Little things

Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read and review this story so far. I appreciate all of your wonderful comments.

I've got another chapter ready as you can see, so enough talk.

All canon characters belong to JKR. I make no money from this.

Thanks again to June who I could not do this without.

Chapter 5 – Little things

The rest of the weekend went by without incident. Lucius watched Severus closely. There was an odd pull Lucius felt whenever his friend was nearby. He couldn't explain it, but thought perhaps it was due to the fact that they were both the only two original Death Eaters to have served Voldemort to be left alive and free. All others had either been given the Dementor's Kiss while in Azkaban, or they died on the battlefield. Lucius thought there might be some sort of unknown connection between him and Severus due to the Dark Mark they still bore. A Mark that Lucius was also now becoming concerned with.

After Severus went back to Hogwarts Castle on Sunday evening, Lucius sat in his study with the door locked and warded. He examined his Dark Mark; it had been almost invisible for the last ten years, yet now he could plainly see a faint outline. He wasn't sure what it meant, other than it might have had something to do with Severus' recovery. For now, he would keep quiet. So much had happened over the last three days; maybe he was just imagining things.

For his part, Severus arrived at Hogwarts relaxed and ready to begin planning his DADA classes for the coming school year. As he walked down to his rooms in the dungeons, he ran into Hermione who was on her way down from the library.

"Hello, Severus. Are you just coming back from Malfoy Manor?" she asked as she tried to keep the stack of books she carried from falling. Severus reached and took three volumes from her. She smiled. "Thank you."

"Why don't you just levitate these down here?" asked Severus.

"I like carrying books." They walked down the cool hallway quietly. Hermione decided this might be a good time to ask Severus if he was planning on asking for his old job back. "I was wondering if I could ask you something."

"You ask a question?" he said playfully.

She rolled her eyes and smiled. His long sleep seemed to have mellowed him slightly.

"I wondered what you were planning on doing now that you are back." Hermione bit her lip and looked at him nervously.

They stopped and Severus looked down at her. She was shorter than him; the top of her head just about reached his shoulder.

"I'm going to continue teaching. What did you think I would do?" he said, knowing she was inquiring if he would be taking his old post.

"Oh." She hoped that he'd be teaching the DADA position, and not want his old post back. "I suppose you want to go back to your old position, teaching potions then." She asked, sounding a bit dejected.

He smirked. "I have no interest in my old post. I had to deal with trying to keep these incompetents from blowing their own heads off for almost twenty years, Hermione. I will be teaching something safer, Defense Against Dark Arts."

Hermione raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"You think teaching them Defense Against Dark Arts is safer?"

"You've only been teaching potions for six years. Wait another six and then ask me that again." They arrived at her door and he placed her books back on her pile she was carrying. "Goodnight. I shall see you in the morning." With that he swept down the hall to his own rooms.

Severus walked down the hall, robes billowing behind him. The dark-haired wizard stopped just before he entered his rooms and looked back. He was no longer Severus; Voldemort was now infiltrating his consciousness easier. While he was still too weak to take over Severus' body completely, it was getting easier for him to slip in and out and take Severus' place. Voldemort watched a small young witch trying to enter her rooms. She was carrying several large volumes in her arms. Voldemort wondered who she was; she was quite pretty and young, but the best part was that she looked very innocent.

He decided to take advantage of his possession of Severus' body. Hoping that he could keep himself in it long enough to establish who the young woman was, he walked back towards Hermione and stopped just behind her.

"You seem to need help," he said.

Hermione turned quickly. Not expecting him or anyone to have come up behind her, she dropped her books.

"Severus, you scared the devil out of me." Her heart pounding, she bent down and began to gather the books. Voldemort-as-Severus bent down to help her quietly. "I know, I know, you don't have to say it. Why don't you just levitate them or open the door with your wand. I really don't mind doing things without magic. After all, you know I'm used to it." She laughed quietly.

"You should try it, you know, Severus. It's really not that bad. I remember one summer I spent home with my parents, I didn't use one bit of magic to do anything. I guess that's one of the advantages of having Muggle parents. I know sometimes things are harder to do, but I suppose I get a certain sense of accomplishment doing them this way."

Hermione never noticed the stiffening in Severus' body when she said the word "Muggle." He handed her the books when he stood and continued to stare wordlessly at her.

'Well well, a filthy little Mudblood,' thought Voldemort.

Hermione managed to turn the door handle and open the door to her rooms. She turned to him and smiled.

"Thank you again, for your help."

Voldemort knew he couldn't do anything to her here in Hogwarts, with all its protective wards, house-elves, and ghosts. He also wondered how it was that the Mudblood was on such friendly terms with Severus. He further wondered if perhaps he could have a little fun with her. After all, he would take over Severus' body on a fulltime basis very soon. He never liked the thought of having sex in his serpentine-like body. But Severus had a body he could have a good time with.

The woman he really wanted was Ginny. She was a pureblood after all, but there was nothing wrong with having a toy in the meantime. He smiled and placed his hand on the door frame.

"It was my pleasure, Miss..." He caught himself, realizing he didn't even know her name.

Hermione laughed. "Oh, are we back to Miss Granger? I suppose it will take getting used to calling me by my first name. But I would rather we remain on first-name basis. Hermione isn't so hard to say, is it?"

Voldemort-as-Severus smiled. "No, Hermione is not hard to say at all." The low purring manner in which he mentioned her name had her quivering. Had it not been dark in her doorway he might have seen her blush. He did however sense it. There was a heat emanating from her that he felt, so he knew that he'd gotten to her with those few words. She would be a very easy target. Seducing her would be quite delicious.

"Th...thank you again, Severus." Hermione closed the door and dropped the books at her feet. She felt her face and knew she'd have to take a very cold shower. The way Severus looked at her, and the way he said her name made her wonder if he was making a pass at her. But then, what else could it have been?

On the other side of the door, Voldemort smiled evilly. Had anyone passed at that moment they would have seen what seemed to be a flicker of fire in the Potions master's dark eyes. Feeling himself slipping, he walked back to Severus' door.

Once there, Severus returned to consciousness in his body and opened the door as though nothing happened. The entire incident with Hermione was unknown to him.

It had only taken Voldemort a few days to make Severus' possessions seamless.

The next morning at breakfast, Severus asked Hermione for her notes on the potion she'd been making for Ron. Hermione felt her face warm as soon as he said her name and hoped he didn't notice. He did.

After breakfast, they walked down to Hermione's office together. Severus noticed Hermione stealing glances at him as they walked quietly, and every so often she would brush up against him slightly. He immediately caught on, of course. She was young and probably spent most of her time after Hogwarts studying to get her Potions mistress certificate. No doubt she hadn't dated much, so she wasn't in tune with the fine art of subtlety. Still, he thought it was amusing that she was trying to get close to him.

When they arrived at Hermione's office he looked around. It used to be his office when he taught Potions. She'd made some changes, adding a very comfortable looking couch as well as a few feminine touches – a vase here, a few curtains there. He looked at her as she shuffled through the papers on her desk, trying to tidy the place up. It seemed she was slightly disorganized when it came to her desk, which was fine, since he tended to be the same way. Actually, his was a disorganized mess. He knew perfectly well what was on his desk, it just looked like hell.

He noticed Hermione looking through a small flat box behind her desk. He took a moment to study her features better, since she didn't know he was looking at her. But she did know.

Severus realized that it was getting easier and easier to think of her as a woman and not as a child or his former student. Her face had matured as well as her body. Hermione was a woman, and a pretty one, he decided. He took a seat on the couch and thought a bit more about her. The war had been over for ten years. The wizarding world was calmer and safer than ever. She also didn't seem repulsed by him. Actually, now that he thought about it, she smiled at him quite a bit. Perhaps he would attempt to flirt with her and see if she would reciprocate. Then he would know if he could go further. She was intelligent and responsible and if she accepted his advances, then he might at long last be able to have an open relationship with a woman. That was something he'd never been able to do in the past. Being a spy didn't make it easy for a man to have a relationship with a woman.

He'd seen what losing Narcissa did to Lucius. His friend had been devastated at the loss of his wife. Their marriage was an arranged one, but they both grew to love each other deeply. Narcissa could be snobbish at times, but she was always there whenever someone needed help.

"Here it is," Hermione said as she held up a yellow file and walked towards Severus.

He was jolted from his reverie and looked up at her as he took the file from her hands. As he did, their fingers lightly brushed against each other. Severus looked into Hermione's eyes.

She laughed softly, then tucked a long curl behind her ear. "I hope you can find where I've made my mistake."

"Nonsense," Severus said as he stood. "I'm sure there are no mistakes. Creating a potion for a specific ailment or person takes time. I'm sure all of your ingredients are correct. I'm guessing all you need would be a slight change in some measurements and brewing time." He smiled genuinely at her, hoping to ease her nervousness.

Hermione looked at him closely. The night before, when he came back to her door, he smiled at her, and he seemed almost predatory. Today, he seemed different; his eyes and posture were more relaxed.

"Anything you can add or change would be so helpful." Hermione walked to her desk and continued to shuffle papers around. Just standing next to him was giving her butterflies. "I hope you weren't put off by what Ron said. He can't help it."

"I know it isn't his fault. Actually, it wasn't any different than the things he used to say." His words didn't have any bite, and Hermione laughed.

"Somehow I always thought you would be the one to notice something like that."

They stared at one another uncomfortably for a few moments, then Severus waved the file in front of him and began to walk away.

"I suppose I should leave you to your grading, Hermione. I'll have a look at this today and let you know if I can help you work something out during lunch." He opened the door and walked out, not turning back to look at her. "Have a good morning."

Hermione sat at her desk and rested her chin on her hand. She looked in the direction he'd just gone. She imagined herself sitting with him in her favorite bookshop just down the street from her parents' home. In her mind's eye, she and Severus would be talking about books and theories and sharing some biscuits. Would he ever be interested in doing something so mundane with her, she wondered.

She shook her head and decided to get on with her grading. School would be out soon, and she wanted to make sure she wasn't sending out final grades at the last minute. Deciding the best thing to do would be to just let things happen, she dipped her quill in red ink, and began to scratch away.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

That's it for this chapter. As you can see, Voldemort is getting better at coming through, and both he and Severus have their sights set on Hermione.

I'm hoping to have chapter 6 finished soon and ready to post by the end of the week.

Thank you for reading.