The Beauty and the Beast Effect

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING; I MERELY ENTERTAIN MYSELF IN J.K. ROWLING'S WORLD.

A/N I'm sorry about my lateness of this chapter. I don't have a good excuse today, just school, oh and being grounded. Well, moving on to something semi-important. I think this chapter will be slightly better than my last chapter. With some help, I figured out why I was having trouble with my writing. You will all be happy by the end of this chapter, I hope. By the way, this chapter takes place on Friday, March 13th.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lost and Found

Throughout the days and weeks, Severus slowly distanced himself from his friends and drew deeper within himself. Once again he built walls around his heart, and pushed away those who tried to help him. He was once more the cold hearted potions teacher.

Hermione was also acting in a similar way. She was a living statue. Her face remained the same throughout her day. A smile never graced her lips, let alone her eyes. She was slowly fading away.

Ron and Lena were too busy with animagus training to notice, but Harry and Ginny noticed. Every passing day they searched for a way to bring their friends back to life.

"What are we going to do?" moaned Ginny, "Everything we've tried has failed, and I can't take it anymore Harry."

"I know Ginny," Harry agreed and rubbed her back comfortingly, "We'll figure this out eventually."

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"Granger!" Malfoy yelled.

"What do you want?" Hermione said irritably.

"I…I want you to go to the dance with me," he said boldly.

Her face registered slight shock as she said, "What dance?"

"The one on Tuesday," He said, and his tone implied, DUH!

She cocked her head, still confused.

"The St. Patrick's Dance?" He prompted.

"Oh that dance," Hermione nodded with understanding, "No."

"No what?" Draco asked in puzzlement.

"No, I won't go to the dance with you." Hermione replied stubbornly.

"Why not," He whined.

"Because," She answered, flipping her hair.

"Is this about Smi… Snape?" Malfoy demanded angrily.

"That's not any of your business now is it?"

"But, Hermione! How can you still like him when you know he's a greasy, lying, git!" he protested.

"One: I don't like him. Two: Don't you go calling him a git!" Hermione yelled.

"You do like him," Malfoy bellowed as he pointed and accusatory finger at her.

Hermione said nothing as she stalked furiously away. His hand on her elbow stopped her.

"If you won't go with me by choice," Draco said in silky voice that spoke pure wickedness, "Then you WILL go with me by force."

"I'm stronger than you," Hermione warned, "You won't be able to force me do anything."

"I know perfectly well you can out duel me, and I wouldn't dare bet my life that I could beat you at arm wrestling. However, I care for no one, albeit you, of course. That is where you weakness lies."

"How so?" Hermione challenged, "All my friends are by far stronger than you,"

"Once again, I'm not talking physical or magical strength," Malfoy said.

"What do you mean?" She asked while trying to hide her growing unease.

"I know of something you've done. Something not even your precious Severus knows about," he sneered.

Hermione paled.

"A little secret someone by the name of Dusty, or should I say Justin." Malfoy smiled evilly as he saw Hermione's determination crumble.

"Alright," Hermione whispered, "I'll go, just promise me you won't breathe a word about Dusty."

"My lips are sealed," He smirked a second time, "For now."

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Severus tumbled into the common room as a wave of exhaustion came over him. He fell to his knees as Harry ran over to see what was wrong.

"Sev?" Harry questioned anxiously.

"I'm… okay," Severus replied with difficulty, "Just tired."

"Come on," Harry lifted him to his feet.

Throwing Sev's arm over his shoulder, Harry half dragged him to the couch. Severus crawled onto the couch with a groan.

"Why are you so tired?" Harry asked.

"I… don't sleep… at night," Severus mumbled, "I don't want to see her… in my dreams."

"Sev! You can't do that!" Harry reprimanded, "You may have lost her, but you can't lose your health too!"

"I'll be fine," Severus attempted to assure him.

"Whatever," Harry snorted, "Just get some sleep now."

Severus nodded and shut his weary eyes. It wasn't long before his dreams were haunted with Hermione's smiling face.

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Hermione descended the girl's staircase in a rather cross mood. She was searching for a book, but it seemed to have disappeared. She entered into the common room hoping to find Ginny so she could ask about her book. Instead she found it empty except for a slumbering shape on the couch.

Sighing heavily, Hermione plopped dejectedly into the nearest arm chair. Why oh why was she stuck with Malfoy for a date?

"Hermione," the figure on the couch moaned piteously.

Hermione turned in surprise, finding that the sleepy young man was none other than Severus. She was relieved to see he still slept soundly.

"Please stay," He begged, "I'm afraid. I'm so, so afraid."

Hermione watched him twist and turn relentlessly as his mumbling grew steadily louder and more despondent. Finally she could stand it no longer. With tears streaming down her face, she knelt at his side, and tried to shake him awake.

"Sev, Sev please wake up!" She pleaded earnestly, "It's all my fault I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done this to you or to myself. Please! I can't bear any more of your pain. Just wake up!"

Severus's eyes flew open at Hermione's gentle touch. He stared in disbelief at the hand clutching his. Slowly he lifted his free hand to her face and brushed her locks soaked with tears away from her face. He then brushed away tears themselves before softly stroking her cheek.

"Hermione," Severus whispered tenderly.

"Sev," She murmured in return.

He brought his lips softly to hers, barely letting the pressure be known.

"I've missed you." He said.

Hermione didn't say anything, as she leaned her face into his warm hand, kissing his palm. She got off the floor and sat on the small part of the couch where Severus wasn't sitting.

Severus sat up, and pulled her to him. He rocked her softly while pressing his face to her hair. He inhaled deeply relishing in the sweet honey-like scent she always carried.

"I should never have doubted you," Hermione said sadly.

Severus kissed her head before saying, "Deep in your heart, you know you never did."

Hermione turned so that she was gazing right into his powerful green gaze, "You give me more credit than I deserve."

"I wouldn't say that," Severus admonished with a smile.

"Oh really?" She raised an eyebrow playfully.

Sev opened his mouth to reply but a grumbling noise came from his stomach. Hermione burst out laughing.

"Hungry, Sev?" She teased.

"Just a little," He answered smiling widely.

"Then we had better get some lunch." Hermione suggested.

"Yes, we had better,"

And they walked hand in hand to the great hall. Laughing and smiling all the way.

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A/N Hooray!! They're together again, and even earlier than I expected!! Oh, I'm so terribly excited now!! St. Patty's Day will certainly be interesting I think. I told you, there were more Malfoy Moments to come. I hope you liked this chapter! It would be nice if you could review and tell me so!!
Speaking of reviews, I want to ask my reviewers something. Would you prefer I reply when I get the review or wait until I'm ready to post? Just curious.
One last thing. I'm beginning to work on some things that I'll be doing after BBE. I will be posting the first chapters of two out of three soon. (The third is the sequel to BBE so I won't post the first chapter until later.) When I do post them, I would appreciate it if you reviewed and told me which one you like better. You can expect to see them in the next few days.

THANKS!!