Part Six

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author.

Kudos go to WriterMerrin for beta-ing this for me.

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Part Six

Of her own initiative entirely, Hermione had slipped quietly into Snape's office in the morning and placed the gift on his desk with a small note attached. She knew it wasn't really necessary, but it would be nice if at least one person acknowledged his birthday. Actually, she rather hoped he would like the crystal-topped, glass Potions vials she had gotten him. The school term had begun a mere two days beforehand, and she and Snape had been back at the castle since the sixth.

She sat at Snape's desk in the dungeon classroom, watching carefully as her seventh-year class brewed quietly. It was the ninth of January, and on top of it all, it was a damned Thursday. What a day to have a birthday! She saw Harry and Draco working with each other quietly, chopping the ingredients with more efficiency than they had ever had while Snape was lurking over their shoulders in his most intimidating fashion.

She tore her eyes away from them and looked to where Ron and Neville were getting along rather well with each other. They had both improved so much. She had even noticed that Ron didn't seem as hostile around her as he had only two months before. It was mad to think that, only two and a half months before, he had hated her.

She pulled her father's old pocket-watch out of her robes and checked the time. There was still a whole hour until she could release them from their last class of the day. She sighed heavily and bent over her fourth-years' essays. So far, they were average, but at least they were passing. At that moment, the door opened and an impassive-looking Snape stood in the doorway, looking at her with cold eyes. Ah! How she had missed those eyes for the last few days. He had been fervently ignoring her wherever he could.

'Professor Snape, can I help you?' she asked him sweetly.

'May I see you in my office, immediately, madam?' he said through gritted teeth.

Hermione blanched. His tone suggested he was not happy at all. She got up from the chair immediately and went towards the door.

'Certainly.' She turned to address the class. 'I will return promptly; continue your work in silence, and do not blow anything up,' she warned seriously.

Before she could leave completely, Harry and Draco both gave her the most fleeting of sympathetic glances. She mouthed a quick 'Thank you' to them both and followed Snape next door.

Once the door was closed and a silencing ward was erected, Snape turned to face her, holding out the gift she had gotten him for his birthday. 'What exactly is the meaning of this, Miss Granger?' he demanded.

Hermione almost laughed out loud. And she was frantically thinking that it was something serious. She looked up at him with a smile.

'That, my dear Professor, is what most like to call a birthday gift,' she answered in an amused tone.

He raised a dark eyebrow at her and made a noise in the back of his throat. 'And what, pray tell, have I ever done for you that has prompted such a gift from you?' he asked stiffly.

'Well, aside from the fact that you unselfishly accepted me as your apprentice, I would say that risking one's neck for the sake of a few undeserving people would certainly do it. You were so kind to me over the Christmas holidays also. But that is not why I gave you the gift,' she said flatly. 'I gave it to you because it's your birthday. I give gifts to my friends on their birthdays.'

Snape looked shocked at her confession. 'Friend?' he asked thoughtfully.

Hermione nodded. 'Of course you are my friend. I respect you, I enjoy our conversations, and I enjoy your company... I think that classifies you as a friend,' she replied.

Severus could only nod as he stood in the presence of the amazing witch in front of him. How did she manage to do it? Every time she would do something else wonderful and amaze him even more, he felt his admiration, his attraction for her only heighten. He knew that the holidays had made him go soft, but now it was becoming more than apparent. It was not a good thing. He couldn't have feelings for her; it was unacceptable.

'Professor, if that is all, I have a class to teach,' she piped, interrupting his thoughts.

He looked at her and gave himself a mental shake. 'Of course, Miss Granger, go teach those insolent delinquents,' he said sarcastically.

She laughed and went to the door, taking down the wards and unlocking it. He watched her leave the room, and then, on impulse, walked out after her and caught her arm.

'Thank you, Miss Granger,' he said quietly, looking into her coffee-colored eyes.

'It was my pleasure, Professor,' she replied, slowly tugging her arm from his hold and slipping back into the classroom.

Severus walked himself back to his office and sat at the desk, examining the beautifully hand-blown glass vials in front of him. Each had a different jewel as part of the stopper, and they glistened quite nicely in the light. He shook his head and left the office. He couldn't just sit there and stare at them for the next hour.

Miss Hermione Granger was proving to be harder to ignore than he had assumed. He had done it so well for six years; what was different this time? Well, she wasn't just some silly little know-it-all, for one. She was a woman. A beautiful, intelligent, accomplished witch that had so much promise. Admittedly, he had accepted that he cared for her the night he had returned from the Death Eater meeting at Halloween.

Severus decided to go to the only place where nobody but Hermione would ever be able to find him. The quiet place by the lake had become her thinking spot as much as his own in the last month. She frequented there even more than he did if it were possible. But he needed the space now.

The gift had been most unexpected, especially from her. It was a beautiful gift, something both nice to look at, as well as being practical. Hermione was very sharp that way, though. She was good at giving gifts because she got something that would both be loved and serve a useful purpose. He had seen the same thing when she bought gifts for her own friends.

'I thought you'd be out here,' a soft voice cut across his thoughts.

Severus turned his head just a little and caught sight of Hermione standing before him with her hand at the clasp of her cloak as she unfastened it and sat next to him. He nodded and faced the lake once more.

'It's been a while since I've sat here with you, Professor,' she commented offhandedly, discarding her robe in a neat pile beside her.

'So it seems.'

'Are you alright?' she asked kindly.

'Miss Granger, why should that concern you?' he asked coldly. 'Wait, don't answer. Is it because I am your so-called friend?'

'Well, yes, if you must know,' she said a little tersely.

Severus heard the change in her tone of voice. It would not be good if he wound her up too much, so he relented. He turned to her, gathered the small witch up into his arms and sighed in contentment. Yes. He liked this girl very much.

'Thank you for the gift, Hermione,' he said quietly.

Hermione was caught a little off-guard by this but relaxed in his arms anyway. She snuggled into his chest and breathed in his spicy, herbal scent, and felt a little breathless just in his arms. 'I'm beginning to enjoy this very much,' she sighed, wondering if he had heard her.

He said nothing, so she assumed he hadn't, and went on just resting in his arms, offering him that small comfort and closing her eyes. Severus let his arms tighten around her a little. He had heard the whispered words and felt a small rush of joy rush through him. She wanted to be there in his arms, unlike any other woman he had ever encountered; she wanted to hold him.

He should have thought about letting her go then, but didn't; he just relaxed as their bodies melted together. 'Thank you, Hermione,' he said quietly.

'I don't mind, Professor,' she replied, wishing she could call him Severus but not wanting to risk losing this closeness. She closed her eyes tighter, trying to fight the tears that were welling up in her eyes at the tenderness this man showed to her sometimes. 'I don't mind at all,' she found herself repeating.

Neither of them spoke after her final words that afternoon...

--

10th of January... Severus sighed deeply. The students had already returned to the godforsaken castle for a few days now, and the new school term had well and truly begun. He was wishing that it was still holidays, and was beginning to become a little concerned by the fact that he had not been summoned to yet another Death Eater meeting. It was not that he minded not being there and constantly having hexes fired at him, it was just that it was unusual for the Dark Lord to remain dormant for so long.

He rubbed his left forearm unconsciously as he sat at the staff table, contemplating his breakfast. There was nothing tingling or burning, no intrusions into his mind from some deserted moor, and not one single Death Eater had called for him to attend their Christmas or New Years "celebrations."

Actually, he had been left in peace. He decided then that he would have to see Albus about making up some hooey to feed the Dark Lord at the next meeting so that he remained in good favor with the cruel bastard.

He looked along the table at the Headmaster as he chatted to Professor Sprout on his other side, and saw the general good humor of his colleagues. He turned to the other side and saw that Hermione was engaged in conversation with the DADA professor, Allegra Cole. She had been the longest serving DADA professor at Hogwarts, remaining there for a record of almost two years.

He recalled disliking the woman initially, but eventually warming up to her. She was a good five years younger than he was, and he vaguely remembered her being a Ravenclaw third year while he was in his final year. She was a clever witch, no doubt, but still seemed to lack that certain glowing quality with which a certain other beautiful witch whom he was acquainted radiated.

'Isn't that right, Professor Snape?' a soft purring voice interrupted his thoughts as he stared absently at the students in the Great Hall.

Severus snapped his head around to face Hermione and Allegra, who were now looking at him expectantly. 'Pardon, but I do not believe that I am quite sure as to what I am supposed to be agreeing to,' he apologized formally.

'Never mind, Severus,' Allegra said with a small smile.

Hermione giggled a little and shook her head at him, and Allegra joined her with a seductive laugh. Severus ducked his head a little, before realizing that he had even performed such a self-conscious motion, and sat up stiffly in his chair. He picked up his fork and began attempting to shovel food into his mouth. He lost his appetite quickly and excused himself from the table, forgetting his copy of the Prophet and swirling out through the staff door. Hermione watched him leave with mild concern, but was careful to school her face to indifference as Professor Cole glanced out after him too. She looked at her food and quickly finished off her oats and drank her pumpkin juice. She nodded a quick goodbye to Allegra and grabbed two steaming mugs of coffee, putting a stasis on Snape's and walking at a leisurely pace down to Snape's office.

She reached the door and knocked, bumping it open a little more with her hip and walking through it. She deposited the mug of coffee in front of Snape and took the stasis off it before perching herself on the edge of his desk and sipping at her own mug. She saw him scribbling furiously at a piece of parchment and became intrigued.

'What are you working on?' she asked hopefully. Perhaps he would answer her.

'Nothing of great importance,' he answered dismissively. He really didn't want to answer her, so he picked up his notes for Dumbledore and deposited them in one of the drawers of his desk. 'Don't you have a class soon?'

Hermione jumped up from the desk hastily, putting her mug down on his desk.

'Thank you for reminding me!' she called back to him as she hurried to her first lesson.

She bustled past her fifth-years hurriedly, arms piled with their marked essays, and opened the classroom door for them to enter. She handed out their graded papers at the beginning of class and assigned them their potion for the day. She sat out the entire, painstakingly boring lesson and released the students five minutes early from their double period.

Sighing, Hermione walked her way towards Snape's office, hoping that he would have a headache potion handy in his stores, and made her way through the door without thinking to knock. What she saw both shocked her and made the tears prickle in her eyes.

She watched faintly at Allegra Cole who had Snape pinned to his desk, hands in his hair, and her mouth pressed to his, hungrily devouring his lips. She gasped, which made Allegra cease the activity and spin around to look at her, eyes dilated and lips puffy from kissing.

'I – I'm so sorry...' Hermione stammered, the tears threatening to break from her eyes at any moment. She turned away back toward the door and blinked, letting the tears fall, then ran from the office.

She ran all the way to her chambers and slammed her back against the wall to stabilize herself as she changed the password to Hellebore, then rushed through the opening made by the portrait. She slumped against the wall just inside the portrait hole and sobbed her heart out. She felt her chest ache and constrict, fighting to breathe, wishing that what she had just witnessed had been an illusion.

'It wasn't real. It was not real. That was not real!' she sobbed to herself over and over again.

She balled her fists and beat them against the ground fruitlessly. How could she have been so stupid? What could Snape possibly have seen in her when there was an attractive, older, and obviously more intelligent and intellectually stimulating witch around? She was definitely more curvaceous than she was, and had silky, straight blonde hair. And she was closer to his age.

She cried everything out of her system and didn't budge from the room for nearly an hour, until she heard frantic knocking on the portrait.

'Hermione, let me in! It's Harry!' yelled her best friend through the portrait.

Hermione stood up and wiped her tears off onto a handkerchief, composing herself a little before opening the portrait to him. 'What do you want, Harry?' she asked with a strained voice.

Harry stood there, taking in Hermione's face, red from crying, and saw the tears still falling even though she wasn't making a sound. He held his arms out to her, and she ran straight into them, letting out the most heart-wrenching sob that Harry had ever heard. He gathered her into his arms tightly and just stood there, letting his best friend cry on his shoulder.

He felt every tear, heard every cry, and felt every painful shudder or jerk that her body gave as she cried her heart out. After a while, Harry led her over to her chaise and sat her down, conjuring a box of tissues and settling it next to her. 'Hermione, Professor Snape sent me to look for you. You have missed teaching two classes now, and he was getting worried about you,' he said carefully.

Hermione shot Harry a rueful look. 'He's not worried about me, Harry. He doesn't even like me one iota. All he cares about is me teaching his classes so he can go and have a great snogging session with his blonde tart!' she snapped angrily.

'You know that's not true, Hermione,' Harry said rationally.

'Of course it's bloody true; I saw it with my own, perfectly clear eyes! It couldn't have been clearer to me exactly what he was doing!' she yelled.

Harry looked down at her. Snape had come looking for him while he was in the middle of Charms. He'd had a wild look about him, and his eyes had been fierce. He didn't know why, but Harry just knew that he was sincerely worried about Hermione. And now he knew why.

'Hermione, Professor Snape does not like Professor Cole. He likes you. I saw it when he came to get me. He was nearly out of his mind with worry. He sat at the opposite side of the table from Cole at lunch, and he hasn't spoken to her the whole day,' Harry reasoned.

'I wish that I could believe you, Harry. But I can't get the image of Allegra-fucking-Cole kissing him out of my head. It was right there in front of me,' she said quietly.

Harry knew it was happening. Hermione would get all hysterical, and then she would go quiet, and in the end, she would become like a living statue. Harry looked down at his friend and sighed.

'It will work out in the end, Hermione...'

--

The potion made sharp hissing noises as it bubbled and frothed away. It was only simmering, but it felt like it was boiling over. Severus glanced at it and frowned. That potion had many similar characteristics to what had happened in his office almost three weeks before with Allegra Cole and his Hermione. He growled angrily under his breath at the thought.

That morning in his office had hit him hard, like a brick to the gut, and what made it worse was that Hermione was avoiding him at all costs. He was certain it had everything to do with Professor Cole, but he just couldn't figure out what it could possibly be. After all, he didn't know the mind of a female.

He waved his hand over the flame beneath his cauldron and sighed. The flame reduced, and the potion was simmered quietly. He wouldn't have to hear it, and therefore, would not be reminded of the stupid things he had done. His first mistake was allowing Allegra Cole into his office. His second was offering her something to drink, although he did so with a grudging voice. And the third was letting her pin him against a desk.

He had no idea that such a small witch would be capable of such a feat, and didn't particularly want to hurt a woman. He would not turn into his father. While he was having piteous thoughts, a voice broke through it rudely.

'Professor Snape, may I come in?' Harry asked carefully.

Severus looked up and saw the second most annoying part of his very existence. 'What do you want, Potter?' he asked roughly, trying to ignore him but failing.

'I came to talk to you about things... on a more... personal level,' Harry replied, looking the cold man in the eye hard with his defensive-looking green ones.

Severus sighed inwardly. Here it goes again. 'What?' he barked sharply.

'Professor, I need to ask you what your intentions towards Hermione are. And please don't tell me that it's none of my business, because it is. Hermione is the closest thing to family that I have left. She is my sister in every way except for blood. I am responsible for making sure that she never gets hurt,' Harry said seriously.

Snape snorted at his Gryffindor chivalry. He was going to take care of his sister? Why would he do that? 'Mr. Potter, I assume that everything that is said in this office will remain here, am I correct?' he asked cautiously.

Harry nodded. 'You have my word.'

'Very well then, I shall tell you exactly what happened, and then my feelings towards the incident,' he began effortlessly. 'That morning at breakfast, I noticed that Professor Cole was paying particular notice to me, and I left the meal early feeling quite uneasy...'

Harry nodded and gestured for him to continue.

'... She came down to my office just before I could leave to watch Miss Granger teach. I offered her something to drink, and when I had my back turned, she maneuvered around me and pinned me to the table before kissing me,' he spat out as if it were a bad taste in his mouth.

'I believe you, sir,' Harry said supportively.

'Well, at least you do. However, my final answer to your question is that I really do have strong feelings of admiration, respect and love for Madame Apprentice,' Snape said in a low growl.

Harry looked up at Snape in surprise. He was expecting some strange cover-up story where he was the victim alone to the particular woman's charms, but instead, got a completely truthful, unedited version of events from Snape. He loved Hermione, and that was good enough for him. She needed to be loved.

'I have one final question to you, sir,' Harry continues softly. 'What are your feelings about Professor Cole?'

Severus gave him both a disgusted and annoyed look. 'That woman infuriates me. She has nothing I desire.'

That was good enough for Harry as well. He nodded and walked to the door of the office. 'Thank you for clearing all of this up for me, Professor,' he said. 'Treat her right.'

Harry left swiftly through the door afterwards, leaving Snape alone to contemplate his thoughts. What on earth had driven him to confess his feelings to the boy wonder? He looked at his desk and sneered. He would need to redecorate his office now. Everything in there held only grave memories.

--

As he sat in his office, flicking through a Potions journal, Severus heard a knock on the door before Allegra Cole let herself in. She walked over to the desk and sat down on the chair in front of him. He was trapped into civilized conversation now.

The angry blonde witch turned on her heals and left the room in a huff.

--

Severus thumped his hand on the desk angrily and sighed. That stupid cow had caused him more trouble than she was worth. He now had a completely insufferable Potions Apprentice, her best friend hanging around and asking inane questions, and a pathetic witch lusting after him.

Somehow, he had lost the attention of the only woman in his adult life he had ever had an interest in, gained the trust and support of her friend, and had yet another witch who would most likely seek out her revenge for his rejection of her one day. Everything seemed to be terribly wrong.

He looked up at the second knock on his door that morning and saw his apprentice standing stiffly in the doorway.

'Can I help you, Miss Granger?' he asked softly.

'Yes, actually, I was wondering if you could take my fifth-years today. I have an important meeting with the Headmaster...' she began, but he held up his left hand to silence her.

Just as he was about to speak, he felt a burning sensation rip through his arm, and he grabbed it with his free hand, moaning with the pain. 'Miss Granger, I'm afraid that something has come up, and I must leave immediately. I'm sure Albus will let you reschedule the meeting, but for now, you will be taking my classes also,' he said through gritted teeth.

With that being said, he fled from the castle, wrapped in his Death Eater robes.

--

A/N - Just picking up this story because I don't like things to be left incomplete. I have a new fic in the works which will be posted as soon as it has reached completion. Thanks for reading - this is not my best work by a long shot. Please bear in mind that this was written at least 4 years ago.