Let Me In

Chapter Thirteen

It had been little over a week since Severus had last seen Hermione but the memories from that night were still fresh in his mind. Images of her sneaking into his chambers in the middle of the night to check on him haunted his dreams, and once, he'd woken at 2:00am and, though he wouldn't admit it, he'd actually been disappointed to not find her there. It was driving him insane. Why him? He kept asking himself. Of all the people at Hogwarts, students and faculty, why had she chosen him, arguably the least appealing? He was starting to realise he would never understand the puzzle that was Hermione Granger, and it frustrated him immensely.

It was the first day of the Easter holidays and Harry, Ron and Hermione were sat at the table of 12 Grimmauld Place whilst Mrs Weasley was serving breakfast. Hermione loved it here. The atmosphere, the people; it was always so loud, so busy. People squeezing past each other in the hallways and getting jammed on the stairs. Entirely the opposite to the household she'd grown up in as a child. Always wandering around the house alone, desperately seeking something to occupy her, already intelligent, mind. She absolutely adored this environment and spent as many of her holidays here as possible. It was noticeably more dismal here since Sirius' death, but, that was expected. She was relieved when Harry told Dumbledore he could continue to use it as a safe house and she realised, only slightly ashamed, that she was more worried about losing this house than she was upset about Sirius' passing. She'd never been overly keen on Sirius. She knew he was innocent - she'd never questioned that - but she was always slightly uneasy in his presence ever since that night that they had rescued him on Buckbeak and he'd been far too comfortable gripping on to her waist, for her liking. She had loved Sirius the way you would love a weird uncle. She wouldn't say a bad word against him, but she wouldn't sit in a room alone with him either.

She was sat at the table eating her scrambled eggs, simultaneously doing her homework when Ron looked at her in disgust

"You're doing homework? It's the holidays! Here, have an Easter Egg" Ron pushed his half eaten Easter Egg that he called breakfast towards her and she swatted away his hand, annoyed

"Yes, I'm doing homework Ron, and you should be too. The end of year exams are fast approaching"

"Oh, don't give me that rubbish about end of year exams. They're just a formality. They're-"

"-incredibly important, Mr Weasley, or are you uninterested in securing your place in seventh year? I must say some of your Professors will be bitterly disappointed - not that I can speak for myself- and what on earth would Harry Potter do without his sidekick?" They all looked towards the door to see the looming figure of Professor Snape. Arms crossed, leaning on the doorframe; his usual snare written across his face. Hermione sniggered quietly and Snape looked at her, completely emotionless, until the headmaster entered the kitchen behind him

"Ah, Severus, I'm glad you're here. Shall we head to the library? We have much to discuss" Hermione hoped that he'd look at her again. She needed to speak to him; explain everything he'd seen in her mind that night. The trouble was, she had no idea how to explain it. What was worrying most of all was his silence. Surely he must be angry, everything he'd seen and felt. He'd learnt that she had feelings for him, something she'd only recently learnt herself but, looking back on the memories, it must have been easy to deduce. The only reason she hadn't realised sooner was because she'd been ignoring the feelings, squashing them down hoping that would cause them to cease existing. But the problem remained that she had no clue how to approach the subject. She didn't think he'd take too kindly to her ambushing him, forcing him to listen. Even if she did, what would she say? A small part of her wished she never had to see him again; hopefully the problem would disappear but she knew that wasn't an option. No, she'd have to figure this one out, and hopefully soon.