Chapter 26

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After lunch, Hermione had followed Ron to a tree next to the black lake. He seemed almost nervous to her and unusually quiet. They watched the surface of the lake ripple before a tentacle shot out, flinging a very loud, screeching mermaid to the other side. It's cries were silenced when it fell back into the water. The two laughed at the strange occurrence.

Ron turned to Hermione and cleared his throat. "Um. Hermione?"

Hermione turned to Ron and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yes, Ronald?" She smiled at him as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I've really missed you." He said quietly.

"I've missed you, too." She leaned forward to kiss him, but was stopped by a finger on her lips.

"We can't keep fooling around anymore, Mione." He tucked a wayward lock of hair behind her ear.

"Oh? Why is that?" She looked at him curiously and then concerned. "Did your mother find out? Is she giving you a hard time?"

Ron chuckled. "No. Nothing like that. It's just-" He paused and a light blush tinted his cheeks. "I've got a girlfriend." He looked away from her, worried his words would hurt her and he would see tears in her eyes.

"What? Really?" She surprised him when she pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh, Ronald. That's wonderful!" She pulled back and grinned. "Who is it?"

Ron smiled shyly and the blush spread to the rest of his face and ears. "Well… um… you're not going to believe this, but.." He took a deep breath before continuing in a whisper. "Millicent Bullstrode."

"Millicent Bullstrode? Really?" She did not have good memories of the girl. "She didn't bully you into this did she?"

"What? No! Of course not." He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "She's actually really nice and rather shy. She's also turned out to be rather pretty." Hermione's smile encouraged him to continue. "I happened to bump into her on the day of my entrance exam in the atrium of the ministry. She was there to sit her N.E. . We ended up having lunch together later that day and she seemed to regret the way she treated us when we were younger."

Hermione's blinked. That's surprising. "Really? What else?" She rested her head against his chest.

"We've gone out on dates almost every day since. She also knows how to make cauldron cakes and pumpkin pasties." He sat at the bottom of the tree, pulling Hermione down to his lap. His arms wrapped around her waist, with her back to his chest. He rested his head on her shoulder as he continued to tell about what all he had been up to.

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It was the morning of the nineteenth and Luna was beginning to feel bored and restless. She skipped her way to the headmistress' office where she had been summoned. "Catnip." The griffin statue moved and she stepped onto the spiraling stairs. Things have been too quiet and rather stationary. I should do something to help get things moving again. She mused to herself. She reached her destination and knocked on the door before stepping inside. She was meet with a very peeved potions master and an exasperated headmistress. "Good morning." She sat in the chair smiling.

Snape sneered at her. "Don't play innocent with us, Miss Lovegood. We know you had something to do with that cauldron explosion and the disappearance of another student." He leaned towards her menacingly. Oh how I wish I could hex that smile off her meddlesome face.

Her smile never faltered as looked at Snape. "Why, professor. I have no idea what you're talking about. How could a seventh year student like me be capable of making someone vanish?"

He growled and stood straight. "We both know your abilities and intellect far surpass those of a normal seventh year, Miss Lovegood. If you continue to meddle and manipulate others like you have, you'll soon find yourself going down a dark and lonely path." He turned and stormed to the door to leave.

"Severus!" McGonagall admonished, standing abruptly.

Snape opened the door and looked back at the headmistress. "Don't fall for her act. I also suggest you get the missing student back before the ministry catches wind of this, Minerva." With that he left the room, the door slamming behind him. It caught the end of his robes and opened again for him to snatch it out of sight.

When the door slammed closed again, Minerva coughed trying to hide that she was laughing. Straightening her robes, she sat back in her chair. "Now, Miss Lovegood. I should tell you that he is correct. It would be bad for us if the ministry were to hear about this."

Luna waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, don't worry about it Minerva. She's safe and unharmed and I plan on having her back in a moment. She has been invited to the party tonight after all."

"Luna!" To say she was shocked by the Ravenclaw's words, was an understatement. "What did you do?"

"Well, she seemed so infatuated with her manga, I thought maybe she'd like a closer look." She pulled her bad into her lap and dug through it.

"Manga?" McGonagall's brow furrowed.

"It's a Japanese comic." They turned to Dumbledore's portrait to find him picking through a large bowl of lemon drops.

"How do you- Oh never mind." She turned back to Luna. "Miss Lovegood, you have broken some serious rules and this is something worth expelling you for." She sighed. "However, I'm very intrigued to know how you pulled it off." She watched the girl set a little brown bag that clinked on her desk. "What's this?"

"I've decided to make a wager with you regarding our little debates over Hermione's lovers." She returned the smirk McGonagall was giving her.

"My money's on Severus." Dumbledore said around a mouth full of candy.

"And just how do you plan on doing that? You can't exchange money with us." Minerva looked back at the portrait.

"Ah. That's where you're wrong my dear. My vault is still open and is in the care of my dear brother." His eyes twinkled in mirth. "Put me down for ten galleons."

"Albus. Snape. Ten galleons." Luna muttered as she wrote on a slip of paper. "Minerva. Potter." She looked up at the headmistress. "You've made it quite clear you're rooting for Harry. So how much for you?" She smiled, knowing the older woman couldn't resist.

Minerva tapped her finger on her desk as she thought. "Put me down for ten as well."

Luna wrote on the paper with a content smile. "And I'll be wagering the same, but on Draco." She pulled out her wand and tapped the paper, creating a copy for McGonagall.

"Draco. Why him? She doesn't seem all that interested." McGonagall scanned over the paper.

"True. But that could easily change." She stood from her chair. "It's was nice speaking with you Minerva. I hope to see you later at the party." She turned and skipped out of the room, the door clicking shut behind her.

Minerva groaned as she realized Luna had managed to avoid her punishment. "The sorting hat should've put her Slytherin." Dumbledore hummed in agreement.

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A/N: This chapter was uploaded the same time as the previous two, but I ran out of time to edit and post it.

Also, I'm not really use to receiving reviews for stories, so I tend to forget to check them. (Sorry)

Since I'm just now getting this up, I'll add a quick reminder, this story is mostly about Luna, Snape, and Hermione more than the other characters. Hermione starts off as friends-with-benefits with both Harry and Ron. Snape got added to her little reverse harem and kinda hogged her attention. I didn't really plan on her being exclusive with just one of them, mostly just fool around and have a little fun. Of course Luna is being a sneaky, meddlesome, little twit... in Snape's opinion anyway.

Sorry for any confusion that may have happened.