Yeah, I know. Long time no see. Here is the latest chapter for you at last. Sorry about taking so long, after coming back from Spain, I'm now preparing to move to Russia for the year. So, I will write when I can. Let me know what you think so far! :)

A sharp rap sounded on Hermione's door and the grip on her wand tightened. She had just about calmed down from the incident by the lake the day before although her nerves were shot from it all.

The sharp knocks began anew as she braced herself for whoever was on the other side of the portrait. She had a horrible feeling she knew who it was and so it was with great trepidation that she opened the portrait door.

A tall black mass sailed past her, and turned to face the witch whose white knuckled grip still encased her wand.

Snape glared down at her and simply raised an eyebrow, perfectly displaying his annoyance.

"I know! I know! It was an accident! I should have listened to you! I should have been more careful" Hermione blurted out.

Snape just about managed to hide his surprise at her outburst and decided to just run with it and let Hermione continue.

"I'll take whatever punishment, just let me keep this job, I have nowhere else to go. I'm so sorry" The she promptly burst into tears.

Snape froze. This was somewhat outside of his area of expertise. He decided to utilise a tactic that seemed to work on homesick first years, if that failed, he would have to fetch a more sympathetic member of staff.

"Professor Granger!"

Hermione's eyes shot to his, and her sobs came to halt.

"I take it from that outburst that no reprimanding from me is required. Now, as a member of staff, you are expected to behave with a certain level of maturity. In future, I would advise that you heed any warnings I give, am I…clear?"

Hermione nodded, bowing her head for a moment. Suddenly she looked up and cocked her head to the side.

"Did you just use a first year tactic on me?"

Snape struggled to contain the smirk on his face.

"I've seen you using the same method with a first year once in a corridor. I'm almost insulted."

"Almost…insulted?" Snape's smirk by this point was very evident on his face.

"Almost."

Hermione grinned up at him in amusement and relief at still being gainfully employed. Snape caught himself from grinning back and took a step away from her as he had moved closer to her than he'd liked.

"I have also taken the liberty of extending the wards in that particular corner to the perimeter of the woods. We wouldn't want any more mishaps would we?"

Hermione's smile shrank,

"No, no more mishaps."

Snape then moved towards her again and gently clasped his hand around hers and murmured,

"You might also want to loosen your grip on your wand sometime soon. You might break it."

Hermione's grip loosened and Snape took advantage and prised her wand from her and placed it on a nearby table.

"Have a good evening, Professor. "

And Hermione was once again left alone but she didn't feel nearly as anxious. She had expected a bollocking from him and instead was treated with as much sympathy and kindness Severus Snape could muster. This left her in somewhat of a quandary, as the grumpy, snarling Snape that she had grown accustomed to at school she could deal with. This considerate and charming Snape came somewhat out of the blue and had left her feeling somewhat flustered.

When she spoke with him at the Victory Ball, she just thought he was being pleasant because they were in public. Clearly, there is much more than meets the eye with him and this gave her a new mystery to delve into, as there was no way he was interested in her. She was the "Insufferable Know-It-All" and hadn't ceased to be so if the huffs of frustration and annoyance she had received when she was working at the Ministry. He must have some kind of ulterior motive.

Could it have something to do with the men who attacked her?

He was clearly involved somehow and appeared to be trying to protect her. But that does not mean that her cares, does it?

Hermione threw herself down onto the sofa, the more she thought about him, the more confused and flustered she got. She needed more evidence of his behaviour to understand it better but with the new term approaching she wasn't sure how much time she had. They were going to be busy with preparations, her particularly as she had lesson plans to create from scratch and a classroom to set up. It's going to be a busy year.