Attracting Attention

I can finally acknowledge and say thank you to my beta, Southern_Witch_69. I owe a great deal of gratitude to her for all her help and support. Thanks to her infinite patience with me, I actually have something readable for you.

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Attracting Attention

~Spring 1977~

Severus bent over his cauldron as he stirred in his fenugreek, making Laxative Draft for Slughorn's Potions class. As per usual, Severus was in a friendly competition with Lily to see who could brew it better since they were not working in pairs today. Lily was already slicing her comfrey roots, and Severus smiled knowing that she was cutting them with perfect precision.

"Good for constipation, but tricky to make, eh, Evans?" Slughorn asked as he passed by her workspace.

Slughorn must be feeling a bit bloated today because this potion is hardly OWL level, let alone NEWT. Whatever. Three more turns and I'll add my comfrey leaves, then my roots, and be caught up to her. He was two steps behind Lily because he'd added an extra clockwise stir with every seven counter-clockwise movements and added peppermint to soothe the stomach and improve the taste, but his roots were already sliced, sitting in the dish all ready for him to add in. Still, his potion was the soft green it should be while Lily's was still slightly grey. He withdrew his long-handled spoon and dropped in his comfrey leaves, smiling as the potion foamed slightly then settled. The soft green color was perfect.

Lily was waiting for her potion to change, checking her shredded Cascara Sagrada bark. She looked at him and tried to peek into his cauldron, and he smiled, leaning back a moment to let her see. Her pout was adorable and he smirked at her. He added his roots, stirring the required five times and started shredding his Sagrada bark. Lily's potion began to froth and she lowered her flame. Damn, she's ahead of me! He added his shredded bark and watched his potion froth and settle, the color still perfect. Yes. He lowered his flame to let the potion simmer and finished his notes, adding the annotations of his additional steps and the deviations he'd made, smiling. Libatius Borage may be a celebrated author, but between Lily and me, we've improved each and every potion in the book. When I rewrite this book, updating these potions, I'll be famous! We'll be famous. Lily and Severus Snape, famous Potion masters extraordinaire! Lily finally extinguished her flame and began to ladle her potion. The color was a soft green but Severus knew his was better. He extinguished his flame and bottled his potion. He set his vial on the table as he pulled out his essay to turn them in and heard a crash as Black walked by his worktable.

"Black!" Lily exclaimed furiously. "How dare you!"

Black smirked and Severus swore.

"Black, did you?" Slughorn asked, and for a moment Severus thought that Black's little stunt would lose Gryffindor house points. "I'm sure it was unintentional."

Severus sighed. Of course not. Why wouldn't Black do something like this on purpose?

"It was an accident, Professor," Black said smoothly. "Snape must have set his vial too close to the edge of his desk."

Lily quickly handed him another vial, but the potion was thickening. "Here, you can still salvage your marks! Quick!"

He knew that the potion had to be removed from the hot cauldron immediately, or it'd thicken until it was as solid as bar soap. Damn.

Slughorn nodded to Black and looked at Severus as if trying to accept Black's version, but not really believing that Severus would be that careless. It was obvious it was warring with his conscious, knowing Severus wouldn't be that daft. "Well, accidents happen," Slughorn finally said. "Clean up your work area, Mr. Black."

The sample Severus took to the desk was a better color than Lily's but a thicker consistency. "Well, Mr. Snape, let's see then," Slughorn said, checking the potion. "Very well done, excellent color, too bad about the consistency... Left in the cauldron too long, I see. Miss Evans, good, very good, color's a touch off, but consistency is perfect...."

Severus knew; Lily would be given the higher points today. She was Slughorn's favorite.

Lily smiled at him as they walked back to their worktables. "If Black hadn't knocked your sample to the floor – you would've won. So I deem you the winner today."

"No, you won. I was careless to think – I shouldn't have set my potion that close to the edge of the worktable," he said with a slight snarl. "Never trust a Black."

"Oh, Sev, you know you didn't. I saw him... It wasn't your doing. You didn't place it that close – he did it on purpose," she said as she cleaned up her cauldron and counter top. She checked her work area and picked up her book. "So, how about a stroll to the library? Do you want to come with me?"

"I can think about half a dozen places I would want to take you," he said cheekily, hoping to go somewhere much more private. "But sure, the library."

"Okay, where," she asked, taking the bait.

"How about a quiet corner in the dungeons?" he asked. She shook her head, and he smiled, knowing she didn't like the dungeons. Mulciber and Avery were still planning a reprisal for the madder root powder Potter had dumped on them for cornering her again, giving them dandruff for a week. Mulciber and Avery had asked Severus for an antidote, but he'd said he didn't have all the ingredients and told them to get him some solarium and he would. Neither Mulciber nor Avery even knew what solarium was, so they weren't able to get him the ingredient. Finally, Avery gave him a Galleon to get the solarium and help them get rid of the dandruff. So, that's why it'd taken a week for Severus to make the antidote. "How about our tower room?" he asked with a smirk.

"We've only got about an hour, and I still need to revise for today's quiz. How about the lake, we could go down to the lake?" Lily asked. "I can get two butterbeers and I have Mum's biscuits? You could help me revise."

"Okay, sure." I'd prefer the dungeons or the tower. Potter, Black and company will be by the lake... "Whatever you want, Lily love." She smiled at him and quickly dismissed herself to get the offered refreshment. Severus watched her run off and turned to his common room to get her the Honeydukes malt balls she liked so much. He didn't see Black duck into a doorway behind him as he turned the corner that led to the Slytherin common room.

A half-hour later Severus was sitting next to Lily on the grass by the lakeshore, savoring a quick kiss. He let go of Lily's face as their kiss ended, smiling as he watched her, waiting until her eyes opened again. He loved the way she seemed to freeze when his kisses ended as if waiting, hoping that he hadn't stopped. Her eyelids fluttered open slowly, her dazed gaze meeting his stare, and he smiled as she blushed. He tenderly brushed a strand of her hair away from her face so he could see her eyes better. She ducked her head as she reached into her pocket and pulled two butterbeers out, handing him the first one. Severus uncapped the bottle, let the fizz settle, and took a big swig of the butterbeer, then grimaced. He rechecked the bottle, but the dark glass looked normal. However, the taste – it was really off.

He burped, and Lily looked at him, her face scrunched with concern. "What's wrong?"

"The butterbeer, where did you get it?" he asked. An odd tightening sensation seemed to clench in his gut.

"Eh, from Hogsmeade, I think," she replied.

Severus quickly placed his hand on her arm to stop her from drinking hers. "Did you by any chance get these from either Potter or Black?" he asked, then belched. Damn. Bloody hell... He belched again, feeling something give then tighten in his gut.

"Yes, but..." she said, looking at him worried.

He quickly dumped the contents on the grass. A thick, glutinous substance came out with the amber brew. "Don't drink it, Lily. It's been tampered," he warned, feeling like he was going to pass gas, "with."

"They wouldn't!"

"They did." He grabbed hers and poured the contents onto the grass. The liquid was normal. He checked the bottle, but it didn't look any different than his did. "Did – how...?" He suddenly knew. "Black gave you these bottles of butterbeer, didn't he?"

She placed her hand over her mouth. "Yes. He – gods, Sev! He put a potion in it, didn't he? But how could he know which one you'd get. Unless it was meant for me..."

"Your polite, Lily," he said, getting up and hoping he'd make it to his common room in time. "You always serve your guest first. You handed me the first one – I assume it was on top of the other one?" She nodded and he swore, turning to go. She rose quickly and followed him. "He gave them to you in the right order, it was meant for me." Severus knew he wouldn't make it, but he took off running all the same. Lily tried to keep up, called out his name, but Severus didn't listen. He was already planning his revenge. Before he reached the castle doors, and as his body reacted to the Laxative Potion, the retaliation he'd planned became even darker and more vengeful.

*

Severus managed to slip an extremely strong purgative and Bum-Engorgement Draught into a couple of brownies and laced them with a hallucinogen. He'd sent the box the following morning to Pettigrew, figuring he was thick enough to not only eat the treats but to also share them with his friends. All four had tried the brownies and had gotten quite sick, spending the night in the hospital wing. Unfortunately, Lily had found out and was livid. Lily had actually hexed him, stormed back up to her common room, and wouldn't come out until dinner. Not only that, but she refused to speak to him for the rest of the week. Severus tried sending owls and house-elves to give her notes, but the owls returned his unopened letters and the house-elves started refusing to deliver his notes.

He tried sending leaves, transfigured into flowers, but that didn't work either. He'd made about twenty three-inch lilies, telling the house-elf to leave them on her bed. He found out that she simply gave them to the first and second year girls, after Transfiguring them into hair clips. It was vexing to see his lilies in the hair of twenty first and second year girls at the Gryffindor table. Worst, Mulciber teased him about the flowers, taunting him that if he was trying to find a girlfriend, he'd be more than happy to match him up with a suitable Slytherin.

Finally, Severus brewed some of the shampoo and conditioner he made up, which had the same smell as her Muggle ones, but they were returned with a scathing note to 'use them yourself' and a Sticking Jinx on the bottles. It'd taken him several minutes to undo the jinx and free his hands, much to Avery's amusement. He'd been rather pissed off at her for that one for the rest of the week.

~Spring 1997~

"Hermione, where were you this morning?" Lavender asked as Hermione sat down at the table across from her friends.

Hermione had turned her head, looking at Snape just then, averting her eyes away from Ron snogging Lavender across the table from her. Finally, coming up for air from Ron's face? Actually, that isn't fair. Harry asked Ron a question about Quidditch, and Ron had unstuck himself long enough to turn and answer him. "I have a project I'm working on," she said noncommittally.

"But you're gone nearly every morning now," Lavender stated nosily. "I see you sneak out – well, I hear you dressing and leaving. You even take longer selecting your clothes than you usually do."

"I do not," she protested. Circe! She notices? I'll have to ward the space beside my bed from now on...

"And you're wearing fancy knickers now, too. Do you have a beau? Is that where you go?" Lavender persisted.

"No, Lavender, I have a project I'm doing for extra credit," Hermione said, her eyes darting to Ginny, who was sitting on the other side of Harry, deep in the discussion about the upcoming game between the Harpies and Tornados. She looked away, not wanting to look at Lavender, and her eyes sought out Snape. He's staring at me, she thought, watching his gaze linger on her before his gaze swept up the Gryffindor table and over to the Hufflepuffs.

"You don't go to the library – it's not open that early. So where do you go? You used to just sit in your bed and read, or finish your essays and revise the chapters of your books... but lately... It's because of Ron and me, isn't it?"

"No, Lavender, it's because I'm working on a project," Hermione insisted, grabbing toast and a heap of bacon, rolling them in her napkin and leaving the table. She had to end this conversation. No one was to know that she spent nearly every morning with Severus either in his office or in his lab. We are getting nowhere, trying to find a way to break the curse of the tower, and frequently we simply end up brewing potions together. Ironically, morning was becoming her favorite time of her day.

"Hermione?" Harry asked.

Hermione pulled the slice of toast from her mouth. "Harry, I didn't finish my Defense essay. I'm just going to the library."

Harry nodded and waved her off with a knowing smile. "Sure, I'll see you in class then."

"Thanks, Harry, I'll see you later." She glanced at the High Table and immediately caught Professor Snape watching her. Sighing, she turned and hurried to the library before class.

~Spring 1977~

He shouldn't have gotten so mad about Lupin. They'd only been studying together, but seeing their heads so close to each other pissed me off. It was ridiculous to be jealous of Lupin. He knew that they were only friends, nothing more, but it still irked him to see them together.

He knew that Lupin was a werewolf. He had no proof except for his unexplained disappearances each month the day of the full moon and the fact that he was always sick the day after. Severus had been keeping careful calculations of the lunar calendar, and he knew precisely when the moon would be full and what time of day the full moon would rise. And frequently Potter and Black could be spied, sneaking from the castle on those evenings. But surely Potter and Black wouldn't be so thick as to try and watch Lupin change? That would be ludicrous! Still he'd tried to warn Lily before, many times, about Lupin...

Severus looked up at the huge clock in the clock tower. It was four-twenty-five. The moon is going to rise at four-fifty today. He checked his lunar calculations just to be sure. Yes, the moon was due to rise in only half an hour. He'd seen Lupin walk down to the hospital wing shortly after Charms, but he hadn't looked any different. Madam Pomfrey had met Lupin in the corridor and guided him down to the end of the corridor, and they'd disappeared. They didn't go to the hospital wing after all. She's putting him somewhere else, hiding a werewolf inside a room in the unused southwest tower possibly or down the tunnel under the Whomping Willow. It wasn't safe, keeping something that dangerous in a tunnel. Even with that vicious tree, Lupin could escape.

It made him angry, being forced to accept the danger of living in the castle with a werewolf. Anyone could get bitten, even Lily! Severus ran down the first floor corridor toward the stairs to go to the library and spotted Lily hurrying down the marble staircase, heading for the Entrance Hall. He'd just reached the stairs as Lily was leaving the castle. Not tonight, you can't! "Lily, wait," he called out as soon as he passed through the huge oak doors. She didn't turn around. Damn.

Well, I can protect her at least. He'd been reading up on werewolves, and his Sectumsempra spell would work on a werewolf, it had to. Besides I've gotten really proficient with it and can slice a tail off a salamander now. That or I could always use my Deiciocontortum Hex, which will hurl someone several feet away with a fairly good amount of force, enough to really hurt a wizard. He didn't know how it would do against a werewolf, but it would fling the creature away and knock it to the ground really hard. Severus had cracked large rocks with this spell. "Lily, wait, not tonight," he called after her.

"Not, tonight what, Sev?" she asked, turning around. "What do you want?"

"It's going to be a full moon..."

"Oh, Circe, not that again," she huffed and started walking away. "I told you, Headmaster Dumbledore and the school governors would not allow a werewolf in school."

"How about in the forest? Ever consider that?" he asked. Merlin's beard, I sound like a wet prat!

'The Forbidden Forest?" she asked, looking at him exacerbated. "I'm not going into the forest! I'm going down to the lake!"

"Then I'm going with you," he announced authoritatively.

"Oh, bloody gorgons, why?" she asked. "I'm not going swimming, and if I did, I can fend my own against the squid!"

"Maybe I just want to hang out with you," he stated. "At least talk to me."

"You really hurt those guys, Sev. Pettigrew started hexing everyone, and as house prefect, I had to try and stop him, protect the other kids. I was hexed pretty badly. I got hurt by your stunt – me!" She looked at him, her green eyes staring at him as if trying to read his soul. "Don't do it again."

"Merlin's beard, Lily! I didn't know," he said, hanging his head. "Circe, I'm sorry!"

Exasperated, Lily turned and started to walk away. "I cannot do this, Sev." Severus followed her, listening to her rave, knowing that if he commented, defended his actions she'd storm off again and refuse to see him. "You and I – I really care about you – I don't want us to keep fighting, but you are hanging around the wrong sort, and you don't like who I associate with. It's going to tear us apart." They walked in silence, although this silence was good silence, awkward – but very much like things used to be – sort of. Severus scooped up some shale rocks from the lakeshore and chucked one across the surface of the lake making it skip twice.

"Oh, you can do better than that," she teased him, though her voice wasn't as light as it usually was when she did. "Give me one."

He handed her a rock with a grin and watched as her rock bounced only once. "Oh, yes, much better. You really should show me the technique." He chucked another, watching as it skipped three times.

"Oh, give me another one," she said with a smile and tried to skip it across the surface. It skipped twice.

"Not bad," he said with a smirk as his next rock skipped three times again.

~Spring 1997~

Snape entered the classroom, his robes billowing out behind him. Hermione had just stowed her bag under her chair and quickly opened her book, waiting for him to address the class. "Please open to page three hundred twenty-four," he said, turning to hand back their essays. His dark eyes scanned the room, lingering on Hermione a moment longer than he usually did, although no one seemed to notice. As Snape passed by her desk, she heard Harry exclaim softly regarding the 'dismal' written across the top of his parchment. Hermione turned hers over and was barely able to read, 'I'm sorry I snapped at you' before it faded from the top corner of her essay, and a 'barely acceptable' took its place.

She seethed about his grade and yet, pondered over the message, hardly believing that the words had really been there. It could've been a trick of the light, the angle I held the parchment. Surely, he didn't apologize about snapping at me? He snaps at me all the time. She hung back at the end of class to ask him, taking a deep breath before approaching his desk.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" he asked without looking up.

"Sir, on my essay..."

He sat up, his dark eyes meeting hers, his fingers steepled in front of him as he watched her, and she swallowed the lump she felt from his intense stare. "If after all these years of being in my classes you have not figured this out, let me be perfectly clear, Miss Granger. I'd prefer to read your opinion, supported by evidentiary materials," he said smoothly as he rose and walked around to the other side of his desk to stand directly in front of her. "Your hypothesis and your thoughts, not have the books quoted back to me. I've already read the books. I know what they say. I'm interested in reading what you have to say."

Hermione was momentarily taken back. "No, I mean the other, the..." She didn't want to say apology. "Message. I didn't – it wasn't... Thank you."

"Do I still make you nervous, Hermione?" he asked softly, watching her intently. "I'd have thought by now you'd have gotten over that."

She smiled and relaxed slightly. "Some habits die hard."

"Yes, they do, don't they? Others simply fall to the wayside inconveniently," he said smoothly, crossing his arms. "Why did you leave breakfast so quickly this morning?"

"I didn't' finish my essay..." she started to say, then lowered her eyes. "I wanted to be somewhere else."

She looked up at him, realizing that he hadn't stopped staring at her. The silence stretched until she felt the need to speak. "I wanted to go to the tower room, but I went to the library instead."

"Why?" he asked softly.

She swallowed and returned his gaze. "Too see you, be with you, I suppose."

"But I was in the Great Hall," he said with an amused smirk.

Hermione squared her shoulders and stared back into his dark eyes. "I preferred more mature company and wanted to be somewhere else at the time. I wanted to... be with you."

He reached out and gently gripped her chin in his fingers. "Why?"

Hermione had no idea what to say. She looked up into his dark, unfathomable eyes and wished she did know him, really knew him. A jumble of thoughts flickered in her mind as she contemplated his question: every moment she'd had in his company, her thoughts about him before she fell asleep each night, and even a few of her dreams. The corner of his mouth curled upwards slightly, and she lowered her gaze, suddenly aware she'd been staring at him again. "I just want to be near you. I..."

"You hardly know me, Hermione," he stated.

She licked her lip nervously. "You don't let me get to know you," she replied.

"And you think you want to?" he asked, and she nodded. "Why? You know me as well as any and far more than most."

She smiled. "But I want to get to know you, as a person, as a friend, not just... intimately."

"Be careful what you wish for around here, Miss Granger," he said softly, crossing his arms as his next class filed in. "Rewrite your paper and give it to me tomorrow. If, and I mean if, your writing has improved, I'll award you the higher grade. Now, leave."

*

Hermione was sitting on the windowsill again, sipping on her tea trying to rationalize the feelings she'd been having. She couldn't stop thinking about Severus. She dreamed about him at night, thought about him while she was reading, eating and walking to class, and in her bath. In her bath and at night, she'd tried fingering herself in hopes of creating the same sensations he'd given her when he'd touched her. She could create the building pressure, but not the mind-blowing release, and when she did have a release of sorts, it wasn't the same, not as intense. Only schoolwork kept her from thinking about Severus, but it took all her efforts to concentrate. Luckily, none of her professors noticed.

The door to the room opened, and Hermione turned, not the least bit surprised to see Severus enter the room. He stopped, the door latch still in his grasp as if contemplating whether to enter or leave. Hermione sighed and turned back to the window. She heard his boot steps as he crossed the room and stood over her.

"Hermione," he said finally, breaking the silence.

She could see him reflected in the glass against the dark sky, just a narrow part of his face: the dark eyes, nose and his lips as if he were an apparition. "I know. I shouldn't be here." She could feel him and wanted nothing more than to stand and embrace him, kiss him, touch him...

He leaned over her, placing his hand on the glass for balance, cupping her face with is other hand. "Then why are you?" he asked as Hermione leaned her cheek against his palm and closed her eyes. "Hermione?"

Her mind went blank as his fingers caressed her cheek and slid down her neck. All she could think about was what he could do with those fingers. "Uh-huh." She turned, dropping her legs off the windowsill to face him. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "I don't know. I wanted..."

His dark penetrating stare sent shivers through her. Severus Snape was gazing down at her, eyes glinting, and she couldn't tear her eyes from his. "You shouldn't have come up here," he said softly as she watched his face move closer to hers.

"I waited until nighttime," she said, closing her eyes just as his lips nearly reached hers. She waited, anticipating his kiss, wanting it so much. She opened her eyes and noticed that he'd pulled away from her. She exhaled slowly and swallowed, wondering why he'd changed his mind. He was still close, leaning into her and she could smell the herbs and smoke that added to his scent. She inhaled deeply, and her senses seemed to spin slightly.

His lips curled into a smirk. "I know," he said, his breath caressing her skin, and his lips brushed gently against hers.

It was maddening, the gentle, teasingly soft kiss. Hermione tried to sit up straighter and kiss him, but he moved away as she did. His fingers slipped down to her front as he opened her blouse, and she moaned.

She reached out to fumble with his buttons, and he laughed at her attempts. He pulled her up onto her feet and allowed her to remove his coat and shirt as he opened her blouse, cupping her breasts, his thumbs teasing her nipples through the lace of her bra.

"You come up in the mornings," she said, fumbling with is belt. She slid the zipper down, and as his trousers fell away, she suddenly realized that he didn't have any pants on underneath.

His fingers slid down her body to her jeans. "Not since you started to come to my office every morning," he said, lowering himself down her body, trailing kisses as he pulled her jeans and knickers down to her ankles. "I shouldn't do this," he said silkily, just before his tongue licked her, and she gasped, grabbing onto his shoulders for balance, as his hands gripped her hips holding her against his mouth. She wanted to open her legs and give him full access, enjoying what he was doing.

In minutes her breathing became harsh, her knees weak, and she sank onto her knees, as she climaxed, and into his arms. She placed a kiss on his lips, seeking entrance to his mouth with her tongue, tasting herself as he opened his mouth to her, and stroked his tongue over hers. "I could leave," she lied, drawing back slightly, and his mouth lowered to her shoulder.

He looked up at her, one eyebrow arched challengingly, and smirk played up on his lips "You won't get out, and you know it," he said, lowering her to the floor.

Hermione was stunned to feel a soft, cushioned pad under her.

Severus moved over her, his erection grinding against her thigh, and Hermione opened her legs to let him position himself at her entrance. "Not until the room decides you and I have gone far enough forward," he said, stroking himself against her moist lips, and she tried to raise her hips to meet him, wanting him inside her. He chuckled when she moaned with desire to have him enter her, and he pushed into her, filling her.

His girth and length, as the books had called it, was deliciously satisfying as he withdrew and reentered slowly. He felt so good inside her now, and she groaned again as he plunged into her. "How much more forward can we go?" she asked, her fingers trailing on his skin, her mind focused on the sensual rhythm of his movements.

"Merlin, girl, you are innocent," he said in his deep silky drawl, and he nipped at her chin. "I suppose you want to find out, don't you? You'd let me do whatever I wanted to do with you, wouldn't you?" He kissed her and bent down to suckle on her breast.

"Yes. Keep this up and yes... anything!" she answered him.

He leaned up, his plunges more urgent as she lifted her hips to meet him. She tried to urge him faster, tried to control the pace, and he laughed. Gripping her tightly, he moved with her, increasing his movements, his dark eyes looking down at her as her climax built again and released. Severus shifted slightly his hand going down to her sensitized nub, caressing her as he moved. She inhaled sharply, both in pleasure and from feeling too tight to relax. She was so sensitive it was nearly painful. His fingers made firm strokes that sent sharp jolts through her post climatic body the pressure inside her intensified with his movements and she tried to halt him, make him stop.

He laughed as he watched her struggle. "No, Hermione, feel. I want to see you come again."

She tried to lift up and kiss him, and his fingers cupped her head, helping her, his kiss as forceful as his movements. Her head fell back, her body tense and tight as the sensations seemed to swell inside her, every nerve in her body straining. When her climax came, it was as if her entire body gave into him. Severus' growl was nearly feral, and he thrust into her one last time as he climaxed, his body pinning her. She looked up at him, and his shoulders were shaking just before he collapsed on top of her. "Circe, girl, what you do to me," he growled silkily in her ear, and she wrapped her arms around him protectively, feeling rather smug herself.

*

A few days later, Hermione was scurrying back from Potions class after spending a few extra minutes with Professor Slughorn to ask him about her antidote. She'd just rounded a corner when she ran smack into Professor Snape. His hand reached out automatically to keep her from knocking him over, but instead of holding her at arm's length, he pulled her into him, almost into an embrace, his head leaning forward as if to kiss her in the middle of the corridor. Swearing, he pulled her by the arm into the nearest doorway, pulling her back into his arms as he waved his wand behind her back. His mouth descended on hers in a crushing kiss, taking her breath away.

"Sir, we'll get caught... We'll be seen," she stammered as his kisses trailed to her neck, making her insides melt.

"I'm no fool. I've set up wards, Disillusionment Charm, Repelling Charms," he growled lustily, astounding her. He crushed her against the wall, and his hands slid up her sides to cup her breasts. "Damn," he said stopping abruptly. "I'm sorry, Miss Granger, I..."

"Don't mind in the slightest," she finished for him, her book bag falling on the floor as she stood on her toes to kiss him, flinging her arms around his neck.

"Merlin's beard, girl! I'll be flogged for this," he said before surrendering into her kiss.

"Might as well be hanged for a dragon as an egg," she replied, unabashedly nipping at his lips.

He growled, claiming her mouth roughly, and she closed her eyes, savoring his kiss. "Enough," he snapped breathlessly. "I have class and so do you. Be in my office after dinner." He kissed her hungrily once more and released her, quickly pulling away and leaving.

Hermione stood transfixed in the doorway, watching him walk away and disappear around a corner, trying to catch her breath.

"Miss Granger, are you all right?" Professor Slughorn asked, stopping to stare at her.

Hermione looked up startled to see him there. "Oh, yes, Professor. Never better," she said before running for her next class, feeling an odd sense of elation. He wants me – he really wants me! She knew she was grinning and couldn't help it. I'm having an affair with Severus Snape!

~ T B C ~>

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Author's Notes: