Author Note: Guess who showed back up? Yep, you guessed it! The plot bunny! I think you'll like this chapter! MMUUAAHH!

"I must be out of my mind."

Remus began to chuckle at his customarily bleakly docile friend. "Yes, I believe you are. It's called love, Severus. It makes even the very most composed of man weak in the head."

Severus quirked his eyebrow in Lupin's direction. "Please do not use that word. I can't possibly love her."

Remus' head tilted, his eyes narrowed, and his lips pursed. He leaned forward from the plump leather chair upon which he was sitting. "You said it with your own mouth. Don't tell me you are going to fight this emotion, too. You always fight it, Snape. Time you stood up to something."

It took that small indirect implication of Severus' cowardice to force the snarling professor from his seat. "I will have you to know, Remus John Lupin, that I faced worse fates in my time. This ideology of love is not an obstacle for me, sir. I choose to step aside and watch it fall to the ground without a second thought." And with that, Severus haughtily turned his back and exited the room in his usual flourish of black attire.

Of course, that didn't stop Remus from following him. He reached his hand to the shorter man's shoulder and jerked him around. His face was mere inches from his old school nemesis. "You mean to tell me that after everything. After going through all of this shite, you are going to forget. You are going to forget the feeling in your heart pleading with you to confirm what you know is true. You admitted it once. Why do this to yourself? Why do this to her?"

Severus smacked Remus' hand away from his person. It took even less time to point a bony finger in the werewolf's face. "You will never touch me again. Is that clear, Moony? As for Hermione, she has forgotten everything. She doesn't remember anything that happened that night, nor does she remember our discussion after I cast the Obliviate on her. It will equally be forgotten from my mind. If you are a wise man, it will be forgotten from yours as well. Do we understand each other?"

A brief flash of anger passed through Remus' eyes at the sneer to his nickname. "I understand," he said with a similarly venomous hiss as he stormed out of the kitchen at Number 12 Grimmauld Place and Apparated back to his home.

Severus stood for a moment staring at the empty space that was now before him before he, too, left and returned to Hogwarts.

It had been six weeks since the night of his "confession" to Hermione. March was a slow month and he often found himself in his laboratory preparing potions for the infirmary or working on the next lesson plan on his syllabus. It was the middle of the month when he looked up one day to find large amber eyes staring at him from the door.

"I'm sorry to bother you, professor. I was hoping you would have some headache relief in your stores. Madame Pompfrey is out of it."

Snape regarded Hermione with little to no attention. He just motioned to the cabinet across the room and casually stated, "Second shelf, third from the right."

Hermione took his mood to be somewhat safe so she ventured to the cupboard, removed what she needed, and began to leave. "Thank you, sir."

"Miss Granger, please tell Madame Pompfrey that I will have finished with her supplies list this evening after dinner."

She nodded slightly and began to close the door behind her when a soft, yet audible sound came from within the room.

"You're welcome."

"He said what?"

"He said I was welcome. I couldn't believe what I heard either, but he said it nonetheless."

The morning classes were dismissed due to an unusual amount of snowfall blocking most of the passageways to the outer classrooms on the castle grounds. Harry and Hermione were trying their best to keep warm in front of the Gryffindor fireplace when the conversation turned to Severus Snape.

The young man ran a hand through his hair and looked with wide eyes into the flames. "That's just so hard to believe."

Hermione shrugged and continued her reading of the next book in the series "The things you need to know that Hogwarts: A History won't tell you".

Harry sighed heavily and leaned back into the sofa. "Well, what were you going to do today? Sit here and read all day? Ron, Ginny, and I were going to attempt the largest snowman Hogwarts has ever seen. Do you want to help build it?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't feel like it today, Harry. Thanks anyways. I was planning on getting some more books from the library to finish up the remainder of Charms and Potions that I missed…err, well forgotten. I won't be finished with it all until at least tomorrow. I'll come check it out when I'm done."

Harry weakly smiled at her and grabbed his cloak when Ginny and Ron came into view.

"Hermione, you coming?" Ginny asked as she fastened her scarf around her neck.

"No, you go ahead. I'll come critique your work later," she said with a giggle.

"Oi! Critique is just the word for it. You'll tell us that we buggered the thing up if we don't have instructions." Ron received a swift smack on the arm from his sister as the three of them exited the common room and headed outside where most of the student body had gathered for snowball fights and the like.

Hermione looked up from her book after a few more pages and looked around the now empty common room.

"It's too quiet in here," she murmured to herself as she gathered her things and began for the library.

Several winding paths and many stairs later, Hermione found herself at her favorite table in what she affectionately referred to as the 'book haven of the world'. She perused shelf after shelf of literature on the subjects she needed to complete. After having selected six very large volumes of text, she returned to her seat and began reading.

What seemed like minutes ended up actually being hours. Hermione never heard Madame Pince leave, nor did she hear the librarian ask Hermione to finish up and leave herself. She was too engrossed in her endeavor to catch up with her classmates to notice the lights darkening across the room.

"Miss Granger, ten points from Gryffindor for being out past curfew."

Hermione's head shot up at the baritone voice reverberating over the walls of the empty sanctum. In the doorway, silhouetted by the sconces on the opposite wall of the hallway, stood Professor Snape.

"I'm sorry, Professor Snape. I lost track of time. I will leave immediately."

His stride was punctuated with the heavy taps of the heels of his boots on the hard stone floor. "What are you doing in here at this late hour?"

"Trying to catch up in class, sir. I still have so much to read up on. Professor Binns is going to quiz me on the last three chapters I've missed. I thought that perhaps you might have something equally prepared for me."

To be honest, the thought never occurred to him to actually test her. "Indeed, Miss Granger. However, forcing yourself to learn all of this in such dim light at such a tedious hour could very well have you using chopped root of jasmine to cure the Goblin Wars."

Hermione chuckled, but remembered herself and straightened her face. "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. I'll be more attentive to the subject matter in the future."

Hermione began to walk past him in an attempt to go to the Head Girl's quarters for some much needed rest when he took her by the arm.

"I believe you are overdoing it, Miss Granger. Seeing as that Binns is not getting any older, I believe he will wait for you to be ready for your quiz. I, however, am not getting any younger. I will test you now. How well do you know your material, Miss Granger?"

She gulped before replying. "I believe I have the basics down, sir. Details are a bit fuzzier."

"Very well."

He took a step closer to her and stood before her in what she referred to as his intimidating posture. His hands were clasped behind his back and his chin was held high as his eyes leered down the bridge of his nose at his prey.

"What do you get when you cross aconite and monkshood?"

Slightly perplexed, Hermione squinted her eyes. "They are the same thing, sir. Aconite, or wolfs bane, is an extremely dangerous plant that resembles a monk's cowl, thus it's second name."

He wanted to smile, but didn't.

"Powered hellebore can be used for what?"

"Invisibility potions."

He took a step closer. He was now firmly planted against her as if daring her to take a step back. She stood her ground.

"Frozen Ashwinder eggs."

"Love Potions, sir. However, it is not possible to recreate the emotion of love. The potion simply makes the drinker infatuated with their target."

"And how, Miss Granger, would that accomplish anything?"

She bit her lip as his head dropped so that he stared directly into her eyes. "I don't know, sir. I suppose it has the same chemical reaction as the endorphins in the body. Yourheart races. Your temperature increases. Your chest…" She stammered as she realized just how close his chest was to hers. "…your chest tightens. You might have a sudden breakout of sweat."

He interrupted her by wiping a small bead of sweat, the effect he was hoping for, from her brow.

He droped his voice to a sulky whisper, "Tell me, Hermione. Have you drunk a love potion tonight?"

She closed her eyes as she shook her head to the negative.

"Then why is it that you are exhibiting these signs and symptoms?"

His fingers traced her jaw line and wrapped around her neck pulling her even closer to him. Her response of "I don't know" was lost as his mouth hungrily took hers.

Only seconds whipped by as Hermione found herself being hoisted up onto the tabletop next to her. Severus' hands shoved her skirt up around her waist. He positioned his body between her legs and pressed his aching erection against her. The thin barriers of his robes and her panties didn't conceal much.

He released her mouth and began tasting her velvet smooth neck. His tongue caressed the delicate lines. His hands worked the buttons of her blouse open as her hands lifted his robes and found the buckle to his belt. She could feel how hard he was with every movement of her hand. Once his pants were open, Hermione quickly reached inside his boxers and pried her prize out to the open. With a deft hand, he pushed aside the satin between her legs and pressed against her again.

She closed her eyes, threw her head back, and moaned. He backed away slightly, took his aim, and pushed inside her warm depths.

"Miss Granger!"

The drool on her cheek had begun to crust. The binding of the book beneath her was so superbly embossed into her cheek.

"What are you doing in here at this hour?" Snape roared.

Her eyes bulged as she looked at the time. "I'm so sorry, professor. I was trying to catch up on the reading, and I must have fallen asleep. I must have been dreaming. I'm so embarrassed."

His brow furrowed. "Embarrassed?"

She gulped. "Nothing, sir. Just a dream."

"Dream in your bed, Miss Granger. Seeing as that you are trying to catch up with your classmates, I will excuse this infraction this time. However, if I ever see you down here again at this hour, I will test you just to see if you are actually learning anything."

She smiled to herself. "I look forward to it, sir."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing."

She left quickly and returned to her room where she fought so hard to pick up where she left off in her dreams.

Severus watched her leave and go up the Gryffindor staircase.

"Someone needs to tell you, Miss Granger, that you talk in your sleep," he mumbled as he turned back to his quarters.

author note: Worth repeating... MMUAAAHH! The book series "The things you need to know that Hogwarts: A History won't tell you" was made up by me... The potion information was taken from HP Lexicon's Potions Encyclopedia.