Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks for your reviews! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far!

Concepts and characters still belong to JKR. I'm just playing.

Chapter 5

The next morning, Hermione felt tired and out of sorts as she headed off to breakfast. She had been up late, amending the spell that had kept anyone from sitting in an empty chair next to Severus. Now, the spell also prevented Severus from seeing any empty chair in the Professors' section that was not next to Hermione.

She had finally finished late last night and had gone to bed exhausted. She had assumed that she would sleep like the dead, rather than have another explicit dream about Severus, but she had been wrong again. It seemed as though her subconscious mind was determined to insert images of her with Severus into her dreams every night; no matter how tired she got, the dreams still came.

She arrived in the dining hall and noted that Severus was late again. Steeling her resolve, she headed back to the usual place they sat, politely declining offers from other professors to join them. He arrived just as her eggs and kippers appeared.

He glanced at her briefly, looked around the room, then seemed to shrug with resignation. He came over and took his usual chair next to her. "Good morning, Miss Granger," he said politely.

Part of her was pleased that her spell had worked. His eyes had slid right past the empty chairs near Minerva and Dumbledore as well as the ones near Binns and Trelawney. His resigned shrug seemed to suggest that, as she had intended, he hadn't even seen the chairs. Still, she was cranky and tired and it was all his fault. If he wasn't moody and stubborn, she wouldn't have been up half the night casting spells.

And if he wasn't sexy and irresistible, she wouldn't have spent the other half of the night having disturbing dreams.

After a moment, she said, "What's good about it?"

He frowned. "Bad night?" He almost sounded sympathetic.

She shrugged, deciding to be vague but honest. "Disturbing dreams. Not very restful, but ..." She shrugged again.

"I could give you some Dreamless Sleep Draught, if you stop by the lab later," he replied helpfully.

She was momentarily stunned. In all these months, she had never – not even once – considered that she could just make a Dreamless Sleep Draught to get rid of her dreams of him. She stared at him, unsure what to say.

Could a part of her actually like these dreams? Want them to continue? What else could explain months of "forgetting" one of the simplest potions she knew?

She finally gathered her wits enough to say, "Thanks. Maybe I will." She wasn't foolish enough to turn it down completely – not when he was voluntarily inviting her to stop by and see him.

She told herself it was just one more opportunity to work on her plan. Surely, if she stopped by his lab, he would treat her the way he always had treated her when she was there before.

Right?

She returned her attention to her meal, changing the subject. He obviously saw no need to address last night's dinner apart, so she went with a safe topic. "How is the textbook coming? Do you think it will be done before the students arrive?"

"It will be close, I suppose, but it's coming along. The first draft is almost done. You can look at it when you stop by, if you like."

If she had been surprised at his original invitation, she was shocked by this one. He had never seemed to want to share anything with her – or anyone else – that wasn't already public. Of course, it wasn't like he was inviting her to read his diary or anything, but still – this was a first draft, not a final manuscript.

She couldn't help feeling a little bit flattered.

Her mood suddenly lifting, she smiled, "Okay, sure. What time did you want me to come by?"

"I'll just be working on the manuscript, so whenever Minerva doesn't need you will be fine."

"Okay. How about I just come back with you after lunch?"

"That will be fine."

As she left breakfast, she was a little disgusted with herself. It just wasn't fair that all it took to improve her mood was a few kind words and a non-frowning look from Severus. He hadn't even had to smile! Not that he ever would, but still! A mere non-frown should not lighten her mood this much.

But even her self-disgust couldn't override her joy at the moment. She was going to visit Severus after lunch, at his invitation!

As she hurried toward Minerva's office, she barely resisted the urge to dance. As it was, she couldn't resist spinning around with delight, just once.

Minerva watched Hermione through narrowed eyes. She had half-expected the girl to be sullen and depressed this morning, what with Severus having left her to eat alone last night. But then, he hadn't left her alone this morning, had he?

And this morning, he had had more palatable options than Binns and Trelawney as meal partners. Severus might not admit it, but she knew he considered her a friend. And he certainly thought as well of Dumbledore as anyone.

She had kept an eye on the two of them this morning, and had concluded that whatever was wrong between them last night was clearly resolved this morning. Her impression was confirmed when Hermione said, "Minerva, Professor Snape has invited me to read the first draft of his textbook manuscript this afternoon. Would that be all right?"

Minerva was surprised that Severus was letting anyone see the first draft. She said, "Yes, dear, that will be fine. You're well past the level of expertise you need to achieve before the students arrive, and if Professor Snape thinks it would be advisable for you to see his manuscript, then you should certainly do that. It's a measure of his respect for you that he's offered, you know." She watched Hermione carefully, gauging the girl's reaction.

She was rewarded with a light blush and an eager, "Do you think so? I really want him to respect me, you know. Especially since he wasn't really in favor of having me stay at Hogwarts."

"Well, as I told him at the time, once he got past his general disdain for students and for anyone who associates with Harry, he was sure to discover that you have the makings of a fine professor. It appears that despite his skepticism, I was correct."

"Well, that's good," Hermione said. "He's very smart, and I have a lot of respect for him, so it's nice to think he might someday think of me as a worthy colleague."

Or perhaps something more intimate? Minerva wondered silently. "I'm sure he already does, dear, or he wouldn't let you see his manuscript." She changed the subject. "Now, let's talk about your role in the classroom once the students arrive. I thought we would start with you acting as an assistant instructor, demonstrating some of the transfigurations we're teaching, and perhaps tutoring some of the students who are struggling. Would that be acceptable?"

"Oh, yes," Hermione said, "That sounds wonderful."

"And over time, we will perhaps progress to having you deliver portions of specific class lectures, and eventually entire classes, with me acting as your adviser and consultant."

"That sounds wonderful, Minerva," Hermione said again.

They spent the next few hours practicing advanced Transfiguration, so that Hermione would be prepared to tutor the seventh-years as well as the younger students.

After lunch, Severus walked with Hermione back to his laboratory. He invited her politely to have a seat, then went to his office to get his manuscript. He said, "While you're looking through that, I'll mix you a fresh Dreamless Sleep Draught."

Of course, he probably had some already made, but he didn't bother looking, since he needed a distraction while she read. He couldn't very well stand over her and watch her read – that would be too uncomfortable for both of them. As it was, he had gotten almost nothing done that morning, distracted as he was by thoughts of locking them both in his office and getting this lust out of his system once and for all.

He was also having trouble keeping his curiosity at bay. He was dying to know whether she was upset about his desertion last night, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep from using Legilimency to find out.

What stopped him was the knowledge that he would not necessarily get that specific information right away. Also, there was the problem of how to do it without angering her. As he mixed the potion by rote, he glanced at her to see if he could get a clue about her reaction to the textbook. Did she find it interesting? Useful? Boring? Well-written?

He despised himself for caring.

Eventually, the potion was finished, and he bottled it for Hermione. She was only about halfway through the book, and she appeared thoroughly engrossed, which he supposed was a good sign. Although, given her relationship with books in general, perhaps it meant nothing at all. Unfortunately, her focus on the manuscript left him at loose ends. He watched her for a few moments; upon feeling his arousal stirring, he decided that was a bad idea.

He began taking inventory of his herbs and other supplies, but he kept catching himself sneaking peeks at her, wondering what she was thinking.

She shifted in her chair, and suddenly, for no reason at all that he could see, he flashed back to his dream of her. It suddenly occurred to him to wonder if her 'disturbing dreams' were in any way similar to his.

Then, a truly disturbing thought occurred to him – what if she was having 'disturbing dreams' about Weasley? Or worse, Potter? Sure, she had denied having any romantic interest in Weasley, but he hadn't thought to probe on the subject of Potter.

He glanced at her, desperate to know if she could possibly be interested in such unworthy children.

It seemed like fate that, at that very moment, she happened to be staring into space, and he was able to see her eyes. Before he could think better of it, his mind whispered silently, "Legilimens."

Fortunately or unfortunately, his entry into her mind required no effort, since she apparently felt comfortable enough with him to be undefended. She didn't even seem to notice he was there.

The first thing he saw was her imagining the steps to make a potion. He recognized immediately that this was one of the potions in Chapter Three, "Advanced Use of Muggle Ingredients". He was amused to see her get distracted by one of the ingredients. In fact, she stopped thinking about the potion altogether, and began to recall her delight with the chocolate she had received on her last birthday.

He turned his attention away from that area, and began seeking information related to Potter or Weasley. Fortunately for his peace of mind, her memories of them seemed innocuous enough, and he got no impression of any kind of romantic aspect to the emotions she held toward them. It seemed more like she thought them the brothers she had never had.

He knew he should get out now, before she noticed, but he couldn't resist trying to find out if he had hurt her feelings last night. Unfortunately, when he tried, he found the first hint he had seen that she was defended at all.

Which seemed odd. He quickly exited as gently as he had entered, hoping she hadn't noticed anything amiss, then pondered why that memory would be defended, when she had no defense in place relating to Weasley and Potter.

After all, given her knowledge of his dislike for them, and even the way she verbally defended them whenever he said anything negative about them, he would have thought she would have all her thoughts and memories about them completely locked away while she was in his presence.

After awhile, he concluded that the only reasonable interpretation was that she was not concerned that he might harm her friends, despite the contempt in which he held them. He was flattered that she trusted him in that way – especially since there had been many times when he hadn't been sure he wouldn't kill the two fools himself.

But then, if she trusted him not to hurt her friends, why would she defend the memory of dinner last night?

Apparently, she must feel that if he knew her thoughts about that, it would pose some threat to her – which still made no sense to him.

He barely restrained himself from asking her. Instead, he said abruptly, "I should apologize for dinner last night."

She had been looking down at the manuscript again, and her head jerked up to look at him. "Wh-what? Why?"

He wished he had left it alone, because there wasn't much he could say. "Because it was rude," he said lamely.

"You can sit wherever you want," she said, and her expression looked just a tad guilty for a fleeting second. But the look disappeared so quickly that he thought he must have imagined it. She said, "You don't owe me anything."

"Still," he said, wishing he could just let the subject drop, but finding he couldn't, "I didn't intend for you to wind up eating alone. You could have joined Minerva or – someone," he finished lamely.

"I'm a big girl, Professor Snape," she said lightly. "All grown up, in fact." His feelings toward her could certainly attest to that, he thought. "I'm perfectly capable of deciding whether to eat alone or to ask to join someone. So, don't worry about it."

He changed the subject, in case she decided to ask him why he had decided to leave her alone or why he had re-joined her this morning. He didn't want to say the former was because he was hot for her and trying to get over it, or that the latter was because there were no other empty seats available. Instead, he nodded toward the manuscript and asked, "Will it do?"

"What?" There was a pause while she shifted gears. "Oh, yes, it's wonderful. I can't wait until it comes out. I'm dying to try making some of these potions."

He suppressed a smile. "Well, whenever you have free time, you're welcome to come and try them out here."

Wait, had he just said that? Had he really given her carte blanche to come to his lab anytime she wanted?

He must have, because she blushed a little, smiled, and said, "Thank you, I think I'll do that. If you're sure you won't mind?"

He opened his mouth to take it back, but instead said, "Just as long as I'm not teaching, and you let me know when to expect you."

Her smile widened and she said, "Great! I'll do that." And she went back to her reading with the smile lingering on her face.

Severus groaned inwardly. Apparently, he was more into self-torture than he had ever realized.

That night, as she got ready for bed, Hermione looked at the bottle of Dreamless Sleep Draught that Severus had given her. She still couldn't believe it hadn't occurred to her even once in all these months to take it, and that made her uncertain whether she should take it now.

She thought back over the afternoon. It had been such a pleasure, just reading while he puttered around the lab. She smiled to herself – the idea of Severus 'puttering' anywhere seemed so incongruous. Yet, once he had finished making the sleep draught for her, there was really no other word to describe what he had been doing. Well, except when he had basically apologized to her – and who would have seen that coming? Not her, certainly.

There had also been a few strange moments, when she had read a recipe that included chocolate and had started thinking about the delicious chocolate that Harry and Ron and Neville and Ginny had pooled their money to get her last year. And then her thoughts had drifted further afield, and she had found herself thinking a little nostalgically about Ron and Harry and the course of their friendship. She should really call them – perhaps they could arrange to spend some time together at the holidays or something.

However, it was really early to be thinking that far ahead. She was probably just missing them because this would be the first year she would spend at Hogwarts without them.

Anyway, she had suddenly realized she wasn't concentrating on the manuscript, and had just managed to return her full attention to it, when Severus had blurted out that apology. She had been caught so off guard that she hadn't known what to say. And, when he hadn't offered any explanation, she had been afraid to ask him why he had chosen to sit across the room, anyway.

Of course, she knew why he had come back. She felt a little guilty about practically forcing him back to her side, but, she reasoned, she hadn't forced him to invite her to his lab, or to let her see his manuscript, or to offer her the use of his lab to practice the potions in his manuscript.

So maybe he wouldn't be too upset about it if he ever figured it out, she reasoned optimistically.

Right, she thought glumly. If he ever figured out that she had used charms to get closer to him, there probably wouldn't be enough left of her to apologize to him.

She suddenly decided that her best chance, in the event that happened, would be to be well-rested, with her wits sharp. That being the case, she grabbed the Dreamless Sleep Draught and took a dose before she could change her mind.