Chapter 5

All canon characters are the property of JKR.

Thank you to June who is the best beta ever.

Chapter 5

The next morning, Hermione arrived at Severus' office door a few minutes before eight. She had been so nervous, that she barely ate anything for breakfast. Not only was she going to work with a man she had secretly desired since her seventh year, but said man also happened to be the most dreaded and feared professor in all of Hogwarts' history. He was a hard taskmaster and not the most tolerant person when it came to making mistakes. Perfect ... that was what she needed to be. Unfortunately, she was far from that. Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her generation, made mistakes just like everyone else did; and like everyone else she wasn't keen on getting her head chopped off for making them. She stood and looked at her watch, then at exactly eight o'clock she knocked and waited to enter the proverbial snake pit.

"Enter," said a stern voice from the other side.

She walked in and closed the door behind her. While she had served detention only twice for him during her entire time as a student, she had never been inside his office or private lab.

"Good morning, sir," she said, hoping to start their conversation on a friendly note. "I didn't see you at breakfast this morning." She tried to keep from looking at the little bit of skin peeking through the opening of his shirt. He had forgone his formal teaching attire in favor of a white shirt. Since he was sitting, she assumed he was wearing black trousers.

"During the summer, I rarely eat breakfast in the Great Hall. I spend my time working out the schedule for the upcoming school year, as well as doing some private research. I also make surplus supplies of potions for Madam Pomfrey to keep in the hospital wing. Now, if that satisfies your curiosity as to how I spend my private time," he said, emphasizing the word private, "may we get on to the work at hand?" He stood and motioned for her to follow him.

'Yes, he's wearing black trousers, and they fit quite nicely,' she thought. They walked down a dark corridor and emerged in a room half the size of her former Potions classroom. It looked like his private lab, a place where he conducted research for who knows what. She looked around and wondered if his private stores were close by.

"Now, as you may have guessed, this is my private lab. You are welcome to use it, provided you inform me of your intention to do so beforehand, and I expect you to keep it clean." He walked to the other side of the room and pointed to a door. "This door leads to my private stores." He turned to her and raised his eyebrow. "Although I am quite certain you remember them being in a different location." He walked towards her slowly. "I have since moved them, and these stores you have permission to use." She felt the blood drain from her face at that moment, and a cold shiver ran down her spine.

"H... how did you know?" She swallowed hard and looked at him wide-eyed, only to be given that famous smirk in return.

"I did not know," he said as he took another step and leaned towards her. "You have just confirmed it," he purred. "Pity I can no longer take points from you." Then he did the unthinkable: he smiled, then walked past her and headed back to his office.

As she followed him, she cursed herself for letting him trick her so easily. Of course, he had spent many years spying, so it should not have come as such a surprise. Not to mention he could have just used Legilimency on her anyway, as well as...wait a minute. She stopped for a brief moment, then wondered if she had seen correctly. 'Was that a smile?' He had actually smiled at her; he was actually being....playful! She shook her head and resumed walking before he noticed her lagging behind.

She arrived after he had just sat down behind his office desk. He pointed to the chair across from him, silently telling her that was to be her place for the next several hours. And so there they sat, planning the first years' class schedule for the school year. At one o'clock they stopped, and Severus decided to call it a day as far as the Potions scheduling went. He still had to begin his own schedule for the curriculum for all seven years DADA classes, as well as the fourth through seventh years Potions classes. Wanting to get something started on that, he told Hermione she could have the rest of the day off.

She quickly agreed, not wanting to spend much more time alone with him. She knew her hands had trembled several times while taking papers from him, but she hoped he hadn't noticed her nervousness or the blush she felt burning all over her face when she accidentally touched his fingers while passing him back his notes. She rushed out of his office, just barely hearing him remind her to be back at the same time the next day. They had gone through quite a bit today. At this rate she would have her lessons planned before the end of the week, and have what was left of the summer to explore the castle, as she had wanted to do during her seventh year.

Hermione's speedy exit did not go unnoticed. Severus sat back for a moment, intently looking at the spot she had just vacated. She had been nervous while she had been with him. He wondered if she was still scared of him after all these years, then he shook his head while remembering that she was never quite as frightened of him as the others were. He also wondered if he had imagined her blush when they accidentally touched. No, he figured she probably had just gotten embarrassed and thought he would yell at her for touching him. It was true that he wasn't a touchy-feely person, but he enjoyed being touched. Of course it depended who was touching him and where, though. "Down boy," he said to himself. He put away the work they had just finished and set it aside for them to continue in the morning, then rose and walked to the living room. He called for a house elf to bring him a few sandwiches and some pumpkin juice, then sat back to wait for his lunch to arrive.

While he waited he let his mind briefly wander back to Hermione. He fought Albus about an assistant at first, but in the end he knew it had to be done. He needed to train someone to take over the Potions position, and a teaching assistant was the smartest way to go. He expected that Albus would choose someone who had just graduated with a potions degree, preferably someone with the highest possible marks, then hire them on as Severus' assistant. This person would take over his first, second, and third year classes. This way the assistant would only have to teach the basic potions to the little dimwitted monsters, and work his or her way up to teaching the more complex ones to the older children after gaining some experience.

As with every great plan, it all looked good on paper. Then without him even seeing it coming, Albus had thrown ... what was it Muggles called it, ah, yes ... Albus had thrown a monkey wrench into his plans. The Headmaster hired someone without consulting Severus. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Albus went ahead and hired Hermione Know-It-All Granger to return as said assistant.

Severus sighed deeply, trying to calm himself. Admittedly so, he had often wondered what had become of her. He knew she went on to study charms and potions at the University in Dover. And unbeknownst to anyone, Severus periodically checked on her. Upon her graduation from Hogwarts she had asked him to write a letter of recommendation for her, but he flatly refused ... not because he did not want to help her, but because he simply knew she would not need it.

However, after refusing to write the letter, he felt a pang of guilt and did something he never thought he would do. He "casually" bumped into an old acquaintance of his who happened to be the head of the Potions department at the university. Severus made sure to mention her name in passing, indicating that he had never taught anyone as brilliant as she. As it happened, that very morning Hermione's letter had arrived at the university asking to be admitted into the Potions program, and of course she was accepted that very same day. It was that passing comment that had gotten Hermione accepted into the potions program. Professor Montclaire had received hundreds of requests, but ... knowing that Severus did not give compliments about freely ... he knew this girl must be talented.

Severus told himself that he had done for her only what he would do for any intelligent, gifted, doe-eyed, soft-skinned....for any bright student. He knocked himself on the head. 'No, no, no,' he thought. He could not let himself be sucked into having feelings for her. He would treat her as he did most of his colleagues, keeping her at arm's length ... if for no other reason than to spare himself the pain of wanting what he could not have. He sighed heavily once more. She was pretty, though.

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Severus is having some problems isn't he? I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll have more up soon.