It was a bitingly cold day in mid-January when Hermione Granger quite literally bumped into Severus Snape. She was late coming back from lunch and scurrying along the pavement with her head down, had no notion of the sallow-faced, black-haired Potions Master she was about to walk into until it was too late. It felt like running headfirst into a boulder and she stumbled backward with an oomph! of surprise, nearly falling down on her arse.
Wiry, strong arms wrapped around her, however, steadying her on her feet, and it was with a jolt of unwelcome awareness and uncomfortable surprise that Hermione realised she was now firmly ensconced in Severus Snape's arms.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, her face pinkening as well as it could under the flush of cold. "I'm-I'm sorry, sir, I wasn't looking where I was going, I..."
"I noticed," Severus said dryly, but his voice lacked the accustomed bite, and Hermione blinked up at him in confusion as he carefully released her, straightened her overly fluffy blue scarf, and stepped back. "You may wish to be more careful in future," he clarified, and strode off, in the opposite direction of the Ministry. Hermione stared after him, mouth agape in surprise, feeling her whole body tingle with the closeness it had achieved.
Said body had required a firm talking-to more than once over the rest of the day and in fact, the rest of the week. Hermione had finally managed to convince herself that seeing Severus-Snape, call him Snape, her mind insisted-coming out of the Ministry had been a complete one-off when she nearly ran into him again, the following Tuesday.
This time, she was paying far more attention and stopped herself before she could bumble along into his close-swathed frame, but it was still a near thing. As it was, she could catch a whiff of his cologne and the miasma of Potions ingredients that always gathered close around him. Not to mention the hint of a smile quirking the corner of his mouth up when he caught sight of her, though he did nothing but tip his head respectfully and pass his way by. Hermione had only opened her mouth like a landed fish, and finally burst round and gurgled something at him that she was sure made her sound like the biggest nit alive.
She didn't see him for another two weeks and was starting to wonder if perhaps she'd simply been seeing things that Tuesday when she caught him coming out of her Chair's office. He was smiling and nodding and looked like an utterly different person. Hermione stood there, frozen still, as her boss, Karen Abernarle, made polite and amiable small talk with the Greasy Git of the Dungeons himself, and the world didn't cave in on itself.
"Ah, Hermione!" Karen exclaimed, finally noticing her. She was a small, round woman with a very frizzy purple bun and spectacles that always reminded Hermione of Professor McGonagall. "I was just talking about you! I think you and Master Snape here are going to become very good friends!"
"...Oh?" Hermione managed to say. Her throat felt like she'd swallowed a cotton ball, and her mind had gone frighteningly blank. Her eyes darted toward Severus, but he looked as blank and noncommital as before.
"Oh, yes," Karen chattered on. "I was going to wait until it was all finalised to tell you, but I don't think there's any harm in telling you early!"
"No, of course not," Hermione muttered, in a daze.
"Your proposal-mixing Charms with Potions? The Minister would love to see it come to fruition!" Karen confided. Hermione let out a startled, delighted gasp. The project was her baby, and she'd been convinced everyone else saw it as nothing more than a silly pipe dream. The fact that even the bloody Minister was interested was a soothing balm to her aching pride-and everything else, for that matter.
"That's wonderful news!" Hermione gushed. "But what does Prof-Mister Snape have to do with it all?"
"Well," Karen confided, touching Hermione's hand. "They'd like you to start the preliminary research but you need someone accomplished in Potions. Severus here has volunteered for the job!"
For the second time in as many minutes, Hermione felt like the rug had just been yanked out from under her. She turned to gaze at Severus with wide, dumbfounded eyes, but again, his expression betrayed nothing. He could have been watching an account of the weather for all the news his face managed to give her.
"He volunteered?" she squeaked out, but Karen was already burbling on, prattling about times and dates and conferences and so many things that Hermione felt her head spin. When she looked again, Severus had gone and Karen was pulling her into her office for another of her cosy chats, and finally, Hermione had to give up.
For the moment, anyway. It seemed like she would be spending the next year or so, at least, in very close quarters with one Professor Severus Snape.