Hermione did not see Snape throughout the rest of the holidays. She did not know whether he was in the castle, but she could not face him. He had certainly seemed embarrassed at finding her in the corridor. He probably wanted to see her as little as possible.
The other students returned after their holidays, and classes resumed. Hermione could not avoid seeing Snape any longer. She entered the Potions classroom with a bit of apprehension and sat at the back. Madam Pomfrey had kindly moved her to the back, along with Harry and Hermione, so that Hermione would be able to work in peace.
Snape made no comment about the new seating arrangement. He merely said, "I trust you have all learned your lesson from last term. You may now return to your preferred lab arrangement."
Neville Longbottom rejoined them at the back table where he had been before. As everyone else moved around, the trio gleaned that it was assumed that Snape did not want to make Malfoy, who had returned, sit in the front desk with Hermione.
"I wish my family could influence Snape like that. So much for being a pureblood." Neville was miserable as usual—well, it was Potions, after all.
Yet, Snape left the back table alone. Neville, when not bullied by Snape, could scrape together a passable potion. This was not to say that Snape made no comments, but he corrected instead of criticized. Even though his demeanor had not changed, he seemed to want to pass his students instead of fail him.
"D'you think someone slipped him a Cheerfulness Potion over the holiday? Not that it worked bloody well, but it's still an improvement. Wish I'd thought of it years ago." Ron was hopeful.
"Nah. Snape's Potions Master. He would have noticed. Still, something's different about him," replied Harry. "What do you think Hermione?"
"I think that it's about time you gave him a chance. He's not the evil git you always thought he was."
"That doesn't mean he's a nice man, Hermione." Harry wouldn't let his prejudices go.
Hermione sighed. "Let's go to dinner.
Harry and Ron ended up in detention in the next Potions class. They had tried to test the limits of the new Snape and had melted their cauldron. Boys, thought Hermione. Never satisfied with what they have. She couldn't blame Snape for giving them detention.
After dinner, Hermione accompanied her friends to the dungeons for their detention. They were in the middle of an argument about the changes they noticed in Malfoy since his return.
"He actually seems more studious to me," commented Hermione.
"That's because he's studying Dark spells!" Harry protested.
"At least he's not showing his ugly face around as much," said Ron rather optimistically.
"I'd rather be able to see him and know what he's up to," muttered Harry.
"You don't know that he's up to anything, Harry," Hermione shot back.
"Since when are you on his side Hermione? First Snape, now Malfoy. I'm starting to think—" Harry was interrupted by their arrival in the dungeons.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley. How kind of you to show up for detention. Unfortunately, you're late. You will stay behind to make up the lost time." Snape's voice loomed out of his office. "Begin by cleaning out the jars on the floor."
Ron rolled his eyes, but Hermione gave him an It's-only-fair-besides-he's-not-an-evil-git look.
"Miss Granger, I need to have a word with you about accompanying your friends to detention. Come into my office." Hermione had no choice but to follow Snape.
Harry and Ron both sent her looks of pity before they started on the jars.
Inside the office, Snape motioned for her to sit down.
"Wait, sir, I want to thank you for what you did for Malevich."
Snape looked at her in surprise. "Dumbledore didn't tell you—"
"No sir. He didn't tell me anything specific, but I gathered from what he said that you had replaced his Identity. Thank you for saving his life." Hermione looked at him earnestly.
"I didn't do it for him, and I didn't do it for Hogwarts. I did it for you. Even though I had comprehended your feelings perfectly well before the holiday, I couldn't help but remember your remarks about being insensitive." Snape's tone was very short, but Hermione could tell that he was nervous. Remembering Dumbledore's last comment, he said, "I think I might have been truly insane before. I have had to shut out the world for so long just to stay alive I forgot how to—how to—" Snape couldn't finish.
"How to love." Hermione's clear brown eyes lifted and met his.
Snape couldn't bear to look at Hermione, knowing that it was she who had wrought this change within him, even if she despised him still. He broke the connection and took a deep breath. "Miss Granger, I still love you. No matter what you say or do will change that, but if you still feel the same way you did, you will not suffer another word on this matter."
Hemione caught her breath. He still loved her? In as short a time as possible Hermione gave Snape to understand that over the holidays her feelings had undergone such a material change that she found the same sentiments quite agreeable.
They looked at each other and understood completely.