Something Undefined

Maturity

Hermione tried her best to revive her true, confident self but the severe cut on her head tricked her nerves due to which she could only respond meekly.
"Yes Professor?" Her chocolatey orbs darted downwards. She did not want her Considered-to-be-snarky-by-all teacher to see her cry. She waited for insults or words of disgust to be thrown her way but none came. She tried her best to get those tears of pain back into her eyes that were daring to fall on the floor. Hermione looked up when Snape cleared his throat. His face still devoid of any expression, he said, "I am surprised to see you exhibit a modicum of maturity, Miss Granger."
Hermione could not believe her ears. That was the first ever compliment she had heard escaping Snape's mouth. Above all, it was meant for her. Her... the Gryffindor girl who always tried her best to reach perfection in her academics and was regarded as a bossy, insufferable know-it-all by the same man who just now confessed that he too believed that Hermione had brains.
This was one of those moments when she realised that she had burned the oil in her night lamps and reading between the lines for her own good.
"Th-thank you, Professor. I'm s-sorry I had to use magic outside of my classes but the matter was getting out of hands," Hermione piped out still trying to sound perfectly normal inspite of the piercing pain in her head.
"Five points to Gryffindor," said Snape, still with no emotions displayed on his face. Hermione's eyes grew wide. She was at least a foot and a few inches shorter than her teacher, so she looked up at him. Without any warning, her tears that she had been holding back fell down splashing drop by drop on the cold dungeon floor. She wanted to thank him, to-to tell him how much it meant to her but couldn't. She just kept looking at her Professor while crying. Her blurry vision allowed her to make out that Snape had lifted his wand and murmured a spell. Suddenly, the pain left her. She trailed her fingers down her forehead and was relieved to find out that her wound and the blood that had come out of it was nowhere to be found. Hermione knew that any teacher would do the same upon seeing their student in distress. But such a help coming from Snape right after he sort of complimented her triggered some emotions in her heart.
"Thanks for curing me, Professor," Hermione said whole heartedly.
"Get in the classroom," Snape said in his usual dull baritone.
Hermione half smiled and got into the Potions classroom. The only available seat was at the very back to the left of Ron and Harry's. All the heads turned in her direction with confused eyes, each asking a different question. Hermione realised that she had been out with her teacher for at least ten minutes. But the conversation wasn't that long, or...was it?
The students were brought back to focusing towards the front of the class by the loud bang of the door which meant that Snape had arrived inside.