Secrets

Snape sat in his sitting room, a book lay unopened on his lap. He couldn't believe he'd been so stupid...telling her first how he had *smelled* her entrance into the Hog's Head, and then about her parents. He had given her tomorrow off simply so he wouldn't have to face her.
But he hadn't been able to ignore how red and swollen her eyes had been.

He had been sitting like this for at least an hour when he remembered how much Hermione reminded him of Lilly. This was the only way he could explain his uncharacteristic behavior to himself. She was muggle-born, extremely bright, and often made fun of for her hair. Hermione was always teased about her hair being completely unruly, while Lilly had often been rudely asked if "the carpet matched the drapes." He had dueled quite a few fellow students for that particular comment, defending Lilly when they were at Hogwarts together. Now that he thought about it, Sirius Black had been one of them.

He sighed bitterly, took a dreamless sleep potion and collapsed onto the bed.

Snape, in an effort to make up for his feelings of vulnerability and utter stupidity that had surfaced, was quite horrible to his students the next day. he had taken at least 50 points from every house, even his own. He had given them a potion to brew that he knew even the most brilliant in his class would struggle with, and assigned entirely too much homework. He was quite pleased with himself by the time classes were finished, which was the time he usually spent helping Hermione. So he was surprised when she strode in and got straight to work cleaning his cauldrons and restocking the classroom's stores of ingredients. "Miss Granger, I do believe I told you it was not necessary for you to attend today."
"I know," she replied, "but I don't have anything else to do, and it helps distract me. And it wouldn't do to fall behind in in the cleaning." Catching her not-so-subtle cheek he said, "You know very well I told you on Saturday that we were to begin your "formal training" today. Or would you rather keep cleaning?" He tried to keep his snarl from becoming too apparent, as he was secretly looking forward to instructing someone as bright as Hermione on a different level than he was used to. It was much different than scaring first years while they brewed the most simple potions he could give them. He craved a challenge. While he didn't realize, he and Hermione had this in common.

After Hermione simply nodded, he said, "We must first organize my store room." Hermione gave him a funny look, but said nothing. "What?" he asked forcefully. She hesitated for a second, but then said "I thought you said I was done cleaning."
"First of all, Miss Granger, organizing something is vastly different than cleaning it. And second, you should take note that I said 'we,' not 'you.' I have a new system of organization I would like to try. Currently, my ingredients are simply in alphabetical order. However, I would like to try dividing them into subsections according to classifications provided by the Ministry. It ranges from Class 1 being the most common, harmless ingredients, to Class 5 being extremely rare and dangerous. I would then like these subsections alphabetized." Hermione gave him a smirk before walking toward his store room. He sighed heavily, "What now? What did I say that you find so amusing?" She turned to face him.
"First of all, I know exactly what ingredients belong in which class- that's part of Potions 101 at University. And second, the method of storing in subsections as you describe is the recommended method. The one you are currently using is antiquated." And she walked back into the store room. For once in his life, Snape was left speechless.

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A/N- Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. It made my morning! I promise to update quickly, I already have most of this story written out by hand. (How "antiquated") ::snicker::
I also finally broke through a major plot point that I couldn't figure out.
The new chapter will be up tonight. Sorry they're kind of short, but I'd like to get *something* up, instead of a huge chapter in one go.
So, thanks for reading. :)

p.s. To Barbara-it's not so much a secret about Snape when he was working for Voldemort , but more a secret he's had his entire life. ;)