The fireworks were wonderful. They really were, and it wasn't just that, the Weasleys twins seemed to have led the school into a much more open rebellion.

*Professor Umbridge spent her first afternoon as Headmistress running all over the school answering the summonses of the other teachers, none of whom seemed able to rid their rooms of the fireworks without her. When the final bell rang and they were heading back to Gryffindor Tower with their bags, Hermione saw, with immense satisfaction, a dishevelled and soot-blackened Umbridge tottering sweaty-faced from Professor Flitwick's classroom.

"Thank you so much, Professor!" said Professor Flitwick in his squeaky little voice. "I could have got rid of the sparklers myself, of course, but I wasn't sure whether or not I had the authority."

Beaming, he closed his classroom door in her snarling face.*

And Hermione spent the afternoon Stunning or Vanishing the fireworks whenever she had the opportunity just to add to the mayhem, because 10 fireworks were naturally, much better than one. She'd been doing just that on her way to the toilet when she'd spotted Snape and Sprout watching her. Neither of them said a word.

Wonderful.

*"But why haven't you got Occlumency lessons anymore?" said Hermione, frowning.

"I've told you," Harry muttered. "Snape reckons I can carry on by myself now I've got the basics."

"So you've stopped having funny dreams?" she said sceptically.

"Pretty much," said Harry, not looking at her.

He was a bad liar.

"Well, I don't think Snape should stop until you're absolutely sure you can control them!" she said, confused. "Harry, I think you should go back to him and ask – "

"No," said Harry forcefully. "Just drop it, Hermione, OK?"*

She frowned again. Something really wasn't right here. Although it was normal for Harry to come back from Occlumency lessons looking pale and shaky, this time was different somehow. He was avoiding their eyes and he looked … traumatised? Ashamed? What on earth had happened?

She thought of Snape. Was he ok? An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. Why would Snape suddenly end the lessons when Dumbledore was so insistent of their importance?

She mumbled something about the Library and slipped out of the Gryffindor common room. It was still just about before curfew but she was grateful for the lack of interruptions on her journey down to the dungeons. She didn't even really know why she was going there, Snape was probably fine and would not appreciate her presence… All the same… It wasn't going to do any harm just to check…

She reached his office door and her heart seemed to be pounding in her throat. As she lifted her arm to knock, she noticed the door was ajar. Her sense of unease increased.

"Professor Snape?" She called quietly as she gently pushed the heavy wooden door open.

She gasped.

The sight that met her eyes was such a shock that it seemed to take her brain several minutes to process what she was seeing…

Snape's office was in shambles; broken class littered the floors from the smashed jars; they looked as if they'd been hurled into the walls judging by the smelly liquids that were running down some of them and dripping into different coloured puddles on the floor. Dead bits of plants and animals were interspersed on the flagstones and some were stuck to the wall where their jars had perished around them. Snape's desk had been overturned; there was paper everywhere, some disintegrating in the puddles and it looked like the wooden chairs had met the same end as the jars.

The man himself was lying motionless in the centre of the room with his back to her. She shut the door behind her, ran to him and dropped to her knees near his head. His arms and legs were flailed around him, as if he'd fallen and not bothered to get up or make himself more comfortable and his greasy hair covered his face, hiding his expression.

"Professor Snape!"

"What … did Potter … tell you?" He asked desperately, not bothering to move or even look at her, his voice hoarse and scratchy and his breathing ragged.

"What? Umm, he just said that he'd mastered the basics so you'd said it was ok for him to continue on his own."

Snape snorted and something gurgled.

"Are you hurt? Who did this? What happened?"

"I'm unhurt … and I did this." He answered.

Her brain hurt. Snape had done this to his own office? Why? Did this have something to do with Harry?

She opened her mouth to ask her questions but instead her hand began to push Snape's hair off his face. Her heart stuttered. What was she doing? But she didn't stop herself. Slowly she combed Snape's hair behind his ear, not caring for one second that it was greasy. Snape was staring straight ahead with cold, dead eyes, but there was pain around their edges, she could see it. Her heart ached. For the final few stands she placed her fingers lightly on his temple and dragged them through his hair, behind his ear and down to the base of his neck. Snape's eyes fluttered closed. Emboldened, she repeated the gesture. His eyes stayed closed. She dragged her fingers across his temple and down again, this time with more force. His limp body shifted slightly, as if he was getting more comfortable. She smiled down at his neck.

His nose was bleeding. Sighing, she dug for some tissue in her pocket and finding a significant wad, she took a few pieces and placed them under his nose. Snape's eyes flew open and he glared at her reprovingly, shifting away from her hand.

She rolled her eyes at him and reapplied the tissue.

"No." He snapped, shifting away from her again.

"There's no point bleeding all over yourself." She snapped back, and in a moment of reckless abandon, she shifted closer to him, lifted his head onto her lap and shoved the tissue back under his hooked nose.

His eyes were wide and fearful when he looked up at her.

In a rare moment of absolute clarity, she pushed away her own fear and confusion and all the questions she had about what had happened and inhaled a deep, calming breath. She gave him a gentle smile, knowing that words would do little to reassure such a man, and with her free hand she began raking her fingers through his hair again, slowly but with greater pressure, and his eyes began to flicker shut once more. Her chest ached. She'd need to explore the depth of feeling she had for her Professor at some point, but not right now.

They passed a substantial amount of time in this way, she'd started stroking the skin under his ear with the back of her fingers as well at some point, still without protestation, until she noticed his nose had stopped bleeding and gently removed the tissue, fetching a clean one and wiping away the dried blood. He looked back up at her, his eyes startled rather than fearful, and for a moment when they stared at one another, his eyes seemed to soften, she seemed to drift into their black depths and for a second, she thought she felt the depth of his pain. It felt like neglect and abuse and isolation, it was betrayal and fear and humiliation, it was loneliness and insecurity and rejection and a hot, burning anger...

Her eyes stung. Snape was staring at the floor. She blinked. What had just happened? It hadn't been Legilimency exactly, but….

Snape sighed heavily, his breathing was uneven.

She started stroking his hair again, wishing for calm. She'd felt a tiny fraction of what he was feeling, she was sure of it, and it had been enough to make her want to crawl into a hole and never get out. She felt completely out of her depth. She discarded the tissue and went to take his hand, it was slightly beyond her reach, she went to stretch but his hand came up to hers, stopping short of actually touching. He was still staring resolutely at the floor. She took his hand and held it tightly, wishing she could pour everything she was feeling into his head through their joined hands so he would know he was cared about, and maybe she could ease a tiny, tiny bit of his pain. A tear rolled down her cheek. That was almost the worse part; she didn't really understand what had happened or why she was crying and she knew she couldn't ask. He'd throw her out. And right now she was exactly where she needed to be. She squeezed his hand.

Something had changed. It was something obvious but she couldn't quite place it… She frowned, trying to concentrate on what it was…

Oh.

Her hand.

She was holding Snape's hand, and it wasn't limp. He was holding her hand back. She felt her cheeks redden. Professor Snape was holding her hand. She smiled to herself, feeling a thrill of pleasure run over her. She was holding his hand, and he was holding hers back. And his head was in her lap. And she was stroking his hair.

Life could be very weird sometimes.

A while later she began to notice that her knees hurt and her feet were starting to go numb. A Cushioning Charm held it off for a while but then it returned with a vengeance. She glanced down at her Professor and her heart stopped. He was asleep. She felt a huge rush of affection for him, followed by a trickle of frustration down her spine. What was she supposed to do now? Her knees really hurt but she didn't want to wake him … or would it be better to wake him anyway? He needed a proper night's sleep surely…

She let out a heavy sigh and ran her fingers through his hair one last time. It was very soft. He looked so peaceful asleep, his face and body relaxed. She Transfigured one of the tissues into a blanket and levitated it over his sleeping form. Maybe she'd wait until she really couldn't stand staying in that position anymore, and then she'd wake him… It was a daunting prospect. She looked down at her sleeping Professor. It felt like the world had gone a bit mad tonight. Something had happened between Harry and Professor Snape that had resulted in the discontinuation of Occlumency lessons, had made Harry look traumatised and had made Snape have some sort of fit, destroying his office and making him … well…

While she'd been lost in thought a change had overtaken Snape; his body was tense and his eyes were moving rapidly beneath his closed lids.

"No." He whispered franticly.

Her heart constricted.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO."

He sat bolt upright panting.

"Professor?"

He turned like lightning and she was faced with his wand at her throat. She almost smiled at the déjà vu. He blinked and looked at her properly with a mixture of surprise and confusion. As he lowered his wand she noticed his hand was shaking.

They were kneeling facing each other. Snape was still panting. She was worried that if she said anything at all he'd throw her out. Silently, she conjured him a glass of water and handed it to him with a sheepish expression. He let out an amused huff of air and took it from her. She remembered her aching knees and shifted to sit cross legged before him.

"Now please don't yell or throw me out," she said imploringly, her hands palm up before him, "but are you ok?"

He gave her a long and calculating stare that left her breathless before running his hands through his hair roughly and slumping forwards, resting his elbow on his knees and his head on his hand.

"You shouldn't be here." He said finally, his voice sounding oddly resigned.

She said nothing.

"Why did you come?"

"Harry came back from your lesson all … weird. And he said you'd cancelled them … I just … I knew something was wrong." She said truthfully.

"So you came to check on me?" Snape said slowly.

"Yes."

"I do not need a babysitter." He snarled, lifting his head and glaring at her.

But there was something defenceless in the way he was sitting.

"I know sir, but maybe … well," she inhaled and said in a rush "everyone needs a friend."

He glared at her frowning.

"Is that what you think we are, you idiot girl? Friends?" He spat out the word like an insult.

"I'm the brightest witch of my age. Of course I don't think that." She snapped.

Snape's lips twitched, he looked caught somewhere between anger and amusement.

"I think everyone needs a friend, or at least someone who really cares about them." She said softly, reining in her temper.

He looked away.

His hands were still trembling in his lap.

She shifted and sat herself by his side, pulling the blanket over them and reaching over to take one of his hands in hers. He resisted for one stubborn moment but she gave his hand a tug and he gave in, wrapping his fingers around hers and holding on rather tighter than she'd expected.

"I care about you." She whispered, to no response.

It was probably the middle of the night by now.

As his hand slowly relaxed around hers, she looked up at his face and was surprised to see him looking down at her. She offered him a timid smile which was not returned, but his face seemed to soften slightly as she looked at it.

"We should probably tidy up at some point you know." She said hurriedly, looking away as she felt herself go a brilliant shade of red.

"Yes." He agreed, pulling his hand from hers and standing up stiffly.

She immediately wished she hadn't said anything.

And so together they Reparoed what could be saved and Vanished what couldn't, slowly but surely making the room look normal again. When they were done Hermione looked round the office, blinking slightly with a furrowed brow; it was like it had never happened.

"I shall escort you back to Gryffindor Tower, Miss Granger." Said Snape formally, looking almost back to normal as well.

Her throat hurt.

"No need sir." She said, making a conscious effort to keep her voice light.

And she Disillusioned herself before him.

A slight smirk curled Snape's lip.

She grinned.

Her Charm was almost perfect these days.

"Take care of yourself Professor." She said quietly, the smile fading from her face.

He nodded stiffly and she let herself out, almost running back to her dormitory. She threw herself into bed and felt a few frustrated tears fall from her eyes. She still didn't even know what had happened to make Snape behave like that. The memory of touching his hair and holding his hand made the tears flow anew. So maybe she had a bit of a crush on her Professor. That was no big deal. Her chest constricted. Okay, so it felt like a big deal. But there was no need to panic. This sort of thing happened all the time. Everything was fine. Totally, totally fine.

She screamed into her pillow.

It was the Easter holidays. She'd seen her Potions Professor a few times in passing since Harry's last Occlumency lesson and it had been fine; no deadly glares, no snide comments, no horrible smirking. Her final realisation that she had a crush on him shouldn't have come as a surprise; really it had been going on for a long time, but all the same she felt like she was blushing every time she laid eyes on him. The feel of his hair seemed to have left an impression on her fingers that simultaneously made her feel wonderful and terribly uncomfortable. But at least she had a couple of weeks to process everything that had happened before classes resumed again.

And now Harry was planning on breaking into Umbridge's office to talk to an escaped convict.

There were no words.

She spent the whole day trying to persuade her friend to change his mind but it seemed pretty set. By their Potions class neither of the boys were speaking to her but that wasn't important. She kept a continual flow of warnings in the hope that at least one would filter through Harry's skull and into his brain but it wasn't looking good. 5 o'clock loomed ever closer.

But Snape was ignoring Harry. Completely ignoring him.

It was curious.

And then *Malfoy gave a gleeful yell of laughter. Harry's potion sample lay in pieces on the floor and Snape was surveying him with a look of gloating pleasure.

"Whoops," he said softly. "Another zero, then, Potter."

Harry strode back to his cauldron.

Oh shit.

"I'm sorry" she said, with her hands over her mouth. "I'm really sorry, Harry. I thought you'd finished, so I cleared up!"

He didn't speak. When the bell rang, he hurried out of the dungeon without a backwards glance.* That hurt, but she couldn't blame him. Snape had deliberately smashed his potion sample, she'd seen him do it, and Harry had actually done well today. She shot her Professor an angry glare, wondering if there was a particular reason he'd been so vicious, and hurried out after Harry.

*"Harry, don't do it, please don't do it!" She said in anguished tones as the last bell rang at the end of the class.* But her friend had that look in his eye and she knew she'd failed; he was going to break into the toad's classroom to speak to Sirius. What on earth was so important?!

He managed to get away with it. Which was good of course but she couldn't help but feel like he deserved some sort of punishment for being such an idiot. And the Weasley twins exit had certainly been a good diversion; that swamp really was excellent magic. *Umbridge and Filch had been observed trying different means of removing it but without success. Eventually, the area was roped off and Filch was given the task of punting students across it to their classrooms. McGonagall or Flitwick could have removed the swamp in an instant but, just as in the case of Fred and George's Wildfire Whiz-bangs, they seemed to prefer to watch Umbridge struggle.

A great number of students were now vying for the newly vacant positions of Troublemakers-in-Chief. In spite of the new door, somebody managed to slip a hairy-snouted Niffler into Umbridge's office, which promptly tore the place apart in its search for shiny objects, leapt on Umbridge when she entered and tried to gnaw the rings off her stubby fingers.

Filch prowled the corridors with a horsewhip ready in his hands, desperate to catch miscreants, but the problem was that there were now so many of them he never knew which way to turn. The Inquisitorial Squad was attempting to help him, but odd things kept happening to its members. Warrington of the Slytherin Quidditch team reported to the hospital wing with a horrible skin complaint that made him look as though he had been coated in cornflakes; Pansy Parkinson, to Hermione's delight, missed all her lessons the following day as she had sprouted antlers.

Meanwhile, it became clear just how many Skiving Snackboxes Fred and George had managed to sell before leaving Hogwarts. Umbridge only had to enter her classroom for the students assembled there to faint, vomit, develop dangerous fevers or else spout blood from both nostrils. Shrieking with rage and frustration, she attempted to trace the mysterious symptoms to their source, but the students told her stubbornly they were suffering from 'Umbridge - 'itis'.*

Open rebellion.

Marvellous.

On the other hand Harry's flimsy reasons for being so desperate to talk to Sirius were really starting to bug her; he obviously wasn't telling them the truth. And then there was his obvious hesitancy to go and ask Snape to resume Occlumency lessons; what in God's name had happened between the two of them? She daren't ask Snape, especially since she'd only just got over blushing whenever she saw him, and if she brought it up with Harry he would just deny anything had happened.

*"You can't tell me you've stopped having funny dreams," she said, on another attack about resuming the lessons. "because Ron told me you were muttering in your sleep again last night."

Harry threw Ron a furious look.

"You were only muttering a bit," he mumbled apologetically. "Something about 'just a bit further'."

"I dreamed I was watching you lot play Quidditch," Harry said. "I was trying to get you to stretch out a bit further to grab the Quaffle."*

She frowned, she was almost sure he was lying but once Harry was on the defensive it was a lot harder to argue with him. But she wouldn't give up.

Hagrid had a giant hidden in the forest. A giant.

*"You have to keep him tied up?" she said faintly.

"Well ... yeah ..." said Hagrid, looking anxious. "See - it's like I say - he doesn' really know 'is own strength."

"So, what is it you want Harry and Ron and me to do?" She asked apprehensively.

"Look after him," said Hagrid croakily. "After I'm gone."

Harry and Hermione exchanged miserable looks.

"What - what does that involve, exactly?" She enquired.

"Not food or anythin'!" said Hagrid eagerly. "He can get his own food, no problem. Birds an' deer an' stuff ... no, it's company he needs. It I jus' knew someone was carryin on tryin ter help him a bit ... teachin' him, yeh know."*

And they promised they would, because they were good friends. 'IDIOTS' yelled a voice in her ear but she shook her head. They'd promised and that was that.

She got an early night and fell asleep almost immediately.

Ron was being carried by singing Gryffindors holding the Quidditch cup. She and Harry went to join him but the Centaurs wouldn't let them back in the castle, they raised their crossbows and they had to run, run past Sturgis Podmore who was being strangled by a Dementor, and into the forest. They thought they were safe when a 16ft Umbridge came towering over them, she picked up Harry with her stubby fingers and started carving words into him with a scalpel while Hermione screamed for help from the ground, being covered in Harry's blood. Snape was rushing towards them both, he lifted his wand to help Harry when Voldemort appeared from Umbridge's earring and saw that Snape had betrayed him… He raised his wand… AVADA KEDARVRA!

She woke with a start, sweating and shaking and she just ran. She ran straight out of the dormitories, through the common room, out of the portrait hole, down the corridor and then randomly through the school, blinded by tears, her brain still on her pillow. She turned a corner and smacked straight into something dark and hard, something grabbed hold of her and then she was just screaming and sobbing and the sound was echoing around her and she just couldn't stop…

"MISS GRANGER!"

Snape's voice.

Snape was here.

Snape was alive.

Oh thank God.

She stopped screaming and almost went limp with relief, his arms on hers…

Then…

Oh shit.

Snape was here.

Oh shit.

She was in nothing but an oversized t-shirt.

She'd been screaming and crying.

Hermione quickly turned away from him, but his hands were still on her bare arms.

"Miss Granger what has happened? Are you hurt?"

She mutely shook her head, still facing away from him and wishing she had a tissue or could at least stop the tears still falling from her eyes.

"Why are there twigs in your hair? Where have you been?" He demanded, but behind his brusque voice she hear … concern?

Wait, twigs? She felt herself go hot.

"Just in … in, m-my bed sir." She stammered, struggling to draw in a breath.

"Ah," he said quietly. "a nightmare?"

She nodded.

"Come."

He released her and walked down the corridor, she followed, trying to wipe her face on the back of her hand but she was still, still crying. Why couldn't she stop?

Snape let her in to an empty classroom, shutting the door behind them and conjuring a large fire in the middle.

"Here."

He handed her some trousers he must have Transfigured and turned away. She slipped them on gratefully, trying to fight the hotness in her cheeks.

"Binky, I would like two hot chocolate, a plate of biscuits and some tissues." He said quickly to a girl house elf with exceptionally pointy ears.

"Sit down, Miss Granger." He said in an unusually gentle voice.

She sat but turned her face away from him, the occasional tear still leaking from her eyes.

"I'm s-so sorry Professor Snape," she began, wishing it had been anyone else who had found her in such a state, "I'm ju-just being silly."

She hiccoughed.

"As I'm sure you are aware Miss Granger, we all have nightmares."

She quickly glanced at him and he was giving her a look heavy with meaning. She coloured. Yes, even the Potions Master had bad dreams, she knew that. She offered him a weak smile.

At that moment Binky reappeared with a large tray.

"Excellent." Said Snape, and the elf blushed, bowed and left with a crack.

Snape had never said 'excellent' to her.

He pulled a table in front of her and placed the tray on it, sitting himself next to her and handing her the tissues. She wiped her face and blew her nose, feeling juvenile and foolish.

He passed her a hot chocolate and took one for himself, placing a couple of white marshmallows on top.

"I wouldn't have p-pictured you as the hot chocolate type sir." She said timidly, looking up at him properly for the first time. He was still in his teaching robes. Evidently Professor Snape hadn't even attempted to sleep yet.

He sent her an amused look that made her stomach lurch.

"What did you dream?" He asked, fixing her with a piercing, soul revealing look that made her heart stutter.

"It was nothing, lots of things, it was stupid. It just -"

"Felt real." He finished for her and she nodded, staring into her hot chocolate.

They finished their drinks in silence.

"He won't find out about you, will he?" She asked him desperately, dream-Snape's death still fresh in her mind.

"The Dark Lord?" He asked slowly and she nodded. "Find out about my loyalties?"

She nodded again. Snape sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"It it unlikely." He answered finally, not putting her mind at ease in the slightest.

"How unlikely?" She demanded.

Snape's eyebrows rose.

"I suppose I would say very unlikely; I've lasted this long." He said, his voice full of warning. "But of course," he continued. "it is a moot point if I am loyal to him."

She gasped.

"Why would you say that?!" She cried.

"Miss Granger you ran into me in the middle of the night with nothing but a t-shirt on, and only screamed until you realised who I was. I am a known Death Eater you stupid girl, you should have carried on screaming and RUN FOR THE HILLS." His voice had risen steadily until he was bellowing at her.

He was angry. He was trying to scare her off. Why?

"I TRUST YOU." She was surprised to hear herself yell. "I TRUST YOU, YOU GREAT BIG IDIOT, OF COUSRE I STOPPED SCREAMING WHEN I KNEW IT WAS YOU, I'D JUST WATCHED YOU DIE."

Oh.

Yelling at Snape.

Whoops.

"Sir you could have killed, or kidnapped me, or whatever a thousand times already if you'd wanted to, and I don't see what difference my attire makes to that. I trust you." She continued more calmly.

Bracing herself she looked up at his face. He looked a little shocked but he was smirking.

"If you ever call me a 'great big idiot' again I will put you in detention Miss Granger."

She paled.

He chuckled.

Oh how she loved his chuckle, it was low and sinister and beautiful. Something inside her tightened.

"I'll walk you back to Gryffindor tower."

Hermione was glad he wasn't angry anymore but his quick change in demeanour was confusing. Why had he suddenly become so angry when he'd been … nice? And why wasn't he angry now? There were always more questions than answers with that man.

They reached the portrait hole.

"Thank you sir, and sorry for being so … well."

She looked up at his face, it was back to a sneering mask and she sighed.

She quickly reached forward and grabbed his arm.

"Get some sleep too sir."

She squeezed his arm and then disappeared into the common room, hoping she'd left before she'd started blushing again. She ran her hands over her face.

God how embarrassing.

Thanks for reading :) I know there's a long bit of text straight from the book but I just love it when everyone unites against Umbridge, I couldn't resist including it...

*Text in between asterisks* from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J.K Rowling