When they finally arrived in Snape's quarters, Hermione was exhausted. She practically fell onto the chair next to the table.
"I'm surprised you made it the whole way down here walking by yourself," said Snape as he sat down opposite her.
"I think I needed to prove to myself that I could in fact do something for myself," replied Hermione.
"Well, that's good. Now, you know the drill, look at your plate and tell it what you want."
"Um, okay, let's have… Oh, I'm really not hungry, professor!" whined Hermione.
"Now you listen here, I brought you down here so I could make sure myself that you're eating. You will eat everything on that plate even if it kills you. Now, order something," replied Snape harshly.
"Fine," she looked directly at her plate and said, "Pork chops and mashed potatoes."
Snape nodded in agreement and looked at his own plate and said, "Steak and French fries."
Their food appeared and Snape immediately dug in. Hermione, on the other hand, sat and stared at her food until Snape made eye contact with her. She then realized that she would have no other choice but to eat. She picked at her mashed potatoes and ate half of her pork chop, finally pushing the plate in front of her signaling she was finished.
"Well, you ate more then I thought you would," said Snape.
"It's only because you're here staring at me that I ate it."
"Well, you're welcome."
"I didn't thank you."
"I know you didn't say it out loud, but somewhere in the back of your mind you're thanking me."
"Whatever," said Hermione.
She got up from the table and walked over to the armchair by the fireplace. Snape however, wasn't finished eating, so he stayed where he was. Hermione stared into the fire, and realized what she had to do next.
"Can I trust you professor?" she asked quietly.
Snape looked up from his plate and stared at her, "Of course you can trust me. Don't ever think you can't. Whatever you say here isn't going to leave this room. And I will defiantly not tell Potter or Weasley."
There was a long pause. Snape went back to eating his steak, thinking Hermione wasn't going to say anything else.
"I have depression, I think I'm too fat, and I think about killing myself all the time," said Hermione, barely louder then a whisper.
Snape's eyes shot up. He slowly got up and made his way over to the armchair opposite Hermione.
"Oh Hermione, I know how it feels…"
"No! No you don't! You have no idea how it feels!" screamed Hermione, breaking down into tears.
"Come here," said Snape as he got up and walked around the coffee table towards Hermione. She stood up and he embraced her, quieting her tears a bit. For ten minutes, they both stood there, embraced in each other, Hermione crying on Snape's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Professor," said Hermione as she released him.
"Don't be. You're hurting, and you needed a shoulder to cry on, literally."
"It's just so hard to talk about everything."
"I know, I know. And I'm very happy you finally decided to tell me that. How about we get started on a lesson to get your mind off everything? And we'll talk more tomorrow."
"Okay," said Hermione, brushing away her tears.
For the next hour, the two of them worked on a practical charms lesson. But both were trying so hard to forget what just happened, it was a waste of two hours. The night ended with Snape and Hermione, walking side by side towards the Hospital Wing.