Living

Living Chapter 6

After a restless night of sleep, Hermione awoke and dressed for the day. She not only felt very confused about what had happened the night before, but now she had no choice but to stay on at Hogwarts. Really, what had she been thinking? It's not like she had many other places that she could go, with not having sat her NEWTS yet. All that she had wanted last night was to run away from her problem…Severus Snape. Then he had complicated things, by kidnapping her down to his dungeon rooms and demanding that she not leave and to stay quiet. Oh, that man was insufferable!

Walking into the Great Hall for breakfast she tried her hardest not to look up at the head table. She reached out and took a healthy portion of scrambled eggs and waffles. Harry, Ron and Ginny came and sat down next to her.

"Are you feeling more cheery today Hermione?" Ginny attacked the waffles and bacon. Next to her Harry was helping himself to sausage, hash browns and scrambled eggs. Ron, sitting next to Hermione, was helping himself to a little of everything on the table. Hermione tried not to watch him eat, so it wouldn't ruin her own appetite.

"Everything is top notch." Hermione gave a deadpan answer and went back to eating. Ginny wondered what had really happened last night after Hermione had stormed out. Ginny glanced at the head table and noticed Professor Snape staring down at the Gryffindor table. He was sipping his tea and eating nothing else. His dark, brooding eyes latched onto hers, and he raised an eyebrow. Ginny feeling flustered, turned red and looked back at Hermione. Hermione looked over her shoulder to where Ginny had been glancing. She looked directly at Professor Snape and sent a defiant stare his way. Severus was taken aback by her boldness. None the less, it did not stop him from his non-stop gawking at the girl.

Hermione sat huffing, while eating her food. How dare he sit and try to intimidate her? She took her fork and stabbed at her eggs. She shoved them into her mouth and slammed her fork down.

"What did the eggs do you Hermione?" Ron never knew what to say to Hermione and it usually was always the wrong thing. Now was not an exception and Hermione picked up her fork and stabbed at her eggs again.

"Nothing is wrong Ronald. The eggs are very tasty." Another mouthful of eggs were thrust into her mouth.

Ginny tried to motion to Ron to let it go. Ron looked questioningly at his sister. He mouthed, "What?" and Ginny was trying hard to communicate with her brother.

"Ronald, what your sister is trying to tell you, is that I am in a bad mood and you best leave me alone." Hermione stood from the table, turned to give one more glare to Professor Snape and left the Great Hall.

Up at the head table, Severus was fuming at the game Hermione was now playing. What a little chit she was to treat him like this. His head was pounding, because he felt like he wanted to scream, and was holding it in. Hermione had a way of making him want to lose control. You would think after dealing with Voldemort all of those years, nothing could shake him. Along comes, Ms. Hermione Granger, who made him want to jump up and down like a child. Stomping his feet might make him feel better right now.

Severus left his seat, nodding to Flitwick and Minerva then stalked out of the Great Hall. He needed a plan for today. First thing this morning was double potions with his NEWT students. Hermione would be there front and center with her nasty glare. He could either ignore her or glower right back with his piercing stare. One other thing he could do…hmmm. Yes, now he had a plan, this would unsettle her the most. Professor Snape smirked at his fine plan as he strutted down the hallway quite please with himself.

Hermione entered the Potions classroom with a plan. How would Professor Snape react to her today? He would not be observing the same Hermione Granger that he had been tormenting all of these years.

Hermione made sure that she was sitting in the front row of the classroom. Professor Snape would be able to see everything she would do during class. It would feel very satisfying to get on his nerves. He deserved to be gifted with belligerent students after the trick he had pulled last night. What would Professor McGonagall say if she knew Professor Snape had "kidnapped" her last night? She knew what Harry and Ron would do. Her boys would attempt to hex Professor Snape's bollocks off. Maybe she might do the same thing herself one day.

She sat there patiently waiting for class to start. Harry came in and sat down next to her. Hermione stared straight ahead without saying a word to her best friend. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Harry watching her. Usually at this point she was reading through her potions books or writing an essay for another class. She always had to use her time wisely, never wasting a precious minute. Today, she sat staring straight ahead at Professor Snape's desk.

Professor Snape came storming into the room. "I will not tolerate any nonsense during class today. As NEWT level students your performance needs to be better than what I have seen so far." He looked around the classroom waiting for someone to challenge him or ask a dim-witted question. He noticed immediately that Hermione sat there, looking at him, with a morose face. She showed no emotion what so ever. There was also no hand waving in the air vying for his attention. He turned around to magically write the directions on the board.

"Today you will be making the Hiccuping Solution. Then we will be testing the solution on your lab partner. "Harry looked over at Hermione, grateful that she was his partner. For once, Hermione did not grimace when she knew she would be testing one of Harry's potions. Harry thought that this was rather odd.

As Professor Snape looked over his class, his eyes rested on Hermione. She was still staring straight at him with that same look on her face. Her countenance had not changed at all.

"Directions are listed on the board and you may go collect your ingredients" Professor Snape finished up his directions. At the same time Hermione was sitting in the front row her hand moving up her right leg. He watched her hand move up her calf, past her knee and up, up, up her thigh. Her hand finally rested and then started scratching her thigh; showing the full expanse of her leg. Her short skirt was pushed almost all of the way up as Hermione sat scratching. Severus's eyes popped open as his saw the tiny, red lace knickers in full view. Once again, Hermione showed no emotion as she continued scratching at her upper thigh. Standing dumbstruck at the front of the classroom, no one else seemed to notice Hermione's little "show" except for him. Hermione finally stood up, smoothing down her skirt and cocking her eyebrow at her Professor. Severus glared at Hermione and pointed to the storeroom. She bounced away to collect the ingredients while Professor Snape went to sit at his desk and cool down for a bit.

Sneaky little chit…clear winner of round 1.

Severus sat stewing at his desk. How could she have gotten the better of him? Yes, he did have a weakness for small, lacy knickers worn by women he was attracted to. Well, it was time for him to follow through with his plan; as soon as he could walk straight, without a throbbing member. He had not wanted this all to turn into a complicated mess with Hermione, but it had. Now, with her attitude today, only made him want to turn her over his knee and give her a good spanking. Just thinking about spanking her bare behind and seeing his hand print on those round globes made him squirm in his seat. Damn it all! He couldn't even strategize without having sexual thoughts about Hermione.

Severus got up to survey the students in his class. All was going surprising well for once. No one seemed to be chopping off their fingers or blowing up their neighbors…yet. As he came closer to Hermione and Harry's table, he could see that Hermione was still in a sour mood. She did not glance his way as he stopped to look in their cauldrons.

"Sufficient work there, Mr. Potter." Severus tried not to smile at the shock on Harry's face. Never before had he ever complimented Harry on a potion he had made in class.

"Adequate work Ms. Granger", Severus said in a mocking tone. Hermione's head rose up and her eyes grew big and her mouth tensed. She opened her mouth to protest, but she snapped it closed just as fast as she could. Severus's heart was beating fast knowing that he had once again ruffled Hermione's feathers by putting down her potion work. "You might try a different technique of chopping up the bat livers, such as this." Severus, standing behind her, circled his arms around Hermione and placed his hands over hers. He moved their hands together in a slow, cutting movement as he pressed as close to her as possible. He could tell that she was holding her breath once again. Severus looked up at Harry and snickered, Harry looked as if he were watching them having sex on the table, not just chopping up ingredients. Every time he moved Hermione's hand in a chopping motion, he also thrust into her back.

"Do you understand what I am trying to teach you Ms. Granger? Do you comprehend how these motions, I am showing you will change your whole way of thinking?" Severus stepped back and Hermione let out a huge breath. He gifted her with his typical smirk and walked away. As he left, he heard Hermione utter under her breath, "Bastard" and he actually laughed out loud.

There was no doubt at all who had won that round. The smug look on his face clearly showed he was happy he had won that encounter. Hermione stormed out of class, almost running down the hallway. That was so embarrassing! How could he do that in front of her friends and enemies? She had noticed the look of horror on Harry's face as Pro. Snape had "instructed" her in his chopping motions. He might as well had just laid her over the table, flip her robes up and thrust away! She had also seen the reaction from Draco Malfoy, as he made vulgar hand movements, indicating that he had also seen what Pro. Snape had done to her.

"Hermione…wait up. Hermione stop right now and talk to me. What happened back there in class?" Harry grabbed her arm and spun her around. He was red faced and looked angrier than she had seen him in years. "What is going on between you and Snape?" Hermione, backed up against the wall, stared at Harry trying to come up with an adequate answer. "There is nothing going on Harry. " She had a hard time looking at him straight in the face. Harry reached out and gripped her face in his hands. "I know when you are lying to me Hermione. We have been friends too long. I know when you are trying to hide something." Hermione tried looking away, but Harry held her face firm. "If you are getting involved with Snape…just don't. I don't trust him. I especially don't trust him with your heart." Harry suddenly pulled Hermione into his arms as she started crying.

"Harry, I don't know what I can tell you yet." Hermione looked up at Harry wishing she knew what she could tell him. There really wasn't anything happening between her and Professor Snape was there? "I need to go Harry." Hermione ran off before Harry could say another word. She needed to be by herself to think about what her next step would be with Professor Snape.

Hermione ran away and Harry slowly walked to the Great Hall. Neither one had seen the tall, man lurking in the hallway. Severus had heard the whole conservation between Harry and Hermione. One side of him was delighted he had upset Hermione so much. The other side of him was worried about where Hermione had run off to. Severus ran his hand through his hair. He leaned his head back against the wall closing his eyes. Gods, he was really screwing up this whole scenario with Hermione.What had possessed him to treat her like that during Potion's class? All he could think about was how to get the upper hand after her red knickers display. He had been half mad and half turned on. Standing behind her so close he had lost the ability to think clearly. Severus knew he had messed up. Now he needed to decide something important: Did he want her or not? He pushed off from the wall with his foot, totally lost in thought. It was time to change things and quit playing games. He wasn't an adolescent, even though his behavior in class would show otherwise. Most of the time people never gave him second chances. In fact, Dumbeldore had been the only one to grant him that gift. Now he hoped that Hermione would let him have that rare gift again of another second chance.

What will Severus do to make things right with Hermione? Will Hermione forgive him?