Surprises

I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters; J. K. Rowling does. In addition, I do not make any profit from this fanfiction. Huge thank you to my betas Valady and AmyLouise.

Cinderella Man

Yeah, feels good, guess I'm lucky

Some of us don't get a second chance

But I ain't blowing this one. *

Surprises

The gentle warmth of a delicate palm on Severus' forehead brought him back to consciousness once again. For a while, he cautiously kept his eyes closed, carefully listening to the sounds around him. Alas, his fine spy skills proved to be futile this time. It was suspiciously quiet, and the only sound he could detect was someone's light breathing. Severus waited for a few more minutes, and then, falling victim to his own curiosity, he slowly opened his eyes.

He instantly recognised the clinical décor of the hospital wing and the person near him. Hermione Granger was precariously perched on the edge of his bed. Her petite body was tilted towards him, and her hand was still warming his forehead. The girl's caramel-coloured irises were locked on him, and her wild mahogany curls were almost touching his chest.

Of course, still here, he thought with annoyance, and already very much in my personal space. How awfully Gryffindor.

The wizard's thoughts were interrupted by the girl's warm breath. It reached his skin right when he was in the middle of his mental rant. He inhaled deeply, and a light jasmine scent filled his nostrils. Severus' body chose to react to this fact with an unexpected heat wave, catching him by surprise. Drowning helplessly in its suffocating depth, he tried to convince himself that this bone-melting heat was instigated by a fever, or at least, by righteous ire at the girl's boldness and not...absolutely, positively not...by her close proximity. Whatever was the cause, either way, he needed to quickly stop it.

"Miss Granger," Severus tried to scold. Alas, he only succeeded in uttering a hoarse hiss, which was immediately halted by a little finger pressed firmly and demandingly to his lips.

"Shh, shh, Professor; please don't talk. You are not allowed. Madam Pomfrey scarcely managed stop the bleeding from your wound after your last try," she informed him in a hurried whisper.

In the process of whispering, the girl moved even closer to him, this time pressing her hand into his chest. Moreover, her curls were now definitely tickling his bare skin, and her lips were dangerously close to his ear, causing the heat inside him to become almost unbearable.

Shite, thought the wizard, who desperately sought an escape. At last, being already dangerously close to combustion, Severus managed to produce a proper glare. The girl finally heeded the warning and removed herself from him.

"I am helping to tend the injured," continued Hermione from his bed's far corner, as if answering his untold question. "Many of us are helping here. A lot of students were wounded." Her eyes suddenly became watery and honey-coloured. Hermione swivelled her face away from Severus, and a second later he heard a stifled sniffle.

"I need to let Madam Pomfrey know that you are awake." Still avoiding his eyes, she hastily jumped from the bed and walked to the door. There, she paused for a moment, faced him again and smiled. Her eyes still glistened with unshed tears.

"So, I guess, you will be seeing me quite often, Professor." She arched her eyebrow. "It might be a good thing that you are not allowed to talk. Your silent glare is not that intimidating." With that, she disappeared behind the door, leaving Severus seething with fury at the witch's cheek.

In the next few weeks, Severus did see Miss Granger a couple of times per day, not more. Her hair always was first to enter the room, followed by her bright smile and customary "Good morning, Professor." To Severus' immense displeasure, his body never failed to react to the witch's presence in unreasonable, uncontrollable, and surprising ways. In the beginning, he fiercely fought this phenomenon. But after a while, Severus surrendered. He decided that maybe, just maybe, his reactions weren't that unwelcome. After all, he did grow quite partial to a faint scent of jasmine filling the air, to her quiet steps and continuous babbling. So, he just lay there with a protective frown and watched her, letting his body react however it may.

Soon enough, most of the injured were either healed or transferred to St. Mungo's. Thus, Poppy didn't require as much help as before, and the helpers one by one began to drift away from Hogwarts. On one of those days, Miss Granger came to say good-bye as well. As soon as she stepped into the infirmary with that special, determined look on her face and briskly walked to his bed, Severus knew that there would be a monologue and he, still unable to either move or talk, would be forced to listen. Knowing now that glaring at her was a waste of time since the insolent witch had developed immunity to his glares, scowls and frowns, he simply faced her, waiting for her to begin.

"I am leaving today, Professor," she began, focusing her serious eyes on his. "But before I go, I want to tell you 'thank you'. Thank you for everything you've done for us. Thank you for saving us all. I am..." At this, she faltered and broke their eye contact. After a deep, calming breath and a sniffle (she was sniffling quite often, but Severus had become accustomed to this peculiar habit of hers), she continued, "We all are forever in your debt. Please, forgive me for doubting you."

Severus uttered an exasperated huff and impatiently waved for her to stop this nonsense. He, however, did give her a curt nod of acknowledgment and did allow his thin lips to curl just the slightest bit into a faint smile.

Miss Granger beamed at him, awakening embarrassing butterflies in Severus' stomach. "Good-bye, Professor. See you in September," she singsonged and left the room in a striking swirl of mahogany curls. Severus silently looked after her, trying to calm the bloody butterflies flocking in his stomach and nursing a novel idea that caramel-coloured eyes and mahogany hair were actually an agreeable colour combination.

He suddenly decided that he liked those subtle colours. Yes. He nodded to himself. In fact, he liked them even more than green and red...they were warm, and they were real. This discovery certainly surprised Severus, although he had an inkling that this wasn't the last surprise that the future held in store for him.

It took nearly two months for Severus to recover from the horrendous injury he had suffered. Poppy tried, though unsuccessfully, to transfer him to St. Mungo's. Unlike Severus, she was convinced that he needed special care. Eventually, she grew tired of Severus' continuous, aggressive refusals and gave up on him. Besides, he was obviously getting better, and that was the key factor in her giving up the struggle.

As for Severus, he felt comfortable enough at Hogwarts and had no desire to be transferred anywhere. He was busy rediscovering himself. His unexpected second lease on life changed him, and it was Severus' foremost task to find out just how radically.

Every day brought new discoveries and surprises for the wizard. The first and the most notable one was his realisation that he was no longer anyone's servant. Oh, how wonderfully soothing this epiphany was! For once, Severus Snape belonged to himself, and it suited his tired, tattered soul perfectly.

Of course, there were scores of other, smaller revelations. For instance, the moment he was well enough to return to his quarters, he learned that he actually strongly disliked his gloomy, damp dungeons and decisively loathed the feel of his teaching robes scratching his skin. So unlike Miss Granger's soft touches. The unsolicited thought instantly popped into his mind. He disregarded it instantaneously as entirely inappropriate.

Later on, Severus was extremely disturbed and disconcerted to discover that he liked the smell and taste of freshly baked bread. This particular revelation was so worrisomely unlike him, so domestic, that Severus felt inadequate. "What next?" he muttered. "Collecting pictures of cute kittens and puppies?" He decided he probably had to thank Molly Weasley for that one. She was, after all, the one who had brought him back.

Over the summer, Severus, to Poppy's disapproval, helped to restore Hogwarts and made the decision that he didn't wish to return as Headmaster of Hogwarts. Even though Kingsley, along with Minerva, tried hard to convince him to reconsider, he steadfastly declined, and therefore Minerva became the new Headmistress.

Sure enough, there was an array of things he still despised. He still was Severus Snape, after all. Coffee remained unpalatable. Just as before, he wasn't a fan of the Ministry. Very predictably, when in late August he was invited to the award ceremony at which he was to receive his First Class Order of Merlin, he unexpectedly fell seriously ill and was unable to attend.

Harry Potter himself delivered the Order to the wounded hero the day after the ceremony. Had Severus known that it would turn out that way, he would have probably gone to the event. Instead, he was punished by having to listen to Potter's awkward apologies, all the while thinking that Miss Granger managed to say the same thing in only a dozen words. Potter, on the other hand, spent a full hour mumbling half coherent excuses and explanations. There was one useful thing, however, during that torture...Severus acknowledged that he still didn't like Harry Potter. He still couldn't stand him for more than a few minutes. Nothing had changed in that particular area.

As usual, summer ended way too soon, and students returned to Hogwarts. Severus didn't find teaching an enjoyable task. Scaring, belittling and intimidating students weren't as satisfying as before. The little nitwits just annoyed the hell out of him with their imbecility. The only pleasant part was to see Miss Granger return for her NEWTs. Severus quickly made it a habit to discreetly gaze at Miss Granger's warm honey-coloured eyes and coral lips from the teacher's desk and to watch...in embarrassing awe...her untamed, mahogany curls flutter in Hogwarts' drafts.

Although he didn't allow himself any improprieties, by the middle of the year, Severus had developed an obsession with the witch. At night, he dreamed about her breath warming his skin and her soft, delicate fingers caressing his face. He sensed her jasmine scent whenever she was in the same room with him. Damn his over-sensitive nose! He couldn't help but admire her wit. Somehow, she ceased to be an annoying, attention-seeking know-it-all. Unexpectedly, she had become a ray of light in his life. Sure enough, Severus wasn't going to act upon these newly acquired feelings. He did what he knew best. He fastidiously hid them deep inside his soul and blamed Molly Weasley for everything.

The rest of the year went by quickly. Severus spent it in a constant wrestling match with himself. And really, it was one thing to secretly charm his teaching robes to be as soft as cashmere or to ask an elf to bring him a few freshly baked rolls. It was, however, an altogether different story to have inappropriate thoughts about a student. Severus Snape wasn't going to put up with them. He fought them relentlessly.

And yet, when after the final assembly, the witch in question came to bid her farewells and then left, an acute feeling of loss gripped his poor heart and didn't let go. By the next morning, a decision was reached...Severus Snape was leaving Hogwarts for good. He had a new life to live and a witch to find.

* Eminem/Cinderella Man