Hermione had been taking care to be extra neat with her plate, not wanting to spill any. But she had lost her focus, listening to the conversations around her, and didn't notice that she had put too food on her spoon until after the sauce had landed on the carpet. She flinched, expecting a cruel berating from Snape but instead the man kept up with his conversation all the while handing her a napkin. She grabbed at the napkin and hastily made a move to clean the mess, only managing to knock over her cup of milk in the process. As soon as it had splattered on the floor she burst into tears. She had been trying so hard, and she couldn't even do something as simple as eat and drink. She hadn't waited for the berating, she took off. With a hurried pace she went to the library and found herself a little nook she could calm herself down in. She had wanted to go to her rooms, but they were further away and she knew if she went there she'd want to cut. She sniffled as she buried her face in her knees, hating herself for failing at a simple task. She could score perfectly on any test, quiz, or homework, but she couldn't do something as simple as eat? She bit at her lip, trying to compose herself so she could go back to the living room and apologize like a mature person would. But the more she tried to stop them, the more the tears fell.

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Severus sighed as the girl took off. "We'll be back." He promised, giving Albus a grateful nod as the elder wizard cleaned up the mess. Severus didn't need to wonder where the girl would have gone, he knew where she was. He walked slowly over to the library doors, and stood for five minutes- wanting to give the girl some time. After the time had passed, he walked in and went straight to the exact nook he knew she'd be in.

"Surely a girl with your brain knows not to cry over spilled milk." He scolded jokingly, handing the surprised girl a tissue as he sat on the arm of her chair. He put a hand on her shoulder, still slightly uncomfortable. But he knew he wanted to make her feel better, the look on her face had been so similar to look on Draco's face whenever the boy disappointed Lucious- before Draco had stopped caring about what his parents thought. Severus didn't like to see that look of self-hatred and shame on anyone's face. No matter what anyone thought- he wasn't cruel...at least not that cruel. "You know, Hermione. If my food was that bad you should have just told me..you didn't need to throw it to the floor."

"I'm sorry." She said, her voice thick as a few tears fell down her cheeks.

"So you admit it." Severus joked. "You think my food is awful."

Hermione's face started to turn red with fear and she started to stutter. "I..no- what I m-"

Severus shook his head. "Calm down, girl." He soothed. "I'm only teasing." He promised, handing her another tissue. "If you haven't noticed," He whispered, "I'm a bit nicer outside of Hogwarts." He put a firm look, his glare only half-successful. "But if you tell anyone, you will rue the day."

"Why are you being nice to someone like me?" She demanded. "People like me shouldn't make mistakes."

Severus's blood turned cold. Those were words Draco used to mutter. "Everybody makes mistakes, Ms. Granger." He promised. "I still drop a flask or two, or forget that I've left a potion unattended- even after so many years as a potions master." He took a deep breath. "And there are much bigger mistakes that could be made in life...you haven't made any of those yet. When I was much younger than you, I'd already made nearly a dozen of those mistakes."

"What kind of mistakes, sir?" She asked, blinking her watery eyes.

"I don't think you'll ever find out." He responded, not feeling comfortable enough to have that conversation with her...she wasn't Draco afterall. Nor was she in any danger of going down the same damned paths he had walked.

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