Chapter 6: Party time.

So far:

Snape acts weirdly in class – due to his sister dying. Hermione finds out and pities him, starts to get intrigued by him then eventually ends up getting a crush on him. She puts forward an unusual plan that comes in four stages and ultimately ends up in her getting a kiss from Snape that he does not remember. But Hermione still has his book from when she broke into his chambers.

She could not believe she had accepted the invitation from Ginny. NEWTs were so close now that she really needed to study more than she was. Everyone else convinced her she was studying enough as it was but her nights were no longer taken up by reading until early morning. She had to take it much slower. She did not want to be caught falling asleep by Severus again.

She went down to breakfast and met Harry and Ron there. They had not waited for her that morning but she did not ponder as to why. They did not have to always.

She greeted them with the usual "Hi," and immediately propped a book up against her goblet when she sat down. She read as she ate and Harry rolled his eyes to Ron.

"Hermione, give it a rest," said Ron, smiling at the typical behaviour, "You already know what it says next anyways." She looked up at him crossly. "That and we want to talk to you..." he added.

At this Hermione dropped the angry look, deeming the excuse a valid enough one to put down her book. She closed it and put it back in her bag, leaning over the bench. Her hair shrouded her eyesight for a moment and when she flicked it back the first thing she saw was Snape talking to McGonagall. She quickly looked away.

"What is it?" She said munching on her toast and giving them both her full attention.

"Ginny told us you're going to the party this Saturday," said Harry excitedly. "I think it will really be good for you-"

"You are working awful hard," added Ron. His freckled nose twitched as he bit into a piece of fruit.

"You definitely could use a break like that," finished Harry.

Hermione was not in the least bit anticipating the party and refused to show any signs of enthusiasm. She just picked up her goblet to drink and murmured a small "Uh huh" before gulping down her pumpkin juice.

She put it down and looked up to see Ginny enter the Grand Hall. She pursed her lips to hide her smirk as she noticed that Ginny was looking slightly flushed and a moment behind her Malfoy came towards the Slytherin table, looking cheerful.

Ginny ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it and she walked over breezily to them and sat down very close by, but started talking to her fellow sixth years after sharing a quick look with Hermione that they did not catch.

A glance over at the Slytherin table showed Malfoy talking, helping himself to food and smiling. Crabbe and Goyle, being the two goons they were, did fail to register the change in his attitude.

She found it incredibly difficult to try and ignore them and turn back to Harry and Ron.

"When is the last Hogsmead weekend?" she said looking at Harry. Ron answered for him.

"Two weeks after exams. Why?"

"Just wondering... I need some new books for the holidays." He rolled his eyes at Harry and they shared a look. Harry grinned and shook his head, flicking his messy black hair back.

He looked up at her and held her gaze with his green eyes, "What are you planning to do after the end of this month?" She saw his implied importance but did not understand.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you going to live with your parents still? Or are you going to find a place of your own? What are you planning on doing when we leave Hogwarts forever?" he said, in a semi-quiet tone out of respect for the subject.

Hermione froze. The last word hit her in the face and she could finally feel the weight Harry had implied. She had not considered it. She was leaving forever. She did not want to leave. What was she going to do? She suddenly felt at a total loss.

She looked away from Harry down at the bench she sat on. She was going to find a job, maybe... She would have to find her own place. It was just what she felt she had to do. She would apply to all the top Universities of course. She felt strangely alone. It was going to be her against the world.

"I think I'll find my own place and a job to help pay for the university fees..." Harry could read the look on her face.

"We were wondering..." Ron said, they had already planned this. "If you would like to bunk with us and when she finishes, Ginny." Hermione looked up surprised.

"Really?" she said with a lot of hope that she forgot to hide. Ron grinned at her.

"Of course, what did you think? That we would drop you like a newborn rat the second school finishes? It'll be the same forever!" Ron said excitedly after giving Hermione a sceptical look.

She let out a sigh without being aware and she closed her eyes briefly. Harry shook his head to Ron when she could not see and Ron spun his finger beside his ear, especially so she could see.

She grinned and pushed him playfully. "I can't imagine life without you guys..."

Saturday came.

Ginny found Hermione buried in the library at lunch time.

She was sitting at a table in the corner, surrounded by old hard backed books on shelves all the way to the high ceiling. The table was round and light brown with five wooden chairs pulled up around it.

Hermione was leaning her cheek into her palm. Her fingers held the corner of the page, ready to turn the yellowing paper fast. She slumped over the book, blocking her own light. Her doe brown eyes flickered rapidly over the words.

Ginny marched forward. Hermione did not look up nor notice she was even there. She planted her hands on her hips and stared at Hermione determinedly for a short while but Hermione still did not see her standing right in front of her.

Finally Ginny came right over to her and grabbed her arm.

Hermione started and snapped out of her trance. She looked up and saw Ginny trying to drag her away. She closed her book and stood, tucking it under her arm as she did so. She let Ginny pull her away, not willing to fight it.

Ginny hauled her through the aisles of shelves by the upper arm until they reached the entrance.

"What's going on, Ginny?" she eventually asked, unsuccessfully attempting to get Ginny to let go.

"The party starts in six hours!" she snapped. Hermione frowned as she was forced to follow her.

"So?" Ginny stopped. She turned and faced Hermione, looking genuinely surprised.

"So? SO? We have little over six hours to prepare! If I could have found you sooner it would be more!" All of a sudden Ginny started dragging her along again. Hermione smiled and rolled her eyes at the same time.

She sighed as loudly as she could, deliberately so she could hear. Hermione did not want to spend six hours preparing when she could be reading.

"Ginny, you shouldn't get so worked up. It's just a stupid party. And everybody knows what we look like without makeup and spells anyway so explain to me the point of six wasted hours?"

"Because at a party, one should look one's best. It's like an unspoken rule. Exciting things are meant to happen and when they do everybody wants to look as good as they can." Hermione rolled her eyes again.

"Whatever Ginny," she concluded the only way to make the pain lessen would be to let Ginny do whatever she pleased to Hermione. That way she could get a few hours "rest".

Hermione felt like a display doll. It was not natural to have on as much makeup as she did now. But she really had to admit Ginny had done a fantastic job. She felt very fake but looked good.

Her hair had been tied in a high curly ponytail with multiple strands hanging loose in picture-perfect poses and her face made up with the amount of paint a model uses on a photo shoot.

She sighed for the thousandth time that hour. At last the party was starting she had been waiting ages in the clutches of a feverish Ginny for the thing to start so it could be over and done with.

Ginny had forced her into a dress she had found hidden in the dusty parts of her closet. She could not remember the last time she had worn it. It was a long flowing crystal peach dress that showed very little skin, except for a tastefully placed diamond shaped cut to the right of her bellybutton. It was off shoulder and Ginny had dug up from her own wardrobe the perfect necklace to match. It was a long silver snake-chain joined together by a silver rose clasp.

Ginny stood back to admire her work on Hermione then turned to a mirror. She smoothed down some hair. She had straightened hers and was wearing a dark blue dress with dark blue gloves and it suited her eyes well.

"Shall we go then?" she said, leaving the mirror. Hermione nodded gratefully.

"I feel way too dressy. If everybody else is wearing jeans I will see to it you shall not wake to see the sun shine tomorrow..." she threatened. Ginny just grinned.

They left the dorm, treaded carefully down the spiral stone steps and got a few looks as they left via the common room.

The portrait of the fat lady swung closed behind them and Ginny turned on her and placed a disillusionment charm on Hermione before on herself.

"This party has not been approved by the teachers," she explained, "it would be better if they did not see us dressed like this..." Hermione sighed harder than before. It was not only a waste of her time; it was now an unapproved waste of time.

"I suppose the reason you're so hyped up is because Draco Malfoy will be there?" Ginny nodded happily, "Are you planning on going public tonight then?" There was a pause then Ginny shook her head. Hermione felt bad for her but just as bad for herself at the same time.

She had pushed Snape out of her mind all day and she had a very close shave at that moment because she almost lapsed into a state of self pity. She let that particular area lay to rest for the moment.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

Ginny replied with a slight melancholy that Hermione only just noticed. "The room of requirements."

"Wise choice," she nodded. She wondered if Ginny had wanted to make it public but Malfoy had stopped her. Or it might have been the other way round. It may even have been that they both wanted to reveal their relationship but circumstances would not allow. But at least she had a relationship.

They walked in silence, careful to stick to the darkest areas of the corridors and dodge teachers.

They finally reached the door opposite the tapestry. Hermione tapped gently on it three times. She opened it and found that, to her relief, everyone else had dressed in their best. All the guys were wearing their dress robes and all the girls wearing whatever fancy dress or outfit they chose. They were not out of place.

She pushed it further open and let Ginny go in before her before closing it behind her.

Ginny pointed her wand at Hermione then herself, lifting the charms.

She spied Harry and Ron over in the corner of the large room. The edges were strewn with bean bags for those who did not want to stand. There was a bar selling butterbeer and cold drinks in the corner. Seamus Finnegan was running it. The lights were not too bright to make it an uncomfortable setting and Hermione felt less prone to hate this party just yet.

They smiled up at her when they saw her too. They dropped their conversation when she joined. Harry gave her a fleeting glance.

"You look really great tonight," he said as convincingly as he could, with his eyes on another part of the room.

"Really great," agreed Ron sincerely. He nodded and his orange hair fell into his eyes. He brushed it away.

"Thank you," she adjusted Ginny's necklace, "I really wish I could be reading, however..." Harry frowned disapprovingly and Ron tut-tutted.

She noticed Harry had not taken his eyes off of one particular person in the room to her left. She was about to turn and see who when Ron totally surprised her with what he said next.

"Somebody here has been especially looking forward to your joining this do," he said mysteriously. He looked at her hard.

"Huh?" she frowned "What does that mean?" Ron raised his eyebrows and shrugged, pretending to know nothing of what he had just said.

"Time to mingle," he beamed and with that he slipped away from them and lost himself in the gathering crowd in the dim light.

"Definitely," muttered Harry, heading in the direction he had been staring before. Hermione gave him a questioning expression which he ignored or did not see. And with that she was left alone, in the crowd.

She looked around to find Ginny and was not surprised to see she could not be found and neither could Malfoy. Maybe she should get a drink first. She definitely felt like a butterbeer.

She wove amongst the crowds of people until she got to the bar in the corner. She picked a stool and pushed herself up onto it. She leaned on the tabletop and looked over at Seamus.

"Hey Seamus," she smiled, trying to be friendly, "can I get a butterbeer?" He stopped stacking glasses on the shelf behind him and faced her with an equally friendly smile.

"Hello Hermione. Of course you can." He whipped a butterbeer out from under the desk. He took off the metal cap. Suddenly he threw the uncorked bottle up behind his back. It span so fast in the air that nothing fell out. As it started to fall he caught it upside down, right over Hermione's glass so that the liquid went straight in. Not a drop was spilled.

Hermione was awed. "Wow" was all she could say. "How did you learn to do that?" she looked at him with big eyes. He grinned as he put the half empty bottle beside her glass for her to top off whenever she wanted to.

"Oh. Practice makes perfect," he shrugged but kept grinning at the compliment. She smiled back and picked up her glass.

She drank a good amount of it and started to top off the glass when he spoke again.

"Did you come here with anyone?" he asked, one eyebrow raised. Hermione shook her head slowly.

"Not if you don't count Ginny..." she said and took another swig. He nodded to himself. He was holding his wand up to control the drying of the glasses in the sink next to him that was alive with bubbles and moving brushes and tea towels. There was an occasional spatter of soapy water that went flying.

"Don't you just love this room?" said Seamus with an air of wonder. "Whatever you want it to be..." Hermione nodded, drank again then started to stand. She slid herself off the stool and finished her drink. She passed the empty glass back to him.

"I should probably go and "mingle"," she excused herself. She smiled at him and he smiled back cheerfully.

She left the bar and burrowed into the crowd to find a conversation to join. There were people she never talked to standing around chatting and she saw Lavender and Pavarti talking with a group of friends of Ginny's. She considered hearing what they had to talk about.

She was almost there when Harry approached her out of nowhere, startling her. He looked less happy than usual.

"Have you any idea of where Ginny went?" he asked, looking around the room. His black hair was still messy but there was a noticeable difference tonight, an obvious attempt to flatten it.

"No, why?" Hermione lied. She looked around the room with a strong suspicion of who she was with, maybe not where.

"I can't find her anywhere," he said, still not looking at her, too busy with looking around.

A thought dawned on Hermione and this time she was careful to hide her facial expressions. Harry had been acting funny recently, and while she had been totally self absorbed she had overlooked it... until now. His happiness was damaged by the fact Ginny was nowhere to be found, so did that mean he liked Ginny? It made prefect sense. It filled in all the blanks.

Oh, but this was not good. This was not good at all. Ginny was dating Draco Malfoy... need more be said? Harry was going to get his heart broken and be humiliated and angry when he found out. And from his behaviour, he may well find out soon. She did not want to be in the same room at the time he did discover who Ginny was with.

She gave him a pitying look. "Never mind. She's probably fixing herself up. Maybe she decided the makeup was all wrong for her dress..." she tried to throw any suspicions he might have off for a while. That might buy them some time.

She turned and left Harry standing there.

She had the intention of joining Lavender's discussion but was interrupted once again, this time by Seamus.

"Hermione, may I talk to you?" he said. He looked up at her seriously with light brown sharp eyes. His long-ish hair fell over his face lightly. He had asked sweetly and politely. Hermione had not really ever heard him speak like that before. She nodded carefully.

She wondered why he was not taking care of the bar. She looked over his shoulder and saw Ron had taken over the duties.

Seamus reached for her wrist and gently pulled her to the corner of the room.

Severus marched out of his chambers in a flurry of black material. The wall closed up behind him, hiding his rooms from view. He stopped for second. The dimly lit cold corridor that sloped upwards was cold and narrow. The grey stone slabs made the walls, floor and ceiling, like a tomb.

He looked around then continued up towards the light of the entrance hall.

Tonight was patrol night.

He walked determinedly, his long black hair shrouding his face sinisterly. His black eyes narrowed when he noticed a disturbance in the air, passing by him. He stopped and watched as the shadows of two people passed him and up the steps of the entrance hall.

He immediately recognised the disillusionment charm and pretended to ignore them until they were a fair distance away. Then he abruptly changed direction and followed closely behind.

They did not notice the black shadow trailing them.

He wondered where they might be going. If there was a gathering or party of some sort he would have to break it up. Such a shame, he thought sarcastically.

He followed them for three floors or so until they finally stopped in front of a door that Severus did not recognise. They knocked three times and the door creaked open, let them in, then closed.

Severus stepped forward. He examined the door. It had not been there the seventeen years he had been teaching. He checked the surroundings. The door was opposite a tapestry of some historical crazy figure. He took note of it for another time.

With a sharp look at the door he pondered whether to get the other heads of houses to help him, and decided against it.

With a slight smirk he approached the door and put his hand on the handle.

Hermione frowned to herself when Seamus brought her to the corner of the room. There were two bean bags there, a red and blue with silver embroidery of stars and moons. She naturally assumed they would sit on them but he chose not to.

"What is it?" she asked politely, not trying to sound too aggressive.

She did not expect the reply she got in the slightest. Seamus swiftly leaned forward and planted his lips on hers. She had no time to think. She did not want the kiss and, with a sinking feeling in her stomach, she realized this is what Snape must have felt the same way too. She felt herself stiffen in the same way he had.

... but she had to admit Seamus was a good kisser... and he was very sweet, gentle and probably completely unaware of her discomfort.

She did not have time to push him off. She was just starting to come to her senses when the door burst open. She could not turn and see who it was because of the way she was being held. She had an inkling that whoever it was, was not here to enjoy the party, judging by their entrance.

She shoved Seamus off of her harshly and he jumped back, surprise written in his eyes.

She then turned to see who had just come in. When she did she found herself face to face with Severus Snape. He just stood there, tall, dark and towering in the doorway. He was also looking straight into her eyes. For a split moment she was captured by the deepness of his stare.

She saw him tear his eyes away from her to the rest of the people in the room. The sinking in her stomach worsened.

Seamus, next to her, looked horrified as the rest of the people in the room did. But Hermione just looked guilty. There was a heavy silence as people waited with baited breath for what Snape was about to say.

He decided to draw out the silence, making the mood worse deliberately, by looking at the face of each person in turn.

Hermione glanced sharply at Seamus next to her. He caught her gaze. He obviously could not tell she had not desired a kiss from him at all and that she did not feel the same about him whatsoever. She realized that he must have assumed that she had pushed him off only because Snape had come in.

She held in a sigh, things had to be sorted out.

Finally the silence cracked with the soft, stinging voice of Snape. "Well, well. What have we here?" he smirked evilly. The room tensed further. "My guess is it's a party... tsk tsk." He shook his head. "Since there are so many of you that would mean too much for me to handle alone and there are too many for detention so..." Everyone held their breath. "Since I am in such a sporting mood, I will give you all to the count of fifty to return to your common rooms. Then I shall come after the stragglers. So I suggest you start moving."

He needn't have added the last phrase. People had already started scrabbling for the door, past him. Seamus had left too. Hermione chose to wait till the crowd was gone. She did not want to get caught in a crush.

"One -" he began with a small smirk at the bustling crowd. "two – three -" The room was now almost empty.

Hermione finally stepped forward and joined the last few people heading out. As she passed him she did not need to look up to feel his icy stare on her. She tried to ignore it. She was not feeling so good. A rising wave of wanting to throw up took all of her mind to suppress.

She gave him a quick glance as she passed but almost got lost in his eyes. She shook it off. Now was not the time.

The second she was out of the door she did not follow the other Gryffindors back to the tower. She did not want to go back just yet. She wanted to be alone.

She wanted to sit outside; if she was caught she was caught. She was willing to risk it.

She checked the hall to see if there were any other teachers then ambled away sleepily.

Severus stood alone in the abandoned room. He had stopped counting at six. He had not the smallest intention of going after the students anymore. He knew they would all get back to their common rooms, even if he did not hunt them out.

He had definitely not expected nor desired to see what he had when he had first entered the room. Miss Granger had been in a lip-lock with Finnegan. It had been a funny experience because he felt the itch on his brain return. He dismissed it immediately but had been unable to take his eyes off the scene for a tantalisingly long moment until she pushed him off and turned to face him.

When he looked at her he had seen something unreadable in her eyes. It was not guilt and it wasn't sadness and certainly not fear.

He had thought, if she had to choose one of her peers, it would have been someone better than him. He thought she was way above him. Still, he did not understand why he cared so much.

But there was an image burned into the back of his retina of the two of them and a small slice of anger became evident.

He gave a cross, fleeting look at the room and swirled round. He marched out and slammed the door shut behind him, careful not to close it on his dragging robes.

He still had to patrol and maybe that would take his mind off of things.

Without thinking he headed moodily for the nearest steps down.

He felt pissed off to unimaginable dimensions but was further frustrated by the fact he could not understand why. He could not shoulder the feeling. It simply would not go away.

He walked down to the ground floor. He was too absorbed in his thoughts to notice he was walking out through the enormous front doors that were permanently open.

The cool night air blasted him in the face and somewhere inside he knew he was on the school grounds but his conscious mind had not acknowledged it just yet.

He slowed his walk down as he thought. But he wasn't really thinking anything in his attempt to push the thoughts out of his mind. It was more of a trance. He blinked slowly with a new form of exhaustion he was not familiar with.

He suddenly stopped as his trance dissipated. He realized where he was then looked all around him. The sky was speckled black with white and silver stars and the large pale moon swallowed some of the darkness to his right. The lake was glimmering; it was a pale blue with rippling bright lights. The forest even looked elegant and bathed in the light of the moon.

He shook his head and started back for the castle when something made him stop.

He peered into the shadows of the sides of the castle steps. There was a person dressed in a pale colour dress sitting there. A girl. She was sitting on a small square rug. She had her knees brought to her chest and her arms lay folded on top. Her chin rested on her arms and her curled hair was let loose, cloaking her shoulders and neck.

He realized it was Miss Granger, without even looking at her face because she had been wearing that very same dress upstairs not ten minutes earlier.

When he did look at her face, he saw there was a determined frown set upon her features. He walked over to stand right in front of her gaze, maybe to startle her out of her thought. But when he was standing directly in front of her she looked right through him. Her eyes did not move nor even blink as he began to approach her.

"Miss Granger!" he snapped.

Just to let you know – summer is coming. Come first of July I will have no access to the internet for two months unless by some stroke of luck I find an internet café.

O - and I decided to change it from a simple love story (it was starting to bore me - and when I get bored I tend to drop stories and I PROMISED this would not happen) it is - at one point going to suddenly change tone - no telling when - but for now its still simple.

And also – I upload as I finish the next chapter. So before I leave for Beirut I may well give u guys a double chapter, just to keep u busy.

Thank you everyone.

And I know I've kind of been nagging about reviews - they just boost my confidence - thats all - u dont have to.

Luv Snakecharmer