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Patience on Sunday	By : Snapeoutofit Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 14135 -:- Recommendations : 4 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: All characters and settings are the creation of JK Rowling. I own nothing of Harry Potter and make no money from this story.

Chapter List
- 1-One
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 14-Fourteen
- 15-Fifteen
- 16-Sixteen
- 17-Seventeen
- 18-Eighteen
- 19-Nineteen
- 20-Twenty
- 21-Twenty One
- 22-Epilogue
- 3
- 4
- 5
There were few students in the corridors this evening. He had noticed the pattern long ago. Once the winter chill started taking hold the students tended to sneak around less. The warmth of their common rooms was far more appealing than the cold, dank hallways.

The staircases moved beneath his feet as he descended. The motions were practiced and familiar to him. Once he reached the stone foyer, he rounded a pillar and continued down a long hall. Each step he took reminded him that he had no reason to be out. He had no appointments or anywhere to be. He had not come across a single student in nearly thirty minutes, and if there were any still about he new Professor Granger would find them while making her rounds. Without actively deciding to do so, he began making his way towards the astronomy tower. Her rounds wouldn’t be finished for nearly two more hours, but he had little better to do.

He cast a warming charm around himself as he stepped out into the cold November air. The night sky was clear and sharp, with little by way of clouds or stormy weather. The moon hung brightly in the sky. It was the perfect evening for viewing constellations.

The headmaster took a small collapsible telescope from his pocket. Placing the small end over his right eye, he began searching the sky for Andromeda.

He couldn’t say for certain how long he’d been up there when his view through the telescope was illuminated as candlelight poured out from the door to the stairs. He did not look over his shoulder when he heard the door close quietly and the flood of light disappeared.

“You’re early,” he said as he collapsed the telescope and returned it to his pocket.

Hermione stood by the door, frozen to the spot. She wondering if she should turn and run back. She hadn’t expected him to be up there now. Her rounds weren’t nearly over.

When she didn’t reply, he turned to look at her. “Your rounds aren’t over for-” Suddenly he stopped; cutting himself off mid sentence. He was taken aback by, by something. By her? The moon illuminated her face and her skin looked nearly iridescent. The long black trench coat she wore over her robes cinched her waist to highlight the curves of her body. He hadn’t remembered noticing such perfect curves before. Her hair was swept back behind her by the wind, but it looked beautiful nonetheless.

“There wasn’t very much happening on the grounds this evening,” she said, completing his incomplete thought. “But I apologize for the transgression. I didn’t expect you’d be up here yet.” She looked at her hands as she wrung them in front of herself, unsure as to how he would react. She almost told him how she had actually hoped to avoid him but decided against it.

The Headmaster turned back around and replaced the telescope over his eye before gazing back into the inky night. Hermione watched from her spot by the door, glancing from side to side and unsure of herself when he remained transfixed on the sky.

“Are you going to come have a look?” His voice made her jump as it cut through the quiet. His tone was matter of fact, but it wasn’t mean.

Hermione was frustrated. With herself and with him. She hadn’t intended on viewing the constellation with him, yet there she was. She strode with purpose across the astronomy tower’s observation deck to stand beside him. When she looked up at him she was yet again reminded of his stature. The top of her head didn’t even clear his shoulder height.

“You know, you have some nerve,” she said without preamble, a slight edge to her voice.

“I beg your pardon?” The headmaster lowered the telescope and turned his head to look at her.

“Is this how Hogwarts conducts its business now? With letters neither sealed nor addressed? Oh, or signed, how could I forget that?” Her voice was heavy with indignation. “And students as post owls...”

“I am not conducting business,” he said with irritating calm as he brought the telescope back to his eye and titled his head towards the sky. “What business would I have being on the astronomy tower with you?”

Hermione looked at her feet to keep her frustration and confusion at bay. “Well,” she began with a tilt of the head, “precisely.”

Finally she looked up at him and he sensed her gaze. The headmaster held out the telescope in offering. “I am showing you Andromeda. The sky is incredibly clear tonight so viewing conditions are superb.”

She took the telescope and held it to her eye. She looked around momentarily before finding Alamach and therefore the rest of the constellation. The star was the brightest she’d ever seen it.

“Stunning,” she said in a whisper; without masking the awe in her voice.

“Yes,” he replied slowly as her watcher her. She was standing very near to her and appreciated the shape of her soft lips as she was awestruck. He realized he could have stared at her much longer, but decided to continue speaking. “It’s a bit odd for me sometimes. After spending so many years in the dungeons I’d forgotten how much astronomy fascinates me.”

“I can’t fathom why you chose to live down there all those years. There is little that makes me happier than an open window and some sunlight,” she replied.

Severus made an agreeable sound and Hermione suddenly felt hyper aware of their proximity to one another. She hadn’t intended to stand so close when she’d joined him. She could feel the heat from his body...
“Did you cast a warming charm?” She asked abruptly, holding the telescope at her side while she looked at him.

“Of course. You didn’t?” He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. When she shook her head, he pointed his wand at the small space between them and, with a flick of his wrist in her direction, he expanded the charmed area to encircle her as well. Hermione instantly felt as if she’d been placed under a heat lamp, and the feeling was rather cozy.

Hermione looked up at the night sky. This was all rather nice, actually. A little strange, perhaps, but not unpleasant. She couldn’t understand the sequence to his logic, though, or why his behavior felt oddly intimate.

“I will send you an individual memo when you do not attend a staff meeting. But please, try to come when you can.” He spoke without looking at her. Hermione furrowed her brow.

“I thought we weren’t here on business,” she said.

“We’re not.”

Hermione chuckled.

“Professor Granger, are you laughing at me?” His mouth was a hard line, and she continued to laugh.

“You are a very confusing man, Headmaster,” she said as she tried to control her laughter. The headmaster smirked in her direction. Had he ever seen her laugh before? Certainly not like this. Maybe he’d seen her laughing from across a room, but certainly never in response to him; never like this. She looked gloriously uninhibited as her eyes glistened with the tears associated with laughter. Her hair bounced and swirled around her. He realized he wanted nothing more than to touch her.

“You should go.” His voice was suddenly cold. There was an edge of sadness to it.

Hermione tried to recover from her outburst. “I’m sorry, what?” She didn’t like the look in his eye. There was sadness and frustration there.

“I said you should go. Forget it. I will.” He walked away towards the stairs without a backwards glance. Hermione felt cold as he created distance between them and took his warming charm with him.

“Severus, wait!” Her voice carried and stopped him in his tracks before he could reach the castle door. She quickly closed the space between them and became reacquainted with the warmth from his charm. Her eyes seemed as large as the moon itself when she looked up at him. “I want to keep looking at the stars-with you,” she continued.

The headmaster scoffed slightly. She seemed sincere, but he couldn’t be sure. Her body language willed him to stay. He wanted to stay, too, but he felt he couldn’t. He’d shown to much all ready.

He took the telescope from his pocket and held it out to her. “Here.”

Hermione accepted and begged him to stay one last time, but ultimately she wasn’t surprised when he turned down the astronomy tower stairs in a billow of black; taking his warmth with him.
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Patience on Sunday