an overwhelming desire to win...

\"Oh Bugger bugger bugger bugger...\" Snape was muttering, pacing around his chambers that cold night. Hermione. Calling out his name in the throes of passion. Passion he himself wasn\'t even physically included in! It was almost an insult...almost, but not quite.

Why did he have to fall in lust with some stupid woman? A stupid Gryffindor woman?

What does it matter what house she\'s in? a voice sounded in him, he supposed it was reason. You fancy her and she most certainly fancies you...

Snape blushed slightly at this, very unusual for him, until lately. Why did he have to be consumed by this? This was so unlike him...what the hell had happened? Had he gone soft? No...

He just wanted her.

It wasn\'t easy to admit. In fact the mere mention of this fact going over and over in his mind made him grimace. How childish.

He looked to the mirror over his dresser once more, baring his teeth and noticing they could use a good scrubbing. Raking his hands through his hair and decided it could use a good brushing...and washing for that matter, with something other than a bar of soap. He turned to his side, smoothing down the bulge of his robe over his stomach. Pretty good shape.

Gods, he was like a fifth year with a crush! Honestly! Pining over some young, smart girl...just the kind he was interested when he was young. Some twenty years ago...bollocks.

This wasn\'t going very well..

* * *

Hermione woke up the next day feeling sort of chilly, she blamed it on the cold walls. But she couldn\'t shake the feeling that she had been spied upon the night before...

She smirked a bit, feeling a bit pervy after her rather loud exclamations for her Potions Professor. She wondered if other girls had the same problem as she. Probably...Snape was certainly darkly sexy.

She could most certainly see young girls giggling over him during dinner as he sat aloof at his Head table, eg ang and talking with his mouth full, not even aware of the looks the girls shot him.

She wondered what he was hiding...that body of his had certainly felt firm under her fingers and that mouth had lead her on but...she did remember he hadn\'t even touched her back.

Time to move on Hermione Granger she thought determined. Time to stop the idiotic fantasies about older, darker men...you\'re eighteen! He\'s probably not even that nice behind closed doors...

She decided that Professor Snape would be a miserable beau. Not a romantic bone in that body of his. Sure, she bet he\'d be a fantastic shag, but could you really base an entire relationship on that?

She wished she could.

She strethed and sat up in her warm bed, yawning and looking around at her things, c.d. player, c.d.\'s, hair brush, clothing, make up, perfu-

Wait.

Her perfume bottle was turned the other way around. She always had the name of the company turned round so that only the bottle was shown and not its label. Now the silvery script for the perfume title was glaring back at her.
Someone had been in her room.

No tho that was impossible. Looking at her reflection she sighed. Big bushy hair, she was getting a bit puffy and now that she looked closer she noticed she was getting dark circles under her dark eyes. She sighed. How could anyone like her? Let alone fall for her?

A kiss is just a kiss...a familiar song rang through her head. What was the point in building it up more than it was? Snape was a man after all. A young girl kisses him, he kisses her back. That was human instinct.

Besides, he\'d been unnaturally cruel to her lately. The ignoring proving to be too much. Bugger.

Well Professor Snape she thought determinedly, bashing her duvet cover with her fist, You want to ignore me? Fine. I most certainly don\'t need you..

It was stupid to dwell on the kiss. He obviously did not harbor the same feelings as she had for him. Besides, Seamus had been shooting her some very interested looks lately...no point in passing up a chancto mto make Snape jealous.

No. Not make Snape jealous. Just try to move on.

Its time to move on... she decided resolutely. She jumped from her bed, nodding and moving to the shower. It was best to forget about Professor Snape. They had a good run..errr...wrong choice of words. She just needed to forget him.

Good plan.

* * *

Late December had rolled around now, many students going home for the holidays. Snape was of course was not and neither was Hermione.

It seemed a perfect opportunity.

But it wasn\'t.

Hermione was moving on, ignoring Professor Snape and giving Seamus quite the signals, her flirting moving a notch up from subtle. It had gone from gentle smiles and passing laughs to seductive smirks and tossing of hair.

Snape saw all of this.

Detentions were handed out, most usually by him. Some swore he seemed to be on the lookout for something...someone...whomever got in his way were branded with detentions as he was on the prowl. He was bitter.

Perhaps I should just give her detention... he thought pensively one afternoon as two Hufflepuffs went sheepishly by, I\'ll just get her alone, we can ta.per.perhaps more..

No. Stupid plan.

Ever since that night under her bed he had not only been ignoring her more, but came to the distinct realization that she too was ignoring him. That Seamus fellow was only the icing on the proverbial cake.

It was stupid to get mad about it, he had asked for it himself. But now he was miserable, more than usual. No one wanted to be near him, all avoided him in the halls. He was a pariah.

Snape hadn\'t been back to Hermione\'s room, in all honestly that night had almost frightened him...although sometimes the temptation to go back proved to be too much.

Take for example, mere moments ago.

He had been walking past the Head Girl room, slowly...very slowly..slow footsteps past the cold cement...waiting and waiting for a familiar scent or sound.
Nothing.

He sighed darkly...and suddenly her door suddenly slipped open, only an inch at most.

No Severus

Snape ignored the reason that seemed to be popping up at the utmost annoying times. He slipped closer to it, his dark eyes trained on that shiny brass doorknob of hers.

Just one little look...one more little look and I\'ll never have to go back again..

Yes. That was fine. He was slinking closer, the sounds from all around suddenly dimming, his eyes just looking to that beckoning dooob..ob...no spells or hexes were threatening enough for him...he needed to open that door.

So close...so very...

Suddenly the door whipped open fully and Severus Snape got the full blow of it. It bashed his forehead harshly, and his eyes crossed briefly a moment before his eyelids fluttered and he crumpled to the floor.

He believed he had died when all he saw was darkness, he felt quite sad about this state of events, he had hoped to do a bit more things before his unlikely demise...he had wanted to write a book, perhaps buy a villa in Rome, kiss Hermione again…

\"Professor?\"

Ahhh...her lovely voice was calling out to him foggily even through his death..

\"Miss Granger..\" he murmured, a small smirk playing across his pale face as he reached up into darkness...and felt a small burning cheek under his palm...and heard the smirks above him.

His eyes suddenly flew open...Gads, he wasn\'t dead! His eyes blinked and Hermione couldn\'t help but notice his lovely eyelashes. Blinking rapidly he heard the giggles of schoolmates and he looked above him, students from the Gryffindor common room had heard the commotion of Hermione screaming, “Oh God Professor! I’m so sorry! I didn’t even see you!” and had come out to see what had happened.

When he touched her face Hermione felt electricity shooting all around her. Damn.

She pulled back, blushing and watching as he glared and drew himself up at full height, looking around at the students around him angrily. All laughter stopped and eight very frightened Gryffindors ran and left for their common room.

Hermione looked to Snape awkwardly. That had been an almost endearing experience.

\"Err..\" Hermione said, searching for something to say to engage him in conversation. Why did she still care for him at all? Wasn\'t it supposed to have been just a crush? Were you supposedcarecare for someone this much when it was a little olgiolgirl crush?

He parted his lips as if he were going to say something brilliant, something that would make her forget all the icy ignoring that they had endured. Something had sparked between them that they longed to rekindle, but wtoo too afraid to approach, his lips snapped shut and his dark eyes were met with brows.

\"Good evening.\"

He had stormed down the hall as if the hounds of hell were nipping at his feet. Hermione felt her heart sink and was about to retire to her rooms when she heard a familiar tone.

\"Hermione?\"

\"Ahh...\" Hermione said, turning around and forcing a smile, \"Seamus.\"

* * *

Just bloody brilliant.\" he muttered to himself, dark hair swinging about in his face as he stamped down the halls to the Slytherin common room, deciding that he needed to retrieve something from his office.

Upon his entering the room Pansy, with hair in disarray and book neatly on her lap felt her heart beat unnaturally quickly. He was here!

She quickly licked her lips and mussed her hair, hoping for a sexy look. He wasn\'t really paying much attention to her, instead rushing from the door muttering to his office and slamming the door.

So much for the bet... she thought glumly, looking back to her book. In most truth all this book carrying had proven to be much more work that intended.

One fifth year had come up to her, asked her the properties of some random plant and waited for her to reply eagerly. When Pansy had given him a look of complete obscurity the boy sighed and referred to the Herbology book she was carrying. She had to make up some lie and raced off to the common room, where she was currently residing alone.

Minutes later she heard the door slide open and her ears perked up. His long ragged sigh was the first sign. She looked casually over her shoulder, hoping she looked seductive and smiled to him. He didn\'t see her, obviously engrossed in his own misery.

\"You alright?\" Pansy asked him loudly, her feet tucked underneath her as she sat poised with a book, and looking so very...Hermione-ish. This mere fact drew his attention to her.

\"Fine, Miss Parkinson.\" he said glumly looking to the door, Pansy knew she had to act fast.

\"Oh really,\" she said trying to stifle a nervous giggle, what was it about that man\'s eyes that did that to her? Now they werickiicking about her face, waiting for her to continue, \"I...you seem downhearted.\"

Snape didn\'t answer immediately, instead opting to gauge this answer. Finally glancing to her book and back to her face he replied.

\"I\'ll leave you to your reading.\"

NNNNOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

\"No!\" Pansy said eagerly, and then blushing as she saw his raised eyebrow, \"I\'d love some company. So many people have gone home for the holidays, would you care for some tea?\"

Snape\'s frown deepened a moment, an internal struggle within him. Hermione was obviously interested in that Finnigan boy and her blatant ignoring of him...and now a most eager Slytherin sitting on the couch alone and requesting his company?

To have tea or not to have tea? That was the question...finally with a defeated sigh he placed himself lightly on the couch, a large gap between them and replied,

\"Tea would be...tolerable.\"