A/N: Sorry to all for the huge amount of time since my last update. Been having problems with my computer, plus awful writer's block. Hope the length of this chapter makes up for such a long wait. Please review and let me know what you think! Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: The usual disclaimer applies. Harry Potter and all characters belong to J. K. Rowling…but how I wish I had made them up!

The Secret

Chapter Seventeen; Enlightenment

"Mum, Dad, I know what I'm doing, alright?!"

"But Rose, dear, I just cannot believe you are remarrying that…that…him!! After all he's put you through…and done to you! You're going to just turn around and forget it all in the, what, two days you've been back there with him?!" Rose's mother, Agnes, asked incredulously.

Rose, having Floo-ed her parents first thing that morning with news of her upcoming wedding, was now sitting with her parents in the sitting room in the quarters Albus had given her. It would have been quite a pleasant breakfast, a reunion between her and her parents, if it had not been for the conversation. With an internal sigh, she refocused on what her mother was saying.

"I mean, really Rose! These past years you have been a miserable wreck! The months after your divorce, you wouldn't even leave the house! And you see the man for the first time in eight or nine years, for only two or three days, I might add, and you're already planning on remarrying him? I just can't believe you would even contemplate marrying the man who made you so unhappy in the first place!" she finished, throwing her hands up in the air, exasperated beyond belief.

As Jeffrey, her father, walked over to place a comforting hand on her mother's shoulder, Rose sighed again. "Mum, I know that it's hard for both you and dad to understand. Especially because, over the years, I've only ever told you how much I was in pain. I never told you that I still loved him, or missed him so much that it physically hurt sometimes to think of how stupid we both were. No Mum, don't even say it was his only fault, because it wasn't wholly his. I was the one who walked away from him, from our marriage, because he refused to let go of the one thing in his life that I never, ever should have asked him to give up. But, seeing him now…" she trailed off, staring at the fireplace.

As Agnes was about to comment again, Rose spoke up again. "Mum, he has been as miserable and hopeless, if not more, as I have been these past years. I don't remember ever seeing him so cold, so distant, so shut off from all human contact and emotion. It was a shock to see him again," Understatement of the century there she thought, "and seeing him as he was made the whole thing worse, because I know that I am the reason why he is the man he is today. Or was, before we talked. And yes, we talked, a lot. We had nine years worth of catching up to do, and plenty of problems to solve. And while we haven't even come close to solving all of them…"

She paused, searching for the words to convince her parents that she wanted this, needed this, with all her heart.

She looked up at her parents, her eyes full of anguish, uncertainty, love, and, something that had not shown itself in a long while, happiness. "Mum, Dad, we have wasted eight years…eight precious years without each other, without each other's love, or comfort, or support. And all because of a stupid fight that shouldn't have happened in the first place. He should have been there for me, to help me through all of Lila's birthdays and the anniversaries of her death, to help with the grief and the mourning. And I should have been there for him; to help him as well…we have never stopped loving each other, that much has become quite apparent to both of us. We want, more than anything, to return to being husband and wife," she paused again, before straightening slightly. "I truly, truly hope you give us your blessings again and accept Severus back into this family…but I'm sorry to say that whether you do or not, I will be remarrying Sev the Saturday after next. I just hope you'll be there to give me away again," she finished resolutely, her jaw set firmly in determination.

Agnes gasped in shock, her hand flying to her throat. She refused to believe what had just come out of her daughter's mouth. "Are you serious? You would go against our wishes?" she asked faintly. She glanced at her husband. Jeffrey had gone pale at the statement, but was watching their daughter thoughtfully.

"Oh mum," Rose said softly. "Please don't force me to. You know I would never even contemplate doing something like that if it weren't so completely important to me. But mum, dad, we're in our forties. We don't want to wait anymore. I know it seems like we are rushing into this (a snort from her father) but I assure you, it is something that we both desperately need to do…something I need to do. I need to feel whole again. And the time I've spent with Severus these past few days, when we were talking, and when he proposed again, I did. I haven't felt like this since Lila died. And I know he hasn't either. He's been so miserable these past eight years, even more so that I was. Oh, he had changed so much, strayed so much from the loving, tender man I was married to. Now, students are afraid of him, call him a greasy git, and-"

"And you still want to marry him? When he's so horrible to students that they call him such names?" Agnes interrupted, disbelieving.

"But don't you see? I made him this way. And it kills me to realize that. I could never imagine that my Severus, my sweet, loving, wonderful husband, could become the cold, lonely, harsh man he is today, who has no friends and who barely leaves his room but to teach. When I said yes to him, he was…it was like he was a man dying of starvation being offered as much food as he wanted. Mum, he was practically sobbing! I have never seen him like that, ever! Not even when Lila died. He completely broke down, we both did. It was then that I realized how much we had both been hurting, both been yearning for the same thing. And now, yes even thought it's after only three days, we want to get married again. No, we need to get married again, to feel complete, to belong to one another. And I hope, with all my heart, that you respect our…my wishes. Please," she finished, the last word whispered pleadingly to her parents.

There was silence in the sitting room as Agnes and Jeffrey digested what Rose had just said. As they were about to answer, a knock reverberated throughout the silent chambers. With a glance at her parents, Rose stood to answer the door.

"Albus!" she greeted in surprise before ushering the elder wizard into her quarters.

"Hello Albus, what brings you here?" a surprised Agnes asked, rising to greet him.

"Hello Agnes, Jeffrey. What a pleasure to see you after all this time," Albus said warmly, shaking Jeffrey's hand and kissing the back of Agnes's. "As for my visit this morning, I am afraid I have to steal Rose away from you two. She has a class that begins in roughly ten minutes, I believe," he said, smiling at the three others.

His smile widened as Rose gasped in shock and began rushing around the room. In almost no time, she had gathered all the papers and books needed for her class and had stuffed them into her satchel. As she quickly scanned the room for anything else she might need, she said distractedly, "Mum, dad, please think about what I said. I'll Floo you later, alright?" With that, she stuffed her wand in her pocket, quickly pecked the cheeks of her mother and father and rushed out the door.

Albus chuckled to himself before turning to the other two adults who were still standing where they had been when he had arrived.

"I'm afraid almost every teacher goes through that last minute rush right before their first class," he said jovially before waving a hand at the half eaten breakfast. "Please, sit and finish eating."

Once the three were comfortable at the small table, and the coffee and tea had been served, Jeffrey abruptly broke the silence.

"So I take it you know of this?" he asked fairly gruffly, still worried about his only daughter.

Knowing exactly what 'this' was, and how serious the topic was to the two in front of him, he silently nodded and sipped his tea.

"When did it happen? How did it happen?" Agnes asked.

"To tell you the truth, I think it was my fault. You see, I hadn't realized that Rose was the Rose. So when I introduced her to the school on Monday, the two saw each other for the first time. It was…intense, to say the least. They were almost incapable of speech, they just stood there staring in shock at each other. Once we were in the teacher's lounge, before I left them alone, I could practically feel the air between them crackling. I didn't have a chance to see Severus until the next morning, but in that short amount of time, something must have happened, for I saw a transformed man the next morning."

"So you agree that the two remarrying would be a good idea?" Jeffrey asked uncertainly.

"Absolutely," Albus answered immediately, smiling. "And I support the decision completely. I have not seen Severus so open to others since their divorce so many years ago. He hasn't been this relaxed or happy in a long time. He is a completely different man from the cold and uncaring man he had become after Rose left him. However, and I hate that this is so, this change is only seen away from the eyes of others, for safety reasons obviously."

"So he is still working for you then?"

Albus nodded and was silent for several seconds before answering. "I must admit that I wish he wasn't. These past years have been incredibly hard on all of us, yet most of all on Severus. He has had to endure spying on Voldemort and trying to prove his loyalty to that man, combined with the death of his beloved daughter and the departure of Rose. The strain was too much for him and that is where the harsh and unhappy man manifested from. I don't know how he has managed to stay sane through all of this. I whole-heartily wish I could set him free from his role."

"And with all of this, the reason why Rose left in the first place, you still think it's a good idea to let them remarry?" Rose asked incredulous.

Albus nodded seriously. "Yes, I do. You see, before Rose left, she was his foundation, his rock. Whenever he would return from the meetings and the revels, she would be there to make him feel human again…to make him feel, after so many hours of shutting off all emotion. She was the reason why he kept going back, kept fighting for more information, as well as why he kept coming back. And I must admit that, while I hoped and prayed for it, I was surprised when he lasted as long as he did without her. And even though it has been less than a week since she had returned, there are several of us who can already see the life in him returning. I truly hope she can once more become his home and give him the hope and love he had all those years ago," he finished softly.

~*~*~*~*~

"Finally! Lunch!" Harry exclaimed, throwing himself onto a bench at the Gryffindor table, followed by Ron and a more contained Hermione. Harry laughed as Hermione rolled her eyes at his and Ron's antics, as they eagerly awaited the arrival of the food.

"What?" he asked innocently, grinning widely at Hermione.

"Boys," she muttered good-naturedly, before grinning back at Harry.

The three were in high spirits, after just coming from another successful Charms class. Ron seemed to have forgotten about the mornings activities, and was engaged in a heated Quidditch conversation with Harry and Ginny, who had arrived shortly after the three, while Hermione let her thoughts wander.

Hermione was just taking a sip of pumpkin juice when a scroll of parchment suddenly appeared on her plate. Startled, she sputtered on her juice and started coughing. Ron, Harry and Ginny immediately began asking her if she was alright, and trying to help her to stop coughing. As she finally settled down again and was able to breathe correctly, she quietly mentioned why she had started coughing in the first place.

They were as surprised as she was at the note in front of her.

"But how did it get there? There's no post during lunch, and usually, notes just don't pop up in front of people," Ron said, confused and suspicious about the note.

"Unless its been tampered with in some way," Harry stated. "You know, get us to open it and it hexes us or poisons us or something."

Ginny, who had been looking around the Great Hall as the other three bickered back and forth about what was in the note and who could have sent it, finally spoke up.

"Guys, you think Draco sent it?" she asked, casually nodding her head to where the blond boy sat.

As inconspicuously as possible (well, as inconspicuous as four people turning as one to stare at someone across the room can be) the four turned to look at the Slytherin. As they watched, he turned to look at them and nodded at Hermione before turning away again as quickly as possible.

"It could be him," Hermione muttered, "maybe it's about this morning or something," she said, and then mentally smacking herself as Ron turned red as he remembered the morning's comments.

Before Ron could start ranting about the other boy, Harry urged Hermione to open the parchment, curious as to what had been written.

With one last glance at Draco, Hermione broke the seal and unrolled the parchment. She quickly read the short note to herself before passing to the others in the group.

"Humph, sorry my arse," Ron muttered, ignoring Hermione's and Ginny's simultaneous 'Ron!!' "He's probably just apologizing to us to keep up the pretense."

"Come on, Ron. Stop being such a prat!" Ginny exclaimed. "Maybe he actually is sorry, ever think of that?"

"Do you think we should meet him tonight?" Harry asked quietly.

"I don't see why not, he says he has something to tell us," Hermione answered, taking back the piece of parchment. Glancing around the room to make sure no one was watching, she quickly burned the note until all that was left was a pile of ashes.

"It's probably a trap. I mean, why else would he want us up in the Astronomy Tower at ten thirty?" Ron asked, stubbornly refusing to contemplate that Draco was actually sincere in his apologies on the train.

"Ron, give it up, alright? At least give the guy a chance!" Harry finally exclaimed, exasperated with Ron's comments.

"Guys, maybe we should just go to class and talk about this later?" Hermione interrupted before the two could start fighting.

Grumbling the two followed Hermione as they left the Great Hall, waving goodbye to Ginny on their way out.

~*~*~*~*~

"Pst."

"…"

"Psst."

"…"

"Psssst!!"

"…"

"HEY! PSSSSSST!!!!"

"Niki, WHAT?!?"

"Shhhhhh!!!"

"Alright, alright. What?"

"Whatcha doing?"

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Heh heh, sorry."

"Well? What do you want?"

"Oh yea, um, hold on I forgot."

"Bloody hell Niki! Leave me alone!"

"…"

"…"

"Jordan."

"…"

"Joordaan."

"…"

Joooordaaaan! Psssst!!!"

"That's it! What in Merlin's name do you bloody hell want!?!?"

"Geez! No need to get cranky!"

"I'm trying to write a bloody Transfigurations Essay. You know how hard McGonagall is when grading these things! I don't need your stupid interruptions right now, alright?!"

"Oooh, someone's a little touchy today. Wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?"

"Niki!! What. Do. You. Want?"

"Ok, ok, don't get your knickers in a twist. Oh, and stop growling. You sound like a rabid dog for Merlin's sake."

"Niki…"

"No, really. You're all like 'grrrrr'."

"Niki…"

"Now all you're missing is the foaming at the mouth…oh wait, nope, there you go; looks like you got that one down, too."

"NIKI!!"

"Yeeeeaaahhh! Geez, Jordan! No need for violence. I just wanted to talk to you!"

"Unh!! Aren't you supposed to be at lunch?"

"Wasn't hungry. Besides, if I'm supposed to be there, why aren't you there?"

"I told you, I have to do this stupid Transfigurations Essay. Now, tell me what you want so that you can leave me alone."

"She's nice, huh? Do you like her?"

"…"

"What? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"That's it? That's what you've been bugging me about for the past fifteen minutes?"

"Well duh! Why else would I want to talk to you?"

"Why not just come out and say it then? What's with all the other nonsense?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You know, for someone with our family genes and intelligence, you sure can be stupid sometimes, you know that?"

"What?"

"Did you not see the other Slytherins is the room? Just because its lunchtime doesn't mean that there aren't any other Slyths in the room."

"…"

"Ya. And how do we always get them to leave if we want to talk about something?"

"…"

"No need to start growling at me again, you know it's true. The only way people'll leave us alone in here without suspecting anything is if we start fighting."

"Yea, yea. I know, I know. I forgot, alright?"

"Don't know how you could. Our fights are practically infamous in the Slytherin dorms. Why else would I be bugging you so much?"

"Hmmm I don't know, maybe because you're my annoying little sister?"

"Yea, but you love me anyway. But seriously, before people start coming back from lunch, she's really nice, right?"

"Yea, she is. I can't believe it's her though. I mean, she's been here all these years, right under our noses, literally. I mean, not a day went by in here when Malfoy and his goons weren't talking about her and the others. And the whole time…"

"Yea I know. Makes, you think, huh."

"Yea."

"In Muggle Studies, she was thrilled to find out we were all here. I swear, I thought she was going to start singing or something."

"Yea, well when you grow up thinking you're the only child in the whole family, finding out you have cousins might do that to you."

"Yea, I know."

"…What? I know that look. What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"…"

"Well, I mean. Can you believe it? She's the one that's going to, you know!"

"Yea, I know."

"She's only sixteen!"

"And our cousin. I find that ironic."

"Why?"

"Well, who's our uncle?"

"Yea…so?"

"Who is our uncle 'loyal' to? And who is going to kill Him?"

"Ah, got it. Yea, I can see the irony in that. You know, we should help her all we can."

"Well yea, but what do you have in mind?"

"We've been taught how to defend ourselves since this whole mess started, Jordan. I highly doubt she knows how to defend herself like we do, even with all the reading up on hexes and dueling she's done. I wonder if Uncle is going to be training her."

"Oh, that kind of help. I'm sure he is. I mean, you know how paranoid he is about that. Why do you think we've had lessons since forever?"

"True, true. But it would also give us a reason to see her more."

"Yea, that's a good point."

"So what do you say? Should we offer her our help?"

"Sure, why not? Worst she can say is no."

"Knowing her, she'll jump at the chance to spend time with us and learn as much as she can."

"What do you mean, knowing her? You barely know her."

"Are you kidding? Everyone here knows her and what she's like. I mean, come on Jordan! Everyone in my year, at least, complains about her determination and thirst for knowledge. She would probably freak out if she knew how much the Slytherins actually knew about her."

"Yea, that's true. Definitely would not want to be on her bad side if that news ever gets to her."

"Nope, definitely not."

"So when do you think we should approach her to-"

"Shhh, do your work for a sec."

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Alright, they're gone."

"Who...Niki, who?"

"Malfoy and the muscles."

"Oh."

"Yea. Although, have you noticed that he hasn't been letting them follow him everywhere this year so far?"

"Yea, I have noticed that. Wonder why that is?"

"No clue. He's also been…I don't know, quieter I guess, ya know?"

"Yea. Well, I think it's best to end this now, before others come in."

"Good idea. I have DADA in like fifteen minutes anyway. Wonder how that's going to go."

"Dunno. I heard her classes this morning were interesting though. I don't have it till tomorrow."

"Lucky. Don't really know how I'm supposed to act, you know?"

"Yea. I guess, just act as if you don't know her at all, as if she wasn't your aunt and won't be again in two weeks."

"Heh, right. No biggie."

"You should go, and I need to concentrate."

"Thanks for the chat, bro."

"Don't call me bro."

"Yea, yea. Have fun with Transfigurations."

"Hah hah, so funny."

"Hey, I thought it was."

"Are you leaving yet?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you want me to go?"

"Go bother Casper or someone else."

"Aw, but Jordan, no one's as fun to bug as you! Heh heh and you really have to get out of that habit of growling. Definitely not becoming at all…alright, alright I'm going!"

"About bloody time!"

"See you at dinner."

"For Merlin's sake, just leave already! Go to class!"

"Fine, fine. Adios, big bro."

"Bloody annoying twerp."

"I heard that!"

"Merlin help me."

~*~*~*~*~

"So what do you think she's going to be like?" Harry asked Hermione and Ron as they made their way to towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Ron was still sulking slightly about Draco Malfoy.

"Dunno," he said glumly, then perking up slightly at the thought of the woman who had walked into the Great Hall a few days before. "Hopefully she'll be nicer than Moody. She's definitely better looking," he said, then quickly blushed and stammered, "S-sorry Harry."

Harry, at the mention of Mad-Eye-Moody's name, had blanched and faltered slightly. This was, of course, a completely natural reaction a person would have at the name of someone who attempted to kill him.

"S'okay," he mumbled, quickly resuming his pace and ignoring the worried glances he was receiving from Hermione and Ron, the Malfoy argument forgotten for the time being.

Poor Harry, Hermione couldn't help but think. Hasn't he suffered enough? she asked herself. Giving in to impulse, she reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze before letting her hand fall back to her side. She blushed slightly as she tried to convince herself that she had grabbed his hand simply for comforting purposes, and that she absolutely did not feel a thrill when holding his hand. She quickly turned her head away from Harry and Ron, hoping beyond hope that Ron hadn't seen anything and that both boys were oblivious to her blush.

If she had been looking at Harry, she would have seen a similar blush rising on his cheeks, as well as him trying to hide said blush. He, too, tried to persuade himself that she was just trying to cheer him up and that he hadn't felt something when she had abruptly taken his hand. And of course he hadn't felt disappointment when she had let go. And even though he tried to stuff the thought into the back of his mind, he could not stop himself from wondering if she had taken his hand to comfort him or because of something else.

Ron, whose own small crush on Hermione had completely dissipated that summer, was much more observant than the others gave him credit for. He saw this rather interesting exchange and chuckled softly to himself. He quickly covered it and tried to ease the new tension between his friends by launching into his hopes for this years DADA class. He couldn't help but find the situation amusing, however, especially when considering how stubborn the two were most likely going to be before admitting their mutual attraction.

Both Harry and Hermione were silent for some time, both were lost in their own thoughts and not listening as Ron aimlessly chattered away to himself, knowing full well that they were both off in other worlds. By the time the three sat down in the empty classroom (the three were the first ones in the room, since they had left lunch early to avoid the argument about Draco), the two had managed to join Ron in his conversation, pushing the event to the back of their minds for later evaluation.

As the rest of the Gryffindor fifth years made their way to seats throughout 'their' side of the room, there was friendly chatter as they waited for the other House and the Professor to arrive.

The bubble of anticipation and friendliness burst, however, when Pansy and Millicent arrogantly sauntered into the room. A collective groan from the Gryffindors was heard as the rest of the Slytherins made their way into the room and to the other side of the room.

"Is Dumbledore trying to kill us?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Seriously! I mean, Potions and DADA?!?" exclaimed Dean, who was sitting between Neville and Seamus in the row in front of the trio.

"Doesn't he realize that he's pairing us up in the only two classes that could actually get us seriously hurt?" Harry wondered aloud. The rest of the Gryffindor boys answered with shrugs and their own confused and defeated looks.

"You know," Parvati said, including herself and Lavender into the conversation, "this does give us a chance to hex them if we have to duel or anything," she said with a grin. "That's definitely a plus," she said, and the others brightened considerably.

"Yes, but then they have the chance of hexing us back, you know," Lavender said, effectively deflating any and all bright thoughts.

"Oh, honestly!" Hermione exclaimed. "They're not all bad! I happen to be friends with a few of them," she stated matter-of-factly.

As the Gryffindors stared at her dumbstruck and astonished, she asked, "What? I am."

Ron, being the first one to shake himself out of the brief stupor said, "But Hermione, they're…they're Slytherins!," as if that explained everything.

"Oh grow up! It's not as if they're evil or anything," she exclaimed. At the doubtful and pointed looks she was receiving from the others, she rolled her eyes and amended her statement. "Alright, so they're not all evil. Some are actually okay, you know."

"But they're Slytherins!" Neville said, parroting Ron's statement, and jerking his head to the doorway where Draco, Goyle and Crabbe had just walked in and where sauntering to their seats, ignoring the Gryffindors.

Hermione dismissed the three Slytherins with a wave of her hand and focused on the group around her instead. "Yes, and like I said before, not all of them are bad. Just like not all Gryffindors are 'good'," she said, pointedly glaring at Harry and Ron. They were mature enough to look slightly abashed, understanding what she was referring to.

"Besides," she continued, "the Slytherins I'm friends with don't give an owl's hoot about 'proper bloodlines' and all that nonsense."

Once again she was met with looks of astonished disbelief.

"Yea right," Ron finally scoffed, waving a hand as if dismissing the idea. "What Slytherin doesn't care about bloodlines?"

"I don't," came a voice from behind the boys, who all whirled around to stare at the girl smiling at them.

"Hey Niki," Hermione said as she caught sight of her cousin.

"Hey Hermione. You know, you guys might swallow flies or something if you keep your mouths open any longer," she said, smirking as the five boys snapped their mouths shut.

"Who're you?" Parvati asked curiously.

"Guys, this is Niki, my friend. And yes, she's a Slytherin, but no, she is not evil. At least not to those she considers friends," she said, introducing Niki to the Gryffindors while trying to hold back laughter at their reactions and the expressions on their faces.

Dean recovered the fastest, quickly exuding the charm he was known for in the Gryffindor common room. "Hi, I'm Dean Thomas, pleasure to meet you."

Gradually, the others introduced themselves as well, the girls more open to accepting that Niki was a friend than the boys were.

When the introductions were made, Niki glanced at the Slytherin side of the room to where her fellow Housemates were talking amongst themselves. She turned back to the Gryffindors and grimaced. "I should probably get over there before one of them decides to curse me in the back. See you all later," she said.

With a final wink at Hermione, she casually made her way of the empty seat in the back of the other side of the room, ignoring each and every other Slytherin she passed. Unsurprisingly, almost every Slytherin was glaring at her and commenting under their breath as she strolled by them to her seat.

Hermione, turning back to her friends, felt a pang of sympathy towards her newfound cousin and friend. She didn't want to imagine what Niki's life was like in the Slytherin common room, openly scorned because of her beliefs and friends. And, since Niki's small group of friends was made up of those either a year older or a year younger than her, she had no one to sit with or talk to in any of her classes. She felt another pang of sympathy for Niki as she imagined the how lonely and hard this must be on the other girl. Before anything else could be said or thought, the door once more opened and Rose Fitz walked in.

~*~*~*~*~

Hermione sighed and once more glanced at the hourglass above the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. Absently rubbing her eyes, she shut the book in front of her and stretched before slumping back into the seat. Glancing around her, she nodded as she realized that only she, Harry, Ron and Ginny were left in the common room, everyone else retiring to their own dorm rooms for the night.

She had had her first meeting with her Grandmother that night, and instead of starting immediately on the hands-on aspect of becoming an Animagus like Hermione had hoped, Minerva had just assigned her to do some reading on the subject. No amount of arguing that she had already read most of the section in the library could deter her grandmother from her decision.

So here she was, glaring at the tome in front of her. She was startled out of her thoughts when Harry started chuckling. Glancing up, she stuck her tongue out at him as she realized that he had been laughing at her.

"What?" he said innocently, "it's the first time I've ever seen you glare at a book before. What's wrong?"

Hermione sighed again before answering. "It's this stupid Animagus book. I know everything in the book already, but I have to keep reading it, because it's required for the course. There's almost no useful information in it, and it's just so dull and stuffy! Yes, even by my standards, " she added as she saw the looks on Harry's and Ron's faces.

"Never mind," she said before they could start asking her questions about the book. "We have to leave anyway."

"Aw, Hermione, do we have to go?" asked Ron, a myriad of expressions crossing his face; hope, for the slim chance she just meant time to go to bed, defeat when he realized that that wasn't what she meant, anger and disgust, at the thought of who they were going to meet and why they had to meet him in the first place.

"Ron, grow up, he wants to apologize," Ginny snapped at her brother.

Ron grumbled for several minutes as Harry went to get his father's Invisibility Cloak. His comments became more and more prejudiced against Draco until Hermione's patience finally ran out. After hearing the same argument and insults the entire day, her restraint finally snapped. She gathered herself to her tallest height, and even though she was a good number of inches shorter than Ron, he found himself stepping back at the fire in her eyes (later, he would swear to Harry that he saw her eyes literally darken and start to glow slightly).

"Ronald Weasley. I am sick and tired of your incessant babble about Draco. How do you know that the way he acts around everyone else isn't actually how he actually thinks? How many people do you know actually behave in the same manner as their most private, intimate thoughts? I know for a fact that most people don't, myself included. And given how sincere he was in both the conversation on the train and in the letter, I happen to believe that he has changed. And I refuse to listen for one more second to any more of your rubbish. If you don't want to go to the Astronomy tower, then fine, don't go. If you do, then shut up and move your arse!" she snapped angrily before practically stomping towards the portrait hole, completely ignoring a gob smacked Ron and an amused Ginny and Harry.

As Ginny and Ron preceded Harry out of the portrait hole, Harry couldn't help but think to himself that Hermione had fairly glowed during her tirade. And, even though he tried to bury the thought (he was doing a lot of that lately), he couldn't help but notice that she had looked quite beautiful angry. Shaking his head, he quickly climbed out of the entrance and caught up with the other three.

When the four were grouped together once more at the end of the corridor, Harry held up his cloak and motioned for Ron and Ginny to pull it over themselves. Holding one side up, whispered to Hermione, "Come on, 'Mya," gesturing for her to join them.

It was a shock to all three when she sniffed, still obviously irritated with Ron, and turned around with a swish of robes. With a whisper of words, she blinked out of sight. They gasped and stared at where she had been standing just seconds before, and all jumped when the cloak starting moving of its own accord, draping itself over the rest of Harry's body.

"Hermione?" Harry finally managed to. "How…?" he trailed off as they were suddenly prodded from behind, Ron more sharply than the other two.

"Be quiet and let's go. We've wasted enough time as it is," they heard her say before being prodded again.

Harry felt something brush his shoulder before motioning to the Ron and Ginny to start moving. After several minutes of walking, Ginny finally broke the silence.

"Hermione, are you there?" she whispered as quietly as possible.

"Just in front of you," came the hushed reply.

"How can you tell you're in front of us?" asked Ron.

Hermione's snort sounded out of thin air. "I never realized that we were so loud. You guys are as noisy as a herd of hippogriffs. It's amazing Unc-Snape never caught us before," she answered, a hint of amusement in her voice.

Several more minutes of silence passed as Harry tried to listen for her footsteps. When he was certain that he definitely had not heard anything other than himself, Ron and Ginny, he finally asked quietly, "Hermione, why can't we hear you then?"

There was definitely amusement in her voice when she answered this time. "It's called a Silencing charm, Harry. Now shhh, I don't want detention, alright?" she said.

Harry elbowed Ron and Ginny, who had both started sniggering at Hermione's comment, before the four lapsed back into silence.

As they walked, Harry mused over the enigma that was his best friend. He had noticed a number of changes in Hermione so far this year. She had gained a large amount confidence and poise over the summer, both of which added to her attractiveness. He had also never seen her quite so angry before, at least at something as little as Ron insulting Draco Malfoy, not even when she had slapped said Malfoy. Malfoy…she had been defending him the entire day, and he was the reason behind her outburst not ten minutes before. A surge of something…jealousy perhaps?….ran through him at the thought that she cared for the other boy.

Harry shook his head as he tried to focus on something other than this surprising and unwelcome streak of jealousy. Instead, he turned his head towards the display of magic she had shown. He was as surprised as the others when Hermione had used an Invisibility charm instead of joining them under the cloak. Granted, it was fairly crowded underneath it. Harry remembered reading about the charms that rendered the user invisible for a short period of time. They were extremely rare,  for it took a lot of concentration and power to hold one in place for more than a few minutes. The fact that Hermione had now held the spell for more than ten minutes, as well as casting a silencing spell on her feet that he hadn't even heard her say out loud, completely amazed him. How had she done it?

Harry was still musing several minutes later when the group cautiously opened the Astronomy classroom door and crept inside. After several seconds of silence, Ron snorted and whispered, "He's not even here. I told you we shouldn't have come!"

Before any of the other Gryffindors could answer, a soft chuckle was heard from the far side of the classroom.

"Really Ron, did you really expect me to be waiting out in the open, just asking to be caught? I had to make sure it was you first," Draco's voice floated across the seemingly empty room. "Speaking of which, I can't believe you all haven't been caught yet. Do you call that sneaking? Sounded like a herd of hippogriffs," he smirked.

Harry smiled to himself as Ron practically growled out loud. "Yea, we've heard that," Harry said, removing the cloak and exposing the three Gryffindors. They moved further into the room, trying to pinpoint Draco's location.

Seeing only three Gryffindors and not four emerge from under the cloak, Draco asked, "Where's Hermione?" while removing his own Invisibility Cloak with a tad bit more flare than was necessary.

Instead of answering the question, Ron looked suspiciously at Draco's cloak. "Where'd you get that, Malfoy?"

"It's Draco, Ron. And do you really think that the Potter's are the only wizarding family to have an Invisibility Cloak? They may be rare, but the Malfoy family has been around for centuries, you know."

"What, and you're saying that the Weasley's haven't? Ron asked angrily, once again smarting from the insults from that morning.

"No! For Merlin's sake, Ron, will you calm down? I only meant that-" Draco started, but was interrupted as both he and Ron were suddenly shoved out of nowhere.

A very angry Hermione blinked into existence, hands on her hips and eyes blazing. "Will you two please shut up? You're going to bring all the teachers up here if you don't be quiet," she hissed, glaring at each boy in turn. Harry and Ginny snickered somewhere in the background.

"Sorry Hermione," Draco said, while Ron just nodded, continuing to glare at Draco.

Hermione opened her mouth to say something about his behavior when she suddenly swayed on her feet, arms flailing as she strove to catch her balance.

"Hermione!" Draco and Harry cried simultaneously, much to the amusement of Ginny.

Draco, being closest, quickly grabbed Hermione's elbow and led her over to the closest seat. Ron, attention diverted, quickly stepped in to help him and together they helped her sit down.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Ginny asked worriedly.

Looking up, Hermione noticed the four worried expressions of her friends. She smiled and waived them away. "Thanks guys. I'm fine though, just a little tired."

"Well, yea! I'm not surprised, what with the spell you were using! How did you manage to hold it for so long?" Harry asked, flopping onto the floor with his back against one of the desks.

"What spell?" Draco asked before Hermione had a chance to answer.

"An Invisibility spell," Harry answered, again before Hermione had a chance to open her mouth.

"What's the big deal?" Ron asked, confused by Draco's surprise and sudden look of awe directed towards Hermione.

"You were able to cast one of those spell and hold it all the way from the Gryffindor tower?" he asked, stunned.

Draco shook his head at her nod. He then chuckled at Ron's ever present confused expression. As he answered, he lowered himself gracefully to the floor next to Harry.

"Really Weas-Ron, don't you pay attention at all to your Charms textbooks? There are only a handful of Invisibility charms, and those are so rarely used because they are so complex. Most fully grown witches and wizards don't even use an actual Invisibility spell, instead using the Disillusionment charm. And to be able to hold the spell for a fifteen to twenty minute hike across a castle…" Draco trailed off, again shaking his head as he stared at Hermione.

"Oh, come on. I'm sure it's not that hard!" Hermione exclaimed, exasperated by the behavior of her friends.

"He's right, 'Mya. I was reading up on Invisibility Cloaks when the book mentioned the charms. They're extremely hard charms, both because they require so much power and because of the concentration needed to hold the charms for so long. That's probably why you got so tired, since it's so draining," Harry said.

Ginny, noticing Hermione's increasing annoyance at the attention she was getting about the charm, quickly sat down on the floor and turned towards Draco.

"So what was it you wanted to talk to us about, anyway?" she asked, winking at Hermione's grateful expression.

Once reminded of the reason why the five were now sitting on the floor of the Astronomy classroom, Ron's friendly demeanor instantly diminished. Now scowling, he too turned to face Draco.

Draco laughed at the expression on Ron's face, then sobered as Ron's face darkened. "I'm sorry. It's just that it's so easy to rile you up. But you have to believe that I didn't mean any of those things that I said."

"How are we supposed to believe that?" Ron asked. "I mean, even with all that you said on the train ride here, how are we to just forget five years of insults and hexes, and just believe that over the course of two months, you've suddenly changed your mind? How do we know this isn't some plot just to get us to trust you?"

Hermione opened her mouth to reprimand Ron but was quickly silenced with a raised hand from Draco. The five sat in silence for several minutes after Ron's outburst as Draco gazed steadily at Ron.

"I know you have no reason to trust me. And I know that every single argument you just made is entirely valid. I just hope that you can understand, even if you might not believe it, that while I did think I was above everyone else, I never wanted to be a Death Eater. (Here Ron snorted) I never wanted to torture and kill people just because they were beneath me," he said quietly yet fervently, staring at each Gryffindor in turn.

He paused for a few seconds before continuing quietly. "I hope that in time you'll be able to trust me and I completely understand that you are going to need a lot of time, especially because of the way I've treated all of you these past few years. And it's probably not going to be very easy, especially because I have to keep acting as though I still despise you all. I'm going to have to keep insulting you and your families and backgrounds," here he paused again. With a slight smile, he glanced at Ron and continued. "and you're going to have to keep getting angry at me in order to make everyone believe that absolutely nothing has changed. I just want you…all of you…to you know that I don't and will not mean anything that I say in front of others."

Draco paused again, this time looking down at his hands for several seconds. Harry and Hermione glanced at each other in surprise at his uncharacteristic show of uncertainty.

Ginny too had noticed Draco's feelings of discomfort and placed a hand reassuringly on his shoulder. He glanced at her in thanks and when he spoke again, his voice was soft and devoid of any of the usual arrogance.

"I truly hope that you will be able to one day forgive everything I have said and done to all of you. And I hope that we can one day be friends. If that is something that you can't accept or offer right now, then I understand."

He finished, still gazing down at his hands. When all that answered him was silence, he nodded and hurriedly got to his feet. "Right then. Sorry to have wasted your time. H-have a good night," he mumbled, quickly heading towards the door without a backwards glance at the stunned Gryffindors.

Just as he reached the door, Hermione finally shook herself out of her stunned stupor. "Draco, wait!" she rushed over to where he had stopped, inches from the door. She was quickly followed by the others.

"I think I speak for all of us-," Hermione began, before stopping and glancing at Ron. She gazed at him, her question expressed vividly on her face. He glanced at Draco for a second before nodding at Hermione. She smiled at him before returning her attention to Draco. "I know I speak for all of us when I say that of course we want to be your friends. And while, as you said, it will probably take us a bit longer to forgive everything you've done and said in the past, we believe that you are truly sorry."

"She's right, Draco," Ginny agreed. "Sorry for not saying something sooner, but you kinda threw us for a loop back there. A bit shocking, if you know what I mean," she said, smiling.

Draco snorted softly before turning around, still uncertain. He stood facing the Gryffindors, his hesitance and uncertainty evident in his tense stance.

A few seconds passed before Ron broke the silence with a snort. "Oh, come on Ferret. Don't tell me that you've gone completely soft now, have you?" he joked warmly, and playfully shoving Draco's shoulder.

At this unmistakable raising the white flag gesture of warmth…and dare he hope friendship…from Ron, Draco mocked glared at the red-head.

"Don't be daft, Ron. That's your job," he replied with a smirk, before grinning openly at the Gryffindor.

The tension level in the room noticeably dropped, much to the relief of all present.

"Oh come on, you two," Ginny interrupted with a smile before the two could start another fight, playful or otherwise. "We should probably be getting back to our rooms, it is getting rather late, you know."

"She's right, guys. We should leave," Hermione agreed with a smile at the others. "But I'm glad we've gotten this out of the way."

Harry chuckled. "You and me both. Now, we just get to pretend to hate each other. Should be fun you know," he said with a smirk in Draco's direction.

"Just as long as you can keep Ron here from hexing me the next time something happens," Draco answered with a smirk of his own.

"Hey!" Ron exclaimed.

The others laughed at his affronted expression.

"Ron, do you really think that, even though you know that Draco doesn't actually mean what he says, you won't still become angry and try to hex him?" Ginny asked, trying to contain her laughter. "I mean, you do have the Weasley temper after all. I should know."

"Yea, yea, yea. Like you don't?" Ron playfully answered his sister back, eyes suddenly twinkling with mischief. "I can clearly remember last summer when you decided to mphhhh ummphh."

Ginny, who had turned a brilliant shade of red had, much to the amusement of the Harry, Hermione and Draco, launched herself at her brother, her hand clamped tightly over his mouth.

"Enough of that, Ronald Weasley. Do you really want to be getting into most embarrassing Weasley stories?" she asked him pointedly. She grinned as he shook his head and stopped struggling in resignation. "I thought not."

"As amusing as that display was," Draco drawled with a grin in Ron's direction, "we should probably get going."

"Thanks for meeting with us and explaining again, Draco," Harry said, clapping a hand on Draco's shoulder as they all made their way to the door.

"Thanks for agreeing to come and hear me out," Draco responded seriously, gazing at each Gryffindor in turn.

"We'll see you tomorrow then, at breakfast," Hermione said, giving Draco a smile.

"I suppose you will. Good night then," he answered.

The Gryffindors wished him goodnight before Draco pulled his Invisibility Cloak over his head. He waited until Harry had swung his own cloak over Ginny, Ron and Hermione (still too drained to even contemplate using the charm all the way back to the tower) before quietly opening the door that led back down the tower stairs.

The door shut soundlessly behind the students and there was silence in the room for several minutes until a shuffling sound was heard from the furthest, darkest corner of the room. Severus Snape blinked into existence, neatly folding his cloak while walking swiftly towards the door. As he made his way down the tower and towards the Headmaster's office, anyone who might have walked past him would have been surprised at the pleased and contented look on the man's usually cold and emotionless face.

Severus continued to contemplate what he had just witnessed as he made his way up the winding staircase and through the open door into the Headmaster's study. As his employer glanced up in surprise at Severus' unexpected visit, he calmly sat down in one of the chairs opposite the desk.

With a smile on his face, Severus glanced up and said, "Albus, you will never believe what I just overheard."