New Year's Eve had very quickly graced them with its presence and Hermione and Severus had been spending more and more time together as friends. She found herself just sitting with him in his chambers as they both sat in silence reading a book basking in one another's company. Whilst nothing had been said about the kiss they had shared on Christmas Day, the thought was always at the forefront of Hermione's mind. She liked it, and she wouldn't say no to doing it again but she had to remind herself he was her teacher and nothing more, nothing less.
Hermione was sitting on his couch, with her legs tucked up beneath her, book in hand. She had taken to breaking down his wards and inviting herself in, and the truth was… He didn't mind. He liked finding her there tucked up on his couch and he was only angry that she wasn't tucked up in his bed naked and a come hither look on her face, that was the true tragedy here.
It gave him great joy to walk in and see her so serenely sitting there getting lost in the world of the book she was reading, watching her face contort as she soaked in every word she read.
They had taken to having breakfast and lunch together in his chambers, dinner in the Great Hall and then back to his chambers where they would talk until the early hours and she would fall asleep where she sat. He would tuck her in and leave her to sleep. The truth was many times he had thought about carrying her to his bed and letting her sleep there but his head was ruling his heart and it was hard. He was sad that the Christmas break was coming to an end and that would mean she would be relegated back to her to chambers for fear of sparking rumors about them that were simply not true. It was ok for her to spend every waking moment with him right now when just about the entire school were on break, but once they were back and especially once Draco was back, that could spell disaster for them both.
He was sitting near her, a seat between them, casting glances at her every so often. He liked the girl he wouldn't deny that she was loyal and courageous and treated him well but he couldn't get past her subtle beauty and attraction. She wasn't a glamour by any stretch of the imagination but to him, she was perfect, from her know-it-all attitude to the bushy auburn locks she had learned to tame a little better as the years went on.
He wanted nothing more than to take her hand, look deep into her eyes and tell her how he truly felt about her. Fuck, his stomach did a backflip every time she looked at him, licking her sweet lips absentmindedly before she smiled at him the sweetest smile he had ever seen. That is when his stomach would flip, his heat would flutter and his desire for her would spark.
He knew she only saw him as a friend and nothing more and nothing less which made his heart clench with disappointment inside of his chest every time he thought about it, although it was probably for the best because teachers and students shouldn't be romantically intertwined even though she was more than legal age to do so but it would raise eyebrows and questions that he didn't really want to be answering on the matter.
She stretched her legs out, tucking her feet under his thighs. The brazen cow had no issues at all touching him or speaking her mind or telling him how she felt. He only wished that she touched him more because right now with her feet under his thighs he felt content at just the smallest touch from her. He had even gone as far as drinking less in her presence because her just being there made him feel better, made him feel human and it made him feel normal again.
"Are you quite right there, Hermione?"
Her head snapped up to look at him, brows knitted together, since when did he ever call her by her first name?
Before he could stop the words falling from his lips, they had been said and his heart backflipped and raced at what she may say in reply, but he needn't worry because she only smiled broadly in response.
"I was wondering when you will stop being so formal with me seeing as we spent so much time together." She pressed her toes hard into his thighs mockingly.
"You could have started calling me Severus and I would have followed suit and called you Hermione." He absentmindedly rubbed her leg softly.
"What, and have you sneer and stalk off in one of your temper tantrums? Going on about rudeness and how I should know my place because I am just a lowly student." She closed her eyes at the feel of his hand on her leg, the gentle caresses assuring her deep inside that everything was ok in the world. In her world, anyway, which right now consisted of just the two of them and she liked that very, very much.
"I don't have temper tantrums, Hermione. And you aren't a lowly student as you so eloquently stated. You are probably one of the only people in this place I can tolerate."
"Oh, what would you call them then?" she smiled sweetly at him, eyelids fluttering half closed at the gentle touch on her leg, slightly taken aback that she was one of the one people he could tolerate. "And wasn't it you who called me an insufferable know-it-all?" She harrumphed.
He chose to ignore her, instead of casting his gaze back to the book he was trying to read, still rubbing her leg softly, his eyes were looking at the words but he could absorb anything that he was reading. It was taking all of his willpower and concentration not to press his lips to hers in need and it was killing him deep inside.
She watched him intently watching his book, his eyes darting from side to side and up and down, inky black hair curtaining his face as he perused the pages with gusto, or at least that is what it looked like. She was thankful she had him in her life, to just have someone who knows how you feel, to help you through tough times was almost like therapy.
He felt her looking at him and shifted under her gaze uncomfortable, eyes still scanning the page but still, nothing was processing in his brain, to him, the words were fuzzy and melted into the pages. He couldn't take it any longer; slowly he looked up at her. "Do you not have anywhere else to be than sitting here staring at me all damn day?" He threw on a half-hearted sneer for good measure.
"Nope," She said popping the p, watching him as he set his book on the coffee table, his hand now rested on her knee gently.
"You may as well take up residence down here, Merlin knows you spend enough time here with me," he mused shooting her a glance and he could see her mind was ticking over and calculating the probabilities of it actually happening.
"If only," She whispered sadly with a sigh. She would love to be down here with him, the closeness made her feel safe and happy there was no denying that.
-o-o-o-o-
Later that night, nearing midnight and the full moon hung lazily in the air, the two of them slowly ambled around the shore of the Great Lake to bring in the New Year, snow lay like a thick blanket on the ground, the two of them wrapped in heavy woolen cloaks to ward off the cold night air that was trying with all its might to bite at their pale skin.
Their footfalls softened by the snow which proved sort of difficult to walk in, her legs working overtime to keep up with his almost effortless strides as they walked in silence, neither wanting to talk and basking in the company of the other.
They found a clearing with small boulders decorating the shore and she decided to clamber up on to get a better look out over the darkened lake bathed in silvery moonlight. She loved Hogwarts and all it had to offer and she loved just staring out at the lake. All of her worries and anger seemed to melt away as she watched the calming water lapping at the icy shore.
Severus took her hand to steady her on the icy rock when she heard a bang followed by bright colored lights. Fucking someone was letting off fireworks she managed to think to herself as she was caught off guard she jumped slightly falling backward as her feet slipped on the tractionless surface, taking Severus with her they both landed with a soft thud in the snow, he atop of her. Placing a hand either side of her to prop himself up he looked down slightly amused.
"Happy New Year, Hermione," His voice low and husky, coal black hair hanging limply around his face, hard black eyes searching warm chocolate ones for any hint of the desire he was feeling right now, he saw a flicker as she licked her lips slowly. He bit his own bottom lip to try to snap himself back to reality, his heart clenching in his chest with want and desire, he needed this, he needed her.
So, he did what any normal, straight male would have done in this situation, he kissed her, and he meant it.
Her eyes widened for a moment before she snapped them shut, his soft lips on her own felt amazing as she enjoyed every second their lips touched together. He took the lead, his lips gently caressing her own. She didn't even care she was lying in the ice-cold snow right now, as a cold dampness on her back crept through the thick material, she couldn't even process that in her head, truth be known she could hardly process in her mind how to breathe let alone anything else.
Her head swirled and her heart began to beat faster, if that was what heaven was like, she would have no qualms in dying when the time came. He bit her bottom lip gently, she mewled against his lips opening her mouth, his warm, gentle tongue found hers as they battled together for victory. Every feeling of, want, need, desire, the passion was heightened and show in her kiss, every feeling of hatred and loathing that she felt in her body was slowly fading away and all of a sudden nothing mattered at this moment, in this moment, everything was perfect and she was truly happy.
He broke the kiss, both breathless, his eyes searching hers once again, expecting to see loathing disgust and pity; he reeled a little when he saw none. He still saw the saw flicker of want and desire in her eyes as when he first laid his lips on her own. Sweet fucking Merlin he needed to get up before he fucked the little Chit right here in the snow.
Staggering to his feet he helped her up, happy but ashamed he let his feeling get the better of him. He shouldn't have done it, but he didn't and he certainly didn't regret it.
"Happy New Year indeed," she whispered barely audible. He only smirked in response, yes, Happy New Year indeed.
"Let me walk you back to your room," he offered. She only nodded in response.
He knew if he didn't take her back, he would fuck her all night and into the early hours of the next morning and there was no coming back from that.
-o-o-o-o-
Teaching had resumed and he was as sour and hateful now as he had ever been. Not only did he have to deal with all the inept morons once again that didn't care for the subtle art of Potion Making, but he was severely bitter that Hermione hadn't been down to see him. He wanted nothing more than to enter his chambers after a long, tiring day to see her sitting there, book in hand and her feet tucked beneath her. So he was even more annoyed when Minerva called him into her office when he just wanted to go drown his sorrows in his bottle of Ogden Finest.
"Miss Granger seems a little attached to you," Minerva stated, looking over her glasses at him in an accusing way, pacing backward and forwards behind her large wooden desk the soft tapping of her footfalls could be heard in the almost silent room.
"Hermione?" He questioned. "She does spend a fair amount of time with me lately," his voice was even and cool.
"Hermione? First name basis now I see." She frowned disapprovingly at him.
"Is that a problem?" He asked, jutting his chin out as if willing her on to reprimand him.
"Possibly," She said simply. "I see the way you look at the girl, you look just as taken with her as she does with you." She stopped to glare at him for a moment.
"I like the girl," He confirmed.
He watched as her face contorted from worry to a frown and she sat back down.
"Has anything happened between the two of you? Sexually, I mean."
He shook his head, who the hell asked those types of questions? "No, Minerva. It's strictly a platonic relationship between the two of us." He sighed sadly; he hardly counted the two kisses as romantically involved. One was under sufferance and the other was totally accidental and probably shouldn't have happened and they had never spoken a word about either after the fact.
"Do you want to take it from platonic to romantic?" she asked stoically.
His face upturned into a sneer. What kind of business was that to her?
"I am a male, I have a beautiful young witch who hangs on every word I say and spent more time with me than not for the past two weeks. I could whisper a few sweet nothings into her ear and she would be in my bed begging me to fuck her, and you don't think I haven't thought about going further? Of course, I have, I think about it every fucking day. Every day it kills me to watch her or interact with her and not touch her, not tell her how I really feel about her, that for once in my fucking life I am happy and I am only happy because she wormed her way under my skin and into my heart."
"Of everyone in the world, you had to pick her." She sighed sadly.
"I didn't pick her. Fate led us to each other. We both needed each other."
"You are walking a tightrope right now between what is right and what is wrong, the lines between teacher and student are beginning to melt into each other really fast, Severus and I worry. I know you have strong feelings toward her but do you really want to put your job and career on the line for the hope of a shot at love with a student?"
"You think I care about my job, Minerva? I couldn't give a flying fuck if the board of directors stormed in here right now and fired me, in fact, I would welcome it because then I could stop debating with myself about morals and I could tell the little witch how I feel about her and maybe, just maybe I would have one shot at love in my life. Just one. Do you so desperately want to deny me happiness, Minerva?"
"I am not denying you happiness," she bit out through clenched teeth. "I just don't think it is right, you know how fast news travels if this were to get out. You know they wouldn't see it the way you do. They would see it as you lording your power over Miss Granger-"
"Hermione," He interjected.
"Yes, Hermione. You don't think for one minute anyone is actually going to think she likes you for you? They are going to assume you have put her under the Imperious curse. What would a young, bright witch like her see in a troubled wizard seeking redemption such as yourself?"
"Wow. No holding back there, Minerva." He sneered. "The papers would lap it up, the amazing Hermione Granger finds love and solitude in Severus Snape, former Death Eater, hero-"
"Hero!" She exclaimed. "You barely got out of going to Azkaban, you scraped through by the skin of your teeth."
"Oh, that's right. Because I don't fall under the same category as Saint Potter, I am not worthy of that status. I forgot he had done much more for the war than I ever did, tangling a web of lies and deceit to lay way so Dumbledore's plans could come to fruition, what a terrible person I must be."
"I'm not saying that…"
"No, you are implying it."
"Look. Just don't do this. Wait until she graduates. Once that clock ticks over from the thirtieth of June, to the First of July you can confess your undying love to the girl. If you can't wait I will have no choice but to tear your contract up and terminate your employment within the school."
"Is that a threat, or a promise?" He quirked a brow.
"A promise." She pursed her thin lips together, surely he would be stupid enough to do such a thing.
"And I assume you have a line of Potion's Masters bashing down the front door of Hogwarts to replace me?" His voice a low growl, eyes narrowed into slits.
"Well… No."
"So it's an empty threat then?"
"I will do it," She warned sternly.
"So, do it then. You would be doing me a favor and I would forever be free of this prison."
"Severus," she warned.
"You know for a fact I wouldn't be the only member of faulty to have a romantic tryst with a student." He slammed his fists down on the desk, anger flashing in his black eyes as he loured at her.
"That was years ago Severus and it was dealt with swiftly and silently."
"After months of it going on," He muttered coldly as he got to his feet. "I'm going. I don't need to be interrogated over this! She is nineteen fucking years old Minerva, she can make up her own mind and I shouldn't be reprimanded for it. She is of age, there is nothing wrong with this other than your worry about the impact it would have on your image!" He snarled, turning on the spot and stalking out of her office, irate and seething.
A/N: Oh my god, you guys are the best. Way to feel someone feel loved and appreciated with all of the reviews, faves and follows.
Poor Severus, he really does like her… Well, I guess they both like one another but don't really think it could go further, we all know it will.
I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I loved writing it… I had the confrontation with Minerva written for quite a few weeks now and was basing most of the chapters to lead up to that one moment.
I think in the next few chapters Harry and Ron will make an appearance and Draco might even get to spend some quality time with her.
Thanks for reading!
-Aliasmel1