Shifting Gravity

"Damn Gryffindors," Professor Severus Snape muttered as the "eighth"-year Gryffindor and Slytherin students trooped into the potions lab on a cold mid-September afternoon. As usual, his snakes moved with purpose to their seats, talking quietly amongst themselves while the lions laughed uproariously at something or another. Surprisingly, or not surprisingly, it was Ronald Weasley leading the pack of laughing buffoons, while his two friends just seemed to shake their heads at their antics. Ever since the Battle of Hogwarts where the "Golden Trio" saved his life and Potter killed the Dark Lord, he was at odds as to how to act around the three. Weasley was easy enough to treat; the insufferable brat seemed to be worse than before, what with the fame getting to his head. The other two he was not sure about.

Potter and he had long since made amends after it was revealed all that Severus had done for him during Potter's first six years at Hogwarts. They were amiable towards each other and frankly it left him bewildered and slightly unnerved. Luckily, there was not much interaction outside of classes. Potter seemed to hide most of the time, avoiding any attention and crowds in general; something his friend had no trouble taking away from him. And as for Miss Granger? Well, interactions with her and just seeing her made him very uncomfortable. See, Miss Granger seemed to have changed as well. He could not deny that the once annoying know-it-all had grown into a beautiful, intelligent young woman. She seemed to realize that she did not have to prove her intelligence by answering every question and writing 2 foot longer than required essays. Instead, she helped others when asked and showed wisdom and knowledge through her eyes, actions, and conversations. Her eyes themselves shined a chocolate brown framed by long, brown hair that fell in tight curls down to just past her shoulders. She, of course, had a womanly figure and he did not want to stop to think of why he was noticing this. Something that set her apart from the rest of the students was that her head was down with an almost forlorn expression on her face. Potter placed an arm around her shoulders when they sat down and she attempted a small smile before facing front. 'This is not the time to focus on such issues.' Severus thought to himself before demanding his students to create the potion placed on the board.

Severus stalked the halls as it was his turn to patrol the hallways for students brave (read: foolish) enough to be out after curfew. As he walked he could not help but think about Miss Granger's behavior since returning for their final year. He observed her mainly during mealtimes. He noticed that though Weasley and she were a couple, they were far from happy. They argued constantly, which was not unusual for them. However, despite how much they argued, she always came back to Weasley. He was rather perplexed by the whole situation, and his own feelings complicated things. As he watched and observed Miss Granger he could not help but notice feelings he had not felt since Lily.

When he had revealed his Patronus to Dumbledore, admitting that he had always been in love with Lily and always would, he began to slowly move on. He realized that by admitting to others his love for Lily it did not lessen his love for her. He believed that now that Potter had defeated the Dark Lord and he had made amends with her son he could move on. He just didn't realize how soon he would move on, and yet when he thought about it he had moved on long before but could not admit it. After all, Miss Granger was first and foremost his student and any relations would be forbidden. That, however, did not stop his feelings for developing for her. In many ways she reminded him of Lily: stubborn, intelligent, warm-hearted, caring, head-strong, and beautiful. 'What am I to do? She is a student and I am her teacher.' A sudden noise broke him out of his musings and caused him to look toward a dark alcove. There he found the object of his thoughts sobbing softly. He called out to her and she quickly looked up at him and began to wipe her eyes.

"Sorry Professor I must have lost track of time," she replied, still sniffling and wiping away tears. Part of him wanted to reach out and draw her into his arms, providing the comfort that she seemingly needed.