Chapters 21-30

Not a Student Anymore

Severus Snape stared out of the window. His throat hurt, his temples were throbbing. He had an apprentice. He was at Hogwarts. Oh, and he was alive when he really should be past all of those irritations.

In other words, Severus Snape was in a very bad mood.

At the edge of the lake, a lone figure was walking away from the castle. He narrowed his eyes. Granger? Could it be that the chaos inside the castle had become too much for her, as well? Definitely. He knew that purposeful stride. Hermione Granger. Resident Gryffindor…what had he always called her? He frowned. It was more than a year since he’d encountered her in class for the last time. He would never forget her overeager hand waving, of course. Or her tendency to disrupt the pace he set for his lessons. But beyond that…

…right: ‘know-it-all’. That’s what he’d called her.

As he watched her making her way along the lake, he wondered if she still was. Observing her, he remembered how her lips had felt under his…so soft, so smooth, but still firm. If he was to believe Minerva (and he had no reason not to), those lips would have been the last thing he could have felt on this earth. He sighed. If he’d been at all conscious, that wouldn’t have been all that bad.

No.

No. What was he thinking? She was his apprentice. He must not think of her lips. It was only a ritual. An ancient, time-honoured ritual.

He turned his attention back to the lake. She was no longer alone at the lakeside. He narrowed his eyes and scowled. Of course. Her little Gryffindor friends had arrived today. Naturally she had to meet up with them right away. Damn and damn again.

And he hadn’t had a chance to talk with her about appropriate behaviour as a member of the staff. Well, that should prove to be interesting. He would get a good idea of just how much she had matured in a very short time. He didn’t expect much of her, to be honest.

No matter how sweet that kiss had tasted.

oooOooo

‘Miss Granger. How good of you to return to your quarters before midnight.’

Hermione jerked away and almost fell backwards down the stairs. She would have, probably, if an arm slung across her back hadn’t caught her in time. She gasped and pulled away, leaning against the cold wall of the corridor for support.

‘I—I—am sorry, sir. I was not aware that I had to observe a curfew.’

Black eyes blazed at her in the flickering light of torches.

‘No,’ he whispered. ‘I guess you were not.
‘There are things we need to discuss. We can do so in the morning. Or…at your convenience…now.’

Hermione stared at her master, unbalanced, scared. I chose this, she thought distantly. This is what I wanted. This is what I have to do.

‘Any time,’ she managed.

‘Good,’ he replied. But he didn’t seem satisfied.

He led the way to the library. She already loved the room—filled with books from floor to the ceiling, what was there not to love about it?

‘Sit.’

She obeyed, perching on the edge of an armchair, while he loomed over her, black robes throwing even darker shadows at this time of the night.

‘It has come to my notice that you have been…in the company of students today. That is not permissible.’ He sounded angry, almost disgusted.

‘What?’ she exclaimed, instantly outraged. She hadn’t expected anything good, as tense as he’d been when he’d greeted her. But that?

Wait. She bit her tongue. She was tired and not at her best this late in the evening. But…She stared at him. Did he have a reason for being angry with her?

‘Not even a week, Miss Granger? And already I need to remind you of the conditions of the contract you signed? And with your own life’s blood, too?’ Snape bent down to face her. ‘Trust me, you do not want me to chastise you as is my right according to said contract,’ he hissed.

She stared at him and couldn’t help feeling scared. Those burning eyes. I’ve seen worse. So much worse. And I want to be here. I want to be here. With him. Right. So what’s the problem with me hanging around with students? It was hard to concentrate with him looming over her so dark and threatening. Students. And I. But I’m not a student anymore.

Oh.

I’m not a student anymore.

‘But they are my friends,’ she murmured and raised her eyes towards him, confused and worried.

To her surprise, he didn’t hiss at her again, but simply sat down on the other armchair, inhaling deeply—as if she were just another student trying his patience beyond the bearable limit. And she guessed she was. She hadn’t thought. She should have asked him, right away, about how she ought to behave now that she wasn’t a student anymore. How could she have been so stupid?

‘You, Miss Granger,’ Snape said wearily, ‘are no longer a student. You are a member of the staff. You will teach your first class next week. No matter if they are your friends or not, you cannot…‘hang around’ with them anymore.’

Hermione winced, closing her eyes. She’d been looking forward to seeing Neville, Luna and Ginny again. ‘I’m sorry, sir. I just didn’t realise.’

‘That much is painfully obvious.’

‘May I not ever see—meet—them again?’

‘Oh, merciful Mephistopheles!’ Snape groaned. ‘For one, they won’t stay students until the end of time. And I suppose you may invite them to meet you here, in your quarters—or you can meet them in Hogsmeade when you’re free of a weekend.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ Hermione whispered, ashamed.

He just shook his head at her. ‘Now go,’ he said. ‘Just go. Go to bed.’