Hermione blinked in surprise as Severus stalked off, not realizing how he had taken her words to mean disgust instead of confusion. She hadn't been trying to reject him. She just wanted him to understand that she was confused.

Already halfway down the hall, Severus didn't see the look on her face as he slammed his door behind him harshly enough to make a few of the pictures int he hall rattle. She had rejected him, and he wouldn't be hurt by someone again just because they were trying to be polite. He could give it to her that she had tried, but that wasn't an excuse to let her dance around it. They could go back to working with each other purely for school.

He sighed and plopped down in the chair in his room, running a hand through his hair. He had not thought she would react so negatively to a simple kiss. It hadn't been meant been meant to possibly end their friendship they had going. It had just been... A mistake. A simple mistake.

Severus grimaced and shook his head, reaching for his book and trying to ignore that he had just messed up the only relationship he was supposed to have in this time. He took a breath and tried to look for his page he had left off on. It took a while, and when he finally did find what he was looking for, he couldn't seem to focus on the words on the page. They seemed to dance in front of his eyes as his mind wandered. That didn't stop him from trying, though. It was better than admitting he was upset about having pushed Hermione away again.

Hermione was left standing in her room in confusion, staring at the wall in confusion. She simply stood there, trying to figure out what she had done.

She hadn't meant to push him away in her fumbling speech a minute ago. She had just been trying explain her confusion, and it had come out making her look like a bumbling buffoon. How could she be sure? Last time she had been interested in someone, it had been Krum, and that hadn't gone far. Sure, she had had a bit of a crush on Ron before they came here together. However, Severus had a much more alluring... Mind, she supposed. Ron wasn't the brightest person around, even if he was kind of sweet sometimes. He was more dense than she cared for, but she wasn't interested in anyone else.

Then she got stuck working with Severus until they could get him home, and she had hated it at first. Now though, she loved working with. A mind to match hers and someone she could get along with. It was nice because Ron and Harry weren't stupid, but they didn't share her love for academics.

Severus did.

Now they had kissed, though, and she just wanted to bury her head in the sand to give her time to figure things out. Except Severus was peeved because he thought she was rejecting him when she had been trying to explain she wanted to figure things out and then move from there.

It took a while of fighting with herself for Hermione to figure out how to go talk to him, and a little bit longer for her to build up that 'Gryffindor Courage' that everyone thought the whole house had. Not that her courage ever came to her with things like this when she actually wanted to have the confidence to go talk to someone she had messed things up with.

She finally built herself up enough to exit the room and slowly head down the hall. Taking a deep breath, she reached up to knock on his door lightly, hoping he would not ignore her. They at least needed to figure how to work together without wanting to kill each other.

Minutes seemed to pass as she waited for Severus to answer, shifting her weight from foot to foot as she stood outside his door. The urge to run back to her room seemed to be growing with each passing moment. She couldn't do that though... She had to deal with this before it go worse. When she finally made up her mind to just leave it till she heard quiet footsteps on the other side of the door.

The door swung open a moment later leaving Hermione wanting to sink into the floor at the glare she got from Severus. She really had messed up. She opened her mouth to speak though, not getting the chance to actually say anything.

"If you've come to reject me again in a few more explicit words, you can leave. I'm well aware that you aren't interested, Granger. I do not need you to go rubbing it in my face," Severus snapped out sharply, voice cold. "I will not be made a fool of by you, or anyone else for that matter, because I made a mistake. So if that is all." He stepped back to close the door quickly, to slam it in her face for almost making a fool out of him.

Hermione blinked in surprise before throwing out an arm to quickly catch the door. "No! No, that's not what I mean, Severus," she said quickly. "You could get let me get a few words out before you go slamming things in my face, you know."

Severus snorted and glared down at her, not letting her push the door any further open than he had managed to close it. "I told you that I will not be made a fool of by you. Simply forget what has occurred and we can have a purely academic relationship," he hissed. "I don't need your pity or whatever this is to kindly turn me down. I understand what you are trying to tell me. Just go away."

Hermione looked stunned at the harsh words, slowly feeling like she was standing in front of her professor rather than the boy she had been working with lately. She took a deep breath and pushed at the door a bit. "Will you shut up and let me talk?" she snapped furiously. "Because you are being an utter prat, and I was coming over here to apologize to you rather than reject you! You just bloody surprised me when you kissed me."

Severus looked stunned for a moment before opening his mouth to respond, only to be silenced with a kiss.

(Look who finally updated. Sorry about the wait guys.)