A/N: Hi to you all, I'm excited to post a new chapter at last! I'm very grateful for all of your support and I hope you continue enjoying this story as much as I like writing it. The usual drill, I'll correct anything that needs correction (I think I'll get a beta after I finish this story, I don't know), everything in your minds about this story whether it's good, bad or neutral please share it.

Please review and enjoy :*

The month of November was coming to an end, winter was rapidly approaching, and everybody could already feel soaked to the skin with the chilly breeze. Everyone except for the Gryffindors. Not only was their common room the warmest of the lot (something debatable with the Hufflepuffs), but their high spirits after winning against Hufflepuff kept them excited enough to forget about the weather. Ginny, Hermione found, was the hardest to beat up in high spirits -and talking. She couldn't be stopped when she started going on about their victory, and if someone didn't shut her up in time, she could go on rambling and rambling until a hex was thrown her way.

"They may laugh at me right now, but when I'm a professional Quidditch player, they'll see who laughs then," Ginny said to Hermione and threw death glares at some seventh year Slytherins passing, who were mocking and imitating Ginny. She was trying very hard not to snap at them, after all, her temper had got the best of her before, and if it weren't for Luna or Hermione, Ginny would already be in detention for hexing at most 5 students.

"Ginny I know you don't mean any serious harm by it, but I really don't want to take points away for hexing other students. At least you haven't done it. By the way, how's Harry handling things?"

"Sorry Hermione, I just can't help myself if someone is being a twat, but I'll try harder" Ginny said sighing, "Oh, and he's doing so much better than I am. I love the way he defends me, and I wouldn't mind if he threw some hexes, but I don't sincerely care about them anymore. I mean -we did win against Hufflepuff, so why shouldn't I be proud? After the third score, I knew we had the game…" Oh no, there she goes again… thought Hermione as Ginny seemed to forget about Hermione's disinterest in the sport. She loved Ginny with her soul, but after the fifth time she re-telled her the game (as if Hermione didn't see it), Hermione didn't have any more space in her brain for Quidditch.

"Hey Ginny, do you know what'll you wear at the ball?" Hermione asked in a desperate attempt to distract Ginny's mind away from Quidditch.

"Oh Godric, thanks for reminding me!" Ginny said stopping her tracks.

"I was talking to Luna about it the other day actually. We agreed on going next weekend to Hogsmeade to look for dresses. She needs to go earlier because she wants to add her personal touch to it. I was going to tell you, but my mind was wrapped in Quidditch." She giggled. Hermione gave her a nervous laugh in response. Uh-oh. She wasn't expecting that answer. One of Hermione's least favourite things was shopping for clothes. But she too needed a dress.

"Sure, I'll go with you. I also need a dress for the matter." She said, glad it at least took Ginny's mind off Quidditch for a while.

"It's set then." She said smiling.

Classes went overly regular except for the load of work they've gotten so far. Even to Hermione, the schoolwork had started to be more substantial than any other year; it was true the homework and difficulty of all their subjects had increased dramatically in comparison when they had to do their O.W.L.s. But she was still the very best in all of her classes, and even with the boring Professor Binns' class, it didn't stop her from putting full attention.

Potions was a different story. It had started, like every other class, innocently. Same strict Professor Snape with his death glare, same way of teaching, and the only differences from past years would be the difficulty and the amount of work in their potions and essays. How wrong Hermione was. Her views regarding Potions did an ugly turn of 360º. It was now not only a class with more difficult potions than years before, but it was also the class where she would see a half-quarter veela, whom its mate was none other than her. Their class encounters were inevitable, and they knew they had to start acting as if nothing was going on if they didn't want further attention towards them.

After their first meeting, Snape hadn't spoken a single word to her. And she didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing. All she knew was the worrisome thought of her enjoying every bit of the sudden, brief yet warm kiss, his lips planted on her fingertip. It was a secret no one, not even the totality of her mind knew. She didn't want to accept it. It's just the magical hormones acting. Just like Amortentia, there are no feelings involved, just magic! She would reassure herself constantly ever since their meeting. It had surprised her, in her Potion's class, how effortlessly Snape looked when he ignored her. As if her presence didn't bother him at all. It surprised her more when he discreetly pressed on her hand the little piece of parchment she knew too well already. It was the date of their next meeting.

Meet me in my potions office after dinner on Thursday. Bring your wand with you.

My wand? Why? Not that I'd go anywhere without it, but why is it required for our next meeting? Hermione tried to look and catch her professor's eye, in the hope he would give any hint of his message, but his sight was nowhere at reach, and he didn't look at her what was left for the class. "Hmph, as if he knew." Hermione hissed under her breath.

Two days after, she found herself lying in the snow outside in the school grounds next to Draco. It was lightly snowing, but the cold could easily sink deep into the flesh of anyone who was unprotected. She thanked their winter coats protected them adequately from the icy weather.

After several attempts at convincing her they wouldn't freeze to death, she complied and fell like a log of wood in the soft, white snow. They were near the lake, in an area adjacent to the forbidden forest. It was somewhat deserted, where they could have peace and talk freely without any curious ears and dynamic mouths.

He gazed Hermione's profile, and he saw her nose had turned a bright shade of red due to the coldness in the air (his would be doubtlessly redder), but her hair seemed to favour it. Varying from gold to dark chestnut, her curls were falling in the form of waves down to her shoulders; not anymore looking like the daughter of a Chow dog and they seemed tangled with the falling snowflakes. The view reminded him so much of the time of their first kiss in Hogsmeade. Gods, it seemed decades ago, but it was hardly two years ago… He saw her smile when a few snowflakes fell into her eyelashes. The sight only makes me re-live the flash of events like it was yesterday. He thought she looked beautiful in the contrast of the snow.

"When are you going to stop ogling at me to get a glimpse at the beautiful view?" She said catching him off-ward, signalling at the black lake, who it's giant squid suddenly emerged few of its tentacles and splashed the water to break the tiny bits of ice there had been formed on the water. The slosh of water reached the lakeside up onto where they were laying, and they felt small droplets of bitter, raw water.

Hermione shrieked, and Draco swore "Bloody Squid!". They almost moved from their spot, but then they saw the tentacles slowly submerging into the lake and stayed. They resumed their peacefulness and Hermione quietly commented. "I've actually never seen the entire Squid. Only it's tentacles." "You haven't? Not even when you were chained in the depths of the lake?" He asked and shrugged at the thought.

She laughed. "Merlin, no! Thankfully I didn't have to; I would've been too terrified to go on with the hostage thing if I did. No, we were charmed, so the moment my head was underwater, I fell asleep until I was out again." She explained.

"Oh well, that seems more logical. You know, you can sometimes see the Squid in the Slytherin common room." She turned to look at him unfazed, and he frowned.

"I thought you would be a little surprised." He said feeling a bit disappointed.

"I would be if I hadn't read it first in Hogwarts a History." She giggled.

"I should've known. I inform you I have read the book too, but it was years ago, and I can't remember all of its detail. Not like others." He said, and she blushed. One thing sure about Hermione Granger, apart from being a bookworm, was her ability to retain most of what she's read.

"Have you seen it? I read you could see it, but only when it swam very close to the windows."

"I believe once or twice in my stay here. It wasn't a nice thing to see mind you; the first time I saw it was in my second year. I was alone in the common room reading, and suddenly, an enormous eye was outside of one of the windows. I screamed, and when a prefect came to see what had happened, I told him it was Crabbe's scream he'd heard, who was just coming into the common room, and I smoothly made my escape." He said, and she laughed. "We were told, if something were to happen in Hogwarts, and the Squid had to intervene, it would favour the Slytherins first. I believe it was an excuse to compensate the coldness and humidity of the dungeons." He said and after some time had passed added. "I could take you some time to the Slytherin common room. We're both head students, so we could make an excuse for patrolling the common rooms. Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll be able to catch a glimpse of it." He grinned.

"Thank you for the offer Draco." She said dispassionately with a close-mouthed smile. She didn't like the thought of going into a room full of Slytherins, and less with the fact she was Muggle-Born, and thankfully Draco had understood her tone,

"Granger, you know half of them are too ashamed to talk to you, and the other half have no option but to ignore you. And you wouldn't think for a second I was reckless enough bringing you when everybody would be inside, did you?" She seemed to relax more at this.

"Then I'll think about it."

They fell silent after a few moments, and Draco resumed his staring at Hermione, who was humming a melody with her eyes closed.

"I thought I told you to enjoy the view." She said with her eyes still closed, smiling.

"But I am enjoying the fascinating view." Draco could almost sense her eyes rolling from under her eyelids.

"If you could be even more cloying, then please do." She said with a half laugh. Was that sarcasm I heard in her voice? Merlin, I adore this witch!

"Deal." He said and before she could say "What?" he was on top of her, pinning her wrists at her sides.

She parted her lips to retort, and his were on top of hers, silencing her complaints. All the coldness in the weather was long lost forgotten with the warmth of their kiss. Teasing her softly at the corners of her mouth, he kissed her mercilessly. Their lips were battling for domination, and with brief but warm nibbles to her lips, he fought with her. She realised he was in for winning, but she didn't want to lose either. Draco finally won, his tongue meeting with hers deepening the kiss, winning a sigh from her. She gasped when with a swift movement of his hand, his cold fingers touched the bare skin from her hip revealed by her sweater.

Touching the hem of her skirt, he traced his lips downward to her neck and his teeth and tongue seemed fascinated by the smooth touch. She moaned as his kisses went even further down to her collarbone. She tried to reach his hair, but he pinned her free hand again to her side.

"Draco…" She sighed as his lips found the back of her ear.

"Yes? What is it?" He whispered in her ear, and his tongue traced her earlobe slightly, feeling her shiver under his touch.

"They… They'll see…" She said weakly, and he softly laughed.

"Granger, there's no one even close to where we are."

With lips fervently snogging, he finally let her hand roam in his hair, and he remembered how exquisite her hand felt against his skin and how he didn't want the feeling to ever end. He unbuttoned the top buttons of her blouse, and his fingers caressed her collarbone and further down, teasing the beginning of her breasts. She moaned in response, and he unbuttoned another button, revealing the hem of her bra. He traced his lips down to the hem and teasing her, he went up to kiss her lips again.

Draco didn't know how much longer their snogging session had lasted, but when droplets of freezing water fell upon then once more, they jumped and abruptly stopped what they were doing. They were panting from the sudden interruption and looked at each other. Hermione was pink from her cheeks, and red from her nose, hair dancing in the wind, and her clothes were all in place for the exception of her blouse, which was unbuttoned up to her chest, revealing a bit of her bra. He couldn't stop himself from looking, and she realised this, for she blushed even more prominently and proceeded to arrange her clothes furiously.

After she had finished arranging her clothes, they both looked at each other and laughed, forgetting all about the coldness.

Hermione walked hand-in-hand with Draco, down an empty corridor soon after they finished breakfast early in the morning. They really didn't mind about the stares of others anymore, but they preferred to make displays of affection when all costs were cleared.

"Do you ever think about fate?" Hermione suddenly asked, and they stopped their tracks.

"Why do you ask? I thought you didn't believe in that." He said resuming their walking.

"I don't. I don't." She said as if reassuring herself. She shook her head. "Anyway, don't you think about the future? Like, what will happen next?" She said, and he looked at her, worry visible in her appearance.

"If you're asking what will happen after school ends, I'll certainly apply to the Ministry in either the Department of Mysteries or the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Whichever comes first. But, I'll first help you find your parents and restore their memories." He said. "Was that what you meant?"

"I... not exactly. I mean -I'm very grateful for your help to find my parents but, I meant more like, who we are and what are we meant to do here, sort of thing."

"Granger, you're going to give yourself a headache if you keep dwelling on those thoughts. I don't mean it's a bad thing, but if it's causing you a lot of troubles, I believe you better stop." He said and kissed her forehead. He felt bad about her, but he didn't exactly want her thoughts to return to a particular wizard. She smiled at him, and he couldn't resist kissing her. Catching her lips in his, he caressed her curls with his hand and pulled her towards him with the other, grasping all of her back with one arm. They lost themselves in their little world until someone yelled Hermione's name.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed running towards them, a piece of parchment raised in his hand. For the second time in a week, they abruptly separated with a jolt, but not before the green eyes watched their lip-lock.

His exclamations died in an instant, and his mouth opening and his eyes widened.

"Harry! I-I er… oh, gods! I'm er…" Hermione stuttered, without making any sense and Draco talked to her.

"Potter, before you think anything, our relationship has nothing to do with you, and it started after she broke up with Weasley. So erase those thoughts away from your mind. Secondly, no, we're not anything official at the moment, but we would like to keep this as quiet as this has been. So we would be very pleased if you kept your mouth shut. Is that clear?" Harry numbly nodded, and Draco smirked.

"See you in class, Granger." He said directing himself at Hermione and purposely planted a fat kiss on her lips before he started walking, ignoring Harry. Once he was out of sight, she looked at Harry with big, terrified eyes and opened her mouth, nothing coming out of it.

"Well, I think I would have liked you to inform me before your friend did." He said with a half grin.

"Harry look, wait-you're not mad?"

"Not really. I mean, I hate Malfoy is an experienced Legilimens, but he's right. I can't but in your relationships, and it did happen after you and Ron broke up, so I'm not pleased, but I'm also not entirely mad about it." Hermione let out air she didn't know she was holding and relief washed all over her.

"Thank Merlin."

"Who else knows?" Harry inquired.

"I would say Zabini, Draco would naturally have already told him, Ginny and Luna." She said with a guilty expression on her face.

"You told Ginny before me?" He said offended she had preferred to tell his girlfriend before him.

"It's not that I wanted to, but she kind of corned me in sixth grade, so I gave in. It's only logical she knows about it now, we sometimes talk about it." Seeing the expression on Harry's face, she added. "But you must understand, Harry, I didn't want our relationship to suffer. I can barely handle with Ron ignoring me, and imagine what would've become of me if you both did." His expression softened a bit.

"I can't argue with that." He said in understanding "Are you planning to tell Ron?" he said after a pause.

"Once we are on a normal talking basis, yes, I'll tell him."

He shook his head, remembering why he was there and told her, "Anyway, Hermione, I wanted you to see this." He said handing her, the piece of parchment in his hand. It was an already opened letter. "You had already left when I received it. The owl carrying it was old, so it arrived after all the mail did."

She looked at the sender and saw the name R.J Lupin scribed on it. She smiled and read the letter the werewolf had sent her best friend.

Harry,

First, I must say I'm still feeling proud you decided to stay at Hogwarts to finish your studies. How are things going around? How are Hermione, Ron and the others? I hope you haven't taken advantage of being one of the oldest and bully first and second graders like your father and Sirius sometimes did.

I can't wait for you to see Teddy, he has grown so much! Although I can't stay with him every day, his grandmother is taking excellent care of him. Mrs Weasley, Bill and Fleur are also helping with as much as they can. I would think Dora would be very proud.

I can only say, things are not going so smoothly for me. Although I'm being paid for it, I'm not an official Auror, and you very well know why. Kingsley is trying to change the law, but not everybody feels safe with a wizard such as me to work at the Ministry. So they're keeping me in a low profile, giving me missions with only those Aurors in the Order.

Speaking of more serious things, Harry, although the war is over for the majority, there are still some pieces left. And some of those pieces aren't so small. It's not entirely safe for Muggle-Borns to go out there on their own; you saw what happened two months ago, so keep Hermione safe the most. As Moody would say "Constant Vigilance!". We haven't caught all of the remaining Death Eaters who are still on the run, although we can be sure it's the minority, the danger has not ceased. It's nothing too worrisome, but it's a fair warning to keep yourselves in awareness.

I'm planning to visit you on your next visit to Hogsmeade; there are a few things I must discuss with Professors McGonagall and Snape. It would also be an opportunity to see you all and see if we can introduce your friends to the Order.

Write me back as soon as you get this.

Remus

"I replied as soon as I got it," Harry said answering the question in Hermione's head before she could say it.

"When did you tell Remus to meet us?"

"Four past thirty, I told him we could meet in Three Broomsticks."

"Oh, I'll tell Draco then. Apparently, I'm going to go ball gowns hunting with Ginny and Luna too." She said with a pained face.

"Then you're not coming…?" Harry said looking at her as if she really thought looking for dresses was more important than a meeting with Remus.

"Gods Harry I am! We plan on going early in the morning! I thought you knew me better. You guess I would like to go dress hunting the whole day?" She said chuckling thinking how could girls really spend that much time in clothing when there were much more exciting things to keep the mind busy with. He then shook his head.

"By the way… who's Ron taking to the ball?" She asked nervously. "We're not entirely friendly yet you see… and I don't want him to get madder at me for going with Draco."

"Erm, I'm not entirely sure, he mentioned something about a 6th year Hufflepuff, but I wouldn't bet my life on that." He said, and she nodded meekly.

Knocking on his office door twice, Hermione felt the palm of her hands sweating. Not a word or any contact of sorts had been passed through the wizards ever since the little note on the parchment, and she couldn't help but feel nervous. Why must I bring my wand? She wished the fears and assumptions that crept down in her consciousness about what it was going to didn't come true.

Not even fifteen seconds had passed when the door of the office opened, revealing the bloodless face of her teacher.

Like the other times, he let her in without a word, and she sat in one of his dining chairs, taking a cup of tea from the tray laying on the table. She looked at the biscuits on the plate, and she guessed he didn't eat those either at breakfast time. House-elves would carry trays of food to the professors whenever they didn't feel like coming to the Great Hall and eat alongside everyone else. She guessed that must've been the case because Hermione had no memory whatsoever of seeing Professor Snape at breakfast or at lunch during her years at Hogwarts ever. She made a mental note about telling McGonagall about the house elves later.

They sat in silence for a few moments, the only sounds were the ones of the clock and the sound of them drinking their tea. She didn't face him, but she could feel his intense stare almost burning her skin. "Why the need for me to bring my wand today sir?" She broke the silence, unnerved by the quietness and the clock ticking.

"If you don't mind Miss Granger, I was hoping to do an experiment of sorts." He said placing his words carefully.

"What type of experiment?" She said slowly, hoping she didn't reveal her fear in her words.

"I haven't taken the potion that will cease some of the veela magic in me, and I wanted to know how far can it go with me still being sane. I don't quite fancy being drugged all day you see, and although the veela blood in my system is enough not to let myself become sick of it, it is rather tiresome to brew the potion every day. And even though I still was the one who brewed it, I can only start to comprehend how Lupin must feel." He said, his eyes never leaving her "Besides that, I also don't fancy the idea of plucking hairs from your head every week." Hermione felt her cheeks go pink. She knew he had been plucking hairs from her every now and then, he had mentioned something about a potion in their last meeting, although she never did realise precisely when did he do that.

"Oh. I… suppose it's going well until now?"

"I am still under the influence of the last brew I drank earlier, I can still feel it in my body, it is a matter of minutes for the full effect to go away." He said bitterly, and until then she realised how far he was sitting from her. He wasn't facing her with his body, and he looked to be searching for a distraction of sorts.

"I needed you to bring your wand in case anything perilous were to happen." He explained. "So all we need is to wait."

Talking to Snape, wasn't all that bad, Hermione thought. She found they had a broad range of things in common. They both had a fascination to read, both were mighty wizards, and although his appearance was almost always sombre, Hermione thought she could see a tiny bit of himself in the dark mask of indifference he always wore.

She began to become aware of the change in his demeanour. He was starting to pause more often when he spoke, and she could see he was getting close to her but not really. It looked as if his body was pulling him towards her, but his face and spirit wanted to be elsewhere. Hermione grasped her wand in her fingers and stared at her professor, nervous at the fact she didn't have a plan. His breathing became shallower, and she could catch a glimpse of his eyes. Bright, metallic, black eyes she saw. The lights in the room began to flicker, and when she saw his fist clenched, she knew it was raw magic of his, desperately trying not to snap.

"I-It's fine. You don't have to do this to yourself." She said raising her hand in his way. "Let me get you the potion! Where is it?" She said standing up, and he weakly signalled her with his arm one of the far end closets in the room. She walked across the room and began looking for anything that looked like a veela potion. She heard him say, "I-It's the blue flask…. In the little box in the second stand..of the shelf." As if he knew she was searching for something with the sign "VEELA POTION" somewhere in his office.

She opened one of the shelves and tried to ignore the smell coming from all the different vases and flasks there where. She finally found the little box he said there was and opened the lid, and indeed, a couple of containers, filled with a blue potion, sat. The liquid was shining, and it gave them the look of being a blue lightbulb. She took one of the flasks, and closed the lid -not before noticing, next to the flasks, a lock of curly hair the same colour as hers, neatly secured in a tiny, emerald green ribbon wrapped with a bow. She tried not to flinch at the sight and closed the lid quickly and went to her teacher to give him the potion.

"Here, take it." She said stepping closer to him and saw he was clasping his knees with both of his hands now. "I-I don't believe suffering is necessary for you." She said getting even closer and extended her arm to him. But instead of grabbing the flask in her hand, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her to him. She gasped, the movement caused her to drop the flask, and it crashed into the floor, breaking into millions of pieces.

He stood up and pinned her to the closest wall, burying his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her scent, and he purred. She was too stunned to do anything and saw she had left her wand at the table. How can you have left your wand, you idiot? She mentally cursed herself.

She felt his hot breath against her skin, and she couldn't help shiver. Is… is he purring?

"Mate… my mate…mine…Hermione." He whispered in her ear, and all of her senses betrayed her, making her all wobbly. Her vision became blurry, she smelled nothing but exhilarating sugariness in the air, her legs stopped working, and if it weren't for Snape holding her, she would have slumped down to the floor. He began tracing her lips with a thumb, and Hermione closed her eyes and tried to shut down everything and everyone surrounding her. She didn't know if she was feeling guilty she was the source of his professor's actions or the fact she was feeling ashamed she liked his touch. It's only magic, no emotions, just hormones acting on themselves, just that…

He lingered his lips on her skin and delicately kissed her jawline as if she would break and he faced her, his obsidian eyes infiltrating and consuming in her brown ones. His nose brushed against hers and she couldn't help let out a gasp, his thumb leaving her lips and grazed her cheek.

She could almost feel her lips touching his, and she didn't know if she liked it or not. Just magic… hormones…. Not his real self….! The moment was just too enticing for Hermione to think properly anymore, and she knew the intoxicating and sickly sweet scent was probably the pheromones. She was losing all sign of putting on a fight, and she knew she was this close from kissing her Potions professor. Just… magic! Hermione forced herself out of the situation and weakly whispered with all her might, "Professor S-Snape…. We can't… Snape…" She said gasping but found she couldn't even hear her words. "Snape, S… Severus!" She said at last, and she saw the sudden retract from her teacher at the sound of his first name. It had given her mere moments before she fell under his spell again. She quickly stepped out from him, took her wand, and walked at the entrance of his office, as far as she could get away from him.

"I-I'm sorry for breaking your flask. I'll make sure I'll get you a new one." She said barely catching her breath and opened his door. "T-Thank you for inviting me tonight." She stuttered quickly and left his office with her cheeks burning, heart racing and her hair messy.

December came as chilly as the last days of November, and daylight was getting shorter. One of the lasts rays of sunlight illuminated the castle as many students left for their visit towards Hogsmeade. Hermione couldn't help but shiver at the thought of not being entirely safe yet outside of the castle.

"Of course we'll be back before the meeting with Remus!" Ginny chanted as they made their way towards Hogsmeade. "It's barely eleven o'clock, and I'm sure we'll be back at four. Besides, the stores are closing earlier, so we don't have much of a choice here."

They got close enough to HoneyDuckes and Hermione realised there weren't much clothing shops for formal dresses around the area. Not any she knew of. And not only that, many shops still remained unopened after they were destroyed in the war or their owners fled the country, making their options smaller still.

"Uhm, Ginny, do you know any clothing shops close? I haven't visited the whole lot of Hogsmeade, but it doesn't look like there are any formal clothing shops around the corner… and Gladrags Wizardwaer doesn't seem like they sell ball gowns." She said trying to make memory if she ever saw one here.

"Of course there aren't! This is a small village! The stores here don't have anything good! No, we're going to Diagon Alley, Luna knows just the place." Ginny said grinning alongside Luna.

"You're kidding! We can't leave Hogsmeade, it's in the rules."

"Ha! As if you haven't broken any! Don't be such a ninny and come here." Ginny said looking at Hermione with a mischievous grin.

They apparated to Diagon Alley to one of the streets Hermione never knew about. It had few pedestrians in it, mostly women, and they reminded Hermione so much of how Mrs Malfoy would dress. They stopped in front of a store named "Fée Recherché" and it looked like its cheapest piece of clothing was worth at least one hundred galleons. She eyed the store sceptically and turned to see the grin on both Ginny and Luna's faces.

"My mum was friends with the owner, she used to come here all time when I was younger and since she died, the owner, Mrs Flinggerspink, told me anytime I would shop here, she would leave it to me almost for free." Luna explained to Hermione, and she understood now why Ginny was so eager to come too."And I know no one knows us around the area, so we're safe here." Luna said smiling, and Hermione felt relieved no one would know they were here, and she wouldn't have to spend all of her remaining galleons on a dress she would probably wear one night.

After countless hours of looking for the "perfect" dress, Ginny and Luna (mostly Ginny) found a dress that would suit Hermione the best. Not that she couldn't make her own choices, but she knew Ginny had a better fashion sense than her. Luna chose a strapless pink gown and said (after they left the store) she would embellish it with golden sequins. Ginny's dress was longer than Luna's, choosing a more gothic style champagne tulle dress with black lace appliques on the top. Hermione's was a pinkish champagne dress, with a high necklace, and sheer back. The dress had many little white lace flowers, and it also ended with tulle. She had claimed they looked more like they were attending a wedding, but after further complaints on Ginny's part, she accepted and bought it.

They kept their dresses in a black material so it wouldn't be seen, and they put them inside of Hermione's charmed handbag and left for Three Broomsticks just in time to meet Remus and the others. Just as they entered, Hermione saw Draco, and he greeted her with a chaste kiss before they found Harry, already sitting down with Ron, Remus and…Professor Snape. Brilliant, just brilliant Hermione thought.

"Ah, Hermione!" Remus greeted her with a warm hug, and she complied. "It's good to see you, Remus." He offered the witches some chairs for them to sit; they were in a secluded, isolated place of the pub so they wouldn't be heard.

"You just missed Minerva, she had to attend some affairs she left in the castle. Oh well, anybody fancies a butterbeer? My treat." Remus said smiling, and all the young wizards present nodded affably. After they all had a butterbeer in hand, and they had some chit-chat concerning the past events in their lives, they discussed some of the matters involving the threats about the remaining Death Eaters.

"You must all be careful. Especially you, Hermione, you're the only Muggle-Born witch among us." He said, and she saw with the corner of her eye Professor Snape visibly stiffening, but thanked nobody else saw it.

Remus gave some details about the Order to Ginny, Luna and Draco but wasn't specific because they weren't part of it yet. "We'll probably introduce you somewhere around the holidays, to have a chance of meeting everyone else." He then told them, he needed a quick word with the ones who already were, and they left to a near table, for the exception of Draco, who whispered so only she could hear him "I'll wait for you in one of the benches outside, if I'm not there, I'll be in Tomes and Scrolls."

"We need to have constant patrolling here in Hogsmeade," Snape said after his dead silence since Hermione arrived. She could feel his stare straight at her, but she ignored it. She decided to look down at her almost empty jar of butterbeer instead.

"Severus, we're doing everything we can to do that. But you must understand, the Auror office is packed with work. Even I, who am not an official Auror, have a lot of work lately. But as long as it is daylight and students are together, I don't believe there is a reason for an attack." Snape sneered at him, but Hermione could detect there was more to it than just a reluctant agreement. "Besides, I don't believe there is an urgency concerning protection here in Hogsmeade. Many Muggle-Born students didn't come back this year because their parents are still afraid of their security after what happened. And I don't blame them. But as long as they're in groups, they're safe here. In fact, not many students came back at all." Remus said, taking a long gulp from his butterbeer with gin and placed his now-empty jar back on the table.

It looked like Snape wanted to say more, but decided against it. Although what Remus noted made Hermione think. It was true, although still packed with students, the school was far emptier than any of her previous years in it. And not only because of the absence in Muggle-Borns, but Wizarding families that had gone into hiding or preferred their kids to go study abroad as well. She thought that was probably the reason there was enough room for all of the eighth graders in the dorms.

The endless black eyes staring at her made her remember their last meeting, which ended quite abruptly, and also incidentally, where they almost kissed. Hermione squirmed slightly in her chair at the thought, remembering she hadn't felt uncomfortable with it and how, deep in herself, she didn't want it to end. Stop! Just S-T-O-P! Magic! Remember, it's all the product of magic! She looked up, and his eyes didn't leave her for a second. She blushed deeply and prayed no one noticed it, Remus was scribbling furiously on a parchment he told them he needed to send, Ron had gone up and asked for another butterbeer and Hermione's eyes landed momentarily on Harry. She saw he had looked at his professor and back at her, curiosity and something else on his face. Shite! She quickly glanced at the window, with renewed interest, avoiding both wizards until the end of their meeting.

After their meeting with Remus, Snape reminded them they must return before dinner and left quickly, leaving behind the others. Hermione also left the pub quickly, and desperately looked for Draco (who was probably now in Tomes and Scrolls), or for anything she could escape to, and then heard the voice of Harry calling her before she could be out of eyesight.

"Hey, Hermione! May I have a word with you?"

Oh Merlin, please let it be just Harry asking for something about homework or else...!

A/N: Hope to see you next week!