A Kiss and Beyond

He didn't even blink when she popped into view. He had only been here for a few minutes before she appeared.

'Hello Severus.' She too didn't sound at all surprised to see him there.

He inclined his head towards her. 'Hermione.'

'Where are we tonight, then?'

He gestured around him and shrugged.

She looked around at the white before going through the same investigations he had just completed. She stomped her feet, jumped, and then walked around with her arms outstretched in front of her.

She finally came to sit in front of him, mimicking his cross- legged position.

'It's all white.'

'I can see that, Hermione.'

'Maybe this is your dream.'

'Why would I dream about white?'

'Well, I certainly wouldn't dream about just white. I have more interesting things going on in my head.'

He snorted.

'Next time, concentrate on something nicer when you dream. This white area is boring.'

'For the last time, Hermione, this is not my dream. It must be yours.'

She sighed, holding up her hands.

'I don't want to have the same argument with you, even if it is reversed.'

He scowled and crossed his arms.

'The dream you looks exactly like the real you,' he mumbled.

'Pardon?'

'I said, the dream version of you looks exactly like the real you. I checked today in class.'

'You checked? What do you mean? Why would I look different?'

'Details, Miss Granger. I'm talking about the little details that I never noticed before.'

'Like what?'

He grimaced for a minute before answering.

'A dream or two ago, I noticed that your eyes have gold flecks in them and that your lashes are quite long. Today in class I took a minute to look at your eyes, and they match the dream you's eyes perfectly.'

She smiled. 'I'm flattered that you noticed my eyes, Severus. This also proves to me that you are indeed just a dream version of the real you.'

He raised his eyebrows.

'The real Severus Snape would never be this nice to me. He hates me.'

'Why do you think he hates you?'

'Well, I'm Harry's best friend and I annoy him in class. Besides, he's a git.'

He shot her an affronted look.

'Despite what you might assume, Hermione, he-I don't hate you just because you are friends with Mr. Potter.'

'Well, the real you certainly acts like it.'

'No, the real me used to act like it. When I had to. Remember, I was a spy and couldn't have the Slytherins running home telling their parents that I was cozying up to a Muggle-born. Can you honestly say that I have treated you any differently than the other students this year?'

'No, I guess not.' She said after thinking about it for a minute. It was true. Snape was still the strictest teacher, but he was far more neutral this year than what she had seen in the past.

'You don't even favor the Slytherins anymore, do you?'

He shrugged. 'There's no need, anymore.'

'Okay, you're right. The real Snape has changed a lot this year. I still maintain that he would not treat me the way you are right now.'

'And, you are far different from the Miss Granger who attends my Potions class.'

'What? No, I'm not.'

'The Miss Granger of my potions class is an annoying little know- it- all who is constantly waving her hand in the air. What's more, she would never spend time with me because she is too busy fawning over Potter and Weasley.'

'That's not at all fair! You accuse me of using the past to make my judgments about the real you. I admit that the hand-waving may have been annoying my first few years, but I really toned it down in the last few. Besides, I don't fawn over Harry and Ron. I hardly ever see them anymore, what with their being in Auror Academy this year.'

'Ah yes, the future Aurors. Tell me, how are you getting along with your boyfriend so far away and busy?'

'My boyfriend?' she shrugged. 'Oh, Ron. Actually we broke up before I started school.'

'Indeed, and everyone says you are the perfect couple.' His voice was mocking.

'We are too much like brother and sister. It just didn't work when we tried to shift into a more romantic relationship.'

'I'm glad to hear you say it, but I doubt the real Hermione Granger feels the same way.'

She rolled her eyes.

'I am the real Hermione Granger and you'll only know if you ask me. In real life, not in dreams.'

He chuckled. 'This does have the tendency to get a bit confusing.'

She smiled in response. 'Yes, it does. It's just that I've already begun to separate you from the Snape who teaches Potions. You're the dream Snape.'

'I doubt I'm anyone's "dream" anything, Hermione.

'Well, I've resigned to myself to the fact that I will continue to dream of you for a while now, and I think I will just let myself enjoy the dreams.'

He nodded. 'They are more pleasant than the ones I was having.'

'You were having nightmares?'

He hesitated, looking away into the white.

'Come on, Severus, this is just a dream. It's not like you're admitting anything to me for real.'

He tilted his head to the side, considering this.

'True. Yes, I was having nightmares. I have been, in fact, since I was released from St. Mungo's.'

She nodded. 'Me too. Every night I would wake up in a cold sweat, dreaming about different aspects of the final battle. Different people who died: Moody, Fred, Remus and Tonks.'

'I would see you walking.'

She nodded. 'I walked until I was so tired it would ensure that I got at least a few hours of dreamless sleep.'

He nodded in understanding.

They both fell into silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

'Severus?'

'Yes?'

'I like talking to you.'

'I admit that I enjoy speaking with you as well.'

'I really had fun at the bookstore. I think that was my favorite dream.'

He smirked, turning up one corner of his mouth.

~~~~~~~~SSHG~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SSHG~~~~~~~~~~

'Starbucks, this time! This one is definitely mine.'

'At least it's not another one of your white dreams.'

'The white was yours, Severus.'

She smiled at the now familiar argument. She had been meeting him in her dreams for a few weeks now, and that argument had become a joke between them.

'Come on, I'll buy you a coffee.' He said with a smirk.

They walked to the counter where two coffees popped into existence. There was nobody working there. As always in their recent dreams, they were the only two people there.

They sat in two squishy armchairs in a corner.

'So what should we talk about tonight?' Hermione asked.

They had experienced a number of dreams and had talked extensively over a number of subjects. Both avid readers, they had read a lot of the same books, both Muggle and magical. Hermione had been pleased to find that they had quite a lot in common.

Severus took a sip of his coffee and raised his eyebrows at her.

'I don't know why that surprised me. Of course you do.'

Her smile still in place, she sent him a coquettish wink.

He smiled at her audacity.

'You're quite handsome when you smile.'

His smile immediately down-turned into a frown.

'Oh, stop! Remember, this is a dream, it's not real. Just accept my compliment. You are a handsome man and it's more apparent when you let yourself smile like that.'

'Fine. I ... thank you for the compliment,' he said stiffly.

'You know,' she reached over and touched the roots of his hair, 'you really are a good looking man. All you need is a better shampoo and maybe some time at the dentist.'

'Hermione, what are you...'

'Shhh. I'm just touching your hair.'

'It's hardly appropriate.'

'Dream, remember? I'm pretty sure this is my dream, so I get to do what I want. I want to touch your hair.'

He was quiet as she threaded her fingers through his hair.

'I used to have a crush on you.'

He snorted.

'No, really I did. Back in fifth year after I had learned you were a spy. It just seemed so incredibly brave, like James Bond or something.'

'James who?'

'James Bond is a character from a Muggle movie. He was a spy who worked for the British government.' She had leaned forward to get a better grasp of his hair, and he could feel her breath on his face.

'Do you always compare the people in your life to characters in movies?'

'I suppose I do.' She kept one hand anchored in his hair, while the other one started to trace the features of his face.

'You have beautiful eyes.' She said in a low voice as she traced her fingertip over first one and then the other eyebrow.

'Beautiful eyes, a deep sexy voice...'

'Hermione...' His voice sounded apprehensive.

'Severus, I want to kiss you now.'

'No you ca –'

She cut him off by leaning forward and covering his mouth with hers. His lips were closed for a moment, keeping the kiss chaste. She ran her tongue over his bottom lip and his lips parted, gaining her tongue entrance into his mouth.

It had been twenty minutes and still no sign of him.

With a sob, she sat abruptly on the ground, bowing her head and covering her eyes as the tears started to fall. She hadn't realized what he had come to mean to her in the past few weeks. The dreams with him were pleasant and enjoyable. Perhaps she had taken it too much for granted. She just expected him to be there when she closed her eyes now. She frowned a little as her tears subsided. Was it healthy to be this dependent on a dream? It would eventually have to end, wouldn't it? Or would she be dreaming of her Potions professor for the rest of her life?

'What's wrong?'

Severus' deep voice interrupted her thoughts, and she cried out, startled by the sound.

'Severus!' She scrambled to her feet. 'I thought you weren't coming. You weren't here and it's been almost half an hour.'

She ran to him and threw her arms around him in relief. He stiffened at first before relaxing and returning her embrace.

She held him tightly for a minute before pulling back and looking up into his eyes.

'I can't understand why you "arrive" at a different time from me. If I am dreaming you, shouldn't you always be here at the same time?'

He kept his arms loosely around her waist and shrugged.

'I'm not sure of anything when it comes to these dreams.'

'Sometimes I wish we had more control over them.'

'What would you change if you did have control?'

'Well, I would choose when we wake up for one thing, and I certainly would choose to never return to this white space! Why did you dream of it again?'

He chuckled at her reference to the 'whose dream is it' argument.

'You weren't satisfied with when we woke up last time?'

She smiled shyly at him.

'No, I really wasn't.'

'Perhaps we could begin where we left off last night then?'

Her response was to tilt her head back as his lips descended on hers. One of her hands drifted up to thread through his hair at the nape of his neck. His arms tightened around her and pulled her completely against him, her hipbones connecting with his upper thighs.

It felt like an eternity before they both parted, breathing hard.

'Gods, Severus, you are an amazing kisser.'

He smirked at her.

'Seriously. If that is how the Potions professor kisses, I want to wake up and go find him.'

He growled low in his throat. 'Don't you dare! I'm not finished with you yet.'

She giggled up at him before running her hands slowly up his chest.

'I've wanted to kiss you all day long. I was so disappointed when I woke up this morning, just as things were getting interesting.'

'I know how you feel. I had seventh-year Potions today, and I couldn't keep my eyes off of Miss Granger's lips.'

She smiled, looking up at him through her eyelashes. 'I kept looking at Professor Snape's lips. I think I made him a little nervous, always staring at him.'

He felt a flash of confusion as he always did when she referenced something that had happened to him earlier in the day. In his dreams she seemed like such a separate entity that he sometimes forgot that she was just a figment of his imagination and that his head could make her say or know anything that he wanted (or needed).

She giggled again, interrupting his thoughts. He raised one eyebrow in inquiry.

'It's just, this should feel really strange. I mean, I've just spent the last five minutes snogging my Potions professor. Professor Snape, of all people.'

'I don't snog, Hermione,' he said, his abhorrence for her choice of words very clear.

'Oh, yes, you do, and you're quite good at it.' She shot him an impish smile. 'I'm just saying that this shouldn't feel so good or so natural.'

He looked thoughtful as he responded.

'I suppose that even the conversations we have had are out of the ordinary for you and me. The only reason that all of this feels right is that it's only a dream. We are not really kissing. In real life, we have no relationship to speak of.'

'Severus?'

'Hmm?' He had leaned down and started nuzzling the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

'How long do you think these dreams will last?'

'I don't know.' He pulled away a little to look her in the eye.

'All joking aside, Hermione, intellectually I know that any dreams I experience are of my own making. So theoretically, the fact that you are appearing in my dreams means that something in me needs you as a dream figure right now. I suppose they will end when whatever it is I need is finally fulfilled.'

She nodded. 'The same would go for me if these were really my dreams, using you as a figure I need.'

He leaned forward until his forehead touched hers, still meeting her eyes with his.

'So, what do you propose we do at this juncture?'

'Well, even if none of this is real, it feels real. It feels great. So, I guess we make the most of our time together.'

'Where the hell did you go?' Dream Severus asked, his voice sounding sexy even if his tone was petulant.

'Sorry, I was awoken very suddenly by someone knocking at my door.'

'Is it morning?'

'No. One of my friends had a nightmare. In fact, she is staying in my room for the rest of the night so I want to keep any... sounds I might make in my sleep to a minimum.'

He ran his fingers through his hair, regarding her with a grim smile. 'Very well. Come.' he held out his hand to her. He led her to sit next to him on a small loveseat. They were in a dingy living room, two walls covered from ceiling to floor with old books. He had told her it was his house, inherited from his parents.