Eleanor left Hogwarts for home at about 2am. By 3am there was no trace of any sort of staff party. The tables in the hall were back in place and the bottles and food had been cleared. Only the way the staff were dressed gave any clue to what had happened.

"Hermione, I have to go now darling," it was Remus.

Hermione was re adjusting some of the decorations that had fallen down.

"Oh ok Remus" she said turning round.

Remus began to laugh.

"What?" She said running her hands across her dress subconsciously.

"You have foliage in your hair." He said and picked a piece of mistletoe from the crown of her head.

Hermione laughed and took it off him.

"Remus, I was literally stood under the mistletoe and you didn't kiss me." She said and lifted it above her head.

He leaned in and kissed her. Severus was stood observantly on the other side of the hall, bidding farewell to the staff members of old. He saw the two figures by the fire kiss and collapse into giggles and the green-eyed monster descended its gaze up him.

He wanted to kiss her. She looked over at him and smiled, quickly he turned away scowling.

~~*~~

Severus sat in his office knowing what was going to happen soon and simultaneously fantasising about what he wanted to happen. He had removed his heavy robes and wore his shirt and trousers. Reaching across the desk he grasped the bottle of brandy by the neck and poured it into his glass.

There was a knock on the door.

"Yes?" he called, not moving.

"It's me." Came a female voice from the other side of the wooden portal.

Severus waved his wand and the door opened. Hermione stood there, now shed of her party wear, only her hair remained done.  She was in her pyjamas, well her nightgown. A rather short nightgown, silk, floating. A plunging neck line…

Severus came to his senses and looked up as someone actually did knock on his door. He got up and opened it. Hermione was stood there still in her party wear and still with remnants of mistletoe in her hair.

"Hi." She said smiling.

He softened inside, although another appendage did not, quite the opposite in fact. He wished he still had his robes on.

"You said you had Christmas pudding." Her eyes sparkled and he looked at her, imagining her beneath him looking up at him with those eyes, full of longing for him.

"Severus? Did you hear me?"

"Yes sorry, my mind was elsewhere."

Severus stood aside to let her walk into the room. He waved his wand and the pudding he had promised her was on the table. She went and sat down, following suit Severus sat down in his original seat.

"Did you seriously come down here just for the pudding?" Severus asked picking up his glass and raising an eyebrow in her direction.

Hermione nodded her mouthful of cream and pudding. She swallowed making Severus shudder. He forced his mind not to fantasise.

"Well that and to talk. It is Christmas after all." She thought for a second then continued. "So how long have you been married?"

"I hardly think we need to discuss this."

"No go on, how long?"

"Since I was 18. You know how some wizards are about pureblood, arranged marriages and all that." He took a mouthful of brandy, concentrating on how it burned down his throat rather than how he wanted Hermione to lick him rather than that spoon.

"And how old are you now? Actually can I have a drink?" she asked all in one breath.

Severus filled a glass with brandy and passed it to her.

"I have been married 25 years."

"Really? To her? All that time?" Hermione looked shocked, she had barely stood 5 hours with Eleanor, and how had he managed 25 years?

"Do you love her?"

"Really don't see…"

"Do you love her?" Hermione cut across him.

"You're far too young to understand these things."

"Well of all the ridiculous things to say! Too young. You mean I'm not married and so I don't know about these things." She said taking another mouthful quickly.

Severus contemplated this for a while. She was right. He had thought because she had never been married that she knew nothing of love. The girl was 23 of course she knew about it, it rears its awful head at about the age of 13 to some people. True love or infatuation it was there and always is real when one is young as when one is older.

"I apologise, I forget sometimes that you are not a student anymore."

Hermione seemed satisfied with this answer as well as with the pudding she had finished. Currently she was licking the spoon absently while unknowingly sending shivers down Severus' spine.

"So you don't love her right?" Hermione answered putting the spoon neatly in the bowl.

Severus shook his head.

"Would you like some more?" he asked nodding towards the bowl.

"Oh thank you but no thanks, I already feel guilty for eating it, after the jellyfish remarks Eleanor made." Hermione looked shocked at what she just said. "I didn't mean to insult her I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I know what she's like," he laughed cynically. "You don't have to look like her to be perfectly beautiful. I wanted to apologise for that."

"Well apologise then." Hermione said a glint of mischief in her eye.

Severus looked at her; she reached up and removed the clip from her hair it cascaded down her back. The hair potion she had used was just starting the wear off as it was starting to frizz again.

"I'm sorry?" he said, he sounded unsure about the meaning of these words.

Hermione giggled and looked at his perplexed look.

"Don't tell me," she said a mischievous smile playing about her mouth. "Show me."

Severus looked at her almost confused. He conjured up more Christmas pudding and looked at her as if asking if that was what she meant.

"No." she got up and wandered round the room, messing with this and that.

Severus thought for a minute, he reached out and took her hand as she went past.

"Getting closer." Hermione teased.

He rose so he was looking down into her eyes.

"Your nearly there." She had stopped smiling and was regarding him, holding her breath waiting…

He leaned down and kissed her tentatively.

Hermione felt like her whole world was spinning and she was quite happily at the pivotal point of it.

He pulled away from her.

"Yes that was it." She exhaled.

"Hermione as much as I would lov…wouldn't mind carrying this on with you, I am married." He said regretfully.

"Couldn't we work something out? I mean do you truly love her? If you do I'll walk away now and forget this. But if you don't…"

Severus had claimed her mouth again.

"Shush," he said after pulling away, "don't talk about her."

"Don't talk about who?" asked a cold voice from the fireplace.

Hermione and Severus spun round in a swirl of black linen and red satin.

Eleanor was standing there; leaning on the mantelpiece, cool as ice.

~~*~~

Hermione sat in her room, her clothes discarded on the chair in the corner and her make up running down her face. Channels of grey down her cheeks form her mascara smudged eyes. She was sat in her underwear and shoes, her hair falling over her shoulders now completely devoid of any sort of straightening potion or charm.

There was a small tap on the door and then it opened. Remus stood there looking solemn.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione hiccoughed.

"I heard what happened. I mean I know I don't really like him but for some reason you do and well how can I have my favourite girl all sad and depressed?" Remus said sitting next to her.

"Thanks." She sniffed leaning on his shoulder. "Why did you have to be gay? Why couldn't I have found someone like you?"

"Come on now. Would you really want me? Grubby and tattered round the edges and not there once a month?" Remus smiled. "And I wouldn't want you!" he said in a joking manner.

"Why?" Hermione asked unsure whether to be hurt.

"Because you'd be mooning over Severus 'I-have-no-sense-of-humour-and-a-broom-up-my-arse' Snape." He laughed.

"True." she smiled.

"Anyway don't worry, things will work themselves out soon I know they will. In fact if you've not played 'hide the purple parsnip' with Severus before New Year. Then I'll turn straight and marry you!"

Hermione laughed and hugged Remus.

"Come on then lets get you ready for bed and seeing as I'm here I suppose I better stay the night, no point in going home to a empty house and bed when I have a teddy bear her to snuggle with." Remus said handing Hermione a clean hankie form his pocket.

~~*~~

(Christmas morning)

"Morning sweetie. Merry Christmas." Remus said handing Hermione a cup of tea and sitting on the bed.

"Merry Christmas!" she beamed taking the tea and sitting up.

"Well then what did you get me?" Remus asked like an impatient child.

"You'll have to wait all the staff put their presents under the tree in the breakfast room. We give them out at breakfast." Hermione said sipping hot tea.

"When's breakfast then?"

"About 10am."

Remus got up protesting like a petulant child and wandered into the bathroom and the sound of the shower running.

~~*~~

(10am- the staff breakfast room)

"Merry Christmas everyone!" Remus shouted as he entered the room flamboyantly.

As usual all the Hogwarts staff were either there punctually at 10am or just before, as usual it was Hermione that was last to arrive.

"Morning and merry Christmas!" everyone chorused from the breakfast table.

Hermione and Remus sat down in the last two empty chairs, typical of Albus to know Remus was here and to set a chair for him.

As was costume at Hogwarts the food was amazing. Pain au chocolate, bucks fizz, coffee with cream, breakfast tea, cinnamon scones and a full English breakfast. Hermione gave a sly look up and down the table to check Eleanor wasn't there before helping herself to a bit of everything.

"Has everyone eaten their fill?" Albus asked beaming at the staff gathered round the table.

There were murmurs of confirmation and mutters of 'couldn't eat another bloody thing.'

"Good then I think we should all get to the part I know Remus is Anxious to get to, the presents."

Everyone went and retrieved the presents they had bought for each other and handed them out.

Hermione looked gratefully at all of the presents on her chair. New books from most of them, a new calligraphy quill from Minerva, chocolates and a beautiful new cloak from Remus. Albus had given her something rather strange, she was sure it was ingenious and powerful but had no clue what it was yet. She was somewhat disappointed to find Severus hadn't even given her a card.

"Thanks for the Jumper Hermione." He beamed pulling it on over his head. "And for the sweets and the pensieve, you must have spent a fortune this year Hermione. Thank you."

"I got you one last thing, to keep you company." She said producing a large box and handed it to him.

He opened it carefully and no sooner was the box opened did a fluffy brown ball fly out and into his lap.

"A kitten?!" he said happily. "You got me a kitten! Thank you so much."

He jumped up and hugged her, the kitten curled peacefully in his palm.

"Its one of the ones Crookshanks fathered." Hermione said and stroked the little fur bundle.

~~*~~

Hermione levitated all her gifts back to her room and climbed under her duvet feeling like she needed a nap before Christmas dinner. She turned over and her head made contact with something small and hard. She picked it up and examined it. A box, tied with a ribbon, no note. Curiously she opened it and something feel out onto her duvet, picking up she saw it was a velvet embroidered wand pouch with her initials on it. Inside was a simple note saying 'I saw you didn't have one. Severus.'

Uh oh! Another cliffy…. Tune in next time folks.