Disclaimer: It's not mine, so don't sue me!

A/N: Hey y'all, thanks for the reviews, now without further ado (for once!), onto the next chappie!

Playing Pretend

Chapter Fifteen: Life's a Dance

"So are you going to tell me where we're going yet?" Hermione asked impatiently as Percy grabbed her hand and pulled her away from number 12 Grimmauld Place.

"No, but the longer you bother me, the harder it'll be for me to concentrate," he chided with a smile, wrapping his arms around her. "Now close your eyes and let me think."

"Oh my gosh!" Hermione gave an excited squeal when she opened her eyes a minute later.

"Do you like it?" Percy asked, somewhat shyly, seeking her approval.

"I LOVE IT!" she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly.

He had taken her to a carnival- one of her favourite things when she had been a little girl. From where they were standing, Hermione could just get a whiff of funnel cakes, cotton candy, and all the other sweets that made up the smell of a carnival. She could hear the laughter and delighted screams of the ride-goers, as well as the disappointed groans from the game players. As they walked out of the woods where they had apparated into, Hermione could better see all the various carnival rides, including her favourite, the Ferris wheel.

"Where to first?" Percy said with a smile, offering her his hand.

"Let's grab something to eat, I'm a little hungry," she laughed as her stomach rumbled audibly.

She led him towards a food stand first, and they ordered a plain funnel cake with powdered sugar to share, and a bottle of soda each. They walked through the fairway as they ate, watching some of the other carnival goers try their hand at winning a prize. They continued on till they came to the main centre of the circus which contained the majority of the rides.

"Which ride milady?" He said playfully, holding up a few tickets.

"Ferris wheel, definitely!" Hermione began walking in the direction. "Then we can get an idea of what other rides there are."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Thank you so much for this," Hermione sighed happily, snuggling against his side as they were seated on the ride. "I needed a break."

"Has Professor Snape been working you too hard? I'll talk to him for you, if you want."

"Oh no!" Hermione was quick to jump to Severus' defense as the wheel climbed slowly, people being loaded on. "He hasn't at all. He's a wonderful teacher and friend. I only meant that I needed a break from being in the house hour upon hour. I mean, I know we're not confined there like Severus' is, and I can only imagine how he feels, but you know how the adults get. They won't officially confine us, but they encourage us to stay in."

"I know, and I'm sorry," he pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "Hermione?"

"Yes love?" Hermione replied, enjoying the view. They were currently sitting at the top.

"What are your thoughts about the future?"

"In what context?" Hermione pulled back slightly to look at him. "As in what career, where I want to live, things like that?"

"To an extent I suppose, but I guess I was thinking more about us, and our future," Percy tilted his head down slightly to better look her in the eyes. "I mean, you've only got a week till school starts up again. You'll be preparing for N. E. W. T. S. while being head girl, and apprenticing to Snape all the same time."

"What are you getting at Percy?" Hermione questioned him. "Are you saying you want to break up with me?"

"NO!" he exclaimed emphatically, then gave a short laugh. "No, anything but, I promise. It's just, you'll be so busy, I wasn't sure that you'd want to stay in the relationship with me. And I was going to say that I'd let you have that freedom to do as you please."

"No, I've no plans of breaking up with you yet," Hermione assured him. "It will be tough, but we can owl each other, and meet at Hogsmede on the weekends since seventh years are allowed to go every weekend if they like. We can make this work."

"Good," Percy smiled and leaned in for a kiss.

Hermione shared the smile and leaned in to meet his lips. As she did, an unbidden image of Severus popped up in her mind. She gasped slightly and pulled back from Percy. Coincidentally, at the same time the image had popped up, the ride started with a jerk of their seat.

"It's okay love," Percy chuckled softly, rubbing his hand up and down her arm, thinking she had been startled by the ride.

"Sorry," she gave a quick smile, before forcing herself to relax against him.

That had been decidedly unexpected she thought to herself. She shouldn't be seeing images of her teacher while kissing her boyfriend who she loved. But then again, she had just talked about Severus being cooped up in the house, and she did spend a large part of each day with him. So it was only natural really that something like that would happen at some point. She looked over at the man next to her. Short, curly, red hair, beautiful blue-gray eyes, a slightly humped nose, and a strong chin. He turned and noticed her looking at him and shared a kiss with her before she went back to her thoughts. She loved him, and she knew that he loved her. He was a wonderful man, and an even better friend, and he had placed her on a pedestal. Too often she knew others saw her only as the mousy bookworm who didn't care about anything else. With him though, she felt like a queen.

After they climbed off the ferris wheel a few minutes later, they purchased a good deal more tickets, and spent the next three hours walking around and riding different rides that appealed to them. They also stopped a few times to try their hand at a game or two, but without any luck. Circling back around, they happened upon a little bandstand and dance floor that had been set up near the ferris wheel that they hadn't noticed before. The band was playing light jazz ballads, and Hermione turned to Percy who led her onto the floor without even having to ask.

"Oh look, they're shooting off fireworks," Percy pointed out a minute later, holding her close.

"Wow," Hermione smiled happily as the brightly colored fireworks exploded in the sky. It was a wonderful backdrop to the romantic scene she felt like she was starring in.

"Hermione, I'd like to give you something, but I'd also like to ask that you don't…uh, freak out…when I do," Percy moved his hands from her waist to take her hands in his.

"Sure," Hermione nodded slowly. "What is it?"

"Look up," he whispered.

Hermione did so after giving him a curious glance. Tilting her head towards the sky, she watched a group of fireworks burst in the sky, falling in a cloud of glittering sparks. Turning to look back at Percy curiously, he smiled before motioning to the sky again. The next group of fireworks that went up, exploded in a brilliant array of red letters.

"Say yes Hermione?" she read what was spelled out. Hermione turned to look back at Percy and gasped when she saw he was down on one knee.

"Don't worry, I'm not proposing," he was quick to assure her. "But I would like to give you a promise ring."

"Oh Percy," she breathed out.

"It was my great-grandmothers," he said, sliding the delicate silver claddagh ring onto her left ring finger, heart-end first. "Someday, when we're both ready, and assuming everything stays the same between us, I hope to replace this with an engagement ring. So I guess what I'm really asking is if that's okay with you? That you'll wear this ring, until we both decide where we want our future together to go."

"Yes," she nodded, her face breaking out in a smile as he stood up and pulled her into his arms.

The people around them cheered as Percy picked her up and swung her around, kissing her. Giggling, she buried her head against his neck when he set her back down. She was relieved that he hadn't proposed, as she wasn't even eighteen years old yet. She loved him yes, but it was too soon to be thinking marriage. A promise ring was more like "going steady" together. And she found she couldn't help but like the idea of someday, in the future, getting engaged to Percy.

"Oh Merlin…you do realise your mum is going to start planning our wedding as soon as she finds out?" Hermione burst out suddenly.

"Yeah, and I'm sorry," he shot her an apologetic grin as they began walking hand-in-hand to their apparition point. "We can try and keep it quiet if you like, but mum's going to recognise the ring. She offered it to Bill and Charlie, but neither wanted it, so she passed it along to me. I'd like it of course for you to wear it, but I'll understand if you'd rather wear it on a chain or something."

"No, I'm proud to wear it," she bumped him playfully with her hip. "We just have to prepare ourselves for your mum, and your brothers, and Harry."

"That's what scares me. Harry and Ron, and all of my brothers to an extent, are protective of you. They haven't threatened me about what they'll do if I break your heart," he grinned. "But I don't think they realised just how serious we've been getting…Oh no."

"What?"

"Sooner or later I'm going to have to talk with Professor Snape," Percy looked pale at the thought.

"Probably, since he's become rather protective of me since we've become friends. But don't worry; I'll talk to him first. And since he knows I love you, he won't hurt you…at least not too badly," she grinned evilly.

"Great," his sarcasm was evident.

"He's only going to grill you about your intentions and the like. You shouldn't be so worried about it. After all, you two have something in common."

"And what's that?"

"You both have my best interests at heart," she smiled, and tugged on his arm to bring his cheek down to her level to kiss before they disapparated home.

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"Oh thank Merlin you're home!" Ginny exclaimed worriedly as Percy and Hermione entered the kitchen.

"Why, what's wrong?" Hermione grew concerned as she took note of Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ron, Harry, and Ginny all sitting tensely around the kitchen table. Ginny was holding Itzal, while Phaedra was snuggling against Charlie.

"Snape's gone bloody mad!" Ron yelled.

"Explain that statement Ron," Percy looked at him quizzically while Hermione glared at him for his lack of respect.

"Snape…has…gone…bloody…mad!" Ron repeated slowly, jabbing his finger in the air for extra emphasis.

"Earlier, I was watching the kittens while he worked on a potion," Ginny began to explain. "He asked me to fetch some more parchment for him to continue his notes on, and I went to grab some out of his desk. The drawer I opened though had a picture of some lady in it, and what looked like a jewellery box. I asked him what they were, and when he saw what I was holding up, he just froze before he began yelling at me to get out!"

"He's been in there for almost two hours now, doing only Merlin knows what. We've just heard lots of noise and crashes, and we've tried to get in," Bill motioned to himself and Charlie. "But he's got it so heavily warded that we can't do a thing."

"And let me guess, you two didn't think to call your mum or Dumbledore? Or some other Order member?"

"No," Charlie gave her a sheepish grin. "Besides, you're the only one who could really help anyways."

"Hardly, but wait here, and Ginny, make up some tea please," Hermione instructed, before turning and walking to Severus' rooms and placing her hand on the door which allowed her automatic entrance.

As she took in the scene before her, she felt her heart twinge in sadness. He was sitting in front of his fireplace, flames blazing, even in the summer heat. In his hand was a cracked whiskey decanter, slowly dripping onto his usually immaculate robes with each large sip he took. Surrounding him, the once-neat room had been reduced to cracked phials, splintered furniture, and torn parchment. Walking closer, she saw a picture frame sitting on a small table in front of him, a small jewellery box open next to it.

"You shouldn't be drinking," she said softly, sinking down onto her knees next to his chair. "Alcohol can have nasty side-effects when consumed after being exposed to the armadillo bile fumes."

"I probably shouldn't do a lot of things that I do, or that I did, or that I will do," he replied morosely.

"So does everyone," she replied, gently taking the glass from his hand and setting it down on the ground.

"Is that supposed to be comforting, because if it is, you're terrible," he sneered.

"No, but it's the truth, and that in itself should give some measure of comfort."

"Why?"

"Because," Hermione replied, a hint of a smile in her voice. "There is nothing so powerful as the truth. It has the power to break you, or to free you. I don't know what demons from your past are now invading your present, but I'll be here when you want to talk. When you want to begin to free your mind, if only a little bit."

He sat there for a while longer, staring rather dumbly at her as she moved through the room, using her wand to clean up his mess. As he had struggled within himself prior to each time he shared something with her, he struggled now. She deserved to know why he kept going into these moods, or rage in tonight's case. He owed it to her for all she did for him each time he did. And he found himself feeling immensely relieved at the thought of telling her.

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A/N: Okay, that's it for the chappie. A little bit of Severus/Hermione to appease those shippers. Though again, I did warn you last chappie this would be mainly Percy/Hermione. Very cute between them, if I care to toot my own horn lol. I'm sure some of you will probably scream in your reviews at me for the promise ring, but it's all part of my plan. So love it, hate, like it, or flame it, leave a review if you're so inclined.