Disclaimer: I wish this was mine, but it isn't. I just play with them, but I will put them back nicely – promise!

Happy New Year

A/N: A little one-shot inspired by tonight's celebrations – it won't be extremely long but I thought some might enjoy this :) Happy New Year everybody! Thoughts are in italics.

It was the evening of December 31st and although the hype surrounding Christmas had faded away for another year, all of the students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were preparing for a night of celebrations surrounding the New Year. Well, all students except one. Hermione Granger who just so happened to be Head Girl. There would be no patrols to keep her occupied this evening though as the rules at Hogwarts had been slackened for New Year's Eve so that the students would be able to welcome the New Year in style.

The school was reasonably quiet considering the majority of pupils had headed home for their holidays but Hermione had chosen to stay at the school because she just did not feel any connection with her parents any more. She knew that they were still her parents and always would be but since she had been emerged in the Wizarding World, it had been hard for her parents to adjust and they just didn't understand her any more. Their bond had slowly weakened over the years, leaving Hermione alone with nobody to turn to – Harry and Ron didn't even understand.

There was only one other lonely soul inhabiting the magical castle, and he went by the name of Severus Snape. He despised any sort of celebrations so tended to sulk around in the dungeon's until they were over. One of the worst things was the way students behaved in the run up to any celebration, especially Christmas and New Year. They became unfocused and tended to push their luck when it came to curfews – oh how he loved to catch them out and take away house points.

Much to Severus' annoyance, the Headmaster had demanded he be out of the dungeon's for the celebrations that evening – all of his Slytherin's were heading outside to watch the fireworks when the clock struck 12, and he supposed that all the other students would join to watch the spectacle. The only place he knew there would be some sort of peace from the racket and excitement that came with New Year was the Astronomy Tower and he knew it would be deserted. There was only a select few students that ever ventured up there, but none ever went there at night. His mind was put to rest slightly knowing there would be nobody there to disturb him at midnight.

–

It was ten minutes to midnight and the whole school was beginning to gather in the courtyard. Harry and Ron had not noticed their missing friend as they were too busy playing tonsil tennis with their beau's which went by the name of Ginny Weasley and Lavender Brown. It saddened Hermione to know that her two friends had found somebody for them and she was left alone. They both favoured sucking faces with their girlfriends to spending time with her – this didn't surprise her as they were teenagers but it left her feeling slightly rejected.

As she heard the chatter and echo of footsteps on the stairs heading towards the courtyard, Hermione headed in the opposite direction to a place where she could relax, the only place she felt at one with the world she was in. Being a muggle-born was sometimes difficult in a Wizarding World where there was still a reasonable amount of people prejudiced towards people with a difference.

Hermione settled herself down on the edge of the Astronomy Tower and let her legs dangle over the edge, she didn't feel scared. Since she was Head Girl, she sometimes came up here after a particularly stressful day and the wind helped take her worries away and drift off into the night sky. She checked her watch, and noted that it was 11:57. Only 3 more minutes and it will be time to start all over again, time to get through another year, she thought to herself.

Once Severus had assured himself that nobody would see his ascent to the Astronomy Tower, he headed off on his journey. Not once did he feel out of breath even though he took rather fast strides. As he reached his destination and looked around the door, he saw a lone figure sitting with their legs dangling over the edge of the tower. Upon further analysis, he saw it was Hermione Granger. His heart softened slightly to see her up her alone, she reminded him of herself. He had always spent his New Year up here when he stayed at Hogwarts over the holidays, nobody wanted his company. He walked silently up to her and realised she was in her own thoughts. He slowly lowered his body down next to hers, and mirrored her position, not once saying a word to her.

Hermione soon realised his presence, and turned her head towards him and met his gaze. She had a confused look upon her face, to which her professor replied, "I like to get away from celebrations a lot of the time, and this is where I come to." She was slightly shocked that he was admitting this to her, but brushed it aside since she did not mind this new side she was beginning to see. Hermione had always known that the cold exterior he boasted was just that, an exterior.

"Do you want me to leave then?" she asked quietly, turning her gaze back out to the darkness which hid the Scottish landscape.

"No, it would be nice for some company."

"Oh, okay," she replied, and they fell into a silence. Hermione looked at her watch again, it was 11:59. Nearly there.

In the distance they could hear a countdown begin:

"10...9...8..."

Severus looked towards his companion, who had also turned to watch him.

"3...2...1..."

"Happy New Year Hermione," he whispered into her ear, wondering when they had moved closer together. She shivered slightly at the sound of his silky voice whispering into her ear and leant towards her ear in response, and replied, "Happy New Year Severus." Both were amazed at how good their given names sounded when said by each other.

Looking up to see the fireworks erupt in the sky, they gazed in wonder at this but felt something pull their eyes back to each other. Severus leant in and pressed his lips lightly against Hermione's, revelling in their softness.

As they pulled back for air, they looked into each other's eyes once again and Severus saw a slight twinkle in Hermione's eyes. She was happy, and although he didn't want to admit it, so was he.

He put his arms around her shoulders and allowed her to lean into him and rest her head on his chest as they both watched the firework show from the best vantage point Hogwarts had to offer. Little did they know, the Headmaster had looked up towards the Astronomy Tower to note two silhouettes merging together as one and at this, he had smiled to himself. He had always known they were right for each other and hoped the New Year would bring a lot of good things to them both.

A/N: Short and sweet, hope you liked it! Review!