A/N: Thank for the reviews, they're great and I hope you like this new chapter.

Chapter Five: Promises, Promises.

Christmas soon came around and the castle was almost empty save for a few students. Harry of course wouldn't go home for Christmas if you paid him, and Ron wanted to stay with Harry. Due to it being her last year at school Hermione agreed to stay with the two boys, her parents fully understood.

Dumbledore had announced that there would be a Yule Ball this year for all the students staying at school, but the seventh years got to stay really late because they were seventeen and adults in the Wizarding world.

"I have to get a dress," Ginny said in an excited squeal. "Oh, but who am I going to go with?"

"There must be someone," Hermione said not fully listening to her friend, too busy reading.

"Last year I went with Harry, but I don't want to go with him," the younger girl said pouting in a sulky manner. She had been in a mood with Harry ever since they had that talk before school started. He had basically told her that he wasn't interested but he wanted to be her friend. She didn't take it too well.

"Who are you going with?" Ginny asked, as Hermione had not been to a Yule Ball since her fourth year when none other than Viktor Krum had escorted her.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. I'll probably end up going with either Harry or Ron if they don't get dates." Hermione didn't care much.

"Will you come with me to get my dress?" The young girl asked and Hermione silently groaned. She hated shopping with Ginny, she loved her very much but she was a pain in the ass to shop with.

"Okay, I need a dress anyway," Hermione said reluctantly, "we'll get them next weekend."

They agreed on that and Ginny went prattling on about how much she was so over Harry, it was a case 'me think thou doth protest too much.'

That night Hermione went to her room to get away from Ginny, Lavender and Parvati, who were chatting on about dresses and make-up and boys.

She got changed into her night dress that was made of purple silk. She loved the way it felt on her skin, but she felt her breast looked massive in it. She wouldn't admit it to anybody else but Hermione, like the majority of young girls, was slightly insecure about her looks. Her hair was completely out of control and her breasts were out of proportion to the rest of her body, as she was small, and her breasts seemed huge.

She looked in the mirror. Was she really beautiful? She felt stupid, because Snape's words kept ringing in her ears, and whirling around in her head. She had been thinking about it ever since that night and was trying to analyse how she felt about it. It had certainly done her self-esteem a lot of good.

She got into bed and fell into a deep sleep, actually content with life. For the moment.

"Idiot boy!" Snape snarled at Neville as his cauldron started melting away, causing the potion inside to leak all over the floor. The substance was hot and some of it splashed over Parvati Patil, making her leap up and squeal in pain as it scolded her.

Some of it nearly went on Neville but Hermione suddenly felt compelled to push him out of the way, knocking him into a shelf which broke and shattered all the glass bottles.


Snape, with a wave of his wand, cleared the spilled potion up and then ordered Neville to take Parvati to Madame Pomfrey. He then preceded to give him, and Hermione detention. At Hermione's look of outrage he gave a satisfied smirk and said,

"You destroyed valuable equipment."

"That was so unfair," Ron whined once they were outside the classroom. "I mean, Neville could've really hurt himself, you shouldn't have got detention."

Hermione didn't really want to get into this argument. Ron should be used to his unfair behaviour by now.

Malfoy was tagging along behind them, trying to look like a member of the group. He found it difficult to join in their conversations and the tension between him and Harry was still as thick as ever.

They were all sitting in the library later that day. Ron and Harry were making up their horoscopes for the next week, Hermione was reading a book on Advanced Arithmancy and Malfoy was doing his charms homework.

A large snowy owl swooped in and dropped a letter in Harry's lap. Harry stroked Hedwig affectionately and then opened the letter.

Dear Harry,

I'm around for a few days and I'll be staying at the Shrieking Shack. Remus did the place up nice so I could live there if I needed to. He'll be there too, so we can have a real get together. Bring Hermione and Ron, we'd love to see them too.

Love Sirius.

Once he'd finished reading the letter it burst into flames and Hedwig gave a loud squawk, frightened by the flames. Madame Pince shushed them.

"Tomorrow's a Hogsmead weekend, we can go then," Ron said and the three agreed to see him then.

Harry wrote a reply also saying that Ginny would be coming as well.

Hermione went to detention that night. She'd had so many over the past couple of weeks, her record was being completely ruined.

Neville was shaking all the way down to the dungeon and Hermione put her hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture. Unfortunately that jolt of electricity went through them, serving to make Neville even more nervous.

Snape rubbed his eyes, which were sore from writing and reading. He needed to get supplies from the Forbidden Forest but he didn't enjoy the prospect of taking Neville Longbottom with him. He would send the boy to Filch and he would get Miss Granger to go with him. He also knew that maybe that wasn't a very good idea either but it had to be done.

Hermione felt sorry for Neville, as he walked off to his detention with Filch. Although Snape was frightening, Filch gave her the creeps, so Snape was the lesser of two evils. The only problem was that she was battling with her ever changing feelings towards Snape.

Together Hermione and Snape left the castle and headed towards the Forbidden Forest. She was nervous about the prospect of walking around that forest but she was with Snape, a fact that, surprisingly, gave her a lot of comfort.

The trees made weird shadows on the ground and strange rustling noises could be heard all around.

"Don't worry," Snape said sensing Hermione raised level of anticipation, "we're not going too far in. Not even I'd go deep into this place, at least not without Hagrid."

They got to a clearing, that was surrounded by trees and had numerous plants growing in the middle.

"I need you to pick the blue ones." He pointed his long finger at the blue flowers, that were very attractive, but very dangerous Snape assured her.

He started collecting something a few inches away from her.

"Why do you not get Professor Sprout to grow these in the green houses?" Hermione asked.

"In a talkative mood again, Mss Granger?" He said darkly. Hermione blushed but Snape did continue. "These are the best conditions for these plants, it's just not the same if you recreate those conditions artificially."

Hermione nodded in understanding. Suddenly there were millions of other questions buzzing around in her head, but Snape surprised her by asking her a question.

"How is Mr Malfoy getting on?"

"Well," Hermione started, "he spends a lot of time with us, but that act wouldn't fool me."

"Why not?" Snape asked looking at her with interest.

"It seems false. He doesn't really join in conversations and it's obvious to anyone that looks properly that there is still a lot of hostility between him and Harry," Hermione said speaking her concerns about this plan. "If him and Harry don't get that sorted, they could blow the whole thing."

"Perhaps we should lock them in a room until they sort out their differences," Snape suggested as a joke. Hermione laughed.

"I think only one would come out alive, and no offence sir but I think it would be Harry."

"You might be right."

There was a few minutes' silence, and it was a while before Hermione looked up at Snape. He was rubbing his temples with the ends of his fingers like he had a headache.

"Are you all right, sir," she asked in concern.

"Fine," he snapped and Hermione left well alone. That was until he clutched his chest in pain.

"Sir?" Hermione asked again but this time he didn't reply. Instead he dropped to the ground, naturally falling on his side. His body started to convulse violently and his eyes were screwed shut.

Hermione felt a wave of panic come over her but before she could actually start to panic she found herself standing in the hospital wing.

She looked around, seeing the rows of beds on either side, Snape at her feet still shaking violently. How the hell had she done that? One minute they'd been in the Forbidden Forest and the next they were here.

"Madame Pomfrey!" She shouted noticing the light on in her office.

The old witch came in and then made a strange squeaking noise when she noticed Snape.

"So that's what's wrong with him," she said quietly to herself. "Make sure he doesn't swallow his tongue, watch him," she said and went it her office.

Hermione knelt beside her professor, and without knowing why she began to stroke his hair. It felt greasy to the touch but she didn't care, she just wanted him to stop fitting.

"It's all right," she said in a soothing voice that she didn't know she had, but that strongly reminded her of her mother. "It's all right, Severus," surprising herself yet again by using his Christian name.

He began to relax and his fit stopped leaving him unconscious. It was only once she had stopped that she realised that Madame Pomfrey was standing there giving her an odd look.

She moved Snape to the nearest bed and woke him up enough to administer a potion.

"Where were you when he started to fit?" Madame Pomfrey asked.

"In the Forbidden Forest," Hermione answered.

"What were you doing there?" She asked giving her that look again.

"Gathering some ingredients, that was my detention," Hermione replied not liking the suspicious look that the nurse was giving her.

"I see. How did you get him up here?" Another question. Hermione felt tired, emotionally drained.

"I don't know. I started to panic and the next thing I knew, we were here."

"You should go to your dormitory now, get some sleep. I'll have to tell the Headmaster about this."

"No!" Hermione cut her off and she looked at the young witch in surprise. "He doesn't want Dumbledore to know," Hermione continued, "he doesn't want him to worry."

"You knew about this?" Hermione saw that look again and nodded.

"He told me because he said it was easier to tell it to someone who didn't care, because the people who did care just got worried," Hermione wished she hadn't said anything. "Please don't tell the Headmaster."

The old woman looked at Hermione's pleading eyes and agreed, reluctantly.

Snape woke up in the hospital wing the next morning. All night, in his sleep he'd heard a soothing calm voice telling him everything was all right. He looked at his surroundings and groaned. Miss Granger must have brought him up here last night. And now Madame Pomfrey would have told Albus, oh bloody hell.

He saw Madame Pomfrey make her way over to him, a look of supreme disapproval on her face.

"Before you panic I haven't told the Headmaster," she said and Snape visibly relaxed in front of her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Snape said nothing.

"All right you don't have to tell me, but just know this, if I'd had my way I would have told the Headmaster last night. Miss Granger asked me not to, telling me that you didn't want him to worry. So I've decided to let it pass this time, but if it gets worse I will tell him."

Snape left the hospital wing feeling like he was a student again, who'd been duelling in the corridors and needed Madame Pomfrey to patch him up.

He was very grateful to Miss Granger for persuading Madame Pomfrey not to go to the Headmaster. Then he got thinking about that voice in his dreams. Could it have been Miss Granger, it seemed to soft a voice to sound like her. He had no more time to think about this though as he had just caught two Gryffindors going into an abandoned classroom and couldn't resist the urge to embarrass them. He waited a while and then walked in, enjoying the looks of horror on their faces. It more than made up for the lousy night he'd had.

The trio, with Ginny in tow, went off to Hogsmead. The boys went into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes while Hermione and Ginny went to get their dresses.

Ginny bought a plain cream dress that made her look slim and elegant, Hermione was jealous of her friend's wonderful figure.

Hermione found a purple dress that had a corset top, that help to make her breasts look more in proportion with the rest of her body. It was made of silk and the skirt was reached her ankles and the laces that held her corset were black. Ginny said she looked great in it so Hermione didn't hesitate to but the dress.

With that sorted they went outside to meet the boys. They came out of the Weasley twins shop, Ron's ears were smoking and Harry was laughing so hard that his eyes were streaming.

"What happened?" Ginny asked putting her hands on her hips, mimicking Mrs Weasley when she was angry with the twins.

"Exploding jelly beans," Harry managed to say once he'd stopped laughing.

"Tastes nice though," Ron croaked, smoke escaping his lips setting Harry off laughing once again.

They walked towards the Shrieking Shack Harry still cracking up every time smoke emanated from Ron, nearly bursting a kidney when Ron sneezed and a thick jet of smoke shot out of his nose sending him flying backwards.

They walked into the Shrieking Shack and were surprised at how different it looked. It still wasn't decorated but it seemed warmer and not as damp as it had been. There were a few pieces of furniture so that it was at least comfortable, but it was still quite dark, after all it would look suspicious if there was light coming from an abandoned building.

Sirius greeted them with a smile. He was looking good for someone who was on the run. His once black eyes seemed more brown now and his black curly hair was cut short and neat.

The same could not be said for Remus Lupin who looked tired and stressed. His brown hair was greying faster now and he looked thinner than he had done a few months ago.

"So how is everyone?" Remus asked sinking into an over stuffed old chair that creaked loudly.

Everyone replied that they were fine and said that thins were rather boring. They then went on to tell Sirius and Remus about their new friend Malfoy. The two men raised their eyes at each other but let it pass when Harry said there was a good reason.

Hermione couldn't help noticing that Sirius kept smiling at her. It was a lovely smile, revealing a perfect row of pearly white teeth, her parents would be proud. She just put it down to her over active imagination and ignored it.

"How are things going with, 'You Know Who'?" Ron asked in a quiet voice.

"Well, he's recently attacked a research laboratory. Kidnapped one of the finest minds in the Ministry," Sirius said in an equally quiet voice.

"Dr Fielding, expert on curses," Remus went on. "Knows just about every curse in the world and the counter curses."

"Brilliant bloke," Sirius said ruefully. "Wonder what they need him for?" He asked thoughtfully.

Everyone was quiet for a while until Sirius began asking Harry how his Quidditch was going, and harry went into detail about their recent victory over Hufflepuff and their pending match with Slytherin.

The afternoon was pleasant and they got the chance to catch up on all the gossip inside and outside of Hogwarts.

"Have you found whose been leaking the information to, er, You Know Who?" Hermione groaned and Harry gave her an evil look.

"Yeah, turned out to be Mills," Remus said, "an Auror. Who'd have thought?"

"Well certainly not you, hey Harry?" Hermione said giving Harry a triumphant and very smug smile.

Harry gave her a dirty look and then quickly changed the subject.

Once outside away from Sirius and Remus Harry turned to Hermione.

"Do you have to be so smug about it?" He asked angrily.

"Yes as a matter of fact, you see I just love being right," Hermione replied and Harry sneered. "I told you it wasn't Snape, but oh no you know better. Do you realise how much trouble you're going to get yourself in one day?"

The two kept arguing but Ron wasn't listening, he then turned to his bickering friends.

"Hey, where's Ginny?" He asked and they began looking around. The young girl was no where to be seen.

Hermione felt panic come over her yet again as they began frantically looking for Ginny.

"Did she leave with us?" Harry said just as worried as Hermione.

"I wasn't looking, I was too busy listening to you two arguing," Ron said.

They went back to the Shrieking Shack just in time to see Ginny coming out looking very pleased with herself.

"Where the bloody hell have you been?" Ron asked stupidly as if the answer wasn't plainly obvious.

"In there, what's the matter?" Ginny said, her smile fading as she saw the angry looks on her friend's faces.

"We were just worried that's all," Hermione said calmly not wishing to distress her friend, who seemed happier now than she had been all year.

"Well don't be. I'm fine."

Hermione was in the bedroom that she had been given when she was made Head Girl. The liked the solitude of this room, but very often she wished that she was back in the dormitories, listening to Lavender and Parvati. For as annoying as their endless chattering often was it could sometimes be entertaining.

There was a knock on the door and Ginny came in. She seemed a little nervous and as if there was something on her mind.

"You okay, Gin?" Hermione asked motioning for Ginny to sit on the bed beside her.

"I, erm, I wanted to know if," she trailed of and blushed almost as red as her hair.

"If?" Hermione asked.

"If you'd ever had sex?" She said quickly wanting to get it over with.

Oh, erm," Hermione said shocked, not expecting that to be her question. "Yes, I have," she said simply in reply.

"With Viktor?" Her friend asked and Hermione nodded. "Had you been going out long?"

"Well, we'd been writing to each other since my fourth year. He'd send me letters when he was away for a match. So yes, we'd been going out for about two years."

"Did it hurt?" Ginny asked not looking at Hermione.

"Is that what you're worried about?" Ginny nodded, this had obviously been worrying her for some time. "Look, I won't lie, it is a bit painful." Her friend paled and she decided that she'd better soften the truth a little. "It hurts less for some people though. Some say it just stings, you don't know, but it only really hurts that first time."

Ginny seemed to feel comforted by these words but Hermione was intrigued by her friend's sudden interest in sex. When she questioned Ginny about this she said,

"I am seeing someone but I can't tell you. I promised." Hermione left it there and promised not to ask any more questions.

This was just one more thing that Hermione had to add to the section of her brain that she now labelled "strange."

Hermione was walking down the corridor towards the library when she noticed out the window that the snow had been falling. It was covering anything that remained still and the blanket of whit that covered the ground was undisturbed.

She suddenly had an urge to walk in the un-trodden snow. She still had a few hours until curfew so she bolted down the stairs and out of the front doors. It was getting dark but the lights from the school lit the grounds outside. She was the first to make footprints in the crisp snow and delighted in hearing it crunch under her feet.

The light from the door was blocked and she looked up expecting to see Filch, out here to tell her not to walk snow into the carpets. It wasn't though, the silhouette was too tall to be Filch.

"What are you doing, Miss Granger?" The familiar silky voice asked from the doorway.

Hermione shrugged.

"Just had an urge to walk in the snow," she said, "And yourself?" She asked immediately feeling rather cheeky for asking that question.

"I saw you out here, I thought I should say thank you, for stopping Madame Pomfrey going to Dumbledore," he said leaning against the frame of the door.

"You scared me you know," Hermione said and he smiled, at least she thought it was a smile.

"I apologise, although I'll confess I'm not to keen on the experience myself."

Hermione smiled, and shivered as the cold air penetrated her clothes. Snape walked towards her and she felt something being put on her shoulders.

"Try not to catch pneumonia Miss Granger, think of all the work you'll miss," she smiled again and looked up at him. His hands were still on the edges of his cloak as he wrapped it around her shoulders. He looked at her feeling that crackle of electricity again but chose to ignore it this time.

She saw in his eyes an emotion she'd never seen in them before. Just like they flashed with anger and hatred at times they now flashed with something completely different, and it made Hermione gasp slightly.

His head dipped and Hermione felt his lips covering hers. They were thin but not rough like she had expected, and they were warm, a contradiction to his usually cold demeanour.

It was the softest kiss that Hermione had experienced. So unlike the hard rough kisses that Viktor gave her. That tingle of electricity was shooting through her body, but unlike her experience of contact with Neville it wasn't an unpleasant sensation.

He opened his mouth just wide enough to take in her bottom lip. He sucked on it lightly and she moaned quietly at this wonderful sensation. He released her lip and backed away looking apologetic.

He went to say something but though better of it. He turned and walked away leaving Hermione standing in his cloak, unaware that she was being watched.

She walked back to the Gryffindor tower not wanting to be caught out past curfew, not tonight. She walked into the common room and Ron and Harry asked where she'd been.

"Just out," she replied and went straight to her room. Ron turned to Harry.

"What was she wearing?" He asked referring to the cloak that was about five times to big for Hermione. Harry shrugged and got back to reading his book.

Hermione got to her room collapsing onto the bed. The recent events whirling around in her head. She noticed that she was still wearing the cloak, had been wearing it when she walked in. She inhaled the scent that lingered on it and felt a tightening feeling in her chest.

She was lost in confusion and dizzy from all the thoughts that where spinning in her brain. She feel asleep curled up inside the thick black material of Snape's cloak.