Chapter Eleven
Chapter Eleven
Severus
The witch was going to be the death of him- again. The remainder of Holiday break was spent cataloging each of the anomalies which meant that Hermione was constantly in his presence. Her hair, constantly in his face whenever she turned around too quickly or jumped excitedly, smelled of citrus and the sea. Occasionally he'd find himself unconsciously leaning in, desperately wanting to bury his nose in the scent of her and the glorious disaster that made up her hair. Too often he had imagined the good and the bad of that encounter. He imagined how he would turn her around and feast kisses upon her body, breathing in each illustrious inch of her. Desperate to bring her to pleasure and find his with her. She'd be surprised but would ultimately give in to her urges for him as well and they'd both be delirious with want. Or the more likely scenario, her immediate rejection and the subsequent loss of her presence from his life. Clearing his head of that particular train of thought as he walked towards the next anomaly, absentmindedly alerting Hermione with a patronus, he grimaced at his foolishness. Hermione would never accept any sort of romantic attention from him. There was too much history there. As he arrived at the anomaly, this one larger than the last few had been, he heard Hermione approaching from the opposite corridor and quickly schooled his features into his usual mask. As had become her usual habit she carried a thermos of tea with her and conjured two cups as she approached. She was constantly doing that, bringing him things, checking on him.
If he hadn't witnessed her barrage of kindness towards others over the years he would believe she was up to something. For now it just seemed to be that, for whatever reason, he was her fixation point. It was not helping his own fixation whatsoever.
"Hermione." He nodded his greeting as she approached.
"Severus, this one's quite a bit larger than the last few have been. Do you want to continue our usual diagnostic pattern?" She poured out his cup before handing it to him and arranging hers. She kept sugar in the bottom of the thermos and always added it in after. He noticed the first time she brought it that they had similar preference for how they took tea, they both added milk and she preferred two sugars while he took his with a single cube.
He nodded his confirmation and began the spellwork. As the two of them worked, her cataloguing their data and him vanishing the bubble. His thoughts began to drift once more in the direction of the curly haired witch. Her ability to keep up with intellectual conversation made her an ideal coworker compared to the others at the castle who couldn't be bothered to pick up the latest journal on charms let alone a copy of potions quarterly. It was purely for the academic conversation that he enjoyed her presence. Certainly it has nothing to do with the way her brown eyes lit up in the sunlight or how he found himself wanting to push back those damned curls so that he could kiss lazily down her neck. With a sigh, he began to occlude before his thoughts could run away with him. His mental walls were shoddy from disuse. As they wrapped up their work Severus felt her eyes on him for a long moment and couldn't help but put his old mask back on.
"Would you like me to sit for a portrait so that you can continue to gawk Mrs. Granger?" He sneered.
The chit blushed a most becoming shade of red as she looked away and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear. Her neck was perfection, her golden skin covered in glorious small freckles. The sharpness of her collarbone had him itching to bite it. He exhaled quickly before slamming his mental walls back up. He had to remove himself from her presence.
Without another word he turned and fled.
~•~
The next morning was the last the professors had before classes resumed again. As such Minerva had them all gathered again to go over the spring schedule, he had always appreciated how organized she was however the meddlesome witch was clearly up to something as every extra duty that was assigned with a partner he found himself paired with Hermione. Everything from rounds to Hogsmeade trips, even chaperoning quidditch- which was ridiculous as the young witch hated the sport as far as he was aware. With a glare towards the old woman as the meeting concluded he found himself trapped in the mass exodus of witches and wizards all rushing off to enjoy their last moment of peace before the term began again. He could not stand crowds, with a sigh he relented and backed up a few paces right into Granger. Of course. He briefly wondered if he could get away with fabricating an anomaly but the witch would likely insist on accompanying him.
"Severus." The witch nodded her greeting before turning back towards Hagrid, who it appeared had waited near the back to avoid the crowds with Granger.
"Hello Severus, did you have a good Christmas?" Hagrid boomed.
"Granger." He nodded back before he turned to address Hagrid. "While I had hoped for some much needed respite from the incessant questions of my students it appears I can no longer escape them." He could feel Hermione glaring daggers in his direction and had to hold back a smirk, at least he could get under her skin too.
"How about you Hagrid? Did you accomplish everything you set out to do on your break?" Granger questioned, her eyes back on the half giant.
Severus interrupted before Hagrid could answer "I'm sure Hagrid had the opportunity to complete his tasks unencumbered."
"I'm sure Hagrid would have welcomed the opportunity for help, no matter where that help originated." She retorted back her eyes narrowed into slits.
"Well actually, I almost forgot. I need to gather some ingredients for a poultice for Fang. He's got some rough scratches from something or other in the forest and the normal stuff I get from professor sprout's just not workin' the way it used to. Would either of the two of you be able to accompany me this weekend? It's a two person job otherwise I'd just go by meself."
Hermione grinned at Severus before she turned to the rambling half giant and volunteered him for his foraging trip. Explaining how he would of course help him because what was a potions master but an expert in foraging? Blasted chit should have been sorted into Slytherin. Not about to be out done Severus suggested that Hermione come along to help gather the ingredients since she was always looking for an opportunity to learn.
Hagrid thanked them both profusely before turning to follow the crowd out. If he noticed the two professors glaring daggers in the others direction he didn't mention it.
~•~
Ankle deep in freezing mud is not the way Severus imagined spending his first free day after the students returned, yet here he was. Granger chose a much better spot to look for these blasted fungi. He was getting frostbite while she was scurrying up a tree. At least he got a full view of her very shapely backside as she climbed. He might as well get some enjoyment out of this arrangement. Hagrid had left them to it after helping Granger up the tree since 'they know what they're looking for better than he ever could'.
"Are you still enjoying the predicament you've ensnared us in?" Severus grumbled. He could be cozy and warm in his quarters right now but instead he's stuck with Granger again.
"It could be worse Severus. At least you're not the one forced to climb to incredibly unsafe heights before being abandoned!"
"Settle down Granger. You haven't been abandoned. Your favorite potions professor is here to save the day." He grimaced. She would probably take that the wrong way. Not that he even knew what he meant by that. "Be quick about it will you?"
"Oh I'm sorry am I moving too slow for the great potions professor?" She smirked down at him before beginning the climb back down, fungi in hand. "And Horace is actually my favorite."
"Well why don't I fetch him and he can freeze his toes in this muck trying to keep you from breaking your neck?" He called up to her. "Watch where you're putting your feet."
"What do you think I'm doing? It's not like I want to fall on my bloody face!" She reached for the next branch before shouting back at him "Besides, between the two of us I think I can- Bollocks!"
Severus watched as she miscalculated where the next foothold was and instead of pulling herself back up as he thought she would she scrambled and barely caught herself on the next limb.
"You were saying?" He intoned flatly as his eyes searched her for injury.
"Nothing Severus, I wasn't saying anything." She huffed. "Alright then, back up I'm going to jump the last bit. Then we can give Hagrid his bloody mushroom."
"Do you have a death wish? Jump already and be done with it." He held his arms open and gestured with a scowl. Hermione nodded slightly before she jumped off the branch and landed in the arms of her second favorite potions professor. His arms tightened around her as the force of her jump brought her close, her hair still smelled of citrus, his eyes closed briefly as he tried to occlude the thought away once more. There was a small moment where he didn't want to open his arms and instinctively wanted to hold the witch close to his chest. But before he could even react to the instinct Hermione looked up, their faces inches apart, her mouth slightly open as she gasped in relief. He could have sworn he saw her gaze flick between his eyes and down to his mouth before her eyes widened and she backed up, murmuring her thanks as she straightened up her clothes.
"I'll go on and bring these to Hagrid, you go on ahead. Thank you for your help Severus." Hermione waved her hand low in a farewell before she trudged her way towards the gamekeepers cottage. He stood there for a moment longer, lost in thought before he began the trek back.