Courting Magic - chapter 6

Sorry for the delay everyone. I'll make a bet with you, you'll love this chapter it has the most Severus/Hermione interaction and bonus, they are alone for a long duration of the time.

Update: This fic has been edited, there is some minor changes/new content in all chapters so I would advise you to go back and read them. There is also a new chapter in there that was made while I edited this all weekend. In other words: This fanfic has been improved, you can love it more, I can be pleased that the writing doesn't suck, and we can get this thing rolling again. Yay! There is also a basket of internet cookies, take however many you want. And thank you to all readers, followers, favoriters, and reviewers.

"Professor? The infirmary is in the other direction." Hermione pointed out after they had been walking silently for a few minutes in the dark after he had put the light on his wand out.

"Early morning is the only time Madam Pomfrey gets her sleep." Snape replied passively as if they were talking about the weather.

"But, where are we going then?" When Snape gave her a cold look out of the corner of his eye she quickly tacked on, "Professor." His gaze drew away from her to the hall in front of them that they had just gone down some stairs to get to.

"Use your eyes Miss Granger. You don't recognize my classroom after having to clean up that mess the other day?" He opened the door to his classrom after having said that and swept in ahead of her going right toward his closest of in-class supplies. "I thought you were suppose to be the, 'brightest witch of your age.'"

He had said the words so sarcastically that she found herself having to respond even though she didn't want to open her mouth in case she said something weird to him. Like say, about the veela thing. It didn't seem to have any opinion on her telling him or not so far though. The only bright thing she could find in this situation. It seemed rather content with just being near him, for now anyways. "I am the brightest witch of my age." she snapped back.

"Don't be so cocky." Professor Snape made the snide comment from within the storage room. The effect of the words seemed to be muffled as if he was behind another wall but it still came across crystal clear to her.

Hermione bit her lip, angrily. She frowned before muttering, "That mess was made by Gilligan not me. You should have made him finish it." Even if that was the only reason she had found out he was her mate. If not for being held back and forgetting to give him the finished potion she would still be lost and probably wouldn't have come out for this late night stroll either. Her frown slipped from her face, suddenly less bitter about it.

"He would have taken too long to get it done."

She glanced up quickly when she heard his voice so clearly to see he was infront of her again.

That was fast. I wonder what else he would be fast at, her inner Veela questioned from beyond the mental cage she had created for it that seemed to be working for now. She pushed the inappropriate thought away before realizing something. Her eyes flickered up to look into his. Had he just complimented her indirectly?

Snape didn't seem to notice how she was now openly staring at him and just pushed the vial he held in his hands toward her, "Drink this, wait ten minutes, then head back to your dorm."

She took it from him glancing down at the vial but it was too dark to see much of the defining qualities within to judge what the potion was. Raising the thin glass to her lips she drained it quickly, making a small gag noise as she brought it away from herself. Why did anything that was suppose to make you feel better always have to taste bad? Even the supposedly cherry flavor syrup stuff her mom would give to her when she was a child had been horrible, even more so because you expected it to taste like, well, fruit of some sort.

Snape had made his way to the other side of the room, only making a small comment on her reaction to the medicine. "There is a glass beneath the left sink." When she had turned to look at him she saw that he had taken up a quil at his desk having sat down and started writing on a plain sheet of parchment.

Hermione blinked looking over at him almost quizically. He had given her the medicine would it really be much more of an effort to go get the water for her? Then again, he wasn't here working in the infirmary where it was expected that the patient be taken care of, and she wasn't much of a patient to begin with. Being able to walk and all. Still, she wished he would have. Biting at her lip she told herself to stop it. If he knew about the mate thing and was in love with her it would be a different story, surely. She hopped off the table walking over towards the sink he had told her about.

Ugh, all she wanted to do was just go up the steps to his desk and sit in his lap to cuddle while he did whatever work he was currently doing. To place little kisses on any exposed flesh her lips could get to. Even unbotton a few at the top of his shirt to get more access-No. Hermione, stop mentally undressing him! He's in the damn room!

Forcing the imagery from her mind she bent down to open the cabinet beneath the sink smacking herself in the head for the ridiculous thoughts she was having. There was absolutely no reason for her to be acting like they were already together, or atleast continuously wanting to act like they were. Besides she would probably freak him out and have to go through rigorous questioning if she actually acted on her thoughts. Raising a hand to rub at her head lightly she wished she hadn't just done that as her head had started pounding shortly after. Grabbing the glass on the bottom shelf she stood back up and turned on the tap.

It was then she noticed the rasping of quil on paper had stopped. She glanced up over at the desk her stomach doing little flips when her eyes met his. Her breath quickened for a moment and she forced herself to swallow to hide how he was effecting her. It felt weird to do so since her throat was dry and she quickly pushed the glass beneath the sink to fill with water not able to tear her gaze from his that seemed to be keeping her pinned there.

Why was he staring at her like that anyways?

She was about to ask when out of the corner of her eye she saw his lips begin to move. "Hitting one's self is considered a sign of insanity in some cultures Miss Granger, at the very least delusion. Please refrain from doing such actions in my classroom even if class is not in session."

Hermione found herself giving a hesitant nod while her fingers switched the tap back off and she raised the glass to her lips for a sip, feeling the taste of the potion from before slowly disapear as fresh spring water poured into her mouth. Were his pipes connected to a natural aquifer? She found herself wondering while trying to find something to distract herself from his presence. As he turned back to his papers she remembered what she had wanted to ask him later that day as she hadn't foreseen running into him this early on.

"Professor?" She questioned after taking another sip from the glass rather liking the cool water running down her throat. It helped her body feel less hot not to mention soothed her sore throat. She didn't think she would have noticed that she was getting sick if it wasn't for him pointing it out to her. Hermione waited for him to look up from his desk after she adressed him "I was thinking, because of the spells I've been having of late. If it would be best to make a few Invigoration Draughts? I kind of passed out last Sunday while at the Quidditch match and I would like to stop it from happening again. So I was wondering if you could help me get some made?" she questioned, then further explained her reasons when he didn't say anything within the few seconds she had paused, "Just to like supervise and get access to the ingredients. It would also just be good practice for my potion making skills as well."

Snape was looking at her with his usual steely gaze. "Are you actually executing the practice of asking to go into my storeroom instead of sneaking in to get ingredients for some obscene potion?" She flinched visibly at those words and she noticed his brow raise in question. He had to be reffering to second year when Harry, Ron, and her had made a batch of Polyjuice Potion. It made the drinker look like another person, all you needed was to add a hair from the person you intended to turn into it before taking the drink. She remembered it tasting especialy foul as well as her mistake in strand of hair. She had gotten cat hair from a Slytherin's robes instead of the actual girl's hair. "As for supervising I suggest doing what most of the other students do," Hermione figured out pretty easily that the Slytherins were not part of this most before he even finished the sentance, "contact Slughorn and ask him to come to the school to supervise. He seems to like coming here not only for helping the other students but for stealing from the green houses."

Biting at her lip and feeling an overwhelming wave of guilt pass through her she blurted, "I apologize for the incident in second year, but I'd rather not have Slughorn supervise for the actual potion making." Hermione spoke slowly revealing that she had been the one of the three to go into his stocks that year. Which apparently he had suspected for some time now even though she was the least likely to do such a thing. The only reason she had agreed to steal from the store room was because Harry was enough trouble that year with everyone thinking he was the heir to Slytherin. It wouldn't have boded well for him to be sneaking around at the time. Not that any time was good for acting in such a way.

Professor Snape stuck the quil into the ink bottle next to him leaving it there for now. "I do hope you realise Miss Granger, that Slughorn has more experience than me, and I have a busy schedule. Unlike Slughorn who can work around your own schedule since all he does otherwise is sit alone in his home." His tone of voice had changed from the normal annoyance to outright aggravated at the end, though she wasn't sure if it was because he disliked the other Professor or because Slughorn was a bit of a hermit which was annoying in itself. And disturbing. She always thought he was rather disturbing.

"I'm aware of his... routines Professor, but I would rather not bothe-"

"So instead you intend to bother me with your requests when you are perfectly capable of making the potion youself?" Snape interupted, "Your scores rank high, matching Malfoy's even. You shouldn't need supervising at this point Miss Granger. Now I suggest you send an owl later in the morning-"

"No." Hermione said quickly, in turn interupting the Professor and was awarded with a cold glare. Her skin chilled at his gaze, if death had eyes... "I didn't... what I meant is..." She sighed after hearing her own voice and her struggle to come up with an explanation. It wasn't something she would normally do, normally she could deal with this well enough by herself. Damn Veela and it's submissive tendencies! It was going to end up making her look like a bloody fool! Using a moment she attempted to collect her jumbled thoughts. Because really, she hadn't meant to aggravate him further or insult him for that matter. "My own schedule is a bit of a mess these days and-" I don't want to take away from Slughorn's rest time. She sucked in a breath. No, it was best she didn't say that. Glancing up at Severus she thought she saw a flicker of amusement in his eyes to see her struggling to find a justifable reason for having him supervise her instead. Anger flashed under her skin. "well, you heard about the incident where he froze when Ron drank the poisoned drink. If I were to fall over from sudden exhaustion it might end up giving him a heart attack or something. You would be able to react faster and-and..." Hermione trailed off unsure if she was even making a strong argument at this point. She probably sounded like a blubbering fool.

Oh Merlin! It was happening already!

"From what I hear Miss Granger, such an incident hasn't happened after that. When a student accidentally let their flesh touch a particularly poisionous ingredient he was fast to give them the antidote and even had it out all ready in the case that something like that would occur. I'm sure you would be fine in his care."

How was she losing this? If she wasn't a Veela she would be fine with dealing with Professor Slughorn even if he did creep her out... Besides that fact, why did Severus have to be so... so... him? This was torture! She couldn't settle for Slughorn! She needed Snape! Otherwise there was no reason to be making the potions-okay, that was a lie, she needed the draughts if she was going to get though this without being touchy feely which would surely earn her more than a raised brow. "Professor," she tried again, what felt like the millionth time now. "Slughorn doesn't seem very capable in the potions-"

"That's just a rumor." Snape assured her before she could even finish. Hermione almost growled in frustration at this. Did he like seeing people squirm for his own sadistic pleasure or something?

Her mind flashed to an image of him hovering over her, hands making her tremble with every precise touch along her skin. She forced it out of her mind, her bottom lip puffing out a bit to form a pout. "Well, even so, I wouldn't feel comfortable with him supervising me. I've personally known you much longer from the classes you've taught for much of the duration that I was here." She gnawed at her lip for a moment as that image of him above her tried to creep into her mind again. Now was not the time for that! Focus! "You're more capable than him anyways and would know how to make the potion the most effective by not just using instructions from the book." She still remembered the alterations he had made to his own school book that Harry had found. "I'd much rather entrust my health to you."

His brow arched slightly at those words. It took a moment for Hermione to realise what she had said and what else it could mean considering they were alone. She opened her mouth to quickly clear it up or even take the words back though she didn't want to. "Very well." Snape said before she could get a word out and he turned back to his ink well, picking up the quill. "I'll send an owl later this evening with a list of times and you will choose whichever works best for you." He glanced over at her one last time. "Finish the water or put it down the drain then leave Miss Granger, your ten minutes are up." His attention had fully shifted back to the papers now.

She stood silent for a moment then drained the glass before setting it carefully in the sink and turned around to walk out the door.

/ / /

His gaze lifted from the class work schedule he had been working on to watch her leave once her back was turned. The stubborn Gyrfindor girl seemed calm now that she had gotten her way, not that he would really push her towards Slughorn. Snape had been curious of her reasoning behind it though. Any students not in Slytherin insisted the older teacher help them instead. It was like Slughorn was stealing his students, which he found mildly irritating.

Hermione was the only non-Slytherin insisting that he supervise her instead of jumping for an excuse to not have to spend extra time around him. She had made a few fine points since Slughorn did just copy the text. A walking manual is what he was.

His mind wandered back to finding her in the hall leading from the Astronomy Tower. Her face had looked deathly pale under the light of his lumos spell. A tinge of red on her nose from being in the cold for so long. She looked like she had developed a cold and her clothes weren't the many layers suppose to be worn in winter. He had almost criticised her for not putting on her winter cloak instead of the summer one she still had on. But when she had backed up looking almost scared and quivering in the cold he had pressed the urge down and instead, before he knew what he was doing, had pressed his hand to her forehead. It had been hot, a complete contradiction to how cold she looked.

When he had done so though he noticed a slight tint to her cheeks and had withdrawn his hand. He was still confused as to what that had been about. But he never let his mind wander on mundane matters.

The schedule he was working up was more important than a Gryfindor student that Minerva could have seen to had she been the one to find her. Seeing as the woman was asleep at this time though he didn't see a reason to wake her about the Gryfindor being out and about.

As he started writing again he realised he had forgotten to deduct points from Gryfindor. Next time he saw her, he thought to himself.

/ / /

As soon as she heard the door close behind her she smiled. Yes! She had succedded in her task of getting time to spend with him alone, not to mention making the potions which she considered a great plus. Hermione was very tempted to jump up and pump her first through the air in victory, and maybe even do a little dance. Considering that someone might spot her though-including Professor Snape if he decided to come out of the classroom right then, which she would rather not have to explain her obvious enthusiasim to his agreement. That would just be awkward.

So she walked from the front of the classroom and down the hall to the stairs. Climbing them she did spare a glance over her shoulder, hoping to catch sight of him even if he did happen to be glaring at her back. Not seeing him she felt a wave of disappointment before continuing to walk up the stairs.

Once reaching the first floor she noticed the sky seemed to be a dark grey rather than completely black. Hermione realized she had been down there in the dungeons alone with Professor Snape longer than a mere ten minutes. Had anyone seen her enter and leave the classroom? The skin along her cheeks flamed slightly at the thought. She hoped not.

It wasn't exactly normal for a student to be up a these times what if a fellow student or teacher saw and assumed... Calm down! She drew in a shaky breath shoving those thoughts away. It's not like she actually did anything. Sure, her mind went off a bit to... well, you know. But that wasn't her fault! It was the veela. That's what she kept telling herself anyway, knowing she had conjured up that image just fine by herself.

Shaking her head she got to the moving staircases and quickly ran up them to whisper the password to the Fat Lady and slip into the Gryfindor Tower silently.