Given the Chance

*****

By: Goddess-Isis-112

The sound of a grumbling stomach caused a faint blush to spread across Snape's angular cheeks. Hermione's head snapped up at the sound, and her curious expression met a murderous stare that threatened to hex the look off her face if she didn't stop staring. Blushing, she turned away to look at her school bag, suddenly remembering a sandwich she had smuggled out of the kitchens on her way to Potions earlier that day.

"Professor-"

"What?" he snapped angrily, shifting uncomfortably into a cross-legged position on the floor. Once again, his stomach mumbled its protest, demanding food, and immediately, Snape folded his arms together over his chest, trying to look like anything other than a starving man.

"Well, sir, I've got a sandwich in my schoolbag," Hermione answered, her eyes lowered. "I hadn't thought of it before as I forgot about it during Potions class, but I can cast a duplicating charm so that we wouldn't run out of food, even if we do get tired of eating sandwiches." Snape was silent for a few moments, but the corner of his lip twitched in response. When Hermione said nothing and raised an eyebrow in expectation for a polite request for food, his eyes darkened with impatience.

"We haven't all day, Miss Granger!" Snape finally snapped, and Hermione straightened up indignantly.

"I'm the one with the food, so I can decide whether or not I'd want to share," she shot back, "and I'd reconsider my attitude if I were you, especially if-"

"You rude prick!" Hermione sputtered, burbling an incoherent stream of profanities, causing her Potions Professor to pause from his eating to mimic her raised eyebrow from a few minutes before.

"Pibe boints!" he muttered happily with his mouth full, and Hermione growled in aggravation, but suddenly, her eyes lightened considerably, remembering exactly what kind of sandwich he was eating. She reached into her school bag and pulled out a thermos, which was charmed to keep its contents cold. A realization dawned on Snape as he stared at the thermos in Hermione's arms. He swallowed and gulped the remainder of the sandwich down, but his mouth was still feeling rather sticky from the peanut butter, and Hermione tilted her head in a superior manner.

"I hold in my hands a container of milk, Professor," Hermione began, hugging the thermos to her chest. "It is often the perfect complement to a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich, and assuming by the evil look in your eyes, this is exactly what you want, is it not, Professor?" He growled in response. "All you need to do is apologize, sir-" He made a sound of protest and crossed his arms. "I know you want some milk, sir," Hermione coaxed with a slight smirk. "Is it really so hard to apologize-"

For a moment, neither moved, both too shocked from the impact, but then Hermione shifted slightly, and a small gasp escaped her lips as she felt a bulge pressing against her stomach. With wide eyes, she looked down at Snape's embarrassed face and realized that he was...aroused. And it was all because of her! The thought of an aroused, greasy Potions Professor was enough to make the whole of Hogwarts sick for years, but for some odd reason, she found herself...well, excited.

And that scared her.

Hermione was never one with much experience; the few times she had gotten near having intimate relations with anyone was with Ron's innocent fumbling in the Astronomy Tower when they had dated, but their relationship had ended long ago when they both realized they were better off as friends. And Viktor Krum, the first boy to give her any actual attention, had always been too busy with Quidditch to fully develop a real relationship with her, and they had ended things early.

But now, there was a fully grown man beneath her, one whom she respected and admired. He was a man whose intelligence excited her to no end, a man with a tough exterior and rough edges, but also with a heroic, kind heart that made itself known in the fight against the Dark Lord.

And he was aroused because of her.

Suddenly, he seemed much more different to her as she looked down into his embarrassed face. He didn't look so callous and mean as he did before, and maybe it was the fact of his being so unexpectedly human that made him all the more appealing...

Without another thought as to what she was doing, her fingers traced over the hardened lines of his face, surprised at how soft and warm his skin actually was. He gulped loudly at her ministrations, and Hermione felt a shiver of exhilaration that he hadn't stopped her so far-

When she was unexpectedly shoved off.

"W-What?" she stuttered unintelligently as she landed on the cold floor, a clear contrast to the feel of his warm body pressed against hers. Snape immediately sat up and backed away from her as quickly as possible, stopping only when his back hit the solid hardness of the wall behind him. Hermione pulled herself up, her entire face aflame with humiliation, and she snuck a glance at Snape. He was breathing heavily, and she caught a look of desire on his face before his mask was once again put on. He sneered hideously in her direction, and grabbing the thermos a moment later, he whispered another charm to keep the thermos from running out of milk before he gulped heavily. When he had had his fill, he set the container down gently by the pile of sandwiches and stalked to the corner farthest away from Hermione.

"I-I'm sorry, sir," she stammered as soon as he settled himself on the ground. He said nothing, only causing her mortification to grow. She looked away from him, but was unable to dismiss the remembrance of the heat of his body, the feel of his skin beneath her fingertips. More importantly, she couldn't forget how much of an effect she had on him, how much of an effect he had on her. Merlin! she thought to herself as she shifted her legs slightly, feeling a dampness between her thighs. She was excited beyond belief despite her humiliation, and her biological reaction was only another confirmation of how much she wanted him.

Across the room, Snape was not having an easier time. Gods, he wanted her, wanted to ravage her, but she was still his student, and he was about twenty years her senior! It was unethical, unthinkable and yet...so incredibly undeniable. Hermione was different than a majority of her peers; with an intelligence that almost matched his own and a hunger for information, she was quite was annoying, yes, but when he actually thought about it...it made her damn sexy. Most women his age had started to flock to him after his assistance in bringing down the Dark Lord, and although his new hero status allowed him many opportunities to finally establish a relationship, he could never find a woman who wasn't intimidated by his intelligence. Hermione, on the other hand, wanted to draw as much information from him as possible, constantly challenging him to give her adequate answers and never ever ceasing her questioning until she was satisfied, which wasn't very often. It was quite annoying at first, but as she grew older, Snape found it even a bit endearing as it made up for the lack of enthusiasm for his classes, and no matter how many times he took away points from her House or how many times he insulted her, she never faltered in her quest for knowledge.

Then, there was a faint smell that caught his sensitive nose by surprise, and his eyes widened, recognizing it from the Dark Revels that used to take place during the Dark Lord's rise to power, when the Death Eaters captured Muggles for torturing and rape-

He shook his head, snapping himself from those thoughts. He had never participated, but was always a witness to those heinous deeds, and he absolutely hated thinking back to those days...

The smell once again demanded his attention, and he turned his focus to the young woman in front of him. Her robes were rumpled and her hair disheveled, and there were spots of pink clinging to her cheeks, and when she looked up and found herself the object of his observation, she colored an even deeper shade. She was no classic beauty by any means, but she was beautiful in her own way, he had to admit. And she was completely aroused because of him...

She was aroused because of him!

It took another minute of silence to let the thought actually sink in, and when it did, the tightness in his pants became nearly unbearable, and he found breathing to be an even more difficult task. Gods, man! Put yourself together! he sternly and quietly chided himself. It was his fault, really, if he thought about it. If he hadn't been so insistent in getting what he wanted, the tension already in the room wouldn't have escalated to sexual tension. If there was one thing Snape hated, it was admitting he was wrong, but he knew he had to say something - anything - to relax the atmosphere in the room.

"I fear my apology is in order," he stated uneasily as he looked at her. Her head snapped up in disbelief, her lips parting slightly in surprise. "I shouldn't have been so uncouth and discourteous, and I apologize for taking your things without your consent. And please, do stop gaping like fish, Miss Granger. It doesn't suit you." A flash of anger crossed her features for a second, but it was gone when the reality of his apology hit her.

"You needn't apologize," she answered softly, lowering her eyes as her cheeks once again took on an attractive pink. "If I had been hungry, and you had possession of food and wouldn't give it to me, I probably would have reacted in the same manner. Basic human needs tend to make us act without much thought-" She cut herself off and bit her bottom lip, and Snape was sure of what 'basic human need' she was thinking of at the moment, for it was also the same thing in his mind.

He sighed inwardly. They needed to get out of there, that was certain, because Snape knew that he had absolutely no idea how long he could resist temptation.

***

"Where the hell is that bloody thing?!" Ron cried out in frustration as he collapsed in an armchair in the deserted Gryffindor Common Room. All their other House mates were in the Great Hall for dinner, but Ron and Harry snuck by the kitchens before retiring early to the tower, wanting to avoid the curious eyes and questions of the whereabouts of their other best friend.

"I think Crookshanks is trying to avoid us on purpose," Harry sighed, falling into the armchair next to Ron. "He doesn't even show up on the Marauder's Map! Doesn't he even know Hermione is missing? Shouldn't he? He is her familiar after all!"

"Dumbledore has choked on one too many lemon drops, I'm telling you," Ron groaned. "'Crookshanks will find them.' Bullocks!" They fell into silence as they gazed outside the windows, watching the fading sun drift just below the horizon. It was now about four hours since Hermione and Snape's disappearance, but to Harry and Ron, the hours passed by ever so slowly.

"You never really realize how much someone means to you until he or she has gone missing," Ron muttered.

"Why, Ron, I never knew you felt so tenderly for Snape," Harry commented, more somberly than with mirth.

"Shut up, Harry."

"Right."

*****

TBC...