Snape woke up with his morning woody. (What a way to start a chapter!!) He didn't mind though. He'd spent the night with dreams that filled in the gaps to Hermione's. OH! The possibilities!! It just added to his fantasies about her. He thought that with time, they might disperse, but there was no hope of that now. Now that she was having dreams about him.

After the initial one in the early morning hours, he thought of the possibility that Hermione Granger may feel the same about him that he did of her. She spent more time in his presence than anyone else; she was not so intimidated by him anymore. The two of them would go back and forth with sarcastic remarks that both found highly amusing. And he did not miss some of the looks cast his way, even though he pretended to be completely oblivious to them. He wondered if she even noticed the look that her eyes held sometimes. He wasn't even too sure until today.

Hermione would not be coming for the research tonight. She told him that she needed to catch up on some assignments. He knew that wasn't the only reason. She had her meeting with Malfoy this evening as well. Well, if he knew Hermione, the meeting would not go Draco's way. Especially after that other evening. 'I wonder when he got out of that situation.' Snape thought with amusement. He went around one in the morning to see if he was out yet, himself forgetting that one of his students had been tied up and left in an abandoned classroom, and found that he was gone. 'I wonder what Hermione will do to him.'

He decided to ignore temptation and not to use the potion for tonight. After all, it was a slight invasion of privacy. That, and the last thing he wanted to do was tire quickly of his toys. He had to show Albus his findings today. He'd tell Hermione tomorrow.

He put his thinking on hold for a moment, dragged his gloriously naked butt out of bed, and began his morning routine.

~@~

Hermione, on the other hand, woke up frustrated. She was not able to get the reoccurrence of the dream from the night before that she wanted. 'What the hell woke me up anyway?' She wondered. She stared at the ceiling of her bedroom. 'Well, it's no wonder I was dreaming about him. After his dream in the kitchens.'

Hermione had thought that it wouldn't and didn't affect her. But she was wrong. The actual thoughts of doing all of that to the potions master was kept in her subconscious until she was ready to deal with them. The time spent with him, she was able to get to know him better. Before, she would only admit that she enjoyed her time with him, that she was a better worker. But now, she was ready to admit a bit more.

'I mean, how can I be disappointed with hot, steamy, sexy dream about him that would be unlikely at the moment and just think of him as a lab partner?' She thought to herself. 'It just doesn't happen.'

Ever since the potions accident, when she realized his reaction towards her, she had found herself occasionally studying him. It sometimes took her a moment to realize what she was doing, and she almost always caught herself before he noticed. But with all her observations of him over the time they worked together, she was able to read a bit of his body language, and she had a feeling. . .

He was hiding something from her.

But alas, he was still her teacher, and she his student, and thus questioning him, especially given his temperament, would be a very unwise thing to do.

Getting out of bed, she went to her bathroom. She showered, brushed her teeth and hair, and than took a look at her neck. The love bite from the night before was still there. How it had gotten there was a mystery.

Finishing getting ready for class, she put on a turtleneck and her regular uniform, and made her way to the common room and than the Great Hall to meet up with Harry, Ron, and Ginny for breakfast.

~@~

Hermione approached the breakfast table, still a bit tired from studying late and having a fitful sleep. When she got to her usual spot, she snuck a glance at the staff table, noticing Snape was not there. She had potions today, so she could speak to him later on about the. . . additional research she may need to look at before their next meeting. (Yeah. That's it!)

"Hey Hermione." Ginny said, groggily. Hermione noticed that Ginny was also wearing a turtleneck.

"Morning Gin. Rough night?" She asked playfully, indicating the turtleneck.

"About as rough as yours, apparently." Ginny replied. The two girls leaned their heads closer.

"Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Yup. You?" Ginny said.

"I don't think that's physically possible." Hermione replied. Ginny giggled silently.

"Who is he?" She asked.

"The man of my dreams." Hermione answered truthfully.

"You aren't going to tell me?" Ginny asked with feigned hurt.

"You'd never believe me if I did."

"Well, whatever your method for sneaking around is, let me know. Harry and I never left the common room, and I certainly didn't see you." Ginny said.

"Gin, the way you two carry on, I could sneak half the school through and you wouldn't notice."

"Morning girls." Harry said, sitting down. Ron, Dean, and Seamus followed suit. Hermione and Ginny looked at them for a few moments before bursting out in laughter.

All four of them were wearing turtlenecks.

~@~

"Shit! Harry!" Hermione said angrily. "Be more careful!"

"Sorry 'Mione." Harry said, putting the ketchup back on the table. He'd picked up the bottle and gave it a shake, resulting in some of it ending up on Hermione's shirt.

"Now I have to change." She got up, left the table, and made her way back to her room, hoping that she had an extra turtleneck.

She was just exiting the Great Hall, when Draco appeared before her (seemingly the only one not getting any action. . .I mean, without a turtleneck).

"Remember our meeting, Hermione." He said, approaching the Slytherin table.

Hermione shrugged her shoulders and continued to her room in search of a new shirt.

But the fates had decided to be unkind to our dear Granger girl this morning. For when she got to the portrait, the fat lady was missing.

"Hello?" Hermione called. It was quite unusual for the lady to be missing before classes began.

Suddenly, she came back to her frame, somewhat disheveled. "Password! Quickly!" She said in more of a panicked voice than was usual for her.

"Silly Snape Sniffs Stuff." Hermione said, shaking her head at the author, who apparently thinks alliterations are still tremendously funny.

"Get in!" The fat lady replied.

"Oh fair maiden! Wouldst thou grant me only the sound of your sweet, sweet voice?" Hermoine heard off to the distance. It sounded like Sir Caladon, but she didn't have any time to make the confirmation.

She made her way through the common room, up the stairs, and to her room. When she entered the room, she began to go through her drawers and wardrobe in hopes of finding a turtleneck. She knew there was another one, but where did it go? Looking on her bed, she found a note:

Dear Hermione,

I hope you don't mind, but I borrowed one of your shirts. I would have asked, but you left before I had the chance to. I really needed it, and will return it to you just as I found it.

Thanks,

Lavender.

"Damn it, Lavender. You couldn't have picked a worse day." She hissed, mentally reminding herself to ward her room from now on. Noticing that potions class was about to begin, Hermione grabbed another shirt, hoping that her hair would hide the mark, and ran back out of Gryffindor tower.

~@~

Snape entered his seventh year potions class, taking notice of the number of students wearing turtlenecks, and avoiding looking at Draco.

He began his lecture: "In preparation of your NEWT's, each of you will pick a potion from a list that I will hand out. You will each research your chosen potion, and than brew it. The final mark of this project will be based on a five-foot report on the discovery of the potion, and properties of each ingredient, as well as the final brewed result. You will get one class in two weeks time to brew your potion, and additional time outside of class for those potions that need it. I will allow no class time for your research."

He gave each student a copy of the list of potions, stumbling slightly when he noticed something on Hermione's neck, just where her dream had indicated that he. . .'Not now! Damn it Severus! A hard on in the middle of class is NOT a good thing!' He finished handing out the parchments, still thinking about it. 'When and how did she get that? Wait! I don't really want to know how, but who.' He needed to control his jealousy as well while in class. He could maybe find out about it later.

Collecting himself, he was once again at the podium. "When you have completed this, I will duplicate your reports in a summarized form and hand them to your classmates." He continued while staring at Neville. "If your reports are unsatisfactory, I will have you redo the written portion, and present the correct information to the class." Neville began to squirm in his chair.

"Now, today we will be looking at the advanced medicinal brews unit. Turn to page 350 and review the first chapter."

~@~

"Miss Granger. A moment." Snape called as he dismissed the class. Hermione nodded, and finished putting her books away, shooing Harry and Ron and telling them that she'd meet them for lunch. Once all the students had left, Hermione approached his desk.

"You wished to speak with me, sir?" She asked.

"Miss Granger, may I ask how you injured yourself?" He replied.

"Yes, sir." She said, a slight smile on her face. Silence.

"Pain in the ask." Snape muttered. "How did you injure yourself?" He fully expected her to come up with a lie that did not involve Harry, Ron, early morning, and invisibility cloak. But he was quite curious. The last thing he remembered the night before was her waking up from that *ahem* dream. Perhaps she did it this morning.

"I'm not sure I could really answer that, sir." She replied. "I really have no idea."

"No gallivanting around the school with a certain student?" He asked, catching himself before he said 'Slytherin'. He wasn't supposed to know about their meeting.

"No sir." She replied. "I just woke up, looked in the mirror, and saw a bruise on my neck. Why do you ask, sir?"

"Hmmm." Snape thought, realizing that he should look at the new ingredients he added to see if there were any other effects of the potion. "I have my reasons. I suggest you see Madam Pomfrey. I will still need your assistance and would rather you not become ill from an infection from an injury that could postpone the research."

"Yes, sir." Hermione replied. "Speaking of the research, are there any additional references that I might check out in the library?"

"I don't believe so, but you would probably know better than I." He said, referring to the unbelievable amount of time that she spent there.

"Thank you, sir." She said, smiling again. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Unless you are unable to complete your work on time, Miss Granger." He nodded.

She left the dungeons and made her way to lunch.

~@~

After classes finished for the day, Hermione made her way up to her room to drop off her books and do a little studying. Her meeting with Draco was set about 10 minutes before dinner started, so she had time to finish up her charms essay and study for the transfiguration test that they would have in two weeks.

She sat at her desk for what didn't seem like very long, until her cat decided that he'd been ignored long enough. Crookshanks was looking for a comfortable spot to sleep where he would get a lot of attention from his mistress. On the textbook she was reading was as good a place as any.

"Crookshanks. Move. I have to study." The cat looked at her like she was crazy. It was Crookshanks time! He than laid his head back down on the book, waiting for her to start scratching.

Unfortunately, he was disappointed. Hermione looked at the time on her clock and realized that she would have to meet up with Draco soon. She grabbed the robe that she had discarded on her bed when she entered her room, and went to blow out the candle that was on her desk. She made her way out the door, remembering to ward it this time, and made her way to the common room and out the portrait hole.

Crookshanks looked at the empty room. "Meow?"

~@~

Draco, meanwhile, was setting things up. After getting the information that he wanted out of Harry (rather easily, he might add. A little too easy.), he had it all together. There were candles floating throughout the room, he had the elves cook up Hermione's favorite dinner and dessert, and he had some soft Mozart playing in the background. He would have the upper hand tonight. He was prepared for that little tease.

He heard the door opening, and looked over to see Hermione enter the room.

"Come in." Draco said. "Close the door behind you and make yourself at home." The room had a large fireplace, some cushy chairs that he'd transfigured into a couch, and now had a dinner setting for two, complete with red and white roses in the middle.

"Draco. What's going on?" Hermione asked.

"Well, like I said the other day, I wanted to make amends for what I did, and I blamed myself for acting like some horny teen." He replied, grabbing a rose from the table, and walking slowly over to her. He offered her the rose.

"So this is how you'll make amends, hmmm?" Hermione asked, reaching out to grab the rose from him. When she did, he grabbed her wrist, firmly, but gently, and pulled her to him, slipping an arm around her waist.

"Yes. You don't like my methods?" Draco whispered, his face a few inches from her own.

Hermione was a bit flustered. "Draco, we're going to be late for dinner." She said.

"Ah. I've got it taken care of." Draco replied, taking the rose back, and tracing the soft petals of the flower from her forehead, down the bridge of her nose, and over her lips. "Come." He led her to the table, pulling out her chair for her. When he sat down, he waved his hand over the table, and the food appeared.

During the conversation, at first, Hermione was quite impressed. He could really wow them when he wanted to. But he soon returned back to his usual self, except he kept his voice a low murmur or whisper while giving off one sexual innuendo after another. Her mind drifted during one of his tales, and she soon came to focus somewhat on the research that she had to do. Research led to thoughts of Severus, and than to what this scenario would be like if he had been the one to set it up instead of Draco. She shivered slightly at the thought, and Draco mistook it for something that he said or did.

"Cold?" He asked, getting up. "I could warm you up."

He walked over to her, and held out his hand. She looked at it a moment, and with some hesitance, she took it. He pulled her from the seat, and muttered, "Change music." A slow waltz began, and he led her to a clear space in the room, and started dancing, pulling her closer to him. They danced in silence, him focusing on the curve of her neck, and her thinking about what other aspects of the unforgivables she should look at. Funny how dancing with Draco made her think of that.

Draco leaned down slowly, and blew some air softly on her neck, causing her to shiver involuntarily. He smiled to himself, and lowered his lips to that same spot, not missing the fact that she had what appeared to be a love bite on her neck already.

Hermione felt what he was doing, and pulled away. "Draco, I'm going to be bluntly honest with you." He looked at her with hurt in his eyes. She almost felt guilty, but than she knew that she'd feel even worse if she'd led him on. "I'm not romantically interested in you, and it's time for the games to stop."

Draco loosened his grip on her, knowing it was better to not argue with her. Well, there would be others, he shrugged. Still, his ego had taken quite a beating from her in the past couple of days. Nodding, he said, "Thank you for at least letting me know now before I humiliated myself any further." (Everybody? Awwww!)

"Can we at least still be friends?" She asked.

"Only if you promise me something." Draco replied.

"What's that?"

"That we can still flirt like mad with each other."

Hermione looked at him a moment, and smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"And, promise to have a bit more fun with the group. You know that we only push your buttons because we want you there with us."

"Only if you guys let me study when I need to." She said.

Draco thought for a moment. "Deal!" They shook hands. "Now let's get these candles out, and meet the others in the game room."

Hermione smiled, and they cleaned up the room.

~@~

Hermione sat in the chair by the fire. "Truth, dare, double dare, promise to repeat. . .



A/N:

Another game!!!

I had one of those moments of sanity during this chapter. It was really quite scary! I WAS THINKING RATIONALLY!!!! I hope it doesn't happen again.

HotsummerAK47: Down girl!!!

Revel_in_me: It was just a challenge that included Harry and Draco bringing Snape and Hermione together with a lot of sweets. But there will be another more detailed challenge at the end of the story.

Lana Riddle: Who said I was nice? They lied to you!

Goddessnmb1: True, they don't know for sure. But they suspect something. I suppose I could have Snape or Hermione scream it from the astronomy tower, but than we'd be missing out on all the embarrassing 'He/she can't know because he/she doesn't feel the same and he/she would laugh at me' stuff. Well, I can't have it now, but I can do the 'He/she likes when I do this but he/she is in fear of others knowing what he/she feels for the other, so they have secret meetings and play mind games that spirals down into the kinkiest possible. . .*ahem* sorry, I got a little carried away there.

Zoe: Was it obvious? Are you sure you know what he was doing/dreaming/thinking? I could just be messing with your mind.

Cassandra: And I thought I was being mean to Draco. More Draco angst? We'll see.

Ruby: Darling, I'm a Canadian, eh? (It's rare that I do that, BTW). MOOOMMMYY!!! *hee hee hee* But I suppose that it since it is based over in Scotland, I really shoulda put 'u' instead of 'o'. I'll just file that under 'm' for "Meh!"