Summary: Hermione is having a returning dream about someone she can't place. When she decides to find out who the mysterious dream guy is, she ends up with two choices. Now who could it be? HG/SS, HG/SB; don't like, don't read.

Disclaimer: Do I have to?… Oh, all right! Everything you recognise from the HP universe belongs to the fabulous JK Rowling. But everything else is mine, unless otherwise stated…

AN: This is to be considered AU since HBP, because due to the fact that I am everything but thrilled with how it all turned out I didn't bother changing the plot… But read and enjoy everyone, and don't forget to leave a review!

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Chapter 1

Hermione lay in her bed. She was on her side with her covers pulled tightly around her. The heavy, crimson velvet curtains around her bed were closed. She starred into the darkness with an empty gaze and blinked a tear from her eye. She shuddered and, if possible, pulled her covers even more tightly around her.

'How weird,' she thought, 'my bed is so warm and comfortable, and still I feel so cold and out of place.' She sighed heavily and shuddered again as cold shot through her, right through her skin and bones, and stayed there. She rolled onto her back and closed her eyes.

"Why am I feeling like this?" she whispered to herself before she fell asleep. Deep down she knew why, her dreams had shown her so many times before, the exact same way they would tonight.

She was standing in an empty classroom, well almost empty; there was one person in there with her. He was standing behind her, his arms wrapped around her waist protectively. He was pressing against her back and holding her close. His head was resting on her shoulder.

"I want you, I need you, and I love you. You know that, don't you?" a deep and husky voice whispered in her ear.

"Mmhm," she murmured quietly as he kissed his way down her neck. She could not place his voice. She knew she had heard it before, but she could not recall where- She turned around in his arms; she could not see his face. It was not hidden, it was there, but she did not see it. His hair was black, thick, and reached his shoulders. She pulled a hand through it; it was so soft, like silk almost. She let her hands travel from his hair to his firm chest. It was hidden beneath the thick material of his black robes, but she could still feel his muscles through the fabric. His hands went and stroked her face. They were cold. He pulled her closer yet, and she could feel his lips touch hers. They were as cold as his hands, but yet so soft. She felt herself getting lost in his passionate kiss and she was thankful that he was holding her. She felt sure that had he not held her, her legs would have failed to carry her.

She let her hands unconsciously travel up his chest, as he continued to kiss her, and started to unbutton his rope. She heard it fall to the floor and opened her eyes, which she had kept closed since she had felt his lips upon her own. She still could not see his face.

He broke the kiss and took her hand. She could feel his warm smile. He led her through a door behind the teacher's desk. The room he led her into was dark; the curtains were closed. She could faintly see the outlines of a desk in the middle and a bed in the opposite corner of where they were currently standing. He led her to the bed and kissed her again, deeply and passionately. She sighed into his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck as he lowered her down onto the bed. It was so soft and comfortable. He helped her off her rope and she started to unbuckle his belt. In mere seconds his black dress trousers had joined her school rope on the floor. Within minutes they were both naked. He kissed her lips again, this time more tenderly.

Hermione sat bolt upright in her bed. That dream had come back. She was shaking; it was the fifth night in a row. She turned around and peered out of the heavy curtains surrounding her bed, at the alarm clock on her bedside table. 5.00 AM it read. She sighed and stumbled out of bed, dismissing the idea of getting back to sleep. She dressed quickly and tiptoed out of the dormitory, careful not to wake the other girls.

The common room was deserted, not that she had expected anything else at this time of the morning. She sat down in one of the huge armchairs near the fire, which had died out during the night, and pulled out her wand and lit it. Then she pulled a small notebook out of her school bag. She had an hour until breakfast started and she would use it trying to find out who the mysterious man in her dreams were. She wrote down everything she knew about him.

He was a professor, she was sure, because if that were not the case he would not have had access to the private chambers. He was quite tall, a good 3 or 4 inches taller than her. He had black hair that reached his shoulders and curled slightly. He had also worn all black in her dreams, so she supposed that he did in the real world as well. The finished description could fit two men. She sighed heavily.

'Why didn't I see his face?' she thought, 'that would have made everything so much more easy.'

She stood up and flung her bag over her shoulder, then started walking towards the Great Hall for breakfast. There were no students there yet, and only three people at the high table, Dumbledore, Snape and Sirius Black. Sirius had mysteriously walked out of the veil a month into their summer holiday before 7th year,when Harry, Ron and herself had finally destroyed Voldemort and Pettigrew had been caught and sent to Azkaban. Dumbledore had immediately hired him as professor in Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Hermione sat down in her usual seat by the Gryffindor table. She eyed the two young men who sat at each their side of the high table. They were the two men who fit her 'dream man'. They were more alike than they would ever dare to admit, perhaps even more than they knew. She sighed, knowing perfectly well that she had had some sort of love-hate relationship with both of them. She poured a cup of coffee and started sipping it unconsciously as she started to think about them and what she liked and disliked about them. They were sitting at each their side of the high table glaring venomously at each other, as Dumbledore desperately, and somewhat annoyed, tried to strike up a conversation with both of them.

They looked quite like each other and they were both extraordinary stubborn, and they hated each other with equal passion. They were also both very into what they were doing and had both been through a lot more in life than they should have been at the age of 38. They were very private as well, both of them, and obviouslyfound it hard to trust anyone.

Hermione looked at Snape and started thinking about what she liked and did not like about him. She had always admired his passion for his work, and his way of always being well prepared and well organised. However his temper made her lose her own. And the way he always seemed to ignore her or insult her. The way he would say she was 'an insufferable know-it-all' made her really pissed off, probably because she knew he was right, but also because she did not want to be criticised by someone she actually liked.

The qualities she admired in Sirius were mostly his generally calm attitude towards most things. He was not easy to piss off, but when somebody insulted the ones he cared about he would stand up for them, he had helped her more than once. However he had a tendency to be very immature, irresponsible and careless, and that put her off. It was probably because he had wasted 12 years in Azkaban and therefore his mind still seemed to function as a 23 year-old's.

Hermione sighed for the hundredth time that morning and took a piece of buttered toast. She chewed on it thoughtfully and stared into space. She did not see the two younger men at the high table both gazing her way in silence.

Other students had begun making their ways inside the Great Hall to have breakfast and Hermione was soon joined by Harry and Ron.

"Hey," Harry said as he plumbed down into the seat beside her, "How come you're up this early?"

"I woke up after having had a weird dream, and I couldn't go back to sleep," Hermione answered him simply.

"Bad dream?" Harry asked curiously as he took a forkful of scrambled eggs.

"Noo…" she trailed off as she blushed faintly, "not exactly…"

"Well what 'bout then?" Ron asked as he chewed on his bacon.

"I'm not sure you'd want to know that," she stated.

"Oh, come on Mione!" Harry and Ron persuaded.

"No," she just said and started reading the Daily Prophet, which had just arrived with the post owls.

The first lesson was double Defence Against the Dark Arts. Hermione found it really hard to concentrate and fell asleep halfway through Sirius' introduction of the new subject.

"Hermione would you care to demonstrate?" she heard Sirius' voice, but she didn't quite register it. Harry nudged her in the side and she looked up from her arms and at Sirius dumbly.

"Would you please demonstrate the charm?" he repeated patiently while tapping his foot.

"Oh, sure," Hermione said and got out her wand, then she remembered something, "Uh, sorry Professor, but what charm?…" she asked sheepishly.

"Hermione," Sirius sighed, "may I point out to you that it is extremely inappropriate to fall asleep during class! I hate having to do this, but you'll serve detention here at 7.30 tonight. Now on with our lesson, Seamus, would you try and show us the charm?"

Hermione looked down blushing and feeling extremely embarrassed. Harry and Ron looked strangely at her, while Sirius acted as if nothing had happened.

"What the hell were you doin' Herms?" Ron asked as they walked out of the classroom.

"I fell asleep Ronald!" Hermione snapped and started walking towards the Great Hall in a fast pace. Harry and Ron ran a bit to catch up with her.

"Yeah, but in Sirius' class? I could understand if it had been History of Magic, but Defence Against the Dark Arts?" Harry said annoyed.

"Look Harry, it wasn't on purpose. I haven't slept all that well for the past week, and sooner or later that kind of thing will catch up with you! And honestly I would say it's good that it happened during Sirius' class, imagine if it had been Snape's!" With that Hermione closed the argument.

After lunch they had Potions with the Slytherins. Hermione dreaded that class, because she still did not really feel awake. They were making a Dreamless Draught, and Hermione seriously considered stealing a bottle when they finished, but she never got that far.

Halfway through the lesson Hermione had added the essence of hellebore, and the potion had simmered for a good five minutes. It was time to add the powdered root of asphodel. She held her hand and the bottle over her cauldron and started to pour the fine powder into her hand. Just then she felt a cold breath tickle her skin. She was so startled that she dropped the entire bottle of powdered asphodel root into her potion. The potion gave a small puff, and a yellow cloud rose from it. Then it turned black and started to boil before settling down. It was completely ruined, and Hermione just wanted to go to bed and cry herself to sleep.

"20 points from Gryffindor," Snape sneered behind her with an evil smirk on his thin lips.

'God,' Hermione thought, 'How could I ever dream about him, I must've been ill!'

"And you will stay here after class Miss Granger," he continued, this time if possible, even more evilly. Hermione lowered her head and nodded. She knew it was no use arguing with him, she would just make everything even worse. She was just glad he hadn't wanted to see her for detention at the same time as Sirius.

When the bell rang and everybody took their things and made their way to the door Hermione remained seated with her head hung down. She saw Harry and Ron out of the corner of her eye. They gave her a sympathetic smile and she tried to smile back without success. Oh how she wanted this day to end. She heard the Slytherins snicker behind her as they passed, but she shot it out.

"What in Heaven's name were you doing miss Granger?" Snape asked harshly as soon as the door had shot behind the last student.

"I…I'm sorry Professor…" Hermione stuttered, not exactly knowing what to say.

"I hadn't expected this from you, miss Granger, I hate to admit it, but you're my best student, and it's not like you to go and screw up a potion like that, and it has got to have a reason. Now I insist on you telling me!" Snape's voice was still as harsh as before, but it was evident that he was a bit frustrated. Hermione sighed heavily, what should she do now?

"I'm sorry Professor, but I can't tell you that. I'm sure you would not want to hear the truth anyway," she stated.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to stay here until you change your mind then. I do not tolerate this kind of behaviour, you know that. Now why did this accident happen?" Hermione slumped further down into her chair as if trying to hide.

"You startled me!" she then said stubbornly.

"You don't usually get that startled by me looking over your shoulder," Snape pointed out.

"I haven't slept well for the past week or so, so I was tired. May I go now?" Hermione answered him exasperatedly.

"No you may not!" Snape said matter-of-factly, "Why haven't you slept well?" Hermione stood up and looked directly at him.

"I will not tell you that! It's none of your business! You are NOT my goddamn psychiatrist! Why do you even care anyway?" she spat at him, looking into his cold black eyes with an equally cold gaze. Snape suddenly looked perplexed and didn't really know what to reply.

"20 points from Gryffindor for talking back at a teacher!" Snape sneered, "Now, Miss Granger, I want my students to be good in my subject, or else I would fail as a teacher, so naturally I care when something is preventing them from living up to their usual standards" He looked at her calmly and Hermione could feel the thoughts of her dream and of Snape and Sirius being dragged to the front of her mind. She did what she could to prevent it from happening, but she was no occlumens. She knew Snape had succeeded in his task. His face grew, if possible, a shade paler and he stared at her horror struck.

"You're dismissed, Miss Granger," he said, trying to sound calm. Hermione grabbed her bag and hurried out of the dungeons.

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AN: Well, this is it for now. Want me to continue? Then leave a review, NOW! Please…!