Hermione was approaching the end of adolescence. At sixteen, her feelings were overwhelming, confusing, and downright shocking. Even though she knew it would change the dynamic of the group drastically, She couldn't help her eyes wandering over to Harry every chance she had. He was growing taller, his shoulders broader, his hair fuller, his skin scruffier. His baby face was beginning to thin and sharpen, and his eyes were deep and inviting.

She remembered when she'd first taken notice that he was becoming a man. The way her body had reacted stunned her. She felt prickles across her skin, a strange feeling filling her lower belly, and an unmistakeable zing in unexpected places. She knew Harry didn't feel that way about her, and a miserable pit settled in her stomach.

She'd been unwilling to accept it, and she'd gone to the first place she could think to go to distract herself, the library. It was with her nose buried in the potions book she'd never returned that she found it. A love potion that was so potent, just one sip would have the recipient bowing at her feet kissing her shoes. This particular potion differed from others in that its effects were subtle to the eyes of all but the object of adoration. Additionally, Its effects were long-lasting and incredibly difficult to reverse.

She hunched looking around nervously to make sure no one was looking at her. The love potion was forbidden, punishable surely by expulsion - possibly a harsher sentence. Even so, she memorized the ingredients on the page slipping the book back into her bag slickly. Of course she had no real intentions of using it. Of course she couldn't break the law, she just couldn't.

So why she found herself in Hogsmeade, cutting classes to take the unauthorized trip, was beyond her comprehension. Her hands trembled as she made her purchases, her eyes darting around nervously. She was sure McGonagall or Snape would walk in any minute and demand to know why she was here. Even the clerk looked at her suspiciously as he handed her her bags - but maybe she imagined that.

"I must be out of my mind." She mumbled to herself as she tucked her ingredients safely into the folds of her robe. Assembling the forbidden potion in potions class seemed the dumbest thing she could possibly do. The risk of getting caught wasn't worth the result. But she could hardly risk skulking around making a potion outside of class, even in Moaning Myrtle's mostly empty bathroom.

Harry wasn't dumb either. She wouldn't be able to fool him if she gave him a potion outside of class that radically changed his feelings. Making it in class would almost guarantee him tasting it without suspicion. It was devious. It was dastardly. It was so unlike her to even think of such things. Her desire for Harry was out of control.

"Hello Harry." She greeted shakily taking her seat beside him in potions class. Ron and Harry both stared at her with quizzical looks. "What's with you?" Ron asked. She must look more antsy than usual. "I was up all night studying." She answered making an effort to calm down. Snape started class, flicking his wand toward the blackboard where instructions appeared. Hermione fidgeted impatiently.

Once they began making today's potion, she acted as though she were putting the prescribed ingredients in the cauldron, but she dumped the "special" ingredients without a hitch. As she stirred the pot, her heart leapt with excitement. This could truly work, and Harry may be hers within minutes. She eyed her classmates' pots to make sure her potion was the exact same color and consistency.

Of course it wasn't - hers was silky and creamy white while others had a gloopy purple concoction. No matter. She charmed the cauldron before class to make the potion appear as today's potion. How long was she supposed to stir it again? With the flick of her hand, she gazed at the folded paper she'd ripped out of the book just in case she needed to consult it.

Stir for 10 minutes. Good. As she looked at the crusty old page, she noticed the slightest shimmer around the word "love". Charmed. She frowned peeling at the word. The letters spelling love lifted from the page with a wisp, revealing a clear word beneath it. Lust. Lust potion. Her shoulders seized, and she let her head fall into her hand exasperated. All that work, money, and risk for someone's practical joke. She certainly couldn't give Harry the lust potion. That was where she drew the line.

She was hastily trying to pour the potion into a charmed pocket in her robe when Snape cleared his throat loudly. "Time's up! Present your potions. That includes you, Miss Granger." He said staring her down. She froze midway through pouring the potion out. She wiped the side of the messy cauldron with her robe before placing it back on the table. Harry was also staring at her, glancing over at her half empty cauldron curiously.

"I think it's about time for a pop quiz. Since you lot aren't keen on listening to my lectures, you must all have made the potion perfectly. Is that right?" His gaze swept across the room, and everyone hunched nervously. The color drained from Hermione's face. She had a terrible feeling that this would be the time he called on her.

"Let me see here."

No.

"Who among you is the most overly sure of himself?"

No!

"Or herself?"

Oh GOD no!

His eyes flickered to Hermione, and his eyes pierced through her already fragile facade.

"Miss Granger, bring your potion up here." Said Snape with a snide smile. It was as if he could smell the waves of fear and feasted on it. Hermione turned to stone in her seat feeling her stomach drop to the floor. What on earth was she going to do? This was really going to happen and in front of the whole class! How could she explain it away? When she didn't move, he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Come up. Don't make me tell you again." He said. The stone feeling in her limbs shattered, and she jumped anxiously. "U-um, professor, I can't. I'm actually not sure of this at all! I-I think I may have accidentally added something poisonous to the potion, and -"

"I'm touched by your concern for my wellbeing." He said in cold amusement. "But I assure you, as an experienced potions master, I've consumed my share of dismally botched potions from less than capable wizards. I have antidotes at the ready to cure just about any poison you could make. That said, if you've faltered in your process, come up and face your failure." He grinned smugly. "But, sir, I-"

"Ten points from Gryffindor."

"BUT - "

"Want to make it twenty?" She slumped in defeat. As she stood shakily, she had one last idea. Her arm bumped the cauldron, and it fell to the ground with a heavy, clunky thud. Some of the potion sloshed onto the floor, but as she suspected, the cauldron remained in tact. The class laughed quietly, and Snape closed his eyes trying to control his temper. She shuffled to the front, her stomach doing flips. She briefly wondered if puking would distract him long enough to dump the potion. Doubtful.

Snape pried the cauldron out of her locked fingers and stirred the potion suspiciously. He didn't comment on the vastly different appearance of the potion, so the charm was doing its job. He raised a spoonful to his nose sniffing it before sipping the contents. He grimaced at the taste for a moment before his eyes widened, pupils dilating. Uh Oh.

He was staring intently at Hermione with a softened expression on his face. His skin looked a few shades pinker than usual. His firm guard had slipped away, and there was a vulnerability there she really didn't like. The class was silently watching ready for the spectacle they heartily expected. As if noticing them for the first time, he shook his head snapping out of it with great difficulty.

"That's all for today. Class dismissed." His tone whipped loudly and startled the class. Although they looked disappointed (especially the Slytherins), they didn't dare lollygag with Snape in this mood. Hermione darted away, but Snape reached out and grabbed her wrist firmly. He flinched at the contact, his guard slipping again. She felt his long, bony fingers curl delicately around her skin.

"Not you. You stay." He said closing his eyes as if concentrating hard. Harry and Ron noticed this with interest, but with confused looks, they filed out with the rest of the class. Snape snatched his hand back as if her skin had burned him. He waited with his hands gripping his desk tightly while the classroom emptied. Without warning, the door to the exit swung shut and locked audibly. With a gulp, the trembling Hermione faced her professor, who had a disturbingly hungry look in his eyes.