Unavoidable Attraction

We have to talk

Hermione tossed and turned that entire night. She couldn't stop thinking about how they thought some people were after Severus.

Severus.

She loved the thought of calling him that. How had this happened? How had she let herself fall for the bat of the dungeons? How had he let her kiss him? How had she pulled even the slightest bit of emotion from this seemingly heartless man?

She got up and wrapped herself in her robe. She slid on her slippers and grabbed her potions book. She went down to the common room and used her wand to relight the dying fireplace. She curled up on a couch and opened her book. She reviewed all the recipes, and read the summaries at least twice. She wanted to find more mistakes. As much as it pained her to know that her education had been damaged by poor writers, she found immense satisfaction when she noticed errors.

At 2:30 in the morning, Hermione didn't expect to hear footsteps coming from the girls dormitory, but she looked up and saw Ginny making her way downstairs.

"Hermione. We have to talk." Ginny plopped down on the couch and stared at Hermione.

"Um... At this time of night?" Hermione asked flipping another page in her book.

"Yes at this time of night!" Her force startled Hermione. She wasn't expecting this kind of anger. "I saw something the other day. And I want you to be completely honest with me and-"

"What are you talking about?"

"This has been bugging me and, well. I'll just say it... why were you kissing Snape?"

Hermione froze. She was not expecting this to come from Ginny. How did she know?

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh get off it Hermione! I followed you to detention the other night. I saw everything!"

Hermione sat there with a blank expression trying to figure out what to say. "Why did you follow me?" She felt a tear make its way down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. "Why did you feel the need to follow me?"

"I could tell you were keeping something from me. You were acting weird about wanting to go to detention, and the sudden obsession with potions. I was worried."

Hermione stood up and started pacing. "So what are you going to do? Huh? Tell McGonagall? Tell Harry and Ron?"

"No Hermione, I just want to know... Why." She pulled Hermione back down to the couch. "I won't tell anyone, and I won't be mad. I just want to know."

Hermione sighed at looked at Ginny. "I don't really know how it happened, it just did."

"In detentions?"

"In detention." Hermione looked around. "Trust me I didn't mean for it to happen. I hated him as much as everyone else until last year when I was with him in the shrieking shack."

"It's been going on for that long?!"

"No no. It was here. I was in detentions and I just started to feel like he wasn't the way everyone thought he was. Except for the first night, he was very nice to me. Then I cut my arm and he took me to his classroom to mend it, and I kissed him."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this. Hermione, have you gone mental?"

Hermione looked at Ginny with her sad eyes. "I don't know how to explain it to you without you freaking out! I feel the way you do when you're with Harry. The way I never with Ron. please just trust me Ginny. I know what I'm doing."

"Alright. For now. But I'm going to need a full explanation soon. I don't know how long I can go without understanding."

"Thank you Ginny." She leaned over and gave her a hug. "And this is just between us?"

She sighed and clenched her jaw as she watched hermiones face to see if there was any hesitation. When she saw none, she sighed in defeat. "Just between us."