Chapter 8:

A Flower for Miss Granger

Hermione sighed as she walked through the halls, making her way from the library back to her quarters with an arm full of books. The day had been a long one, and it seemed as if it wasn't going to stop any time soon. It had to be about eight o'clock now, and she had hours of lesson plans to write ahead of her.

She wanted to get next weeks plans done before the weekend started. The weekend was supposed to be her 'self' time; no paper grading and no lesson plans. So she was going to spend the next few hours finishing them off before she started her weekend.

After the awkward physical contact between her and Professor Snape at dinner she had went to the library to clear her head and gather some required reading material to base her next weeks lessons around. She knew already she was going to be talking about muggle Literature, each day picking a new author to discuss in detail. Monday they would be discussing mostly the author Poe and his morbid writing style.

Though she had liked the author before, Hermione had found a new interest in his works since her conversation on the topic with Snape. So, after the weekend, she would be doing a 'dramatic' reading of The Raven, and telling the students a mini-biography of Poe. For homework they were to read another one of his stories (there were at least two more in their muggle studies book) and write a report on what they thought of the story.

She figured she would be doing close to the same thing for Faulkner, the Grimm Brothers, Kate Chopin, and Beatrix Potter. All of these authors she had loved as a small girl, sitting on her fathers lap, reading along out of the book as he gave the characters voices, telling the story in a way that nobody had ever been able to repeat.

Hermione sat down at her desk and began to work, picking out stories to read out loud in class and researching on the author's lives. She finished promptly, far quicker than she figured she would. It was then that she got up and readied herself for bed.

Meanwhile, down in the dungeons, Professor Severus Snape was busy drinking and reading, doing more of the later than the former. He had one glass of whisky, which laid half-full on the table next to him, forgotten about. In his hand was a copy of "Flesh-Eating Trees of the World" a book left in his classroom by a flustered sixth year girl who couldn't wait long enough to pick up everything before she fled his presence.

He was skimming the book, he had read it a few times before, but it was always good to refresh the memory. He felt his eyes get heavy and made his way toward the bed, it wasn't long after lying down that he fell asleep. But the last thought before bed was one of Miss Hermione Granger hugging him at dinner that night. All boundaries had been crossed with that little show of what might be called affection.

~~*~~

The next morning Hermione awoke to a knock on her door, she crawled out of bed and opened the door to find thin air. She looked as far down the hall in both directions as she could before, moving to close the door. She was furious, woken Saturday morning at least an half an hour before she planned on waking up, for no good reason at all! That's when she noticed the flower stuck to the door. It was a daisy, nothing too special, but beautiful just the same.

She pulled it off the brown wood, closed the door quietly, and quickly stuck the beautiful blossom in a vase, admiring it for a few more seconds before putting on her robes for the day.

She looked in her mirror before running a brush through her hair and casting a few spells to make it more manageable. When she was content with the mirror image of herself, and the mirror dubbed her to be 'better than ever' she turned away from the reflective surface humming to herself.

She left her room and headed down the stairs to the great hall. She was unusually happy this morning and greeted some of her better known students on her way up to the staff table. A few timid first years wished her a happy Saturday, she responded in the like, smiling down at them.

She took her usual seat next to the Potions Master and greeted him with a large grin, "Hello Professor, how was your night?"

Severus shrugged in a nonchalant way and answered with a simple word, "Fine. How was your night Miss Granger?" He watched as she blushed, and started putting food on her plate, not making any indication that she was going to answer.

It took Hermione three minutes before she answered, "It was brilliant, this morning someone left me a flower on my door, it's beautiful." She put a fork full of eggs in her mouth and turned to look at him, her cheeks still slightly red.

"A student has a crush on our dear Professor Granger?" Severus asked with a sneer, taunting her with his words and a half-smile spread across his face, "That's disgustingly sweet."

Her face went as red as Ron Weasley's hair and she looked back at her plate full of food, "It was a charming gesture made by a nameless someone, I appreciate it more than you'll ever know."

Snape took this time to smirk to himself, for he knew who had placed that flower there. It had been him, the curmudgeon over every student's day, the bat of the dungeons, the greasy git. He, Severus Snape, had left the white flower on Hermione Granger's door, and she liked it. Inside he was a very happy man.

AN: Hello again! I figured I'd get this chapter out while my muse is still alive, I'm guessing he'll be dead again soon, so now's the perfect time. If anyone notices the Wizard Rock connection in here I'll give you a cookie!