"AHHHHH! Why did I look?!?" Ron screamed, running out from the dormitories. Ginny and Harry looked up from what they were doing, giving Ron a questioning look.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

A few seconds behind them, came Neville and an unknown girl. From the looks of the robes, she was from Ravenclaw. Both ran through the common room, and past the portrait. Ginny looked over at Ron. "Didn't you know about them?" She asked.

"Who was that? And how and why is she in the Gryffindor tower?" Harry asked.

"That's Dannie." Ginny replied. "I don't know how she gets in, but I've seen Neville and her leave the common room rather early in the morning a couple of times since November."

"What were they doing to cause them to run down here?" Harry asked Ron.

"Harry?" Ron said. "Think real HARD!" It took a couple of seconds for it to click in with what Ron was trying to say, but than blushed a brilliant red that rivaled the Weasley hair.

Hermione came down the stairs, looking at Ron. "What was all that yelling?" She asked.

"Dannie was here again." Ginny replied.

"I told that chick to avoid getting caught. I don't want to have to deduct house points from them because she's up here." Hermione replied. "They were doing a good job about it. I wonder why she was late leaving."

"Man. None of you are being all that swift this morning." Ron said.

~@~

"Enter." Severus called out as he heard the knock come. He knew Hermione would be around to see him. Glad she chose sooner rather than later, he offered her a seat and a cup of tea to stall for some time. When he'd woken up that morning, he made a decision that he felt he should have made from the beginning, if not immediately after their kiss.

"Thank you." Hermione said when he handed her a cup. Severus took the seat across from her.

"There are some things we need to discuss." He said bluntly. She nodded her head, and put her cup on his desk. "I have made a decision, though I doubt you'll like it. But just hear me out."

From the look in his eyes, she could tell this was not going to be a pleasant conversation. "What is it, Severus?" She asked. He winced slightly at the name, she noticed.

"I have decided that we can no longer work together, Miss Granger." He said.

"What?!?" Hermione cried out, nearly jumping out of her chair. "Why?"

"Do you really need to ask me that?" He said, remaining calm and seated. "It is obvious that although we have agreed to keep our relationship a working one until at least the end of the school year, I find that I am. . .unable," He choked out, "unable to control myself much longer." He looked up at her, and wished he hadn't. Her face seemed to drop slightly as she sat back down in the chair, seemingly to collect her thoughts. "Take Christmas Eve. I shouldn't have kissed you."

Hermione looked up at him, the pain evident in her eyes. "You regret it." She stated bluntly.

"No." He whispered. "Never."

"You are being rather contradictory today." She snapped back. "You say you shouldn't have kissed me, but you don't regret it. Care to explain?"

"Now that it's happened, I wouldn't want to take it back." He replied, his eyes pleading with her.

"Wouldn't want to, but you would." She said. "Don't lie to me."

Severus looked back up at her. He really didn't know. The feel of her lips against his, the way her body molded to him as he held her tighter, the way she whimpered. But as right as it felt to hold her against him, it was wrong. If he could, as much as it would pain him to do so, he would probably take it back (Bastard!), if it would only help ease the complications. At least before he'd kissed her, he felt he could control himself. When the school year restarted, surely people would notice the change in his demeanor.

Hermione took his silence as a positive answer. She took a deep breath, and nodded. "Well than. I'll see you in class, Professor." She said quietly. He made no move to stop her as she got up, and walked out the door.

~@~

For the next few days, Hermione had spent the time she would normally have been working with Professor Snape in the library, continuing her theories on the unforgivables. It was a project they had begun together, and it was one she would want to continue; with or without him. Harry, Ron, Draco, Ginny, and Jessica all were concerned with her behaviour. Although it was most like her to spend so much time in the library, it was unlike her to be so passive with the group. Even when they were in the game room, she said nothing during the games and conversations unless she was pushed to do so. Her nose went back to her book, and she rarely looked up.

The staff was also concerned with her. Not only was she not at breakfast, which was normal for her during the holidays, she was skipping dinner as well. When she'd come to lunch, she ate quickly, and left. She no longer spoke to anyone unless she couldn't avoid it. She couldn't put a name to how she felt after Snape had pushed her away.

Snape, who was rarely in the Great Hall at all, did not seem to have changed. It seemed better that she didn't see him, since sending her away did not seem to impact him at all. Behind closed doors, he, too, dove himself into his work. He continued with the potions that they were working on or on potions that Poppy had needed for her stores. But the silence was getting to him.

It was New Year's Eve that found both Snape and Hermione in their respective parts of the castle, with no plans of making an appearance. The Headmaster headed down for the dungeons. They had guests after all.

"Severus?" Albus called.

"Yes, Headmaster." Severus answered, not looking up from his caldron, and adding the next ingredient.

"Are you ready for the New Year's party?"

"I'm not going, Albus. You know how much I hate to be present at any social function." Severus replied.

"Well, I'm sure Haywood would come down here to say his hellos." Dumbeldore replied. "But it is still polite to come and greet them at the door."

"Who said I was polite?" Severus replied, putting the lid on the caldron to wait for the potion to boil.

"Why did you do it?" Albus said, seemingly coming out of nowhere. Severus looked at him, slightly confused. "Why are you throwing Hermione out of your life?"

Looking slightly shocked, Snape sputtered, "Headmaster?" Albus took a seat in the lab, looking at the potions master, and seemingly waiting for an answer. When none seemed to be coming, he continued.

"Severus, we all had to give up something in the war. For years, it was your life. Not your physical life of course, but you lost out on living. It is obvious that you feel something for Miss Granger, and her feelings are mutual. I was hoping I could give you a little 'push' in the right direction, but it seems that I'll have to be blunt."

"I'm not throwing her out of my life, firstly." Snape thought for a moment. "That was your mistletoe on Christmas, wasn't it?" He said, finally understanding how it was able to get through the floo, despite his security measures. Albus nodded, the damnable twinkle in his eye. "Albus."

"She's 18. If I'm not mistaken, that is the legal age of majority, is it not?"

"That's besides the point. She's a student. It wouldn't be appropriate." Snape continued to argue.

"A student who would have no self motive of seeing a teacher. Our star pupil, after all, does not need to use, shall we say, extracurricular activities to maintain her grades." Albus countered. "And I have never seen you more relaxed. When you joined in the snowball fight that day, you had an aura about you. I was surprised by how unwound you seemed to be."

Shaking his head, Severus went back to his caldron. "I will not be deterred. I have my ethics, even though they seemed to have been questionable in the past few weeks."

"Well, your presence is still required at the New Year's get together tonight. I expect you to be there." Albus said, shaking his head. He got up from the chair, and headed for the doorway. Turning to face the potions master's back, he said, "I truly pity you, Severus." Snape turned around, looking in surprise at the Headmaster. "I don't think I've ever seen anybody work so hard at being miserable." And with those final words, he walked out of the dungeons.

~@~

"Hermione, you coming?" Ron asked, knocking on the door. Hermione opened it, and regretted getting up. Her face paled as she suddenly ran to the bathroom. Ron followed her as soon as the sound of retching subsided.

"You ok, 'Mione?" Ron asked with concern.

"Of course I am. I just force the contents out of my stomach as a hobby." She replied shortly, holding her hair out of the way and feeling another wave of nausea hit her. Ron went over to her cabinet and grabbed a facecloth, wetting it, and holding it to her.

"I was going to ask if you were going to come down to the Great Hall with us, but I'll take it your answer will be no." Ron said.

"How remarkably perceptive of you." Hermione replied, pressing the facecloth to her forehead, and wiping away the fluids around her face. Ron took this opportunity to find out what was wrong with her.

"Hermione, what's happened?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"Well, you haven't been acting yourself lately." He replied. "You usually study hard, and normally don't participate in the games, but you've seemed, I don't know. . .upset."

"It's nothing. I must have just been feeling down before the nausea hit." She replied.

"It's about Snape, isn't it?" Ron said, hazarding a guess. Hermione looked up at him, than nodded.

"How did you know?" She asked.

"Well, I know you and your research, and you haven't been down to Snape's office for awhile to work on the potions." Ron said. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" When no reply came for a few moments, Ron continued. "Please? I promise that nothing leaves this room, and I won't blow up at you."

"It's nothing." Hermione finally said. "I just need to rest until this passes." She said. "Thank you for your concern though."

"Anytime you need to talk, 'Mione." Ron said, helping her back to her bed, and tucking her in.

"Thank you." She replied before falling asleep.

~@~

Snape did end up going to the New Year's get together, and meeting up with his old college buddy.

"Snappy! How you doin'?" Haywood called out. Snape scowled at him and his nickname. "Bright and chipper as always."

"Yes, well, I heard that your rug burns had healed nicely." Snape replied with a smirk. "The ones on your knees or the ones on your back, I wasn't told. Bet you'll start to think before you act now."

"Why couldn't I have learned that before I married?" Another man came up behind him.

"Ah. Craven, meet Snappy. Snappy, Craven." Haywood said, making introductions. The two men shook hands.

"I take it you are Ivant's father?" Snape asked. Craven nodded.

"Yup. I love my little girl, but she takes after her mother way too much." Craven replied. "Hasn't learned to loosen up a bit and have some fun. I'm still trying to get that whole 'mudblood' crap out of her head."

"Good luck, Craven." Jessica said, coming over to the group and greeting her father.

"Thanks. I think I'll need it." Craven replied, than looked over at Draco. "Malfoy Jr. How are you?"

"I'm good, sir." Draco replied.

"Ivant told me all about you." Craven continued. "Insisted that she was going to be a part of the Malfoy line, or some nonsense like that."

"Definite nonsense." Jessica said. "Happy Christmas, father." She continued, turning to Haywood. She had a mischievous glint in her eye that Haywood knew all too well.

Haywood pulled her in for a hug. "Whatever you're up to, just don't get caught." Haywood whispered, chuckling as she replied, "I don't know what you're talking about." With the most innocent eyes she could possibly achieve. "Come on, Draco."

"Excuse us, Snappy. Need to speak to Professor Dumbledore." Haywood said, as he and Craven made their way towards the headmaster.

"Of course. Join me for a round later?" Snape asked.

"Of course. But no drinking games." Haywood said. "I don't think either of us will stand a chance against you."

At that point, Ron had made his way over to the potions master. Unable to find the mediwitch, he decided the next best place to get a potion for Hermione would be from him. Hearing the last comment made by Haywood, he thought to himself, 'Professor Snape and games does not fit in the same sentence.'

Approaching Snape, he cleared his throat. "Excuse me, sir?" He asked.

Snape rolled his eyes before facing him. "What is it, Mr Weasley?"

Well, maybe asking Snape for a favour wouldn't be such a good idea. "I was wondering if you'd seen Madam Pomfrey." Snape shook his head. "Okay. Um. . ." He didn't really want to ask, not wanting to annoy the Professor any more than usual.

"Out with it." Snape commanded.

"Well, Hermione's taken ill, and I was wondering if you. . .I mean. . .if there's a potion that you may have." Ron said, a bit hesitantly.

Snape was slightly concerned. Hermione was sick? How so? "What ailment does she have?" He asked, trying to sound impatient.

"Probably just a stomach flu. She's been throwing up since I last saw her, and it looked like she had been sick for a bit of time."

"I'll have a house elf take a potion to her." Snape said, turning around to speak with the Headmaster. He was about to excuse himself, but the Headmaster nodded before he could open his mouth. Nodding back, Snape made his way down to the dungeons.

~@~

Snape was slightly apprehensive when he got to the classroom to look for the vial he would need. The reason? He wasn't sure if it was a stomach flu that Hermione had. Remembering back to when she received a. . .a. . .an injury on her neck from one of their dreams together, he wondered if there was another dream that he could not remember, and they had gone further. What if she were. . .

"That's ridiculous." Snape said out loud. How could that happen? Whenever there was an encounter, he always remembered it (AND HOW!). And besides, it was an injury that did not necessarily require him to actually be there at the time. Not wanting to take a chance, he grabbed a couple of vials for different ailments, and made his way to one of the passages that led to Gryffindor tower. He approached the portrait for the common room, and said the staff emergency password, 'Damn you'. (What? The language of the staff seems entirely too nice. They need a reason to curse every now and than.)

He entered the room, scaring the daylights out of poor Neville and Dannie, who were making out on the couch while they thought no one around. Not wanting to cause a scene that would result of him being seen headed for the Gryffindor girls dorms, he turned to the two, "Twenty points from Ravenclaw for being in the Gryffindor tower, and thirty from Gryffindor for allowing it. You should know better." He snapped. "Now get out!" Both students ran from the room. Once the portrait was closed again, he made his way up to where Hermione's room was. Luckily, the doors were all labeled, and he found it quickly.

Too bad he didn't take into account the wards that Hermione still had around her room. As soon as he touched the doorknob, he received a slight shock. "What the hell?" He hissed quietly. He reached for the knob again (BIG MISTAKE!!!), and noticed that the party downstairs wasn't the only one that was starting.

"Interesting choice of wards." He said, more to himself. Using a small freezing spell, he unwarded the room, and walked in. Hermione was fast asleep on her bed, her face was slightly pale, and she was sweating. He walked up slowly to the bedside, and reached a hand down to feel her forehead. Reaching for his wand, he spoke a few Latin phrases, pointing the end at Hermione's stomach, watching for the signs.

Holding his breath for a few moments, he was relieved to find that the cause of her illness was a slight allergy. He reached in his pockets for the vial that would help, and set it on her bedside table. Checking to make sure that the allergy wasn't too serious that would warrant waking her, he grabbed a small facecloth from the bathroom, and gently wiped her face with it. Dimming the fireplace, he left the room, replacing the wards before leaving the tower.

~@~

"Did you see how fast he left?" Draco asked when Snape left the party. Ron had told him about Hermione being ill just before he went to look for Snape.

"It's so cute that he's concerned about her." Jessica replied. "But Hermione will feel better soon."

"Really." Draco drawled, looking at her. Her innocent façade did not fool him. After all, he learned from Hermione that the more innocent a female looks, the guiltier she probably is. "What did you do?"

"Nothing." Jessica replied sweetly. Draco eyed her. "Oh, all right. I put a little something in her food at lunch. I knew Madame Pomfrey had left to visit family yesterday, and the only logical person left to go to was either McGonagall, who would not know what to do right away, and would therefore probably be useless, or Snape, who could help her with the stomach cramps she probably has."

"You poisoned her?" Draco said in astonishment.

"She'll live." Jessica replied. "And I'll apologize at the wedding."

"Wedding? I was just looking for kinky sex." Draco replied.

"Play your cards right, Draco." Jessica said, walking away after giving him an almost angelic look.

"Damn you and your so called innocent hide." Draco muttered, before following her through the crowd.

~@~

Dannie and Neville walked into the Great Hall. They approached Ginny and Harry, grabbing some refreshments from the tables. Ginny looked over at Dannie. "Got caught, I presume." Ginny said.

"How'd you know?" Dannie replied.

"Well, I haven't seen either of you all night, and I know that someone was headed up to check on Hermione. Apparently she's not feeling well."

"So that's why Professor Snape was up there." Neville said. Ginny nodded. "Is it just me, or does something seem different about him?"

"Probably you and your lust clouded brain." Harry replied, pointing at Dannie's rather flustered state. Shaking his head, he added, "You guys are worse than rabbits, I hear."

Dannie leaned in closer to Neville, whispering huskily into his ear. "Not that it's a bad thing mind you. But the behaviour is the only thing that reflects such a. . .ahem. . .small creature." Neville turned bright red, excusing himself, and pulling her out of the Great Hall.

"Like I said." Ginny said to Harry. Harry looked at her, somewhat confused. "All you men are." (HORNY TOADS!!!!)

A/N:

They had a fight. Sorry.

I know I should really let up on these names. But I was thinking of a name for Craven's ex-wife. What do you guys think of 'Constance'? Constance Moorehed.

Spike-Lover: Hee hee hee. Evil!

Ann no aku: Sorry. But Snape is Hermione's this story.

Atalaya: No problem. I do what I can.

Revel_in_me: I hope you weren't too late. What would you tell them for your reason? Really. I wanna know!!

Dannie7: Did I shock you?

Vicsend: it, it, it. Or did you want me to say something else fast? Say this. . .x x x x x x x; as fast as you can!!

HotsummerAK47: I'm concerned that too much detail could get me kicked off. But we'll see.

FoxyChic4u: You seem to be getting a bit feisty here. Gotta love kinky! Do you have a chicken?

Jan McNeville: I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve.

Halvicfuc: Hee hee hee. I've gots plans.

The Man-Eating Dust Bunny: *chokes* Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee. . .