As Long As You Need Me

Chapter VII

Sometimes we put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down.
- The Hollow Crown
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Although he had the drapes drawn, Snape couldn't get much sleep during the afternoon- one he desperately needed, to do away with a nagging headache which refused to get off his back (or rather- head). He dragged his foul self out into the office-room, where he found Hermione reading a magazine.

He saw she already had a cup of tea in front of her and assumed there was still some left in the pot. Clicking his fingers to draw her attention, he said. "Tea."

Although Hermione's heart skipped a beat and she almost threw herself off the chair in her surprise and excitement, she stopped herself.

Continuing to casually flick the glossy pages and pretending to not care at all, she remarked, "I'm not filling in for a house-elf, according to the words of yours truly. If you don't want me to act like one then you should stop treating me thusly. Asking nicely, on the other hand might work."

He raised one eyebrow at her attitude but then smiled to himself. "I have this bitc- bloddy headache and I was thinking I could do with some tea. I wonder if you could indulge your old professor with your seemingly 'mean cuppa', Ms.Granger?"

Delighted that he had asked for it, Hermione skipped up and poured him a steaming cup of Earl Grey.
"With a squeeze of lem-"

"I know." She handed him his cup and went back to her chair. She saw him observing her while taking sips in between.
"How is it?" she asked.

"It'll do."

Hermione knew that it was the best he could do. "Told you, it'd work." she shook her head, smiling.

"Tell me, do you prefer such sweetness all the time or is it just the tea?"

For a moment she thought he was saying something nice, but he was merely suggesting the tea was too sweet. So she snapped, "Oh no, I prefer to be unsociable and taciturn. Makes life so much more enjoyable, don't you think?"

He didn't reply and was quite for sometime, finishing his tea in silence and Hermione wondered whether she had hurt him with her sharp jab at his nature. So she said, "You never told me whether your shoulder is hurting anymore. You can choose to give a sarcastic answer or not to give one at all, of course."

It seemed like her question reminded him of the injury and he rolled his shoulders, grimacing. "It's fine."
She was surprised; deciding not to be uncivil any longer. She stopped going through the magazine and looked up at him. "Like they say, give it some time and it would heal everything."

"Time doesn't heal anything." He argued, looking grimly at the last dregs of the tea in the cup. "It just teaches us to live with it."

She noticed how his face masked the turmoil of unpleasant thoughts going through his mind. She got up and strolled closer to him. "You would probably laugh if I tell you I know how you feel. But I do know. Everything sucks, right? Nevertheless, you might as well find something to smile about."

Even after she went away, for a long time, Snape sat there with the empty cup, contemplating.
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"I hope you're taking down notes...because they may come in handy later."

It was the next morning, when they had finally started with their actual classes and Hermione had been sitting at her desk, while Snape gave lectures. She was absentmindedly brushing the tip of the quill to her lips and observing him; the way he carried himself, how he held the book almost lazily in his hand, how his long fingers caressed the edges of the paper, the movement of his mouth as he pronounced each word and his eyes flickering alternatively between the words and up at her.