Count Your Blessings

margaritama - Yes!!! Blaise and Theodore are going to become a little more prominent in the future of this story. =)

karine_snake - Thank you for your review! And yes, Pansy + Potion Making = Hilarious!!!

A/N: Originally this was going to be 12-13 chapters...now I'm not so sure. It might be more...much more if people like it.
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She made it to potions without incident. Going so far as having to duck into an empty class room, the girls' room, and broom closet whenever a boy passed. Even after going out of her way to avoid the opposite sex, Hermione was the first to her class. She took a breath and tried to calm her nerves as students began piling in.

Draco was second into class and had moved past her, accidentally brushing up against her. She shivered and became rigid. Her nostrils flared and she became pale. Draco paused and looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. Hermione gripped onto her chair and closed her eyes. Think of something non-sexual. Flowers. Old socks. Tests. Lots of tests.

Her eyes fluttered open and glanced up, Draco was still staring at her. He parted his lips as if he were going to say something but decided against it. Sneering slightly, Draco walked to his seat and sat. He dropped his bag to the ground and leaned back against his seat. Hermione couldn't take her eyes off of him. They were glued to every part of his profile.

He seemed to notice her gaze as he had shifted in his seat and turned his head; their eyes meeting. He mouthed, "What?" but didn't receive an answer as Hermione had turned to look forward. Her fingers had gone white from how hard she was gripping onto her stool.

Oh Merlin. Please. Just get her through this class without incident. She closed her eyes and mumbled under her breath before being knocked over by a large bag. Hermione's forehead smashed against the table and she sat up straight almost instantly. Her eyes shot toward who was responsible for the minor attack and narrowed.

Pansy, looking quite smug, held her bag up with one hand, slinging it over her shoulder. "Some one looks as if she hasn't showered all week. What is that smell? Oh, wait...it's mudblood." Millicent roared with laughter as she stalked past Hermione and shoved her head down with her manly hands.

She did look horrible. She had bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep and she hadn't had time to shower. Hermione's face went red when Draco swung around, resting his arm on the top of Pansy's lab table. He looked straight at Hermione and smirked before nodding at Pansy.

"Pans. Sit with me."

Pansy parted her lips to say something else to Hermione but pursed them together into a hideous smile. "Ok!" She chirped, smashing her bag into Hermione's shoulder as she moved to sit next to Draco. He leaned in and whispered something to her, causing her to laugh loudly and flick her eyes toward Hermione.

Ron and Harry arrived a little too late. Snape barrelled into the classroom and nearly knocked them over as he rambled about that day's lesson. Hermione kept her eyes on her notes. She found that if she looked at Snape she'd begin to feel her legs tingle and shift awkwardly in her seat. Ron seemed to notice her discomfort and tried to make things easier by offering to squash her gillyweed. His hand grazed against hers by accident and Hermione let out a loud, unwanted moan.

The room grew quiet and Pansy leaned so far over that she nearly toppled out of her seat if not for Draco, who grabbed onto her shoulder and held her still. Snape raised his eyebrow and Hermione hid her face behind her curls.

"Mione, what's wrong?" Ron whispered, his breath smelling like cinnamon.

Hermione shook her head furiously and gripped onto the hem of her skirt. "N-nothing, R-ron."

He moved again, resting his hand on hers, and Hermione nearly shouted. "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

The room grew quiet once more and Snape was instantly by their desk. "Is there something wrong, Ms. Granger? Mr. Weasley?"

"No sir." Ron quickly said, giving Hermione a small scathing look.

Pansy giggled wildly in her corner but was quiet when Draco shot her a look. He leaned forward and turned his gaze to Hermione. Her face had gone red and her hands were shaking. Snape leaned forward and whispered, "Ms. Granger?" Hermione nearly lost it at that moment.

She leaned over, grabbed his face and pressed her lips against his. Everyone gasped, their eyes wide, Pansy was the only one laughing. Snape's hands moved to her shoulder as she attempted to deepen the kiss and pried her from him. His lips moved into a thin white line.

Hermione looked around the class room, shocked. She quickly gathered her things, save her potions book, and darted from the class room. The entire Slytherin side erupted with laughter while Ron tried to rush after her. Snape grabbed onto his shoulder and pulled him down onto his seat, "Sit!"

"QUIET!" He shouted, instantly quieting the room.

He marched out of the room, his cloak billowing behind him. He found Hermione curled up on the stairs with her knees pulled up to her chest. She was sobbing.

"Ms. Granger," Snape said, oddly in a soft tone.

Hermione looked up with wide eyes. She scrambled to her feet and tried to smooth her uniform out, mumbling apologies. Snape grabbed onto her wrist and pulled her to him. He leaned over her, inhaling her breath. Hermione fidgeted and tried to move toward him but he held her firmly in her place.

"My office, now." He said, pulling her with him to his office. He pushed her in and stood by the door, "Do not move..."

Hermione stood in the middle of his room with her hands twisting the hem of her skirt to the point where her hands had become quite raw. A few moments later the clamour of students in the hall broke her from her silence. She moved toward the door, tempted to open it. Her hand shook as it reached out but she let out a gasp when it opened.

Snape pushed himself in and closed the door behind him. He looked down at Hermione, who stared at him with wide eyes.

"What was the last thing you ate?" He asked suddenly, pushing past her toward his desk. He began rummaging through papers and going to his book shelf. Turning around he snapped, "Well?"

"I..Uh..chocolate." She whispered, realizing that she hadn't eaten all day and the last thing she had was...

Hermione gasped. It was the chocolate! They had something in them that caused...oh no! Snape seemed to have understood instantly but merely nodded. He pulled out a large black binded book and threw it against his desk, flipping through pages.

"P-professor?" She asked, taking a brave step toward the desk. "Some one gave me the chocolate..."

"Yes, I undestand." He merely replied, scanning through his book without looking at her.

Hermione's eyes danced over the top of his head and gulped. His rough hands were moving across the page as if it were seducing the words. His head nodded, hair waving from the motion. The next thing she knew, Hermione was standing so close to him that she could smell the sickly smell of wolfsbane.

He looked up at that moment and took a step away from her. Hermione followed him until he was forced to touch her, holding her back from him. "You're under a spell, Ms. Granger."

"I know," she replied with glossy eyes, tilting her head to the side. She reached out for him but his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"I have an idea of the potion used against you, but the anti-dote will take some time to brew." He spoke in a husky voice, the room beginning to fill with tension.

"Mhm...and..."

"Pay attention Ms. Granger. What the potion does is enhances the one desire the drinker has. Whatever amount you had is dangerous."

Hermione's brain tried to reason with her, make her pay attention. She wasn't making a move on Snape because she wanted him. She was being controlled. But, she didn't care. Not at all.

"What can I do to...stop it..." She managed to asked, feeling her knees go weak.

"This type of spell is difficult to stop but you can work through it," he looked down at her and gave her a small shake, causing her to look from his groin back up at him, "I assume it's because of your...lack of experience that this is the reason why you. PAY ATTENTION!"

She couldn't not at this point. Hermione tried, as hard as she could, to lean against him. Snape rolled his eyes and pulled her to him, lowering his mouth to hers. Hermione became lit with desire. Her lips eagerly met with his, her tongue tracing over his bottom lip.

Snape wrapped an arm around her waist and lifted her up, pushing her back against his desk. He loomed over her, his cloak draped over their bodies. Hermione moaned into his mouth as his hands traced over his side and pushed her skirt up. She felt his growing length against her and rolled her hips,

"P-Professor," she breathed as he broke the kiss and traced his lips across her neck, his hand moving between her legs.

She moaned loudly as his fingers played with her sex; slowly rolling his thumb over her sweet engorged nub. Hermione's hips bucked against him, wanting more. His large rough fingers pushed into her heat, causing her to let out a loud cry. Snape pulled his wand out and cast a silencing charm over his officer. His fingers kept up their ministrations; pistoning in and out of her heat.

Hermione was reaching her climax and Snape knew that. He leaned over her as he felt her walls clench around his fingers, becoming drenched in her sweet honey. Hermione let out a loud cry and arched her back against his desk. Her mind became instantly clear and she leaned back against the desk, blinking several times.

Snape pulled away from her and straightened his robes. He watched Hermione push herself off of the desk with a bright shade of pink across her face. Snape merely raised an eyebrow, "Now you understand."

She nodded and looked away, blushing heavily. Snape looked around awkwardly before clearing his throat. "That will only happen once, Ms. Granger. I suggest you find alternate means of...climaxing..."

Hermione could only nod and pull down on the hem of her skirt. Snape continued, ignoring her obvious discomfort with the subject. "Under no circumstances should you ignore those urges. You have seen the consequences when you do."

"Yes, sir." Hermione managed to choke out, feeling her face grow hotter as Snape cleaned his desk with his wand.

"I will begin brewing the potion to reverse these effects. Try and keep yourself grounded. It might be best if you do not let word out."

She knew that. The last thing she wanted was everyone to know that she was literally wetting herself at the slightest touch of the opposite sex. "Yes, sir. I undestand. T-thank you."

Snape said nothing other than, "Good. Now. Get out." He went back to his potion books and pulled a piece of parchment out, scribbling against it. His eyebrows raised as he looked up at her.

Hermione jumped and walked backward toward the door. She swung around and pulled the door open. Letting out a startled cry, Hermione covered her mouth. Draco Malfoy stood at the door with a strange look.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, Granger. I know, I do that to people." He said smugly, pushing past her.

She swore she felt his fingers touch her as he passed but she numbly moved out the door and turned around. Draco raised his eyebrows at her and closed the door in her face. She heard the familar faint click of the lock. Ron and Harry were first to greet her after she left Snape's office. Neither one of them asked what happened in potions upon seeing her sullen face.

She sat quietly during dinner and barely picked at her potatoes. Looking to the head table, she noticed Snape staring at her with his hand close to his mouth. He leaned over and whispered something to Professor Flitwick, breaking their eye contact. She heard Pansy at the Slytherin table commenting on the incident that occured in potions with much gusto.

Hermione didn't want to look, she could feelt her skin beginning to turn red. Shoving her hand into her pocket, Hermione tilted her head in confusion. She felt something in there. Digging around for a moment, she pulled out a neatly folded parchment. Looking around, Hermione noticed Ron and Harry deep into conversation about Quidditch, Ginny was laughing at Seamus' missing eyebrows and everyone was basically ignoring her.

She pulled open the parchment and nearly gasped out loud. Scrawled in neat, beautiful handwritting was the following:

I know everything. Meet me at the Astronomy Tower. Midnight. Come alone.

There was no signature and Hermione could only look around. Who had slipped her the note? How'd they know? Were they some how involved? She had been so consumed with her questions that she completely ignored the fact that Draco Malfoy was staring intently at her with a smirk playing across his lips.