Disclaimer: It's not mine, I just enjoy messing with their lives!

A/N: Thanks bunches everyone! Your reviews keep this going, especially when I'm feeling un-inspired. So this chapter is dedicated to everyone who has reviewed! Also, some of you wanted more Severus/Hermione interaction, so I gave you some; about 800 words worth, lol. There's two parts, both kinda fun for me to write. We also see Hermione's not to be deterred from making friends with Severus, even with his behaviour. Also, a cute little part between Hermione and Percy, some of Hermione's musings about him, and some stuff about getting ready for the ball. Now onto what you're really wanting to read, the story!

Playing Pretend

Chapter Three: A Moonlit Stroll and Designing the Dress

"Where's Professor Snape?" Hermione asked Molly as they were clearing the table. The boys, Ginny, and Luna had gone to the backyard to host a makeshift quidditch match.

"Probably in his rooms yet again," Molly sighed. "Poor man needs to get out more. It's not healthy to stay cooped up so much. And he needs to eat more; he looks too thin to me."

"Well why don't I make a plate and take it to him?" Hermione suggested. "I wanted to go grab a book before I went out to join everyone anyways."

"Would you? I'd feel better knowing you did," Molly smiled.

Hermione took down a plate and began to pile on some of the lasagna and salad they'd had for dinner. Filling a glass with some water, she took them to Severus' rooms, which were located in an almost separate wing, thanks to magic of course. Knocking on the door, she heard a terse 'enter' and carefully opened the door.

"What do you want?" Severus snarled, not bothering to look up from where he was sitting at a desk, apparently reading something.

"I'm sorry to bother you Professor, but I thought you might be hungry?" Hermione said hesitantly. She wasn't scared of him, but she was definitely wary.

"I beg your pardon?" Severus turned to stare at her in disbelief. Why did this girl keep doing the exact opposite of what was logical?

"Well, you didn't come down for supper, so I made a plate for you," Hermione held up the plate, and then boldly walked over and set it down next to him. "It's really quite good."

When the Professor didn't say anything, Hermione gave him a nervous smile and quickly left the room. Left behind was a very confused man. He still couldn't believe that she cared to do anything for him, especially with what occurred last night.

"She must be insane," Severus thought, taking a bite of the lasagna. She was right; it was good.

"Oh wait, she's a Gryffindor, that explains it all," he continued to eat the lasagna without even realising that he was, he was so engrossed in his thoughts.

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That night as Severus finally lay down in bed around two a.m., he found himself unable to sleep. Usually he was able to get three or four hours, but he found himself feeling tired, and not able to do a thing about it. While lying there all of a sudden, he felt rather guilty. Not that that was a new feeling, but he was feeling guilty about the way he had behaved towards her, and that was the new element thrown into the loop. He was compelled to apologise, or somehow show her that he regret his actions. Lack of sleep from guilt, especially in regards to how he treated someone was rare, but still happened to him every now and then. Usually after he snapped at Albus for some comment or another that he made. Now he knew why he couldn't sleep. He also knew that he wouldn't be able to until he rectified the situation.

So without further contemplation as to what he was about to do, or the hour at which he was doing it, he swiftly got out of bed, threw on his black robe, and made his way upstairs to where he knew Miss Granger's room to be located. Pausing outside for but a moment to cast a silencing charm around the room and himself, he knocked purposefully on the door.

"Wha?" Hermione mumbled dazedly as she was awoken by a knock on the door. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she climbed out of bed and went to the door, opening it a crack.

"Miss Granger," Severus said, colder than he had intended.

"Professor?" Hermione questioned, immediately become more alert. "Sorry if I sound rude, but what are you doing here? It's two in the morning."

"Would you care to step outside for a moment?" Severus asked, although it sounded more like a command than a request.

"I-" Hermione was at a loss for words.

"Please," he said, albeit curtly, and Hermione gave in.

"Just let me grab a sweatshirt or something," Hermione said with a sigh, turning away from the door to grab the infamous Weasley sweater.

Tugging it over her head, she slid on her flip-flops and followed Snape downstairs, through the kitchen, and outside to the small porch. She took a seat and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her head on them as she looked at her potions professor curiously. At least, she looked in his general direction. The moon was a very thin crescent, and didn't give off much light. From what she could see though, Snape stood awkwardly near the door, not exactly looking at her, but not exactly looking at anything else.

"Miss Granger, I wanted to…apologise…for my actions the other night," Severus managed to get out, grimacing the entire time. Even though he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep till he had done so, it didn't mean he liked it either.

"No Professor," she said, and that startled him. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I never should have spoken out of turn like that."

"No you shouldn't have," he snarled, anger filling him as he remembered, but the slight wince that came upon her face was enough to make him cool down. "You shouldn't have, you're right, but that was no excuse for the way I responded. And for that, I've decided to grant you the apprenticeship."

"I'm sorry Professor, but I can't accept," Hermione said after a long minute of silence.

"What do you mean you can't accept it?" Severus stared at her increduously. "You sent the longest damn application for the position, not to mention several additional pieces of parchment as to why you wanted it, and you've even asked me in person several times. And you're telling me now, that you can't accept it?"

"Yes," Hermione said simply. "I want the position because you honestly think I'm qualified, and because you want to teach me; not because you're feeling guilty about the way you behaved and want my forgiveness, which you already have."

"Hmm," Severus didn't say anything. What was there to say anyways? She was right, and he wasn't about to admit that.

"If that's everything Professor?" Hermione asked, and Severus nodded. "Then I'm going back to bed. Good night."

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Hermione went back to bed, and drifted off to sleep playing the odd conversation over in her head. Several hours later, she was awakened once again by a soft knock on the door. Before she could get up though, the door swung open to reveal Percy holding a tray.

"Good morning love," he gave her a shy smile as he moved into the room. "I brought you breakfast. Thought you might like a bit of a lie in this morning."

"Thank you Percy, that's so sweet," Hermione sat up, laughing slightly as Percy's ears turned red. "And yes, a lie in sounds wonderful. Though I can't laze about too long. Your mum and I are going to start on my dress today. Figure out the style and colour and what not."

"What do you have in mind?" He asked as he set the tray down on her lap, taking a seat at the foot of the bed.

"I can't tell you, that'd ruin the fun!" Hermione laughed. "I don't dress up that much, so it'll be fun to remind Ron and Harry that I'm a girl."

"With your beauty, I don't see how they could forget," Percy replied, and Hermione thought he was teasing.

"Very funny Percy, but we all know I'm not that pretty," Hermione rolled her eyes, looking down. It was true, she wasn't magazine-style beautiful, but she possessed a type of classic beauty that other's could see, even if she couldn't.

"Have you ever heard the expression 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder?"

"Of course, who hasn't?"

"Well it's true," Percy reached a hand up to grasp her chin gently and make her look up at him. "Out of all the times I've ever seen you, you've never looked less than beautiful."

Percy gave her another smile, and stood up and left the room, leaving her to finish breakfast when she didn't respond. She simply looked after him, confusion and surprise evident in her eyes, as if she hadn't really seen him before. And it was true in a sense. She was used to his unfailing and unconditional friendship that he had offered. She wasn't used to the amount of care and affection he had been showing towards her recently. She was beginning to realise that he was slowly testing the waters beyond friendship, seeing if she would respond. And while she was flattered, she wasn't sure what to think or do about it. After all, this was Percy, one of her best friends for heaven's sake! She was used to seeing him as her best friend, as Ron and Ginny's older brother, as a previous Hogwart's Head Boy, and as the Minister of Magic in-the-making. So it was a bit of a problem for her to try and forget about those images for a minute and picture him as a man, as a potential boyfriend, or if Molly had her way, as a potential husband.

And to her surprise, it wasn't that bad of a picture. As she ate her French toast with strawberries, she allowed herself a rare moment of day dreaming. She could see how she and Percy would make a good couple. They were both intelligent and had a love of learning. Percy had been Head Boy, and Hermione was certain to be Head Girl this year according to everyone at school just about. She knew there was a physical attraction on both their parts. Percy had just said he always thought her beautiful, and she couldn't deny that he was attractive with his red hair and deep blue eyes. Another thing she liked the fact that he was older and therefore more mature than guys her age. He was twenty two to her seventeen, eighteen if she counted the time-turner. Also, they were great friends, and wasn't that how a lot of couples started? First friends, then lovers?

"Hermione, are you up dear?" Molly knocked on the door.

"Yes, I'm up," she called back.

"I just wanted to let you know that whenever you want to begin on your dress, I'll be ready," Molly poked her head inside. "Don't forget, we only have three days, four if you count Saturday. But you should really devote Saturday to pampering yourself and getting ready, not worrying about making your dress."

"I know, I'll be down in ten minutes," Hermione smiled. "Thanks Molly."

"You're welcome dear," she returned the smile, and then closed the door and went back downstairs.

About twenty minutes later, Hermione had showered, dressed, and headed downstairs to the back parlor where Molly was sitting on one of the couches, looking over patterns and spell papers.

"So Hermione, what are you thinking as the basic style for your dress?" Molly asked after casting a locking charm and a silencing charm on the room so that her dress would stay a surprise. "Colour, material, skirt style, bodice style, embroidering, decorative accents, and so on?"

"Well, do you know what Percy's wearing to the ball?" Hermione asked. "I don't want to clash with him."

"Colour scheme?" Molly clarified, and Hermione nodded. "Dark gray suit, white shirt, and his tie is steel blue and navy blue striped."

"Okay, then I want my dress to be steel blue also, material's chiffon, A-line skirt, strapless bodice, asymmetrical silver-blue beading, and I want it to be long enough to just brush the tops of my feet," Hermione rattled off, having given it quite a lot of thought during her shower.

After jotting down everything, Molly and Hermione began going over the necessary spells one by one, transfiguring the old dress Hermione had put on the dress mannequin. After getting some of the basic transfigurations out of the way, Molly took Hermione's measurements and then began adjusting the dress accordingly. Several hours later, the dress had been finished, and perfectly tailored to Hermione's figure. They had also transfigured a pair of heels into an open-toed, stiletto style, much more befitting of the dress than they had been previously.

"All right, let's try a few finishing touches now," Molly said as Hermione magicked the dress onto herself and spun slowly so Molly could appraise the semi-final picture. They added Hermione's jewellery; simple diamond stud earrings along with a diamond solitaire necklace, set in white gold. They had been a sixteenth birthday present from her parents. Molly also cast a quick charm that caused Hermione's hair to go into a simple up-do, so that they could get an idea of what the final picture would be on Saturday.

"I think that will do splendidly!" Molly clapped her hands. "Now, we need a man's opinion. Let me go find Severus, and I'll be right back."

"Why Professor Snape?" Hermione asked.

"Well if you show Harry or anyone of my sons, they'll go tell Percy. Also, because Severus isn't a friend, he won't be biased," Molly stated, and then left the room. Hermione turned to the mirror to indulge her vanity a few more minutes, and didn't notice when Molly and Severus returned.

"All right, turn around dear so we can see you," Molly smiled, and Severus rolled his eyes at her barely controlled enthusiasm as Hermione turned to face them.

"Well, how do I look Professor?" Hermione asked shyly, nervous about how he would respond.

Severus was speechless for moment as he took in her appearance. The strapless gown emphasised her figure and drew attention to her graceful neck, shoulders, and arms. The gown tapered in at her small waist, before flaring out slightly to the tops of her feet, clad in some sort of strappy high heeled shoe. The gown was simplistic, yet very attractive in its own right, much like the young woman wearing it.

"You look like a lovely young woman Miss Granger," he said sincerely, surprising himself.

"Thank you Professor," Hermione smiled, knowing that was a rather big compliment coming from him.

"Well if that's your reaction, I can only imagine what my boys reactions will be," Molly said with a laugh.

"Ron won't be able to say anything coherent," Hermione giggled.

"All right, now out with you Severus," Molly shooed him towards the door. "We need to get the dress upstairs and hidden from prying eyes. And don't forget, no telling them!"

"As if I would speak to them voluntarily?" Severus grumbled under his breath as he left the room, leaving the giggling women behind.

The next few days passed rather uneventfully for everyone in the house, except for Hermione, who was constantly being pestered as to what her gown looked like. Fred and George were especially bad, at least until Hermione threatened them with a couple of hexes and curses. That shut them up, and they contented themselves with having to wait until Saturday to see the 'princess preparing for the ball'.

A/N: Okie dokie, that's it! Have a good valentines day, spend it with someone you love. For me, that'll be my best friend M.J. He's my heart, and I love him more than anything in this world! Anywho, on a less soppy note, review if you want, it's cool if you don't!