Hermione left the next morning, leaving a thank you note in her room to the host of the convention, as she couldn't bear to see anyone.
The castle was all but deserted when Hermione returned, which suited her fine as she took her things to her room.
She unpacked slowly, feeling emotionally drained.
"Miss Granger?" a familiar voice called and Hermione turned to see Albus Dumbledore enter the room.
"I thought you and Severus weren't to return until tomorrow," Dumbledore said, gazing curiously at Hermione.
"I wasn't feeling well, so I came back early," Hermione lied, turning away quickly in pretense of putting some more of her clothes away.
"Do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?" Dumbledore asked, concerned.
"No, I'm fine. Really." Hermione turned to smile at the professor and he smiled back, though it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Yes, well, did you enjoy the convention?"
"Oh, yes, I learned lots of new things."
"I'm glad to hear it." Dumbledore smiled again and made his exit, bidding Hermione good day.
Hermione sighed and sat down on the couch, closing her eyes and pressing her fingers to her forehead. It was so hard to forget everything Severus had said to her, and especially everything he hadn't said, what he had told her with his eyes.
"Damn it," Hermione muttered, wiping her eyes and standing, picking up more clothes to put away.
Severus returned the next day and Dumbledore went to see him as well.
"How was the convention, Severus?" he asked as Severus pulled off his cloak.
"Not one for knocking, are you," Severus muttered, pulling his scarf from around his neck and laying it on the cloak. Dumbledore just smiled that annoying smile and Severus rolled his eyes.
"Ass numbingly boring, as usual," Severus replied, taking his robes off and turning again to face Dumbledore.
"Miss Granger seemed to have a fine time, although she came back early."
"Miss Granger is young," Severus muttered, trying to hide the fact that something inside him hurt as just the mere mention of her name. "As for her coming back early, she wasn't feeling well."
"Yes, she said that too."
"Is there a point to any of this?" Severus asked, folding his arms across his chest. Dumbledore raised his shoulders, cocking his head to one side.
"Is there something you would like to ask me?" Severus pressed, beginning to grow annoyed.
"Did you and Miss Granger end your time together on good terms?"
Severus thought about his answer carefully, but quickly.
"As best as could be expected," he replied. Dumbledore stared at him for a moment and then smiled slightly.
"I'm glad to hear it. There will be a staff meeting on Saturday, before the students return," Dumbledore said as he left.
Severus scowled once the older man was out of sight and turned his attention to unpacking.
Hermione and Severus tried to avoid each other as much as possible and when they couldn't, took to ignoring each other's presence.
Hermione was somewhat relieved when Sunday came, as that was the day everyone was to return.
Sure enough, Sunday afternoon, Ginny came by to visit.
"How was your holiday?" she asked, settling herself on the couch.
Hermione shrugged. "Alright."
"Alright? You're saying the convention was alright? The one you talked about constantly?"
"It wasn't as great as I thought it would be, okay?" Hermione sighed and Ginny sat up, narrowing her eyes slightly.
"Hermione, what happened?"
"What do you mean? Nothing happened."
"I expected to come back and hear you gush about all the exciting new things you learned. Something must've happened."
"Nothing happened," Hermione said again, although her voice lacked any real conviction this time.
"You're wringing your hands," Ginny said, pointing out Hermione's nervous tic. Hermione dropped her hands to her sides and Ginny stood.
"Is it Snape?" she asked gently, placing a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "Did he do something?"
"What do you mean?" Hermione whispered.
"I know you and he were closer than just the normal professor/assistant relationship. I'd venture to say closer than friends even, but I'm not sure I want to wrap my mind around that just yet."
"How did you..." Hermione breathed, a dozen emotions running through her mind.
"I kinda figured it out when I was down there to test the potion. Something about the way you were both acting."
One of the many emotions Hermione was now feeling was relief and she let out a big breath, smiling slightly, even though her eyes were filling with tears.
"So what happened?" Ginny asked again as they sat down on the end of the bed.
"It was awful," Hermione began, sniffling. "I mean, the convention started out okay, but around Christmas he just started acting weird. And then, when we were supposed to present our potion, he claimed it was his. The idea, everything. He didn't give me an ounce of credit. We had this big fight in my room, and he just said awful things." Hermione wiped her eyes, sniffing again.
"He's a git, Hermione," Ginny said, placing an arm around Hermione's shoulders. "Not worth a second thought."
"But it's more complicated than that," Hermione said sadly, slowly shaking her head. Ginny looked up at her.
"You're not...? Assuming you two were..."
Hermione frowned, and then she understood.
"Oh, no. Not that complicated. It's just that I thought I loved him. I know it's silly and foolish, but I just..." Hermione trailed off and Ginny shook her head.
"It's not foolish. You were close, you were intimate-"
"We slept together," Hermione muttered. "Don't try to sugarcoat it."
"Fine. But you're not foolish for having feelings for him."
Hermione shrugged. "I'm an idiot for thinking I could... get to him, see a different side of him." Hermione paused before she spoke again, her voice softening. "I feel used."
Tears filled Hermione's eyes again and Ginny pulled her into a hug.
Classes began again the next day and Hermione dreaded potions before lunch. She still felt so angry and hurt, and she was a little afraid she might say something.
Harry and Ron were oblivious to any change in her behavior as they entered the room and took their usual seats.
Hermione would've rather listened to anyone other than Severus, but she wasn't keen on the idea of screwing her potion up either, so she paid attention, writing down the directions as she always did, mostly for Neville, as he always seemed to mess up the most as his eyes moved between the blackboard and his cauldron.
Severus signaled for everyone to start on their potions and Hermione settled into her rhythm.
It wasn't long before Severus began his rounds around the room and Hermione could hear the click of his heels on the stone floor; the all too familiar sound sent a jolt through Hermione and she closed her eyes for a moment, gritting her teeth.
The clicking came closer and anger suddenly surged through Hermione.
"Miss Granger-"
"Get away from me," Hermione said in a low voice, opening her eyes. Unfortunately, as the entire class was silently working, they all heard her, and she looked up to see 20 pairs of surprised eyes staring at her.
"I beg your pardon?" Severus said, quickly regaining his composure, as he too had looked momentarily stunned. Hermione glanced up at him, looking him directly in the eye.
"I said get away from me."
Severus returned her stare, his eyes glittering; the class had gone completely silent, as if they were simultaneously holding their breath.
"Detention, Miss Granger," Severus finally said icily. "See me after class."
Hermione frowned and turned away. Neville was staring at her, white faced, his potion dangerously close to boiling over.
"Longbottom!" Severus snapped. "Are you trying to set a school record for most destroyed cauldrons? Mind your potion!"
Neville jumped and adjusted the flame under his cauldron just in time.
"Everyone back to work," Severus finished, finally moving away from Hermione.
Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione could see Ron and Harry staring at her shock. She turned her back full to them and went about seeing if she could save her potion.
It was barely salvagable, but worth a good enough grade and so Hermione continued on, bottling the potion just before class ended.
As she, Harry, and Ron washed their hands, Hermione told them she'd see them in the Great Hall in just a minute. They nodded, still looking mildly shocked, and left the room as Hermione gathered her things. She waited until everyone had gone before she approached Severus's desk.
"Yes?" she said coldly. Severus glared at her.
"I want you down here tonight, straight after dinner."
"Fine," she muttered, turning to go.
"Hermione," Severus began as she walked away; she stopped and turned to look at him.
"I don't believe we're on a first name basis anymore, Professor." Hermione stared at him a moment before turning again and leaving.
Severus hated her for making him feel this way, making him want to ask her to forgive him, to try again. But it was too dangerous. Lucius Malfoy's Christmas note came back into his mind and Severus couldn't bear the thought of Hermione being taken and used by all those bastards.
Sighing angrily, Severus stood and retreated into his office.
Meanwhile, Hermione had joined her friends at lunch and had begun loading her plate.
"Hermione, are you feeling alright?" Ron asked, glancing at Harry.
"I'm fine, Ron," Hermione answered, somewhat irritably.
"But talking back to Snape like that," Harry continued, somewhat gentler than Ron. "It's not like you."
Hermione looked up and saw Ginny watching her, looking somewhat concerned; sighing, she turned to look at Ron and Harry.
"It's fine. Professor Snape and I didn't exactly end our time at the convention on good terms, and I'm still a little angry with him. Just leave it be." Hermione finished filling her plate and the others lapsed into silence.
Through the rest of the day's classes, Hermione's anger simmered, never quite growing, but not quite lessening either, and by dinner, Hermione's mood hadn't changed.
She hadn't had any time to change her clothes or drop her bag off at her room, so after dinner she headed to the potions classroom, still in her school clothes, bag weighing on her shoulder.
A table stacked high with cauldrons greeted her and she grimaced as she dropped her bag to the floor, piling her robes on top of it.
"I assume you know what to do?"
Hermione looked to the front of the room as Severus entered and didn't answer, moving instead to the table and pulling the scrub brush from inside a bucket full of soapy water.
She worked quickly and quietly, taking only small breaks, not even a minute in length, just to catch her breath.
She finished sometime around eight o'clock and Severus came to inspect her work.
"Very well. You may go. I expect you back down here tomorrow night."
"Tomorrow night?" Hermione exclaimed, as she picked up her bag, staring at Severus.
"Not only did you disrespect me, Miss Granger," Severus said shortly, "you humiliated me in front of my students. I think that warrants more than one night of detention."
Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it, instead turning on her heel and striding angrily from the room.
Ginny was waiting for Hermione outside her room and stood as she approached.
"He said I humiliated him," Hermione said by way of greeting.
"Is he serious?" Ginny asked incredulously as Hermione muttered the password and they walked into the room together.
"Of course he's serious, he's always serious." Hermione dropped her bag to the floor and pulled her robes off, hanging them as she always did from a hook on the closet door.
"God, what an-"
"Ass?" Hermione finished, untucking her shirt and unbuttoning it. "Yes, I tend to agree."
Ginny grinned slightly.
"I have to go back tomorrow night," Hermione continued, tossing her shirt in the basket for the house-elves to wash.
"Tomorrow? Why?" Ginny asked, handing Hermione her night shirt from the bed.
"Because not only did I 'disrespect' him," Hermione replied, her voice muffling as she pulled the shirt over her head, "I 'humiliated' him."
"That's complete and utter rubbish," Ginny said, frowning slightly. "He thinks he deserves your respect after what he did to you?"
Hermione sighed, pulling off her skirt and pulling on the shorts she slept in.
"I don't know. But it's late, and I've got homework to do, so I'll see you in the morning."
Ginny nodded and stood, smiling at Hermione as she left.
The next night, Severus set Hermione on her hands and knees on the floor, armed with a scrub brush and yet another bucket of soapy water.
"Just call me Cinderella," she muttered, pulling her hair back and away from her face.
Twice Severus wanted to ask her to stop, to let him apologize, but damn it, she was better off without him. Safer at least.
Wednesday night, Hermione entered the classroom, looking around for Severus. She didn't see him, but did see the familiar bucket of water on one of the tables, and, assuming he wanted her to clean the tabletops, began her work. Severus entered the room not long after and took his customary seat behind his desk.
Hermione glanced up at him and noticed he looked different. Tired, maybe even sad, although she'd never seen him look sad before. He was staring at something in his hands and as she watched he brought it to the desktop, still gazing at it; it looked like a card.
Hermione continued cleaning as she watched him.
When she neared his desk, he opened the card and Hermione saw the cover.
Happy Birthday to my son.
"Today's your birthday?" Hermione asked, unable to restrain herself. Severus looked up at her and she wondered if he'd forgotten she was there.
He looked at her for a moment, then frowned. "Are you finished, Miss Granger?"
Hermione nodded. "I suppose so."
"Then good night. You'll have no more detention this week."
"Thank you," Hermione murmured, feeling perplexed.
She glanced at him once more as she left; he was staring at the card again and Hermione wondered what he was feeling.
"Dad and some Aurors arrested a bunch of wizards last night," Ron said the next morning as Hermione sat down beside him.
"How come?" Hermione asked, slightly startled as she placed her bag on the floor at her feet.
"Remember the old factory?"
Hermione nodded.
"They were caught trying to break into it."
Hermione frowned, glancing up at Ron. "Did he say why they were trying to break in?"
Ron shook his head. "He said they wouldn't tell him."
"That's odd. Morning, Harry."
Harry looked tired as he sat down on the other side of Hermione.
"Morning," he muttered, pouring himself some coffee.
"Are you okay?"
"My scar was burning all night. I couldn't sleep."
"That probably means that the wizards were somehow working in conjunction with Voldemort," Hermione said, buttering a piece of toast. "Probably against him."
"Or for him," Ron muttered, staring at his plate.
"Yes, well, innocent until proven guilty, as they say."
Ron and Harry grunted, turning to their plates, and Hermione paused in her meal preperations to glance up at the staff table.
Severus was there, talking with Professor Dumbledore. It almost looked like a normal conversation, although Hermione knew that between the two of them, there was probably no such thing.
She began to eat, thinking back to last night. She never would've suspected it had been his birthday, although now that she thought about it, he'd looked more melancholy than usual. She wondered how old he was.
When she finished eating, the three of them stood and headed for class.
A week passed and Hermione gave up on being angry with Severus. It was pointless and it just made her tired; besides, she had N.E.W.T.s to worry about this term.
The teachers were also getting into the spirit of exams, with tougher lessons and more quizzes.
Professor McGonagall asked who was considering becoming an Animagus. When most of the class raised their hands, she raised her eyebrows and explained the training process, which could take years.
"And so, after hearing that, I'll ask again. Who among you seriously intends to become an Animagus?"
She seemed unsurprised with Harry, Ron, and Hermione raised their hands again, although her eyebrows did twitch slightly as Draco Malfoy also raised his hand. Hermione figured he wasn't in it for any good purpose.
Severus had set upon the class a much more difficult potion, which Hermione tackled with academic exuberance, pleased to finally be challenging herself.
Severus unlocked the door to the large storage room and ordered the students to line up and enter one by one to get their cauldrons.
"Take care to not jostle them too much. We don't need any accidents."
Severus still seemed tired, Hermione noted, watching him surreptitiously. She wondered if he'd been summoned the night before.
It was her turn now and she stepped into the storage room, grasping her cauldron by the handle and carrying it to her workspace. Neville looked nervous as he set his own cauldron up.
"Calm down, Neville," Hermione murmured. "Just pretend Professor Snape's not there."
"I've tried that," Neville whispered back.
"Remember how well you did on your O.W.L.? Just pretend you're in that same environment, and you'll be fine."
Neville nodded, looking newly determined, and began working.
The room was soon silent as everyone resumed work on their potions, and Hermione relaxed, settling into her routine.
She couldn't help but notice, however, that Severus wasn't making his usual rounds, hovering around like a bat. Hermione glanced up at him as he stood at the front of the room, leaning against his desk. He didn't look well, and Hermione felt worry twist her stomach.
Turning back to her potion briefly, Hermione carefully added her next ingredient, powdered bicorn horn, and smiled, satisfied, as the potion turned a light green. Picking up her mixing spoon, she placed it in the cauldron, setting it to stir clockwise 30 times and then counterclockwise 15 times. As the spoon began its work, Hermione glanced back up at Severus. He looked positively ill now and she could see a fine layer of sweat glistening on his forehead. He looked at her suddenly and she stared back at him.
As she watched, he took a step, and stopped, swaying slightly. And then, as if in slow motion, he toppled forward, hitting the floor hard.
Hermione gasped and ran to the front of the room, dropping to her knees beside Severus's still form and carefully rolling him onto his back.
"Professor?" she called, very nearly slipping and calling him by his name. He was breathing, but his pulse was faint. Hermione looked up, gazing at all the shocked faces around her.
"Someone go get help, for heaven's sake!" she cried, startling nearly everyone. Harry was the first to emerge from his stupor and hurried from the room.
Hermione scanned the students' faces; most showed fear or concern, but when she met Draco Malfoy's eyes, she saw hatred there, hatred for her, and while this wasn't anything new, it was unsettling, and Hermione frowned, dropping her eyes back to Severus. It was all she could do to not reach out and brush his hair from his face; she was saved from temptation as the classroom door opened and Professor McGonagall came in, Harry in tow.
"Miss Granger?" McGonagall said briskly, conjuring up a stretcher and levitating Severus onto it.
"He... he just collapsed," Hermione murmured, rising to her feet.
"Everyone, return to your common rooms," McGonagall said, nodding briefly to Hermione and walking quickly from the room, Severus's lifeless form floating ahead of her.
Hermione stood alone in the middle aisle, feeling uncomfortable under the watching gazes of her classmates.
"Um, I guess the potions aren't going to matter," she began quietly, "so do what you want with them, I suppose."
Hermione walked back to her own workstation and pointed her want at her own potion, which had turned a sour yellow color, and muttered, "Evanesco." The potion disappeared and Hermione began to pack up her things. Around her, other students did the same, slowly leaving the classroom. Hermione, Ron, and Harry waited on Neville, who looked upset as he loaded his things into his cauldron.
"What's the matter, Neville?" Hermione asked.
"Professor Snape. I mean, I always hoped something would happen to him, but I never really wanted anything to happen to him."
"Neville, it's not your fault," Hermione said, smiling gently.
"I know. I just feel guilty." Neville frowned and carried a vial over to the sink to rinse it out.
"Miss Granger?"
Hermione turned to see Professor McGonagall standing behind her.
"Could you please come with me?"
"Um... okay," Hermione murmured, glancing back at Harry and Ron.
"We'll take your stuff to the common room," Harry said.
"Thanks." Hermione smiled very slightly at him and grabbed her robes, following McGonagall from the room.
"Is something wrong?" Hermione asked, pulling on her robes.
"Professor Dumbledore wants to speak with you," McGonagall replied.
"Is Professor Snape okay?" Hermione continued softly.
"He should be fine." McGonagall smiled gently and Hermione returned it, fastening the clasp on her robes and trying very hard to not appear nervous.
They reached the hospital wing and saw Professor Dumbledore emerging from behind a curtained area.
"Miss Granger," he said, smiling as he approached her. "If you'll excuse us, Minerva."
McGonagall nodded and swept from the room.
"How are you, Hermione?" Dumbledore asked, dropping the formality.
"I'm fine, I guess."
"Good," Dumbledore murmured, nodding slightly.
Hermione didn't reply, not knowing what to add; they slowly approached the curtained area.
"How is he?" Hermione finally asked.
"He'll be fine," Dumbledore answered, nodding again.
"What happened? Do you know?"
"A mild heart attack, brought on by stress."
Hermione felt her mouth drop open slightly. "A heart attack?" she whispered, looking up at Dumbledore.
"He's fine, Hermione. Poppy patched him right up."
They stopped in front of the stark white curtain; Hermione could see Severus's form behind it and found it difficult to take her eyes from the shadowy figure.
"I wanted to ask you if you'd noticed anything strange about him lately."
"Not really. Only that he seemed tired. He and I haven't spent any time together since the convention." Hermione paused for a minute, watching Severus's chest rise and fall behind the curtain. "I don't know," she finished lamely, trying desperately to fight the rising lump in her throat.
"I suppose he has been under quite a bit of stress lately," Dumbledore murmured, more to himself than to Hermione; he looked troubled. Hermione nodded and they fell silent for a moment.
"Would you like to see him?" Dumbledore asked a moment later, reaching for the curtain. Hermione took a quick step back.
"No. No, I... I need to go to my room, get my things for my next class." Hermione took another step back and Dumbledore looked at her, his eyes shining oddly.
"Very well, then. Good day, Hermione."
Hermione nodded and turned to leave, pausing only once at the door to gaze back at the bed before she left.