All the way

Severus could see through the darkness and when his anger ran out, he was horrified at the state she was in. He could feel her trembling, her eyes were wide and her breathing was erratic.

Gently, he let go of one of her wrists and it dropped to her side. He took her wand from his pocket and pressed it into the palm of the hand he still held, and then dropped that one too.

He moved to the door quickly and opened it. Then waved his hand and the torches lit the room. Severus stalked hurriedly out of the room and out of the classroom. He had been so close to hitting her, he couldn\'t live with himself if he had.

He could hear her foot steps behind him, but didn\'t look back. Why the hell had he been so bloody stupid? Why was she making him be so bloody stupid?

\"Severus!\" She called to him, but he kept going, \"SEVERUS!!\" She bellowed. As he heard her approaching he started to walk faster.

\"SEVERUS SNAPE! DON\'T YOU DARE WALK AWAY FROM ME!!!\" There was so much conviction in her voice that he stopped.

He felt a small hand on his shoulder, her thumb rubbing slightly.

\"What was that all about?\" She said in a voice that soothed him. How could he have been so cruel to her? She was an angel, a kitten.

\"Go, now. My temper is not a fire to be played with.\" He growled.

Severus watched as she rounded his body and stood in front of him.

\"Have I ever told you, I am not scared of fire?\" She said clearly. Silly girl, he thought, why did she have to be so... so... so her?! He was falling... badly.

\"Maybe you should be, Miss Granger.\" He said in a low voice.

\"In case you haven\'t noticed, Professor Snape, I have faced Voldemort, thousands of Death Eaters, Dementors, Draco Malfoy and Harry and Ron. Believe me, you are a pink fluffy bunny compared to them!\" She snarled.

He might have been annoyed at her tone of voice and what she had said, but he was too enchanted by the picture she presented. Her face was flushed slightly, her eyes were blazing and she had her hands on her hips.

\"Now you listen to me Severus,\" She said in a calmer tone, \"I don\'t know what it is, but some thing has been eating at you since last night and you\'re starting to freak me out. Now, you can either tell me, or you can control yourself. I would like to think that you trust me enough to tell me, but if you don\'t then I’m not offended. Just, don\'t take it out on me.\"

For the first time in ages, Severus felt guilty for loosing his rag with some one. But she wasn\'t just \'some one\'. She was... well, he couldn\'t describe what she was to him any more, what she meant to him.

\"I...\" He swallowed hard, \"I\'m sorry.\"

She sighed, \"Forget it, you did no harm,\" She didn\'t know how close he had been, \"Come on, lets go.\"

Hermione slipped her arm through his and they walked on together.
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When they got home, Severus insisted that he was ready to go to the party, so Hermione barred him from the bedroom and the bathroom so that she could get ready.

Today he had really scared her. She really didn\'t see his problem. Was she really that thick that she couldn\'t see something that should be so obvious?

Maybe the easy bit was over. Getting him out of prison had gone really well, but she didn\'t know what she felt for him know. It was weird; usually she was in control of her life.
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At five to five, Severus gasped. Hermione came out of the bedroom looking like a Goddess. Her hair was piled on her head and she wore gold lipstick and make up. Her dress had a gold, embroidered, corset with no straps that flared out at her hips and hung down, covering her feet.

She was placing her wand in a small gold bag and the looked up at him.

\"Ready to go?\" She asked.

\"When you are.\" He answered. Hermione walked over to him and held out her hand. She helped Severus up, \"Let’s use side along apperation.\"

He put his arms around her waist and pulled her tight to him.
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In a second, they were outside the Burrow. Hermione stepped back from him and took the arm he offered.

They strolled over to the house and Hermione opened the door, calling, \"Mrs. Weasley?\"

Said woman bustled into the kitchen beaming.

\"Hermione!\" She kissed her, \"Severus, you both look lovely. Come on, every ones dancing out the back.\"

They followed her through the house and into the back garden. As they stepped into the air, every one cheered and clapped. Hermione could fell herself blushing and looked up to see Severus scowling.

\"Hey Hermione!\" Ginny ran forwards and they hugged, \"We decided to have a buffet table, rather than dinner.\"

\"That’s fine with us.\" Hermione smiled.

\"Come and dance with every one!\" Ginny disappeared into the dancing couples. Some one had conjured a dance floor and music.

Hermione looked up at Severus, \"Come on, let’s dance.\"

She pulled him onto the floor and wrapped her arms around his neck. He slipped his arms around her waist and held her tight to his body.

They started dancing and Hermione swore that she lost herself in his dark, intense orbs. Hermione danced non-stop with Severus for over an hour and they only stopped to get food.
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Severus was sitting next to Hermione, drinking some wine. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She had one leg crossed over the other and was tapping her foot as she sipped her wine. She was as pretty as a picture. Prettier.

Severus snapped his attention to the fastly approaching Remus Lupin. The werewolf, beaming, made a bee line for them and stopped by Hermiones side. She smiled up at him.

\"Remus, how are you feeling?\" She asked as he leaned down and kissed her cheek. Severus felt like hexing him and clenched his fist around the wine glass so hard, it nearly shattered.

\"I\'m fine. How are you two doing?\" Lupin looked between them.

\"We\'re fine too.\" Hermione beamed.

\"Good, good,\" He leaned over tot Severus and said in a loud whisper, so that Hermione could hear; \"You wouldn\'t mind if I stole a dance from your girl, would yah?\"

Severus was sorely tempted to show the fury wolf-man that Hermione really was his girl and that he would mind a whole lot if he even touched her with one grubby paw, but her scowled and gave a curt nod.

\"Hermione,\" Lupin said with an over exaggerated bow, \"Would you do me the great honor of dancing with me?\"

Hermione blushed and giggled, \"What would your wife say?\"

Lupin pointed to where Tonks was dancing madly with Moody, \"Not a lot.\"

\"In that case...\" Hermione took the hand that Lupin offered to her and he led her to the dance floor.

Severus could feel his lip twitching in anger as he watched Hermione get swung around with the werewolf. She was smiling and laughing.

His fingers itched every time they were skin-to-skin. She was supposed to be helping him, God damnit!