I apologize in advance for this chapter being so short, but it seemed like a good place to cut it. Plus, I really wanted to get a chapter up.

ALSO! I've already started on the next one. :D

And... I don't own the characters. :(

The Talk

The next morning dawned bright an early for Hermione. She was still mortified that Draco had almost let slip that she liked Severus. She knew the older man would consider her just a silly little know-it-all and want nothing to do with her. But there was something in the way Severus looked at her sometimes. Something different in the way he treated her. Lately it seemed like he was trying to ignore her, not even acknowledging her hand in the air.

That night, she attended another meeting with Draco, Minerva, and Severus. Throughout the entire thing, Severus barely looked at her. When he said something, he addressed the group as a whole, Minerva, or Draco. If she asked a question, he would look at Minerva expectantly. As the meeting progressed, it became obvious to Hermione that something had changed. She thought the man was at least tolerant of her, but now it seemed as though he knew something was up and was trying to discourage her. And it was working.

"Hermione?" The young brunette was startled out of her musings by a gentle hand laid upon her shoulder. She shook her head and looked up into the emerald eyes of her Headmistress. "Yes, Minerva?"

There was worry in the older woman's eyes. "Where have you been?"

"Not here, apparently." Hermione sighed and ran her hand through her unruly chestnut hair. "I guess I got lost in thought. Draco may or may not have said something in front of Professor Snape…" she trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

A small smile quirked Minerva's lips. "Would this have had anything to do with you liking him?"

Hermione glanced up at Minerva. "Maybe," she said, in a small voice. "I don't know what to do, Minerva! I just know how he must have taken that. And all yesterday and today he has done nothing but ignore me. He won't look me in the eye, but I catch him staring sometimes." She sighed. "How am I supposed to respond to that?"

Minerva sat next to Hermione. "I would say talk to him."
Hermione's eyes widened. "Hell no! The man would probably murder me for even thinking anything more about him."

Minerva chuckled, earning herself a mild glare from Hermione. "My dear, I can assure you that he has quite different feelings than what you think. But please, don't let me say anything more. Talk to him."

Hermione shrugged. "Fine, but if I don't show up for classes tomorrow…"

Minerva winked. "Then I know whose bed to look in."

The door slamming shut was the only response the Headmistress got.

Halfway through breakfast, Hermione dumped herself, and her books, unceremoniously at the table. Ron, Harry, and Ginny all looked up, startled.

"What the bloody Hell?" Ron grabbed for his goblet, as the force of five books hitting the table almost knocked it over.

Hermione glared, the kind of glare that only this particular Head Girl would be able to provide so early in the morning. Ron shrank back into his seat and became infinitely more interested in his waffle. Hermione grabbed a goblet, drained it, then pulled out a sheet of parchment paper that had at least six paragraphs crossed out, and began writing a new one.

Ginny and Harry exchanged glances, shrugs, and a shared timid glance in Hermione's direction. When that didn't elicit a response, Ginny tried her luck. "Um, Hermione."

"*grunt*"

"Are you okay this morning?"

Hermione looked up from her paper and saw Harry and Ginny looking at her. "Of course I'm okay. What reason could you have for thinking otherwise?"

Ginny couldn't help but laugh. "Seriously? You trudge in late to breakfast, slam your books down, and then kill Ron with a look. What are we supposed to think?"

The older girl had the decency to blush. "Sorry about that…" she mumbled. "Guess I'm a little preoccupied." She looked back down at her parchment, sighed, and scribbled out the sentence she had started on.

Ginny noticed. "Whatcha writin'?"

"Nothing."

"A looooove letter?"

"I said nothing."

"But I wanna know!"

"Too bad."

"Harry!" Ginny whined. "She won't tell me!"

Harry laughed. "Too bad! I'm not getting in the middle of this!"

Hermione grinned. "Smart man."

A scoff from behind her made Hermione's grin fade. "Smart? Who says?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Draco."

The blonde smirked and slid into the seat next to the brunette. "I heard something about a love letter." He winked. "Is Professor Snape finally getting some mail?"

Hermione groaned and laid her head on the desk. "I hate you all."

After breakfast came Potions. Hermione had resized all of her books to make them more manageable and had even stopped scribbling on the same piece of parchment. Instead, as soon as she sat down, she pulled out a brand new sheet and set it next to the old sheet, then began copying. When she wasn't brewing her potion, she was furiously writing down whatever had been on the old parchment she had finally gotten right. At the end of class, her potion was given the highest marks, again, and she had finished her letter.

Harry and Ron flanked her as they left the Potions' room. "Hermione?" Harry started timidly. "What's going on?"

Hermione sighed. "Are you guys really going to bug me all day just because I had a bad morning?"
The boys looked at each, then answered in unison. "Yes."

She stopped and turned, "Okay, fine. I happened to be trying to write a letter this morning, realized I wouldn't get it done before breakfast ended, got annoyed that I was going to miss most of breakfast, then got even more agitated because I didn't know what to write. There. Happy?"

Harry shrugged. "Sure. We were just making sure you're okay."

Hermione smiled. "Yes, I'm fine. Now, I need to go take care of this. I'll meet you in Charms?"

Harry and Ron nodded, then headed on to the Charms' classroom, while Hermione went to the Owlery. Figuring it would be much less suspicious if Severus received an owl from anywhere but the Hogwarts Owlery, she had addressed the outer envelope to Hagrid. Inside the outer envelope was another letter, addressed to Snape, and a note that asked if Hagrid could please either deliver the letter to Snape personally, or to send it back via owl. She smiled at her cunning. Surely no one would be keeping that close a tab on her.

Having reached the Owlery, Hermione waited for an owl to come close to her. The nearest one, a tawny, held out his leg impatiently. She smiled at the creature and held out a treat which it took happily. When the owl finished the treat, he held his leg back up so that Hermione could attach the envelope to it, then nipped her finger affectionately. Hermione watched the graceful creature spread his wings and fly out through one of the many open windows. Hope Hagrid doesn't mind…

Oh geez.. Sorry, guys! Didn't realize it was quite that short. xD But hey! There's a chapter! :D

Also, I'd like to remind you that I totally take suggestions. I have NO clue where this story is headed, but I still wanna let you know that it WILL be M in the future. I'll be changing the rating as soon as it gets to that point. I know, I know. They're goin' slow. But hey, that's life.