Hi everyone (whoever is still reading),

I'm sorry for my absence as life has been hectic and will continue to be for a little while. I wanted to get this chapter out and I'm not going to abandon this story, sometimes the bad parts of life get in the way and a hobby like this takes the back seat.

Regardless I hope you enjoy this.

I do appreciate every single person who has read this and who have reviewed and favorited etc thus far, it honestly means the whole world to me.

Hermione stood anxiously out the front of the potions classroom. The cold of the dungeons seeped into her bones and she couldn't help but give a nervous chuckle at the thought that this explained why the Slytherin's were so rude all the time.

She checked the small watch on her wrist and realised she had been standing by the door for 10 minutes and in her opinion that was 5 minutes too long. She gave a small huff and pondered the notion that him abandoning her here was exactly something the professor would do for his own amusement. She entertained herself by thinking of all the obscure things that he could be doing instead of meeting up with her like McGonagall had asked. She was so distracted by imagining Professor Snape reading a romance novel that she let out a small snort and she silently scolded herself for being so trivial.

"What on earth could you find amusing?" She was forced out of her thoughts and instead she found hers ears tuned into the light footsteps her professor was taking towards her. She gave a small blush towards the floor, not daring to raise her head.

"Answer me, girl!" He demanded. She could see the fury in his eyes. His annoyance at this new predicament was clearly evident. It stung to be spoken too so hastily and the discomfort practically seeped into every inch of her body.

"Oh it was nothing, I was just remembering a joke Ron told me earlier...to pass time while I was waiting" She muttered but still loud enough for him to hear.

He stared back at Hermione, time passed and he hadn't opened his mouth until he quickly said something under his breath and the door of the classroom flew open.

xx

It had been one too many times that Miss Granger had been alone with him in the classroom and to be frank, he was not interested in the idea of babysitting the child while she messed up potions that would take him less than an hour to complete. He had no idea what had possessed Minerva to believe this was a good idea; 'meddlesome witch' he thought.

It was either he could bore himself to death by meticulously watching her to ensure that she didn't go ahead and break another few bones, or he could have some fun, and the latter sounded more favorable.

"Well Miss Granger, seeing as I have no choice but to entertain this rather foolish idea, you'll be making an anti-paralysis potion" He saw her face contort in a way that would only suggest that she was thinking incredibly hard. He sniggered at the sight of her nose scrunched up knowing that perhaps he had stumped the 'greatest witch of her age'.

He didn't expect her to know of the potion. After all, it wasn't mentioned in the textbook allocated for the seventh year course. Time stood still for a while as he watched her consciousness only focusing on whatever it was she was trying to make sense of. He wouldn't even begin to decipher the sorts of thoughts that would flow through her mind, let alone try to understand the chaotic mess. However, he found an uncomfortable endearing quality at the sight of her eyes flickering upwards in an attempt to find an answer - something he did not take favorably.

"Ok, I've read about the potion before, I'm sure I could replicate it," she said determinedly up at him. "Will we be working on this together?" She continued on. He raised his eyebrow at the girl after trying to recollect himself from his previous thought. Taken aback by the girl's confidence slightly, "No, If Minerva believes you are capable then you have to prove you are of the standard I'd expect". He waved his wand slowly and the ingredients appeared in front of the girl who was standing by the first workbench closest to his desk.

She walked up to the ingredients and inspected them. He noticed her fingertips trail against the edge of the wood as she walked along the table. 'Stupid girl will end up with a splinter' he rolled his eyes at himself. Book smarts don't necessarily correlate with knowledge after all.

"You forgot the Aconite Sir" her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Ah, Miss Granger more observant than one would believe". He wouldn't say he was impressed per say but he acknowledged that he may have underestimated the girl before him. He noticed a fleeting look of insecurity surface on the girls face in response to his comment. "You can continue to brew the potion...that's if you know how " he said to the girl warningly; not sure she'd manage with applying the skills needed for such an advanced potion. She nodded her head defiantly up at him. He swallowed and nodded his head ever so slightly towards her.

He watched as she worked through the steps of the potion. He had never believed that any student would be able to achieve a potion of the difficulty with relative ease. But here she was, fully contained as she stirred the potion between cutting and adding in ingredients.

He had never really studied the way the girl had brewed before when in class. Her usual obnoxiousness unnerved him and he found himself looking anywhere but in her general direction. In the odd chance he would look she was always slipping ingredients or telling the correct method to the other Gryffindors which annoyed him to no end. But he found an odd comfort in the way she was brewing the potion so peacefully in solitude, something he found greatly disturbing upon realisation.

Her small hand was wrapped around the stirrer and he saw her smooth her hair with the other free hand. Over the years her hair had dramatically reduced in size and frizziness But if he was going to be completely honest he hadn't really paid attention to the changing appearance of Hermione Granger; after all, why should he? He assumed it was owed to magic; as every time she brewed it would return back to the size he first saw when she walked through the doors of the great hall for the first time. Personally, he preferred it as big as it got in his classroom, he felt like it was true to her, and women needed as much diversity to stay relevant in this world.

He uttered a small cough and obvious discomfort crossed his face at the thought of him calling her a woman. He excused himself out of the room and when free of the stuffy air, concluded that his empty stomach was to be blamed for this nonsense.

xx

Hermione began to bottle up the brew, pleased with what she had produced. She wasn't entirely certain she had brewed it correctly as she had never seen the brew in flesh before but she was fairly certain that the pale mauve shade it had turned was indeed correct. She mulled over why his disappearance had lasted as long as it had. Her small wristwatch let her know that it had been at least 10 minutes since he had excused himself from the lab.

She walked up to his bench and set the potion down in one of the slots of the potion carrier. She subconsciously tapped her fingers along the wooden bench and observed the room around her. She had been in this room countless times, she was familiar with every object, every bottle that lined the dark walls, and the strewn phials that were all over the room yet still meticulously placed. Personally, she believed the lab always looked like it was in a state of organised chaos, and one could say that the very man who made it that was in the same state.

But yet as she stood in front of his desk, looking out at the rows of tables, she felt the intrigue of a new perspective. She rested her body against the wooden edge and got lost in her thoughts. After all, she hoped that one day she could be looking out at benches full of students of her own.

xx

Severus Snape entered the room, about to clear his throat after he saw the uncomfortable sight of Miss Granger standing in the very place where he always stood when conducting lessons. However, he halted before showing his outward show of disapproval as he saw her relaxed features so concentrated in thought. He noticed that the bottled brew was on the phial rack beside her on the desk, and he was taken aback by how it looked perfect, even from his distant. However, he'd need to expect it closely before he could jump to the conclusion that she had produced something in one go when it had taken him 3 when he attempted the brew at the age she was at now.

He cleared his throat and yet she did not acknowledge him, looking just as transfixed as before. It was until he walked up in front of her that he saw her slowly come back to awareness. He saw the surprise grow on her face and her body flinched just slightly, but it was enough for the hand that was resting near the rack of phials to topple them to the floor.

He felt the anger rise up his body once again and grumbled, "Insolent girl! Get out of the way!". She jumped out of the way of the liquid that was oozing down the table leg and onto the ground. She looked confused at the situation at hand, but little did she know that the potion was not simply just an antidote.

He took out his wand at an alarming speed and stopped the potion before it began to multiply. After the area was isolated he grasped the sleeve of her cloak and pushed her into one of the nearby seats. "Do you have any idea what you almost caused!" His loud voice boomed in front of the small girl's face as he leaned over the desk. Miss. Granger's eyes were downcast but her face didn't hide how frightened she felt. She replied with a meek no; evidently beginning to look distraught at the situation that was unfolding in front of her.

"When not contained, the anti-paralysis potion can indeed cause a polar effect and can cause paralysis. The potion's intended purpose only works when exposed to lips and not external skin. We could have both been paralysed on that floor until someone discovered us and even longer seeing as not many have the ability to brew it" His voice was laced with malice. She nodded, muttered a small apology and resigned herself to whatever was about to take place.

He told her to leave, but as she was about to open the door to leave the lab, he stopped her with his voice "Detention tomorrow - 10 pm ". She nodded and it wasn't until she was out of his sight that she allowed herself to shed a tear.

Have a good day/night! :)