A loud knock on her door roused Hermione from her book. In the past, reading had always been a successful way for her to escape reality, but this time, it had failed, and she found herself grateful for the distraction. She stood and wiped the tears hurriedly from her eyes, and went to open the door. She expected a concerned Albus or Minerva, or perhaps a student confused on one of their recently learned spells. What she had not anticipated was to view Severus Snape standing in her doorway, and she let out a gasp when she saw him.

"Severus!" she exclaimed. "What a pleasant surprise."

"Thank you. May I come in?" he asked her.

Nodding vigorously, she stepped aside and allowed him to enter. Before, he had simply been in her office, but these were her chambers, where she lived. This was quite different.

He gazed around the room curiously, interested in knowing where Hermione Granger spent all of her spare time. In this room, there was just one wall with a shelf of books on it. This surprised Severus greatly, but he didn't show it. He merely allowed his eyes to pass over the shelf dismissively and looked elsewhere. Another neat, orderly desk resided in the far corner, and just like in his rooms, there was a large fireplace in the wall. Cozy looking chairs were placed around the room, inviting the visitor to curl up in them and read, or simply fall into a deep, restful sleep. It was more open than the first room in his chambers was. Then he spotted two chairs that were positioned close to each other, and this started his mind to wandering. Who exactly was Hermione Granger expecting?

Severus' first instinct was to go to the shelf of books and examine them, just as Hermione had done in his room, but he felt somehow that he was intruding, and did not want to impose. He stayed where he was, inside of her room just far enough so that the door could click shut behind him.

Hermione smiled widely. "Sit down, Severus, please. Goodness, don't just stand there."

He nodded and took a seat on her sofa, which was located closest to him. She sat down beside him, though far enough away so that their bodies were not touching. She folded her hands neatly in her lap and looked at him, though he did whatever possible to avoid her gaze.

"Severus, I'm quite sure you didn't come here simply see to how comfortable my couch is. Did you have a reason?"

He looked up at her and cleared his throat. "Well, actually, I… I understand that you received a letter of very serious news this morning at breakfast. I just wished to make certain that you are all right."

"Oh, yes, well, I… It was nothing. Um, nothing at all," she replied uneasily.

"Hermione, do not lie to me."

Severus knew that she was lying. He could always tell when someone was being deceitful. It was what years of acting as a spy had done to him.

She stared at him for a moment, not saying anything. Within seconds, she could feel her throat closing and the tears pushing hard behind her eyeballs to seep out. However, she fought more fiercely than ever before not to consent to them. She may have danced with him and enjoyed it, and then later fallen asleep on his sofa, but he was still Severus Snape, her former Potions Master, and she would not allow herself to cry in front of him.

For seven years, Professor Snape had never managed to reduce her to tears. Tens of other girls who had not been taunted half as badly as Hermione, and with a quarter of her intelligence, had sobbed in his classroom, but never Hermione. No matter how much cruelty and ridicule she had been forced to endure in her Potions classes throughout those seven years, she had always held herself with the utmost pride, never letting it show.

Sensing that he was about to be in the presence of a crying woman, Severus panicked. He had never dealt very well with bawling women. However, if she began to weep, he would not leave her. And so, he tried to mentally prepare himself for the outburst.

Hermione fought so hard to control her tears and her emotions, but finally, she realized that she could not hold it in any longer, and she broke down. It occurred so quickly, that neither of the professors had much time to notice it happening. It was as if floodgates had suddenly opened behind Hermione's eyes and the tears begun pouring out, chasing each other down her cheeks. She buried her face in her hands, her elbows resting on her knees, and could not look at Severus, as if she was ashamed for her disgraceful behavior.

She sobbed into her hands, so that the sound was stifled but the words still clear, "H- Harry wr- wrote a letter to me th- this morning. H- He said that… that Ron w- was… w- was… Oh, he's been injured terribly…Auror training…in a coma…not going to wake up…"

"Is he-?"

"Dead? No, not yet, at, at least. B- but he p- probably won't wake up," she stuttered, struggling to get the words out.

Severus didn't know what to say. When the three of them had been his students, he had witnessed their remarkable friendship, able to withstand even the toughest of circumstances, and in some ways, he had been slightly envious of it. He, along with the rest of the professors at Hogwarts, was well aware of how close they had been, and he felt a great sadness for Hermione at that moment.

She looked up at him fleetingly, though he did not notice, and then buried her face in her hands once more.

Severus, not quite knowing what to do in this situation, patted her lightly on her trembling shoulder, and then, realizing that this was not helping her in the least, he wrapped his right arm around her and pulled her nearer. She shifted closer to him most willingly, and he wrapped his left arm around her on the other side, so that he was hugging her close to his body. He breathed in the sweet aroma that was emitted from her hair; it was flowery, like her perfume. She sobbed silently onto his chest, dampening his shirt and robes, and wrapped her arms around him in return. This time, Severus did not tense; he merely accepted it. He could scarcely recall the last time he had held a woman like this. Not since he was in school, certainly.

Noticing that her sobs had finally ceased, he looked down at her, only to find her gazing back up at his face. She leaned gradually up to him, so that his face was not an inch from her own, and looked into his eyes. Then she pulled forward and kissed him lightly on the corner of his mouth. She then pulled away abruptly and sat at the opposite corner of the sofa. Neither one of them spoke for a long time.

The clock on Hermione's wall chimed seven, shattering the silence. Severus glanced at it and then turned to Hermione. "I should go now. I mean, if you don't mind. Will you be all right here by yourself?" he asked her, placing a hand delicately on her shoulder again.

She looked at him and smiled slightly, so he returned this action. The corners of his lips turned upwards as he looked at her.

With the flames from the fire reflecting on her face and in her eyes, she really is very pretty, he thought, though of course, he would never voice this aloud.

Hermione's eyebrows rose in surprise and her smile transformed quickly into full jack-o-lantern grin. "Did you just smile, Severus? Well, who would have known, the great Severus Snape is capable of other facial expressions than sneers and scowls."

"Don't push it," he said jokingly.

"And he can make jokes, my lord!"

Severus chuckled.

"And laugh," she added.

"You have a beautiful smile, Severus," she said after a moment.

He looked at her and oh, how he wanted to reply, "You have a gorgeous smile too, Hermione! You are so

beautiful! Your hair and your eyes are exquisite." But he didn't. He merely sat and looked at her for a while, maintaining the smile on his face.

She stood and held out her hand to him. "You said you needed to leave?"

"Oh, yes, I do. I've got a vast amount of potions to evaluate and papers to grade, and I just-"

"It's all right, Severus," she assured him, still holding out her hand. He took it, and allowed her to lead him to her door. When they reached it, however, she still did not let go.

"Thank you, Severus, for everything. I truly appreciate everything you've done for me tonight."

"What did I do?"

"You listened. And you comforted me. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

She leaned up and gave him a peck on his cheek, nothing more, and then stepped back, letting go of his hand. Hermione opened the door for him and he stepped out, looking at her smiling face as he grinned back at her, and she shut the door slowly and softly behind him. Severus left her classroom, quickly wiping the smile off his face when he spotted a fourth-year Ravenclaw in the halls on his way to the dungeons, but still pondering in his mind what had just happened. Could it be that maybe, just possibly, Hermione Granger felt the same way about him as he did about her?

OMG! I just read this story and it said that Hermione was reading the book Jane Eyre. I thought that was cool, but I swear I didn't steal the idea. Lol. I simply glanced at my bookshelf for a book and that one seemed just perfect to me, so that is the one that I chose. Sorry, I just thought that was kind of cool. (The story was "Dreams Can Come True" by author HeatherLayne. I found the mention of the book in Chapter 5, and I think you can find the story on my Favorites menu. It is a very good story, it has always kept me guessing, and I really recommend reading it.) And by the way: Any situations/occurrences/anything that you may find in this story that I wrote that you have read somewhere else, I swear I didn't take them! I mean, some people have the same ideas, but I do not steal ideas. If I happen to have the same ones, I put them here, but I DO NOT STEAL ideas! Just to let you know…so you didn't jump to conclusions or try and sue me or something. Hehe.

Wow! 78 reviews in just 8 days! I never expected to receive this many, but I am quite pleasantly surprised! Thank you!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside when you say that you like my story! (And it makes me feel significant in a small kind of way that those of you who didn't like my story cared enough to take the time to review and tell me, and I appreciate that, since I am always looking for new ways to improve my writing. So thanks to everybody!)

Ashley luvs Snape- Thank you for explaining that to my tiny little mind. Lol.

Which brings me to my next mention…

tallgiraffe32- Yes, I know what you mean. In fact, just earlier today, I was rereading Chapter 1, and I thought that Hermione really wouldn't have done that. Plus, honestly, wouldn't Snape have like pulled back or something? Sorry, it's just that I wanted to sort of introduce the romance and establish it early on. I mean, I know that only something small (in this chapter) has actually happened between them yet, but just, everyone, be patient… Anyway, yeah, so I kind of agree with you on that. Sorry.

olivialynlee- LOL! Your review made me laugh out loud so hard. Thank you for all your kind compliments, like saying that I am true to the characters (which I'm not sure of sometimes; see my previous mention). I'm glad that you like the slow build up, but in this chapter, they actually made some contact (like other than just dancing), so I don't know… Lol. And yes, I was just thinking about how obsessed I am with this story, so I'm glad that I'm not the only one who obsesses over writing either! Lol! And I like when you ramble, because it just makes me feel good about my story. Thanks!

Zoe- Thank you. I like how you worded that: "gaining each others respect and then the friendship and then the relationship." That's awesome. Thank you.

she-elf- I am glad that you think I'm doing a nice job of keeping Dumbledore in character, because I find him much harder to write than the other characters. I am also so happy that I could make you laugh! I thought that joke was weak, but I am so glad that it made you laugh! Thank you.

Like Chapter 9 (which really didn't end up taking up any more time than the rest of the chapters had), I think that Chapter 11 might take a day or two to get up. So, based on my place on it right now, I would expect it sometime Monday.

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