Title: Love Me Before it's Too Late

Rating: M

Category: Romance/Angst

Warning: m/m slash, language, sexual content

Pairing: Hermione x Severus (Main couple pairing), Harry x Draco, Ron x Pansy, Neville x Blaise

Summary: Hermione and her friends come back for their last year at Hogwarts. The war is over and has been for the past year. The Ministry of Magic has issued a marriage Law. Will Hermione be able to avoid the law or will she be dragged in? Read to find out!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own the characters, JK Rowling does. However I do own the plot.

Chapter 1- To Hogwarts

Platform 9 ¾ was as crowded as usual. The Hogwarts Express, a gleaming scarlet steam engine, was already there. Clouds of steam were billowing from it, through which the many Hogwarts students and parents on the platform appeared like dark ghosts. An amber-eyed girl with long curls hurried towards the train, dragging her trunk and carrying a carrier with a ginger coloured cat in it. Hermione Granger got on to the train looking for the compartment that her two best friends Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. This was her last year at Hogwarts. She hoped that it would actually be normal for once.

Seeing her best friends sharing the compartment with their friends Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Ron's sister, Ginny Weasley. Hermione went in and greeted them.

"Hey Harry, Ron, Neville, Ginny and Luna! How was your summer?" she asked the group.

"It was great! Ron, mom, dad and I went to Romania to see Bill and Charlie", replied Ginny.

"Gran and I went on a plant expedition, it was great. I learned so many things about plants that I knew and learned about new plants as well," said their shy friend Neville.

" My dad and I went to America and went to find stinging unicorns", exclaimed Luna.

Hermione rolled her eyes at loony Luna and noticed that the others did too. Luna had a reputation of exaggerating and making up weird creatures. She noticed that Harry was quiet. "Same old summer with the Dursleys", she asked. "Yeah", he replied. Knowing that he wouldn't say anything she decided to drop the topic of the Dursleys. "So how was your summer 'mione?" asked Ron noticing the tension. 'The same as always. No parents during the two months there. Sure it was so great...having the house all to my lonesome self and frozen cold food to eat…yeah it was great… just great' She thought. Not wanting to let them know, she came up with a lie. "Oh it was great. My parents and I went to Paris for a month than went to Italy" She said.

She hated lying to her friends but she couldn't tell them that her parents weren't who they seemed to be. She couldn't tell them that they despised her and that her birth was an accident or how she earned to be accepted and loved by her parents. She also couldn't tell them that she had a rare condition called numquamamor due to the lack of love that she received and the only reason she was living till this point was because of their love for her. Nope she just couldn't put them through that.

The food trolley came by and Hermione and the others bought sweets and chocolates to keep them satisfied till they reached Hogwarts. They sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying their delicious chocolate frogs when their compartment opened. In came Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zambini, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. They had all become friends when the five Slytherins had left the dark side and sided with the light side two years back and had helped Harry defeat Voldemort. Over their fifth and sixth year the group had become the best of friends. In the beginning of their sixth year Harry and Draco, Ron and Pansy, and Neville and Blaise had all hooked up.

Draco walked over to Harry and sat on the brunette's lap. Pansy also went over to Ron and sat down. Blaise and Neville snuggled together on the corner seat. Luna and Ginny excused themselves to find their own boy friends, Colin Creevey and Dean Thomas. Vince and Greg took their spot and sat in each other's arms. Hermione looked longingly at the couples then quickly took out a book to read. The couples around her started kissing and talking in hushed, soft voices. How she longed to have someone that cared for her.

She had been asked out by some of the guys in her year but had turned them down for she loved another. Sure in fourth year Hermione had gone out with Viktor Krum and then in her sixth year believed that she had liked Ron but she decided that she didn't really feel anything for them. She knew that it would never happen. Severus Snape would never be interested in her. He had always found her annoying, and an irritating know-it-all Gryffindor. How would he ever like her? It had all started in first year when she went to Severus' class for the first time. It had started off as a crush but then it evolved into love.

She had hoped to tell him how she felt but whom was she kidding. She couldn't even look up at the man without blushing though she had been very careful of that. She was still a Gryffindor, being a coward was not a quality that she had. The only one that knew had been Pansy who had found out accidentally when she had fainted and the girl had found out from Madam Pomfrey about her condition. Pansy had later confronted her had confronted her and soothed and listened to her sad tale. After that confrontation Pansy and Hermione had become the best of friends. Pansy officially became her confidante and also knew about her crush on Professor Snape.

She was suddenly brought out of her thoughts when it was announced that they were nearing Hogwarts. She also realised that she was the only one who had yet to change into school robes.

"Hey Hermione, aren't you going to change" asked Pansy. "Yeah, just kind of lost track of time " she answered. "If you guys will excuse me I'll be off to change and then go check on the younger students…you know prefect duty. See you guys in the Great hall during the feast. " She said and with that she was off.

The train finally stopped at the Hogsmeade Station. Hermione along with the other prefects gathered all the first years and led them to the lake where Hagrid was waiting beside a boat so they could sail to Hogwarts. Hermione left and joined the others in one of the carriages pulled by thestrals (skeleton-like horses, only seen by those that have witnessed a death). The carriage ride to Hogwarts was pretty quiet but nobody seemed to mind. As the carriage pulled up the thoughts that was running through most of the seventh years' heads was what might happen this year?

AN: Well that's it for now. Please review and tell me how you like the story. I hope to update this story faster, but I won't be able to unless you guys review. Well till next time!

Hellz Sorrowful Angel