Pathetic! Absolutely ridiculous! Severus kicked one of the chairs at his small kitchen table before leaning heavily against the smooth surface. Maybe I should have looked… But thoughts like that just wouldn't do. Spinning around, he twisted his hands in his hair in frustration and headed over to the sideboard. How did he ever become so unhinged? Was he going mad? Was this War finally driving what was left of his sanity away? So what if the boy was having dreams about her, too? The word for that was co-in-ci-dence!

Severus threw open the cabinet and stared blankly at the nearly vacant shelves. In his most recent Hermione dream, she had taken him to her bedroom at 12 Grimmauld. The real hallway looked exactly as it had in the dream, but he had never entered her actual bedroom. Doing so would have proven once and for all whether or not the real girl had somehow gotten into his mind. So, why exactly hadn't he gone and checked? Insane or not, he could have put the whole matter behind him. It was illogical not to disprove his mad fantasies immediately. Maybe I don't want to disprove them. Yanking a box of Muggle cereal out of the cupboard, Severus stomped over to the fridge. This child's breakfast of a supper was shamefully sad for a Potions Master of his skill level, but he just didn't have the time or energy to care for himself properly nowadays. Anyway, this had been a favorite brand of his when he was a child, back when life was simple.

The wooden chair was as hard and unforgiving as his childhood. He stooped over the bowl of soggy processed oats and let his thoughts ring out in the silence. He would just forget about her. It had gone too far and that couldn't be helped, but it would just have to stop. Anyway, the term would be beginning shortly, and he would return to the familiar role as the girl's Potions Master. He would just have to pretend that none of this ever happened.

The soggy oats did not assuage his hunger. Perhaps that was because this hungry feeling did not originate in his stomach. An ache was growing inside of him; an emptiness at the thought of letting this summer be a memory. He didn't want to forget. But he couldn't go on believing that there was anything more to it than that. If only there were some way he could let it be fantasy and nothing more. It needn't involve the girl at all. The real girl, anyway. She was a completely separate entity.

But was she? Hermione Granger may not have truly pressed her body close against his and come apart at his passionate touch, but she was still the one who inspired such thoughts in him. It was her body, her mind, her spirit and unabashed enthusiasm that had first drawn him to her; that drew him to her still. No matter how much he tried to tell himself that these fantasies were not of her, he did not believe it. And that brought home an awful truth.

He fancied her.

Oh gods, good Merlin, he fancied her. Severus squeezed his eyes shut against the shame. How could he have fallen into such a fool's trap once again? He had hardened his heart long ago against such nonsense. And here she was unwittingly melting him down. What was it about her that made him wish that he could see her even now? What made him think that she could somehow fill the growing void within him?

It was absolutely, undeniably, irrefutably ridiculous.

…*~*J*~*…

Oh Merlin, you've done it now, Hermione. Harry had just about thrown all of the clues right under the Slytherin spy's overlarge nose. There was no way he didn't suspect her now. Cutting it close, Hermione. She should have drawn the line by now.

The young Gryffindor groaned, pressing a hand against her eyes. She was sprawled out in the library of Twelve Grimmauld, one leg dangling off of the couch. He had dreamt of her here. Sometimes, she liked to come here just to close her eyes and imagine that he was beside her. Ridiculous! If the man knew what she thought about him… if he had any idea what she had done… was it possible to die of humiliation?

It had all happened so gradually! Where had she gone wrong? There must have been a moment when she should have stopped herself, and she just hadn't. She had kept on with her foolish plan until all there was left to do was avoid the man and pretend it never happened. She didn't dare dream with him again, for he would surely know. This was a girl who knew when not to press her luck, and that was now.

For the remainder of the summer, Hermione refrained from dreaming with her professor. It was nearly impossible and her resolve almost broke when he didn't attend the last Order meeting. She was crushed and beside herself with frustration, desperate for just one glimpse of the man to keep her from slipping into his dreams. But he did not appear.

The school year began and everything returned to a semblance of normalcy. Hermione was the top of the class, Harry planned with Dumbledore and played Quidditch with Ron, and Professor Snape deducted points from Gryffindor. If every now and then he looked with her strangely… if his eyes seemed to rest too long on her face… it was surely a product of her own clawing desperation to see the Severus she knew. She worked hard. She helped Harry. They prepared. And all the while a clock seemed to be ticking. A choice had to be made; a choice she was putting off for later. If he was ever going to know the truth, she would have to tell him soon. The War was coming, after all, and one or both of them might die.

…*~*J*~*…

I know it's a short chapter! Bear with me! There will be more soon, I promise. Think of this chapter as more of a bridge, if you must. But I do want to take a moment to thank everyone who reviewed my last chapter. Of course, I am certainly grateful to everyone who reviewed the previous chapters, but I want to start mentioning you guys here because your comments and questions really mean a lot to me. So thank you so much angel897, Auroras Jenkins, severus-rickman-lover, Michelle, silverbonnet, shocabo, jensteed, granger-slytherinboys, ShinigamiRae, tango, Jennydownes3, CharmedArtist, AMW1014, cloudshape to ennien, vaila, DutchGirl01, Remarkable1, Amarenima Redwood, Her Royal Goddess, Lunajen323, ashleyworman, , .happiness, marzipan4, irononmaiden, RhodaBush, bournespeed, Fantomette34, Blue night fairy, HatakeHinata, doctorhodes, enfys1979, michele magnolia, Dahlia Rose-Marie, chibichanga, and several Guests!I love you guys!

:} llorolalluvia