Invitations
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Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot!
A/N: I have a thinking cap! I had hit the brick wall again, and I was frustrated beyond belief, so I put my mouse pad on my head and- BOOM! I got an idea! Voila! It's a thinking cap! YAY for the mouse pad! Enjoy the inspired chapter!
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A week later and Hermione was feeling much better about everything. She still hadn't gotten over her initial shock that Snape adopted her, but her life was beginning to settle back into relative normalcy. Except, of course, for the fact that Draco was becoming fast friends with the people whom he had called 'enemy' for so long and, with Christmas break fast approaching, she had no parents to go home to. She sat in the Head Common Room, barely listening to the conversation being held, when there was a sudden knock at her door.
"I'll get it," Draco said, walking over to the portal and opening it. He backed up a step to allow the person entrance and Hermione immediately stood.
"P-Professor Snape," she said in greeting.
"Hermione," he replied, "Might I have a word with you… in private?"
"Er… of course," she said, shooting a confused glance in the direction of her companions.
She walked into the hallway with him and he pulled the portal shut. "I would like to extend an invitation to you to stay in my home over Christmas break," he said, "I would understand if you choose to refuse, of course, but it would- be a pleasure to have you."
Hermione could tell that he had never in his life done anything like this and smiled. "I would love to stay with you… er… Professor," she said.
"While in private you may call me Severus, if you wish," he said, "And, while I don't exactly like them, you're friends are also welcome as your company."
"Even Harry?" she asked, not believing the words that were coming out of the hated Potions Professor's mouth.
"Yes, even- Harry," he said, sounding as though he was testing the name.
She couldn't contain herself. She threw her arms around her adoptive father's waist. "Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me…"
He patted her head, uncertainly. "It's perfectly alright… it's no trouble at all…"
She let go of him. "I promise you won't regret this," she said, positively beaming at him, "You should've had children. You'd have made a brilliant father."
Those simple words were enough to make Severus believe that he had made the right decision by adopting her. He knew he could never take the place of her real parents, but he fully intended to do his best by her.
He cleared his throat. "Yes, well… I won't keep you from your company any longer. Thank you for accepting my invitation and… er… I'll see you- later," he said, turning and walking away from her before her emotions took control again.
Hermione opened the portrait to several smiling faces. "You were spying on me," she accused, grinning.
"Yeah, what do plan to do about it?" Draco asked.
"Nothing, but- oh! I'm sorry Draco! I completely forgot!" she exclaimed.
"Forgot what?" he asked.
"I was supposed to spend Christmas Break with you…" she said, "I'm so sorry!"
"Hermione, it's perfectly alright!" he said, "I'll just come and spend it with you."
"Oh no…" Ron growled, "We are not going to leave you two alone for even thirty seconds!"
"What… you don't trust us?" Hermione asked innocently.
"No," Harry said.
The portal swung open and Seamus, Neville, Dean, Lavender, Parvati, and Ginny walked in. Hermione cocked an eyebrow at them, and then turned to Draco and narrowed her eyes. He must've given them the password…
"Is this the new hangout?" she asked them.
"Well… guess so," Seamus answered, grinning.
"Really? Well, if you happen to walk in while Draco and I are engaged in certain recreational activities on the couch, don't blame me," she said nonchalantly.
"Wh- excuse me?" Harry growled. (Ron was currently passed out on the floor from shock.)
"I was kidding…You know, like a joke? For heavens sake, even I can crack one every once in a while," she said, making Ginny snicker.
"You shouldn't joke about stuff like that!" Ron exclaimed, "It could cause unnecessary bloodshed."
"Yeah- like yours," Draco said, smirking.
"Whatever," Ron scoffed, "I could take you in a second. But- I won't, because Hermione would kill me."
"Damn straight," she said proudly.
"Right… and you're afraid of her because?" Draco asked.
"Because she's bloody scary when she's mad," Neville answered for him, "Have you ever been at the end of one her Total Body Binds? It's terrifying! I didn't know if she would ever come back!"
"I told you I was sorry, Neville," Hermione said.
"I know. I was only proving Ron's point," he said.
Draco chuckled softly. He had never had real friends like these people were. 'Maybe befriending these oafs wouldn't be such a bad idea…' he thought, grinning. 'After all, a friend of my girl is a friend of mine.'
"Oh, by the way," Hermione started, but hesitated, "Never mind…"
"No, I don't even think so!" Ginny exclaimed, "You have to tell us!"
"Oh… alright. Er… you know how my parents were killed by Volemort?" she asked, and they all nodded, uncertain, "Well, we found out just a bit ago that either somebody from the Hogwarts staff had to adopt me, or I had to go live with my only living relatives in Spain."
"Spain's not all that bad, Hermione," Parvati said, "I hear the boys are to die for!"
"But," she continued, "If I moved to Spain, I wouldn't be able to attend Hogwarts anymore."
"Well, somebody adopted you then!" Seamus said, "Smashing! Who was it? I bet it was McGonagal- or Dumbledore!"
"The person had to be under the age of forty," Hermione said, her eyes darting about the room.
"Well… Professor Sprout, then? Or Madame Hooch?" Seamus asked.
Hermione shook her head. "Neither. It was… um… Snape," she said, waiting for the outraged cries of her peers- but they never came.
She looked around at them to see the same shocked expression on their faces. (Except those who already knew about the arrangement.) She sighed, and then she heard Seamus, Dean, and Neville burst into laughter.
"You almost had us, 'Mione!" Dean exclaimed.
"I was serious," she said, silencing them, "Listen, he's actually a very good guy! Really… just trust me. I wish I could tell you more, but I can't. Not now anyway."
"But… it's Snape!" Neville exclaimed, "Evil, nasty, snarky Snape! How could he adopt you?"
"Neville, he's a good guy! He's just… very odd. And I think, maybe, if he wasn't so alone all of the time, he might stop being such a dumb ass," she sighed again, "Listen, I know you won't be able to accept immediately, but I will be spending the Christmas holidays with him in his home. He made it abundantly clear that all of my friends were also welcome in his home, so I really hope you'll come and visit me."
There was a shocked silence for a few moments, and then, "Of course we'll come and visit you!" Ginny said, "Right?"
"Yes! Or course!" Parvati and Lavender agreed.
Seamus and Dean nodded vigorously and Neville sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'll visit- but only because you're such a good friend!" he said.
Hermione threw her fists into the air in triumph. "I knew I could count on you guys!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Seamus said, waving his hand in dismissal.
"Well… it's getting close to curfew, so you all had better leave," she said.
"But it's a Friday night! Can't we break the rules just a little?" Ginny whined, "We can stay the night here."
Hermione sighed. "Alright, I suppose a slumber party isn't such a bad idea."
"Yeah… six boys and four girls… lots of fun!" Harry complained.
"We could always invite Luna and…" Hermione faltered, thinking.
"Hannah!" Ginny exclaimed, "She's really funny!"
"Alright, we'll invite Luna and Hannah, just so things even out," Hermione said, rushing out with Ginny on her heels, "But we'll have to be really fast, we only have twenty minutes."
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No less than seventeen minutes later, Hermione and Ginny returned with Hannah, Luna, and a large amount of blankets and pillows. They walked in to find that the common room had been cleared out and snacks had already been brought up by Dobby, no doubt. There was an abundance of strawberries, chocolate, potato chips, soda, butter beer, and ice cream, which was magically refrigerated. They grinned, throwing the pillows and blankets down on the floor and attacking the food.
"Merlin's beard! I think they may just out eat us," Ron said, grinning, "Pigs."
His comment was rewarded with a pillow in the face. Harry smirked at him. "I should think that you would know by now not to incur a girl's wrath."
"'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,'" Draco said, "Old proverb…"
"Too true," Neville agreed.
They walked over to where the girls had sat on the floor- with the food- and joined them. As soon as they sat, however, they grew silent and then burst into tittering giggles. Draco shook his head. That was never good.
"I get the feeling that they were talking about us," Seamus said and Dean punched him in the arm, "Ow! What was that for?"
"For stating the obvious," Dean replied, making them giggle harder.
"Do you want to know what we were really talking about?" Lavender asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
"Actually, yes, we would," Draco answered.
"Well, we were just discussing which of you we liked best," Hannah answered.
"And what did you decide?" Harry asked.
"Oh… you wouldn't be interested in that sort of thing!" Ginny said, waving her hand in dismissal.
"Yes we would!" Ron exclaimed.
"No, you wouldn't… but don't worry, you'll find out- eventually," Hermione said.
"Well, obviously Hermione chose Draco," Ron said, rolling his eyes.
"How can you be sure?" she asked, "For all you know, I like you the best."
Ron glanced sideways at Draco, swallowing air. Draco growled warningly, but Hermione just laughed it off.
"Shut up," she said, "Am I that type of girl?"
"I don't think any of us really know what type of girl you are," Harry stated, "I never thought you were the type of girl to get involved with your worst enemy, but I was wrong. I also never thought you were the type of girl to throw yourself at danger's feet for the sake of others, but I was wrong. I wonder what else I was wrong about…"
"Shut up Harry!" she said, laughing.
"You shouldn't be so mean," Draco said, tossing several potato chips into his mouth.
Neville suddenly burst into laughter, surprising them all.
"What's so funny?" Seamus asked, "Let us in on the joke."
"I was just thinking," Neville said, "that if last year somebody had tried to tell me that I would be sitting in my pajamas with six girls and Malfoy, I would have had them committed. Funny how things can change in such a short amount of time."
"Yeah… and if somebody had told me that Hermione would be dating Malfoy, and not Ron, I would have laughed in their face," Harry said.
"What? Ron?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah. Everybody at school thought for sure that you two would end up together," Parvati said.
"But- Ron's like my brother!" Hermione said, glancing over at Ron. They both burst into laughter.
"I always thought that she'd end up with Viktor Krum. They hit it off so marvelously!" Ron teased.
"What? Krum? The Krum?" Dean asked.
"The very same," Ginny said.
"He's not very handsome is he?" Luna said, making them all jump. She had been so silent throughout that entire time that they had forgotten she was there.
"No- he's not even in the same league as Draco… and- don't tell anybody I told you- but talking to him is like talking to a sponge."
"Really?" Parvati asked.
"He's certainly not the brightest candle on the table," Hermione said, smirking.
"Okay… this night just reached a new level of weird," Neville said, "Let's count: I'm in my pajamas, I'm in the Heads Dorm- not much of a surprise there, I'm sitting with six girls and five other boys, one of those boys is Draco Malfoy, Hermione is Snape's daughter, and I've just witnessed, and participated in, a full on gossip session. Yep… it's bloody official! Either I'm insane or dreaming, or the world has spun itself into some sort of parallel universe."
"Don't forget that Hannah has a crush on you!" Parvati exclaimed, making Hannah blush quite brilliantly.
"Parvati, you bitch!" she laughed, smacking her with a pillow.
"I couldn't resist! The poor thing just looked so confused…" she replied.
"You swore you wouldn't tell!" she yelled.
"I lied!" Parvati said, smirking.
"Wow… girls are odd," Seamus said.
"Yes, they certainly are," Draco agreed.
"So… what do we do now?" Luna asked, "Are we just going to sit and talk about nothing, or shall we make it interesting?"
"Er, interesting how?" Harry asked.
"Well… I don't know… we could ask each other a bunch of questions," she replied.
"Like Truth or Dare without the Dare," Lavender exclaimed, "Brilliant!"
"I don't like where this is leading… any questions? Or will there be limitations?" Ron asked.
"Oh any questions…" Parvati replied suggestively.
"Right, I'm in," Ron said quickly.
"Yes, me too," Harry agreed.
Soon it was completely agreed upon. They had to do a bit of convincing when it came down to a certain Neville Longbottom, but they got him eventually and the game commenced.
"Luna, since you suggested it, you should ask the first question," Hermione said.
"Alright… I'll ask Ron," she said, "What is your greatest fear?"
Hermione and Harry waited for him to say spiders, but that was not what came out of Ron's mouth. "Being alone," Ron said, and then mentally smacked himself, "I mean… I grew up in a family of nine, and- wel…"
"It's okay, Ron," Luna said, raising her eyebrows, "I think it's cute."
"Right," he said, clearing his throat, "I suppose I get to ask next. Hey, Neville, er… crap, I'm no good at this… oh wait! Do you like Hannah like she likes you?"
"Er… well… yeah," he mumbled, blushing crimson.
"Bravo Ron! That was a question worthy of a girl! Are you sure you're not gay?" Parvati said.
"I'm sure!" he shouted.
Luna giggled. "He's definitely not gay."
They all looked at her questioningly, but she once again had that far away look on her face.
"My turn… this is something that has been burning in the back of my mind," Neville said, "Why did you take that assignment, Hermione?"
"Damn it! I knew that would come up, but I didn't think it would be this early," she said, glancing at Ginny who was briefing those who didn't know on Hermione's task, "I guess I took it because… normally I would say it was because I was the most suitable person for the job, and that was partially true, but I guess it was more because I wanted to feel like I was doing something. I've always just been the brains, and I wanted to be more. It's as simple as that." They all stare at her, completely dumbfounded. "My turn! Harry…"
The rest of the night went as you might imagine. The questions continued and continued, though from that point on they stuck to more frivolous categories, such as who likes who and why and how far one has gone… but you don't need all of that. By the end of the night each person had been pretty much paired off. (Just as things always do manage to conveniently work out. ) Hermione and Draco, Ron and Luna, Harry and Ginny, Neville and Hannah, Seamus and Parvati, and Dean and Lavender. Now… how obvious were those pairings? They finally fell prey to fatigue and fell into slumber sprawled in a tangle of limbs amongst food and wrappers and debris.
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Okay. How did you like it? I know… I haven't updated in foreverness! But it's all good because I have a legitimate excuse… actually I don't. Except writers block and laziness. I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me! More updates on other stories coming as well, for those who care to read my others. The closest are Bound in Darkness, Moving On, Courage in the Face of Evil, and In Love with the Devil. Huzzah! Buh Bye and I'll see you soon!