Accidental Confession

xoXOXox

Severus was always the first staff member awake and in the Great Hall for breakfast. He used to be the only one up at this time of day at all. Up until this current year. Up until her.

Hermione Granger.

He looked her over for the thousandth time this year. She was perfectly put together. No hair out of place from her customary braid that she wore on the days she had potions. Not a single wrinkle in her uniform. Everything was tip-top, as was expected of the Golden Girl.

And yet…

He could see the cracks. The way she held her body rigid, always ready for an attack. Always vigilant. The way her shoulders were raised slightly toward her ears in a defensive manner. No sudden or unplanned movement. As if she feared the wrong one would set off a chain event that would bring the peace of the world crashing down.

He started forward, his dragon hide boots tapping out a baritone rhythm on the wooden floor. A courtesy he only afforded her so she would hear him coming. He found it curious why he made such changes only for her. He had taught her for six years before this final year and never did he change his habits for anyone. Not even his own house.

So why her?

"Good morning, Professor Snape."

Like every other morning since the students returned, she greeted him with her soft hello and a respectful nod. Her shoulders relaxed in their tension, giving credence to her statement that she felt safe with him. Never once has he replied but something about the scene he witnessed yesterday seemed to unknot his tongue.

Pausing in his stride, he turned to face her, crossing his arms as he tried out this new urge he had.

"Good morning, Miss Granger."

Her head snapped up so fast, he worried for her spine. Her eyes widened just enough that he could almost read her surprise around her occlumency shields.

"You are always up unreasonably early for one so young."

Her cheeks flushed but he wasn't able to tell if it was from shame or anger. They both looked so similar when occulementing.

"I apologize, Professor. I did not realize I was disrupting your mornings. I will endeavor…"

He raised his hand to stop her in her incorrect assessment of the situation.

"That was not what I was implying, Miss Granger. I was merely curious as to why you don't have a lie in here and there."

She blinked at him. He kept the smirk off his face at catching her off guard. Just barely at that. She regained her footing quite fast, which impressed him.

"Oh. I rarely sleep since… well… that is to say, I require only four hours of sleep and I find lying around makes me feel lazy."

'Since when' is what he wanted to ask her. Since she left to go on the horcrux hunt? Since that dunderheaded boy left her and Potter to rot alone in the forest? Since the bank heist and riding a dragon? Since the end of the war? Since… always but had friends to wait for so he never realized she was an early riser like him? Since when?

How much did he really know about her?

"How about you, Professor? You are always so much earlier than the other Professors."

Her question brought him out of his spiral. He contemplated giving his usual short and concise answer but something in his chest, or maybe it was his stomach, rebelled at the idea.

"You know, I can't rightly recall. It was some time ago. Maybe it's always been that way. I don't really remember the last time I made the conscious decision to sleep in. Odd, isn't it?"

He ended with a question. Giving her leave to continue conversing with him if she chose. What was wrong with him?

"Not at all. Habits become such for a reason. Or so I've read."

The cheeky grin that formed on her lips had his own lifting in response.

"Little know-it-all."

His own shields were the only thing keeping his surprise hidden. He was… joking with her! And she laughed. Not one of those sarcastic snorts she gave to her friends when they were being ridiculous. An honest to Merlin laugh.

"That is my title, Professor."

She gave a regal bow of her head. A queen to her court which only made it harder not to echo her mirth. For a moment they just stared at each other, the silence companionable. She broke first, licking her lips in a nervous fashion.

"Did you need something, Professor?"

His brain gave him a barrage of things to say and it took all his effort not to voice the loudest one…

Why me?

Instead, he gave her a kind smile that seemed to throw her entirely for a loop before shaking his head.

"No. Nothing in particular, Miss Granger. Just a simple good morning."

With that, he inclined his head to her and turned to continue on his way to the staff table. Her soft voice halted his footsteps.

"I hope you have a good day, Professor Snape."

He let the smile form with his back to her, throwing his return answer over his shoulder.

"Same to you, Miss Granger."

xoXOXox

He watched her covertly as she stirred her potion. He could remember at the beginning her incessant need to check and recheck the book to his own instructions. The way her brow would furrow at his changes to the directions. The way she would fret between what he told them to do and what the book said. Her potions had always been correct in color and consistency but never done his way and always just acceptable.

Now, her potions book was closed. Her eyes had read over his instructions only once and as the double period wore on, she followed them perfectly without checking a single time for reassurance. She was confident in her ability to do exactly as he had instructed. He wasn't sure what book she did have open but during the waiting periods, she would glance at it, read and make notes in the margin like he used to do. She never missed a beat with her potion so he allowed it, growing more curious each time she frowned at the pages and made a new notation.

As the last hour wound down, he watched all his 7th years and returning 8th year Gryffindor and Ravenclaws bottle up their potions. Hers had been done and bottled ten minutes prior and even from here he could tell it was perfect. She had perfected his own process somehow. It was intriguing.

Every student set their labeled potion on his desk, giving him a nod as they packed up and slowly filtered out of the room. He waited, pretending to look them over until her scent reached him. Honeysuckle and rain. He wondered if she brewed her own lotion. It was a combination he had not smelled before and was so light it was almost not there.

Her potion made a light 'tink' sound as she set it down and he raised his head to gaze at her.

"Thank you for the lesson, Professor."

He inclined his head slightly before his once again infuriating curiosity loosened his tongue.

"May I inquire what book you are marking up that held your attention so thoroughly?"

She blushed, a hint of a grimace forming on her lips.

"Remedial potions, tincture, and tonics of the modern day."

He frowned, leaning back on his desk with a frown of his own.

"What on earth made you decide to read that load of tripe?"

He winced at the disapproval in his tone. He hadn't meant for it to come out so harshly but that book would ruin all his hard work.

"Master Buchanan gave me a list of books I am to read and dismantle before the end of the year. It is my test to see if I am worth taking on as an apprentice, Sir."

He sat, stunned. She was testing for a potions apprenticeship? And with someone else, no less. He didn't understand the stabbing feeling in his chest this realization caused but he felt his walls close up tighter around him.

"I see. I bid you good luck with that, Miss Granger. Keep it out of my classroom."

She paled slightly, heading dropping so she wasn't looking at him.

"Yes, Professor. My apologies."

With those softly spoken words, she rushed to grab her things and was out the door before he could fully comprehend his own feelings, let alone what may have caused her to look so upset. 

The more he thought, the angrier he became. With a flick of his fingers, his classroom door slammed shut behind him, wards set, as he billowed his way to the Headmistresses office. This would not do.

xoXOXox

"This is a travesty, Minerva. She cannot apprentice with that half-wit. He will ruin her. Not to mention, he is as archaic as they come. He won't treat her with any respect or allow her mind to grow beyond what boundaries he sets. How could you let this happen?"

His words rang out along the walls, echoing in the room and returning his anger to his chest. No matter how much he raved, the tight knot wouldn't loosen. Minerva, bless her kind heart, sat primly with her hands folded and let him spew his vitriol all over her without one complaint.

He glared at her. Her patience wearing on his already out of control rage.

"Are you quite done, Severus?"

He nodded, crossing his arms with a growl.

"Good. Then I will say my piece and you will listen. Hermione is too smart and too inventive to let some old wizard keep her from learning everything she wishes to learn. Master Buchanan was the only potions Master to return her request. All she needs from him is the apprenticeship credentials. She will earn her mastery with him and go on to do exactly as she wishes."

Severus huffed in annoyance, glaring daggers at the wall.

"What would you have her do, my boy? She has to train under a master to be recognized and he was the only option given to her."

He growled again, pushing off the wall to stalk to her desk. Leaning to place his hands on her desk, he met her eyes, his full of angry disbelief.

"Why didn't she petition me? I'm a Merlin be damned potions Master!"

He watched the surprise cross her face, eyes widening before she laughed.

"Severus…"

Shaking her head, she leaned back in her chair to regard him curiously.

"You have never, in all your twenty years as a Master, taken on an apprentice. You are stern and downright vicious at times in your classroom. All of your students think you are unpleasable. Why in the world would you think Hermione is any different? What makes you think she would even consider that you would agree to take her on from your past behavior?"

He frowned, his anger rolling back as he thought about that.

"She is the brightest student I have ever taught. She has an unlimited potential inside her that she has yet to tap into. Why wouldn't I consider her?"

Minerva gave him a smug grin as she gestured to her door.

"Then maybe it isn't me you need to be addressing about this, Severus."

She was right. Without waiting for more of her snark, he stormed out, only one thing in mind.

Find Hermione Granger.

xoXOXox

He approached the table in the back of the library with his usual distance eating stride. As he came into view, the entire table looked up at him except the one person whose attention he wanted. Stopping a few feet away, he let his eyes roam over them all critically before speaking.

“Ladies, I believe it is time for a break. Please excuse yourselves from the library.”

He watched as Miss Granger jerked in her seat, so engrossed in that infernal book that she didn’t even realize he had approached. That would not do. Everyone began to rise, a mix of annoyance and confusion on their faces. As Miss Granger began to gather her things, he cleared his throat and met her gaze.

“Not you, Miss Granger. You will stay.”

He could feel the worry and nervousness radiating from the other witches as they looked back at her for confirmation that they should go. With a slight nod of her head, they finished grabbing their items and all hurried away from what he guessed they assumed was a pending explosion. He waited until he heard the library doors close before casting Muffliato and turning his attention back to the witch that seemed to have gotten under his skin.

“What can I do for you, Professor Snape?”

Trying to control his glare and failing, Severus yanked out the chair across from her and sat.

“You can start by explaining to me how you managed to get yourself into such a dense situation. I expected more from you, Miss Granger.”

Her cautious look turned utterly perplexed.

“I don’t understand, Professor. What situation?”

He tried not to seethe but once again couldn’t seem to keep his anger in check. His words came out hissed and menacing.

“The situation where you are considering agreeing to be the apprentice of that archaic, half-witted windbag of a Potions Master.”

For a moment she seemed surprised. Then came the anger.

“Excuse me?”

He scoffed.

“In this, there is no excuse, Miss Granger.”

Her huff of annoyance thrilled him for some unknown reason.

“Professor, while I respect you and all you have done, I do not think it’s really any of your business what I intend to do and with whom once I leave the walls of this school.”

He leaned forward, a sinister grin forming that made her swallow in trepidation.

“Ah. But you are still inside the walls of this school, Miss Granger, so I find this is the perfect time to intervene.”

For a moment, she stared at him, before her emotions closed down and she sat back with her arms crossed.

“What does it matter to you, Professor, who I spend my apprenticeship with?”

Caught off guard as to how to answer, he felt the knots untie once more and knowing it had gone well so far, he gave in to the feeling.

“For the exact same reason that I did not report you for lighting my robes on fire in first year. The reason I brewed the potion to free you from petrification. The reason I worked day and night to find the right potions to help cure you from Dolohov’s curse. Why I sat you alone in potions your sixth year and why you sit alone this one as well.”

Her brows furrowed in confusion as she leaned forward onto her arms and met his gaze.

“I don’t understand.”

He swallowed his scoff, barely, sighing instead.

“You have a brilliant mind and the potential to be the greatest at any subject you decide to pursue when you graduate. You are without a doubt the best student I have ever had the chance to teach. You are studious and inquisitive, sometimes to the point of detriment to your own health. You are sharp-witted and analytical but have grown into being inventive as well. Your mind and your magic should be regarded as a treasure to be expounded on, Miss Granger, not relegated to a shelf while you are being used as some lowly assistant. And that is what Barnaby Buchanan is going to do.”

He growled the man’s name out with such venom that she flinched.

“He will not care one whit what your opinions are or if you already know something. He will talk down to you like a subclass species because you are both muggleborn and a female. He will use you as some glorified servant, all the while gaining the prestige of ‘training’ the female piece of the ‘Golden Trio’. You will learn nothing new in the years stuck under him unless you do it all yourself. He will not understand your incessant need to question everything. He will see it as disrespect instead of what it really is, your need to know and understand the world you were pulled into instead of being born into.”

Severus reached across the table and took her hand into his. It was so small. He never realized how truly tiny she was. Her magic and her personality was so large that it masked just how petite, how fragile she really was physically.

“I have not been able to say all the things I wanted to before. Nothing is keeping me from it now. Please, Miss Granger, please do not waste your time with someone like him.”

Her eyes were locked where their hands joined, a strange look coming over her face. It took a moment before she looked up at him again.

“He is the only Potions Master that would take me, Professor Snape. It is my only option if I want to get my mastery.”

Holding her gaze, Severus swallowed the insecurities screaming at him that she would reject his offer and put himself out there to be hurt for the first time in more years than he cared to remember.

“No, Miss Granger, It… he is not your only option. As far as I am concerned, he is not an option at all. I forbid it.”

He watched her war between affronted at his high-handedness and amusement at it. He could feel his own amusement rising to match as he waited, his heart beating rapidly against his breastbone.

“You forbid it?”

He nodded, not wanting to speak for fear his voice would crack.

“And who exactly is going to be my Potions Master if not Barnaby Buchanan?”

Swallowing that same rising fear, Severus gently squeezed her hand as he answered.

“I am, obviously.”

One heartbeat, another, and then her walls crumbled from around her mind as he received the brightest smile she had ever turned his way. Every worry fled from him as he basked in the warmth that cascaded through his body at being the recipient of such joy. 

“Well, Professor, how foolish of me to think otherwise. That would… I would… what I mean to say it…”

He chuckled, low and warm, before taking her hand in both of his and stopping her rambling.

“Miss Granger, take a breath.”

She did, almost as soon as he said it. That was promising for her apprenticeship. It meant he could count on her to trust his instructions as they came.

“Would you do me the honor of being my apprentice?”

He watched as her eyes sparkled with tears, her hand gripping his tightly as she nodded.

“Yes, Professor Snape, I would love to.”

xoXOXox