Asking For Help

Two weeks to the day, not that I am keeping track after Severus had first asked her to help him, he became disgusted with his progress and had stopped sorting through his cabinets for a rather elusive ingredient, and turned back to face her with a rather tired sigh. She looked up briefly from the notes she was making and regarded him closely. \"If you can\'t find it, I\'m sure we can buy some...\"

He shook his head, a nasty response fading from his lips as he saw nothing but comcern on her face. Perhaps he had been working to hard. Pushing her too hard. A rare smile graced his face and he tried to make it not look at forced as it felt. \"I think perhaps a break is in order. Would you care to join me in my rooms for dinner and drinks?\" Gods man, did you just invite her to your quarters? Highly inapropriate, she\'ll never agree.

She returned his smile, knowing how hard it must be for him to even attempt to smile, and nodded her head in agreement. \"I\'d love to. I\'m starving and I think I need a break so I can approach these in a new light.\" She gestured to the stacks of notes she had been working on, documenting each failed attempt at the potion.

He took off his work smock and helped her out of hers, trying not to notice when his fingers brushed her neck softly. Hanging up both smocks he directed her to a door set on the far wall that she hadn\'t really payed attention to before. He opened it up and ushered her inside what turned out to be his quarters. She stood there, mouth gaping slightly, as he shut the door behind her and moved to the bar to make them some drinks.

\"What would you like, Hermione?\" Merlin, what was I thinking inviting her to my rooms? She must think they are attrocious. He tried not to notice the stunned look on her face and poured himself a scotch and waited for her to respond to his question.

She heard him, but dimly, as her eyes refused to believe what they saw. The room was...well it was not what she expected her former potions professor to have as his quarters. The room itself was unassuming enough, but the way it was decorated...She couldn\'t stop looking. It seemd everywhere her eyes fell there was something else to notice. It was simply decorated, the furniture she could see made from rich mahogony, the lines soft and inviting. The walls themself were the same forbidding stone as the rest of the dungeons, but soft draperies of black and scarlet red hung on them, softening the harshness of the stone and giving the room a warm inviting appeal. Works of art she had only read about, never seen, graced the walls in sparse simplicity, and added to the warmth the room exuded.

She turned to him, eyes shining brightly, and finally answered his question. \"Scotch, neat.\" Her eyes continued to travel around the room, and she sighed as he handed her the scotch.

\"Are my rooms not to your liking?\" He raised a questioning eyebrow as she sipped her drink.

She shook her head emphatically. \"No, far from that. They are...wonderful. I just never thought...\" she blushed and took another drink, avoiding his eyes.

Just never thought Snape could have such pleasant rooms. He supposed the majority of both the students and the other professor\'s thought he lived in a cave like setting. He supposed he should be upset at her assumptions, but found himself rather pleased that she liked them. He cleared his throat and made her way to the settee, waving his hand idly at the fireplace, causing the fire to leap higher and warm the air around them. She followed him to the settee and sat a respectable distance away, and leaned back into the suprisingly comfortable cushions, sipping at her drink.

\"I\'d like to thank you again for - helping me.\" He took a rather large drink and sank back into the cushions himself, as though the wieght of thanking her had been released from his shoulders.

She watched as he brought the drink to his lips, trying not to focus on the fingers that had brushed against her neck and sent shivers of heat rushing through her body. \"You are very welcome Severus.\"

They sat in a rather companiable silence for awhile, until Severus cleared his throat and nodded at her half empty glass. \"Would you like to finish that before I send for dinner?\" At the small shake of her head he summoned an elf, and soon had requested dinner to be brought for the both of them. He watched her out of the corner of her eye as he spoke to the creature, and saw she was rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. When he had made sure the elf understood Hermione was dining with him tonight, and hence two dinners needed to be brought, he turned away from the creature as it disapeared and focused his attention on the girl woman seated next to him.

\"You push yourself harder then I remember you doing.\" He set his now empty glass on the low table in front of the settee and turned slightly so he was facing her. He let one arm rest on the back of the settee, and the other he placed in his lap, to avoid the overwhelming and very sudden temptation to touch the back of her neck again,

She grimaced slightly at his words, and let her hand slip from her neck and fall into her lap. \"I can\'t help it Severus. This problem perplexes me, and I do not enjoying not knowing the answers to something.\"

He detected a note of helpless in her voice, and sympathized tremendously. How many times over the past months had he reached the same point she appeared to be at. He was glad that he had suggested a break. He let his hand drop slightly, until it rested on her shoulder, and he gave it a small squeeze. \"We\'ll figure this out soon. I wouldn\'t have asked for your help if I had no confidence in your abilities.\"