A/N - HI, sorry I didn't update last week, when they told us the gap from GCSE to A-Level was big they weren't kidding. I think I've managed to work out a way to fit in writing and school work but it means shorter chapters with regular up-dates. (not as short as this though. Sorry about that but I only had a few hours!!)

I would appreciate some feed back on my use of direct speech as I'm not that confident about using it. Thank-you all for the reviews I've received. ENJOY!

Chapter seven - the price of innocence

"I'm at peace with it now though and I hope nothing has to change between us."

The atmosphere was beginning to relax as Hermione finished her tale, she had told the same version as she told Harry. Emotions surged through her, everything from relief to sorrow but by some miracle she managed to keep a neutral look on her face.

For five long minuets no-one spoke, Dumbledore looked around the room, making eye contact with everyone as if trying to convey a message with a meaningful look, Hermione realised he probably was.

"Well I for one thing that this should be looked on as an advantage." Remus spoke for the first time, his long drawn face showing the weight of the burden he carried. "this does not have to be a bad thing for us. Hermione had some extraordinary abilities that we can make use of. " Hermione knew that Remus was speaking, in part, of his own experiences. He had also been affected by an event like this when he was barley able to comprehend the word werewolf and he was being classed as a monster. She also knew she had a friend in the man and she had a feeling he knew the darker aspects of her life as he had also been living this double-life for longer than she had been alive.

"I agree, Hermione can assist me in improving relations between the order an the clan. She had done nothing wrong and no-one in this room has the right to make her feel as if she had. She is still part of this order and despite everything that had happened she is still willing to fight in this war." She knew Severus would be on her side, he had told her so, but it still felt great to hear him publicly defend her. To know that the hard faced persona he presented to the world was dropped for her. She didn't know how it happened but as she listened to him address the order she knew; she loved him and it terrified her.

The rest of the order meeting proceeded with reports and plans being formulated. No-one said anything about Hermione but she knew he issue was still there bubbling under the surface. People were hesitant to make eye contact with her. Severus's speech had made sure that everyone kept their opinions to themselves and Hermione was waiting for the meeting to be over to thank him.

Harry was also waiting for the meting to be over; he was the saviour of the wizarding world but that did not mean he had to enjoy the long meetings. He was nineteen years old and he was going to save the world. That was enough to deal with but now he had to deal with all his friendships falling apart. He was still pondering how he was going to deal with Ron and Ginny when he noticed people starting to leave. He looked around for Hermione but couldn't see her anywhere. He yawned and realised that he could do nothing else that night but get into bed and get a good nights rest.

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Hermione was sitting on her bed. She had left the meeting and returned to her room to think. She was worried about her new feelings for a man twice her age. She knew what her mother would say and was not looking forward to introducing Severus to her parents. She sat up with a start, introducing Severus to her parents where had that come from? She wasn't even sure if he wanted to be with her and she was considering their future. That brought on another barrage of questions; Did she have a future? Was she going to survive the war?

She was begging to get hysterical when she heard a knock on the door. As she got off the bed she noticed her hands were shaking, walking slowly over to the door she took a series of deep soothing breaths and heaved open the heavy brown oak door. Revealing a very dishevelled Severus.

He had left the meeting in a flourish of black robes, terrifying everyone he passed. He was ashamed to be part of an order that discriminated against a young innocent girl. He was fuming, his thoughts became disorganised something which for the master legillimens was almost unheard of. He could still see the woman he loved sitting in that chair trying to conceal the emotions that he could feel radiating form her, hiding them from the very people who she should be able to tell anything. Before he knew it an hour had passed, he had been walking for most of that time stalking around the dungeons. The moment he realised how long it had been he became aware of the soreness in his leg muscles and the small beads of sweat he could feel dripping down his back. Immediately he knew that he should not have left her alone as he began to walk towards her door he thought back over what he had been doing and realised: he loved her. The realisation was enough to stop him in his tracks. He knew he cared about her but it was still a big shock to him. He did not love, it was something he did not know what to do. Fretting over it was doing him no good. He knew she would never want a old man like him. He was an ugly old bat with a big nose and greasy hair and she was an amazingly beautiful young woman with the whole world at her feet, he intelligence was un matched even by him. In short she was everything he'd ever wanted and everything he knew he'd never have.

Tears formed in his eyes as her thought of life without her, as he reached her door he tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. Reaching up to knock on her door he noticed that his hands where shaking and as he waited for her to answer he was trying to appear clam and not the shaking mess he was inside.