A/N: Well, here it is...Chapter 11! Once again, I appreciate all of your reviews!

After having spent a blissful two weeks with Severus, Hermione was loath to have her things moved back to her Gryffindor dormitory. The last thing she wanted to do was end the constant togetherness that they had had during their holidays, but there was no other option. "I'll be back this Friday, I promise," she said to him, embracing him tightly as she watched a house elf Disapparate with her trunk.

"That seems ages away, Hermione," he replied, his arms already aching at the thought that he would have to wait an entire week to hold her again.

"Just remember that in a few months' time, we will be married and we won't have to be separated like this anymore," Hermione said, though the thought wasn't comforting her in the least.

She was sitting in the Gryffindor common room when Harry and Ron arrived with the rest of the Gryffindors that afternoon. "Did you have a good holiday, boys," she asked, not looking up from the book that Severus had given her as a second Christmas gift. As she felt the charm beneath her shirt grow warmer than usual, she wondered if Severus was reading the large potions book she had given him for Christmas.

"It was really nice to get away from the school," Harry replied, jolting Hermione from her reverie. "You really should have come with us."

"Yeah, Hermione, we had a great time! I wish you would have been there. Ginny and mum got into it over the state of Harry's hair, of all things." Ron laughed through a mouthful of candy, clearly enjoying himself. "Mum told her that she didn't know enough about Harry to know that long hair fit him well, as if personality had anything to do with how people look. Little did mum know, Harry and Ginny spent the entire holidays snogging behind anything that was big enough to hide them."

Harry ran a hand through his hair, muttering, "my hair's not even that long," as he blushed deepest red.

"That's wonderful, boys. I'm glad you had a good time," Hermione said distractedly, turning a page of her book and continuing to read. She was in absolutely no mood to listen to their stories of life at the Burrow during the holidays. Her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the coming weekend, hoping that it would arrive quickly.

"Hermione, why don't you join the living for a change," Harry said, waving a hand in front of her eyes. "You can read when classes start back." He snatched the book from her and read the title from the leather cover. "Theory of Potion Creation? Hermione, didn't you just spend an entire two weeks working on school work? Why not give it a rest?"

"Because this isn't schoolwork," she replied, taking her book back from him and finding her page again. "Ever heard of reading purely for entertainment?"

"Hardly seems entertaining," Ron said as he opened a chocolate frog and stuffed it in his mouth.

Hermione bristled suddenly, standing up quickly from the chair she had been occupying and turning to face Ron and Harry. "It's called broadening your mind, Ron. Maybe you should try it sometime." With that, she stormed up to her dormitory and lay down on her bed, wanting nothing more than to feel Severus' arms enveloping her with warmth, his lips brushing against hers. It was going to be a long week.

Severus sat at his desk in the office that had been transformed back into the cold, unfeeling room it had been before Hermione's stay. Several charts lay in front of him, all waiting to be filled in with his lesson plans for the coming week. His quill, however, lay discarded halfway across the room. In a fit of frustration at his fiancée's sudden absence, as well as his inability to concentrate on anything but her, he had thrown it with all the force he could muster. His head in his hands, he felt the charm resting on his chest grow increasingly warmer.

He stood, briefly wondering what would happen if he ventured to the Gryffindor common room and asked for her. Yeah, that would keep people from becoming suspicious, he thought to himself, suddenly the victim of his own sarcasm. Then again, there was Legilimency, even though it would be quite difficult to reach Hermione from such a distance. At least then, he could know what she was thinking and perhaps convey some of his own thoughts to her. I don't have her permission, though, he reminded himself, suddenly feeling quite stranded.

He walked to his bookshelf in the corner and took from it the book she had given him for Christmas. Normally, he would sit at his desk to read. Today, however, he would read in bed, even though it was only the middle of the afternoon. His bed was the only thing left in his quarters that still smelled like her.

Harry sat in a dazed silence in the common room, watching Ron continue to shove sweets into his mouth. It had been a good half hour since Hermione had deserted them, but he was still quite shocked at her sudden anger toward them. He was used to her being touchy, especially when she was reading, but it seemed like her temper had been quite a bit shorter than usual.

"She's just being herself, I expect," Ron said suddenly through a mouthful of chocolate. "After all, we are about to start our last term here and N.E.W.T.s are coming up soon. You know how she gets when she's stressed."

"First of all, could you please stop eating long enough for us to have an understandable conversation," Harry asked him, realizing for the first time why Ron's gluttony seemed to bother Hermione so much. When Ron had finally put away his bag of candy, Harry continued. "I don't think she is being herself, Ron. Sure, there's plenty that could have her overly stressed, but she normally has the decency to apologize for her random outbursts, and she doesn't seem to be willing to do so today."

"What else could it be?"

"I suppose we'll find out this Friday, won't we?" Harry thought of the invisibility cloak up in his dormitory. He hadn't used it to spy on someone in a long time, and a small measure of guilt was already making its presence known as he solidified his plan to follow her that weekend.

"So you still plan to follow her, then? Under the invisibility cloak?"

"Yeah, I do," Harry replied, the guilt intensifying. "I just wish there was another way. I wonder why she doesn't trust us enough to just tell us what's going on?"

"Maybe she can't tell us." Ron suddenly realized that he was worried about her, wondering if she could possibly be in trouble. Even if they were no longer together as a couple, she was still one of the most important people in his life, and the last thing he wanted was for Hermione to get hurt.

"I think this all has something to do with the ring she was wearing," Harry said, remembering the gold band glittering on her left hand.

"Ring?" Now Ron was definitely confused, and he didn't even try to hide it from his friend.

"Yeah, it was on her left hand. It was gold and had an onyx stone."

"But the only time onyx is used in a ring is when...," Ron paused, afraid to finish his thought, as though the mere act of completing the sentence would make it a reality.

"When?" Harry stared at him, waiting for him to finish the thought that he had started. "Come on, Ron, spit it out."

"The only time onyx is used in a ring is when a witch and wizard have made plans to be...m-married. It is the traditional binding stone."

Harry stared at his friend, more confused than he could ever have thought possible.