Perched at her windowsill, Hermione sipped a hot cup of tea as she gazed upon the desolate, moonlit grounds of Hogwarts. Her anger had subsided as soon as she'd exited the Great Hall, only to be replaced by embarrassment at the emotional outburst. The simple solution would have been to turn around and apologize to Snape, but too humiliated to face the man, she'd decided to return to her quarters for the night.

Absentmindedly searching the sky for constellations, Hermione replayed the incident over and over again in her head, trying to convince herself of the validity of her own behavior. After several nights of little to no sleep, she was extremely irritable, and furthermore, Snape was arguably deserving of her coldness after the way he'd treated her. Following the neo-Death Eater attack, he'd been the one to lash out and storm away from her first. He couldn't be cruel to her one day and expect her to be kind the next. Right?

Hermione sighed, knowing too well that she was attempting to do the impossible. The truth of the matter was that her actions toward Snape went against her character. Her mother had always said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

Standing from the windowsill, Hermione made the decision to visit Snape at his quarters to apologize. Despite her exhaustion, she would not sleep a minute without correcting her wrongdoing, even if it stung to do so. She was still frustrated with the man's evident dislike of her, but her feelings didn't excuse her from being respectful.

Quickly redressing in her robes, Hermione left her quarters to travel to the dungeons, various forms of an apology playing through her head.

Severus laid in bed, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling as he contemplated how to move forward with his most troublesome colleague. Despite his attempt to be polite at dinner, It seemed that Hermione was still upset by his harshness following the neo-Death Eater attack in Hogsmeade. With the woman unwilling to even speak with him, the daunting task of apologizing to her now seemed impossible.

Peering at the clock, Severus was surprised to realize that it was nearing midnight. With a long day of managing weekend-hungry students ahead of him, he knew that he'd need a full night's worth of sleep to carry him through his classes.

Searching through the wooden drawers of his nightstand, he located the small bottle of Dreamless Sleep Potion he rarely indulged in. Confident that he had no chance of falling asleep without the aid, he took a small swig of the purple liquid he'd brewed himself. A few minutes after he'd finished, he was surprised by a sudden knock at the door.

Already quite drowsy from the well-prepared potion, Severus headed to the door without thinking to redress himself in his robes. Instead, wearing only his gray nightclothes, he opened the door to find Hermione waiting for him, her brows furrowed in disconcertment.

"Hello," she said a bit awkwardly, arms crossed protectively against her chest. "May I come in?"

Suddenly realizing the casual state in which he'd answered the door, Severus felt his cheeks fill with heat. She is not your student, he reminded himself, inwardly. She is a professor, just like Minerva.

Severus nodded in agreement, stepping aside to allow the young witch inside. Out of every witch and wizard within the castle, she was the last person he'd expected to see again that night.

Taking a seat within one of the plush armchairs, Hermione appeared to be struggling to find the correct way to begin. Severus sat opposite her, waiting patiently for her to communicate everything she needed to say. He assumed that she'd come to berate him for his cruel mistreatment of her, or perhaps to tell him to keep away from her altogether. However, after several tense seconds, he was bewildered by what she'd actually come to express.

"I've come to apologize for my behavior at dinner," she said quietly, eyes fixed downward in shame. "My actions were childish and uncalled for."

Severus stared in astonishment at the guilt-ridden woman, shocked to be receiving an apology of all things. He'd fully expected her to yell at him, maybe even to demand an apology for herself. He was flabbergasted but worked hard not to show it.

"I hope you'll forgive me."

Severus struggled to respond, feeling undeserving of her thoughtful words. Offering the woman his forgiveness would imply that she'd done something out of line when in reality, she'd been rightfully upset with him. Truthfully, he was the one in the wrong.

Severus took a deep breath, forbidding his frustration with her from blowing out of proportion once again.

"Do you forgive me?" Hermione asked louder, ensuring that the man heard her plea.

Forgiving the witch would be an easy way to make amends, but Severus knew that he couldn't continue to take advantage of her kindness. Accepting her apology would only be wronging her once more, leaving him even further indebted to her.

"No," he began, immediately causing an incredulous reaction from the woman. "Let me finish, Hermione."

Right as she was going to protest, Hermione snapped her mouth shut, stunned by the unexpected use of her first name. In all her years of schooling, he'd never addressed her in such a way and had abstained from doing so even after she'd become a professor. Pleased by its effectiveness in silencing her, he continued explaining himself.

"I do not forgive you because there is nothing to forgive," he went on, his voice steady and collected. "Your frustration with me was merited, as well as your actions–"

"No, they were not," Hermione retorted, quickly relocating her voice to correct the man. "Whether I appreciate the way you treat me or not, you are deserving of respect, Professor."

Severus fought hard to repress his increasing irritation, worsened by her infuriating stubbornness. Forcing his features to remain unmoved, he continued on.

"Are you not deserving of respect as well?"

Hermione was taken aback by the question. "I didn't say that I'm not!"

"Well, if you truly feel that way, Hermione, then shouldn't you be demanding an apology rather than delivering one?"

Hermione paused to think, eyes frustrated as she searched through her brain for the correct answer. Severus was familiar with the look, for she'd worn it whenever he'd presented her with a difficult recipe in his Potions classes. Desperate to bring an end to the heated disagreement, Severus, in a moment of boldness, did exactly what he needed to do to finally make amends.

"I'm sorry," he stated clearly, immediately regaining the attention of his visitor.

Hermione looked more stumped than ever before. "What?" she stuttered, unsure of whether she'd misheard the impossible words.

Severus felt his entire insides catch fire, the two simple words destroying every ounce of his pride within a single second. The woman wants me to repeat myself? He thought with utmost horror.

"I–"

"It's okay. I heard you," Hermione interrupted, recognizing the extreme upset she'd caused the man. "I just didn't expect you to say that. Thank you."

The air was heavy, both parties unsure of how to continue. Severus felt a tremendous weight leave his shoulders, yet the embarrassment of humbling himself for the witch prevented him from experiencing any true relief. He couldn't remember the last time he'd genuinely apologized for his wrongdoings, and not because he hadn't often mistreated the people around him. Rather, it'd simply been a matter of preserving his own ego.

As Severus was about to excuse his visitor for the night, Hermione began speaking once more.

"Professor Snape, do you hate me?"

Severus was surprised when the witch asked the question with genuine concern in her eyes. She appeared to truly care about his feelings for her, worried that hatred might be the motive behind his recurring coldness. He recognized that in reality, drawing such a conclusion made perfect sense, yet he inwardly knew that the conclusion didn't carry any truth at all.

Allowing the smallest bit of emotion to shine in his eyes, Severus answered her question with complete honesty.

"No, Hermione. I do not hate you."

Hermione's face relaxed as his words provided her with much-needed relief. Her fears had been eliminated, replaced by what seemed to be hopefulness.

Suddenly, Severus felt a strong kick from his Dreamless Sleep Potion, urgently reminding him to get himself to bed. In moments, it seemed that his eyelids had gained ten pounds and his muscles had melted to total mush. Aware of the potency of his own concoction, he knew that there was no use fighting against the powerful potion.

"Thank you for the chat, Professor," Hermione said warmly, noticing the immense fatigue her company had been overcome with. "I suppose I will see you tomorrow, then."

"Yes. Goodnight…" Severus mumbled, barely formulating a coherent response as the witch made her way to exit.

As the door to his quarters shut quietly behind Hermione, Severus slowly began drifting into a deep sleep, not bothering to move over to his bed. His final thoughts were of Hermione, and how much she'd changed since he'd originally met her. The know-it-all first year who'd first entered Hogwarts over a decade ago had morphed into a grown woman molded by war, love, and tremendous loss. The truth was that he no longer really knew Hermione, for he understood from his own experience that going through such things reshaped a person's identity. If he was going to be successful at maintaining a cordial relationship with the witch, he needed to get to know the person she had become over time. He would have to abandon his old perception of her and open himself to understanding her differently, for the Hermione Granger he thought he knew had drastically transformed.

Thank you for reading! I had a lot of fun with this chapter, so hopefully, all of you enjoyed it.

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