**A/N** Hey everyone! I really love getting all of your reviews! I really
hope you keep enjoying my story, because the fact that you are makes
writing it more fun. Besides, if you didn't like it, I'd be wasting my time
churning out all these chapters. I love you all!
The holidays soon rolled around, and only four students and most of the staff were remaining at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco sat in front of a fire in the Gryffindor common room, enjoying their time to themselves. Mrs. Weasley had insisted that Ginny return home for the holidays so that the seventh years could enjoy their time together for one last Christmas. Hermione enjoyed the fact that she had much more freedom to visit the dungeons.
Currently she was sitting on a stool in the Potions classroom, absentmindedly stirring an anti-sniffles potion for Madam Pomfrey, who insisted that all of the students who hadn't had the cold yet would return from the holidays with it. She had finished and was bottling it up when Severus planted a gentle kiss on the back of her neck. Hermione smiled as the familiar chills ran pleasurably down her spine.
"All finished, Hermione?" he whispered seductively in her ear. Even if she hadn't been, Hermione probably would have dropped everything and turned her attention to the Potions Master. They often played games like this, but they never seemed to get old. Every time he touched her she was swept away into another world. Hermione always felt comforted by the fact that she affected him in much the same way.
They had decided that Hermione would spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with her peers, and Christmas night with Severus. It amazed both of them that even after all this time, no one else had discovered their relationship. At first Severus had been afraid he'd give himself away when Dumbledore announced that the students would be eating with the staff over the holidays, but his worries were unfounded. Even McGonagall failed to read her favorite student, and Professor Trelawney most definitely wasn't divining anything regarding his love life.
He had been having disturbing thoughts about the Halloween prank, however. Crabbe and Goyle both seemed to snap out of something once the warning had been delivered, and while they could have been silly boys with misplaced senses of humor, the red flash in Goyle's eyes as he hissed could not have been faked. He also had a feeling that the boys were used because they lacked the potential to become true Death Eaters, without a Malfoy to fawn over. Snape suspected that Voldemort himself had used Crabbe and Goyle to pay a visit to Hogwarts on Halloween, and he didn't want to know what would happen were such an incident to occur again.
The Dark Mark hadn't been burning lately, but Snape wasn't sure whether to feel relief or fear at Voldemort's apparent lack of activity. But, since it was Christmas, he pushed these thoughts from his mind. After all, it was a good chance for him to spend some quality time with Hermione.
Sometimes it surprised him how much he missed their time in his house. He found himself missing their time in the library, their nightly chess games, and their meals together. More often than not he found himself wishing that they could just continue to live that way. Immediately afterwards, however, he'd always feel guilty. He had no right to expect Hermione to tie herself to him, especially not at her age. Severus loved her with every fiber of his being, but he knew that once it was time for her to move towards the future he would probably have to let her go. Surely she wouldn't sacrifice a brilliant career simply to cater to a man who had already ruined his own life.
~~
Hermione wasn't sure where their relationship would go, but she knew that she was madly in love with Severus. Whenever she fantasized about the future, Hermione found herself unable to imagine life without him. But would Snape really want to marry her? He was such a loner, and although she knew he loved her she doubted he'd want her to permanently disturb his peace and quiet. Besides, he didn't know what her aspirations for the future were, although Hermione had known from the start that she wanted to be a teacher. He'd probably try to move away from her in an attempt to give her a chance at future success.
~~
Both Severus and Hermione tried to simply enjoy the present, especially as Christmas was coming up. On Christmas Eve, students and staff all gathered to eat together. The students were even allowed to try a little firewhiskey. Everyone laughed when Ron turned bright red and sputtered, and were amazed when Hermione and Draco displayed a shockingly high tolerance for alcohol. Harry coughed a bit and decided that firewhiskey was not for him. Before long, in order to prevent Christmas Eve from becoming a drunken frenzy (and to prevent the students from getting tipsy and blurting things about Severus and Hermione), they all decided to settle for simple hot chocolate and pleasant conversation.
"So, my seventh years," Professor McGonagall sighed, smiling, "What are you going to do with yourselves when you are no longer students? I know what you want to be, Hermione--you told me that from first year and I know you haven't changed your mind." Snape was going to ask, but decided it probably wouldn't be good for him to look so concerned. Harry and Draco wanted to be Aurors, and Ron wanted to study Nagas in India. "Miss Granger, just what is it that you would like to be?" Dumbledore asked, with a friendly glance at Severus.
"I've told you a thousand times, Professor Dumbledore!" she laughed. "I want to go to University, get a degree as soon as possible, and teach. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I thought that it would be a good early Christmas present to inform you that the University of the Isle of Man is going to allow you to take courses here, so you can have your degree completed by the end of the summer." Hermione almost jumped out of her chair. "Are you serious, Professor? That's fantastic! When to I start?" Dumbledore only laughed and told Hermione to wait until school started again, at least. The professors all had a good laugh, except for Snape, of course.
~~
That night, Hermione and her friends spent a wonderful evening just talking in front of the fire and playing wizard's chess. No one wanted to play against Hermione, who was now the most formidable player of them all. Eventually they just gave up on playing and simply talked, glad to have real company and a relaxed conversation with friends. Harry, Hermione, and Draco all had a special understanding of each other because they had no families to think of for the holidays. It was good to be able to think of each other, at least. They ended up staying up far later than they had intended, and eventually they had to drag themselves to bed or risk being unable to open presents the next morning.
The holidays soon rolled around, and only four students and most of the staff were remaining at Hogwarts. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco sat in front of a fire in the Gryffindor common room, enjoying their time to themselves. Mrs. Weasley had insisted that Ginny return home for the holidays so that the seventh years could enjoy their time together for one last Christmas. Hermione enjoyed the fact that she had much more freedom to visit the dungeons.
Currently she was sitting on a stool in the Potions classroom, absentmindedly stirring an anti-sniffles potion for Madam Pomfrey, who insisted that all of the students who hadn't had the cold yet would return from the holidays with it. She had finished and was bottling it up when Severus planted a gentle kiss on the back of her neck. Hermione smiled as the familiar chills ran pleasurably down her spine.
"All finished, Hermione?" he whispered seductively in her ear. Even if she hadn't been, Hermione probably would have dropped everything and turned her attention to the Potions Master. They often played games like this, but they never seemed to get old. Every time he touched her she was swept away into another world. Hermione always felt comforted by the fact that she affected him in much the same way.
They had decided that Hermione would spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with her peers, and Christmas night with Severus. It amazed both of them that even after all this time, no one else had discovered their relationship. At first Severus had been afraid he'd give himself away when Dumbledore announced that the students would be eating with the staff over the holidays, but his worries were unfounded. Even McGonagall failed to read her favorite student, and Professor Trelawney most definitely wasn't divining anything regarding his love life.
He had been having disturbing thoughts about the Halloween prank, however. Crabbe and Goyle both seemed to snap out of something once the warning had been delivered, and while they could have been silly boys with misplaced senses of humor, the red flash in Goyle's eyes as he hissed could not have been faked. He also had a feeling that the boys were used because they lacked the potential to become true Death Eaters, without a Malfoy to fawn over. Snape suspected that Voldemort himself had used Crabbe and Goyle to pay a visit to Hogwarts on Halloween, and he didn't want to know what would happen were such an incident to occur again.
The Dark Mark hadn't been burning lately, but Snape wasn't sure whether to feel relief or fear at Voldemort's apparent lack of activity. But, since it was Christmas, he pushed these thoughts from his mind. After all, it was a good chance for him to spend some quality time with Hermione.
Sometimes it surprised him how much he missed their time in his house. He found himself missing their time in the library, their nightly chess games, and their meals together. More often than not he found himself wishing that they could just continue to live that way. Immediately afterwards, however, he'd always feel guilty. He had no right to expect Hermione to tie herself to him, especially not at her age. Severus loved her with every fiber of his being, but he knew that once it was time for her to move towards the future he would probably have to let her go. Surely she wouldn't sacrifice a brilliant career simply to cater to a man who had already ruined his own life.
~~
Hermione wasn't sure where their relationship would go, but she knew that she was madly in love with Severus. Whenever she fantasized about the future, Hermione found herself unable to imagine life without him. But would Snape really want to marry her? He was such a loner, and although she knew he loved her she doubted he'd want her to permanently disturb his peace and quiet. Besides, he didn't know what her aspirations for the future were, although Hermione had known from the start that she wanted to be a teacher. He'd probably try to move away from her in an attempt to give her a chance at future success.
~~
Both Severus and Hermione tried to simply enjoy the present, especially as Christmas was coming up. On Christmas Eve, students and staff all gathered to eat together. The students were even allowed to try a little firewhiskey. Everyone laughed when Ron turned bright red and sputtered, and were amazed when Hermione and Draco displayed a shockingly high tolerance for alcohol. Harry coughed a bit and decided that firewhiskey was not for him. Before long, in order to prevent Christmas Eve from becoming a drunken frenzy (and to prevent the students from getting tipsy and blurting things about Severus and Hermione), they all decided to settle for simple hot chocolate and pleasant conversation.
"So, my seventh years," Professor McGonagall sighed, smiling, "What are you going to do with yourselves when you are no longer students? I know what you want to be, Hermione--you told me that from first year and I know you haven't changed your mind." Snape was going to ask, but decided it probably wouldn't be good for him to look so concerned. Harry and Draco wanted to be Aurors, and Ron wanted to study Nagas in India. "Miss Granger, just what is it that you would like to be?" Dumbledore asked, with a friendly glance at Severus.
"I've told you a thousand times, Professor Dumbledore!" she laughed. "I want to go to University, get a degree as soon as possible, and teach. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I thought that it would be a good early Christmas present to inform you that the University of the Isle of Man is going to allow you to take courses here, so you can have your degree completed by the end of the summer." Hermione almost jumped out of her chair. "Are you serious, Professor? That's fantastic! When to I start?" Dumbledore only laughed and told Hermione to wait until school started again, at least. The professors all had a good laugh, except for Snape, of course.
~~
That night, Hermione and her friends spent a wonderful evening just talking in front of the fire and playing wizard's chess. No one wanted to play against Hermione, who was now the most formidable player of them all. Eventually they just gave up on playing and simply talked, glad to have real company and a relaxed conversation with friends. Harry, Hermione, and Draco all had a special understanding of each other because they had no families to think of for the holidays. It was good to be able to think of each other, at least. They ended up staying up far later than they had intended, and eventually they had to drag themselves to bed or risk being unable to open presents the next morning.