Scented

"It's not right. That pain." She said quietly, trying to make sense of her situation.

"It isn't," He conceded, "But there is little you or anybody else can do for it. No matter how hard the pain, it will never be right to hide in another's body. It isn't fair, and the pain will never disappear."

"What do you think will happen? Would they try again?" Hermione asked, determined to think about anything other than that memory.

"I've had a talk with George. He will not allow Fred to enter again, but that's no guarantee. If it comes to that, and I'm not there, I want you and Draco to take care of it."

"Of course." She ripped a handful of grass from the side of the hill where they sat. Frustration, but the wind took it away. Fred and George had finally separated when Severus found them all together, struggling. She was beginning to wonder if this hopeless feeling was normal in their situation.

Narcissa was gone. She was gone without two words to anybody, save perhaps Severus. Nobody knew where she'd gone, or nobody had said. In any case, Dumbledore didn't seem too troubled by it, so it must have been planned. Draco probably knew.

She looked over at her companion, who was absently twirling a blade of grass between his fingers. Still, that elegant form and apple hair did suit him. She wondered if he liked it.

"Do you want me to leave?" He asked suddenly, betraying no emotion. This Visit had been quiet, but companionable.

"Why would you think that?" She scooted closer to him, watching intently.

"You seem…distracted."

"No." Hermione placed a hand on his wrist and eased him back onto the ground, leaning over him. Her curls cascaded down from her shoulder to mix with his black hair, and she held his face in that perfect moment. The scent hit them full on, binding them within it. Severus closed his eyes as if in pain, and she placed her lips gently on his. The world was waiting for their kiss.

……………………………….....................

"Hermione." Harry's voice was small.

"What?" She blew a lock of hair from her face, concentrating on her book bag.

"I think it's full." He crossed his arms nervously and watched her try to cram one more book into the bag.

"No, it can't be. All these books fit before, why wont they go in now?" She groaned as a side of the bag split. "Reparo"

"Here." He took about five books and placed them in his own bag, "I'll give them to you after we get to Hogwarts, alright?"

"Hm." She replied, and sat on her trunk distractedly. The books were from Severus, about all sorts of legilimency. Harry wouldn't know, they had been charmed to look like random Hermione books.

"I'll be downstairs. We're leaving in…" He checked his wristwatch, "Fifteen minutes."

"Alright." She said, distracted by that scent. It kept coming, it wouldn't go away. And nobody else could feel it.

She watched as Harry left, and double checked the room she had been using. No, there was nothing left. Bored, she levitated her things to the front door and came back for her book bag. But she heard an argument, or a discussion, coming from Harry's room. Hm.

"You'll have to trust me, then. Think of it like this, if I do happen to betray you, I'm a dead man. So if it's for nothing but my own life, at least it's enough to know I wont hand you over to the Dark Lord. He wants me as much as he wants you." Draco said patiently, waiting for more insults to fly from Harry's mouth.

"But why?" Harry asked, trying to keep his temper. Perhaps it was a struggle for Harry, but Hermione thought he was taking this suspicion thing a bit far.

"I may be a terrible arsehole to you, but I'm not a killer. At least not a good people killer. Don't know so much about the bad ones…" He trailed off.

"Oh, yeah, that makes me so relieved." Harry spat, obviously struggling with himself over this matter.

"So what would you have them do? Throw me, a valuable asset to the Order, out on the street to be tortured into revealing all the secrets I was sent here to protect? Even you have to have more logic than that, Potter."

They fell into an odd silence, with Harry probably trying to find a decent retort. But the silence dragged on, and Hermione could just imagine the two glaring at each other from opposite ends of the room. Poor boys.

She went back to her room to find her book bag.

Finally, they were all gathered in the kitchen, around a large poleaxe-ish thing. It was long, so the entire group could grab a part of it and not fall off in the process. Hermione was between Draco and Harry, and she felt some weird emotion coming from both of them. Maybe it meant she was getting better at legilimency. Or maybe it just meant they really hated each other.

………………………………........................

Okay yeah, super short chapter. What do you think? Sorry bout the crappy length, but I figured I should start a new chapter when they get to Hogwarts. It'll probably be up in around a week. Sorry people if you don't like this story at all, anymore, or kind of. I feel like my writing is getting progressively worse, and I'll try to fix it.

Anyway, I'd appreciate some constructive criticism - don't' worry, they're not plot holes, they're just things what for to surprise you in the end. I love surprises. Go ahead, take a guess. Well, I have to run, so toodaloo, leave some reviews!

-Jenny