The Mentor

AN: Hello to everyone who is taking the time to read this story!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I was hoping to get a little more feedback on chapter four, but oh well, maybe after the next lemony chapter I can get some feedback. On with the story!

Chapter Five – The Staff Meeting

At lunch, Minerva informed everyone of an impromptu staff meeting to take place after dinner that evening. Severus knew that the purpose of the meeting was to implement her new mentoring plan, and he was not the least bit surprised. After working with the headmistress for several years, he knew that she would want to get the ball rolling immediately.

His gaze traveled down the staff table to rest on Hermione. As if she could sense him watching her, she lifted her head and they made eye contact, and then she blushed and quickly looked away. Watching her cheeks bloom pink, Severus was reminded of his earlier thoughts about where else she might be rosy. With an inner smirk, Severus turned his attention back to the students who were currently finishing up their lunch.

Hermione swore that she knew the moment he was looking at her. Goosebumps started to rise at the back of her neck, traveling quickly down her back and arms. As soon as she looked at him and their eyes met, she immediately thought about her session of self gratification earlier in the day and could feel the blush spread across her body. Turning away quickly, she began to call herself all kinds of fool for the way that she was acting.

‘How am I ever going to be able to look him in the face again?’ she wondered, barely tasting the food that she was spooning into her mouth. She was so confused, and embarrassed, and uncertain, and aroused. There were so many different emotions swirling around in her body that Hermione could not focus on any one of them long enough to give it the thorough evaluation that she wanted to. It felt like she was in the middle of a vortex, with all of her feelings swirling around her. When she reached out for one, it was like smoke through her fingers, still there and surrounding her but unreachable at the same time. This was not a frame of mind that Hermione cared for at all; she was an organized and structured person, and this inner chaos was difficult for her to deal with.

She took a last bite of food, excused her self to the teacher who had been trying without luck to engage her in a conversation and walked out of the great hall, everything about her body language screaming dejection.

Severus watched Hermione as she left. Among the skill set that he had developed over his many years as a spy, he was also an expert at reading body language, and he knew that something was deeply upsetting the young professor.

‘This is somewhat surprising’, Snape considered to himself. ‘I am attracted to her, and I want her body. Why do I even care about how she might be feeling?’ As he pondered this new development, Severus began to experience some of the discomfort that was now plaguing Hermione. His thoughts and feeling were in turmoil. He wanted to get Hermione in his bed, but did he want something more?

**********

Hermione was not looking forward to the staff meeting that Minerva had announced. She wanted every staff member in the staff room as soon as classes were finished for the day. All that Hermione wanted to do was lose herself in a warm bubble bath with a good book with a chilled glass of chardonnay. Instead, she had to sit with her colleagues, listening to whatever the head mistress thought was so bloody important that it could not wait for the next scheduled meeting.

‘Besides’, Hermione whispered to herself. ‘You do not want to be any closer to Snape than you have to be’. It was one thing to have the entire staff table between them at meals, but the possibility that she may actually have to sit next to him was frightening.

‘How am I going to keep my feelings to myself when he is right there?’

Little did Hermione know that her future dealings with the potions master where about to become much more intimate than sharing a sofa in the staff room.


**********


By the time that Severus returned to the classroom to prepare for his afternoon lessons, he was seriously distracted by the thoughts swimming around in his mind; not a safe way to be when teaching such a complicated subject. He tossed his plans for the afternoon and quickly prepared a lesson that only involved some reading and essay writing.

When the first group of students arrived, Severus motioned to the instructions written in his precise script on the board, and seated himself at his desk. He had a few hours before the staff meeting, and he wanted the time to think, and to plan.

In his methodical way, Severus mentally grabbed each thought and feeling that he was experiencing for Hermione and began to brutally dissect each one.

The physical attraction was easy to figure out. She had grown in to a lovely woman, in fact, when she had returned to Hogwart’s, he almost had not recognized her. Hermione’s hair had grown to be quite long, almost to her bottom. The weight of it tamed the frizziness like not product or potion ever could. Instead of a bushy mane, it fell in curling ringlets, almost begging to be touched. The honey brown colour was sun kissed, and every time the light hit it, her curls seemed to sparkle.

Her eyes were the same honey brown as her hair, and the colour always reflected how she was feeling. When angry, they snapped like dark chocolate; when sad or dreamy her eyes softened to amber; when happy they sparkled.

And her body, or what he had seen of it anyway, was any man’s wet dream. She was fairly tall, but at 5’ 7”, he still towered over her. Her legs seemed to go on forever, and the one time that he had caught her rubbing the back of one foot against her shapely calf, Severus had thought he was going to faint as the blood rushed from his head to his groin.

When ever he saw Hermione, her breasts were always covered by her teaching robes, so that part of her anatomy was left almost entirely to his imagination. But there was her shapely neck, the skin looking smooth as silk. And her hands; they always looked so delicate and graceful.

All of that made for a very attractive package, but by far the sexiest part of Hermione was her mind. Severus had never had a student so brilliant, dedicated and hard working. Grudgingly, he admitted that she had always been a favourite, and as the end of her last year as a student approached, he began to think of her in an entirely different way; inappropriate yes but compelling none the less.

He thoughts went back to that day on the battlefield, when he was the first to recover from the after math of the Dark Lord’s curse. When he had looked over to see her lying pale and still on the hard ground, his heart had stopped. It did not start beating again until he had her in his arms and realized that she was breathing.

‘Oh Merlin’, Severus almost said out loud. ‘I think that I am falling in love with her!’

Severus was in shock, his mind frozen on that one thought.

**********
As her students were practising their wand movements, Hermione was frantically trying to plan a way out of the staff meeting. Could she be feeling ill? No; Minerva would send Poppy to her and she would be found out. Could there be a student that needed help urgently? No; that would not work for a regularly scheduled meeting, let alone this one.

‘Crap!’ Hermione shouted in her mind. ‘What the hell am I supposed to do?’

As she pretended to watch the students, and congratulated one for turning their goblet in to a toad with three heads, her thoughts became more jumbled than ever. Her students were starting to get a little worried, they had never seen their teacher that unfocused and disinterested in what they were doing.

One of the smaller Hufflepuff tentatively raised her hand.

“Yes Miss Stanley. What do you need?”

“I was just wondering if you were feeling well, Professor Granger. You do not seem like yourself and I was wondering if you were ill.”

The innocent comment from the girl was a like a slap to the face for Hermione. She could not believe that she was letting her feelings for Severus, Professor Snape, interfere with her teaching. She was a mature, professional transfiguration mistress for Merlin’s sake! Hermione was through acting like a love sick second year.

“Thank you for your concern”, Hermione replied with a gentle smile for the tiny girl. She was normally quite shy and Hermione knew that it had taken a lot of courage for her to ask that simple quest. “I was not feeling very well after lunch but I think that it is passing. I am going to walk around the room, and I would like all of you to show me your wand movements again”.

Hermione was determined to put this out of her mind, focusing instead on the progress, or lake thereof, in the group. She could handle this meeting, and she could handle her feelings.

********

Normally, Severus was one of the last teachers to arrive for a staff meeting, but this one found him sitting in one of the comfortable chairs beside the fire, outwardly calm. He was a skilled actor. Inside, his nerves were shot, and he felt slightly nauseous. But Severus had a plan, and he could not wait to get started.

Hermione, on the other hand, was normally one of the first teachers to arrive for meetings. This time, she ran in to the room a few steps ahead of Minerva. Quickly looking around for an empty seat, she picked one of the chairs by the fire.

“Good afternoon Professor Granger”, drawled a voice beside her. She waited for the customary sarcastic comment, but he did not say anything else.

“Thank you Professor Snape and good afternoon to you as well”. Hermione flashed him a quick, shy smile, barely making eye contact as Minerva brought the meeting to order.

“Good afternoon everyone”, the head mistress began. “I am sorry to take some of your time with this impromptu meeting, but it is something of importance and I did not want to wait.”

Everyone sitting around the room started looking around, wondering if anyone of their colleagues might have any clue what was going on. Severus looked around, mimicking the uncertain behaviour of the others in the room.

“These past few years since the end of the war have been difficult for all of us. Hogwart’s lost many staff members in the final battle, and we miss them all”. Minerva took a deep breath, feeling tears clogging the back of her throat. When she continued speaking, her voice held a raspy tone.

“Hogwart’s has been fortunate that we have been able to find new teachers to fill these positions, and I am thankful to each and every one of you who have made a commitment to the school and the students”. She made eye contact with all of the younger teachers, giving each a small smile when she saw their confusion and wariness.

‘Here is comes’, Severus thought to himself.

“As we have been rebuilding the school, our attention has been focused on repairs, enrolments and ensuring that we have enough teachers for each subject. We have done all of these things. This is the first year that Hogwart’s has had a full teaching compliment, all of the repairs have been finished and enrolments are almost at pre-war levels”. Minerva paused here, taking another deep breath. Her next comments had to be worded very carefully; she did not want to offend the younger teachers and make them feel that she thought they were not doing good work.

“In the past, when a new teacher has been hired, that person was usually the only new teacher, and sometimes it would be several years between hiring’s. However, when Hogwart’s reopened five years ago, almost half of the teachers were new to the profession, if not new to Hogwarts”.

‘What the hell is she up to?’ Hermione wondered. She looked around the room to see her feelings reflected on the eyes of the other staff members. Holding her breath, she continued listening.

“The experienced staff members were able to provide some guidance and advice to the new teacher, albeit often in an informal manner. This has not been able to happen, and although everyone has been doing an excellent job, and I cannot stress that enough, I feel that the newer teachers could benefit from some mentoring by senior staff.”
Looking around the room, Minerva saw a myriad of emotions on the faces looking back at her. Some seemed angry, clearly thinking she meant this as some kind of slight on their abilities. Others still looked confused and uncertain; they were still not sure what was going on. Clearly, one person in the room realized where she was going with this. Hermione was sitting forward in her chair, sporting her trademark eager expression at the promise of new knowledge.

“This will be a reciprocal arrangement”, she continued. “All of the junior staff will be partnered with someone who had taught for at least ten years. Your mentor may not be a master or mistress in your subject, but that is not where they are to help you. All of you are experts at what you teach, and to imply otherwise would be insulting”. Minerva paused as the new herbology professor raised his arm to ask a question.

“I will answer any of your questions when I am finished, Professor Colins”, she stated, with a touch of impatience. Of all the new teachers on staff, she had anticipated that he may be the most resistant. His ego was substantial, and regardless of what she said, he would take this as a slight against his abilities. With a look that bordered on a pout, he reluctantly dropped his hand.

“The role of your mentor is to offer advice and guidance on your lesson planning, classroom management and to assist you with any other problems that may arise”. At this some of the senior staff started to look a little concerned. With all of their teaching duties and research projects, their time was at a premium.

“I mentioned that this is a reciprocal arrangement. In return with your help, the junior teachers will be assisting their mentors with marking, proctoring and assisting with research.” Minerva paused, again trying to gauge the sentiment in the room. The mentors looked satisfied with the arrangement, many of them realizing that this would give them more time for their own academic pursuits. Several of the younger staff, however, did not look as pleased.

“Let me get this straight”, professor Colins began, somewhat belligerently. “We are being mentored to help us with lesson planning and time management, I am assuming to prevent us from burning out. But you want us to perform all of our regular classroom duties and give time to our mentor. How are we supposed to do that?”

“Stephen”, Hermione began in soft, calm voice, as though she were speaking to a young child. “Consider it for just a moment. This is a good idea, and it is done frequently in the Muggle world. We will get a chance to see how the other teachers are able to balance the various demands on their time, and get to help with some of the most cutting edge research happening in the wizarding world.” At her comment, the other junior staff started nodding in agreement, and Minerva was grateful that Hermione had spoken up.

Stephen Colins looked at her with a frown. Who the hell did that mudblood think she was, trying to make him look bad, and who the hell did she think she was, spouting her Muggle nonsense. She had only been teaching for a couple of months, while he had been there since the school had reopened.

“Miss Granger”, he purposely used her common name instead of her teaching title. “When you have been teaching a little longer your opinion might have some merit”, he replied in a superior tone.

Severus was furious. How dare he insult Hermione in such a manner!

“Perhaps professor Colins, you have not been teaching long enough”, Severus pinned Stephen with an intimidating stare, his voice dripping sarcasm. “It appears as though you may need more training on the appropriate way to address a colleague. So that you do not forget, I suggest you write this down. It is Professor Granger to you, unless you have been invited by her to use her first name.”

Stephen shot Severus a venomous look. With one comment, Snape had gotten to the heart of the matter. Colins wanted a more familiar relationship with Hermione, and had told her repeatedly to call him by his first name. Hermione did not return the invitation and he felt as though he had been slighted by her.

Minerva had the feeling that his meeting was spiralling beyond her control, so she hurried to bring everyone back to the point.

“I have already decided who will be partnered. Pay attention please.”

Hermione was still reeling from the way that Severus had defended her with Stephen. Was he simply being courteous, or was it something more. She wondered which poor mentor was going to end up with Stephen, and wondered who she might be partnered with.

“And for the final partnership, Professor Snape, you will be mentoring Professor Granger,” Minerva informed them both.

Startled out of her thoughts, Hermione turned to gape, open mouthed at the dark man sitting beside her.

“Careful, Professor”, Severus commented softly. “You might catch flies.”

Her mouth closed with a snap, still staring at Snape, when Minerva began to speak again.

“Your meeting schedules will vary from mentor to mentor. I will leave it with each pairing to sort out when you will meet. However”, she continued sternly, “you will meet at least once a week. I have charmed the mentoring contracts that you will all be signing as you leave the room. If you do not meet according to the conditions of the contract, I will be informed, and may take disciplinary action. Is that understood?” Minerva said, looking purposefully at professor Colins.

Everyone in the room nodded is response to her questions, and Minerva concluded the meeting, happy that most of the staff seemed willing to try this new arrangement.

Her mind still spinning, her heart pounding, and her emotions in turmoil, Hermione rose on unsteady feet, only to wobble. Immediately, a strong arm was there to hold her against his side.

“Are you alright”, he asked with concern.

“Just a little surprised,” Hermione replied, her pulse beating so loudly she was certain everyone in the room could hear it. “I am fine now, thank you. I must have been sitting to long and stood up to quickly”.

Severus only nodded in response, and with a sweep of his arm, indicated that they should move to the table where the contracts sat. Only one contract remained, and a quick survey of the room showed that they were the last staff members to leave.

Picking up the quill, Severus signed his name, and passing the feather to Hermione, indicated the spot where she should sign.

‘All or nothing’, Hermione thought, and quickly added her scrawling signature to the document. The moment she was finished, the contract rolled itself and disappeared with a pop. There was no turning back now. Minerva had their signed contract, and if Hermione was right, a copy would also be sent to the Ministry.

“Professor Granger,” Severus Began, “I think that it would be silly to waste any time in getting our relationship started. Perhaps you would like to meet this evening so that we might plan our schedule. I can also show my research notes”.

“Umm…yes Professor Snape. That would be fine. I do have a tutoring session tonight until seven, but I could meet after that”.

“Very well. Seven – my office”. Hermione nodded in agreement, and turned to leave.

“Oh, and Professor Granger, if we are to be working so closely together, you may call me Severus”.

Hermione was stunned, never hoping in her wildest dreams that he would allow her that courtesy.

“Then the same will have to apply for you”, she responded softly. “You may call me Hermione, and thank you Severus.”

At the sound of his name leaving her lips, he felt a tingle go down his back, and felt his cock start to twitch with interest.

“What are you thanking me for?” he asked in a gravely drawl.

“For speaking up for me with Professor Colins. It was nice to feel as though someone cared.”

Oh, he cared alright.

“I will see you at seven then.” with a flourish, he was striding away from her, robes billowing behind.

Once her brain started working again, Hermione’s first thought was that he must practice that move. As she smiled to herself at the thought, reality began to creep in. Her second thought was not nearly as amusing. It hit her that she was going to be spending a lot of time with Severus, alone.