Disclaimer: Nothing is mine
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If Hermione thought she was confused the day before, it was nothing to how she now felt. She had kissed Snape! She had wanted it to happen, but now she was lost. Should she pursue things with Severus, or should she go back to Ron? Nice safe Ron. 'Safe so long as he's not trying to get into my knickers,' she thought. She was still sitting in the common room debating her current position, when Ron snuck up behind her. He hugged her from behind and whispered in her ear.
"Are you ready to go down to breakfast?" He asked. Hermione jumped a foot into the air. When she turned around to face him a blush was spread across her face and her eyes were open unusually wide. She stared at him for a moment before dashing off to her room. She was just too embarrassed to talk to him after what had happened last night. She left a very bewildered Ron in the common room. "Hermione?" He called after her. He looked over to Harry who was sitting near the fireplace. Harry shrugged his shoulders; he was just as clueless as Ron.
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Ron began to get worried after lunch when he still hadn't seen Hermione.
"What do you think is going on with her?" Ron asked Harry. "Everytime I've seen her today she's turned bright red and bolted off in the other direction."
"You did apologize to her, didn't you?" asked Harry.
"Yes! That's what I was doing last night after dinner. She seemed like she was still a bit mad at me, but she wasn't avoiding me! She even kissed me!" Ron ran a hand through his hair in his exasperation.
"Well, she won't be able to avoid you much longer," Harry said. "We've got Potions next."
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Hermione was in a state of near panic. She had to go to Potions. No longer would she be able to hide from Ron or Severus. Even worse, she would have to sit in the same room as both of them! She was having trouble controlling her stress and she knew that the stress of Potions might just kill her.
By the time she got to the dungeons, Hermione was sure she was going to pass out. She was trembling so violently that she dropped all of her books in the hallway near the Potions classroom.
It was no surprise when, an hour later, Hermione knocked over her cauldron. Throughout the class thus far, Hermione had kept shooting glances at Ron and Severus. Anytime that they would look up, she quickly averted her eyes. Severus wasn't at all surprised when he looked up to see Hermione blushing and the contents of her cauldron spilling onto the table and dripping onto the floor. He couldn't imagine how she had lasted an hour without spilling something, she was shaking so hard. Her mind was quite obviously not on her potion. Even though he had expected something like this to happen, he still roared to life, seemingly quite irritated.
"Detention, Miss Granger!" He sneered. "And twenty points from Gryffindor for your carelessness." As much as he hadn't wanted to do that, because of last night and all, he had to. When one is a spy, one must keep up appearances. It would not do to have someone suspect that he favored her; most people would be shocked if they knew he even tolerated her.
Hermione looked from Severus to Ron before bolting out of the room. She ran all the way to her dormitory and cried until she fell asleep. Her sleep was anything but peaceful. Her dreams were plagued by Ron leaving her and by Severus calling her a 'silly little girl.' When she woke up an hour later, she felt more exhausted than she did before her nap.
At a quarter to seven she made her way to detention. She was beyond nervous. 'What if he regretted what happened? What if he's just using me? What if-?' Dozens of 'what if's' were running through her head. She walked through the door to the Potions classroom to a sight that drove all the 'what if's' from her mind. Severus Snape, self-proclaimed bastard Potions master of Hogwarts, was sitting behind his desk looking incredibly nervous. Snape looked nervous. In fact, he looked about as nervous as Hermione felt.
"This isn't a real detention…" he began.
"I figured as much," Hermione replied.
"I felt I needed to speak with you about last night. Not to mention the fit Malfoy would have thrown if I didn't give you detention," he said. Then his normally mask like face took on a look of despair. "I apologize for my behaviour last night. It was highly inappropriate. As I was the adult in the situation, I should have put a stop to things before they progressed as far as they did. I'm sure you regret the whole thing, and I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to tell Dumbledore and have me fired." He stared at his desk, never once looking at her during his speech.
"Severus…I don't even know where to begin after that." At the sound of his given name coming out of her mouth, he finally looked up at her. His face held such dejection and self-loathing that Hermione gasped. She quickly moved over to him. She knelt in front of his seated form and took his hands in hers. "I don't regret anything about last night. Not a single thing. It just confused me. Before last night everything made sense. I was…I am dating Ron. Everything was going well, except when he occasionally turns into a randy prat. But, kissing him is nothing like kissing you. When I kiss him I feel this soft glow of love and friendship. When you and I kissed the kiss was filled with fire and passion. It was… exhilarating. Ron has always been a constant factor in my life. Then you came in and shook things up. And the problem with that is I want both stability and excitement. But I know I can't have both. I just don't know what to do!" Hermione began to cry. Severus immediately scooped her up from her position on the floor. He held her close to him as she sobbed. When it became obvious that she wasn't going to stop anytime soon, Severus led her into his office and settled them onto a couch in front of a fireplace. With a whispered spell, the fireplace roared to life basking the pair in warmth.
They sat wrapped around each other until Hermione's sobs finally subsided and were replaced with the even breathing that Severus recognized as sleep. He didn't have the heart to wake her, now that she looked so peaceful. He conjured a blanket and pillow for her before disentangling himself, reluctantly, from her body. After making sure she was comfortable he kissed her forehead and whispered,
"Goodnight, my darling."