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The Speed of Thought	By : yeiko87 Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Snape/Hermione Views: 52535 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 6
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor do I make any money from the perverse writings depicted here. It is only for my sick, sick amusement xD

Chapter List
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Rather than going to the Head Girl’s dorm, Hermione decided to go to the library. Reading always calmed her thoughts---it set her mind at ease. Some reading before bed ought to take my mind off of this insane situation…She turned away from the corridor leading to her room, and made her way towards the new destination – her second home within Hogwarts.

Nodding with a smile at the librarian, Irma Pince, she entered her favorite place in all of Hogwarts. Madam Pince never minded Hermione’s presence in the libraries, regardless of the time. The girl was always quiet and tidy and highly reverent in her handling of the books, so she never caused her the worry and grief that the other students did during regular hours…Furthermore, the young witch was brilliant, and extremely intellectually curious – she was always looking for new knowledge—entirely for the sake of knowledge. The finalizing point, however, was that she had been entrusted with a time turner, and she simply used it to take more classes; it was proof of the girl’s constant good intentions, intelligence, and trustworthiness. It was lovely to be able to trust someone to the restricted sections, and never have to worry about their intentions with those books and the knowledge therein. Over the years, Hermione had gained the respect and trust of the older woman, and had thus earned the privilege of owning copies of the keys to all sections of the library, with fully unrestricted use and access, 24/7. Hermione had literally cried on the day she’d received that particular gift from Madam Pince.

Hermione walked through the shelves of the general sections slowly, trailing a finger across the spines of the books she loved. She felt her racing heart start to slow to a calmer rate as she inhaled the smell of the library – the old wooden bookshelves, the paper, the dust, the book glue and leather book bindings and covers. She smiled softly and continued walking aimlessly down the aisles. This place was her safe haven.

About 10 minutes later --- having purposefully waited out of sight for just as long --- Snape arrived at the library entrance and nodded at MadamPince, “Irma.” She gave him a curt nod in return, “Severus,” and he silently walked into the library to hunt down his bushy-haired prey. Before he got far, however, a quiet little call from Madam Pince had him turning back around. “Severus?”

“Yes, Irma?”

“Would you please inform Miss Granger that I have left, if you are not the last to leave? I want to be sure that the library gets locked up for the night.”

“Of course. Goodnight, Irma”

“Goodnight to you as well, Severus.” With that, Irma Pince left the library. Snape was grinning evilly on the inside. He and Hermione were alone together in the library after-hours --- this would be a perfect time to act. With the smooth stealth of a trained predator, he crept through the shelves, hunting down his oblivious target.

Hermione, in the meantime, had settled down at one of the tables in the Restricted Section with a few thick hard-back books in a small stack. She ran her hands over the books, opening them and letting the pages cascade through her fingers, flipping them from front to back. She sighed contentedly.

She had just settled into the cushioned chair to begin reading when she realized that there was actually a different book she’d really prefer to read. Closing the tomes delicately, she stood up from her chair and moved on autopilot to the location of her favorite book in the library. Walking over to the shelf, she reached up and delicately pulled out Hogwarts: A History.

She caressed the front cover with her open palm. She’d read it many times before, to the point where it was especially comforting to read again. Smiling, she walked back to her table, placed Hogwarts: A History down in front of her chair, and picked up the first two of the three books she had originally taken out, to return them to their shelves.

Severus had caught sight of her slight form when she walked into the aisle from which she’d taken Hogwarts: A History. He’d watched her silently then, following and observing at a safe distance, waiting for the right time to make his move…It came while she was returning the three books.

She placed the first --- a book on the properties of various magical herbs found all over the world --- back on its shelf in the Herbology section, and then the second --- a book describing ancient rituals from Central America --- back into its original location. She then returned to the Restricted Section to pick up the third.

The third book --- one she had discovered high up on one of the shelves deep back in the Restricted Section about three weeks ago --- was one of a series which related various recipes for ancient brews, in contrast to the current brews of the wizarding world today. It discussed everything from the illegal and dark, to the simply controversial, to the most commonplace and mundane concoctions ever recorded, to-date, and included all of their specific ingredients and instructions. It was a truly immense tome, even as only a single part -- Volume 5 -- of the 12-book set, and Hermione’s muscles strained under its weight.

One of the more frustrating parts of the Restricted Section was the existence of anti-theft wards placed on some of the books. Not all of the literature in the section had such protective enchantments set into it, but this set in particular was heavily warded. The way that it worked, Hermione had been told, was that the especially dicey books were placed under corresponding faculty’s protection. Each faculty member who was given responsibility over a set of books in the Restricted Section would have to come up with a personalized set of wards for those books. These wards prevented anyone from removing the books easily.

This particular set of books, for example, was all about potions, and therefore was under Snape’s jurisdiction. The counter-spell, then, to release the protective wards set on the series, was known only by Snape and Dumbledore. Although Hermione had been given fully unrestricted access by the librarian, Madam Pince could not release the wards on those books deemed more dangerous than the rest of the contents of the Restricted Section.

This particular set of books, it seemed, was enchanted so that their sizes could not be changed, nor their weights be decreased or supported by any means other than those which could be upheld by muggle physics. Hermione also suspected that Snape had doubled---or tripled---the books’ individual weights magically.

She grumbled under her breath and carried the heavy book over to the section she had originally gotten it from. Right, Hermione, she scolded herself, potions was definitely not a good topic of reading material for tonight in the first place. She arrived at the shelf, puffing lightly under the exertion of carrying the volume. She rested the tome on one rung of the ladder while she leaned back against the shelf of books immediately behind her. She waited until she'd caught her breath, then got back to her task. She hoisted the book under one of her arms with a grunt, and began to slowly and carefully climb the ladder.

Severus took the opportunity to close the distance between them as she climbed. Her concentration was entirely set upon keeping the outrageously heavy book---and herself---safe and unharmed whilst climbing the ladder, so she wasn’t paying enough attention to her surroundings to quickly notice if anyone were to appear behind her.

By the time she stepped up onto the rung that got her to the minimum height to put away her book, Snape was about 2 feet behind her. She took the book from under her arm, and, with some effort, raised it high up above her head, leaning forward slightly to place it on the shelf. She had secured the book on its shelf, and was just about to slide it forward into place when she lost her footing on the ladder. She gasped aloud and was about to scramble to grab onto something to try to prevent the fall---when someone caught her…

Snape’s pale hands shot out from behind her and caught her wrists high up above her head, pinning her hands to the shelf where her book was situated. As he leaned forward to do so, and she leaned back mid-fall, his chest pressed against her back, and her butt pressed into his stomach. He was warm. She froze, not breathing.

“Careful, Miss Granger,” purred a smooth deep voice immediately behind her. “I—as well as Madam Pince—would be quite upset if you were to..damage..those books.”

Her heart skipped a beat.
- 6
- 7
- 8
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The Speed of Thought