I am sorry again about the "fall" thing. I will change it to "autumn" sometime in the near future. I apologize for the "fall". Again, I don't reside in the UK, so I'm not very aware of these things. Sorry. Thank you. (In Chapter 19 and 20, like I said before, I will be replacing "fall" with "autumn".)

Yes, I did know that there were two of the same chapters (Chapter 20 and Chapter 21). Sorry, but my computer was acting strangely, and so it took me some time to fix this problem. But I think that it is corrected now.

Once they had passed wordlessly through the oak doors of the Great Hall, Hermione had startled Severus by sliding her small hand into his larger one and interlacing their fingers together. However, with one swift glance in her direction, his initial shock was immediately forgotten. He watched as she gently tugged on the elastic band and the few pins that had been holding her hair back, sliding them out smoothly, and allowing her gorgeous curls to tumble in ringlets down her back. Severus noted the manner in which the pink sweater she had chosen for this evening perfectly hugged her body's delicate curves and her black skirt swished around her legs with each smooth stride she took and flattered her slender figure nicely. He observed the moonlight streaming in through the crystal-clear windows of Hogwarts and falling onto her smooth skin, and the way that, underneath this light, her emerald-brown eyes glittered beneath her long, dark eyelashes.

The couple continued their pace this way down the dimly lit hallways, torches flickering as they passed them, hands locked together, though they pulled away from each other at once when they spotted a cluster of giggling Slytherin girls and then, after that, merely walked beside each other wordlessly. However, when they turned a sharp corner and found no one in sight, Severus held his arm out to Hermione.

She smiled kindly at this gesture, wrapping her arm around the one that he had offered her and allowed him to lead her down the many intricate staircases to his dungeons. Neither of them had said a word, but it was silently understood between them that this was where they would come after they had finally managed to escape Dumbledore's autumn staff party. As they made their way down one of the many twisting flights of stairs, Hermione's foot was caught in a vanishing step that somehow, Severus had managed to avoid. She yelped in alarm as her foot sank downward through nothing short of thin air and she clutched Severus' arm in an attempt to maintain her standing position. His arm wrapped around her as he gripped her waist while his other hand clasped hers tightly, supporting her.

"Ouch!" she cried out in pain, squirming as she struggled to remove her foot from the gap in between the steps.

"Hold still," Severus said to her, maintaining his strong hold on her waist. Hermione obeyed him at once, though she was wincing terribly under the pressure. Her hair was falling down into her face, so Severus reached out and pushed it back gently behind one ear, receiving a grateful half-smile, half-grimace from her.

"Thank you," she hissed, obviously in pain.

"Stop fidgeting, Hermione," he repeated to her calmly, though his eyes showed concern. Again, she ceased in her struggling, though the pain was evident by the contortion of her usually quite pretty face. "Now," he said as she placed a hand on his shoulder to steady herself, "on the count of three, I will lift you up, all right?" Hermione nodded, biting her bottom lip, tears all but forming in her eyes. "One, two, three," he counted, and, as she placed both hands around his neck, heaved her upward effortlessly. An immediate expression of relief stretched across Hermione's face as the pain slowly subsided from her throbbing foot and leg. Severus set her down beside him on the step that he had been standing on, though he still did not remove his hands from her waist, as she did not retract her arms from where they rested calmly around his neck.

"Are you all right?" he asked her quietly.

"Yes, I will live," she answered, smiling up at him gratefully. "Thank you."

He nodded and muttered simply, "You're welcome," before releasing her and glancing down at her foot. "Do you need to visit the Hospital Wing?" he asked, concerned.

"No, of course not. I will be quite all right in a few minutes, I promise you."

"Do you need any help in descending the steps?"

Hermione grinned at him and replied, "No, Severus, thank you."

He nodded again and took her hand, keeping a firmer grip on it than he normally would have, Hermione noticed, as they descended the staircase once again.

When they arrived at the shadowy dungeons, Severus held the door open for Hermione as she stepped through his classroom, and again into his office. Once more, before she had even had the chance to reach for the handle, he opened the door to his chambers, and she crossed the threshold, taking in the magnificence of the room yet again; his chambers never ceased to astound her in their utter brilliance.

Severus followed her in and gestured for her to take a seat, so she lowered herself onto his deep green sofa that sat facing the large marble fireplace. With a quick flick of Hermione's wand, yellow flames shot up and enveloped her in their comfortable, soothing heat. Again, reminiscent of her first visit here, she heard the recognizable clinking of glasses coming from the kitchen, and Severus appeared moments later through the broad wooden door with two tall glasses and a full bottle in his hands. Hermione smiled as he sat beside her, the cushions shifting under his weight, though, again, not near enough so that their bodies were touching, and set the glasses down on the table in front of them. He poured the liquor into each of them and handed one to her, sipping his own.

"It's not brandy, is it?" she asked him playfully before she brought the cool glass to her lips.

He nearly choked on the liquid that he had been ready to swallow and glared at her, though the amusement was clearly present in his eyes. "No, it's not," he said carefully. "However, I believe that we each rightfully deserve this, don't you? After all, while in attendance at that tiresome party, neither of us had so much as a drink of alcohol."

Hermione laughed and sipped her drink as well. Then she set it down on the table and stood up. Severus looked up at her inquiringly and she held out a hand.

"Dance with me," she said, a mischievous glint evident in her eyes.

"Excuse me?" he said, sputtering his drink again. He stared at her outstretched hand as though it was capable, and may very possibly, lash out and bite him at any given moment.

Hermione grinned widely, laughing at his hesitancy, and took his glass from him and set it down on the table beside her own. She took his hand and pulled him to his feet, though he was resisting quite resolutely.

"What are you talking about?" he asked her, not quite believing what she was asking him.

She has gone completely mad, he thought.

"I want you to dance with me," she repeated to him. "Not only did we not drink at the party, but we also never danced, either. Now, we have the chance."

"There isn't even any music," he pointed out.

With a simple, short motion of Hermione's wand, soft, slow music began to play, filling Severus' chambers, just like it had in the Hall, although the composition that Hermione had provided was much more enjoyable and pleasing to the ears, as opposed to Albus' infernal din.

"I am not going to dance with you," Severus scowled, refusing her offer and stubbornly sitting back down on the couch.

"Oh, stop being so childish, Severus, honestly!" Hermione exclaimed firmly, though laughing as she attempted to heave him to his feet once more.

Severus rolled his eyes at her behavior, but stood up, nevertheless, to face a beaming Hermione. He looked down at her as she snaked her arms around his neck. He put his hands on her thin waist and pulled her close to him. Hermione leaned into his strong body and breathed in his fresh scent deeply, thinking at that moment that nothing had ever smelled so good. She laid her head on his chest as she had at the Ball, and again, she could feel the heat emanating from his body warmly, though this time, his heart was not near pounding. He did not seem at all tense, but on the contrary, surprisingly relaxed. Hermione closed her eyes and allowed herself to be swept away in the music.

"Your foot seems to have recovered," he whispered after a while, his breath tickling Hermione's ear and sending pleasant shivers throughout her entire body. She smiled into the black fabric covering his chest, but said nothing as she continued to sway with him to the soft music.

Severus had initially believed Hermione's seemingly impulsive idea to be quite strange, but now, he realized that he could not have been more wrong. He pulled her closer to him gently, and she came willingly, pressing her body up against him. He stroked her hair as they rocked to the music together, as one. Again, he attempted to restrain himself from simply sweeping her up in his arms and carrying her away.

The flickering shadows that were cast by the flames from the fireplace danced across their contented faces, illuminating the sparkle in Hermione's eyes as she looked up at him. Suddenly, a smile crept onto her face once more and she leaned up and kissed Severus' neck softly, moving to his throat and then traveling all the way around until she reached his ear. She smiled and quickly let her tongue pass slowly along the rim of his ear, and then kissed him lightly on his cheek. Finally, she buried her face in his chest. Again, Hermione's flowery scent filled Severus' nostrils and he breathed in deeply, trying to soak up every bit of her he could. When the song had ended and the music had died away completely, they stepped apart and Severus smoothly bowed to her, one arm behind his back. She giggled, and when he rose, a small smile was tugging at his lips. She curtsied teasingly and took his hand, and he let his lips brush the tops of her fingers lightly. She then led him to the sofa once more, where she sat close beside him, their thighs touching. Severus sipped his drink and watched Hermione grinning over the rim of his glass.

"Thank you," she uttered, to which Severus simply continued gazing at her intently.

She continued to smile at him as she sipped her own drink. Suddenly, she set her glass down on the table and leaned in toward Severus. She continued to inch closer to him to close the gap between them. Taking his hand in hers, she stroked it gently with her thumb. Then she looked up at his face and into his eyes, and she felt as if she could not wait any longer or she would simply burst. He surveyed her questioningly, but did not move away from her. Hermione leaned up and kissed him full on the mouth for a long time, which he returned, and then pulled away by a couple of centimeters. She gave him time to pull away from her, to stand and leave if he wanted to, but he did not. He remained where he was, setting his glass down on the table beside them, though his eyes did not stray from Hermione's. And in fact, he did something that she would never have expected from him: he leaned forward and captured her lips in his.

Hermione snaked her arms around Severus' neck and moved as close to him as she possibly could without actually sitting on his lap. He kissed her passionately and tried to pull her closer to him, as well. He ran his fingers gently through her soft, curly auburn hair and cupped his hand over her flushed cheek. Hermione leaned up even further and licked his ear with her tongue. He kissed her neck and worked his way rapidly back up to her mouth. Hermione moaned hungrily against his lips as he did this. She pushed her warm body upon him, and then finally climbed on top of him, placing one leg on either side of him. She kissed him deeply as his hands moved instantly to her hips. However, immediately, he shifted them back up to her waist.

It was this solitary rapid movement, perhaps, that jerked Severus back into reality and reminded him where this would undoubtedly be leading, should he choose not to resist. He pulled away from her lips breathing hard, and groaned, "Hermione."

"Severus!" She began unbuttoning his black robes and pushed them down off of his broad shoulders. She kissed his neck and his cheeks and forehead, but again, he gently pushed her away, his hands placed upon her shoulders. She looked at him, bemused, and then continued with her previous actions. "Yes, Severus?" she muttered in his ear, nibbling at it, her warm breath making this more testing on him than he could have imagined.

"Hermione," he uttered again, pushing her away, this time farther than before. "Slow down."

"What?" She was gasping for breath.

"I said, we need to slow down," he repeated.

She looked down into his eyes and recognized the utmost sincerity that was plainly visible there, and so she sighed and climbed off of him. She sat beside him on the couch, her body against his, holding his hand and resting her head on his shoulder. Both of their chests were still rising and falling rapidly.

"I mean, can't we just…talk?" he asked her.

Hermione stared at him rather incredulously. "Talk? You forced me off of you and stopped what we were doing because you wanted to talk?" She laughed at this.

"Well, yes, as a matter of fact. Generally, don't people at least get to know each other a little bit before…doing what we were…doing?"

"I suppose so."

"Then why can't we just simply talk, before rushing into anything?"

Hermione chuckled. "We can." She lay down on his sofa and rested her head on his chest as he leaned back into its corner, and he wrapped his arms affectionately around her small body. "So talk."

Okay, here is some action between them, for those of you who have been begging me about it. Well, not begging, but asking, anyway.

Thanks to everyone for reviewing! It makes me so happy!

SwissMiss1- Again, I love your criticisms, so thanks. Your review made me laugh about that Hermione thing and what you missed. Lol. Severus was wearing normal black dress robes (what else?), along with all the other men there, although the colors between the men's' robes varied. The women were dressed up nicely, though not formally, like Hermione. Have fun with your imagination on all of their pretty outfits. And they did dance in Severus' chambers, as you read…although I'm not sure if that was the sort of "dance" you were referring to… Lol. Thanks again, and, again, I will take everything you said into consideration and remember it when writing my next chapter.

jim- Thank you for correcting me yet again, and as I said before, I have changed "fall" to "autumn" in Chapter 19 and Chapter 20.

M-M-X-M-X- That is a really great idea for your story! When you write your story, I am definitely going to read it. Your review made me laugh, and thanks for your compliments.

aniamifan1988- Thank you, and thanks for being so loyal for waiting so long! Lol.

Eva321- I am glad that you think I am keeping him in character. I'm trying. Thank you!

HermioneGranger91- Thanks! I am moving to good ol' Central America.

Chapter 22 will probably be up sometime Friday, but I am not making any promises. What with the moving and all, I don't have as much time as I used to to write, so I won't be able to update as fast I used to be able to.

Disclaimer- (See Chapter 14)

Remember: Review, Please! Even if you don't like my story, tell me what you dislike about it and I will try to work on it! Thanks!