Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Hermione was lecturing in her classroom when Severus appeared in her doorway. He seemed annoyed about something.

"A word, Professor Granger," he demanded.

Hermione looked to the class. "Finish the problems on the page we have been discussing. I will be back in a minute."

She walked to the door and out into the hallway. Severus was glaring at her.

"Why did you tell Shawn Duncan that it was all right for him to rifle through my stores?" Severus said irately. "You know how particular I am about my potions ingredients."

"Severus, I didn't . . ."

"I can't believe you would be so callous as to tell him to do that!" Severus concluded.

Hermione looked at him crossly.

"Severus, I would never tell a student to do such a thing!"

"Mr. Duncan said you gave him permission to take frogs and moonshade dust for a private project."

"And you took him at his word?"

Severus stared at Hermione before nodding. Hermione felt anger boiling within her. It was typical of him to jump down her throat for no reason whatsoever.

Hermione lowered her voice and said in a menacing tone, "For your information, Severus, I told him to ask you for help with a project, I did not give him permission to steal from you. What do you take me for, an idiot? Now if you'll excuse me, I am in the middle of a class."

She wheeled around and stalked back into the classroom, leaving Severus looking upset.

oooOOOooo

Severus stood outside the classroom and mulled over her words. He had overreacted. Of course she would never tell a student such a thing. She understood what his stores meant to him. Why had he been such a fool? He turned and started walking away from her classroom.

He had been irate all day. Two classes had exploded cauldrons, and he had been in the infirmary with students for most of the morning. When he had returned to his classroom he had been furious to see Duncan rifling through his bottles. He had yelled at the boy, and Duncan had seemed as if he would cower so low, he would disappear into the floor. Then Duncan had given the ridiculous accusation about Hermione. Having been so irate and tired from the morning, Severus hadn't given the excuse a second thought and had wheeled around in his fury and headed for Hermione's classroom to give her a piece of his mind. His actions had been foolish.

He needed to apologize. Hopefully, Hermione would calm down and be able to listen to him.

oooOOOooo

Hermione stormed to her desk and looked about the class nastily. She saw several pairs of eyes avert themselves from her and look back down to their work. They had better ignore me, or there will be points taken, and taken quickly.

The nerve of Severus, yelling like that! How dare he accuse me without even knowing all of the facts? And Shawn Duncan! He had outright lied to Severus! I was only trying to help the boy, and he behaves like that? It will be a long time before I ever try to help that young man again.

Hermione fumed for the rest of class and for the following class. Soon dinner came, and she was seated in the Great Hall, picking at her food. Severus had not come in yet, and she was thankful for that. She had no desire to see him right now. She popped a piece of chicken in her mouth and looked over at the Gryffindor table while she chewed it. There was Shawn Duncan laughing with his friends. She looked at him crossly.

At that moment, Severus sat down beside her. She glanced over at him and frowned. She could tell he was about to say something, but she was in no mood to hear it. Pushing her chair back, she haughtily got up and left the table, leaving Severus to stare after her sadly. Hermione wound her way around the table and went over to Shawn, who was still laughing loudly.

"Mr. Duncan, 50 points from Gryffindor and detention in my classroom immediately following dinner, is that understood?" she said sharply.

The grin fell from Duncan's face as he looked up at her. "Yes, Professor," he said sheepishly.

Hermione glared at him and stormed out of the Hall, returning to her classroom to await Shawn Duncan and his detention.

She didn't need to wait long. Within half an hour there was a knock at her open door. She looked up to see Duncan standing there sheepishly.

"Come in, Mr. Duncan."

Shawn came in with his head down.

"Do you mind explaining to me what it was you thought you were doing today in Professor Snape's classroom?" Hermione asked haughtily.

"I... I... I'm sorry, Professor Granger. I didn't mean any harm. I thought I could sneak some ingredients for something my friends and I want to brew. I didn't expect to get caught. When Professor Snape came in, he was so irate I said the first thing that came into my head."

"So, you're saying that the first thing that came into your mind was a lie?" Hermione asked.

Shawn looked down and nodded.

"Mr. Duncan, do you know the meaning of the word integrity?"

Shawn nodded his head again.

"Good, I want a two foot parchment on the meaning of integrity and how it affects you personally and those around you. You may begin now. You are excused when you have finished."

Shawn turned and settled into a desk. Hermione watched him gather parchment and a quill before she pulled out some essays that needed marking and began to work on those. She had a hard time concentrating. Her mind kept going back to the argument Severus and she'd had earlier that day. It was so typical of him to just assume the worst of her and bite her head off for it.

A small voice inside her head said, No, it isn't. He's not like that anymore. That was a different Severus.

Hermione paused. It really wasn't typical of him, was it? She had confused him with his counterpart and had acted accordingly, assuming the worst of him and shielding herself from more insults by avoiding him. She was disturbed by her reaction. Would she do this every time they had a fight? That wouldn't be very healthy for their relationship. She looked down at the paper she was grading, but was troubled by her realization.

She sat deep in thought until Shawn came up to her desk with his essay. She took it and glanced at it. Placing it on her desk, she looked up at her student.

"Mr. Duncan, I trusted you and gave you a suggestion that I thought might help you. You in turn, abused my trust, tried to steal supplies, and then, when confronted, lied about it. You caused Professor Snape and me to have a disagreement because of your lies which he and I have yet to resolve. I promise you, I will think twice the next time I have the urge to help you in any matter. You're dismissed."

Shawn hung his head in shame. "I apologize, Professor Granger. It will never happen again."

"I hope not, Mr. Duncan, I would like to regain my trust in you."

She went back to her marking, signaling the termination of the conversation. Duncan slunk out of the room like a sad puppy. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Hermione didn't even look up.

"Did you forget something, Mr. Duncan?" she called with her nose buried in an essay.

After a minute of silence she looked up to see Severus standing in front of her desk holding a bouquet of dark purple tulips. The flowers were so dark they looked black. She looked from the flowers to Severus' face. He looked somewhat scared. It almost made Hermione laugh, but then she remembered she was supposed to be angry with him.

"Hermione, I brought a peace offering," he said as he extended his arm and offered her the flowers.

She reached out and took the flowers, admiring their beauty. "How did you know these were my favorite?" she asked as she made a vase appear and arranged them into it.

"Your counterpart loved them so I figured they would be a good choice."

At the mention of the word counterpart, Hermione frowned. She turned her attention fully to the flowers, primping them up. Severus cleared his throat, causing her to glance his way.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I had a really rough morning. I know that doesn't excuse anything, but I was at my wits end already when I caught Duncan in my stores. I didn't even think twice when he fed me that story. I just reacted."

Hermione looked back at the flowers. They were really beautiful. She mulled over her feelings. She was feeling guilty. He had been the one who had been in the wrong, why did she feel badly? She knew exactly why, but she was unwilling to discuss it right now. She turned and looked back at Severus.

"It's okay. We all reach our limit now and then," she said blandly.

"Hermione, please, I'm sorry," he continued.

"Take a walk with me," she ordered and turned before he could answer.

oooOOOooo

She walked out the door and down the hall. Severus hurried to catch up with her. He watched her covertly as they walked. She seemed deep in thought, and he was reticent to interrupt her musings. He tentatively continued to walk beside her, not uttering a word.

Before he knew it, they had left the castle and were walking toward the lake. Neither of them said anything. After a few more minutes of silent walking they reached the shoreline of the lake. Hermione sat on the grass. Severus mulled over whether she wanted him to sit, but finally decided to settle himself down next to her. She stared out at the water and said nothing. Severus waited nervously, wondering when the tongue-lashing would begin, but she didn't yell, she didn't tell him he was a jerk, she didn't break up with him. She did nothing.

"Hermione?" he called to her softly after waiting for what seemed like a century.

Hermione continued to stare straight ahead. "You know, in my past you used to always speak to me like that."

Severus hung his head in shame.

"When you did it today, I found myself retreating into the defensive mode that I used to use with you. It was as if I was back in my own time, trying to shield myself from your wrath. I just reacted and then I avoided you, just like I used to do."

"I remember the memory of me blowing up at you for nothing. I did that all the time?" Severus asked in shock.

"Yes. The memory I showed you was only one of the times you screamed at me for doing something with which I had no part. You often were quick to jump to conclusions and blame me for things that weren't my fault. Many times I had to be on the defensive around you," Hermione admitted.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I wish you never knew that other Severus Snape. He was nothing but a selfish, angry man."

"But you're not like that, Severus," she said as she looked down.

He snorted, "Not usually. I'm rather ashamed of my actions today."

"And I am ashamed of mine," Hermione said.

"You have every right to be upset with me."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't mean that. I'm upset that I fell back into old habits so easily. I even felt myself thinking of you in the negative light that I used to do with your counterpart when he was terse with me. I'm sorry I confused you with him. I will try to not let that happen again."

"Hermione, please stop chiding yourself. It must be difficult to reconcile the differences between myself and my counterpart. I didn't help by blowing up at you. Will you forgive me?"

Hermione finally looked at Severus. "Of course I forgive you. It was a simple disagreement. Everyone loses it now and then."

Severus studied Hermione. He wondered if they could really work this out. She would always see him as that nasty git that he had been. She would eventually get fed up and leave him.

"Perhaps we shouldn't continue this relationship," he said quietly.

Hermione looked at him in shock. "What?" she exclaimed.

"I can't erase what I did to you before, Hermione. It will just bring you pain thinking of it. I'm not sure it's possible for you to forget how I used to be."

Hermione grabbed Severus' robes and pulled him toward her. "Severus, you're right, it's not possible for me to forget how you used to be, and I'm glad about that. I cherish the changes you've made. You did that for me. Every time I think of those differences, I feel the love that you have for me. Please don't push our relationship away because I messed up and got lost in the past."

"But I hurt you back then," Severus said sadly.

Hermione surrounded his face with her hands and drew it toward her. "And I know you would never do that to me again, Severus. Please, don't throw us away."

"I don't want to hurt you, Hermione."

She smiled beautifully at him. "I know that. I love you for who you are now, not who you were in another life. I'm not worried that you'll turn into that other Severus Snape. I know that you won't."

The fear left Severus as she spoke to him. He would not lose her because of his stupidity or because of his counterpart's actions. He would cherish her forever. He pulled her close and kissed her.

"I would be a fool to let you go," he told her finally.

"That's for sure," she joked, giggling at him before she was lost in his kisses again.

A/N: Next up: The Willow tree.

Only two chapters and an epilogue of fluffer-nutter left!