Disclaimer: All of the characters belong to J. K. Rowling.

Warning: I am not an English native speaker, so I apologize for any grammar or vocabulary mistake you may find.

Chapter 4:

The young witch had already gone back to looking as herself; hair just as brown and bushy as always, with her pajamas instead of the pretty and mature clothes she had gotten for her Lily disguise. She turned around in bed for the sixth time that night, completely unable to fall asleep. All of her thoughts were destined to him; Severus Snape. His life, his words, his intentions, his dreams, his wicked sense of humor, everything was bright new about him.

More importantly; she needed to decide how she was to proceed, since she had technically promised him to go back, just a couple seconds before his last 'statement'. She rolled over her bed once again, and looked at her desk with the bottle containing Lily's voice still containing a few doses… a couple more visits could harm no one, it was just for him to properly say good bye, it was not like the brunette had started to consider him as someone fascinating, he was not a weird bug to study... no, of course not, but she couldn't shake off the feeling of learning something unique, made only for her, like a new book that she had to read till the very end, could there be more in him than to meet the eye?

Finally, she fell asleep. However, she had been thinking so much about the man prior closing her eyes that it was no surprise when her dreams began with her being alone in his office.

"…Professor Snape?" completely aware this was a dream, she shifted uncomfortably, wondering if this is how he felt every time she went to visit him. Then, a pair of strong arms surrounded her from behind, she was positive that in normal circumstances the appropriate course of actions would include being startled and fighting her way out, but the surreal and almost milky atmosphere that the whole place provided made her feel extremely calm.

"Don't call me that." The hot air tickled in her left ear as his head managed to remove the locks of hair and was currently teasing her earlobe in a soft bite.

"Then-" She gasped, horrified for her lack of willing to fight. He was professor Snape, the Bat of the Dungeons, but again, everything felt so… natural to happen. "What should I call you?"

"Severus would do." The man had let go of her tight embrace and instead used his hands to held her in place by holding her arms, while his mouth was busy providing some attention to her neck. "Anything but professor."

The girl's knees trembled; somehow the silky effect of his voice became devastating in dreams.

"Severus…" The room went blurry when the man span her around and moved her a few steps till the desk. She remained in place, baffled by the setting and the person, wasn't she supposed to have these kind of dreams with her boyfriend? If she was to do something, better be quick, because Snape was already demanding her mouth. The girl made an effort to recover her breath before him, so as to mutter "I- I can't- I can't do this to-"

"Potter can go fuck himself." She remained in shock while still feeling his kisses down her collarbone. At first because of his word selection, and then because she finally came to wonder who she really was. Her eyes dropped to her own breasts, currently being teased by the man, and noticed how they looked rather different, not just because they were bigger in appearance despite being held by his large hands, no… it was not just that, it was her hair, her red hair falling down her shoulders and slightly tickling her already sensitive skin.

"Oh Merlin." She was not expecting her shocked voice to come out as lewd as it did, which was obviously noticed by the man.

"Severus would do, I said." Oh God, did he just make a joke? Now? Under these circumstances? It became clearer than ever that it was a dream, a really weird one.

"S-Severus, wait… wait." As lost in the moment as she was, a voice in the back of her head kept trying to remember her of a blind spot in her foolproof transfiguration spell; it could only transform parts of the body that appeared in the picture, things such as skin color, height, weight, but any details that remained unseen on it would go un-copied in the real form. And she had no pictures of Lily Evans naked in her possession.

She tried to remain calm, wondering just how good the man knew the woman's body, how far had they gone when teenagers. Would he be able to see any difference? Would he- Oh Merlin, it was already too late her pants were magically gone. And so, she held her breath, praying.

"… Hermione." The dream suddenly escalated into a nightmare, her heart stopped working and she thought she could die out of embarrassment, being naked in front of Professor Snape and being caught deluding him.

"I can ex-" Yes, this was certainly a dream, since instead of murdering her right there, the man's course of attention was to slowly move his hands up her thighs till her core, with his eyes fixed on hers. "Oh Merlin."

"Hermione." He leaned down so he could whisper right to her left ear. "How much of an idiot you think I am, witch?"

"But h-" It was hard to talk between moans "how?"

"Ssh… you are not the kind to ask stupid questions, Hermione." She gulped; the pronunciation of her given name in his deep voice sounded out of place, but at the same time extremely arousing.

She could feel it, almost there, a sensation she was not particularly familiar with, growing in the bottom part of her stomach. While, and together with the soft stroking, she could feel her name being said over and over again roughly next to her ear.

"'Mione."

The brunette woke up together with the strongest orgasm she had experimented so far, fiercely grabbing the sheet over her. Her eyes were wide open while staring at the ceiling and her chest went up and down in an arrhythmic way as she tried to recover her breath.

"'Mione, you in there or not?" It had been Ron all the time. The boy had been calling her name for almost 10 minutes, completely sure she was in her room. "Harry and I are going to the hallway for breakfast, you coming?" The girl removed herself from bed immediately, how late was it? She rushed to the door while trying to make herself look as presentable as possible while still being in pajamas.

"Hi, Ron, I- hum- I overslept so I think you two should g-"

"You overslept? You wake up every day at 6 o'clock, waking up a minute later is, according to yourself, a waste of time. Are you feeling sick?" In an attempt to help the boy reached for her forehead so as to feel her temperature, but she smacked it away. "Jeez, I just wanted to check if you had a fever, Hermione. No need to hit me."

The girl couldn't help it; the dream was still fresh in her memory and body, which together with the presence of her real boyfriend left her feeling extremely uncomfortable. Was this even considered cheating? Of course not, everybody had this kind of dreams with others from time to time, that didn't mean she loved him any less, it was just… that, a dream.

"I-I am sorry. I will make it up to you, alright?" Her lips curled in a slightly forced smile. "I am not sick, I am just..." her eyes drifted, thinking in a proper explanation. "stressed, final projects and deadlines are in a few months, and-"

"Exactly, you said it! In a few months, so what you need right now is to relax, maybe we could go to Hogsmeade this weekend, we have not had a date in a long time, at least not a real one." Hermione had to accept that even when Ron was not the perfect boyfriend, at least not for her, he was trying.

"Sure." She smiled "We'll go to Hogsmeade, it sounds…" she doubted, looking for a proper adjective "fun." The brunette embraced herself, aware she was still wearing pajamas while standing in the entrance of her bedroom. Noticing this, the boy decided to leave, not without kissing her good bye in her cheek.

"See you in classes, then, I'll get you something light to eat."

"Thank you." Once the boy had left, the girl moved back to her room and tried to focus on preparing for the day. Though, even activities as simple as taking a shower became difficult while she tried to wash away the feeling of shame and culpability at the reminiscence of 'the other man's hands' in places she could never say out loud; looking Professor Snape in the eye was already hard enough before having 'that' kind of dreams about him. This was going to be a long semester.

The day had gone as expected, with the girl getting to DADA classes just on time for Ron to offer her a sandwich he had saved for her, what she actually considered to be really thoughtful. It was the same routine they had held for seven years (leaving aside the constant dangers of being in a war); attending classes, paying attention, following instructions, eating and repeat. Nothing new happening this year… at least that is what two of the members of the Golden Trio thought, since Hermione was already mentally preparing for her night visit to Professor Snape, still unsure on how to proceed. Perhaps she could go for a short period of time, only to say good bye, it was only logical, she was the one that revived all of his fears and insecurities, even if in dreams, the least she could do was to give him some closure.

And so she did.

For the third time in that week, the brunette became a ginger, her eyes transformed into a bright green and her whole body grew slightly taller. Standing in the front of his door with it still being a little early she prayed for no student to be currently being punished in it. She realized how really early it was when at the moment of opening the door the man's face disarranged so badly the girl feared for him to faint.

"Severus?" She worried and reached a hand to comfort him, quickly avoided by him.

"There is no way I feel asleep… I was sitting on that chair, and- I lost my head." His eyebrows went high while the girl balanced her weight scared she had driven him literally crazy. "I'll go see Poppy and tell her I am delusional."

"You are not delusional… or are you?" her tone went just as high as his eyebrows, trying some new tactics.

"Yes. Yes, I am. This is not normal, I am telling you, I was just on that chair correcting Crawford's essay and…" he paused, with his attention drifting "On second thoughts, that boy has proved himself to be capable enough of boring me to death, so I might as well have fallen asleep on my desk while attempting to read it."

"Oh, c'mon, it cannot be that bad." In a desperate effort to change the subject she played her card while begging his undying love for her would keep him unsuspicious "Let me see it."

"So… today you are here to assess me on my students' performance?"

"Yes." The now woman tried her best for her voice to come out as affirmative instead of interrogative. He doubted several minutes.

"You were, as a fact, invited to that so called Slug Club, thus… be my guest." And, for the third time, she had been granted access to the Potions Master's office, with him signaling her to his desk, where the poorly written essay was lying.

The woman –girl- moved from the entrance to the wooden furniture, and stayed in there while reading the boy's essay; Pitiful, indeed.

"And…? What are your thoughts on it?" She was once again startled by his ability at silently moving, not expecting to feel his voice so damn close to her ear, right behind her, just as in her dream.

"Well, it is… dull." She gulped, while trying to think of a more appropriate answer.

"All essays are dull, but this one…"

"It exceeds expectations…" the man frowned in disbelief. "… at being dull, I mean." He chuckled, and stepped back to go sit in a close armchair. "I can see why you would fall asleep while reading it… Sev." There it was, her unsure tone of voice, hoping this new nickname would come as acceptable.

"And it is far from being the worst one." Unsure on how to continue, Hermione approached him and looked at the armchair almost in front of him, asking him for permission without saying anything, and so he simply nodded. "Unless... you would prefer to sit somewhere else." The woman looked around, not finding many other options, besides his desk. Then, she caught a glimpse of his eye intently looking at her with his legs widely open; A gasp escaped her, with her face displaying both embarrassment and indignation. But for her shock, he chuckled once again. "For Merlin's sake, Lily, not that… Move." He took his wand from his back pocket and the girl backfired worried for what he would do, her dream and his threat from the previous night still installing some paranoia on his intentions towards the woman.

However, he didn't point the wand at her but at the coffee table and armchair in front of him, so all of the furniture would move away, leaving the stone floor at plain sight. The ginger simply observed while he casted a second spell that conjured a black and soft-looking rug where all of the furniture had been. What was happening? Was she the one dreaming now? Patiently waiting for the man to stop whatever he was doing, she hesitated if to take her wand out as well or not, as she was positive Professor Snape would immediately recognize it as Hermione's.

When he finished with the setting; the rug already lying on the floor with even a pair of pillows he slid from his armchair to sit on it, with the woman shifting uncomfortably; he was not expecting her to sit there too, right? She was no idiot, she has seen movies of teenagers doing stuff like that and… no, Professor Snape would not do that to her. Or Lily. Not on the floor, not on the cold stone.

"You coming?" Her mouth opened; did he use to behave like this with Lily? This was a complete different man! He even dropped the verb in the sentence! What was she supposed to do? The now red haired panicked while thinking in what problems she got herself into, and wondering what Lily would do in such a scenario, because as Hermione Granger her instincts were to kick him and leave.

"Hum… Severus? What are-" she cleared her throat, deciding it was the best to finally ask, so she could kick him with all security. "What is this all for?"

"Well, excuse me!" Her hand flew to her wand still hidden in her pocket, the man seemed somehow infuriated, did she manage to get him mad by refusing? Was he that kind of man? The kind to demand explanations when facing a no for an answer. "It is clear to me that for some reason I am forced to have you here in my office. I would love to take you somewhere else, go lay on the grass as teenagers or even throw rocks at the lake with you warning me 'not to harm the giant squid', but no, I don't get to have that kind of dreams apparently, so… I'll settle for this… Enough for your majesty?"

Uncertain if to laugh or be insulted, she decided to finally go with relief; he was not even thinking in hurting or forcing her to do anything beyond her desires. No, the 'despicable' man in front of her was actually intending quite the opposite, by somehow remembering old times in an innocent activity of lying on the floor while looking at the ceiling. She assumed this was something they both used to do… the pinkish tone of her cheeks remained there as she felt embarrassed and bad for having expected the worst of him.

"No, it is…" she finally moved from her position, and sat next to the man, still keeping some distance. "You didn't need to be so rude to me, you could have simply told me it was for me to sit."

He observed her intently with narrowed eyes, and the girl growing in anxiety.

"Don't play naive, Lily, you know what you were thinking… and I have to confess I am actually disappointed."

"Severus Snape, I already told you, I am not-" Now it was her time to be angry, even if all the setting was not to bed her right there, he was clear to continue pushing on that theme.

"Lily Evans, I never said or did anything to you, so stop acting as if I were to rape you any minute, because I am not, now THAT is why I am disappointed."

"I should leave." The mood was obviously not good, making it all a dangerous situation, so she decided to go with the healthiest move and simply leave. Kneeling so she could properly stand up, the man caught her by the hand.

"Wait, I lost my temper and…" Snape let go of a sigh, clearly overwhelmed. "Why do you continue doing this to me twenty years later, woman?"

"Do what, Snape?" his eyes almost killed her when he heard his surname instead of the usual 'Sev', but she continued "Leaving when feeling attacked?" she pulled her hand, but remained in her place, it was somehow exciting; talking back to Professor Snape, the most feared man in all Hogwarts, and having a real impact on him.

"No." A pause "You stayed too many times, if not all." The woman could still feel her own chest going up and down outraged. "Reason why I know I am in no position to ask you to trust me… and especially not after all the things I did as a death eater, but-" another pause, for the first time in her lifetime Hermione saw Professor Snape at a lack for words. "It hurts to realize you are scared of me."

"I am not scared of you." Her mad expression finally softened.

"You are sitting almost three meters away from me."

"I… I can get closer." And so she did, moving almost enough to their legs to touch. The time passed and they stayed there with their eyes fixed, for some reason Hermione had a reminiscence of her dream; not the physical contact or any sexual connotation, but the almost milky sensation of being in a dream.

"Now…" She tensed a bit, realizing for the first time that they were, as a matter of fact, sitting way closer than a teacher and a student should be. It didn't last long, though, since the potions master laid down with his head resting on the pillow. "Tell me about your day and how Potter ruined your Charms class."

The woman let go of a nervous chuckle, and couldn't avoid the thought of his Professor looking and acting rather adorable while looking at the ceiling with his legs crossed in a casual way.

"We don't have Hogwarts in heaven, Severus… So James didn't do any of that. I am sorry to disappoint you a second time." She ventured to lay next to him. "Why don't you tell me about your day and how a first year student exploded his cauldron?"

"Oh please, a? You really think it was only a student?" he paused, actually counting the number in his head, "they were four… six if we count the students from older years."

"Let's try something different." He rotated his head to look at the red hair, currently nibbling her bottom lip; she was breath taking. "Tell me something good about your day."

"Something good…?" he made an effort, thinking about it.

"Yes, something good should have happened to you today, think of small things… perhaps a student showed some improvement or you had something nice for dessert."

"I actually did." He paused. "I ate the last piece of chocolate I had." The woman couldn't help it and her eyes frowned in disbelief.

"You like chocolate, Severus?"

"What? Because my name is Severus, I wear black and I am considered by many as evil I am not allowed to like chocolate? Give me a break, Lily, you always gifted them to me."

"Did I?" The question was clear to fire red alerts in Snape's mind, so she corrected herself "Of course I did, I just… I just didn't remember you liked them that much."

"Well, woman, I do, and I don't consider it to be a real issue."

There was an awful silence for a few seconds, with Hermione still being intrigued by it.

"And… what about animals?" he looked at her once again, as if the woman had gone insane.

"What about them?"

"Any animal of your preference?" now both of them were looking at each other, with the woman gingerly smiling at him; her expression so beautiful he even decided to ignore the fact that Lily obviously knew what his favorite animal was –at least the real Lily would- and answered her.

"I used to like snakes, but for clear reasons I find them repugnant now… so, I would say a demiguise, perhaps."

"What? Why?" she was really amused, there were simply so many things she did not know about her Potions teacher, so she faced him by holding her weight in her right elbow, in order to pay him closer attention.

"Its pelt is really valuable." The woman looked horrified. "You never said I would have to keep it as a pet."

"Well, yes, but I didn't think you would choose your favorite animal based on the value of their skin! That is just beyond- ugh, you know what? I'll tell you what my favorite animal is so then we can discuss how a favorite animal is properly chosen."

"A puffskein." It was his immediate answer.

"What? N-" she froze, suddenly remembering it was not her own favorite animal, but Lily's the one she was supposed to say. "I mean… yes, how did you know?"

"You told me. Several times." Before any awkward silence could start, or the girl could think in any other 'silly question', the alarm set off once again and she was quick to stand up, suddenly remembering her real reason to be there; she had only drank half the potion and practiced half the spell because she was not supposed to be there for long, she simply needed to allow the man to say good bye to the love of his life, she was never supposed to lay with him on the floor or share pieces of information such as their favorite food or animal… but it had felt so natural, a conversation so genuine she had not even remembered the first objective.

"I have to-"

"I know, you have to go and I have to go to bed so I can finish correcting that horrific essay tomorrow morning." The still woman simply nodded and stood up, she stopped on the door and turned around to properly say good bye, as this could as well be the last time they saw each other on that form.

"Good bye, Severus."

"Good bye, Lily." He nodded at her solemnly, somehow implying he understood this was her last visit.

And then, she left.