A/N: Once again, thank you all for ready and leaving me reviews. I'm glad you're still enjoying my story. I especially want to say a massive thank you to my guest reviewer, Owl Lover, for completely binge-reading this story and being so hyped up about every chapter! Thank you so much! :). Well, here is the next chapter for you guys, hope you enjoy!

A/N: Chapter Warnings - Mentions of sexual assault, bad language and scenes of a sexual nature

Chapter 31: Nightmares, Room of Requirement and a Memory

Hermione jolted awake and found herself sat in the library. She had fallen asleep and had slipped into a bad dream. She wiped the sweat away from her face and tried to get her breathing to even out.

What a nightmare!

She couldn't believe that her mind had formulated something so awful; Hermione knew that Ron would never do something like that.

Ron often let his emotions get the better of him but the one thing that Ron would not do was blackmail. Hermione knew that, but the dream had still unnerved her.

She sat for a few minutes and tried to calm down when she heard footsteps approaching her. She immediately freaked out and took out her wand, in her moment of madness she cast a slight stunning charm as a warning to whoever was coming up behind her.

She heard a grunt of shock and slight pain from behind her and turned around to face her victim.

Hermione gasped when she saw Severus, bent slightly at the waist and hand slightly gripping his package. He looked at her, face slightly pained and silently asked her what the hell she thought she was doing.

"I am so sorry, you startled me and I just reacted, I didn't think-" she tried to get out in one breath.

Severus straightened up and walked, with a slight limp, over to where she was sitting and glared at her.

"What possessed you to do that?" He whispered harshly to her.

Hermione gulped. He was using his strict professor voice and made her feel as if she were the size of an ant. She looked up at him fearfully, waiting for him to deliver her punishment.

"Miss Granger! How dare you attack a teacher like that" exclaimed the voice of Professor Flitwick.

Both Hermione and Severus turned towards the professor who had clearly been standing close enough to have seen what was going on.

Hermione knew that attacking a teacher was grounds for expulsion; she was going to get in so much trouble. There is absolutely no way she was getting out of this. Hermione was sweating.

Hermione was about to reply when there was a commotion from outside the library. Both professors immediately turned their attention to the noise and Severus headed towards the entrance to the library to investigate, leaving Hermione with the charms professor.

"Miss Granger, what was that all about? It is unlike you to be this way" Flitwick said to her, he wasn't being harsh with her but he was giving her an opportunity to explain her actions.

"I came here to get some work done and fell asleep, I had a nightmare and I woke to the sound of footsteps approaching me from behind. I panicked and didn't think. I wasn't even sure that I was entirely awake" she told her professor.

The adrenaline of her dream had worn off and she now felt completely drained of energy.

Severus came back and approached the pair after finding the noise to be some idiot first years mucking around. He had deducted points from them, given them detention and told them to bugger off.

"That will be 30 points from Gryffindor, I think Miss Granger" Severus heard Flitwick say.

"Don't you think that's for me to decide Filius?" Severus drawled in his monotone.

"Of course Severus, I was merely trying to express that the girl's explanation seems legitimate. Don't be too hard on her" Filius said.

Severus glared at the shorter wizard and Filius practically ran from the room. Severus turned his attention back to his Hermione and raised his eyebrows, waiting for further explanation.

"I'm so sorry, I was asleep and it wasn't the happiest of dreams and you startled me, I didn't think, I just reacted. I am so, so sorry. I didn't hurt you too badly did I?" She asked him worriedly.

He assessed her for a few moments before he sighed, no matter what, he couldn't bring himself to be mad at her.

"Next time you should think before you act. Now about these bad dreams, would some dreamless sleep potion help?" He asked her.

She nodded at him and started to pack her belongings into her bag. She wanted to be done here; she wanted to go to sleep.

"I will send you some but tonight you will have to make do without" he told her.

She nodded and quietly thanked him.

"What was your dream about?" He asked her.

"I was here in the library doing work and I heard footsteps approach me from behind, it was Ron. He apologised for how he acted after I told him about what had happened to me and we were talking again. Then I went back to the common room and he was waiting up for me and he blackmailed me saying that if I could kiss (she pointed at Severus, in case they were overheard), then I could kiss him and then I woke up. But I woke up to hearing your footsteps approaching me from behind. I panicked at sent a warning spell at you. I'm so, so sorry, I wasn't even sure if I was truly awake or still dreaming" she told him.

He nodded at her, he wanted to hug her but didn't just in case they were being watched.

"Well, in light of events, Professor Flitwick's punishment is acceptable and I will take no further action" he told her in his professors tone and winked at her to let her know she wasn't in any serious trouble.

"However, you should get back to your dormitory before curfew" he told her.

She nodded and mouthed a 'thank you' at him and he nodded at her in return as she collected her things and left the library.

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She didn't think about the incident in the library until she walked into the common room and found Harry and Ron sat up and waiting for her.

"There you are Mione, we were just about to come and search for you" Ron said.

Hermione smiled at the boys, she was still perturbed by her dream but shook it off. These were her boys and unless they gave her any reason not to, she would trust them.

"I was in-" she began

"The library" the boys chorused, finishing her sentence for her.

She huffed at them and they just laughed at her response. Hermione walked over to them and sat down between them in the sofa; she swatted them both on their arms but grinned at them playfully.

The three were sat together just talking when there was a hissing sound from the fire. The trio focused their attention on the fire when suddenly the face of Sirius Black emerged from the ashes.

Hermione's heart froze, she didn't move, and she didn't blink. The boys were equally as shocked but also knew that they should not give away the fact they knew about the darker side of Sirius Black. It was probably safer for all those involved.

"Harry! Good to see you son! We've all been dying to know about this Umbridge woman" Sirius exclaimed through the fire.

None of the trio moved, Harry decided that he needed to say something and quickly before Sirius became suspicious.

"Goodness you startled me Sirius! We are all well and Umbridge is not letting us use magic at all" Harry told Sirius, hoping he sounded normal.

"Yes, latest intelligence is that the ministry doesn't want you trained in combat, Fudge thinks you're planning to form some sort of army and fight against the wizarding government" Sirius informed them.

This was nothing new, they already knew this, had known it for weeks.

"We thought that might be the case" Harry told him.

"At the moment, it seems as if you are on your own. I'm sorry I can't be of more use to you Harry. I must go now but please be careful, remember the walls have ears" Sirius warned before he disappeared.

The boys looked at one another and shrugged, that was one of the most pointless calls ever made. There was no new information at all; it was risky for Sirius to fire-call. What the hell had he been thinking?

The boys turned to Hermione who was still in the same frozen position, she looked pale and like she was about to be sick.

The boys looked at each other worriedly. Harry knelt down on the floor so that he was lower than Hermione, hoping that he wouldn't scare her.

"Hermione? Are you alright?" Harry asked gently. Ron looked on with concern written all over his face.

Hermione snapped out of it and noticed that Sirius had gone and that the boys were trying to communicate with her.

"Sorry, I'm fine, it was just an unexpected surprise is all" Hermione said.

Sirius popping up had scared her but she knew that he wasn't physically here so she wasn't as afraid as she thought she might have been. This was a good sign, after all she had promised herself that she should move on and stop worrying about him. It was no way to live the rest of her life and she wasn't going to let it get to her anymore. She was fine.

Harry was about to reply when the door to the common room burst open. The trio jumped, startled at the sudden noise throughout the silent room and they turned to the doorway to see Neville running in.

Neville's face immediately relaxed at seeing the trio sat there.

"Just who I was looking for, come on! Follow me! We have to be quick if we are to beat curfew" Neville exclaimed quickly.

The trio immediately sprang into action and followed Neville as he hurried back out of the portrait towards the staircase.

Eventually the four of them came to a halt.

"See, it's here, I think I've found it" Neville exclaimed excitedly.

The trio stared at each other confused; they were all looking at a blank wall.

"Um, Neville-" Harry began.

He was cut off by a faint noise; the four of them stared at the wall perplexed as they watched it practically grow a door. They entered the room, it was huge, it was spacious and would be perfect to practice defence in without being caught.

"You've done it Neville! It's the room of requirement" Hermione giggled and launching herself at Neville.

"So I did good right? This is good" he asked them hoping for confirmation that this was the right thing.

The trio nodded.

"You've done brilliantly Neville" Harry said smiling.

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The first gathering in the room of requirement had taken place about a week after the room's discovery by Neville.

Everyone had been amazed by the turn of events and all had been more than enthusiastic to begin sessions straight away.

They started with basic spells and basic defence but at least everyone was beginning to feel useful again. They had made a good start and they knew it would only progress from there.

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The middle of November had just passed and things were beginning to look hopeful again.

Hermione had been on her way down to the dungeons for her occlumency session with Severus when she noticed that everyone was heading outside. Hermione was confused and noticed that Severus and Draco were also following the crowd wondering what the hell was going on.

They saw Hermione but didn't acknowledge her; there were far too many people around for formalities.

Hermione found Neville and began to walk with him.

"What's going on Neville?" She asked him knowing that Severus and Draco were right behind her.

"Apparently, it's Professor Trelawney" Neville told her grimly.

Hermione looked at him with a concerned expression and she knew Severus and Draco were just as confused.

Things made sense when they reached the quad. There was Filtch, throwing Trelawney's things at her whilst Umbridge was giving her an official dismissal.

Trelawney was a mess and McGonagall moved to comfort her.

Umbridge looked at the scene gleefully until Dumbledore showed up; he told Trelawney that she was more than welcome to stay and that Umbridge didn't have the right to banish former members of staff. McGonagall escorted Trelawney back inside the castle whilst Dumbledore told the students to scatter and he disappeared.

Hermione looked around as the students began to disperse and noticed Draco ushering her to their hidden room so they could talk.

Draco asked what Hermione was doing for Christmas. Hermione didn't have an answer, she didn't know. Her parents were who knows where, she definitely didn't want to go to Grimmauld and she felt that the burrow might be too busy and too loud. She would probably just stay at Hogwarts.

"I've been summoned home" Draco muttered grumpily. It was the last place he wanted to go really.

The unlikely friends comforted each other and spent the day just talking when curfew was close and they decided to part ways for the night.

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A few days later she had been asked to stay behind after her potions class. Severus had told her that he was going to stop supplying her with dreamless sleep potion.

"Too many brilliant witches and wizards begin to rely on this. You are better than an addiction to a potion. If you need help, I can teach you how to occlude your dreams. But see what happens first without taking the potion" he told her.

She grinned at him.

"You do realise that you just called me brilliant" she told him.

"Tell anyone and I shall forever deny it" he teased her.

They shared a secret smile before he cleared his throat to speak again.

"Are you free this evening for an occlumency lesson seeing as we had to postpone our previous lesson" he asked her.

She nodded and agreed to meet him back in his office at 7pm that evening. Hermione was secretly thrilled, she enjoyed spending her time with Severus and it had been happening less and less recently. This was due to Hermione's workload becoming heavier as the Christmas holidays were getting closer and it seemed that Severus was called more and more by the dark lord.

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Hermione entered Severus' office at 7pm and he was there waiting for her.

"Right, are you ready?" He asked her.

She nodded at him and he began to enter her mind. She had been doing well and was getting better at defending her thoughts. However, there would be a couple of times that Severus would latch onto her embarrassing memories, and her defences would practically break down and he would see the memories in full.

Severus had told her that this was normal and that when learning to do this people often had something that was too powerful that it was difficult to protect.

For example, Draco always found it difficult to occlude memories that were to do with his father and regarding his sexuality.

For Severus, he had found it difficult to occlude memories of his father and Lily but he had eventually managed it.

Hermione found it difficult to occlude any embarrassing memories and so Severus would always get the full story. Today was no different.

Severus found himself in one of the dormitories at Hogwarts. The room looked empty and dark, there were signs of Christmas decorations and so he could only assume that this was a memory of a previous Christmas.

Hermione knew already what this memory was of and she was already trying to shove Severus out of her mind.

Severus was intrigued; she had never had this reaction to being this early in a memory before. Severus began to move around and look at the room.

He noticed that all the beds were empty except one; he guessed that the bed was the one that belonged to Hermione. He moved closer to the bed and stopped. Yes, this was Hermione's bed alright, he could also see from where he was, that the golden girl of Gryffindor, the goodie two shoes, had her hand below her bedsheets and was moving her hand ferociously against herself.

Hermione was reliving the memory in complete embarrassment. She had tried to push Severus out of her mind but knew it was a lost cause. This was the memory of the first time she had masturbated; she was just going through the emotions of it all.

Severus on the other hand was floored, he hadn't even considered this a possibility that he would find a memory like this is Hermione's mind. Had the witch always looked this mouth-watering whilst flushed?

The memory Hermione was now making little groans and moans and the distinct sound of squelching could be heard from underneath the covers.

Hermione was highly embarrassed and had sent a message through her mind to tell Severus to stop.

Severus respected her decision and immediately withdrew from her mind.

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Back in Severus' office he looked at a fuchsia faced Hermione as she looked down at the floor, with interest.

Severus chuckled and went over to her and hugged her.

"It's alright; I will make you a deal. When we have finished this stage, I will share some of my private memories with you. Is that agreeable?" He asked.

Hermione nodded still looking at the floor.

Severus hugged her and she looked up at him.

"You're human Hermione" he told her.

She nodded and just like that the tension broke and they resumed their natural relaxed positions.

"I think that will be all for today" Severus said.

Hermione chewed on her bottom lip and nodded.

"I'm so embarrassed" she told him not really knowing what else to say.

"Don't be, as head of house I have actually walked in on students in that situation" Severus told her.

Hermione looked at him wide eyed. Gods! How embarrassing would that have been?

Severus chuckled at his Hermione's reaction once more and he called it a day, telling her that she was free to leave and enjoy the rest of her evening.

Hermione smiled and wished him a good night, with her cheeks still tinged red.

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She sadly didn't see Severus much after that night. Hermione was slightly disappointed by the last two weeks of November. Nothing really happened, the DA had been practicing and Severus had to miss Hermione's occlumency sessions due to frequent Death Eater meetings. Hermione was worried about Severus, he had seemed to have withdrawn from Hermione a little. But she put that down to having no time, Severus would come to her if he needed her, she accepted that he needed his space.

Hermione was almost wishing for something exciting to happen but in hindsight, she had probably just jinxed her luck because less than two weeks later, her wish came true.