A/N - It's December and I am cold. Tis to be expected I guess. Thanks reading!

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

October brought the first chilly days to Scotland and the students prepared themselves for the winter. The girls began to pull out their tights and jumpers, while the boys their jumpers and heavier slacks. Hermione found herself at a bit of a loose end after leaving breakfast Saturday morning. Draco and Blaise left for practice and Harry needed to work on his potion homework. After deciding to read a bit, Hermione eventually settled in the private room for a bit of silence. The third year common room was awash in chatter and the Gryffindor room was never silent.

She tried the library but the tables weren't comfortable. She fidgeted on the couch and scratched at her arms. As she rubbed her face with an unconscious movement, Hermione realized she was nervous. She didn't know about what, but there something causing her discomfort. Her magic seemed to be off. Like it was trying to tell her something. Something she couldn't identify. Standing, she didn't notice she started to pace and speak out loud, which would have been fine if the boys hadn't found her on the map and weren't standing in the doorway watching her.

So focused on thinking about everything Hermione screamed when someone touched her. Her wand was out and she placed her shield charm so quickly no one had time to react. All four stopped and blinked as Draco landed on his butt. "Draco! I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that." She reached down and helped her boyfriend up and gave him a kiss of apology.

"It's fine, but now I'm worried really worried. What has you so twisted up?" Hermione shrugged. "I don't believe you don't know."

"I don't, not really. It's what I was trying to figure out when you scared me. I just realized I was nervous about something when I got here." She shrugged again and sat on the couch. Draco settled next to her and pulled her toward him. He could feel her tension.

"Harry, will you get Severus." Draco gave Harry a look telling his friend something silently before the dark haired boy rushed from the room. Hermione, again lost in her mind, missed the exchange and began to shake. When Severus arrived a few minutes later he saw the girl crying but not focused on anything.

"What happened?" Severus began to try and pull Hermione back before what he diagnosed as a panic attack got worse.

"Don't know, she was pacing when we got here and she blasted Draco to the ground when he tapped her shoulder. She said she didn't know what was causing it but that she was anxious. She and Draco sat down and before he sent Harry to get you. Right after Harry left she started to cry. Draco and I were trying to bring her round but couldn't." Blaise remained kneeling on the ground with his hands on the girl's knees while Draco ran his hand up and down her back.

Severus pulled his wand and sent a message to the medi-witch, headmistress and deputy headmistress. "I don't want to move her just yet. What do you mean she blasted Draco?" Severus kept his attention on the witch while the boys spoke.

"I came in and saw her pacing. She was mumbling but nothing coherent and when I touched her shoulder she pulled her wand and threw up a strong shield. So strong it sent me back and I fell." Severus nodded that he heard.

"At least she remembers that from Defense." Severus stopped speaking when he heard the quick steps of others. He waved the boys to the other side of the room, and took the position Blaise held, on the ground in front of Hermione. When the three witches entered the room, Poppy moved forward. "Panic attack but we don't know the trigger, she told them she was anxious but didn't know why. Then she fell into this state. She's been like this since I've been here."

When he shifted to allow Poppy more room, Hermione reached and gripped his hand tightly. "It's ok Hermione, I'm not leaving I wanted to give Poppy room. Can you hear me?" The witch squeezed his hands again but seemed otherwise unresponsive.

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

When Hermione woke she found herself in the hospital wing. Trying to remember how she ended up there, she drew a blank. When she shifted she heard a bit of a grunt and looked to see Severus asleep on the chair next to the bed. He held her hand. She blinked and felt herself flush with embarrassment. It was to this scene Poppy appeared.

"Hello dear, glad to see you are back." Poppy ran her hand over the witch's cheeks and forehead before waving her wand. "Severus, Miss Granger is awake. I think you can head to your quarters now." Severus opened his eyes and saw Hermione sitting up.
"Miss Granger, are you feeling ok?" The young witch nodded.

"I am, but I don't remember why I'm here. Or why I'm holding your hand. I'm so sorry Professor." Hermione withdrew her hand from his and looked down. The two adults chuckled.

"Do not worry about it. Know that you are safe and everything is ok. I'm going to head to my quarters. Poppy if you or she need anything, don't hesitate to summon me." The medi-witch nodded as she watched Hermione.

After Severus left, Poppy sat on the edge of the bed. "Miss Granger, you had a panic attack. We don't know what triggered it, but when the boys summoned Severus, he was worried and contacted us. After arriving Severus attempted to move aside so I could see you and you grasped his hand. It was the only response we could get from you. Severus remained with you until now as you wouldn't release his hand."

"Oh," Hermione thought about what she remembered and couldn't remember anything about what Poppy was telling her. "Are the boys ok?" Hermione suspected Draco would have been there if he was allowed.

"They are, Severus sent them away at curfew. They left but I heard Severus say something about confiscating a cloak if they didn't get themselves back and stay in their dorms." Poppy watched Hermione's reaction and since she wasn't confused there must be some inside story.

"Thank you Madam Pomfrey. Would it be ok if I went back to sleep, I'm quite tired." The witch settled into the bed and she was covered with the light blankets of the hospital wing. A series of tracking charms were placed and she fell asleep.

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

Maria Zabini looked at the hovel and lifted her nose. "No. This will not work." She turned to leave when she was hit with a spell.

"You will listen to what I say and follow my directions. There will be no dissent and if you follow my instructions perfectly, you will get what you desire and I will release you from the spell." The witch blinked and fell under the control of one of the wizards in the cottage.

Sirius looked at the witch and shook his head, he couldn't care less about her kid but apparently the vaults in his name were substantial. Those plus the Black vaults would keep him in galleons for the rest of his days. Maria wouldn't survive the end of this, but she was only needed if he couldn't get to the girl. With her son as their friend, worst case they get him in order to force Regulus to give the girl.

"This is what I've been searching for." Sirius and the other wizard turned to the third man. He closed a book and looked up, "We need to head to Hogwarts." When the other wizard looked with an unimpressed expression, the wizard continued to speak, "We need our hands on Neville Longbottom and the sooner the better."

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

Draco woke the next morning and rushed through getting ready. He'd been kicked out of the hospital wing the night before. The plan was for them to return with the cloak but Severus threatened to take the cloak and map if they did. Draco still planned to use them but Blaise was adamant on them not losing the items. It was something Draco would think about after he made sure Hermione was ok.

"Severus said he'd let us know if there were any problems. But I knew you were going to want to leave early, so let's go." Draco looked up to see Blaise dressed and ready to leave the dorm. The pair of Slytherins arrived at the doors to Madam Pomfrey's domain and found Harry leaning against the wall.

"Figured you would come here first. Severus is in his quarters so she let him go at some point last night." Harry knew Draco would want to know that. The blond wizard's shoulders dropped a bit to show the news effected him.

"Yes, a little after midnight, but didn't I tell you to stay away?" The three boys turned to see Severus standing in the hall with an unimpressed expression on his face.

"No, you said we couldn't use the cloak or map last night. It's morning so we are allowed to leave the dorms." Draco's posture went rigid as he faced his godfather, "If you thought I wasn't going to come here straight away that was folly on your part." Severus would discuss the tone Draco used after the boy visited the young witch. Right now, she probably needed to see him.

"Madam Pomfrey has rules on visiting hours and they aren't yet. We will go in together, you will see her and then you and I, Draco, will have a discussion about your tone." Severus brushed passed the three and entered the medical wing. In a quiet voice, in case the young witch was still sleeping, Severus called out, "Poppy? How is she?"

Madam Pomfrey, who knew the boys were outside the doors, waited for them to enter and make their presence known. She stepped around the curtain keeping the beds hidden from the entrance and looked at the worried expression on all four of the wizards.

"She's fine now, sleeping again. She woke a couple times after you left and then fell back asleep. That attack left her quite drained." Poppy's gaze flickered to the curtain and then back to the wizards in front of her. "I would like to keep her for a couple more hours and let her sleep a bit longer. The boys should eat breakfast and by the time it's done, Miss Granger should be awake and ready to be discharged." Poppy looked at the boys, the blond seemed especially agitated. Poppy noticed his rigid stance and fingers seemingly wanting to run up and down his arm.

"Draco, just a couple of hours Mate, let's eat and we can come right back. She's asleep." Draco didn't want to leave, he had to at least see her and looked at the matron, pleading with her to understand. He couldn't explain it, but he knew Hermione needed to know he was there. Know he hadn't left her. Even if Severus wouldn't let him stay.

"Here's what I'll do, you can see her for five minutes then you all leave until nine." Two of the boys and the professor nodded in agreement and looked at the remaining young wizard. "Mr. Malfoy?" His eyes slid shut and he nodded, before Poppy pulled the curtain the rest of the way.

Hermione lay tucked under a couple blankets taking even, deep breaths and the worry in the boys left them. Draco stepped to Hermione and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and heard the witch sigh in her sleep. She turned toward him and smiled, her eyes still closed in sleep. He held her hand and felt her grasp him in response.

When Severus cleared his throat, Draco carefully released her hand. "I'll be back soon. Sleep and when you wake I'll be here." It was enough, not as much as he wanted, but enough to get him through the morning. He believed it would be enough for Hermione too, he felt more relaxed than he had since the night before. "Thank you Madam Pomfrey." Draco and the two other boys left the wing.

"I'm surprised he left that willingly. That boy is quite attached to Miss Granger." Poppy saw a lot in her years at the school but the devotion the Malfoy scion had for the muggleborn girl was one for the books. His physical reaction to not being with her was more interesting. Something Poppy would look into later. Severus just snorted.

"The boy almost ended up in detention." Poppy rolled her eyes at the professor, who she still thought of as a boy himself.

"Yes, of course Severus, just don't be too hard on him. He is experiencing something for the first time and doesn't know how to handle all the emotions. Luckily he isn't trying to bury them from the world, he just wants to make sure the witch is happy, healthy and safe. But you wouldn't know about that, would you?"

The matron ushered the older wizard out the door and watched him stalk down the hall chuckling to herself. The entire staff got a kick out of the potion master's attempts to downplay his feelings for the young transfiguration professor. The rest of the professors and head mistress started a pool on just how long it would take Severus before he made the relationship more permanent.

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

In the month since the discovery of the destroyed journals, the restoration process continued unabated. Jean seemed to be the best at finding how the pages went together and after identifying a stack of pages, she shifted from searching to organizing. It was tedious, but her knack at noticing differences in handwriting really helped speed up the process. Not that it felt like they were getting anywhere. In that month, they sorted through three boxes but found more books destroyed than originally anticipated.

It was to this disgruntled setting, Lucius received a note from the new deputy head of the Department of Mysteries. "Frank asked to see me." Narcissa flicked her hand while the rest of those in the room continued to read and stack pages. Lucius silently sent a prayer to Merlin this missive had something to do with Frank's attempt to find someway to help.

After Lucius left, a small gasp fell from Jean's lips and the others in the room looked up. "Cissy, Reg, would you both come here?" Quicker than quick, the two jumped to Jean's side and looked at the page in her hands. "Is this what I think it is?" Both nodded.

"It is, at the least, part of what we need." Jean set the page to the side while the others continued their assigned jobs while looking for that specific date. When Lucius arrived a few hours later, it wasn't with what they wanted.

"They are having a difficult time with the collating part, but they have figured out a way to sort." Lucius pointed his wand at one of the untouched boxes, "Ordino". The pages lifted from the box and settled in ten neat stacks. Lucius looked and pulled the tallest stack, before handing it to Jean. "At least with this we know the stacks are or aren't from Phineas's journals."

Jean looked at the stack and nodded, "Lucius, do you think you could try it again on this stack but by date?" The blond explained how the spell worked and how the creator was having a difficult time with anything beyond the basics. Jean hummed, "I remember Hermione telling us that magic is all about intent. So, if you thought about sorting by, let's say year, could you try it again, since you've already sorted by author?"

"You are something else Jean," Lucius laughed and did as she requested. Sure enough the pages in the one stack fluttered into a new configuration and a quick review showed the sorting by year worked. "Might as well try by month now and if that works, by date."
As expected, it worked. By dinner the boxes were sorted by author and date written, all that remained was to get the pages in order. Lucius sent what he did to Frank, who updated the notes on the spell and offered to come over the next day if they needed another set of eyes and hands. Lucius accepted the offer and suggested Alice and Aggie come along as well.

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

Hermione spent the between being released from the hospital wing and Halloween with a shadow, make that three shadows. Hermione returned to her regular timetable without any issue since her attack, but no one, especially her, could figure out what caused her to slip into the panic attack. Any sign of anxiety caused the boys to freak and it was starting to drive her crazy.

The phrase 'I'm fine' became Draco's least favorite words from her lips. He knew she was fine, generally speaking but since no one knew what triggered the first one, a second could come on just as quickly. During the day was fine, one of the boys, if not all of them, could be with her but at night, that caused more than one wizard to be nervous.

"This is ridiculous." The wizards would not be moved by her comments. Hermione stomped through the portrait, following Harry into the Gryffindor common room.

"Hey Pavarti," the other Gryffindor looked up from a magazine to see Harry in front of her. Harry ignored Lavender, who after her display first year, was still a persona non grata in the tower. Pavarti waved her hand to get Harry talking, "As I'm sure you know, Hermione was in the hospital wing the other day and I was hoping you could help me. I'm quite worried." Pavarti, while not best friends with Hermione, found herself quite concerned when her roommate wasn't in her bed that morning.

"What do you need Harry?"

The wizard smiled and pulled Hermione next to him, "You see, we don't know what caused it, but she had a sudden onset panic attack. We've been watching her during the day, driving her barmy in all honesty, but we, obviously, can't be in her room at night." Pavarti smiled at the glare the wizard received from his friend. "So, Draco, Blaise and I were wondering, since you are in the room with her. If you notice her starting to fall into an attack to just let someone know?" Pavarti, whose mother had panic attacks, easily agreed.

"Of course, I mean I could stay up and maybe nap before breakfast…". She was cut off by Harry.

"Oh, no you misunderstand, we couldn't think of asking you to sit up all night with her. Just, you know, sort of pay attention. She'd kill us if we asked anyone to sit up all night watching her."

"I may kill you all for asking my roommate to babysit me. The jury is still out on that one." Hermione hmpfed knowing they would ask if she was there or not and she'd rather know what was being said. Harry laughed and hugged Hermione to his side.

"See, I don't want to die just yet, but I worry about her and you know. She's like my sister." The witch saw the honesty on Harry's face and nodded. Pavarti understood, she and Padma had a similar relationship.

"Maybe we can use the opportunity to become better friends." Pavarti shrugged and tried to play off her comment like it wasn't a big deal one way or another, but Hermione noticed the worry on her face. Pavarti remained friends with Lavender after the crazy story in first year. But, Pavarti didn't want to only have one friend and if Hermione was willing, she'd like to get to know her other roommate a bit better. Hermione and Padma partnered a couple times over the previous two years and got along splendidly. Maybe Pavarti would surprise Hermione and be more like Padma.

"I think that sounds like a great idea. Plus, I'll be avoiding this one, —" Hermione pointed toward Harry, who only laughed when she glared at him, "— so it would be nice to have someone else with whom to eat." She wasn't sure how long she was going to hold this over the boys, but Draco hadn't forgiven her for the whole skiing thing until they returned to Malfoy Manor. She could get a couple weeks of groveling out of them. That made her smile.

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

Halloween came and went, the candy feast caused more than one student to end up with an upset stomach and sugar highs. Hermione shook her head and avoided all of it with the exception of one small slice of pie. After dinner she brushed her teeth to make sure no sugar remained and then spent the rest of the night with her friends. The conversations varied but by the time they left for the Samhain ceremony, all spoke of Hogsmeade at least once. The first weekend would be in two weeks and cabin fever set in for the older students.

"I know you'll want to go to the bookstore Hermione, but I was wondering if you'd like to stop in Gladrags with me. I thought we could look at the dresses they have for the holiday season. Mum wants me to let her know what type of dress to get me." At Hermione's questioning look, Pavarti continued, "We get together with our extended family and have a ball. Not like the ball Mrs Malfoy throws, but we dress up and dance. It's a good time."

Hermione found the time she spent with Pavarti to be not so bad. The other girl was more interested in gossip, and clothes, and make up, and boys than Hermione. But, Hermione realized that didn't make the girl bad, she just had different interests. Plus, maybe Pavarti could help her with her dress for New Year's Eve. Cissy sent her a letter asking her if she had any thoughts on her dress this year. "I think that sounds like a plan. Maybe we could stop at Scrivenshaft's, I need some more ink and quills."

"Yeah, I do too, I took one from Padma the other day. I don't think she's realized it yet." The two witches laughed and planned to spend the rest of the day just exploring the other businesses. "Thanks for giving me a chance Hermione. I think most people assumed I was only into really girly stuff and that was somehow bad."

"I have to apologize about that. I have never been interested on some of those things and I guess I just assumed we'd have nothing in common. I didn't have a lot in common with the girls in primary school and I always thought it was because I cared about reading more than gossiping."

Over the last couple of weeks, the two witches spent quite a bit of time together and found they had more in common than either believed. Hermione chalked it up to a life experience and how you shouldn't make judgements about people just because you think you know about them.

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

As the last week before Hogsmeade progressed, the weather deteriorated each day. When the students woke on Friday, they were disgruntled to see snow falling at a rapid pace. When the wind started to howl, the older students began to complain. During breakfast the table of third years heard the comments and didn't understand why everyone was so upset. Draco leaned over to a table with some seventh year Slytherin to find out.

"If the weather is too bad, you know snowy, cold, windy, the Headmistress will cancel the trip to Hogsmeade. It happened a couple of times last year. Really ticked us off at first, then we realized it made sense since we have to walk. Also made us wonder why it hadn't been cancelled before. It's not like Dumbledore cared about the students, but that isn't the point." Draco nodded and returned to his friends to relay the message.

The third years groaned in displeasure. Each had plans on how they were going to spend the day and none of those plans included staying at the castle. "Let's just be positive and maybe the storm will pass." Hermione's optimism soon found itself under a snowdrift when the Headmistress called for everyone's attention.

"Students, I have to regretfully inform you all the weather has taken a turn for the worse and unless a drastic change occurs between now and tomorrow, I will have to cancel this weekend's trip to Hogsmeade." The students groaned but none really complained. "If you are in need of supplies and intended to pick them up in the village, let your head of house know what you needed and we will work to get you those items."

As the tables began to murmur knowing they wouldn't be going to Hogsmeade, one of the tables near the front asked about it being rescheduled. The prior year, the cancelled trip was rescheduled for the next weekend. "I have been asked about rescheduling and unfortunately we have found no other free weekends before the Yule break. The two weekends after are full with the first quidditch matches of the season and then it's the weekend before end of term tests. I'm sorry to say, if we have to cancel this visit, we will not have one until the new year, maybe the end of January, but more likely early to middle February."

The grumbles from the tables increased but again no one out right complained. At the table with the third years, Hermione sighed, "I guess that's what I get for trying to be overly optimistic."

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

After hearing the announcement and checking the weather, it was obvious the students would not be leaving the grounds, Severus let out a relieved sigh and quickly left the hall. After calling to the Black home, Severus stepped through the floo, "The odds are better than not the trip to Hogsmeade will be canceled. Sophie just announced it." The adults scattered around the study released their own sighs of relief.

"Thank goodness, I was not looking forward to telling the children they could not leave the grounds. They would have stayed and would have all been pretty put out with me. With all of us, really. Plus I don't think we want to let the other three in on Blaise's mother. And we've not told any of them about Black." The rest of the adults nodded.

"At least this way we have until at least the end of January to get the wards figured out. In the last staff meeting Filius said he was coming along with mapping the current wards and was almost at a point where he would be ready to present the findings. Upthrall said he'd identified more than a few surprising runes around the castle and suspected their purpose was for the wards. He's been unable to determine who and when they were placed."

Jean, having read the journal pages in order to sort them, knew what was written. "I think they may be more recent than historic. The journals talk all about the enchantments and how the layers acted with each other, but I've yet to find any mention of runes. Given how detailed the descriptions are, I suspect the runes would be noted if he knew they existed."

"Yes, Reg's relative is quite proud and is telling the others that he will be reason the school is secured once more. More than once Sophie's silenced the man." Severus growled at the assorted group, "I'm sorry Reg but I agree with Lucius. Your relative is an arse." The adults laughed before Severus made his leave. He did have classes to teach.

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

In a rundown cottage, at the edge of a muggle village, Sirius Black paced. If the information they received was accurate, Hogwarts would have their first Hogsmeade weekend. Remembering his first time, he knew the students visiting for the first time would be so overwhelmed with the village they wouldn't pay quite as much attention as they might in later years. Since his companions also knew this they, two of them, left earlier in the day.

Sirius kept his mouth shut about the tunnels running under the school. If this great plan didn't work, he'd use them to grab one of the brats and get into those vaults. Once that happened, he would ditch this group and find himself a nice island somewhere. It was only a grunt from the witch in the room that made Sirius stop.

"Would you stop. You're acting like a caged animal. Go for a walk or something." Maria's attitude hadn't gotten much better after that curse was placed, but at least she stopped threatening to leave. None of them could risk her being caught out. There hadn't been any announcement about their escape, telling everyone in the cottage, it hadn't been identified yet. All knew the Ministry would report on the escape in order to warn the public.

"Why don't you make yourself useful and cook something eatable for once?" The wizards quickly learned Maria Zabini was not a cook, in fact they discovered she couldn't boil water. The only reason she was around was to get as much information about her kid as possible. The witch merely glared at the wizard and exited the cottage.

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

While Sirius attempted to not commit murder, the other two roamed the woods around Hogsmeade. Neither planned much for the weather and found themselves standing in shin deep snow. "The weather is going to be a formidable enemy this weekend. If it keeps up at this rate there will be a meter or more of snow."

"Doesn't matter, the visits always happen. We just have to be prepared to identify the Longbottom boy and grab him. Once we have him, we will take him to get through those wards. After that, we can lead the Ministry to our companions and have them blamed for what happened to the boy."

The two wizards knew their childhood task was closer to being completed than ever before. Albus, still upset about the loss of his wand, at least knew where it and the cloak were. The stone, he still needed to find that.

"I swear Gellert, we won't be stopped by Abe this time." Gellert wasn't sure, he didn't quite trust his friend but at the moment, Albus did know more. Gellert nodded and gave the other wizard a look he hoped would convey his belief.

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

When Saturday morning dawned, the students immediately knew they wouldn't be visiting Hogsmeade that day. The heavy frost on the windows and obvious drifts of snow were enough but when the winds whipped and screamed their fury, no student wanted to leave the somewhat warm castle.

Students remained bundled in their warmest clothes and cloaks. They sat in front of raging fireplaces and generally did what they could to remain warm. The third year students made their way to their year common room and settled in groups with their friends. When the majority of the third years were settled, they found their combined bodies warmed the room enough to not need cloaks and blankets. But most kept their hats firmly on their heads.

"I'm sorry we couldn't look at dresses Pavarti. I was looking forward to it." Hermione found herself interested in seeing what Pavarti thought of the dress Hermione wanted for the Malfoy New Years Ball. Pavarti shrugged, she was sad to be stuck at the school too.

"I sent Mum a note yesterday and asked her to send me some catalogs. We can't try on the dresses, but at least we can look at them."

"That sounds like a good idea. Would Padma want to join us? I assume she'd need a dress as well." Hermione wanted to make sure Padma didn't feel left out of the new friendship.

"Probably, I'll check with her later. Now let's talk about the MalfoyBall. I've heard stories and seen some pictures in the Prophet, but I've never had the chance to ask anyone who goes to them. Are they as amazing as what I've heard?" Pavarti wanted to ask about the ball for a couple of weeks and planned to do so while they tried on dresses, but the weather scuttled that plan.

Hermione chuckled at the questions, "I'm not sure what you've heard, but Cissy does an amazing job with them. The decorations are nothing short of classic and they still catch your breath." Draco heard the question and slid a little closer to Hermione and slipped his arm around her.

"Mum takes a lot of pride in that event. It raises a lot of money for a bunch of charities." Hermione looked to Draco in surprise. "Yeah, the Ball is a fundraiser for six or eight charities. The number and charities change every year. It's why some of the speeches talk about what they want to do in the coming year."

"Huh, I guess I never thought about it. The last two years I've been a bit worried about our first dance." Draco chuckled and stood with his hand outstretch to his witch. "Draco?" The wizard smiled and waved his wand. Hermione, now standing, heard music begin to play and looked to see Draco bowed with his hand extended.

"May I have this dance?"

"You're an idiot, but, yes." Draco, chuckling at the response, pulled Hermione into his arms and the pair began to spin around the room. They stepped around their friends who were still sitting on the ground and avoided the random chairs and tables in the room. As the song continued, and it became obvious Draco wasn't going to stop dancing, other students stood and awkwardly asked others to dance. Before long, all of the third years present were dancing around the room.

Some of them were waltzing in a traditional wizard fashion, while others were doing the muggle version. Some of those who hadn't learned either were swaying or slowly turning in time with the music. The students alternated the type of music played and dancing done. But the time lunch rolled around, the students found they weren't too upset about missing their first visit to Hogsmeade. The morning spent dancing and acting like children would be remembered.

The students also discovered a morning of dancing burned a lot of energy and the group made their way to the Great Hall as soon as they could to get lunch. As they left their common room, none noticed Sophie leaning against a wall. She heard the music and followed it to find a room full of students dancing. It gave her an idea, one that might make up for having to cancel the weekend visit.

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

"You want to have a dance?" Minerva leaned back in her chair and looked at Sophie with a combination of surprise and amusement. When the other witch nodded, Minerva straightened up. "It's not something done here, there is a Yule Ball. That is a rare event and I can't remember the last time we had one."

Sophie wondered why activities for the students didn't happen. This was a boarding school, the staff was responsible for teaching the children what they would need to be part of society. Not that you had to dance to be successful, but Sophie knew there were balls and such here, just like at home. "Yes, I think we've been remiss in not providing the students with a more well rounded education. They are home for a few months in the summer and two times during the year. How are they expected to learn these things we don't do it?"

It was a good question and one Minerva asked many times over the years. "I've been told by Albus it wasn't our place. I don't know what he had against the idea, I always thought it would be a good thing. But before the break? With the exams it would be hard to get this done, and that doesn't take into account the next two weekends are the opening quidditch matches. Then you have to deal with the children not having a chance to get something to wear."

Sophie knew all those things and thought she had a solution. "I know, I was thinking we have it be very informal, let them wear their pajamas if they wanted, but just a chance to get together. I thought we could announce it this evening and have it set for next Saturday, I think a week would be more than enough time if the students want to write home for something. The students would gather in the Hall and have the opportunity to dance and talk and interact."

"That could work, as long as the match doesn't take an age, I can't imagine it impacting the evening plans too much." The witches nodded, "The discontinuation of the house tables has done a lot for the students expanding their groups of friends. This would push that pendulum a bit further in the direction you want." Thinking more on the idea, Minerva started to like the idea more and more. "What brought this on Sophie?"

The other witch smiled widely and explained what she came across earlier in the day and how much fun the third years had. "Why am I not surprised it was that group. They are really going to bring some needed changes to our world." The pair of witches settled in their seats and began to plan out the dance. After bringing the house elves into the planning, they decided to not have dinner on Saturday but have tables set up with food, drinks, and various seasonal snacks.

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

Albus Dumbledore fumed and blew up a few trees. "I don't understand, where are the bloody students? Whatever is going on at that school now is wrong. Just another thing to fix it once we are in control." Gellert shrugged, he didn't much care about what the school did or did not do.

"You said there was an alternative if needed?" Gellert tried to get Albus's focus back on what was more important.

"Yes, as always you have a way to keep me on track." Albus lifted his hand toward Gellert, who allowed the man to touch his cheek, "Let's head toward the school. Unless something drastic happened, we should be able to get a bit closer to the school than the initial ward boundary." The two men started the longer than normal walk as they had to keep to the trees to ensure no one spotted them.

When they arrived, Albus stepped over a boundary that kept Gellert out. "Good, let's go back and we can work out the next step. Might be good to release a little mayhem."

*TGE*TGE*TGE*

A/N2 - Wonder just what those two are planning? Probably nothing good. Just sayin'