Chapter Three

Things Have Just Changed

He hadn't noticed. Hermione was practically falling over her cauldron as she leaned over it to get her ingredients.

And he hadn't noticed. He hadn't even looked her way. When she had asked him if her cauldron was made of the correct metal, all he had said was.

"Yes, Miss Granger, why on earth would you need to know?"

And she muttered something about Diagon Alley. His eyes met hers and he then left her to go back to his desk. And all this time her shirt had been open in front of him, and he hadn't even looked! She was getting very frustrated, and desperate times called for desperate measures. She sprang to her feet, walked quickly yet casually over to his desk and took a unicorn root from the trays of spare ingredients in front of him. It was only when she pretended to fall over and launched herself onto the floor that she wondered just when she had become so impulsive. It also hurt quite badly.

"Stupid girl," she heard Snape mutter under his breath. She sighed at his disregard to her and pulled herself up. What she was going to gain from doing this, she didn't know, it was just good that the whole class was hidden behind cauldrons, and didn't-. Hermione paused mid-thought. When she had gotten to her knees, she glanced at his face and his face was very much looking. In fact, he was still looking, and the sense of pride that jolted through her was very much the feeling that she had wanted and envisioned. His face had gone rigid and she took this time to notice the sharp angle of his jaw, and the way his eyes had turned darker that usual. It was only after he had looked for a second too long that her professor blinked and cleared his throat.

Hermione looked away and pretended to clean the dust from her skirt. He didn't know she knew. When the imaginary dirt had gone, she looked up and bit her lip.

"I..fell when I was-"

"I know that Miss Granger," he said blankly. The expression on his face was one she had never seen before, he almost looked guilty. She slowly got to her feet and thought that this might be the time to sit back down, but he stopped her.

"Miss Granger," he said quietly. She turned around.

"Yes Professor?"

He sighed and looked up towards the ceiling. "Miss Granger," he said yet more quietly with a hint of exasperation. "To save yourself some dignity, I must tell you that your blouse is open,"

Oh.

"Oh," Hermione said slowly. She stared at him, and he raised one dark eyebrow.

"Miss Granger," he said sternly, and his voice seemed strained.

Reality suddenly hit her. She fumbled with the buttons of her shirt, and suddenly felt very, very exposed, and very, very stupid. This was now awkward for both of them. Once the last button had been secured, she glanced at the floor for her unicorn horn and grabbed it before he could, and then sent a glance towards her cauldron.

"I, um..should do this,"

"Please do,"

She nodded without looking at him and hurried back to her cauldron. Oh dear. So much for feeling powerful. She wanted to run away and collapse onto her bed in despair. Why was she so stupid. Oh, it was so embarrassing.

She took her jar of pixie dust and inwardly cringed to herself. Her arms were shaking and her brain was going haywire. She just had to calm down. She didn't even know why she felt like this, apart from the fact that she had just made a complete fool of herself, but hopefully Snape would just forget….yes.

She glanced up and him, and she was not prepared for what she saw.

He was looking straight at her with such intensity that she gasped and dropped the vial into her cauldron. His eyes were completely black, almost predatory and were staring directly into hers. They travelled down her face, and rested on her lips. Her stomach fluttered and span so much that she forgot where she was for a second, and then she blinked.

She dropped her eyes too slowly, and only saw the last colours of the rainbow erupting from her potion. She watched in horror as it began gurgling and then exploded. Most of it splattered onto her uniform, and the rest flew all over her desk and fixed itself there like some bizarre kind of paint.

She had looked up un-expectantly, straight at him and this time he hadn't been able to look away. Her eyes had shined with a small moment's recognition before they widened and she let out a small gasp. The vial in her fingers dropped as if in slow motion, and seconds later he was looking at her covered in various bright colours.

She waited. The whole room had held their breath. She stared at the floor, and bit her lip. His voice was angry, but maybe only she heard that it wasn't as angry as it should have been.

"Miss Granger," a slight pause. "Stay after class," her stomach lurched. "You can clean that mess from my floors,"

The next ten minutes went too quickly. Hermione had only managed to scrape away a small speck of the potion before she heard the scrape of chairs and pattering of feet. She glanced up at the worried faces of Ron and Harry.

"Good luck," Ron murmured.

"We'll save you some food," Harry said. She watched them walk away, and the door slammed. It was silent. Hermione risked a glance at him and she was startled to see that he wasn't where she had thought he had been, and held back a gasp of surprise when she saw his hands splayed over her desk and a frown on his face.

"Professor, I didn't see you," she said as she tried not to stammer. "I'll clean this up, uhh-"

"Miss Granger,"

She cringed and tried to steady her breathing. She felt so naked under his gaze.

There she was, babbling away like some nervous wreck, and she couldn't meet him in the eye. She was covered in the remains of her potion, her robes caked in bright shades of green and blue. The ringlets of her hair were matted together by orange powder, and her cheeks were pinkened by red and pink ash. He felt all sense of his anger (barely there in the first place) go away. How could he be angry when she looked like this? Not to mention she had only dropped her vial when she realised he had been looking at her, something which he shouldn't have done. Never. He sighed.

"Miss Granger, I will use a cleansing charm to get rid of this," he gestured towards her. "You should go back to your dormitory to get changed," as I would have to get your clothes from your body should I wish to clean them myself. He thought. Hermione nodded and bowed her head. Yet she didn't move.

Hermione braced herself. It was now or never, and if she didn't ask him now she would be driving herself insane later.

"Professor, is this because, of umm.." she saw his eyebrow raise. "Well…you're not that angry.. and you were umm..looking at me and well, I just wondered if that was why you're not…umm..mad..I.." she looked up and his face had gone blank, perhaps with shock, or fear of have being found. How could she know? She then looked down at herself with a displeased sigh and shook her head. "Never mind. I need to go,"

Hermione took hold of her bag without looking at him. As she walked across the room, clouds of powder followed her with every step. The walk to the door took too long, yet eventually she placed her shaky hand around the doorknob, ready to escape and think about what had happened alone. But she froze when she heard his voice speak.

"Miss Granger,"

She wasn't ready for the sensation of his fingers slipping around her wrist. She span around so quickly that she dropped her bag and they both listened to it bang to the floor. There he was, and he was closer than he had ever been before. She looked into his eyes and this time didn't feel the need to look away. She could see herself reflected in his black pupils.

"Miss Granger, did you by any chance want me to notice your unbuttoned shirt?"

Hermione slowly withdrew her arm and felt herself sinking against the wall. She could see his mind working, he was slowly studying her. How transparent had she been? She closed her eyes and felt the darkness surround her. She shouldn't have done this. How could she have been so stupid? If only she could disappear. It felt like a dream. Maybe she could wake up in her bed now..and…

"Yes," she said quietly. "I wanted you to see," the words came out before she could stop them. She didn't dare to open her eyes. She listened to the moments of empty silence pass, and finally pulled her lashes away from her cheek. He seemed much closer than before. His dark eyes ran down her face and this time she forced herself to look away. His body was so close…

She took a breath, and after what seemed like a lifetime, he finally spoke.

"Miss Granger, dinner will start soon. Please get changed,"

She watched his eyes look into hers a moment longer, a moment longer than they had ever done before, and she then watched him go. He had left the room before her mind could even begin to register what had just happened. Let alone her heart.

--

Review :)