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Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters are property of J.K. Rowling.

Just Hermione

If cold black eyes could speak, they would have a tale to tell. If the frozen heart that beats within his chest could sing, its melody would bring with it a river of tears. If he could feel, she may have known what they had was real. All of the things he couldn't say and those that he should have.

The love of one potions master, the distruction of a brainy know-it-all.
*

Severus Snape had had enough. This time, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger were going to pay for their pranks. Though he knew Miss Granger hadn't been behind the whole, well thought out, plan, still she was there and she had to receive punishment. The rush of emotions he'd felt when that damned fire cracker had gone off in his seat, beneath him, were nothing when compared to the burst of laughter which echoed off of the dank stone walls surrounding his class room in the dungeons. Still, as he dwelled on the memory it angered him, more so than any other prank he could recall.

Severus Snape glanced up from his desk only for a fraction of a second upon hearing the creaking of his classroom door. It was eight o'clock on the dot and he knew it was time for his detention to begin. Three figures emerged from the dark corridor that lay beyond the door and once inside, the door creaked again and was slammed shut. Harry Potter, followed by, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, strutted straight up to the edge of his potion masters desk and glared down through his circular glasses with a smug look plastered on his face.

"It's eight o'clock, sir." Harry commented.

Behind him, Hermione grimaced, knowing their professor would not take too kindly to being told the time, especially by Harry. It seemed with any word Harry uttered, an invisible string was being pulled and upon it, Severus Snape was the marionette.

Severus's head snapped up from the papers he had been marking. "I know very well what time it is, Mr. Potter, and I will thank you to speak when you are spoken to. If I ever need to know what time of the day it is, believe me when I tell you, I will ask you. Now, if you three will kindly take your seats, separately, I will be with you in a moment."

Harry, in return for his professor's comment, gave a sneer as he turned quickly and plopped himself down in the nearest seat. Ron, realizing all too well that Professor Snape was already unhappy with them, quickly took a seat three chairs back from Harry and decided he was going to try his best to control Harry's temper. It was true, Ron did, at times, have a temper himself, but when it came to Professor Snape, he was terrified of the man, and Harry was not. Harry and Ron, having already taken their seats, left Hermione standing five feet from Professor Snape's desk. She stood, in what seemed to be a frozen state staring at the long shiny black head of hair in front of her. As it appeared, he, Severus, hadn't yet noticed her still standing there, which was good, but it wasn't exactly like Harry or Ron could say anything to her because that would draw his attention.

Ron shifted uncomfortable in his chair as he glanced from the untidy head of black hair three seats in front of him to the bushy brown locks at the front of the classroom, whishing Harry would do something so he didn't have to. Finally, Harry cleared his throat trying to get Hermione's attention but to no avail. Again, he cleared his throat, still nothing. Deciding to take a different approach, he coughed and again, she did nothing.

Before Harry could think of any other way of capturing her attention, he had captured that of Severus. "Mr. Potter, if something is the matter with your throat, I suggest you wait until you have served your time in detention to start with the coughing. You will find no coddling here. I do not have sympathy for troublemakers."

Severus hadn't looked up from the papers he was grading as he spoke to Harry, that is, not until Harry replied. "I thank you sir, but I wouldn't ask for your coddling if I was dieing. And I doubt you would have sympathy for even the most innocent babe if it were about to be ripped to shreds by an angry hippogriff."

Just as Severus's head popped up, before he was able to come up with a snappy remark, he noticed Hermione had yet to take her seat, which caused Harry's comment to flee his mind. His lips grew into a sinister grin as his black eyes narrowed and he spoke, "Why, Miss Granger, have you deiced not to take my instruction to sit? Is it perhaps that even in detention you find yourself above the rules?"

Hermione grimaced and dropped her eyes to the stained stone floor at her feet. "No, sir."

Severus placed his quill down into the ink well he had been using, stood from his chair and quickly rounded the corner of his desk so he was standing only a few feet from the girl's small figure. "Well, come now, Miss Granger, you seem to have all of the answers, why is it now that I have found you with none?"

Before Hermione had time enough to speak, Harry was already standing between her and Severus giving the professor a death glare. "I will not sit here and tolerate your patronizing her. She's done nothing wrong, she shouldn't even her here! You will do good to take your self down a notch or two before I have to do it for you. Sir!"

Words couldn't describe the look Harry's comment sent across Severus's face. Only one word does it justice, anger, and even then something is amiss. Severus stood straight as he glared down at the seventeen year old boy before him and clenched his jaw.

"Very well, Potter, fifty points from Gryffindor." Harry opened his mouth to protest and was quickly cut off by Severus. "Do you wish to make those fifty points one hundred? I thought not."

Hermione sank back a few steps, not wanting to get into the line of fire if Harry found he couldn't control himself. Ron grumbled at the amount of points one outburst had cost his house, it had been rumored, and was true, that Harry was the main cause for Gryffindor's losing house points.

Hermione decided she wasn't going to let this argument get any further. She was always grateful for Harry and Ron's sticking up for her, but often times had to take the initiative to control such situations. "Sir, I mean no disrespect, but may we please just get down to our detention and be on with it?"

Severus growled, "Alright then. Potter! Weasley!" Ron yelped at Severus's tone, "You will both be accompanying Mr. Filch to the gardens and will be removing gnomes. You will not be using your wands and I see no need to take along gloves."

Severus's instructions warranted yet another grumble from Ron, but he knew better than to talk back. If he had questioned his professor, he knew their detention could quickly go from de-gnoming the gardens to scraping unicorn dung from the grounds without shovels, wands, or gloves and that wasn't a chance he was willing to take.

Harry stayed where he was, between Hermione and Severus as Ron stood to begin his walk down to the gardens. "Come on, Harry." Ron called.

Harry didn't move he simply stood staring into Severus's black eyes. Severus glowered back at Harry and said, "Yes, Potter, off with you. Miss Granger will be fine here without her wonder boy, I assure you."

Harry sneered as a response to Severus's statement and for once didn't make any kind of snide remark as he turned around to face Hermione. "If you need me," he whispered.

His statement was all she needed to hear. She smiled and nodded at him as he walked past her and left the room at Ron's heels.

Hermione took several deep breaths once she heard the heave wooden door slam shut. She could only imagine what Severus was going to have her doing considering the thing Ron and Harry had to do. She didn't deserve to be there, she wasn't the one who played the prank on Severus; it wasn't her idea but pranks never were. In fact, she objected whole heartedly to the idea of playing a trick on him. She was the one who said they would all be in trouble, and she was right.

Severus stood, propped against his desk observing Hermione's many breaths. He was temporarily captivated by something within her, though he wasn't quite sure what. For the first six years he'd been her teacher, he almost loathed her. She was always so quick and eager to answer the questions he asked, never leaving time for anyone else. Though, she was the brightest witch he'd ever had the privilege of teaching. Something inside her spoke to him but it only began early in this, the seventh year. Graduation was nearing and he would most likely never see her again. That one fact had a bit of an impact on him but he wasn't sure if it was that he was happy about not having to have her but in or talk out of turn, or if it was that he would miss all of those things she did that got under his skin.

After several minutes had passed, and Hermione found her self brave enough to find out just what he had in store for her. "Sir, what is it that you would like for me to do? I can hurry and catch Ron and Harry if you would like me to help them with the gnomes." She was hopeful in her request but in the back of her mind, she knew he would never let them all three work together.

Severus sighed heavily, "No, Miss Granger, you will not be accompanying those two to the gardens, your talents will not be of any use there. I have better things for you to do."

Hermione's heart sank. She didn't want to be locked away from every other student in Hogwarts, down in the dungeons with Snape. She wanted to be with Harry and Ron, out in the gardens, even if Filch had to be there. Anywhere, she thought, was better than being where she was.

He cleared his throat and pushed himself off his desk. "Come with me, Miss Granger."

Hermione silently followed her professor up the stairs to his office. She wasn't sure why he was leading her there and honestly, she was a bit afraid to find out.

Severus stopped so quickly Hermione almost ran straight into his back; luckily she looked up just in time. Taking a step to her right she was able to look past Severus's looming figure and saw they were in fact in his office and it wasn't as dreary as she had always imagined it would be. Truth be told, it was a cozy place, with dark cherry wood furniture and a bright glowing fire. The fire was possibly the one thing which gave the room such personality, it's yellow and orange flames seemed to dance upon the ceiling, reaching for freedom. The room was smaller than any of the others she'd been in, none the less, it was nice. Two tall black wing backed chairs sat directly opposite a large cherry desk to the right of the entrance. To the left of the entrance, three more, black wing backed chairs sat around a small tea table, very near to the fire.

Severus strode over the threshold, behind his desk, and took a seat in his, dark cherry wood, chair. "Take a seat, Miss Granger." He motioned to one of the wing backed chairs in front of his desk, the tone in his voice almost kind.

Hermione gave a slight smile and nodded as she tried her best not to look into those damned black eyes for fear that she may lose herself. Taking small steps she advanced across the room and took her seat in the chair Severus had suggested.

He cleared his throat. "Now, Miss Granger, I am a relatively intelligent man, as you are a young woman, and I know you were not behind that... that... little prank Potter and Weasley decided to pull earlier this evening. Is there anything you wish to tell me about it? I give you my word, if you tell me exactly what happened, I will end your detention."

Hermione shifted in her chair. Still she avoided his gaze even when she felt his eyes moving over her small form. "No, sir. I do not have anything more to tell you than what you already know."

Honestly, he hadn't expected her to betray her friends but he thought giving her the chance wouldn't hurt. She had always been faithful to them, much like a dog would be to its master. He had done his fair bit of observation and what he saw, often times, literally offended him. Sure, she was an unbearable know-it-all, too intelligent for even her own good; but she was so much more than that. She was gifted, loving, caring, kind, and beautiful. But neither Ron nor Harry took notice of such things. She had been and would always be just Hermione. Both the boys took advantage of the fact that she was so gifted in magic and willing to help whenever possible. Taking advantage of her intelligence equaled taking advantage of her sexually, in Severus's eyes. He'd seen her cry; shed countless tears every time one of those foolish boys was injured. He'd heard her scream at them when they went off on dangerous, pointless, adventures. Apologizes were too frequent, too meaningless, and both boys wore them on their sleeves. Hermione was nothing more to them than a pawn. Someone they knew would always be there, willing to sacrifice her self for them. Eternally, she was just going to be Hermione.

It pained him to have to witness the frivolous acts of defiance Harry and Ron, but mostly Harry, forced Hermione to participate in. Though she never went along against her will, she was forced. The fact that she loved them, more than he thought she ought to, was the one thing which they held against her, which in turn was what forced her into such things. He had to admit it though, he admired the foolish girl. Admired her because she was capable of loving, something he, him self, had never been able to do.

Punishing Ron and Harry was something he'd become accustomed to, but Hermione, she was a different story. She rarely, if ever, was given detention, and he certainly didn't like to do it. But in a classroom, some things are tolerated and others are not. Severus didn't want to punish Hermione but he knew, as a teacher, it was his duty. But even in the case of punishment, things don't always have to be cruel, evil, or foul.

"Very well, Miss Granger. This evening, as well as the next six evenings, you will be helping me in my classroom for your detention." His disappointment that she hadn't deceived her friends was all too evident in his voice, more so than he would have liked.

Hermione's brow furrowed as she finally looked up into his coal black eyes, "you mean, I don't have to scrub hex marks from the walls or polish the trophies in the trophy room?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, Miss Granger. But if you wish, you can do those things rather than accompany me in the classroom."

She responded with shaking her head, "No, no, sir. I will help you."

Two hours into her helping Severus in his classroom, Hermione was instructed to reorganize one of his many ingredient closets. While she stood atop a wooden stool rearranging bottles of toad eyes, Severus leaned down at a counter to her left using his wand to remove potion stains. Just as Hermione turned on her stool, to get down having finished the top shelf, the stood wobbled causing her to lose her balance.

Severus, reacting purely out of instinct, lunged in the direction of the falling Hermione and caught her in his arms. Neither of them heard the clatter the stool caused as it hit the hard stone floor. He stood for several seconds, which to him felt like an eternity, simply holding her, much like one would hold an injured child. Having been surprised at the quickness with which Severus reacted; Hermione obliged and didn't object to being held by him. Gazing into his eyes, she saw a fire, one she'd never seen in the eyes of any man, and it startled her.

Her body stiffened as she spoke to him, "Umm... Professor..."

Severus snapped back to reality with her words and realized how uncomfortable he was making her. He stepped back from the fallen stool and gently let her stand to her feet, "I apologize, Miss Granger."

Her eyes fell to the stool at her feet, "No, thank you, Professor."

Severus straightened his robes and cleared his throat before walking across the classroom, away from Hermione. Hermione took his walking away as her cue to return the stool to its rightful place and continue with her detention. She couldn't come up with any answers as to why he'd held her so long but knew she wasn't in the place to be thinking of such things. She had work to do.

On the second night of detention, Harry and Ron were banished back into the gardens to resume de-gnoming. As it seemed to them, it was impossible to keep the little buggers out of any garden, but this was meant to be punishment, and that it was. But again, Severus had Hermione help him in his class room. This time though, she would be assisting him in grading papers, something he was sure wouldn't cause her to fall.

As the night stretched on, Hermione's marking became careless, caused by her wandering mind and fatigue she felt from not getting enough sleep the night before. This was one thing Severus automatically noticed, without looking up from his stack of parchment.

"Miss Granger, if you will not pay attention to the task at hand, I can find something else to occupy your time." He scolded.

"I'm sorry, sir." She said, adverting her gaze back to the report in front of her.

Severus placed his quill back into its ink well and turned his head toward her, "If I may ask, Miss Granger, what has you so distracted this evening?"

"I-umm-I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again," she stammered.

He shook his head, "I didn't ask for an apology. I asked what has distracted you."

"Oh... I... well... Sir, last night... when I fell..."

He interrupted her, "I did apologize for that, Miss Granger."

"Yes, you did. But..." She trailed off, not knowing how to word what she wanted to ask.

"But, Miss Granger?"

"I... I was wondering... why. I mean, why did you do that?" By thins time she had also laid her quill to rest in its ink well and was fidgeting with her hands in her lap, not daring to look into his face.

Severus raised one eye brow at her question. "I thought that would have been evident. You were falling and I could have either let you fall or catch you. I did what I thought was more acceptable. Would you rather I have let you fall and risk injury?"

Hermione drew in a deep breath and forced herself to look into his eyes. "No, sir, I wouldn't have wanted to fall, but that wasn't what I was asking. I saw something, sir. I... there was... The way you looked at me, sir."

Severus abruptly stood from his seat and hurried across the room but didn't answer her question. "I think that will do, Miss Granger, you are free to go."

She stood from her seat and opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find her words.

From where he stood, he leapt up the stairs to his office and just before closing the door he called, "Good night, Miss Granger."

Hermione hadn't meant to offend him. She didn't know what had happened but she knew it was her fault. 'Stupid girl.' She thought as she crept out of the classroom and closed the wooden door behind her.

The third and fourth nights of detention went much like the second had. Ron and Harry were sent on some bogus hunt for calla lily spores on the grounds with Filch and Hermione sat in Professor Snape's classroom. Severus made him self scarce while Hermione was serving detention, only reentering the room to tell her to switch projects then disappearing again. She had so much she wanted to say to him but no opportunity to do so. She'd thought about what happened in that very room the whole two days and made up her mind to do something.

On the fifth night, with only one night left, Hermione had come up with a solution. She was going to make it so he couldn't get away, not this time. Anywhere he went, she followed, even after he threatened to take house points away.

"Professor!" She called from outside his locked office door. "Professor Snape!"

"Miss Granger, will you just do as you were told and file my parchment?" He called from behind the security of his door.

Hermione huffed; she had had enough of his evasive games. She knew what she saw in his eyes was there no matter if he wanted to admit it or not. And even though she knew he was her teacher, she came to like the feeling his eyes had given her. She wasn't afraid of him anymore and she was going to show him just that.

"Severus!"

Without a second's warning, the office door swung open and an extremely angry Severus stood in the doorway, inches from Hermione. "What did you just call me?" He questioned his voice dangerously low.

She swallowed hard. "I called you Severus, sir."

Several times, he blinked as he stared into the face before him. She didn't appear to be intimidated, as she usually did. Not a single flicker of fear showed in her eyes. "Miss Granger..."

"Hermione." She interrupted him.

"Miss Granger I..."

Again she interrupted him, "Hermione!"

He scoffed. "Hermione! I will not tolerate..."

This time she didn't interrupt him with words. No, this time she flung herself into his arms and crushed his lips with hers. Taken off guard, Severus resisted her kiss only for a second before taking her in his arms and raising her nearly a foot off the ground. Kissing her with such a hunger he had never felt, he knew his actions weren't those a teacher should show. Still something inside her called to him, spoke his name, and he couldn't handle it.

For hours the two of them simply drank in each other's essence. Kissing, touching. Every inch of her fascinated him, never had he been so captivated. She was so innocent, so young, so beautiful and precious. She was everything to him. The fire he felt as he kissed her engulfed his very soul, set him on fire. He knew he had to have her.

Deep in the night, soft moans filled the air of Severus's sleeping quarters. Moans which belonged to Hermione. Even through the fear she'd once had, she found her way into the bed of the one man whom she truly loved, the only man she would ever love.

Early in the morning, Severus awoke cradled only in the golden arms of the sun, she had gone. A smile stretched its way across his glowing face. All day memories of the night flooded his thoughts. Though he felt for this girl, he knew she was just that, a girl. He was an old man, far too old for someone of her age. He was a teacher, her teacher. A heave sadness consumed his heart when he realized what they did could never happen again. She was too young, too smart, too beautiful, and he was too old.

Eight o'clock chimed on the clock which hung behind his desk as he sat in his chair and in walked the three figures, right on time. Ron and Harry didn't protest when they were told to go and find Filch to begin their detention. It was only after they had gone when Hermione approached his desk. She could tell by the look in his eyes something was amiss. Something wasn't right.

"Severus?" She said sitting down on the edge of his desk, to the right of him.

"Hermione." He answered, doing his best not to look into her deep brown eyes.

She reached out for his face but he recoiled. "Severus, what's the matter?"

"Hermione... Miss Granger, what happened last night..." His words stuck in his throat, he knew what he had to do but he couldn't make himself do it.

Her eyes glistened as she stared into the eyes that refused to look at her. "What are you saying, Severus?"

He stood from his seat and took her in his arms, pulling her off his desk. Quickly he covered her lips with his. Passion took over as he continued to kiss her and he knew what would happen if he didn't put a stop to it. Pushing her back by her shoulders he looked away from her.

"Miss Granger. This, what we are doing, it can not go on." He said coldly.

Hermione blinked up at him, "Severus look at me."

He didn't move.

"Severus! Damn you, look at me." She demanded.

Again, he didn't move.

"Tell me it was a mistake. Tell me you don't want to be with me. Tell me!" She pulled away from him and sank back down onto his desk, cradling her head in her hands.

"I can not."

"What am I to you?" She asked.

Fighting back the lump in his throat he said, "Just Hermione. You're just Hermione."

A/N: I do hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Please do let me know what you think, even if you didn't like it. Rewiews always welcome. Sway