Author's Note: First let me thank everyone who had reviewed, alerted, or put this story on their favorites it means a lot to me and keeps me writing.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Do I really need to say that I don't own them? I'm just playing with someone else's toys and do return them in the same shape I have found them (well that may not always be the case).

The evening before her apprenticeship started he set down in the classroom with her saying,

"You are really not going to like the first several weeks of this."

"I figured that."

"Your first task after breakfast tomorrow is to remove, clean, record amounts, and reset all the ingredients in the class storeroom, without magic."

He watched her eyes widen at this and knew what was going through her mind, that he was going to use her to clean his class room. He stayed his ground though, it was really going to be a rough few weeks.

"Very well." She said, "Is that all Professor?"

"For now yes." He said.

~~^~~SSHG~~^~~

The first three weeks of her apprenticeship was about to make Hermione scream, it really wasn't worth all of this. She was so tired of cleaning the storerooms, having to ask permission to go to lunch and supper.

But then almost every night he would remind her that as soon as she was ready he would be under her control. The idea was tantalizing to her the more she thought about it, but would it still erase how much her arms and back hurt from cleaning the same rooms over and over again.

The last Monday in January Hermione was standing in the classroom having ate breakfast in their rooms, she was waiting. When Severus entered the room he said.

"Miss. Granger, you know what your job is."

"No, I am here to learn potions not clean your class room like some bloody house elf."

"And you do not think that the task you've been given has not taught you anything."

"No I do not, other than you and your students are a bunch of slobs who have no idea how to put things away."

Severus walked over to the cabinet taking out a cauldron then went to the storeroom taking out ingredients adding them so quickly that Hermione couldn't keep up with what he was brewing.

"Miss. Granger, come."

Hermione looked in the cauldron and knew it was close to blowing up as Severus said to her.

"You have about thirty seconds before this potion blows and removes all air out of this room for twenty seconds. Bring me the aspen needles."

Hermione didn't even think going to the storeroom grabbing the bottle that was needed bringing it to him, she watched as he added it and the potion went from an angry green color to a pale blue. She looked up at Severus as he spoke.

"How long did you have to search for this bottle?"

"I didn't have to search."

"Why was that?"

"I knew where it was." She said lowering her head, so she had been learning after all.

"Some potions have less time than that for you to react to, you have to know the location of every ingredient in that room."

"I understand sir." She said

He lifted her chin to look at him,

"I would never give you a task that does not have a reason behind it."

"I know, I should have known."

"As you were quick with that I think you might skip this room today." He winked at her before dropping his hand and walking away as the first of his fifth years walked in.

Hermione stared at him, she shook her head as she walked back toward his office and then into their rooms where his private potions lab was.

Severus watched as she left the room, he knew that if she had been some out of school apprentice he would have been scathing with his remarks about her being a student or better yet that she was bound to do what he told her to without question. She wasn't though, she was at least twelve years older than most apprentices would be. Then there was the small fact that they had been bonded so they knew each other on a different level.

Tonight when they met before supper he would tell her that starting tomorrow he wanted her to sit in on his first year classes, though he knew she wasn't going to like what he had planned for her. He would be surprised if she had brewed anything in the last five years, so he was going to give her a crash course in brewing. Though he didn't know why, this was the girl who brewed polyjuice in her second year though she did end up in the infirmary when it went wrong it was still an owl level potion and as far as he could tell the only mistake was the hair she added.

~~^~~SSHG~~^~~

Before supper she came back into the classroom for tomorrows work.

"Miss. Granger, tomorrow you will be sitting in the first year classes. I'll let you choose which one, the remainder of your time you can do your research on the potion you want to develop."

Hermione's eyes widened, was he really going to let her have that much research time?

"Do not get to excided, you will be brewing with them."

"First years?"

"Yes."

"But….."

"Miss. Granger, you have not been in a potions lab for I would say five years. No matter your skill with an OWL level potion in your second year, one that you did get wrong. I want to make sure you still have the skill before you advance on."

"I did not brew the polyjuice wrong."

"You were a cat." He said.

"But Harry and Ron were Crabbe and Goyle." She said as she turned walking into their rooms leaving a stunned Severus behind her.

By the end of the week Severus started to question letting her do research without limits, the only time she had been to supper all week was when he forced her to go last night after he noticed that she was not eating lunch. She was keeping later hours than he was, that was how he ended up tonight alone in bed yet again.

He heard the door open then her bag being dropped by it, he waited for her to enter the bedroom but she went to the shower first. He laid there playing with the chain around his neck until he heard the water shut off.

Once she was in bed with him he said,

"Hermione."

"Ummm."

"I would like for you to have join me for supper tomorrow night."

"I would love to but…."

He cut her off saying,

"You added a provision to our agreement concerning what you termed as date nights, I will expect you here after classes."

Hermione sighed, yes she had added the provision but then neither had followed through with it.

"I'll have to ask." She said smiling at him.

"I am sure it will be fine." He said to her before pulling her into his arms.

Author's Note: Comments really do make me smile and brighten my day.

Also I wanted to let you know that I have a couple of Severus/Hermione videos on youtube, the link is in my profile.