A/N: Oh my, oh my. What's up with Draco and Ginny? What's up with Hermione and Severus? ;) Please read and review, I appreciate it greatly!

Chapter 9

Hermione was sitting at the teachers' table for breakfast when an owl dropped a letter to the right of her. The owl was snow white, and the letter thick and creamy, with a wax crest at the backside. She picked it up, sad over the fact that one corner had been soaked in Severus' coffee. He was glaring at the owl for dropping the letter in such a sloppy manner. Hermione just rolled her eyes and gave the owl a piece of cucumber.

She broke the crest – which said 'M' – and took out the letter. A small twinge of magic rippled over it. Curious... Narcissa didn't want anyone but her to read it... she must've read the book!

True to form, the letter read:

Dear Jane,

I read the book you so graciously recommended me. I cannot help but feel that you mock me, for my convictions. Never the less, the book gave me a lot to think about. Do you have another recommendation? I might also add that Draco's choice of date last night greatly surprised me – you were right on that account.

Yours sincerely,
Narcissa

Oh, this was good news. Marvellous news.

Hermione was meeting with Severus in a short while, but she had some time before then. She quickly ate what was left of her breakfast, and then got to her room.

When there she found pen, paper and the book she'd acquired last week.

Dear Narcissa,

I do not mock you, and if you've revised your opinions, then they are only the better for it. That said, I do have another recommendation for you – which is placed in the box. It is called The Giver and is written by Lois Lowry, and is short but concise. I must admit, Draco's date surprised me too. Keep in mind that Ginevra Weasley seems like a lovely girl – don't be too harsh on him.

Yours sincerely,
Jane

Hermione found a box and a letter, and tied it all together, then cast a charm similar to the one Narcissa had used (so that no one else read the real letter) and then went to the Owlery, before returning once again to her rooms.

Gods, the whole situation with Ginny. She still carried a lot of guilt over it. Things weren't made better by the fact that she herself was now perusing someone who'd done some horrible things. No, if Severus had had a choice in the matter he probably wouldn't have been so awful to her and Harry and Ron and poor Neville all those years. But even then, when he'd been the same age as Malfoy was now he'd held the view that muggleborns were inferior. So, she now found Mini-Hermione hypocritical. But what could she do? Things were set to play out in a certain way.

Though, come to think of it, the thing that Ginny did now was quite alike what Lily did to Severus. Dating their supposed best friend's bully. Finally Hermione started to realize the amount of hurt he must have felt.

Oh, well. Now it was time for her to go and find Severus. She threw on a coat and some mittens, and then braved the weather.

They met down by Hagrid's hut, from where they continued on into the Forbidden Forest.

She smiled when she saw him. "Hello."

"Hello indeed," he answered.

Last night had been fun. They'd gone to a muggle cinema in which they'd showed a re-run of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. She'd been surprised by the fact that he hadn't seen it before. After that they'd simply returned to the castle – she felt bad about that, and was afraid that she'd given Severus the wrong impression, but she'd known that she'd show up again at around 10 PM to talk to younger Hermione. So there wasn't much she could do about it. She had, however, asked him if they could go and gather some Potions Ingredients in the Forest today.

The last few weeks leading up to the date had been tense in a good way – every once in a while she'd steal glances at him, and just smile. Every once in a while he would notice that, and simply smile back whilst shaking his head in disbelief at how utterly smitten she seemed.

So here they were, walking through the Forest, on the lookout for any ingredients they could use. She found herself smiling at him again, and this time he noticed and met her eyes. His eyes, she found, were the colour of black coffee. Which, if you think about it, is a perfect description of Severus; he seemed bitter a lot of the time, but if you took your time to get to know him you'd start catching the nuances. Merlin, that sounded so cliché!

"What?" he asked, smiling down at her.

"Nothing," she answered.

He frowned. "Do you reckon you could take of the Glamour?"

She looked around, asked "Why'd you ask?" and then took it off.

Severus bent forward and kissed her. One of his hands found its way into her hair, the other rested at her waist. His lips were dry, and warm, and made her tingle all over. It was over quickly, but it didn't feel chaste to Hermione.

Hermione simply hugged him for some time after that. It was all she could do, to be honest. That had been their first real kiss. "That was nice," she said. Severus hummed in agreement and stroked her hair.

Soon they had to disentangle themselves, though, because February was still cold and they did have some ingredients to gather. Hermione also applied the Glamour once again – they hadn't been careful. What if someone had seen them? That would've been a disaster.

They were looking for Kärlek's flowers in a clearing when something unexpected happened: Ginny and Draco were running along the path leading to the clearing. Draco was throwing a snow ball at Ginny, while she squealed and giggled.

Hermione rose from her kneeling position – she'd been gathering some Golden Saxifrage that she had happened upon by chance – as they broke into the clearing. Severus noticed them first then, and rose from some paces to the right of her. "Mister Malfoy, Miss Weasley."

Malfoy seemed to pick up on the thinly veiled threat and sighed. "We were simply trying to get away from the watchful eyes at the castle."

Jane raised an eyebrow. "Seems you didn't go far enough."

Ginny looked uneasy, but decided to try her luck. "I know you went here with Hermione some weeks ago, Miss Blue, so it can't be that perilous for students."

Severus spoke next, "So you and Mister Malfoy are considered adults? And you cleared with a Professor before your visit here?"

It wasn't often that one saw Draco Malfoy being uncertain, but this was one such occasion. "No."

Hermione and Severus both looked disapprovingly at them, but Hermione was inclined to forgive this bending of the rules. After all, it wasn't even as bad as when she, Severus and Minerva had raided the Library. And Ginny could use some support, because she wasn't going to get any from any place else. She shrugged her shoulders in a nonchalant way. "I could be willing to forget I ever saw you here."

Severus stared at her incredulously for a moment before eyeing the two students. They were clearly breaking rules, and he was known for being stricter than strict. But then again, this was Draco, who might tell his father about this... "Fine," he grumbled.

Both students seemed very surprised but happy at this turn out. They quickly turned around and got out of their sights – and hopefully, but probably not, back to Hogwarts.

"I wasn't aware that they were a thing," Severus said while frowning.

She sighed. "Well... it's safe to say that Mini-Me isn't too happy about it, nor is anyone else Ginny is close to. If you wonder how they met they met when they both required the room of requirement at the same time. Apparently they bonded after that."

"Hmm..." He picked up the vials he'd filled with seeds which were scattered over the ground. "Do you wish to go back yet?"

"Yes, please. I imagine some hot cocoa, paired with Minerva's enthusiasm for board games, would be a lovely way to spend the afternoon. Would you agree?" She hoped he didn't take offense at her suggestion of not being alone – she hadn't even meant it in those terms, but just more along the lines of Minerva always being so wound-up during school days, and she'd like to see her during the weekend.

He didn't seem to mind, for he responded with, "I do think I would."