Making Your Calculations

Professor Snape stormed into his office and slammed the door behind him as the students scurried out of his classroom. He cast a silencing spell, and when he was sure he wasn't in danger of any students overhearing him, he let out a roar of laughter.

It was slightly embarrassing that Miss Granger bested two of his Slytherin students, but he couldn't help but see the humor in the situation. Seeing Draco collide into Pansy and bring them both down into a heap of naked limbs on the floor was one of the funniest things Severus had ever seen.

He also couldn't help but be impressed by the display of wandless magic Miss Granger had displayed. Merlin, but that girl was powerful! Most of the students would not go much further than Protego in wandless magic; not every wizard or witch had the capability to do what Miss Granger had done today. Most students were too accustomed to using their wands and rarely got out of the habit.

Wandless magic was basically a form of elemental magic, and not everyone had the power or commitment needed to tap into the elements.

He briefly thought that she would be an excellent test subject for the potion he was researching currently, not that he would ever admit that to her. Perhaps one of her nights of detention could be used by testing his potion.

Severus grimaced and let out a small groan. He had given the girl two weeks of detention. That also meant that he was condemned for two weeks, every night spent with an annoying girl who was deluded into thinking she was his soul mate.

How am I to keep her busy every night for two weeks? How am I to keep her from prattling on every night for two weeks?

**

Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table and filled her plate for dinner. She wondered if she would be grading papers again tonight for Severus. She had decided that, at least in her own head, she would get used to calling him Severus rather than 'sir' or 'Professor.' After all, they were going to end up together, and she would need to feel comfortable calling him by his first name.

She hid a smile; his name sounded so strange, even in her own head.

''Mione, you were brilliant today in DADA, but it stinks that Snape was so hard on you!' Ron exclaimed, shaking his head. 'I'm just glad I don't have to spend the next two weeks with Toby the Bat!'

Harry laughed at Ron's use of his newest nickname for Snape.

'What are you going to do, Hermione?' Neville asked in an awed voice, clearly terrified of the thought of spending every night for two whole weeks with Snape.

'I'll be fine, you guys. I told you, last time all I had to do was grade papers for him. That's not so bad.'

She looked into matching expressions of incredulity after saying that; the boys clearly were not convinced.

She gave up trying to convince them that she would be okay and finished her dinner. Snape wouldn't appreciate it if she was late, and it was almost seven.

She hurried to his office and knocked once before hearing an austere 'Enter' from behind the door. She walked into his office and took a seat opposite his desk. Snape was writing notes on what looked to be the same potion he had been working on the other night, and he finished what he was writing before looking up at Hermione.

'Miss Granger, what were you thinking when you pulled that stunt in class today?'

'Well... er... I don't know, sir. It was an impulse of sorts,' she said in a hesitant voice.

She hadn't had the foresight to think up a good story and would have to wing it. She inwardly berated herself. She had been so proud when she came up with her plan; after all, she was using Slytherin ways to catch a Slytherin. She just hadn't figured all the angles.

'An impulse?' he said, interrupting her thoughts. 'How very Gryffindor of you.' The sneer in his voice made Gryffindor sound like the worst insult he could bestow on a person.

'Well, yes, sir.... Er... didn't you think it was even just a little funny?'

He scowled at her. 'Miss Granger, Defense class is not for your entertainment and needs to be taken seriously. Now, since you are so fond of displaying your aptitude for wandless magic, you will write an essay for your detention. I want six feet detailing how one would draw magic from each of the four elements. You may start.'

After setting her assignment, he looked back down at his parchment and went back to making his notes.

Hermione retrieved some parchment and a quill from her bag and began writing. The essay he assigned was long, but the subject matter would be easy enough for her. Last summer she had started reading everything she could about elemental magic. At the time, she had hoped it would aid in the search for the Horcruxes; Harry had mentioned Dumbledore's use of elemental magic in the cave when they searched for the locket. Harry had been very impressed with the power that Dumbledore had displayed. It had helped them to locate the Horcruxes faster, but she had also learned that she had a natural ability to tap into the elements. The subject had fascinated her, and she had been practicing elemental magic on her own for the last year.

In the end, Hermione used seven feet of parchment for her essay. Once she had gotten started, she couldn't help but cover everything she had researched. Once she finished, she brought the parchment up to Snape's desk.

'Professor, I've finished my essay,' she said, holding out the rolled-up parchment.

He looked up at her in surprise; he had expected it would take her at least one more hour. I'm going to have to think up better detentions for her.

Her eyes were shining, and it occurred to him that the girl had probably enjoyed it. He held out his hand for the parchment.

'You are dismissed for the evening, Miss Granger, but I expect you back here tomorrow.'

'Yes, sir. Of course,' she answered. 'Er... can I ask you something, sir?'

'If you must, but make it quick,' he answered in a voice that implied he was doing her the greatest of favors.

'It's just that elemental magic is really interesting, and I would love to hear what you have to say about it all. Can you tap into the elements, sir? I know not everybody has that ability, but Harry said that Dumbledore could. I read in...'

He interrupted her before she could describe the article she had read in one of her journals.

'I do have the ability, Miss Granger.'

'Sir, is there a way to tell if someone has the ability? Because if you could do that...'

'Miss Granger, I answered your question. Now, you are dismissed.'

Hermione sighed; getting him to talk was like pulling teeth.

At least he answered the one question. That could probably be considered progress when dealing with Professor Snape.

'Goodnight, sir,' she said, turning to go.

**

Over the next few days, Hermione and Snape had established a routine of sorts. When she got into detention the next day, he gave her a stack of parchments to grade. She felt a twinge of disappointment at this, hoping that she would get another assignment like her elemental magic essay, but she just took the parchments from him and started grading. After that, she graded essays for each of his first-, second-, and third-year classes. She would walk in the door each evening, and he would point to a stack of parchment, and she would sit and start grading. By the fifth night of detentions, she realized that she wasn't making any progress. She had barely even spoken to Professor Snape since the first detention, except to say, 'good evening, sir' or 'I'm finished, sir,' or, every once in a while, she could get away with some sort of comment about an essay she was grading.

Hardly what she would call progress.

After her detention on Friday night, she went back to her room feeling utterly frustrated. Her first week was almost over, and she hadn't gotten any closer to convincing Severus that they were meant to be together.

She started pacing the length of her room; she needed to think of something. She only had nine days left of her two-week detention period. She briefly considered trying to get detention again, but decided that would be too obvious.

He would probably assign me another two weeks of detention to be served with Filch this time, she thought to herself.

The part of her that was starting to feel just a little desperate considered just flat out trying to seduce the man. She had a vision of herself showing up for detention wearing nothing but a black thong and heels under her school robes. She could just walk in, drop her robes and ask him for a 'close, personal tutoring session.'

Hermione laughed to herself. He probably wouldn't even notice. She could walk in completely starkers, and he would point to a stack of parchment and tell her to hurry up. She sighed. She needed to come up with a good idea, not rubbish.

Tomorrow was Saturday, and she was pretty sure he didn't have anymore essays to be graded. Maybe if she could come up with a really good question, something that could start a debate between them... maybe he would talk to her then?

She thought back to the first day of detention. She had done that essay on elemental magic. He had the abilities to draw upon it, and so did she. That was one thing they had in common.

'That could work,' she said aloud to nobody in particular. She grabbed her book bag and headed towards the library. She would need to research more about elemental magic so she could come up with enough conversation to keep Severus interested. If none of this worked, well then, she would go back to her idea of the black thong and heels.

**

Severus took a large sip of coffee as he made his way through the last of his notes on his new potion. He allowed himself a small smile; everything seemed to be in order, and now, all he had to do was start testing the potion. He looked up for a minute and looked around the empty office. He had gotten so used to Miss Granger's presence these last few days that now, when he was finally alone, his office seemed too empty. She had proved herself surprisingly adept at grading the essays for his lower-level classes, and once they had found a routine of sorts, things had been working quiet well. He was grateful for the extra time it freed up now that she was doing his work for him.

He grimaced. Tomorrow he would need to come up with something new. There was no more homework for her to grade this week.

After reading her essay at the beginning of the week, Snape had been tempted to ask her questions about what she had written. She had made a number of insightful observations in her essay, and he was impressed in spite of himself.

He thought back to her display of wandless magic in class. If she continued to develop her skills, she would be a formidable witch. She could also be a great help in the testing of his new potion. He needed someone who had the ability to tap into the elements. He wondered if there was a way to get her help without showing that he needed it.

Snape smirked. He was the head of Slytherin after all.

**

Hermione dressed carefully for her detention. Nobody was expected to wear their uniforms on weekends, so she hoped she could make Severus see her in a different light. She wore a pair of her tightest jeans and a dark v-neck shirt.

Not exactly a black thong, but a little cleavage couldn't hurt, right?

She would just need to make sure she got the opportunity to ask Professor Snape her questions about elemental magic. He had answered that one question before at her first detention after all. If she could just get a conversation started, if she could just convince him to talk with her like an equal, she knew she could make him interested in her as more than just a know-it-all Gryffindor student.

When Hermione entered his office, expecting him to once again be at his desk, she was surprised to see him standing over a steaming cauldron.

He was working on a potion, she thought to herself as she remembered the notes she had seen him taking earlier.

He still was a Potions master, even if he no longer taught the subject.

'Good evening, sir,' she said as she sat down at the work table near his cauldron.

'Miss Granger,' he said without looking up from his work.

'What's that you're working on, Professor? Is it a new potion?' She leaned over to get a better look inside the cauldron.

He scowled at her for a minute and then put down his stirring rod.

'It's not really your business, Miss Granger, but yes, it's a new potion I have been developing.'

She got out of her seat and walked to get a closer look at the cauldron and the ingredients he was using. She leaned over to pick up a half empty vial of some sort of herb. As she leaned over, Snape couldn't help but glance down where her shirt gaped to reveal a small bit of black lace. He glanced away immediately, but felt his eyes drawn back to that 'V' in the front of her shirt. Part of him missed the standard Hogwarts' uniform and part of him felt eternally grateful for the casual clothes most students adopted on the weekend.

'I don't recognize all of these ingredients. Could you tell me about your potion, sir?'

He was quiet for a minute as he considered her question. She was standing across the cauldron from him, and she gave him an eager look and smiled hopefully. In response, he deepened his scowl.

'I've been working on a potion that will enhance a witch's or wizard's use of elemental magic. That ingredient there that you didn't recognize is called ginseng root.'

Her eyes widened; this was a perfect lead in to all the research she had done the night before. 'I know what ginseng is! My mum used to make me take it every morning with my vitamins. Isn't it supposed to help you focus more or increase brain activity?'

'You are correct, Miss Granger. Growing up as a Muggle seems to have some benefits.'

Hermione couldn't help but smile; she could almost look at what he said as a compliment of sorts.

He is actually speaking with me! she thought. This is going better than how I had planned it!

'Perhaps, for the next few detentions, I could help you with your potion? I could maybe even help you test it. I do have ability to tap into elemental magic; you could start testing it right away,' she said, trying to tempt him.

Perfect, Snape thought to himself. She is doing exactly what I hoped!

He felt a surge of pride at using such basic Slytherin principals to get her to do what he wanted.

'Okay, Miss Granger, we will try it just for tonight. But, if you do anything wrong or fail to follow my instructions, I will make sure the rest of your detentions are served with Mr. Filch.'

She nodded eagerly. 'I promise to do exactly as you say, sir,' she said, trying to hold back a smug smile.

***********

A/N: This is a short story that will end after four chapters and an epilogue. I want to thank you all for your reviews. I only hope that I fulfill your expectations for the rest of this story!