Chapter 4

Severus paced in his room. Every now and again he'd glance at the Marauder's Map. It had been an ongoing saga since their encounter on the seventh floor. Every day, he'd have to search her out, because she was never in the same place twice. She'd chosen another remote classroom today, this time on the third floor. One where most students never ventured, and few teachers patrolled. What was the witch up to? Why was she trying to avoid him? Or was he reading too much into all of this? Was she just moving around randomly? Was he just wasting his time and efforts trying to get to know her?

Severus stopped pacing. He folded his arms in front of him and huffed. Enough was enough. This wasn't going as he had planned. Certainly, he'd gotten to know Hermione better. He'd become certain he wanted to be with her the more he spoke with her. However, she was constantly hiding from him, and he wasn't sure what she felt for him. He gathered his courage. He would tell her the truth about his feelings. Somehow, that felt harder to do than facing the Dark Lord himself, but he knew he must do it or quietly go insane. Once again, he folded the map and placed it into his pocket, ready for another encounter.

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"Ah, there you are," Severus said as he burst into the room where Hermione was once again grading papers. She flew out of her seat, her quill shooting out of her hand.

"Severus, for the love...! Are you following me?" Hermione questioned indignantly.

Severus ignored her. He moved to the desk where she sat and extended his hand to her. "Walk with me," he demanded in a soft voice.

Hermione looked at his hand, then up to his eyes. He arched his eyebrow at her. She gave him a resigned look as he felt her hand move into his. He nodded to her, unable to say anything because he suddenly felt heady with her closeness as she stood and gazed at him intensely. He cleared his throat and finally was able to rasp some words at her.

"I thought you could use a break from what you're doing," he explained as he turned and led her out of the room.

She said nothing, but stared at him as they walked down the hall to the stairs. She turned her attention to the staircase as they proceeded down them, still saying nothing. They descended to the first floor and proceeded out the door. Severus searched for something to say, but was temporarily mute. His nerves were frazzled, and he was second guessing himself. Perhaps this wasn't a good idea after all. Maybe he should excuse himself and let her take a walk on her own. Maybe... He sighed, causing Hermione to look at him.

He looked down at her, temporarily mesmerized. Good heavens, I have it bad, he thought to himself.

"Hermione, there's something I would like to talk with you about." He struggled for words. His greatest fear was that she would laugh at him when he revealed his feelings. He needed a moment to regroup and find his waning courage again. He cleared his throat. "Have you taken time to look at the stars lately?" he asked lamely.

She gazed at him in confusion, causing him to point up at the sky. He quickly made up something to carry on with his distraction. "I find it calming to come out here after a long day and watch the sky, looking for recognizable constellations and such."

Hermione smiled then. "I do too, actually. I just haven't done it in a while." She gazed up at the stars, her face relaxing as she looked at the beauty above. They both watched the sky for a while, neither realizing their hands were still encircling one another.

"Look," Severus said as he pointed to the northeastern part of the sky. "A shooting star."

Hermione followed his finger to see. "Oh! It's beautiful!" she exclaimed.

The timing was perfect. Severus gathered his courage and steeled himself for the inevitable heartbreak he felt was to come. He lowered his hand and looked down at Hermione.

"Not as beautiful as you, Hermione."

The shock on her face made Severus smirk. He conjured up a rose and offered it to her. Hermione looked at it, her eyes wide. As if almost in a trance, she reached out and took it, slowly bringing it back to her.

"It's been you all along," she said hypnotically.

"I told you it was," he replied quietly.

"Yes, but you were joking, and I..." Tears filled her eyes as she turned away from him.

Severus looked at her with concern. He felt something stir within him. He hadn't meant to upset her, and the sight of her turning from him made his heart twist within his chest. This was just not going the way he expected. He reached out and encircled her arms comfortingly. She was trembling, her head bent low. She then began to sob. He turned her around and caressed her face.

"I didn't mean to make you miserable," he offered sadly. "I will stop this pursuit immediately. I didn't know it would upset you so, Hermione."

She shook her head emphatically. "No," she replied, but couldn't seem to say anything more. She shook her head again. "No."

His hand moved down to her chin. He nudged her head up slowly so she was looking at him.

"Why are you so upset, then?"

Her arms flew around him, and she pulled him close. She continued to say nothing. He could only assume she was composing herself. His arms involuntarily encircled her. She felt so right within his arms. Deep down he hoped she'd never let him go, but he knew this was too wonderful to last. Despite the warring feelings of elation and despair running through him, he did not push her off, as his conscience was telling him to do. No, he just held her tighter and caressed her back, damn the consequences. He even got up the nerve to kiss the top of her head. He was taking the opportunities he could now, before whatever she was going to say ended any hope he had of being with her.

After what pleasantly seemed like forever, Hermione drew back and looked at him. She sniffled before she began to speak. Severus steeled himself once again for heartbreak.

"I'm sorry I'm such a mess," she offered. She turned and conjured up a wrought-iron bench. "Please sit with me?" she asked shyly. Severus took her hand and immediately sat down on the bench. He smiled at her, urging her to go on. She looked away shyly before taking his hand in both of hers.

"Severus, I have been avoiding you for a while now." She looked away. "I found myself drawn to you two years ago, and I knew you wouldn't ever be interested in me, so I thought the best way to proceed was to stay away from you. Obviously, you're the Headmaster, so that wasn't always possible, but whenever I could, I stayed as far away from you as possible. Nonetheless, even though we spent no time together, I found my feelings for you only increasing instead of disappearing, as I'd so hoped they would."

Severus could only stare at her, eager to hear what else she was going to say. He pushed down his elation, waiting for the rest. Despite this starting to look very good for him, he would not let himself rejoice prematurely. That just wasn't something he did... ever.

"I still felt that keeping away from you was the best thing to do," Hermione continued. "It worked pretty well until these last few weeks. How on earth were you able to find me every day?"

Severus reluctantly pulled his hand from hers and reached into the pocket of his robes, extracting the Marauder's Map. He handed it to her. She looked down at it in surprise.

"This isn't what I think it is, is it?" she asked. Shaking her head, she extracted her wand. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," she stated.

The map revealed itself.

"The Marauder's Map! I haven't seen this in years," she said with a smile on her face. "Severus, wherever did you find it?"

"I confiscated it from a student a little while back," he explained. "Hermione, what were you afraid of? I've wanted to get closer to you for a long time now, but I could never find you! This map was like a beacon to me. I'm sorry if I stalked you, but the map gave me a way to find you that I could not have done on my own."

She looked at him searchingly. "You really wanted to find me that badly?"

"Yes!"

She looked down at the map again, her cheeks red. "I didn't think you would ever see me as more than the know-it-all you hated in school."

He reached out for her. "It's true you were a know-it-all in school, and I was a spy that had to use everything offered me to cover my guise. You haven't been a schoolgirl for a great while, Hermione. Since your return to Hogwarts I find you intelligent, well-spoken, beautiful..."

She smiled at that. "I'm so foolish," she said with a shake of her head.

"No, never foolish. I understand your fear. I was afraid you wouldn't be interested in me either, Hermione. I was never kind to you in your youth."

She thought about that for a moment. "But you were under such stress. I couldn't blame you for how you acted. And you were very professional in my interview, and you've never been rude in any way to me during my tenure here. The more I got to know you, the more attractive you became, and I soon found myself..." she turned away, blushing. "... dreaming about you."

"You've been dreaming about me?"

She nodded, thoroughly embarrassed. He found her incredibly enticing in that moment and pulled her to him, kissing her soundly. That something he'd felt when he'd brushed her hand that first time returned. He reveled in her and never wanted to release her from the kiss. All too soon, it was over.

"You must tell me about these dreams, Hermione," he said as he looked at her.

She giggled shyly. "There were quite a few. Some weren't very, shall we say, innocent."

He groaned within himself. Before pulling her back to his lips he smiled. "I want to hear every one." Their arms encircled each other once again, and they kissed passionately.

He pulled back to gaze at the beautiful witch in his arms. The map had delivered everything he wanted. His heart filled with hope for a future with Hermione as she now smiled lovingly at him.

He pushed her hair behind her ear and caressed her cheek. "Every, single, one," he murmured before returning to her lips.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little romp with the map.