Chapter 15- The Bet

"Five points from Gryffindor, Mister Pearson. Hexing another student is never acceptable behavior…even if he is Slytherin's Keeper," Hermione tried to keep her face as stern as her voice but failed miserably and the boy in front of her broke out into a grin. "Do try to restrain yourself until Saturday?"

"Okay, Professor Granger," he said leaving her office and calling over his shoulder. "Thanks!"

Hermione sighed to herself and then smiled. All anyone could talk about was the upcoming Quidditch match. Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Even she, who had never understood the finer points of Quidditch, was looking forward to it.

It seemed amazing how quickly the weeks had flown by since the Anniversary. It was as if a giant weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she was finally able to let go of the guilt that had haunted her since Ron's death. The weather had turned warmer and the snow had begun to melt and before she knew it, it was the end of March and the biggest Quidditch match of the year was almost upon them.

She closed her office and headed down to the staffroom. She had taken to grading down there often now, instead of in her office. She told herself it was nice to have a change of scenery and it had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that Severus had also started doing most of his work in the staffroom as well, but she wasn't sure how much she believed herself.

As she opened the door and looked in, she noticed that Severus was already settled in and partway through a very long roll of parchment. Clearly he was doing seventh year essays.

She settled down across a table from him. He looked up for a second and returned to his work. Most of their time was spent in silence with only an occasional conversation.

"Arnold Harper came to see me a short while ago," he said, still not looking up and continued to grade.

"Oh?" Hermione said, hoping to sound curious. "What did he want?"

"You know very well what he wanted." Severus now put down his quill and looked at her. "It took Madam Pomfrey the better part of an hour to get his hands unstuck."

Hermione couldn't help but let a small smile cross her face. "Well, that's a relief. It would have been very hard for him to play Quidditch with his hands stuck together." Severus glared at her and she sighed. "I have spoken to Garrett about it and told him that this has to stop. I'll have you know I deducted points as well."

"Well, that's the least of what that boy deserved."

"Oh, now don't get all high and mighty on me. Both of the Gryffindor Beaters were found locked in a broom cupboard yesterday in the old classroom Firenze used to use. It's a miracle anyone found them. Filch said that he hadn't been in that room in over a year!"

This time it was a small smile that crept across Severus' face. "Yes, its amazing what the students will come up with isn't it?"

Hermione just huffed and turned her attention back to her work. Severus, however, did not and continued studying her for several long moments as if debating something.

"Why are you staring at me?" she asked lifting her eyes up at him.

"I was just thinking…"

"Yes?"

"Well, with all the excitement about the upcoming match, perhaps we should make a bet."

Hermione stopped writing all together and looked at him. "Oh really? Do you think that is a wise idea? From what I understand this is the best team Gryffindor's had since Harry was Seeker."

"Yes, I think in the spirit of inter-house unity, which you seem to love so dearly, that perhaps a friendly wager would be in order."

"Hmm…" Hermione looked at him clearly skeptical. "I've never known you to do anything 'friendly'. What do you want if you win?"

Severus gave her a long look and then she saw his eyes gleam with triumph. "If Slytherin wins, then you have to grade all my seventh year essays."

"That's nothing more than an excuse to get me to do your work for you!" Hermione said laughing. "Well, then if that is the case, I shall think of something even worse for you to do if Gryffindor wins."

"There's no need," Severus said waving his hand dismissively. "They won't."

Hermione just rolled her eyes and returned to her work. Some days it was like Severus Snape was a completely different person from the one she used to know. Although they had never spoken of the events at Christmas and at Phoenix Park, they had begun spending more and more time in each other's company. Often times they lingered for over an hour after dinner discussing everything from their classes, to Severus' new discoveries with Potions to Flitwick's book, which they both had read. Some times Hermione would talk about her life growing up and what it was like to be a Muggle, however Severus never spoke of his own childhood. Hermione got the impression it was not a happy one and so they didn't discuss it.

"So, what's it going to be?" Severus asked, intruding upon her thoughts. Hermione looked up at him, startled.

"Oh…um…I'll need to think about it for a while. I'll need to think of something really good if I have seventh year Potions essays staring me in the face."

They continued working in comfortable silence, occasionally one of them pausing to glance up at the other. Finally, after Hermione had looked up at Severus once again, only to suddenly avert her eyes when he did the same, did she realize how silly they were being.

'For crying out loud, we are adults, not teenagers,' she thought to herself. More and more it was clear that her feelings for Severus were more than just friendly. It was then she realized that she was going to have to give him a push if their relationship was ever going to be anything more than what it already was. She smiled to herself as inspiration hit. It was perfect.

"Okay, Severus, I have come up with it."

"Well, let's hear my fate then. What is it going to be? Manual labor? Torture?"

"No, something much more simple," she said with a smile. "A date."

She watched the display of emotions play out on Severus' face. First shock, with a hint of embarrassment, then nervousness, then, to Hermione's dismay, it settled on anger.

"You think to make a joke?" he said rising from the table, gathering his things together.

"No! No…I," she was unable to finish as he cut her off.

"You thought a date would be comparable to forced labor? Your sense of humor is lacking, Miss Granger." He was walking toward the door.

"Wait! Severus!" Hermione ran after him and managed to slam the door shut the second before he slipped through. "I didn't… I didn't mean an insult by it. Honestly I just thought the way we've been acting is silly, like teenagers really. I thought if I just forced the issue…"

"What? You thought what?"

"Well…I thought maybe you would think it was a good idea too." Her voice trailed off and she found herself too embarrassed to look up at him.

"You didn't mean it as a joke?" he asked, sounding as unsure of him self as she did.

"Honestly, I didn't. I'm sorry Severus. It was a silly idea. Forget about it."

He said nothing but she opened the door and walked away with what she hoped was a certain amount of dignity. He stared after her, torn between going after her or running and hiding. He finally decided on the latter and retreated to his room.

Why would she suggest such a thing? She couldn't possibly have an interest in me. She's smart, beautiful…wait…she's not beautiful. Passable at best. Except at Longbottom's wedding, she was beautiful then. Well, and sometimes when she's angry she… what am I thinking? This is Know-it-all Granger for Merlin's sake and I'm acting like a hormonal teenager who can't wait to get her in the nearest broom closet.

Severus contemplated that thought for a long moment and then buried his head in his hands. "I've lost my mind."

Saturday morning was warm and sunny and the last of the winter's snow had melted during the week. Breakfast in the Great Hall was rowdier than usual with the requisite boos and cheers that went along with each team's entrance. Both Hermione and Severus had been more subdued that week and the incident in the staffroom had not been mentioned by either.

After breakfast had been finished the entire school and staff headed out to the Quidditch pitch. Hermione was dressed in red and gold robes that she saved specially for these types of occasions and she sat next to Severus who was dressed in his usual black.

The game got off to a quick start with Gryffindor getting the Quaffle. They scored quickly and Hermione cheered with the rest of Gryffindor. It was the last cheering she would do for a while. It was a very physical game and clearly Slytherin's team members were larger. As the minutes ticked by, they scored goal after goal and soon it was 110-10 with Slytherin in the lead.

"I hope you have your quill ready," Severus said with a smirk as the Slytherin's scored once again.

Hermione was about to respond when she saw Garrett Pearson, Gryffindor's Seeker, suddenly accelerating on his broom. The Slytherin seeker saw him too and took off after him. The Slytherin had the faster broom and he caught up quickly. The two were neck and neck reaching for the snitch, and then suddenly a Bludger came out of nowhere smashing into the Slytherin's broom, knocking him away, leaving Pearson free to grab the snitch.

The entire Gryffindor section, and a good portion of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw as well, were screaming themselves hoarse. Hermione was also jumping up and down cheering, and even Minerva was clapping a little louder than usual.

She turned and saw Severus still sitting looking out on the Quidditch pitch that was filled with celebrating Gryffindors.

"Well, it looks like I'm not going to need that quill after all," she said sitting down, breathless from her yelling, her hair falling into her eyes.

"Seven o'clock," Severus said, still not looking at her.

"Excuse me?"

"I will be picking you up at seven o'clock. For you to collect on your bet."

"Oh…Severus…you don't have to…" Hermione suddenly felt horribly guilty. Severus turned his head staring down at her.

"Are you backing out?" Somewhere behind the look of bored annoyance he was giving her, Hermione could swear she saw fear.

"Well…no. I just don't want you to do this because you have to."

"Then why do you want me to do it?"

"Well…because you want to." Hermione chewed on her lip feeling horribly exposed by her words. How had she gotten herself into this?

"I see. So… seven o'clock?"

Hermione looked at him and smiled. "Okay."