Hermione spends Saturday morning nursing a hangover and the rest of the weekend catching up on her schoolwork. Still, when Monday hits, she feels behind.
Monday night after dinner she spends grading papers and quizzes for Snape. If he is in his laboratory he doesn't make an appearance. She is relieved, but also- to her surprise- a little disappointed.
By ten fifteen she is settled into her desk frantically finishing her potions essay, and then correcting Ginny's. Ginny never asks. Hermione just can't help herself. She doesn't crawl in bed next to her friend until almost four o'clock in the morning.
Tuesday morning she has her toast and tea at the Gryffindor table like a zombie. She gets her portions paper turned in on time. Snape basically ignores her in class now. Hermione is too tired to put her hand up in class, anyway. Tuesday night she also spends grading papers for Snape. After she gets through the third year quizzes, she lands on the seventh year papers. Hers is on top, already graded, "You show a keen grasp of the subject matter at hand, and your new style of writing is pared down and precise. I should have made you mark papers years ago. Remind me to talk to you about your source materials- they are a bit lacking here."
Hermione isn't exactly comfortable grading the work of her peers, but Snape isn't there, so she dives in. In the end, she finds it no more difficult than the sixth year papers, though she takes extra effort in mimicking Snape's handwriting.
At ten o'clock, she still hasn't see her potions professor. She returns to her dormitory to study. Charms, this time. She has a test on Friday. She doesn't get to sleep until after three.
By Thursday, even Ginny isn't talking to her. Hermione has dark circles under her eyes and her temper flares up at the slightest provocation. She knows she can't keep this up, but she doesn't see any other way without letting her grades slip. And Hermione, quite literally, will die before she lets that happen.
After dinner, she puts her head down on the table for just a moment- to rest her eyes- and promptly falls asleep.
In her dream, she's back in front of the Ministry of magic having just accepted her Order of Merlin First Class. All she wants to do is dissaparate back to the burrow, but there is a reporter following her, tugging at the sleeve of her robes. "Miss Granger," the reporter says, "Wake up."
"Fuck off," Hermione replies, tugging her sleeve away from the reporter.
"Miss Granger!"
She lifts her head off the dining table in a daze, and looks up… right into the glittering black eyes of-- "Professor Snape!" she squeaks. "Oh my Gods, did I just tell you to-"
"Fuck off. Yes Miss Granger, you did." Snape's face is perfectly blank. He lowers himself down onto the bench next to her.
"I was dreaming, Professor, I so sorry-"
"Obviously, Miss Granger. I'll let it go this time. I'm more interested in why you failed to show up for detention this evening." His face is still oddly blank, but his black eyes don't leave hers for a moment. She finds it very unnerving.
"I fell asleep, Professor," Hermione says quietly. "I didn't mean to."
"And tell me, Miss Granger, why were you so tired that you fell asleep in the great hall directly after supper?"
"I've been staying up too late studying, Professor." Hermione says, looking down at her hands.
"Look at me," Snape says, as soon as she breaks eye contact with him. She looks back up into his face. She feels her eyes burning, but this time, dammit, she is determined NOT to cry.
"You don't have any free periods, do you Miss Granger?" She shakes her head. "And you've been spending your evenings grading my papers." This, he says more to himself than to her so he keeps quiet. Snape hunches over the table and puts his face in his hands. The sight makes him seem so human it makes Hermione's stomach clench. She almost wants to reach out and put her hand on his shoulder. Almost.
Then in one swift motion he is on his feet, looking down at her. "Go to bed, Miss Granger. No more studying tonight-"
She opens her mouth to resist.
"I mean it. I will ask you tomorrow if you went straight to bed and if you are lying I will know. Go."
She claws her way to her feet. She looks up at Snape. "Ten more detentions?" she asks him. "You're like a moneylender from a Shakespearean tragedy. Sir."
Snape smiles at this, actually smiles for a moment. Hermione has never seen him smile before and the expression is so shocking to her that her mouth falls open in a comical little "O."
That turns the smile back into a sarcastic smirk. "What, you think only muggle born know it alls read Shakespeare? No extra detentions, Miss Granger. Now go to bed."