A Chase Scene

"Don't you just love spring?" Hermione sighed, sipping the glass of iced tea Ginny had just handed her.

"It is rather marvelous, isn't it?" Katie Weasley said, leaning back against her new husband. She and George had eloped earlier in the year, surprising everyone by getting married without all of the fanfare of a big wedding. "The sunshine, the cool breeze..."

"The monstrous children running amok," Severus muttered, eyeing George's son two year old son David as he ran in Molly Weasley's backyard, being hopelessly chased by five year old Teddy and George.

Hermione gently hit his arm. "Severus!" She couldn't be too angry with him, though. He'd stayed up late at night for weeks, helping her to prepare for her exams in healing. It was thanks to him that she'd passed first in the class. She was now officially a junior healer at St. Mungo's.

Harry just chuckled, turning to Fred and Katie. "What about you? Are you two planning on having children anytime soon?"

Fred shrugged. "Maybe soon. But we're kind of adjusting to married life first, if you know what I mean."

Ginny, Harry, and Hermione all exchanged glances as Severus rolled his eyes. "No," Ginny said with a small laugh. "We don't know what you mean, given that none of us are married."

Katie leaned forward. "Well obviously things change once you're married," she said with confidence. "Suddenly, you have someone there who you have to make decisions with. You have to be co-dependent on another person. It takes some getting used to."

Angelina nodded with enthusiasm. "I understand completely. When George and I first got married, we were so disjointed. I kept trying to just leave for work every morning. I kept forgetting that I needed to say good-bye. I was just not at all used to having to tell someone that I was going. It was bizarre."

"Well then isn't it good to live with someone before you marry them?" Harry asked. "That way you'll know what it's like, right?"

"Well unlike my dear brother and Angelina here, Katie and I did live together for a year prior to our marriage," Fred pointed out. "However, things are still rather different. Think about it; you go from being able to leave whenever you want, to having a curfew." He made a face as Katie rolled her eyes. "It's horrible," he joked, his eyes closed for dramatic effect.

Katie stuck out her tongue. "Oh, please. You love being married to me."

Fred grinned. "Whatever you say, dear." Then he turned to his companions. "So, what about you lot? Any specific reason as to why you're questioning us about marriage?"

Hermione and Severus exchanged glances. Was there a reason behind their concerns? Hermione blushed a bit. If she allowed this conversation to continue, people would begin to think that she wanted to get married, and that she and Severus had been discussing it, when in fact, they had avoided the topic altogether thus far.

She swallowed. She supposed it wasn't totally unheard of for her to be thinking about marriage. She was living with Severus, after all. Not only that, but he'd told her that he loved her. For Severus, that was huge. He was so quiet and reserved with his feelings... For him to open up like that must mean something. Right?

She tried to imagine herself married to Severus. What would it be like? Would he spend more time at their flat? Less? Would he become more caring or more cold and distant? Would he want kids?

Hermione shook the thought away, though. No, it was best not to think about it yet. It was too soon. There was no reason for her to fret over something that may or may not happen.

It was Harry, however, who properly managed to articulate what she was feeling. "I don't think so, Fred," he said with a small laugh. "We're a little young for that, you know. We don't need to rush things."

No, they didn't need to rush things. Not when life was so perfect anyway.

Fred just shrugged. "Suit yourself. To tell you the truth, I just feel bad for Ron. Everyone's pairing up now, and he has nobody. It must be hard for him."

"That might be why he's not here today," Angelina pointed out. "He can't stand the thought of being alone among us couples."

"Not to mention he's still absolutely livid at Hermione," Harry said, throwing his friend an apologetic glance.

"Or it could be because he's too busy screwing Miss Lovegood's brains out," Severus hissed in Hermione's ear.

She shushed him, knowing that they were the only two people who knew about Ron's relationship with Luna. She wanted to keep this secret for her friend. As she watched George finally catch little David, effectively ending the chase scene before them, she nodded to herself. Yes, Ron would tell them about Luna when he was ready.

Just as she would worry about her future with Severus when the time came.

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all of the reviews last chapter! They mean a lot to me.

Some of you have been asking about Collide; I'm currently halfway through with the next chapter. It's just a really dense chapter, so it's taking awhile, but it should be up soon.

Also, my oneshot Ten Sickles was recently named the winner of the "Will you Be My Valentine" challenge, so please check it out and leave me a review to tell me what you think!

Take care!

-Selene