Meanwhile…
How arrogant he is! That man could make Ghandi want to commit murder. Accusing everyone else of the flaws that he himself possesses, the greasy git. Well,I suppose his hair'snot really greasy, actually…maybe just shiny because it's so silky. No, of course not.And I know that Harry always said Severus' eyes were like dark tunnels, but I think they are deep and wonderfully black. Wait- what are you doing? This is Severus Snape, the greasy-haired Potions Master! Well, at any rate, he does seem to look a bit better since the last time I saw him. Of course, everyone does, since the war is over and Voldemort is gone. But still…hedoes lookquite good. No, Hermione, stop it, she told herself firmly.
She wished that the students were here to distract her from her thoughts, or even if she had a friend. Harry and Ron were in Auror Training at the Ministry and could not be disturbed, as she had recently found out when she sent a letter to Ron and received an angry Howlerfrom him in reply.
Suddenly, as if on cue, there was a knock at her door. She stood from her couch, where she had been reading, and walked slowly to the door to answer it. She unlocked it and pulled it open.
"Professor Snape!" she exclaimed, shocked to see him, of all people, at her door.
He raised an eyebrow. "I thought we were on first-name terms now, according to you?"
"Yes, yes, of course. But, erm…Severus…why are you…?" She did not want to appear rude, so she instead sounded the way she truly was: caught off guard.
"Evidently, you weren't expecting anyone," he said, eyeing the white robe she was wearing. He wondered curiously for an instant what she had on underneath it, but then scolded himself and forced the thought out of his mind.
"Not at this hour."
He peered over her shoulder at the clock on her wall. "7:30?" he asked, smirking.
Hermione's cheeks flushed a bit. "Oh, well, I… I didn't realize it was… You know what, Severus, what are you doing here?"
"I only wanted to ask you what you thought of this letter Longbottom sent me earlier," he said, handing her a piece of parchment.
Hermione sighed. "Come in," she said, opening the door wider so that he could walk through. He sat down in an uncomfortable wooden chair in front of her sickeningly organized desk, while she sat behind it in a very comfortable-looking leather chair.
She read Neville's letter, mentally correcting the grammatical errors as she did so, and smiled when she was through.
She asked, "He actually wrote this to you?"
"Yes. Odd, isn't it?" replied Severus.
"Very." She read aloud from the letter, "'I forgive you for ridiculing me for those seven years in your Potions classes. I hope that now there may be an understanding of civility and peace between us.'" Hermione chuckled. "Quite the optimistic, isn't he?"
"Quite." Severus leaned over the desk and took the parchment from her. Hermione noticed that as he pulled away, his hand lightly grazed hers, and she felt a shiver run down her spine.
Stop it, Hermione, she scolded herself.
As Severus sat back in the chair, he said, "Thank you. I only wanted to make certain that I was not the only one who thought so and that I was not going mad from old age."
"Why, you're not old at all."
"I am nearly twice your age, Hermione."
Don't remind me, she thought.
"Yes, Severus, but I am only twenty years old."
He shook his head and stood up to leave, but turned back as Hermione asked suddenly, "May I ask why you chose to inquire of my opinion?"
Severus thought for a moment. "There are similarities between you and Longbottom. You were both Gryffindor students who were in my Potions class, the same year, both close friends with dear Mr. Potter. Of course, I would have thought that thesewould have beenquite obvious. However, I must admit, there is a significant varying in intelligence between you and Mr. Longbottom, who, I'm sure,could not even concoct a simple Polyjuice Potion without blowing up the castle."
"You know very well Long- Neville's lack of competence in your class has nothing to do with intelligence. If you hadn't been breathing down his neck every single day, criticizing him, and taking away House Points left and right for the slightest mistakes, perhaps he would have better succeeded," Hermione retorted angrily.
"I did nothing of the kind," he said, crossing his arms on his chest.
How powerful and manly, Hermione thought. No, Stop it!
"How can you possibly be so arrogant?" she yelled.
"How can you possibly be so… so…" Severus cried out in frustration, throwing his arms up in the air.
How sexy he is when he's angry… No, Hermione thought again.
They glared at each other for a minute, simply standing there facing one another beside Hermione's desk. Severus discreetly eyed her white robe. The fasten around the waist had loosened a little, and he now saw that she had on a light pink chemise with just a bit of lace at the breast.
Look how beautiful she is now. She's learned to tame her hair, lost all of baby fat…developed… What are you doing, Snape? She was your student, your student! You couldn't possibly do anything. Not that I actually want to, of course. Besides, if she knew what you were thinking now, she would think you were a filthy man, Severus thought.
"Good night, Miss Granger," he said and again tried to take his leave.
"You know, Severus, you should try not scowling once in a while," Hermione said thoughtfully.
He turned to her. "Excuse me?"
"Well, it's just that when you're not scowling, you look younger, and…" Her cheeks turned slightly red.
"And what? Just spit it out. I haven't got all night to spend in here with you." Snape's jaw dropped as soon as the words left his mouth, and he realized how they must have sounded to young Hermione Granger. "I- I mean… I didn't mean…that… I just-" he stuttered.
But Hermione held up her hand to stop him. "It's all right, Professor, really. I was just going to say that you look much more, well, handsome, as well." Severus' jaw dropped even lower. Hermione smiled at him. "Good night, Severus." Then she went through the door that led to her quarters and shut it gently behind her. She leaned up against it for a second or two, and then went straight to her small kitchen for a glass of wine, which she downed, so she filled herself up another glass.
As she was doing this, Snape was merely standing there in shock. Handsome! No one had ever so much as given him a compliment, let alone one like handsome. Severus left then, shutting the door carefully behind him, and made his way back down to the dungeons.
Wow! Thank you so much to you guys who reviewed! I just put this story up last night, and I know it is kind of weird of me to get excited about just 2 reviews, but I am! Thanks!
olivialynlee and rinny08 - Thank you so much again! You have no idea how good it makes me feel to know that you liked my writing. I really, really appreciate it.
Oh, by the way: Disclaimer- I do not own anything in the Harry Potter world. It all belongs to J.K. Rowling, unfortunately for me that I did not come up with it first. But that's o.k.- I probably would have totally ruined it anyways, so I guess it is pretty good that she got to it first. :)
Please, more reviews! Even if you don't like it, tell me what you dislike about it and maybe I can work on it. Thanks!