Yours, Severus Snape.

Chapter 4 - Yours Hopefully,

January, as usual, had come round far too quickly for Severus's liking. The quiet halls were now filled to the brim with shouting and laughing students, wearing their new cloaks, scarves and jumpers which they had obviously been gifted over Christmas. Severus thought back to his troubled time at Hogwarts, when his housemates would flaunt their shiny new brooms and solid gold cauldrons, and laugh when he would tell them that he had received nothing.

The first day of the new term, Severus was sat up at the high table nursing his coffee. He was lazily scanning the student tables, looking for a reason to steal house points in the hope that it might cheer him up. Severus noticed that Miss Granger was sitting some distance away from her friends, nose in a book, as she nibbled on her toast. Severus stared at her for a while, the whole time the girl didn't once look up. She looked like someone who was trying very hard not to be noticed. 

Admittedly, he had very little experience with women. He had dealt with enough teenage girls to know when one was upset. Severus was more observant than most people gave him credit for. There was definitely something bothering Miss Granger, and the thought that someone had hurt her gave him an unpleasant feeling in his stomach. Perhaps he had hurt her?

He hadn't heard from her, other than when she had thanked him for her gift on Christmas day. Was it something he had done? Or rather, not done? Had he managed to unknowingly fuck up one of the only friendships he had ever managed to maintain?More than anything, he wanted to know what exactly he had done so that he could make a point never to do it again. For some reason unknown to him, seeing her upset angered him more than anything.

Severus, suddenly unable to handle his breakfast, rose from the table and stormed out of the Great Hall, resisting the urge to hex anyone who crossed him. 

___

Hermione had nipped into the girl's loo before her first class. She avoided looking at her reflection in the mirror as she washed her hands, knowing that the sight that would greet her was pathetic. Her eyes were red and had dark bags underneath them. Her skin was unusually pale for her and her hair was a birds nest. Hermione felt deeply ashamed of herself. 

She had spent the night crying over a boy. A stupid, stupid boy.  

Interrupting her self-depreciation, a tawny owl flew in through the open window, landing on the rim of the sink. Hermione managed a weak smile, and scratched its head gently with a finger. 

She opened the letter that the owl had brought. 

Miss Granger, 

My offer still stands for you to see my private library. If you are free this evening, you may meet me outside my old potions classroom at 7? 

Yours hopefully, 

Severus Snape. 

---

Anxiety niggled in Hermione's tummy as she rushed down to the dungeons at 7.05 that same evening. The stone walls of the castle did little to hold in heat, and the evening chill had began to sneak in like a thief. The cold in the upper parts of the castle were nothing compared the absolutely freezing temperatures in the dungeons. Hermione wondered how her Professor lived in this part of the castle.

She rounded the corner and saw Professor Snape stood outside of his former classroom. She felt incredibly nervous, almost to the point of vomiting. She had never spent time with the man alone, and it seemed awfully intimate for them to be spending time in his quarters. Hermione doubted that he had ever invited a student to his quarters during his tenure at the school.