A/N: Hi All! Once again, I own only the plot. Enjoy!

Something More

Chapter 2: If I'm A Know-It-All You're A Git

It was only once he'd made it to the dungeons that Severus relaxed. He smirked at the memory of Granger's dumbfounded expression moments before. It might not be so bad having her around after all, messing with her head had been almost…fun. He knew instinctively that Granger was not a woman used to being surprised by anything, which made the knowledge that he had done just that all the more satisfying.

He undressed meticulously, and then plucked a book from his bedside table. He lay in bed, thumbing the pages for several minutes, and allowing the words to run together in his mind until he finally fell asleep.

Elsewhere in the castle, Hermione had finally finished settling into her apartments. Due to her new status as head of Gryffindor, they were located within easy walking distance of said tower. She exhaled a long breath, and allowed herself to collapse on the black leather couch in her sitting room. Despite her Gryffindor roots, Hermione favored darker colors when decorating, and most of her apartments were done in varying shades of burgundy, dark green and navy blues. Several minutes later, she had settled in for the night. As if to spite her, her mind played her last moments with Severus repeatedly, as though it were a broken record.

He had earned his reputation as the Bat of the Slytherin Dungeons fairly enough, so why had he taken special care to be nice to her. 'Well', she corrected herself, 'not nice…but definitely not rude either.' She sighed, aware that she was probably reading too much into things as she often did. She sighed, and fell into a fitful sleep minutes later.

The next morning, Hermione dressed in her teaching robes, and left her apartments quickly. Being late for breakfast on her first day as a professor probably wouldn't make a very good impression. She thought it best to avoid Severus, she wasn't exactly sure what had brought about the change in him, but neither was she sure she wanted to know. She made it to her place at the head table mere moments before the students began pouring in.

Minerva gave her a knowing look. "Did you have a long night dear?" she asked in a low voice. Hermione smiled at the woman, "in a manner of speaking", she answered as honestly as she could. Minerva nodded, "it will get easier, just take it one day at a time, and teaching will be second-nature before you know it." Hermione gave her a grateful look, "I hope so."

Severus noticed the exchange, but did not comment, Professor Binns was prattling on about some new historic discovery that had been made recently. Although he nodded appropriately, it was only out of sheer strength of will that he didn't cast a silencing charm on the man. Soon enough, breakfast ended, and so, thankfully, did the conversation. Severus made his way to the dungeons, trademark glare in place, daring any student to offer him so much as a "hi professor."

It wasn't that Severus hated his students; in fact some of them were intelligent enough to be considered teachable. He did, however, find it easier to control his classroom if they were afraid of him.

In another classroom, Hermione Granger was in a panic. Her class was due to start in ten minutes and it appeared that someone had depleted her entire store of cockroaches. Since she was teaching the transfiguration of roaches to buttons that day, they were rather important to her lesson. It wasn't that Hermione was afraid she wouldn't be able to teach her lesson; she was far too inventive for that. No, what panicked her was the fact that there was only one other place to find said roaches: in the potions storeroom.

Hermione weighed her options quickly, she could either swallow her pride and ask to borrow them from Snape, or she could try to come up with another lesson in the next…eight minutes. Sighing, she waved her wand so that her students could copy the lesson notes in her absence. Though she doubted any of them actually would, there was always a chance.

Students had already begun filtering into Severus' classroom when he heard her voice. "Severus?" He knew immediately that it was Granger, owing in part to the uncomfortable way in which she'd said his name. He cursed the fact that the first class of the morning was a first year mix of Slytherins and Gryffindors, because both sets of students, upon grasping the situation, began to 'ooo' annoyingly. Unable to withstand such juvenile behavior, Snape spanned the room in a withering glare.

The room went silent in an instant, and a satisfied Snape stepped into the hall to speak with the Transfiguration professor. "What is it Miss Granger?" Severus noticed that she seemed rather frustrated, and was instantly curious. "Severus I.." she paused, swallowed hard, and then continued. "I seem to be completely out of cockroaches."

Severus bit his tongue, Granger looked as though she would rather be facing Voldemort by herself without a wand as be standing in front of him in this situation. Enjoying her discomfort, he let the silence between them lengthen. "And how, may I ask, is that my problem?" She looked confused for a moment, as though his attitude were unexpected, before her expression became decidedly defensive.

"Well Severus, since the only other place in the entire castle that contains cockroaches would be your storeroom; it would make sense that I needed them." She appeared quite pleased with her logic. Severus, for his part, appeared surprised; it was uncommon that anyone, least of all one of his former students, was this blunt to him. Normally, he would have lashed out at such insolence, but his reactions were overshadowed by the delightful knowledge that she was just as easy to rile as she had been when she was a student, or was she?

He had what she wanted within moments, but just as he was about to deliver his parting shot, she interrupted him. "Oh, and Severus, since we are colleagues now, you should probably call me Hermione."

Though Severus had the grace not to look shocked as Hermione had done, he was none the less surprised anew. "Touché Gr-Hermione…touché." Perhaps there was something to be said for Gryffindor courage after all.

A/N: Okay, so I'll rarely write two chapters in one night, but I had a day off from college and I'm really enjoying this story. Once again, all intelligent opinions are more than welcome, I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing. J