What is this? A new chapter so soon? Yes...and more reviews this time please?

Chapter 6

Ginny emerged from the sheets and smiled at Harry. They were about to say something to each other when Ron grumbled over to them, somewhat asleep. "About time you two finished up, do you know how sickly disturbing it is to hear you guys at it?"

Although he said this, and said similar statements whenever they were together, he was used to his sister and his best friend getting it on in a bed next to him. Even so he hadn't heard much of them because while Harry had only begun feeling Ginny up Ron had already been in the middle of a threesome with the Patil twins. Padma had left but Parvati rolled over Ron, so that her arm encircled him: she was soundly sleeping. He made a face that showed how annoyed he was, Harry smirked, knowing he'd hear the complaints of girls staying the night that Ron would rehearse every morning at breakfast.

Harry began licking Ginny's neck wanting to do much more in the night but Guinny put her hand to stop him. She didn't feel like being disappointed twice that night, so she decided to get everyone on to a discussion that had been bothering her for awhile.

"Guys, I can't stop thinking about Hermione." She said. Ron perked up, his naked, muscular, torso was now above the sheets as it leaned, relaxed against his red and gold pillows. Harry was smiling at her and giving her an odd look.

"Oh really?" He said with too much interest.

Ginny knew his thoughts exactly. Shit, he can't please one girl but he thinks he can satisfy two? However, she didn't, as usual, let Harry know these thoughts. "Not that way Harry. I just meant...well we've all been going behind her backs, haven't we? She doesn't know how far we've gone, Harry." She wanted to added, though I don't think we've gone that far, at least you haven't done anything worthwhile. "And, Ron, you haven't mentioned any of the girls you've been seeing at night."

Ron looked over at Parvati and rolled his eyes. "You know what, I've also been avoiding her a bit too."

Ginny sighed. "I think she may know what's going on, she's been leaving her dorm more often. She'll return extremely late at night, probably not to be reminded of how everybody else has somebody but her. Apparently she's been going to the library, poor thing."

Harry sunk into his pillows. "You're right Ginny, we should all get together sometime, make it be like old times. How about when we got to Hogsmeade?"

Ginny looked over at him. "But that's in two weeks. I was planning on doing something more...soon?"

Ron nodded. "Well...yeah but I mean in Hogsmeade we could make it all about Mione. Maybe we'll all hang together beforehand to figure it out: see what she wants to do."

"Exactly." Harry pointed at Ron, indicating that his idea was prefect. "You know things have been different without Hermione around, just eating with her is not enough."

Ginny smiled, happy her plan was working. "Yeah, maybe she and I will have a girl's night before we all go to Hogsmeade."

"There, and you can talk about all your guy problems." Ron joked, not knowing how close he had hit the nail on the head.

Ginny couldn't think of anything to say to this when Harry made a new suggestion. "Or you could fix her up with someone."

Ginny nodded. "Yeah...I don't know who but maybe I can feel her out, see what kind of guy she wants."

They all agreed and were happy with their new decision to help their friend.

Hermione glanced over at the clock and then back to Snape, asleep in the chair. She had left him there all night, not knowing where his bed chambers were. She had conjured a cot and slept there, but it was nearly time for breakfast and he still slumbered on the chair, caught in a dream that made a small smile spread over his pale face.

She walked over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders and gently placed her lips on his. Seeing as how it had no effect on him she tried to kiss him in the he had done to her many times. She licked his lips and slowly pried them open. Her tongue brushed over his teeth and wrestled his own tongue quiet fiercely. She knew she had woken him up and tightened her grip on his shoulders. He had began shifting his weight onto her and she was loosing her balance. Soon she felt his hands ride up her shit and begin to cradle her breasts. She stopped what she was doing and glanced over at the clock.

"No." She said. Pushing back and bringing his hands out of her shirt. "No time." He looked over at her, not happy for the morning tease, and got out of bed. "You should have been up earlier." She stated, he grumbled and walked by her, taking his clothes off as he did. He took out his wand and tapped several bricks on the blank wall of his study, a door suddenly appeared and he walked through it to his bed chambers. Hermione followed.

She glanced over the small room and sat down on the soft bed, he had moved to his dresser and was digging through it. He grunted at most of his outfits and she had the feeling he wasn't exactly a morning person. He began to put on his clothes. Hermione glanced over him and saw some bruising on his back. The wounds had been taking care of, she could see, but there was a slight tinge of purple in his pale skin.

"Did you get those from Voldemort last night?" She asked, and indicated the bruises when he wondered what she was asking about.

"Oh, yes." He muttered, he turned to face her, fastening the last button on his robe. She understood instantly that he wanted to drop the subject and she did.

"I was thinking about the trip to Hogsmeade in a few weeks."

He still hadn't woken up yet, having trouble finding his shoes he took his wand and accioed them to himself. "Ah huh?" He said, not wanting to talk much but he showed he was able to listen.

She sighed, not knowing how to say what she'd been thinking about since the last trip to Hogsmeade. "Well, what if we went together?"

He looked up at her and raised an eye brow, "Like...together?"

"Well yeah, we could have a date in the morning and then rent out a room at the Hog's Head or something..." She tried to act like it was a thought that had just come to her and she cared little about his opinion on it. But that could not be furthest from the truth.

He cleared his throat and walked over to her. He sat down on the bed and stared at the book shelf in front of them. "Sounds...good. I just don't want anyone to see us during the day. Perhaps we could just meet at the Hog's Head and..." He looked over at her and slightly smiled. "Proceed from there."

She started thinking about it, "Oh yeah, sure."

There was a slight downcast in her face that Snape had to give her a small hug as he said, "Its not that I don't want to be with you, Hermione."

"I know." She looked over at him and stood. "I'm going to go to breakfast, I'll see you in potions."

She left and walked through his study and classroom. She had known the answer would have been something like that but she still didn't want to hear it. She walked outside in the corridor and began her ascent to the Great Hall. She saw Ginny waiting at the entrance and nodded to her friend, who in turn frantically waved her over.

"What's up Ginny?" She asked, confused at the sudden attention her friend was giving her.

Ginny took her arm and they walked side by side down the Gryffindor table to a seat beside Harry and Ron. "I was just thinking that you and I haven't done much for...a while." Hermione nodded and realized that she missed spending time with Ginny. "So," Ginny continued. "How about you and I have a girl's night? It would be so much fun, catching up, talking, trying some funky new spell...?"

Hermione smiled and remembered the nights she would sleep over at the Weasleys. She had shared a room with Ginny and they had both stayed up night after night doing exactly what Ginny had just described. She remembered the time they used the Bubble Head charm and ended up soaking their room. The next morning Ginny and Hermione could not stop giggling about the water dripping down onto Mister Weasley's toast. Who was so distracted with his ministry work only told his wife that the toast seemed a bit soggy as he rushed out the door for work.

With the memory still in tact Hermione let a smile creep over her lips as she said, "That would be great." And Ginny, feeling as if her invitation has caused the grin, felt overwhelmed with happiness. They sat down at the table and began filling their plates with their breakfast.

Ron and Harry looked over at Hermione and both cleared their throats. They gave each other a look and then looked back at Hermione. Ron made a move with his shoulders that told Harry he had to make the move. "Hermione, what are you doing for our next trip to Hogsmeade?"

"H-hogsmeade?" The word stuck in her throat as he stared at her, waiting for her answer. She noticed Snape had just entered the Great Hall and was walking down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. She knew it was impossible for Harry to know about what she had said to her Professor but the timing was unnerving her. "W-why do you ask?"

He glanced over at Ron who nodded in understanding. "Well, its just that we were thinking about all of us should get together for it, or something. You know, like old times?"

Ginny perked up from beside Hermione. "Old times, perfect!"

Hermione nodded, exasperated that they had not, in fact, learned of her secret plans with the potions master. "Sure sure. Hogsmeade. Together. All of us. Sounds great." Although she could hear the lack of enthusiasm in her voice her friends seemed were oblivious to it; they all smiled and went back to eating the moment she had finished speaking.

She heard someone sweep past behind her and turned her head to see Snape. She bit her lip, wondering how much he had heard. Her heart sunk as she stared at his dark robes billowing after him as he moved up to the Professors' table. While her mind was swarming with questions about him, Snape was trying to do anything but think about her. He had heard that she had made plans with her dunderheads of friends and, though the words had gripped his heart when she had said them, he had quickly realized that he had dismissed her for the day and she should make plans to occupy her it. He had made due with these thoughts the moment they had entered his mind and besides, a more troubling matter was present in its place.

Dumbledore was seated in the center of the table and he glared down through Snape's soul. He knew he was trying to decipher what had happened to him last night but Snape would not let anyone, even himself, see those memories until it was necessary. He made his way up to the table and sat down beside Dumbledore, trying to not make eye contact with him.

"Severus?" his voice was calm but Snape could tell he was rather upset.

"Yes, Headmaster?"

"You did not come see me after your meeting. Is there a reason?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but I had to tend to my wounds." Of course any medical witch would be able to say that his wounds were ones that could be healed in under three minutes, luckily Dumbledore knew little about medical potions. He nodded in understanding but still seemed angered. "Very well. When do you have time to visit me, today?"

"During lunch?" He gave the answer that was the soonest he could manage. Dumbledore agreed to it and began a discussion with Professor McGonagall. Snape looked down at his empty plate and waited for the house elves to present his food to him through their magic. As he waited for the toast and jelly that he anticipated for to come to him, he glanced over to Hermione, who, much like Dumbledore had moments before, was searching him deeply.

He noticed his food had appeared and tried to concentrate on the crusty toast. However, even with his head deep in his plate he could still sense her watching him. He sighed deeply and wondered what was on her mind. He knew the perfect way to see and, without much hesitation, decided to use Occulmens. He had been pondering the use of this magic on Hermione for over a week and knew this was a better time than any to put it to use.

With little concentration he stared at Hermione. She stared at him too and in an instant he slipped into her thoughts. It took him little time to realize what she was so worried about, her voice buzzed in his mind and the questions she was asking were scrolling across his minds eye.

"He couldn't have heard much, right?"

Much? There wasn't much to say. And he's not dumb.

"Dumb? God no." That's one of the reasons you fell for him.

Severus read the thoughts and wondered if she was speaking of himself. He read on and listened for any clues.

"He's looking at me! He's looking at me! He's looking at me!"

"Is he mad?"

We've never been mad at each other before, yesterday's argument was nothing. Oh Severus, I hated being mad at you for the few hours what if this lasts all the way to Hogsmeade!

"What is he thinking?"

Severus had heard enough and decided to put an end to this nonsense. He thought hard about what he wanted to say and once the sentence formed in his mind he sent it over to her.

"I'm thinking my toast is too dry and my tea is getting cold."

He instantly brought his mind back to reality and watched the expression on her face as she stared at him, it wasn't worry or horror, it was shock and curiosity, the look that he loved seeing on her. He could tell, without looking into her thoughts, that she was wondering if it had been him or not so he tactfully picked up his tea. He sipped his tea smoothly and smirked at her over his cup. She opened her mouth in aw and jumped a bit in excitement. Which got all her idiotic friends to look her way and question her actions which she had to reply to quickly.

She turned back to face him, and her eye movement showed him she wanted him to enter her mind again. He complied, intrigued that she was enjoying his simple trick.

When he entered there was a small picture of herself. "Well, have you been practicing the art of Occulmens as well, Hermione?"

"Sort of, but tell me, did you hear everything I was thinking about a moment ago?"

"Yes."

"I was worrying wasn't I? About nothing?" He could sense the hope she felt at the last statement.

"Yes, nothing. Of course you should go with your friends to Hogsmeade, I do apologize, though, for using my Occulmens on you."

"It didn't bother me in the least. I just didn't know how skilled you were, I couldn't even sense you coming in and out." She looked over at him, stern deeply etched on her face. "Have you ever used it before?"

He shook his head. "No, but I have thought about using it, if that makes me guilty in your eyes than I apologize for that as well."

She shook her head. "I don't know, I'm okay with it now because it solved a problem. But I wouldn't want you to do this on a regular basis, it's just not revolutionary to a relationship. It destroys the factor of trust, right?"

"Yes, I agree." As he voiced this to her image he understood it fully. After all he had several thoughts he never wanted Hermione to know of so the same was most likely for her. Hermione smiled at his response and came over to hug him. "I'm gong to head out to potions."

He nodded. "Oh I won't be in my study at lunch time, in case you come looking for me."

She nodded and Snape stepped stealthily out of her mind. He watched her stand and his eye followed her out of the Great Hall.

He made eye contact with Dumbledore, who's light blue eyes gave him a threatening, yet kind stare. One that made Snape certain that he would be seeing Dumbledore later on today, even if it was the last thing he'd do.

Not to sound desperate or anything but some reviews would be nice.