumbledore disagrees with me." Snapes facial features were set in a sneer, showcasing his dislike for Harry. "Over here I have a copy of the instructions and the first ingredients that we shall need. This is a very complicated potion and takes over three months to brew. Therefore, I think it best to begin."
Together, they walked to the table that held the cauldron and necessary ingredients. After twenty minutes of working, the room was growing uncomfortably warm. Hermione shrugged off her robe and laid them on the table behind her. Snape had missed this action, so when he looked a few minutes later he was surprised to see her dressed in muggle clothes, instead of the robes she had on. She was wearing a dark red t-shirt and jeans. The clothes were perfectly innocent, but to Snape's great surprise and distress, he found that she looked stunning in them. The shirt had a sloped neckline, showing just the barest hint of cleavage when she stood, but gave a pretty astonishing view if she happened to bend over. Her jeans weren't tight, but they hugged her curves in a very flattering way. Snape quickly looked down at his pile of papers again. He couldn't believe the thoughts that were running through his head. What he wanted most in the world right now was for her shirt to be cut lower. He quickly scolded himself, she was a student! His thoughts were inappropriate and he stifled them.
After working for a while longer, Snape read that they were supposed to let the potion brew for fifteen minutes without stirring. He looked up to tell Hermione this. What he saw made his mouth run dry. She was bent over slightly looking at some of the papers that were strewn across the desk. Her shirt was hanging off of her chest and he could see…Merlin…he could see almost all of her newly exposed breasts down to her bra. He couldn't stop himself from staring. Hermione, feeling someone's gaze on her, looked up suddenly and caught him looking at her. She followed his line of sight and turned scarlet when she realized how much she was exposing. She stood up abruptly. Snape cleared his throat, clearly embarrassed that he'd been caught.
"We umm… we need to let the potion sit for a few minutes." Snape stuttered. Hermione was shocked, he never stuttered! He was always such an eloquent speaker. Had the sight of her half exposed breasts done this to him? "Then we must stir the potion in a complicated pattern for four minutes before letting it simmer until we meet tomorrow."
They sat in uncomfortable silence until the potion needed to be stirred. Snape instructed Hermione how to stir the potion, but once she began she found that she still wasn't sure how to do it. Snape realized this before Hermione had the chance to ask and he came up behind her like he did a few nights ago. Once again he put his hand over hers and guided it through the complicated pattern that the potion required.
Hermione could feel her heart rate speed up again, just from his touch. Her face grew warm and she turned her face to look at him. Just as he did that, he also turned. This caused their faces to be only inches apart, and consequently, their lips to be very close. They stared into each others eyes, all thoughts of the potion gone. It was just as well that they had already finished the necessary four minutes of stirring. Hermione closed her eyes and leaned toward him just a little. Snape found himself doing the same, their lips now only millimeters apart. Suddenly he stepped back.
"We can't do this, Hermione." He muttered. Hermione was surprised for an instant that he had used her given name, but the feeling quickly passed.
"Why not?" She asked.
"It's inappropriate! I'm your teacher! I'm also twenty years your senior! What would people think?" He said, sounding very much as though he didn't care about any of it.
"I don't care if it is inappropriate." Hermione replied. "You know as well as I do that in the wizarding world twenty years is hardly an age difference at all, given our long lifespan and all. And frankly, I don't give a damn about what people think of me, and I'm pretty sure that you don't either."
"We can't." He insisted. He looked into her eyes and suddenly realized how sad she looked when he insisted that they couldn't. He once more took in the sight of her in her muggle clothing and whispered, "To hell with it!" He closed the space in between them in two strides. He put his arms on her waist and placed his lips on hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and before he knew it, he was pulling her closer to him. He licked her lip and she obliged by opening her mouth for him. He thought that this is what heaven must taste like.
Once a few minutes had gone by, he pulled back, albeit reluctantly. He took both of her hands in his, kissing the right one and moving to do the same to the left. That's when he noticed the ring on her finger.
"What's this?" He asked, motioning to the ring. Hermione looked down at her hand in his. Quick as lightning she pulled her hands out of his.
"Oh God," She moaned, "Ron. Prof-"
"I think you can call me by my given name now Hermione." He interrupted.
"Alright… Severus." She began, loving the way his name rolled off her tongue. "You see… I'm sort of dating Ron." Severus' face made a grimace. "I… I… don't know what to do… this was wonderful… but Ron… I'm sorry Severus! I've got to go…" Hermione ran out of the dungeons with tears streaming down her face. She was so confused.
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A/N: "Frankly, I don't give a damn" came from Gone With the Wind, Invisibile a tutti i nemici is Italian for 'invisible to all enemies,' I think. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review.