A/N: Noooooo! I didn't realise I was only on this Chapter! I thought we were on chapter 28 which is personally my favourite chapter. Oh well...it means that my longest and favourite chapter will be posted on Christmas Day which is quite exciting. I am going away for Christmas and I'm hoping I will be able to post, the place I am staying at did say they have Internet connection so hopefully I will be able to post. If not, I will be back home on December 27th so worst case scenario is that chapter 28 will be posted a couple of days later than normal. However, chapter 28 is worth the wait, I am super excited for the next chapter! But for now, please enjoy this chapter! Once again thank you for all your support! Many thanks!

A/N: Chapter Warnings – Bad language, mentions and potential references to rape

Chapter 27: Umbridge, Severus and Future Revelations

The three friends gulped as Umbridge approached them.

"The three of you will follow me to my office, and I will speak to each of you individually" she stated and started walking in the direction of her office.

The trio looked at one another and hesitantly walked after her. They neared her office and felt a sense of foreboding and they slowed down, as if looking for an escape route.

"Well, what do we have here? The golden trio, in trouble, well what a surprise this is!" came the sarcastic voice of Professor Snape.

"Ah Severus, I caught this sorry lot trying to sneak into the castle after hours. I'm going to speak to each of them in turn" she smirked at them.

"May I have a moment to ridicule them Madame?" Snape inquired with a malicious grin on his face.

Even Umbridge was startled by his vicious expression for a moment, before she chuckled and agreed to indulge in the potions professors wishes. She was aware of his terrifying reputation and thought a moment to scare the three teens would make them more cooperative when she spoke to them. She wanted to watch him dish out the justice but, to be honest, the man unnerved her so; she decided to retreat to the safety of her rooms.

"I will be waiting in my office. Mr Potter, you shall be first" she giggled, and headed into her office to wait for Severus to say his piece.

She left the three in the corridor with Severus. Harry and Ron were glaring at Severus, daring him to do his worst but Hermione looked at him confused.

'What was he doing?' She thought to herself.

The potions professor leaned in so that he was as close as he could be without the risk of being overheard.

"Do not drink the tea and do not accept anything she offers you. She spikes everything she gives the students" Severus told them quickly.

He then took a step back, looked at Hermione who smiled at him, nodded his head and turned back towards the dungeons, praying that the two boys took his advice, he had no doubts that Hermione would.

Harry and Ron wore equal expressions of shock.

'Has Snape just been helpful?' They thought to themselves.

There was a small clearing of the throat from behind the classroom door.

"Ahem, in you come, Mr Potter. Would you like a nice cup of tea?" Hermione and Ron heard the hag asking Harry as he entered her office.

Then there was silence, all that was left to do now was to wait.

In Umbridge's office, Harry was poured a cup of tea and was being asked a lot of questions, which he was easily sidestepping because he knew that the pink toad had no evidence to punish him, and she didn't quite have the power to do anything else.

"So, why were you roaming the halls after hours?" She asked him. It irked her that Harry hadn't yet taken a sip of tea but to tell him to would make him suspicious and she didn't want that.

"I apologise Professor, my friends and I just lost track of time and we were on our way back to the common room when you caught us. We accept that we were out after hours and we will accept the punishment that comes along with that. But, honestly Madame, we were just socialising" Harry said civilly, he was making sure to keep his temper in check; she could do nothing if he gave her nothing.

"Is it just the three of you or are there more? What were you talking about?" She asked again. She was running out of questions because Harry still hadn't drunk the spiked tea.

"It was just the three of us, as it has been for nearly the last five years. As for what we were talking about, we were discussing what we were going to get for a birthday gift for one of the Weasley children, they have a birthday in a couple of weeks you see" Harry answered. He was half lying, they hadn't been discussing a birthday but if she was to check if he was lying, Harry knew it was Bill Weasley's birthday at the end of November because Ron had told him about it.

Umbridge was extremely unsatisfied; she couldn't do anything now but issue detention. If only Potter had drunk the tea!

"Very well Mr Potter, you will come for detention with me next Saturday, you'll be in for a tough day. Good night Potter" she said nastily.

Harry stood up and nodded at her politely and left the office. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly moved to tell the others what he had to tell the toad. However, he heard footsteps rapidly approaching from behind him and knew that he wouldn't be able to tell them anything as the old hag would be watching them. He gulped, he knew they were screwed, and there was no way that either of his two friends would think of exactly the same story.

As he walked out of the defence classroom with Umbridge, his two friends looked up at him and relief immediately graced their features.

"Now back to your common room Potter, no dawdling" Umbridge said firmly.

Harry nodded and turned to his friends.

"I will see you guys-" he began.

"Tut tut, no talking to your friends to get your stories straight Potter" Umbridge hissed at him.

"Oh, Mr Filch!" She exclaimed as the old caretaker turned the corner at the bottom of the corridor and began to walk towards them.

"Madame?" He asked her when he approached the group.

"Escort Mr Potter back to Gryffindor Tower and make sure he takes no detours" she warned him.

Filch bowed and immediately grabbed Potter by the back of the shirt and marched him down the corridor.

Umbridge turned back to Hermione and Ron.

"Miss Granger, you are next dear" she said in a nice voice that was clearly fake.

Hermione gulped, she knew she could get through this.

Hermione sat in the sickly pink office, surrounded by china plates with pictures of cats on them.

Hermione saw the teacup on the desk, it was still full and it meant that Harry wouldn't have said anything.

Umbridge vanished to cup and replaced it with another.

"Please have some tea Miss Granger, I understand you have been ill recently and the air tonight is rather chilly. I apologise for keeping you waiting" Umbridge said politely whilst offering the cup of tea to Hermione.

"That's kind of you professor but I'm afraid I will have to pass on the tea" Hermione told her politely.

"Oh nonsense Miss Granger, I must insist" Umbridge said, forcefully placing the tea on the table.

"Oh sorry Madame, I should have explained. I feel just awful that the tea will go to waste. I can't drink tea, I am unfortunately allergic to one of the compounds in the tea leaf and it makes me dreadfully ill, and I can't afford to miss anymore classes. Not with exams approaching" Hermione said, pretending to be really apologetic.

Umbridge sniffed at Hermione's explanation. She wasn't willing to force the girl to drink tea that would make the girl ill, as it could compromise her position at the school.

'Stupid children' she thought to herself.

Umbridge was angry that these teenagers were beating her, even if the said teens were unaware of it. Well, that's what Umbridge thought anyway.

"That's alright dear, never mind. I should've asked you first" she said in a sickly sweet voice.

'Fake' Hermione thought in her head.

"Anyway, Miss Granger, what were you doing wandering the grounds after hours?" Umbridge asked.

"I was just with Harry and Ron, we were sat out near the courtyard and were so immersed in our discussions that we didn't notice the time until it was too late. Then we began to make our way to the common room. Of course that isn't an excuse, but it's what happened. I will accept the punishment that I am given for this mix up" Hermione responded cordially.

"Alright Miss Granger, was it just the three of you? What were you so focused on discussing that made you lose track of time?" Umbridge questioned.

"It was just Harry, Ron and myself, it normally is just us three, we've been friends for many years you see. Also, it's Ron's brothers birthday at the end of the month and we were talking about birthday plans" Hermione told her.

Umbridge looked at her suspiciously, and reluctantly dismissed the girl. She knew they were hiding something but wasn't capable of getting it out of them whilst Dumbledore was still around.

As they came out and approached Ron, Umbridge saw Severus walking the hallway, clearly in the middle of rounds. Umbridge called the professor over and then she turned to Hermione.

"Miss Granger, it was made clear to me that Professor Snape knows exactly how to punish you appropriately so I will leave you to his capable hands" Umbridge informed Hermione.

Hermione tried not to jump for joy. Yes, she couldn't wait for Severus to...punish...her.

"Professor Snape, you will supervise Miss Granger next Saturday for detention and I will let you decide how to conduct it as you know what to do with her" she told Severus.

"Of course Madame, I already have a few unpleasant things in mind" Severus hissed.

Umbridge smirked.

"Good. Now, will you please escort Miss Granger back to her common room? I still have to speak with Mr Weasley" she said to him.

"Perhaps Madame, we should wait for you to finish with Mr Weasley then, I can walk both students back and that way we don't run the risk of having Weasley wandering the halls alone. To do so, judging by years of experience, is a dangerous thing to do" Severus suggested.

"Quite Severus, we shall be back shortly" Umbridge informed them as she took off with a pale looking Ron following behind her.

Ron walked into Umbridge's office and sat down and waited patiently for her to begin what was going to be an obvious interrogation.

"So Mr Weasley, why were you out after hours tonight with your little friends?" She asked him innocently, whilst offering him a slice of cake.

Ron gulped, cake was his favourite and he was really hungry. He was tempted, so tempted by the cake and he almost started drooling at the rich, chocolate mess.

Ron was in two minds, he had to decide who he was going to trust more, Umbridge or Snape? Neither were appealing but as Ron quickly thought it over, he realised that both of his friends had come out alive and unscathed tonight by trusting Snape. So Ron made one of the toughest decisions of his life, he decided to trust Snape.

"Professor Umbridge, we were just talking about my brother's birthday that's in a couple of weeks and what we were going to send him as a gift. We were so deep in our chat that we completely didn't realise that it was that late" Ron explained.

Umbridge was at the end of her tether, she was angry, she was tired and she knew that she was getting absolutely nowhere.

"Was this a cover story concocted by the three of you to conceal the truth?" She demanded.

"No Madame, we realised when you found us that we were going to get into trouble for being out after hours, so why lie? We are already being dealt punishment anyway" Ron said politely.

Internally, Ron was panicking, Hermione and Harry hadn't been asked any of this and he was absolutely terrified that he would say something that would get Hagrid fired and his friends in more trouble.

Umbridge sighed, this really was a dead end.

"You haven't touched your cake Mr Weasley" Umbridge commented knowing that if she could get anyone to talk, it would be this boy.

"Forgive me Madame, but you look awfully tired and like you could need the sugar more than myself. After all such a sweet woman should have the first helping of such a sweet treat" Ron smiled at her, trying to turn on the charm, and hopefully get out of this situation by appealing to her ego.

Surprisingly, it worked. Umbridge's cheeks flushed red at what she thought was flattery on behalf of the young boy, and all thoughts flew from her head. Maybe she could manipulate this one in time.

"That's very thoughtful of you Mr Weasley, such a gentleman. That will be all for tonight Mr Weasley, you will have detention but I shall see you out" Umbridge said in a smaller voice, still floored by the young man's comments.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, out in the hallway, Severus and Hermione were left on their own to wait for Ron.

"Thank you" Hermione whispered after it was clear to speak freely.

"You have nothing to thank me for, remember?" He said.

"We will discuss what you were doing out after hours on Saturday, we have the whole day together after all" he grinned.

"Oh! The horror! What will you possibly do to me?" She said in a dramatic voice.

"I can think of a few things" Severus answered her whilst whispering sensuously in her ear.

Hermione shivered.

'Gods this man is relentless!' She exclaimed in her head.

"Oh!" She said suddenly, remembering how the trio had escaped being caught out with Umbridge's questions.

"Thanks for putting the amplifying charm on her office" she winked at him.

Severus grinned.

"Anything to save your arse" he chuckled.

Hermione smirked at him.

The two listened in on the conversation between Ron and Umbridge, and Hermione found herself sniggering at Ron in his attempts at false flattery.

"If that is how he tries to chat up a woman then Merlin help the boy" Severus remarked.

Hermione and Severus stood in another moment of silence as Severus cancels the amplifying charm; they knew that Ron was on his way back to them.

"The three of you should be careful, you have all proved that you will cross into Slytherin territory when it comes to getting what you want" Severus told her.

Hermione just grinned.

"Well it makes sense, Harry was going to be originally placed in Slytherin after all" Hermione told him.

"Don't remind me" Severus growled.

The door to the classroom flew open and Umbridge stepped out with Ron.

Umbridge looked angry, like a child about to stomp a foot and throw a temper tantrum because she wasn't about to get what she wanted.

Ron, who was stood in front of Umbridge, had the biggest smug face that Hermione had ever seen.

Umbridge gave one last loud exhalation, like a pissed off bull and slammed the door of her classroom behind her, leaving Severus, Hermione and Ron standing in the corridor.

"To your common room" Severus said, back in his teacher mode.

The three of them navigated the long corridors and many staircases of Hogwarts before finally coming to a stop outside the Gryffindor common room.

Ron went to enter, having absolutely no desire to spend more time with the potions professor than absolutely necessary. However, he paused and looked back when he remembered Hermione was also there.

"Carry on Mr Weasley, I wish to speak with Miss Granger for a moment" Severus told the boy.

Ron looked at the professor with distrust and remained where he was with a sceptical expression on his face.

"Now Weasley, if I was going to murder her then it would be done. Now to your dormitory before I take house points and add further punishment" Severus barked at Ron, growing impatient of the boy.

Ron glanced at Hermione, who nodded at him, before he muttered the password to the portrait and headed inside.

"What's the matter sir?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"How much does Mr Weasley know of your summer events?" He asked her.

Hermione was shocked that he was bringing this up again. She had told him that she wanted to move on, that she didn't want to let this control the rest of her life. She looked at him confused.

"Why? He doesn't know a thing, as he often says things without thinking. What's going on Severus?" She asked him.

"You told me that you hadn't told him yet but thought you should before he heard it from somewhere else, correct?" He asked her.

Hermione chewed her lip and nodded.

"You should tell him before the Christmas holidays Hermione" Severus suggested.

Hermione was so confused, why was he being all professor on her and not just telling her straight what was going on?

"Tell me what's going on" Hermione said getting angry that she was being kept in the dark again.

"Did you wonder why there were two Hogsmeade weekends in a row?" He asked her.

Hermione nodded her head hesitantly as she remembered her conversation with the boys just a few days earlier.

"Let's just say there was a little gathering amongst a few teachers and Order members and there has been a little planning going on" Severus informed her.

Hermione was still frowning in confusion, she knew that was the purpose of the two weekends, for the teachers to discuss privately, but how did this involve Ron?

"What's this got to do with Ron?" Hermione voiced her thoughts.

"Miss Granger, everyone is fed up of Black's childish, womanising behaviour and by Christmas, most of the Order will be aware of it and they are planning to do something about it. However, this means that your summer experience may come into light, although that is not the intention but if the whole Order becomes aware of what transpired between Mr Black and yourself, there is no guarantee that something like that will be contained within the Order itself. This is why I am telling you that it may be best to inform Mr Weasley soon" Severus told her gently.

Hermione swallowed and nodded, she had forgotten all about the fact that Ron didn't know, she nodded in agreement and stated that she would tell Ron soon.

"Alright Severus, goodnight" she smiled at him as she headed inside the portrait.

"Goodnight" Severus replied.