Professor Granger

A big thank you to Madbrilliant as usual, for being an excellent beta, and thanks to WriterMerrin, who picked up on all the mistakes we overlooked in chapter one!

.......................................

Chapter 2 - Professor Granger

She was the Potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Unlike other Potions mistresses, Hermione had been given the choice to take up the title of master, and she had taken that title to secure her position as an equal with male Potions masters. At first it had been about equality and rights, but then it had been about making a difference and being recognized for it properly. A Potions mistress was rarely given credit when it was due. She adored her job teaching. Most people had figured that after she graduated from Hogwarts she would go on to become an Auror or some other form of Ministry of Magic worker, but she hadn't.

The Wizarding world had expected her to follow Harry or Ron wherever they went, that she would marry Ron and make many Weasley children. How wrong they had been. Her last wish in life would have been to marry him. He was like a brother to her, and so was Harry – besides having tried at a relationship and failing at it miserably. They were too ill-suited to be lovers. Ron had married a witch he had met in America named Julia Clark, whom he had encountered when the English National Quidditch team had gone on tour there. She was originally from Wales, and they had "fallen in love" instantly.

Besides – she was an adoring wife who gave him all the attention he had ever wanted in the short time they had been married. Harry had married Ginny just as everyone had expected, and he had joined the Auror's office after two years of training. Ginny had given birth to their first child, a daughter named Lily, just three months earlier. Hermione was twenty-five years old, single, and content to remain so until she met the right man. Nobody had successfully stirred her interest, but then again, she had been searching in all of the wrong places by even contemplating someone of a similar age.

She needed an older man – an intelligent and mature man.

Outside of her thoughts, the Thursday morning staff meeting was beginning, which caused her to snap out of her reverie. Everyone was gathered in the main staffroom, and Severus had just arrived. Honestly, Hermione could say that now that they were colleagues, Severus was nicer. She hadn't actually known him all that well to begin with, but after five years of teaching with him, she discovered that he was not the horrible man that he projected to his students.

Oh sure, he was still sarcastic, snarky, and downright mean at times, but he had another side that he rarely showed to anyone – even his own colleagues. She had only seen it a few times, and they had been mere coincidences. Sighing, she thought back to the meeting and realized that everyone was looking at her expectantly. She opened her mouth and closed it wordlessly – she had missed something.

'Ummm... I didn't quite catch that – what was the question again?' she asked.

"Well, Hermione – Severus was just asking if you had any ideas for the Yule Ball," Filius replied with a warm smile.

Hermione smiled back in thanks and cleared her throat softly. "Actually, I did have a few ideas – nothing too garish, just simple and elegant," she said opening the folder in front of her and passing around a spreadsheet. "I won't be able to orchestrate the entire thing by myself, but this is a general overview."

Severus smirked when he got a page of the plan and looked over at her with a strange glint in his eyes. "My, my, aren't we ambitious," he said smoothly. "I don't suppose anyone would like to volunteer to assist Hermione with this incredible feat?"

"Oh, I will!" Filius piped.

The rest of the staff was quite quick to agree after that, and so it was that Hermione was the Yule Ball coordinator and everyone would be putting in an effort to decorate the Hall when the time came. Severus even acquiesced to enchant the ceiling differently to suit the theme that year. Hermione was thrilled when he had agreed and gave him a warm smile, which he returned with a small one of his own momentarily before he switched back into his usual mode.

"Now, back to business," he announced, clearing his throat a little uncomfortably at his slip of character. "There are four students remaining at Hogwarts this Christmas, and it seemed last week that only Hermione would be leaving the castle for a few days. Now, it seems, I may not be here either."

"Whatever do you mean, Severus?" asked Sinistra.

"As it is, I do not generally leave the castle on the holiday, but this year I – for personal reasons, I have accepted an invitation to the Weasleys' for a few days also, and shall be returning to the castle before New Years'," he explained. "I hope this does not inconvenience anyone..."

"Good for you, Severus," Pomona Sprout interrupted. "It's about time you got out of the castle, I say."

There was a murmur of agreement through the staff. Hermione was the only who hadn't said anything. She was in shock. Severus was leaving the castle and joining the Weasleys'? She would be there also, and while it was no problem for her, she had not expected it. The staff meeting was concluded some time in between his announcement and her coming out of her thoughts again. She realized that she was the only staff member left in the staff room besides Severus.

"Are you – unhappy with my decision?" Severus asked stiffly.

"Not at all – just surprised," she replied, standing and seeking out the Floo powder to return to her office. "I never thought it possible that you would ever spend a Christmas with us there – you've always declined."

"I've decided a change was in order," he said bluntly.

"We have changed the location to Harry and Ginny's house," she said.

"Grimmauld Place?"

She nodded in affirmation and he frowned. "I have not been there in years," he said under his breath. "Not since the war."

Hermione nodded understandingly, seeing his eyes become misty and confused. He honestly didn't know how he felt about returning there in any capacity. She supposed he would rather it be under these circumstances than the ones many years ago during the war and his days as a spy. She forgot about the Floo powder and went to him, touching his forearm gently to get his attention.

"We could leave Hogwarts together, you know," she offered.

He nodded, and she backed away, giving him some space to think. Returning to the fireplace, she took some Floo powder and, in a swirl of green flames, spun away and reappeared in her office. They had once been Snape's old chambers and office in the Dungeons, but since arriving at Hogwarts, they had been hers. She levitated more logs onto the fire, and it emitted more light and warmth, which she appreciated on this particularly cold winter.

She ended up marking third-year essays for the remainder of the time between the staff meeting and morning classes. Five minutes before her first class was due, she began setting up the classroom for their practical lesson that day. She set up the ingredients bench and ensured that all of the cauldrons were clear and free from things that might contaminate the potion. The class arrived not long after, and she ushered them inside before flicking her wand at the board where the directions appeared.

"There are notes on the board for you to copy. Once you have finished that, go and collect a cauldron in your pairs and gather the ingredients for the Headache Potions on page 468 of your textbooks," she instructed firmly.

The students hurried to comply, armed with the knowledge that if they did as they were told, Professor Granger was quite a nice teacher; but if they got in her way, she could be as horrid as Professor Snape was rumored to have been when he was teaching Potions to some of the older students. Hermione sat down at the desk at the front of the classroom and began doing some planning for the Yule Ball as her class worked silently. It wasn't until she heard the scraping of their chairs against the stone of the floors that she looked up to see how they were going.

Her first-year Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff class was her favourite class of them all – especially first in the morning. They did all of their work, followed instructions without hesitance, and worked hard for and deserved the House Points she gave them. During the rest of class, she wandered around, examining their potions and giving out a few points for students that were particularly talented. When class was over, they all brought up labeled samples of their potions and cleaned up their work stations before filing out of the room while chatting to each other quietly.

The moment the last student walked through the door, she moved to close it before going back to her office and was surprised to see Severus there. "Severus – what are you doing down here?" she exclaimed.

"I came to speak to you, Hermione," he replied gruffly.

She walked out of the classroom and to her office, letting him go in before closing the door behind him. He was a very private person, and fair enough – he had lived the life of a spy. She offered him tea, which he accepted, and sat down on the other side of her desk with a cup for herself before either of them spoke again.

"What did you wish to speak to me about?" she asked as she supped the hot liquid slightly.

"I didn't answer you before when you offered for me to go with you to Grimmauld Place, and I felt that I should correct that rudeness on my part," he replied sincerely. "I would be honored to accompany you to the Weasley gathering."

Hermione laughed at that, and his eyebrows raised a fraction. "Severus, you make it sound as though they were some sort of cult or shady business on the side," she answered to his unspoken question.

"Perhaps it is," he murmured just loud enough for her to hear.

She laughed again, and Severus was struck suddenly by how gentle it was. Her laughter was neither high-pitched nor inelegant. She sounded like a bell, or like spring as her voice floated softly to his ears. He decided that he liked it. She also had rather a pretty smile and flush to her cheeks now that he couldn't help but to notice. Cursing himself for such ludicrous thoughts, he focused back on the conversation.

"Honestly, Severus, they're not all that bad," Hermione reasoned.

"Perhaps you are right," he said, surprising her before he opened his mouth to speak again. "It is just that buffoon Ronald that is a waste of the air we breathe."

Hermione shot him a look of mock hurt, but smiled prettily at him again anyway. "I'll have you know that buffoon is one of my friends," she said warmly, sipping her tea again.