-THE REUNION - CLASS OF'98

CHAPTER 3 : Finding a date

When Hermione set her mind to something, she usually excelled in that. She knew that everything could be done once she applied her mind to it. This wouldn't be any different. It was true that the answers for this weren't always in books, but she was good at designing strategies and all she needed was a good plan.

She apparated to the foyer of her house and threw all her stuff inside the closet. She wasn't in a mood for being neat today, and who was going to notice it anyway?

She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the noise coming from the kitchen. Grabbing her wand, she walked slowly, a million thoughts racing through her brain, but still keeping her cool. She was a good Auror and even in the most dangerous situations, she had learned to control her emotions and breathing, to be able to perform her duties without losing it.

Sliding her back on wall, she paused just before the door and listened. Whoever it was, they were looking for something. She could hear the footsteps moving from one side to the other of the kitchen, opening and closing drawers and cabinets. She mentally counted to three and jumped inside the kitchen with her wand pointed in the direction of the noise.

The surge of adrenaline started draining slowly, leaving a little tingle all over her body, being replaced by plain irritation.

"MUM! What are you doing here? How did you get in?"

"You forgot to lock the back door again! Honestly Hermione, you're hopeless, one of these days you're going to find something a lot worse than me in your kitchen!" said her mother while inspecting the refrigerator.

' I doubt that's possible,' she thought but instead she said, "I can take care of myself, Mum. Anyway, why are you here?"

"Can't a mother check on her daughter to see if she's Ok?"

Hermione knew what her mother was doing there, and that was why she was so annoyed.

"I'm Ok, see?" she said pointing at herself. "Now you can go back home and tell Dad I am still single and not eating properly, because my fridge is empty and my pantry is full of canned food!"

"Oh, that's terribly rude of you, I just wanted to say hello," said her mother, pushing Hermione's brown her off her face with a disapproving look. "And it wouldn't be a bad thing for you to get out more and meet new people."

"Oh, please don't tell me you have another one of Dad's friends to introduce me, I'm still recovering from the last one!" said Hermione.

"Well, you could be able to attract something better if you only would take care of your appearance. Why don't you ever do anything about that hair?"

"Well, it's not my fault I took to Dad's side of the family," she replied.

"If you would spend half of the time on yourself than you spend on books and work, I'm sure you could improve on that."

"It's not that easy Mum." She was tired of arguing.

"Well, if you ask me, I don't think you should have rejected that boy's proposal. Girls like you, don't get chances like that everyday."

"I have told you before, I never loved Ron, he was like my brother!" she yelled. "And thanks a lot, Mum, for boosting my confidence like that!"

"What did I say wrong?" the older woman asked innocently.

She couldn't take it anymore and pushed her mother out, promising she would visit her soon. She closed the door and pressed her back against it as if her mother was going to force it opened again. She shook her head and tried not to give up going forward with her plan, because it was after things like these, that Hermione felt incredibly depressed.

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Snape left Dumbledore's office extremely aggravated. He hated when the old fool included him in these frivolities.

During all his years as a Professor at Hogwarts, he was happy to get rid of his annoying students after their graduation and even happier to never see them again. Why on earth was he forced to see those annoying brats all grown up and probably even more annoying, once again? It had to be a Gryffindor's idea!

That Lavender girl always had cotton for brains, not to say something worse!

And worst of all, it had to be the class he hated the most, the one containing the Trio. What did he do to deserve Potter?

He tried to convince the Headmaster to let him stay out of it, it was the summer holidays and he needed to rest. But Dumbledore always had a good argument for everything, and since all the houses were included, him being head of Slytherin, was expected to attend the bloody party.

The whole thing was so pointless, the only fun he had at these school parties was taking house points from students doing something inappropriate in the corners and he couldn't even do that now. They weren't even in the school anymore.

He was heading for the dungeon to shut himself in his chambers and brood, when a pair of big, dreamy eyes appeared in the shadows.

"Is that you, Miss Lovegood?" asked Snape narrowing his eyes to make out the figure in the shadows.

Luna Lovegood strangely, as everything about her, had become the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher last year. Dumbledore had hired her against Snape's will and she was proving to be very competent, although no one could figure her out. Which came as no surprise, no one ever could.

She came out of the shadows and looked right through him. "I don't mind going with you."

"Excuse me?"

"The party, I accept being your date," she said in a vacant expression.

Snape opened and closed his mouth but couldn't find a coherent answer. He didn't know how to talk with that woman. After recovering from the shock he said, "I'm sorry, Miss Lovegood, but I'm not interested in..."

"I'm not interested in you, but I will go with you," she said.

He thought for a moment, it was absurd, but it would be the first time he would have a date for as long as he could remember. If she wasn't interested in him, she wouldn't bother him wanting to dance or asking for attention, and his old students would see he wasn't a bat unable to have a date with a real woman. Even if she was Luna Lovegood.

He sighed and said, "All right, fine, I'll take you."

"Thanks for asking," she said and left without looking back.

He stood there blinking and wondering if he was going to regret this later. He shrugged and thought, ' Oh well, at least I have a week ahead of me, which I hope, it will go as slow as possible.'

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Hermione tried planning every step of her preparation to the reunion. She had a week to accomplish everything but there was one step she was avoiding throughout the entire evening. The date.

Who was she going to take with her? She knew it wasn't mandatory to have a date to the party, but she didn't want them to think she was the same book worm who lived for her work only. She wanted to show them and the Weasleys, that she had a life.

Krum had dated her for a while, before realizing he really wanted to play in the other team, and he wasn't talking about Quidditch. The only boyfriend she'd ever had wasn't even into women.

She tried to make a list of the men she knew and it was a hard thing to do. She knew a lot of people at work, but none of them worth a try. She also had had two dates in the past six months, with men introduced by her parents. Just the thought of them made her shiver. She was getting desperate when she remembered. "Of course! How could I forget him!"

He would be perfect. She knew he wasn't interested in her, nor she was in him, but he also didn't have girlfriend. They could help each out. She took some floo powder and threw it in her fireplace saying, "Neville Longbottom!"

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A/N: Before anyone starts panicking, I am aware Luna was not in the trio's year, you'll find out why she's going in future chapters. Also Ginny will be part of it even though she was not in their year and you'll find out why in later chapters ;-)

I wanna thank fan-rei, ==, parody-of-an-angel, Kate( i hope you enjoy the story as it goes), angelusdream, vizzy-vicky-lou, and bxn110 for the wonderful reviews, I'm glad you guys are enjoying it so far.

I was afraid no one would for I got no reviews on the first chapter, so I'm happy I'm having some feedback from you all. Things will be a lot different than we would think but bare with me, they will work... for some....