Secrets

The next few days passed slowly for both Snape and Hermione. Snape went through the motions of his daily life, but seemed distracted to both his students and the other teachers. Snape taught his classes, but his heart wasn't in it. He hadn't taken points from anyone, causing everyone to wonder what was wrong with their Potions professor.

Hermione stayed in her room, letting Bitsy wait on her. She didn't enjoy having the house elf wait on her as much as she thought she would. Friday morning, after going all week without a bath or shower, Hermione couldn't take it anymore. She asked Bitsy, "Could you perhaps help me take a bath?" Bitsy hung her head and shuffled her feet, but said nothing. "Bitsy, what is it?"

The house elf looked up tearfully and said, "Bitsy is so sorry, Miss. That is one thing Bitsy can'ts do!" Feeling frustrated, Hermione asked, "Well why not?"
"Bitsy would have to remove your clothes, Miss! Bitsy does not wants dismissed!" Hermione sighed, and tried to think of something.
"But...Bitsy, you're allowed to put away clothes and pick them up," Hermione said. Bitsy's eyes shifted, thinking that Hermione might be trying to trap her into something.
"Yes," she squeaked, her ears flattening.
"So, it's like that. I'm not giving you my clothes, you're just helping me clean up," Hermione said quickly.
Bitsy shook her head, ears flapping. "No, Miss, the other elves's warned me about you, Miss! Theys remember you trying to frees them all by hiding clothes! Theys warned Bitsy, Miss, and Bitsy will not do it!" Bitsy winked out, leaving Hermione stunned. Had they remembered that from so long ago? Hermione had been trying to help, not upset them. So now it was Saturday, and while Bitsy would come help her eat or go to the loo, she wouldn't stay for anything else- not even to hold a book for Hermione to read.

Hermione was going stir crazy. And with nothing to do, all Hermione could do was think. Of course, her thoughts turned to Snape. He hadn't been back to see her (or even shout at her, for that matter) since they had kissed. He had looked so angry when he left. Yet he was the one who initiated everything. The more she thought about it, the more upset she became. How dare he do something like that to her, and then just turn around and leave. Here she was, completely isolated and with nothing to do, and he couldn't even come check on her? The arrogant bastard!

Hermione spent a good half an hour mulling over the situation, getting more and more worked up. She suddenly sprung out of her chair and went over to the door. "Bitsy!" she yelled. The elf popped in, looking scared.
"Yes Miss?" Bitsy said in a small voice.
"Open the door, please," Hermione said in a strained voice, trying not to take out her anger on the small creature. Bitsy did, and popped out without another word. Hermione turned and kicked her door closed, then walked quickly down the hall to Professor Snape's door. Instead of knocking, she kicked the door couple of times, hard.

Snape was at his desk, trying to grade the last of his papers so his Sunday would be entirely free. He glanced over at the clock, which read a quarter to eleven, but he wanted to finish before retiring for the night. He had put the pen against the paper to write something snide on a second year Hufflepuff's paper, when a loud banging noise startled him enough to make him jump, leaving a long red mark across the paper. He flew to the door, snarling. The loud noise came again, and he wondered what the hell it was. He jerked the door opened, his eyes going wide with shock. Then, remembering himself, his eyes narrowed and he gave her a rather nasty sneer.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" he asked, his voice almost a whisper (which was the voice he used when at his angriest). To his surprise, Hermione simply pushed past him while shouting, "Don't look at me like that Severus Snape!" Snape was momentarily dumbstruck at the use of his first name, but regained his composure quickly.
"How dare you barge into my private rooms like this, and at this time of night!" he said, more confused than angry. She turned on him, eyes narrowed and her hair wild again.

"And how dare you treat me like I'm nothing! First you kiss me and act so wonderful to me all day, then leave without a word and don't come to see me for the rest of the week! I've been completely alone for three days straight. No company except a house elf, and I don't appreciate it!"

Snape stood there, listening to her rant, and calmly said, "I don't appreciate almost being set on fire, Miss Granger."

"Oh, don't 'Miss Granger' me! You know damn well it was an accident, and I believe it was *you* who kissed me! So don't go laying all the blame on me!" Hermione sat down on the couch, staring straight ahead. She wanted to cross her arms, but then thought better of it. Snape crossed the room o a small cabinet by his desk and pulled out a bottle of Ogden's and poured himself a small amount.
"Do you want any?" he asked her.
"No, I've had enough of fire to last me a lifetime," she replied icily.

Snape sat down on the other end of the couch, eyeing her but saying nothing.

"Why didn't you come see me?" Hermione asked, her voice sounding tired. Snape sighed, setting his drink down.

"I didn't think you would want me to...after what I did. I apologize- it was unprofessional and it won't happen again. If you'd like to put in a transfer I completely understand. A letter of recommendation is on my desk," he said. Hermione had never heard Snape sound like this- it was as if he sounded...defeated. Realization came to Hermione in a wave of understanding, and she let out a shrill laugh at the absurdity of it all. Snape's eyes narrowed, and he said darkly, "But I will not be laughed at."

Hermione stopped immediately. "I wasn't laughing at you."

"Well what's so bloody funny then?" he asked with a sneer, throwing back the rest of his drink. Hermione said nothing for a second, and then asked, "Did you mean it? I mean, when you...kissed me."

Snape stared straight ahead as if fascinated by the now empty glass that sat on the table before them. He finally sighed and turned to her, "I don't know what I meant by it." Hermione, feeling stung, said in a small voice, "I should have known it wouldn't last." She got up to head for the door, but when he called out to her, something in his voice made her stop.

"What? What wouldn't last?" he said, genuinely curious.

"You being so nice to me, Severus. That...that day that you washed my hair was one of the most enjoyable days I've ever had. I was upset, and...well, you knew just how to comfort me. No one has ever known that before." She continued, even after the tears started to fall. "You don't know how important this apprenticeship is to me! And...I thought I was becoming important to you. But, I should have known that nothing is important to you except yourself!" Hermione was sobbing by now, and she crumpled to the floor.

Snape strode quickly over to her, grasping her arms and pulling her up to look at him. His face was very close to hers as he said, "So....you weren't...offended by what happened?"

"Of course not."

"Then say it again," he rasped, his breathing heavy.

"Of course I wasn't offended," she whispered.

"No, not that..." Her eyes questioned him, looking up at his face.

"My name..." he said, his voice barely above a whisper, his eyes searching her face for acceptance.

"...Severus," she breathed, barely audible. He closed his eyes for a second, letting it wash over him, before pushing her quickly back against the wall. He grabbed her arms, putting them above her head and holding them in place with one hand, and caressing her cheek with his other.

"Don't want anymore accidents...or shirts ruined," he said with a slight smirk.

He leaned in very close to her, not touching her but running his lips so close to her neck and face she could feel his breath. It gave her chills as he stopped by her ear and said so quietly she could barely hear, "Hermione, I want you." She let out a moan at the sound of her name, her stomach clenching in need. He kissed her lightly, breathing hard. This time, his tongue grazed slightly against her lips, before he took his bottom lip into his mouth, sucking lightly and nipping her, causing her to cry out.

"However..." Hermione looked up at him questioningly, "I think we should wait until you've showered." He let her hands down gently and stepped back from her.

Hermione's eyes went wide and she almost shouted, "You are an insufferable tease, Severus Snape!" He smirked again, and took out a handkerchief from his pocket.

"Touch this," he said, his voice serious again. Hermione, fuming, grabbed it from his hand. It started smoking, and Snape grabbed it back from her. It had turned a dark brown color where she had touched it, yet it hadn't caught fire.

"Excellent. Your hands are healing nicely. You should be completely fine by tomorrow," he said, and went to grab his empty glass that was sitting on the table. He began to walk towards his bathroom, and Hermione stopped in after him. "That's it, then? Are you serious?"

Snape, washing out the glass in the sink, looked up at her as if surprised. "Oh, really, woman, you are the insufferable one. I was only teasing. Really, you think I want to be anywhere near you with your hands like that?"

"I guess not....I'm so bored though. I haven't been able to do much of anything. I've been on quite a few walks these past couple of days, but...it's too late now." Her eyes lit up, as if she just had a very grand idea.
"Severus?" she asked, using his name on purpose after picking up how much he liked it, "would you read to me?"

"Read to you? I..." he was about to protest, but then thought it might actually be quite nice. "I suppose so. I just received the newest copy of 'Potions Today,' will that suffice?"

"Oh, yes!" Hermione said excitedly, "I was hoping to get my hands on that."

"Perhaps it was best you didn't," Snape said, smirking at her.

"Ha ha ha, so funny. I didn't know you had a sense of humor." Ignoring her comment, Snape sat down in the chair next to her and started reading an article that looked interesting. It explained how veritaserum worked, and questioned if it was ethical to give to people, under any circumstances.

"Of course it's ethical," Hermione scoffed. "Why wouldn't you want to find out the truth?"

Snape, willing to play devil's advocate said, "Yes, but what about violating a person's rights? Isn't it a violation of your very self to not be able to hold anything back?"

"No, not when under suspicion. That's the whole problem with the Muggle justice system. They have no true way of really knowing if the person they are sending to jail, or even to their death, is really guilty. There are certain cases, with DNA and all that, but some you just have to take people at their word. I'm not necessarily willing to do that."

"How cynical," Snape said, his facing emotionless, as if he was working hard on not giving away what he was thinking.

"Don't lecture me on cynicism, Professor. The whole argument is ridiculous. It's helped solve thousands of crimes," she said, as if the subject should be dropped.


Snape and Hermione argued well into the night, Snape loving that they could have intelligent conversations and be so attracted to one another. It wasn't as if that was his goal for the evening, but he had seen the opportunity to rile her up, and took it. He finally finished the article, to look up to find Hermione fast asleep. Her hair tumbled over her face, and he made a mental note to brew some more potion for her hair.

Snape walked over to her, looking down at her face.
What had he gotten himself into?

He bent down and slowly picked her up, being careful not to wake her. He walked her back to her rooms, and put her down on the bed, making sure her hands were hanging off the bed. He stood up and cleared his throat loudly, and Bitsy popped in immediately. "Yes, Professor Snape, sir?" She looked quite frightened, as Snape's reputation was known among the creatures of the castle just as it was known among the students.

"Watch her for the rest of the night, and make sure her hands don't touch the bedsheets," he said, then strode back to his rooms.

He went to lie down, but all he could think about was their kiss, and the way she had whispered out his name as if he were more essential than breathing to her.

That night, he dreamt of Hermione softly whispering to him over and over, "Severus..."


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A/N- Whoo! We finally got to something steamy! I hope you all enjoyed it. Also, I feel like them using each other's first name is significant, as they've always referred to each other using a title. It's the little things that can be so intimate, so I can see it being erotic for the both of them, don't you think?
Thank you for reading.