AN 1: As always, this hasn't been betad, but I have a pretty good grasp on grammar and syntax, so any issues should be minor and are probably a result of my fingers moving too quickly on the keyboard. :)
"I suppose we'd better go inside," Hermione reluctantly muttered after they'd sat for a while.
"Yeah," Theo agreed, standing up and offering her a hand. "We're supposed to start clearing out the dungeons today. I'm sure Snape will already complain about our tardiness."
She snorted ruefully. She had been the one to lead the Healers to his body in the Shack; meeting him after his recovery had been a nerve-wracking experience. He had seemed like a completely different man, lying in a bed at St. Mungo's and thanking her in a quiet, hoarse baritone. She hadn't known what to do with a non-vitriolic Snape.
Luckily, he hadn't lost any of his exacting expectations; as such, the sections of the castle whose repair he had directly overseen were some of the most immaculate. It reassured Hermione, knowing there was one professor who would treat her like they did any other student, rather than a war heroine or a tragic orphan. What she had done to her parents wasn't common knowledge, so far, but she'd had to tell some of the professors when she asked for leave to stay at the school over the reconstruction period.
Still. The first time he'd actually praised her work, she'd walked around with a dopey grin for the rest of the day. Six years of trying, and all it had taken was a war and a near-death experience to earn the approval of the only teacher she'd ever felt inadequate around.
"You know," she began as they walked up to the castle, "I wouldn't mind apprenticing for a Potions Mastery with Professor Snape."
Theo didn't look surprised. "You might be able to make that a condition of the adoption contract - Snape instead of Cambridge. He's a war hero too, after all; Madame Greengrass would be daft to refuse. Of course," he added slyly, "that's assuming you decide to accept the contract, and that he'd accept you as his apprentice."
Knowing her face showed her conflict, she admitted, "I want to. My first impulse is to say yes. But it's a big decision. And I'm dreading even the idea of the press circus if it became public knowledge."
"You could put off the Ministry documents until after school started up again," he told her as they reached the massive front doors. "The ritual itself can be done without any witnesses from the Ministry at all. You should write to Madame Greengrass, explain your reservations."
"That's not a bad idea," she agreed, already drafting a letter in her head.
Anything else she might have said was interrupted by Professor Snape's exit from the Great Hall into the corridor where they were walking. He had abandoned his heavy black robes after his recovery, making his new attire a simple white Oxford and black trousers. This, coupled with the color his skin had obtained after spending the last week repairing the greenhouses, made him look much healthier than he had during Hermione's entire school career; even his disposition seemed less sour - although Hermione still attributed that to his no longer being required to play the part of faithful Death Eater.
"You two are very nearly late," he observed in a much less caustic tone than they had spent six years becoming accustomed to.
"Sorry, Professor," Hermione chirped with a bright smile. "I was having an emotional crisis and needed my gay best friend to comfort me." She wrapped herself around Theo's arm, playing the distressed schoolgirl with obnoxious obviousness. It was an odd new sort of relationship she and the professor had, where she could tease him and he wouldn't fly into a rage or deduct points or assume she was mocking him; she found she liked it - she was on good terms with the rest of her teachers, had friendly relationships with them, and to be able to add Snape to the list of professors she could consider friends made her feel accomplished in the way a high grade never had.
Professor Snape looked down his nose at her for a long moment before snorting and rolling his eyes. "Spare me the histrionics, Granger. It is entirely too early in the morning for your cheery brand of sarcasm."
"Yes, Professor," she agreed, affecting a much more solemn demeanor for a few seconds. Then she smiled again, albeit with less wattage. "So, what are we doing today? Rubble cleanup or actual reconstruction?"
"Both, simultaneously. Those more ... talented in Transfiguration and Charms will be with me in the lower section." He sent a pointed look sweeping between the two of them. "Others less endowed with such skills are still under Pomona's purview as she begins replanting the greenhouses today."
Theo snickered and muttered, "At least we won't have to deal with Weasley today."
Snape heard this comment and agreed with a sneered, "Indeed. Now come along; there is damage to the foundations of the castle that I am not satisfied was properly repaired the first time the crews came through." He didn't say that the portions of the dungeons which housed Slytherins had not been the top priority of the repair crews.
He didn't have to.
After they'd inspected every lodestone to Snape's exacting standards, they moved on to other damaged sections in the lowermost areas of the castle. Even though all of the work they were doing was accomplished with magic, by the time lunch rolled around they were all exhausted - Professor Snape, especially, looked wan and drained.
"You go ahead, Theo," nodded Hermione when it seemed like he'd stay behind with her and the flagging professor. "I've just got a few questions for Professor Snape about the charms we've been doing today." Theo rolled his eyes but assumed she was planning to pester the man about an apprenticeship while he was vulnerable (it was what he would have done), and cheerfully left her to it. He was hungry and he hadn't seen his boyfriend this morning - Blaise didn't believe in waking up early enough to eat breakfast.
Once he was out of sight, she turned to the unusually silent professor, only to find him leaning against the wall, eyes shut and spine slouching in a complete reversal of his usually rigid posture. A moment's scan of the area provided a large chunk of rubble that Hermione confidently Transfigured into a cane. (She would have made a chair, but knew that implying Snape was too feeble to walk would end poorly for her.)
"Here, Professor. You don't look well." Even with her newly developed sense of tact, Hermione tended to eschew Slytherin tactics when someone could benefit from something she'd done - after all, Gryffindors didn't change their stripes just because they started spending time with snakes, no matter what Ronald Weasley seemed intent on believing.
The professor's eyes snapped open, landing almost immediately on the offered cane. The resulting sneer lacked all force; indeed, it seemed to be mostly for show as he silently took the cane from her hand. "I was unaware that you had become a qualified Medi-witch in the twelve hours since I had seen you last, Miss Granger." These days he only called her that when attempting to gain some distance; otherwise, she was just plain Granger - a mark of the odd rapport they were forming.
With a bright smile, she agreed, "Not quite yet, Professor. After all, I'd have to have at least journeyman Potionry status to be able to even qualify for Healer training." And sometimes she could be more Slytherin than people expected.
He opened his mouth, undoubtedly to deliver some scathing retort or other, only to pause and peer at her suspiciously in the gloomy dungeon light. "Granger, that was practically ... cunning of you. How long have you been waiting to pounce on that sort of opening?"
This time her grin was cheeky. "Why, Professor Snape, I've no idea what you're talking about." She batted her eyelashes at him innocently - something she would never have imagined herself doing before these last few summer months had changed her perspectives on many things. "I was just making conversation."
"I'm sure," he responded in a dry tone. With a slightly irritated harrumph, he pointed down the corridor with the tip of the cane. "I shall think about it. Now get out of my sight. I'm certain my star pupils have more Slytherin wisdom to impart with you than they do sense to be wary."
Her answering laugh echoed in the dreary dungeon halls. "Maybe it's me who is corrupting them, sir. After all, lions have teeth as well," she retorted as she walked away.
"Perhaps," he agreed, too quiet for her to hear, as he stared after her. "Of course, that might not be such a terrible thing."
AN 2: Please read and review! Your reviews let me know what I'm doing wrong and what I'm doing right, and what you guys wanna see. If you have an idea, share it! I'm generally only one chapter ahead of whatever I'm posting, so this could practically be a pick-your-own-adventure if you interact with me!