A/N: I think this is the fastest upload I have ever had! I've done nothing but write these days. My inspiration goes hand in hand with the song "Veridis Quo" from Daft Punk :'). So if you have heard it, imagine more than 20 hours of it (yeah, that's how I write). Thank you for the reviews and the support and as always, corrections I'll do them in the next days. And if you want to say anything, please do! :)

Q&A: ashfire1324: Thank you for the review! And none was taken! Yes, I perfectly know Snape is from the generation of James and Lily, and I also know he is almost 39 and Hermione just turned 19. Buuut! Yes, she is quite young, but it is possible for Veelas to have mates generations younger, or older. As this is the younger case, the Veela won't know who their mate is until the mate turns seventeen (it's the other way around with the older case). So, even though if he hadn't worn his pendant like EVER he still wouldn't know Hermione was his mate until she turned 17. Hope that answered your doubt! ;)

Jordi. Storey : Thanks for the review! And I think he probably will. I'm still not quite sure when, but it'll definitely happen after Harry and Ginny know. ;)

P.S.: Please continue reading, review and enjoy! :*

Hermione sure loved Transfiguration. It was her second favourite class after Arithmancy. Of course, Charms was also there, and she liked the subject of Charms more than Transfiguration, but she enjoyed McGonagall's class better. But nevertheless, Transfiguration wasn't a piece of cake. Yes, she was the best of her class, but McGonagall made sure no one forgets that even though the war was over, school wasn't. While the classroom, Professor McGonagall seemed a tad more relaxed and less strict, but nevertheless, the homework she gave was worse than in past years.

"Voldemort was defeated 6 months ago, and you need to present you N.E.W.T.s in almost the same amount of time." She would say to the class as if it were a backup excuse for the quantity of homework she was giving.

But the one thing Hermione wasn't sure about Transfiguration was the Animagui form. It would have thrilled her the fact that she could become an animal whenever she wanted but -if her Patronus was an otter, she couldn't imagine an otter usually walking on the streets of Diagon Alley. Not happening. Although being an Animagus won't be a complete waste of time if my Animagi form is not an otter. Maybe after finishing school, I'll think about it. She thought while McGonagall entered the class in her cat form.

"Today we'll be practising our human transfiguration incantation. I know some of you have mastered it quite well," she said looking with a knowing smile towards Hermione ", but it is required for your final examinations. So we must practise. And I hope everyone here has gotten a good night sleep." They got in pairs, Hermione stayed with Harry, and they had to transfigure their partner 7 times, into different animals and persons.

"This type of magic may leave you magically exhausted and drained for days, I know, but I made sure to tell your teachers not to pressure you too much for the rest of the week. I don't want any student in the hospital wing not being able to even transfigure a match into a needle at the cause of drain of magic."

"Not making us dance anymore now, is she?" Harry teased her with a smile playing on his lips and Hermione rolled her eyes at him. Ever since the little "scene" Draco and Ron did back in September, McGonagall told them if they wanted to practise their dancing skills, they could do it in their free time. She'd practically told them to piss off.

Harry tried to transfigure Hermione to a different person (it was harder than into an animal) 4 times, but he just couldn't. He had spent the night before goofing around with Ron, trying to see who charmed the entire Gryffindor common room with more colours (something they did until three in the morning). And it didn't help him much today. So after 3 successful human transfigurations and 3 animal ones, Harry felt the magic leaving him, and he had to take a seat, almost falling off the chair.

"Harry, how irresponsible can you be? You're eighteen! Besides, Professor McGonagall warned us, last class, not to do anything too magically exhausting before this lesson! You idiot!" Hermione said disapprovingly, thinking which form she would use first.

"Potter, just what did you do yesterday? Mr Weasley is the same as you -if not worse!" McGonagall said approaching them, and they looked over to Ron, who decided he didn't care at all and fell asleep on the desk. It left an exasperated Luna no choice, but to Transfigure him, while he was asleep. "Pray you won't have to use magic in your next class if not, I'm afraid you'll be spending the night at the hospital wing."

After the class was almost finished, she told the students to wait a little more because she had an announcement to make. She decided to dismiss Harry and Ron from all of their classes before Harry passed out on the floor, while Ron was already asleep on his desk, and sent them to rest for what was left of the day. It left Hermione and Luna to be paired up until the end of the lesson.

"Before you go, I wanted to remind you of the ball we'll have the nineteenth of December to celebrate not only the end of the war but the holidays too. I hope everyone enjoys it, and I also hope everyone has a partner. The only difference from the Yule Ball is that this time, students from all years will be able to attend. The ball will finish at midnight for the first, second and third graders. And for the rest, it will finish… until 2 past thirty in the morning." She said the last part with a hard face, and some students cheered while some girls giggled. "Nevertheless, even though this time the only students attending will be from Hogwarts, we still hope your behaviour remains respectfully and decorously throughout the ball."

"I suppose you're going with Draco, aren't you?" Luna said innocently when everybody was grabbing their things before leaving the class.

"I don't know… I guess so." Hermione said blushing a little with a small smile.

"Unless your tastes lie with someone older…" She said looking up at her with her big, baby blue eyes. Hermione went red and looked at her with shaken eyes.

"W-why would you say that?" She said accidentally dropping her stuff on the floor. She bent over the ground to pick them up, Luna helping her.

"Luna, what exactly do you know?" She whispered at her, yearning to know the witch's answer.

"Hermione, first, you must know that my intentions are never to hurt, but quite the opposite. All the knowledge I possess is to be kept to myself until I see the opportunity to help. You're one of my best friends and the least I would do is hurt you." She said with a smile, and Hermione felt relief Luna wasn't going to spill it over the entire school. But still looked at her anxiously, waiting to hear how she found out.

"No one told me anything if that is what you want to know. I realised it by myself." Her smile grew wider as well as Hermione's eyes.

"How?" She said after they stood up and walked together out of the classroom.

"I like to perceive the things no one cares about. The little details that remain hidden under the neglect of others." She said tucking a long, platinum blonde lock of hair behind her ear making her greenish gold, leaf-shaped, earring to dance.

"Ever since you mentioned your secret admirer with Ginny, I had doubts about him. It was your birthday poem that gave him away. You see, back in my fifth year, I found one of the secret hiding places of Peeves. Much like a magpie, Peeves has a little nest with his "trophies" he's collected from over the years. Petty things like caps, earrings, socks, ties, glasses and even some lipstick. But the thing catching my attention was a piece of old parchment. It was a small poem, written in the year 1983 I think. But at the bottom of the wrinkled paper, it had the initials S.S... It could've been anyone, but after reading your birthday card, the style of writing was the same. And since Professor Snape began teaching in the year 1981, I guessed there really couldn't be anyone else. And well, it was a matter of time, I started paying closer attention to both of you. And judging by his sudden absence for days and his behaviour towards you, I also guessed he was a veela, you being his mate. You may not know but, I also know quite a bit about them."

Hermione had plates instead of eyes, blooming roses instead of cheeks, and her mouth was dry from being open too much time, gaping at Luna. "I..I…" She said but couldn't formulate more. Luna chuckled. "What I also found out, is that he probably is either half or one-quarter veela. If he had more veela blood in his system, Draco and Ron would've been probably dead by now, or with a permanent injury." Luna meant to go on, but the terrified look on Hermione's face told her otherwise.

"Sorry if any of what I said caused you considerable discomfort." She said with a small frown.

"No, it's fine," Hermione said swallowing hard and licking her dry lips. "I already had my suspicions as well about him not being a full-blooded veela. But I know even though he has less blood, he has to take a potion of some sort to fully suppress his veela magic." She finished, walking at the side of the petite witch along the corridors.

"Luna," Hermione said after some time, stopping her tracks and looking dead in the eye at the blond witch.

"Please don't give this information to anybody else." She said grabbing her shoulders. "And Draco already knows." She added. "I suspected as much. And like I told you, all the information I have won't be used to potentially hurt anyone, even less one of my friends."

"Thank you, Luna. By the way, do you know who are you going to the dance?" She said trying to change the topic.

"I still have no partner, but I have a strong feeling Blaise Zabini will ask me. He has hinted it a few times over the past weeks."

"Zabini?" Hermione asked with surprise, "I thought you had something going on with Neville. He sure does fancy you. Thought you might invite him to the dance."

"Oh yes, he is most certain to attend. Neville is one of my dearest friends, but I haven't found myself with a proper reason to fancy him. And these past weeks getting to know Blaise have been great and refreshing. So I can say I have no real attachments to anyone at the moment."

"Oh, I see…"

"Granger!" Both witches turned and saw Draco Malfoy jogging towards them.

"I think I will leave now," Luna said smiling and skipped away before Hermione said anything.

"Granger," Draco slightly panted stopping next to Hermione "may I walk you to your next class?" He said surprisingly politely.

"Don't you have any classes to attend?" She said arching an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I only had 7 O.W.L.s worth passing into N.E.W.T.s as you very well know that," Truth was, Draco had only applied to do 7 O.W.L.s. Many classes bored him (much like Care of Magical Creatures or Divination), thus he only enrolled to those he found worth studying. Excelling in every one of them, of course.

"therefore giving I only have 7 courses, that leaves me with an extra space of free time… which is right now. So if you please." He said grabbing her books and starting to walk. "Oh yes," He said turning to her, stopping his tracks "Which class do you have next?" "

Ancient Runes." She smiled at him.

Draco could say he was a tad (a lot) nervous about the possibility of Hermione leaving him for the veela. He also very well knew, she wasn't the type to just let die someone else if it could be avoided. Why must veelas fucking die of a heartbreak? But he was just a tad nervous, he would reassure himself, so he made sure to spend and care for every single moment he had with Hermione.

He paid more attention to her, was more affectionate to her, and also followed the etiquette books his mother had given to him. They specified how to treat your witch appropriately and how to be a real gentleman with her. In the past, he only read the first chapters of them -How to properly court a witch, and never bothered to look past that part.

But nevertheless, he was anxious enough to actually ask for reassurance from Hermione to go together to the ball.

"Granger, even though we haven't actually spoken about it, we are going together to the dance aren't we?" He said the next day, in the almost-empty library.

"Some insecurity I noted in your voice, Malfoy?" She said teasingly, looking up from her book.

"Pfft, how could you even say that? No, I'm just making sure you don't suddenly go running off to someone else's arms."

"And why on Earth would I do that?" She said arching her eyebrow at him, closing her book.

"I don't know… maybe because your judgement towards certain wizards has changed over the past weeks?" He asked trying to sound innocent, looking at the nearest bookshelf with a newfound interest.

"What exactly are you pointing at Draco Malfoy?" She snapped, and he looked at her with uncertainty in his eyes.

"I surely do hope it's not what I believe it is because if that is the case, you can go by yourself to the dance!" She hissed so that nobody else could hear them. She had a reddish colour on her cheeks, and Draco could almost swear he saw steam come out of her ears.

"I'm sorry." He said after she decided to resume her reading as if nothing had happened. She looked up at him but didn't close her book.

"I know that even if in a parallel universe you decided you indeed wanted to go with him it would be impossible." This time, she decided to take a full look at him, and she closed her book again."I know I have been jumpy with the topic of… my godfather." He said and with the last word he had never felt more nauseated in his entire life.

"But Granger, you must understand I have never felt this way before. This… romantic feelings I have developed towards you are quite new, and I honestly don't know what will happen if I ever lose you." And then he lowered his voice "I never thought I would say this out loud but… I think I'm scared." Hermione could see a faint rosy colour painting his pale cheeks. I was hoping this wasn't necessary, but I just cannot lose Granger. If I have to be completely honest with her, so beat it.

To his surprise, he heard her soft, quiet laughter after he said his piece. She looked up to him, and not only saw the faint colour on his cheeks becoming more prominent but a confused look too.

"I'm not laughing at you, nor mocking you in any way if that is what you're wondering." She clarified.

"I'm just… glad you care. It just makes me happy to see it. I know you're not a person who reveals his emotions often. But it only makes it more special to know this must be critical if you do. Sorry if it sounds selfish of me to say this, but this is the first time someone acts like this for me, and I don't know, I feel special." She said, and it took all of his might and the piercing look on Mdme Pince, to stop lunging across the small table and snog her until her lips were bruised.

"You know Granger, you're lucky we're in the library; otherwise I would've snogged you senseless until you passed out." He said, and she thanked no one heard that because she went scarlet. "So this means you'll honour me with your presence as my dance partner?" He continued, and she smiled.

"You shouldn't have doubted in the first place! Of course, I will go with you Draco." She said giving him a small kiss.

After finishing homework, Hermione told him she would go and meet Ginny in the Gryffindor common room, so they parted different ways.

He decided to meet Blaise in the Slytherin common room. He didn't exactly get along with many Slytherins now for two reason: Many of them despised him for being involved with Voldemort, but many still admired him for being who he was. He never really cared for neither but was a little bit sad most of his close friends weren't with him. Mainly because half of his friends were either hiding or dead. It surprised him he missed Goyle, but the only way to contact him now was only by owl.

After Goyle's father was imprisoned in Azkaban, before he could be questioned, his mother fled with him out of the country. He told Draco his mother advised him it was best if he wasn't visited, and he would be finishing his studies in Durmstrang, most probably never to return to the UK. Crabbe... well he was dead. Not that Draco minded much about him.

Theo, although he and Draco weren't the best of friends, they had maintained an amicable and respectful relationship over the years. The time where Draco knew Theo had outsmarted him was when he stayed entirely out of the Death Eaters business. He later knew, by Blaise, Theo had family living in Sweden and went to live with them since his father had died in the war as a Death Eater. Theo left Hogwarts mere weeks before the war erupted, and he was one of the few students who finished school in time, by doing his N.E.W.T.s. externally. Theo had sent Draco an owl, telling him he had taken an apprenticeship to become a potions master, and he was currently working in the Ministry of Sweden. He also told him he planned to return to the UK, but it could take him years.

And Pansy, well… that was another story. Draco's relationship with Pansy had been great for his first 5 years at Hogwarts, but she gave him the cold shoulder in their sixth grade. It had been when he decided to entirely stop the advances she was giving him to go after Granger. He and Pansy had kissed, snogged, and.. other stuff in the past, but never actually saw the prospects of more than friendship. Being Slytherins, they only saw what was in it for both of them, and it worked just fine. But she was upset Draco preferred a Mudblood over her, as she had told him.

They resumed their friendship after Draco strained his with Hermione not long after the winter break in their sixth year. But he never let Pansy insult her ever again, and he made it very clear their relationship was to be kept platonic permanently. He told Pansy too, he had all the intentions of resuming his friendship with Hermione if she would let him in the future. And as much as Pansy didn't like it, Draco had been her friend ever since they were nine, so she reluctantly accepted.

They both cared for each other, and Draco found himself also missing her company up to an extent. She had too gone out of the country, but for different reasons. He received an owl from her not too long ago, telling him she was now living happily in the city of Strasbourg, France, working as a journalist for a witch-fashion magazine. She also told him she was in a happy relationship with a German, head of a department in the French ministry, wizard.

"We may have little more than 6 months of relationship, but he says he loves me. He's rich, he's a pureblood, and he makes me happy. It depends on his work though, we might go and live for a year to Japan. If there's going to be a wedding, I'll make sure to invite you. You can even bring… your Mud Muggle-Born girlfriend with you if you want."

Part of the letter had said. Draco saw the parchment had the word Mud scratched beside the word Muggle-Born. Well, she sounds a tad less elitist. That's good he'd thought. He had never seen Pansy as the marriage type, but as ambitious as the girl was, she would do it if it meant reputation, power and money. His family wasn't the only one left on the brink of social diminishment after the war. His mother was doing whatever she could to remain almost untouched on the social ladder, so he guessed Pansy was doing something of the sort.

He found Blaise walking near to him with a visible, goofy smile on his face, and Draco approached him with a bemused expression.

"You might get confused for a Hufflepuff if you keep that smile of yours. We Slytherins don't make such a fool of ourselves with those smiles." He teased Blaise, walking by his side.

"I'm just happy mate. I believe I have enough courage now to finally make Lovegood my bird." Blaise said with dreamy eyes.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Well, let's just say I finally made her blush. You might think making a bird blush is a silly thing, but you don't know how hard it was for me to accomplish it. Making her smile sure is easy, but getting a reaction like that from her is more difficult than when we learned how to apparate."

Draco only chuckled at him. "You sure have gone bonkers for her. I'm afraid some of her madness is rubbing on you. I might as well start calling you Batty Zabini or something of the sort." Draco said putting his hand on Blaise's forehead as if to look for fever.

"So original with your jokes," Blaise said sarcastically, slapping away Draco's hand.

"Anyway, I can't believe I even dared to mock her before! I can now believe why she's in Ravenclaw, she's brilliant. Not as much as your bird of course, but she has more brains than most of the girls I ever fancied."

"Well, I guess I can't really judge you. Your tastes have always been rather odd. Not to mention the she-weasel you used to fancy in our sixth grade. Filthy blood traitor," Draco said mocking Blaise "yeah right. You practically drooled every time you saw her play Quidditch!"

"I… I barely fancied her if that's what you mean! And it doesn't mean I am still drooling whenever I see her, not like others, regarding a bushy haired witch." Draco opened his mouth to say something but closed it. "Yes, Ginny Weasley is a gorgeous bird, but my point here is, what I have found in Luna is not only appearances but also brains. And as picky and arrogant I am with girls, I don't think I'll find a better one than Luna. And you can't judge me Draco Malfoy," he said raising a finger at him "because your more-than-a-fling with Granger maybe be criticised for other reasons, but your relationship with her is still as odd as mine like you say."

"Fine. You win." He said raising his arms as in defeat "I won't make fun again of your witch if you don't do it with mine. Not that either of them is ours..." He muttered the last part looking down.

"I thought you were already in a relationship with her," Blaise said. "You sure act like a couple already. Anybody would be blind to think you're "just friends"."

"Yeah well, it's complicated. It's not that either of us is afraid of the title or that we don't want to be together, but it's deeper than that. Maybe in the future, I'll be able to explain." He said, and Blaise understood. They might be best friends, but they knew there were some things meant to be kept within themselves.

"By the way, speaking of which, why aren't you already in a relationship with Lovegood? Or why is it I saw you like if you've been hit with an Imperio? It's been weeks, and all I see and hear is you talking about her."

"No, we're not dating, yet. But I asked her to the dance and after she thankfully said yes, I stole a kiss from her and well… you could say things are going great." He said looking pleased with his triumph, a big grin plastered on his face.

I hope it was that easy for me Draco gloomily thought, wishing he and Hermione switched places with Blaise and Luna.

The first meeting Hermione had with Severus didn't happen until mid-November. Like the first time he asked her to meet her in his Potions office, he repeated the process, passing a letter discreetly into her hand telling her when to meet.

He made sure to arrange all of his affairs as a Headmaster as well as a teacher to make sure nobody would interrupt them. He knew he could scare away easily enough persistent students with doubts about their homework, but he wasn't so sure he would be able to explain if Minerva suddenly came in and saw her favourite student sitting, drinking tea with him. He made sure he was prepared with some excuses, just in case.

Just as eager his veela side was to meet with his mate, his rational, human side, was eager to throw up. Either way, both his veela and human side or whatever they were, were equally nervous for the meeting. What am I to say when she arrives? Should a cup of tea be enough for the evening? What are we even going to talk about? He decided it was too late to freak out and to back away. Maybe I'll offer a cup of tea politely, and then I can tell her off, and to leave me to die in peace. He mentally fought with himself for minutes until a knock on his door interrupted him.

Before opening the door, he reassured himself he had taken the new veela potion he'd made (it was working remarkably well) and taking a deep breath, he proceeded to open the door.

He looked sideways to see if there was no soul in the corridors before focusing his eyes on the witch in front of him. Severus wasn't precisely the tallest of all men, but he was a great deal taller than many of his peers, and the witch standing in front of him looked rather short besides him.

She was wearing her school robes, being it was a Thursday, and her hair was mildly tamed in a knot that let a few curls fall wildly to her sides. She too wasn't wearing any makeup, and the only colour she had on her face was her natural, strawberry lips. Lovely colour he mentally commented, but could not figure out which part of him was the one who thought about it. He also didn't know if he cared. Her big, brown eyes looked up at him expectantly, and he said: "Come in." And re-entered his office without looking back. He heard the door closing, meaning they were safe from prying eyes and he was able to relax just a little.

"Care for some tea, Miss Granger?" He said like the last time they were alone in his office.

"If you're so kind, thank you." She said shyly, and he gestured for her to take a seat in his old dark wooden chairs draped with dark purple velvet.

He poured 2 teacups with some of his stored Oolong tea he had and carried a tray with some biscuits he hadn't cared to eat at breakfast. After some silent minutes of only hearing the tea drinking, he saw the discomfort on her face. She probably doesn't know what to talk about too, but to his surprise, she was the first one to break the cold silence.

"I never really thanked you for the poem you wrote for me in my birthday." She said just as shyly as when she thanked him for the tea. He was taken aback It is rather apparent the culprit from the poem was none other than me, but why bring it up?

"Why so sure it was me the one who wrote it?" he said even though he knew she knew it had been him. Truth to be told, Severus was always keen not only on potions but also in literature. One of his deepest secrets was a little, personal thing he allowed himself; he liked to read both Muggle and Wizard's literature. Because he thought most of them were like his father had been, he hated Muggles alright, but he recognised there were few, who had the brilliance to write more than decently. He used to write poems and short stories in his younger years, to later either burn them or keep them in one of his old books. It was one of the few things he liked to do to entertain himself.

"I couldn't say I'm one hundred per cent sure, but I wouldn't consider myself an eye candy for everyone to write me a poem like that. Besides, you look like the kind of person who likes to write." Hermione said, lowering her voice with the last part. What did she know? He narrowed his eyes at her, but she quickly added,

"Not only that, I figured out by the initials written in it, S.V.S... At first, I wasn't sure who had sent it, but when I found out you were a veela, I deducted the initials were for Severus Veela Snape. So if my theory is correct, then it was you who sent it." She said with a little more volume in her voice. Her mind is just as brilliant as I last remember, I'll give he points for that. This meeting might not be a complete waste of time.

"Very well. Indeed, you are correct about your theory Miss Granger. Though I must say, I wasn't in my five senses when I wrote that, so don't mind asking me further questions about it." He said with a final tone, and she merely nodded.

"Still, it was very nicely written. Thank you." She said with a trembling voice fearing she would enrage him. But he decided to ignore it.

"I presume you're not having problems with your courses so far? I would only think, a witch like you knows even more than what is asked in the N.E.W.T.s" He said without thinking. The statement had come out with a mixture of his rational and veela self. She only looked down, trying to avoid his stare, her cheeks going scarlet.

"I-I haven't had any inconvenience with any subjects. I have found I already know how to do everything that has been asked so far."

"Then I presume you'll be at the top of everybody in your examinations?" He said with the slightest sneer he could give. Is he trying to make a conversation with me? She thought but quickly snapped out of it and nodded.

"I would certainly like to. My wish is to work at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. I really despise how house elves are treated; like if they were objects! If I got to work in that department, there would certainly be some changes. Elf wages and holidays for example." She stated, and Severus thought she had genuine passion for the topic. She laughed nervously at the strange look he gave her,

"I'm sorry if I bored you with this topic, but I really do wish to see some equality with how magical creatures like elves are treated in the future, that's all." She said and looked at the floor, her cheeks red.

"Don't misunderstand me, I was just wondering when was the last time I saw someone like you. Willingly to give money for the work of an elf. I have never heard of such a wizard. You must have real courage to want to work there and actually make a difference." She blushed at his words, but Severus saw something he thought he wouldn't see it happen. Her smile. She had smiled at something he had said! That little twitch on her lips, showing her white teeth were enough for Severus' heart to give a summersault. He didn't know nor cared which part of him it was, but he decided he didn't want to stop that tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach.

They talked and talked, discussing the many wonders of potions, some spells Severus remembered were taught in his youth and even some anecdotes. Hermione laughed once, and Severus thought it was a strangely charming thing. After the fourth cup of tea, wanting to put her cup back on the table, her hand slipped, and the cup fell to the floor, shattering into pieces.

"Oh, gods! I'm so sorry, I'll clean it up." She said bending over the floor picking up the pieces the Muggle way.

"Don't pick it up with-" he started when an "Ouch!" interrupted him "your bare hands." He finished bitterly. He got up to get a cloth, but before he could stop himself, he saw red droplets falling from her ivory fingertip. As if his body began managing itself with an empowering feeling of protection, he also bent over and took her hand in his. Their faces were so close he could smell her perfume, and saw her knot had come loose and her curls were sprawled everywhere. It was a very empowering smell, being so close to her, even with his potion. His vision became blurry and could barely see her hands.

She was trying to wipe the blood off with her robes using her free hand. "I'm all right." He heard her say, her voice far, far away. Before he could stop himself in any way, he did the most unthinkable thing. He kissed her fingertip. A peck, merely a kiss on her fingertip. And in that brief second, he tasted her skin and blood, and he felt his mouth watering. Just as fast as he kissed her finger, he remembered where they stood and retracted with the same speed.

"I-I… I'm sorry." He managed to say, appalled by his actions.

"I… it's not bleeding anymore." She said with a shocked expression on her face, and he looked at her in disbelief. He looked up at the clock and saw their little meeting had lasted an hour.

"Miss Granger, as much as I regret my actions, I advise you to leave. It's almost past curfew, and you must return to your dorm. Don't worry about the cup, I'll clean it myself." He said, with his body stiff and with all the politeness in the world.

"Y-yes P-professor." She stammered and proceeded to leave the room, also very stiffly. She stopped at the doorway to give him a last glance and said, "Thank you for tonight, I look forward to the next time." with a little smile and disappeared into the darkness.

The first Quidditch match of the season started the same day it snowed. It wasn't the fluffy, white snow you would see in children's books, no, the weather of the match was more like rain combined with greyish snow.

Ginny's mood was quite the opposite from the weather. She was the only one in her team with the highest spirits, but she was also the most nervous of the team. It was her first game as the team captain, and every one had already told her they counted on her. She felt a little pressured, but assured the others it helped to concentrate on the game.

"I heard from McGonagall that it is possible for Gwenon Jones from the Holyhead Harpies to be present in the finals for the Cup. If we play really well this season, I may even become one!" Hermione remembered Ginny excitedly telling her the afternoon before the game.

The Quidditch pitch was packed, not only because there were students who were repeating a year, but as it was the first match played since last year, every single wizard residing in Hogwarts was present even though it was a Hufflepuff-Gryffindor game.

Hermione had managed to bring Draco to sit by her side, but with the condition she didn't try to charm his scarf with the Gryffindor colours.

Seamus offered to be the commentator for the match, and although he wasn't as funny as Lee Jordan had been, he still managed to crack the audience with a few jokes.

Draco was sitting at the left of Hermione while Harry was at her right. He wasn't exactly next to her because Ron and Hermione still weren't precisely on speaking terms yet, so he sat a little bit further from them.

The game started, and every single one of them -minus Draco, were cheering for Gryffindor. Harry's cheerings towards Ginny were above the rest of his peers, and when Gryffindor scored the first 10 points, the stadium roared with a new cheer.

Hermione's eyes had been set for Ginny, but her eyes unconsciously passed through the stands were the professors sat. Quickly scanning with her eyes the school staff stand, she saw a pair of black, piercing eyes looking straight at her, not minding the match at all. She couldn't help but remember days before when her professor had kissed her fingertip. At his touch, it had healed immediately, and Hermione refused to accept it had sent her a wave of not only comfort but pleasantness as well. She looked up and saw the obsidian eyes were still looking at her, and they looked straight into her brown ones.

Hermione sighed as she realised, for the first time, she couldn't entirely take her eyes off the intense gaze.

A/N: THank you for reading and hope to see you next week!