Severus merely gaped at her, aware that the question was impending but still, he seemed to be unprepared for it. He would answer yes. He was required to, thanks to Dumbledore's foolish rule making it compulsory for the staff to dance with their partners.

Although a few students were watching as Hagrid made a clumsy attempt at dancing with Professor Sinistra, most of the young eyes in the Hall were on Professor Severus Snape. They knew that watching him dance with a woman would be an utterly priceless experience; one that, if they had possessed the nerve, they could possibly have taunted him about until next year.

Severus answered Hermione, "Yes," desiring nothing more than to just get the dance over with. He stood and held out his hand to her, which she took, of course, trying to conceal the slight grin that had appeared on her face. Hermione let him lead her out from behind the High Table and onto the dance floor with the rest of the staff. They stood facing each other, Hermione merely a bit nervous, but she could have sworn that Severus was downright scared. She reached out and grasped her hand in his with a reassuring smile and moved a bit closer to him. She then took hold of his other hand and placed it firmly on the small of her back, all this time, her eyes never straying from his. She placed her free hand on his shoulder lightly, and felt him tense.

She leaned up so that her lips were nearly touching his ear and breathed the word, "Relax." She felt his grip around her waist loosen, but he still clutched her hand tightly in his.

Hermione thought that Severus would have been terribly inept, treading on her feet and faltering in his steps at every moment. At first, she tried to lead the dance, but he would have none of that. He was so graceful in his fluent motions, Hermione could scarcely believe it.

"Where did you learn to dance?" Hermione asked him with a smile.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he replied. Hermione giggled, but was silent after that.

They danced to the slow love song at a distance for a while, until Hermione eventually leaned up only by about an inch or two and whispered to him, "You know, Severus, we can get a bit closer."

He looked down at her questioningly.

"Like this," she said almost inaudibly and pulled Severus nearer to her by his shoulder, until their bodies were nearly touching.

Severus tried to control himself. He wanted to pull her against him, kiss her, roam her body with his hands… No, that isn't what he wanted. It couldn't have been what he wanted.

Hermione laid her head on his warm chest, feeling the heat radiating from it. She heard and felt the vibrations of his pounding heart, and for the first time, truly realized how nervous he was. The arm that had rested on his shoulder, she now placed around his neck. She desired nothing more than to gaze up into those deep black eyes and pour out her very soul to him, reveal to him what she was feeling right now. She knew, however, that she could not. No, never.

The couple was no longer even truly dancing; now, they were really only swaying together to the music. Hermione was so tired all of a sudden, she could have sworn that she was just drifting off to sleep when the slow music ended with one long, drawn-out note. Hermione lifted her head from his chest and looked up at him. They stared into each other's eyes for just a second or two, both unwilling to believe that the dance was over, although Severus tried hard not to let it show. Then they pulled apart once more and made their way back up to the High Table, navigating through the crowd made up of their fellow colleagues that were quietly leaving the floor with them and the young students eager to return to their dancing activities. Some of the teachers were blushing, while others simply looked annoyed. Severus attempted to hide his red cheeks from view with his long curtains of black hair. And indeed, he did a rather good job of it, but Hermione noticed. Severus sat in his seat at the High Table, scowling at the students who were enjoying themselves so merrily.

After a while, curiosity got the better of Hermione. She leaned over to him and asked, "So, Severus, where did you learn to dance like that?"

He looked at her. "You are not getting anything out of me, Professor Granger."

She smiled and shook her head, leaning back in her chair. Severus Snape was perhaps the most arrogant, most foul man she had ever known. And yet, she yearned for him. So bad at this point that it hurt, but he obviously did not return these feelings, so she made an effort to force the notion out of her brain. However, she was finding that a bit challenging at the moment. The warmth from his body and his throbbing heartbeat still completely surrounded her, even though the moment had passed.

Severus had been watching the clock for some time now, when Dumbledore mounted the stage once more. His magnified voice thundered in the Great Hall. "Sadly, everyone, it is time to leave the Yule Ball for tonight," he said. There was a wave of groans from the disappointed students, but Dumbledore held up a hand and they fell silent at once. "Never fret; there will a Ball such as this every year from this year forward, as long as I am Headmaster at this school. Simply look forward to your next year at Hogwarts. At this time, I would like all of the students to return to their dormitories and try and get a good night's rest, despite all of this evening's great excitement. And the staff, I would like for you to please stay behind to assist in clearing out the decorations and such. Thank you."

The students all sadly departed, though it was no less than ten minutes later when Severus finally managed to frighten the last one away. Then the entire staff pitched in to clean the mess the students had made, and with all of them lending a hand, it was no more than fifteen minutes before the teachers were permitted to leave the Great Hall and return to their chambers.

"Would you mind if I walked you to your quarters, Severus?" Hermione asked him once they had walked through the double doors leading out of the Hall.

He considered this for a moment, and decided that there was no harm in it. "Fine," he answered.

They walked in silence down staircase after staircase to the dungeons, where Snape resided. When they reached his door, Hermione stopped, not wanting to leave him just yet. They stood facing each other for a minute, neither one willing to look into the other's eyes.

Severus opened the door and asked her awkwardly, "Would you like to, er, come inside?"

Hermione's heart leapt and her face brightened. "Yes, thank you."

He held the door open for her as she stepped inside and gasped. She gazed around, taking everything in. It was amazing, nothing like she had imagined. The walls were obscured completely with books, like a library, and Hermione was immediately drawn to them. Severus rolled his eyes, but she didn't see this. She ran her fingers lightly over the spines of the books, reading the titles quickly and caressing them. Suddenly, she gasped again. Shakespeare, Tolstoy, all of the muggle classics that she had first read in her childhood days. She looked over her shoulder at him disbelievingly.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked, somewhat sarcastically.

"Yes," she breathed. "This is an amazing collection, Severus, honestly. So many books. It's like you have your own personal library here."

"Not quite. The subject of my books rarely varies; most concern potions or the Dark Arts."

Her head snapped up to him and he added quickly, "Defence against them."

Hermione smiled and returned to the shelves. She slid Jane Eyre out from between two other books and began flipping through it.

"I never would have thought that you would have a copy of Jane Eyre, Severus," she muttered, not taking her eyes from the pages.

Severus didn't know how to respond, so he simply said, "You may sit down if you like," and gestured toward the sofa in front of the roaring flames in the fireplace.

She didn't say anything. She merely walked over to it and sat down in one of the corners, again, never taking her eyes away from the book to look up. He watched her for a minute or two, and then joined her on the couch, sitting at the opposite corner.

Abruptly, Hermione shut the book with a snap and looked up at him. "I'm so sorry. It's just that… this is my favorite book. I love it."

"Take it," he said instantly.

"What?"

"Take the book. It's not as if I really need another one, and I've already read it once. It's yours."

"No, Severus, no. It's your book. I couldn't possibly just take it," she insisted, shoving the book at his chest, but she gazed at it so longingly, Severus could tell that she greatly desired it.

"Hermione," he said, placing his hand on top of hers, "I'm giving it to you. Take it. Consider it a gift, if you like."

Hermione could see that he would not budge on his decision, and for once, she was glad that he was so terribly stubborn. She slowly pulled her arm back and stared at the book. "Thank you," she breathed and looked into his eyes.

"You're welcome."

There was silence.

"Wine?" Severus asked suddenly.

"Yes, please."

He stood and disappeared behind a door. She could hear the clanging of glass as it banged together (though gently) and he reappeared merely seconds later holding two clear crystal glasses and a bottle. He set one glass in front of him and the other in front of her, and then poured the wine into each of them.

He handed the glass to her. "Thank you," she said. He nodded, picked up his own glass, and took his seat. They both sipped their drinks slowly, not saying anything for a long time.

"Are these the only classics you own?" Hermione asked, gesturing toward the place where she had found Jane Eyre.

"No, I have rarer muggle classics and wizard books in the back."

Hermione laughed. "You sound like a shopkeeper. May I see them?"

Severus hesitated, but then again, he asked himself: What is the harm in it? "Yes," he answered, and stood up and disappeared behind that very same door once again.

Hermione felt the hands of exhaustion clawing at her. She was so tired. She set her glass down on the table and sat back comfortably, leaning her head against the back of the couch and closing her eyes.

When Severus returned with a stack of five thick books and spotted her like this, he froze. He walked over and peered down at her; she was asleep. He watched her chest slowly rising and falling as she inhaled and exhaled deep breaths of air. She looked so very peaceful. He set the books down quietly on the desk in the corner of the room and then kneeled before her. After taking her shoes off smoothly and setting them under the table, he lifted her legs gently and positioned her so that she was lying down on the couch now, her head at one end and her feet at the other. Then he went to his bedroom to retrieve a blanket, which he draped over her body. He watched her sleep for a little while, and then he went back to his own bedroom, wondering about the woman dozing on his couch. He sighed and shook his head, trying to rid himself of his thoughts of her. What was she doing to him?

Thanks for your reviews! I appreciate it so much!

jim- I never said that his nose was "disfigured" anywhere in the story. In Chapter 1, I did say "distinguished," although now, I must admit, that wasn't exactly the best word either. But thanks for pointing that out to me, anyway, I appreciate it. Now I can do better in the future. Thanks!

Rogena- Yes, I am so proud of myself for writing so much lately. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that my television is broken, but oh well. Lol. I can't wait to write more!

Remember: Review, please! Even if you don't like the story, tell me what you dislike about it and I will try to work on it. Thanks.

By the way, how do you think I am doing with keeping Dumbledore in character? I mean, I try hard to keep them all in character, of course, but I find Dumbledore much more difficult to write than anybody else. I hope I'm doing an okay job of it so far…