Annoying. That was quite obviously the only word in the entire english language that could describe his feelings towards that Granger child. Of course, she wasn't a child anymore. She wasn't a first taking the blame for her two idiotic friends for being caught going after a troll, or whatever had really happened. She wasn't even a disappointed seventh year who hadn't become Head Girl, because even though her grades wer excellent, her behavior and actions weren't that of innocence. Now she was his colleague. After seven years of dealing with her questions and persistant attitude, he now had to see her every day until he retired, which was not going to be anytime soon.
Of course, he didn't despise her. He thought she did posses qualities that were of decency and were downright respectable. Like her rather large amount of aquired knowledge and her extensive vocabulary. He was quite amused by her cleverness and just how well she was able to match wits with any poor unsuspecting person. No, she definitly had her good points. But there were some things that he just couldn't stand.
Things like how she had found him early that morning just after breakfast has barely finished so that she could look for a book in his personal library.
"You see, I'm hoping that I can find enough information, and..", she was babbling about. She seemed to, however, see that he was bored with her presence and was clearly not interested in what she was saying. Perhaps she was as smart as he thought. "And you don't care. I'm sorry. It's just that, well.. with Harry and Ron so far away, I haven't anyone to talk to about.. my work, and I just get a little excited."
He watched as she continued to search through his book, pulling out various ones that had to do with herbs one might use in a potion. He knew that Miss. Granger had no need for potions in her position- she had become the new Charms teacher when Flitwick chose to leave. Had Severus been a man of manners, he would have offered to help find whatever it was that she was looking for. Of course, that would mean asking what she was doing in the first place, and furthermore, he didn't care if her adventure turned out to be fruitless.
She pulled out a book- he couldn't tell which one. She seemed to be looking through it for something specific. He guessed that she found what she was looking for. Thank Gods, he was getting bored watching her.
"Proffessor Snape.. Why do yo have a Medical Dictionary of Muggle Illnesses?", she asked him.
"Not that it's of any importantce to you, but in my spare time I find it useful to find a cure to any and all diseases that I find possible. One never knows what might happen to themself in our world."
She paused on a certain page and seemed to be reading a few paragraphs. He watched her as her face seem to fall, as if she had learned something she had preferred to not know.
"Do you have the cure for all them, Proffessor?"
"No, I don't.."
She shut the book quickly, unsure if she wanted to read further or not. Knowing that she could not avoid the inevitable did not help her.
"May I please borrow this one?"
"You know that you are welcome to borrow anything.."
"Thank you.", she answered, quickly working towards the door.
He watched her leave, suddenly very interested in whatever it was that she was trying to accomplish. Was she trying to find the cure for something? Or did she simply need the ingrediants to a common medicine? What had she been reading?
Hermione was up late that night.. taking notes from the book she had borrowed from Snape while comparing them to notes she had taken from other books, both that she found in the library which belonged to Snape and the library which belonged to the school she now worked in. It was still the summer holiday, nothing to be excited about, but it also allowed her to freely work on the potion she was trying to create.
She layed the quill down and looked over to her open window. Taking off her glasses, which she used only for reading, she walked over to look outside of her personal quarters and up to the stars. They looked so beautiful, so full of life. Of course she knew that some were slowly burning away to their death- simply muggle astronomy told her that-, but she couldn't help feeling that each star had lived a long life. A long, magical life.
Allowing the cool summer's night breeze to touch her skin for a second, Hermione closed her window and walked towards her desk again. She pulled her now straight hair, which had been a gift from an evil known as puberty, out of simply scrunchy that she had brought with her from the muggle world. She walked towards her dresser and found her summer night gown. She wasn't sure whether to congragulate herself for not pulling an all night or to yell at herself for staying up as late as it was. She knew that she should be in bed earlier than the time she was just now getting to, but her research was so important to her.
Looking towards the window again as she climbed into bed, Hermione wondered which stars she was most like: The ones that were living a life now, or the ones that were slowly dying. She hoped it the fro, rather than the latter.. She simply wasn't ready for death..
"Hm... Bay's a narcotic.. Though, so is rosemary.. Of course.. Arabic Gum is a very strong narcotic, and the head of a lettuce, well.. I wonder which will be easiest to counteract..", Hermione was saying to herself. She was walking outside Hogwarts, enjoying the warm weather as she continued her research. It was a Saturday, a time which could be used however she wished. She looked up into the Sun, knowing very well that she was probably causing herself great danger but not caring all the same.
"Bay would most likely be easiest, but depending on how tired you have made yourself, you might want to think about using arabic gum..", a voice from behind her answerd.
Turning around, Hermione found her old Potions Master. She wondered how she hadn't noticed dark, bellowing robs following her in the bright sunlight but didn't care.
"I wasn't aware that anyone was listening..", Hermione said, trying to explain her behavior. "Can I help you, Proffessor?"
He folded his arms across his broad chest, dragging his robes around him. Hermione couldn't help make the referrence to a vampire, as his pale skin and dark, greasy hair also made it look as though he was the living dead. Of course, she knew that she herself was not in any position to judge looks. She had dirty blonde hair that reached her midback, hazelnut eyes, and a very.. plain figure and face. At least in her eyes, anyway. In reality, Hermione looked older than she was, and every bit of wisdom showed on her face, which was truly anything but oridnary. Her attention was brought back to his eyes, which seemed to be watching her thoughts drift away.
"No.. I was simply out for a walk. I thought I was hearing things, but you are indeed a real person and not just an illusion. But dare I ask, what are you doing? Is there anything that I can help you with? Your potion, perhaps?"
"I am already aware of your talents with this particular area, Severus, but I do not wish to discuss my problems with you. Furthermore, your books are more than enough help for me. I am doing quite fine on my own, thank you." She made her eyes find themselves over her glasses' rim, allowing herself to burn holes into her old teacher's eyes. Not only was she offended by, what she thought, insinutation, but her personal matters were not things that one often openly discusses. Something she was sure her colleague believed to be true. "But perhaps you would like to discuss the war? Is there anything that happened then that strikes as good conversation material?"
"You may think that you have deflected an obviously sensitve topic for you, Hermione, but truly you have just given me a clue, which leaves me to believe that whatever it is you refuse my help for is quite painful. Perhaps next time thinking is in order before you open your mouth..?"
Hermione watched as he passed right by her and towards her school. While she would like for nothing more than to stand there, continue her work, and be angered at Snape, but she knew that she had to get out of the sunlight before something bad happened. If she was going to finish her research and finally figure out what was now the most important thing to her, she would have to take extra good care of herself. Quite reluctantly, Hermione followed Snape into the ancient castle.
Damn him. He was right.. How could she have not thought about what she was saying?! She would have plenty of time to think of it in the past tense. Time that she would spend alone. In her quarters.
For the first time in weeks, things didn't seem to move at a million miles per second for Hermione. It seemed that everything that happened to her recently was going by so fast. She wasn't aware of whether it was because she simply had no free time or if it was because she was so consumed in trying to finish her research in time for it to be of any use. Today, at this time, whatever the reason that time was going too fast, it didn't matter.
Hermione was sitting in The Three Broomsticks, waiting for her old friend Harry Potter. She hadn't yet told him. Well, of course he knew that she would be working at Hogwarts, but there was that Other bit of information she had neglected to share. That was also why she had arranged this. She decided that it'd be best to tell him as soon as possible. And Ron too, of course. But it had been easier to get a hold of Harry, and besides that, she had always been closer to Harry. He was slightly more.. understanding than Ron.
Harry had bothered to tell Hermione that he would be late for their meeting- their lunch date now becoming drinks in the afternoon. However, she had decided to go to The Three Broomsticks at the original planned time, deciding that she would be able to think of how to tell Harry (and Ron) what was going on. After all, this was not the kind of thing to slip in between 'this food is great' and 'who's tipping this time?'. This was hardly something to tell in such a public place, but Hermione found that public could work to her advantages. For one thing, very few people knew, and she intended to keep things that way. The scenery forced Harry to be quite, which in turn forced him to stay at a level of calm that wouldn't be considered hysterical.
Just as Hermione finished her plate and was handing it to the witch which had been servicing her, she spotted a familiar being in the background of the pub. She watched as he watched her, observing her and trying to figure out she was doing with his books, no doubt. Hermione had been wondering when exactly it was that Snape has started watching her. She wondered what it was that made him a curious mad, especially towards her. He had never shown much more interest than he did any other Gryffindor. What made her so special suddenly.
"You can come out from the shadows, Proffessor.", Hermione declared. "Join me until Harry gets here, won't you?"
Carefully walking over to the table she sat at, he sat himself down across from the woman he had been watching. Ever since she started borrowing his books for "a side project", Severus had been able to learn to tolerate the girl. And ever since he found her captivated with a muggle medical dictionary, well.. He began wondering exactly it was she was working on.
"Why is that you call me 'Severus' some of the time, but more often then not use the title 'Proffessor'? Your are no longer my student, and you are no longer taught by me. Therefore, the title is quite inaccurate."
Holding her wine glass with both her hands, Hermione stared at him over the top. "I only use 'Severus' when you anger me. I assume that since not just five years ago I was your student, it annoys you. Just as you call me 'Miss. Granger' at all times to make me feel as anything other than your equal. Although, since I am not a Potions Master, I guess I'm not truly considered your equal."
Severus listened to every word that she said. She was very smart, indeed, but she was smart in all the wrong ways and had come to the wrong conclusion. He simply called her 'Miss. Granger' because just 'Granger' sounded odd. Whereas 'Dumbledore' and 'McGonnagall' sounded fine without the title 'Professor'.
"So what brings you here today?", he asked, trying to make conversation.
"I'm here to see Harry. I wanted to tell him of my research and the reasons behind it.." She paused for a moment, thinking the specifics of the matter over. "I wish that this was pleasure, like you are thinking, but it's not.. In fact, if buisness wasn't the opposite of pleasure, this would be." She sipped her wine. "And you?"
"Taking the chance that I'll sound like a Stalker, following you. I was hoping to find the reason as to why my books have suddenly become of such importance."
Hermione's mouth opened, her jaw nearly hitting her wine glass. "You followed me to find out why I was using your books? How long has this been going on? Why!?!?"
"Calm down, Hermione. I merely followed you here. I was hoping that I would find you alone at some time to inquire why you were using my books. If one told another why one was doing what she was doing, then perhaps one would not have to follow the other."
Still shocked, no matter what her colleague was saying, all Hermione was feeling was violation.
"If you did not want me using your books, you could have simply told me no. My personal buisness is that, and seeing as how I am here on personal buisness, I think it would be wise of you to just leave me be while I wait."
"You invited me to stay while you waited for Potter. I do not see him around, therefore I will not leave. Sorry to disappoint."
To her relief, Hermione spotted her old friend enter the small pub. He found her immediatly, confused by her company.
"Hello Hermione. Lovely to see you. Hello Professor Snape.", Harry politely said as hugged his old friend. "How are the both of you?"
"I'm great, and he's even better. Aren't you, Severus?", Hermione answered rudely. "He was also just leaving.. I simply invited him over while I waited. Goodbye now, Severus. I will see you at Hogwarts later."
She watched her colleague's face turn sour. He slowly stood up and slowly left. When Hermione was sure that he was far away, especially from ear shot, she waved her hand to where he had been sitting, inviting Harry to join her now.
"It's good to see you, 'Mione. How are you?", Harry asked immediatly. His face lit up, being happier than he had been in a long time.
"Not well, Harry.. In fact. I called you to join me so that I could tell you something..", Hermione started. So far so good, but she had no clue where she was going to go from there. Which ever way she went, she was sure that it would hurt her friend. Afterall, it hurt her more then she could possibly have imagined. But soon.. if she did not finish her research in time (which seemed to be very likely, considering she had just decided that Snape and his books needed to be left out of her life as much as possible), then things wouldn't look good for her.
In fact, things would look downright horrible for her. Afterall, death was never a happy subject...