A/N: Look how I'm spoiling you! Thanks so much for all the reviews. You're all such sweethearts! Much love! xx-Kitten

Of Ticking Clocks & Beating Hearts

By Kittenshift17

Chapter 12: Phase Two

Hermione groaned when she woke up two months into the term to find Cleo once again asleep on her chest. The cat had a habit of sleeping on her chest and she was steadily getting heavier so Hermione tended to wake up with an ache from the added weight of the creatures sleeping on top of her.

Dragging herself out of bed and over to her wardrobe, Hermione couldn't be more thrilled that it was a Saturday. She was keeping on top of her classes with appalling ease thanks to her advanced mental age, and so all of her homework was done and didn't need to be seen to. Severus had been slowly warming up to her over the first months of their tentative friendship. She, Lily and Severus sat together in every class they shared. Rabastan tended to float in and out of their company and the Marauders were already forming a fast friendship.

As she'd known was inevitable, Peter Pettigrew joined the group that James, Sirius and Remus made up. He was the fourth and only other boy in Gryffindor for first year, so they'd taken the pudgy little blonde boy under their wing. Hermione had been concerned to begin with, but there was currently nothing harmless about Peter. He was just an innocent, fat little boy who had no friends before Hogwarts and was in awe of Sirius.

He idolised James and Remus too, it was clear, but Sirius was definitely his hero. He laughed at every joke out of Sirius's mouth and he followed the other boys around like a lost puppy. Hermione resolved to keep a closer eye on him. If he ever showed even the slightest hint of betraying his friends she would step in and put a stop to it. If need be, Hermione was not above removing the man from existence.

That morning, however, Hermione had more important things to be focusing on than the comings and goings of Peter Pettigrew. Even though it was only just the beginning of November, Hermione was already plotting how best to cement friendships with the people she needed to manipulate into being better. Most importantly, she needed to find a way to bring Severus completely under her spell and lure him away from his dreadful home life.

Since arriving Hermione had letters almost every day from Miranda and Eugene. Snape, on the other hand, had received only one letter from his mother. He'd written to her at Hermione and Lily's prompting, informing her of his being sorted into Slytherin and the new friends he had made. She'd replied with a very short letter congratulating him on being in the best house. She'd wished him well with his studies, told him not to disappoint her and that was it. Nothing else.

Similarly, Sirius had received some correspondence from home. A howler. Walburga Black's shrieks had echoed throughout the castle, calling him a disgrace to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, cursing his name and calling him the shame of her flesh. Sirius had sat there stone faced while the howler shrieked at him in his mother's ear-splitting screams. Then he'd rolled his eyes and started a food fight with James.

Hermione knew that though both boys had tried to hide it, they were disheartened by the correspondence from home. And Hermione didn't fancy letting them all go home to such unhappy houses. She was already plotting to invite them all to spend Christmas with her, Miranda and Eugene. She would just have to convince them.

Severus probably wouldn't be difficult to convince. She'd heard him muttering the other day about the idea of the less time he spent at home, the better. The others might be harder. James appeared to have a very good relationship with his parents, so Hermione suspected he might like to go home to them for the holiday. Hermione was plotting, however, to have Miranda and Eugene invite Dorea and Charlus Potter to visit with them over the holidays so James could come with the rest of their friends.

Miranda didn't know Hermione's plot was quite so detailed yet, but she had agreed that the more they had for Christmas, the merrier it would be. She was already planning a Yule Ball at their estate and had sent the invitations just last night, inviting all of her friends and their families.

Skipping up into the common room, Hermione noticed that neither Severus nor Rabastan were there yet.

"Joseph, have you seen Sev or Bas?" she asked of another first year boy as he climbed the steps.

"They're still in bed," Joseph told her, pointing behind him down the steps.

"Excellent!" Hermione grinned, "I'm going to jump on them! Oh, and this is for you!"

She gave him the invitation to the Yule Ball that Miranda had sent for Joseph Urqart and his family.

"Thanks Hermione," Joseph said, smiling as he tried to read the invitation with bleary eyes.

"Mum sent one to your parents too," Hermione told him, ruffling his sandy hair as she went by him and hurried down the steps to the boy's dormitory.

"Morning Hermione," Cornelius Shafiq greeted her when he spotted her. He was in the process of pulling on his jumper.

"Hi Neil," Hermione said brightly, "This is for you."

She gave him an invitation too. She'd bonded rather well with all of the Slytherin boys in her year given that she was the only girl. Hermione got the feeling all of them thought of her as theirs to protect because she was all alone. When some Ravenclaws had said something unkind about her hair a few weeks ago Cornelius and Joseph had slipped her a laxative potion in her tea.

Of course, then Sirius, James, Remus and Peter had found out and they'd taken it upon themselves to transfigure the poor girl's hair into something resembling a poodle that had been struck by lightning. While Hermione was grateful she had such loyal friends in both houses, she'd felt bad for the girl.

"Oh, what is it?" Neil said, taking it and smiling at her, revealing his buck teeth.

"It's an invitation. My parents are hosting a Yule Ball this Christmas. Your family have been invited too, but that one invites you and the rest of my friends to all come and stay with us over the holidays. I've got one for the others boys too and I just caught Joe upstairs with his."

"Wicked," Cornelius grinned at her, "Thanks Hermione. I'll have to check with my folks, but at the very least I imagine they'll attend the ball."

"I know it's weeks away but I wanted to get in early and make sure everyone knew it was happening so no one goes planning anything else. I'll understand if you can't make it, but I hope you can," Hermione told him, smiling widely.

"Your parents don't mind having so many of us around? I assumed you've invited all us boys as well as the Gryffindors?" Neil asked.

"I have," Hermione grinned, "They're thrilled I've made so many new friends. It will be a full house if everyone can make it, but I doubt everyone will be able to. Most people like to spend Christmas with family. Since I'm pretty much all my parents have, they're more than willing to have everyone over."

"I'll owl my Mum and let you know, alright?" Neil smiled at her.

Hermione nodded her head, handing the other invitations to the other boys in the dormitory as well. Most of them were still in bed on the chilly November morning but Hermione ducked her head through the curtains around their beds just the same. Henry Parkinson made a face at the sight of her so early when she prodded his cheek and then stuck the invitation under his nose on his pillow. Ivan Mulciber growled at her unintelligibly and swatted at her like she was an annoying gnat buzzing by his ear before tossing the invitation – unread – to his bedside table and sticking his pillow over his head. Tiberius Bulstrode was still snoring, so Hermione tucked the invitation under his cheek on his pillow before she strolled over to Sev's bed. Rabastan was still sound asleep, his curtains open and his torso hanging half out of the linens, his head hanging over the side of the mattress.

Hermione laughed at the sight of him before she made her way to Severus's bed. He had his curtains open too, his head buried beneath his pillow and the covers pulled high. Hermione didn't know if he was asleep or not. Setting the stack of invitations on his bedside table, Hermione pried the covers open to the sound of his groan and climbed into the bed next to him. She stretched out on her stomach next to him in the narrow four-post bed and burrowed under his pillow.

He groaned at her again, his eyes snapping open to glare at the intrusion when Hermione laid close enough to him for the tips of their noses to touch.

"One day you're going to climb into bed with me," Sev told her, his voice gravelly with sleep but somehow still sharp with annoyance, "And I'll be naked. What are you going to do then?"

Hermione smiled at him.

"Perve on you," she answered, "Did you sleep well?"

"I was sleeping like a log. Until you let all that cold air in and cramped up my space," he grumbled.

Hermione smiled widely at him. She didn't know what it was about being in her De-Aged body whilst retaining her aged mental status, but she enjoyed unsettling her friends. She also had done away with concerns like personal boundaries. Sirius was partially responsible. He tended to throw his arm around her shoulders whenever he saw her. Not just to her either. Lily, Alice, Marlene and Molly all received the same treatment. He flirted mercilessly with all of them despite their young age and he was touchy-feely.

Hermione had taken to being touchy with Severus.

At first he'd been unnerved by her closeness but Hermione had watched the idea of enjoying her company grow on him. He never admitted it, of course. He was always being grouchy about something, brooding and moody even when he was outwitting Peter or Rabastan. He grumbled constantly about her crowding him and being in his elbow room. Hermione, however had done exactly what the adult version of Severus Snape she'd known in her time had told her to do. She belligerently ignored every insult he threw at her and kept right on being his friend.

He'd been right too. His tongue was almost as sharp at eleven as it had been when he was her teacher. The others all thought she was a little bit bonkers for tolerating him. Even Lily bore the brunt of Severus's bad moods with less patience than Hermione did. She'd gotten snippy with him last week when Severus had snapped at the redhead for accidentally spilling an ink pot on his homework and though she had apologised he'd proceeded to call her clumsy sycophant who spent too much time trying to be liked by the Marauders to pay attention to her surroundings.

Lily had been in a strop with him over it though Hermione had noticed it was a little bit true. Lily was a delightful girl, in her way, but the saint she'd been hailed as in Hermione's time was not entirely accurate. Oh, she was smart. Her thirst for knowledge rivalled Hermione's. As did Snape's. But she was also something of a suck-up to the teachers and she tended to gravitate around the Marauders. They weren't calling themselves that yet, of course, but already they were building a reputation for being the popular troublemakers Hermione had known them to be.

Lily tended to giggle when they were around. Hermione didn't think it was because she had a crush on any of them, though James's interest in Lily was making itself well-known already. It was simply that they were popular and funny and Lily wanted to be part of that crowd. Hermione had even caught the occasional huff of annoyance Lily Evans tended to give when Severus arrived. He was most certainly not well liked. Oh he got along with the other Slytherin boys well enough, but he was too acerbic and nasty at times to be well-liked.

He would spew venom over anyone who ticked him off, just as he had in Hermione's time, and he had no patience for the pandering Lily was engaging in. He often muttered darkly to Hermione about it, convinced that Lily had a crush on Sirius. He'd also noticed James's interest in Lily and that had put him in a foul mood too. Whenever he snapped at the others, everyone tended to withdraw from him a little, leaving him be until he was calm again.

Everyone except Hermione.

She could already tell she'd been driving him spare. She enjoyed it. It was entirely too much fun to watch him fly off the handle, trying to slice her open with his sharp words. When she returned the sentiments with witticism of her own or when she simply plied him with even more friendship, he would wear a thunderstruck expression for hours. Much to Hermione's amusement, he very rarely apologised for what he said. Mostly because he tended not to sugar coat the truth and wasn't prone to lying. He said what he thought and he wasn't repentant about it, even if it hurt someone's feelings.

That she didn't allow it to hurt her feelings bugged him to no end, Hermione knew.

"I dreamed about riding a centaur through a field of poppies last night," Hermione told him, unrepentant about stealing his bedspace.

"That sounds awful," he informed her, looking at her across the bed from beneath the pillow. He made no move to get up or to push her out of bed. Hermione suspected that sometimes he rather liked her persistent friendship and her dogged determination to be with him, whether he liked it or not.

"What did you dream about?" Hermione asked him.

"Potter falling into a boiling cauldron while Black ran around shrieking dramatically," he drawled in response. He said such things a lot. Hermione didn't think they were true. She suspected Severus Snape had nightmares about the things he endured at home and that he lied to keep his secrets to himself.

"How terrible," Hermione replied, "I don't imagine James would fit into a cauldron very well."

"He was all bent up, bones broken, blood everywhere," Severus informed her, smirking cruelly.

"You're terrible," Hermione told him though she laughed, "You're just put out because you think he fancies Lily."

"He does fancy her. I've seen him watching her. He waits until he has her attention before he makes those stupid jokes. And she giggles every time," Severus grumbled.

"Some of them are funny," Hermione allowed, smiling in return.

"Next you'll tell me you've got a crush on Potter as well," he rolled his eyes, sounding disgusted.

"Nope. Not me. I'm not much interested in loud mouthed boys who goof off all the time. Now say, Remus… him I might be persuaded to fancy," Hermione grinned, enjoying the way Severus narrowed his eyes on her.

He would never admit to it, but he guarded her friendship jealously. He sat with her in every single class. He sat with her at meals and he walked with her in the halls. Hermione knew it was because unlike Lily or any of the other friends they'd made, she never ditched him. She never looked at him in annoyance when he arrived – as Lily occasionally did. Hermione suspected that Marlene, Alice and Molly didn't like him very much. They thought he was mean. No one had teased him for his shabby clothes or his nose yet, though Marlene made had a few jabs about his hair.

Hermione had cured the greasiness and fixed the length after he'd butchered it, but it was still longer than most boys wore their hair. Not that Severus seemed to care considering he never cut it. It grew fast too. When she'd seen him on the train it had hung a little past his shoulders. Two months later it had grown at least three inches. He only ever tied it up in Potions too, so it was always stringy and messy and made him look a bit scruffy.

The other girls thought he was an oddball. Too smart for his own good. Too interested in the Dark Arts. Too prone to saying things that unnerved others. Too shabby looking and poor. They didn't have to say it, but Hermione sensed that's what they thought. And Hermione suspected that to fit in, Lily was beginning to share their beliefs. She was still nice to him. She stuck up for him when the others said unkind things. But Hermione could tell she didn't like having to. Especially for things he could fix.

Hermione, on the other hand, endeavoured to be his friend come rain, hail or sunshine. If he was in a fiery mood and snapped at her, Hermione put up with it, sparred verbally with him until he was truly incensed or until she could say something to make him forget his mood and that was that. She invaded his space, ate food off his plate, argued with him like they were bitter enemies before hugging him like he was her one true love. And though he didn't admit it or probably like to think it, he knew her friendship was genuine and that she wasn't ever going anywhere.

For a boy who'd had no friends for so long, he was intent on keeping those he made. She and Lily had been his first friends and he clung to them desperately. Not that Hermione minded. She enjoyed his company more and more.

"Remus? But he's so…" he paused curling his lip in distaste as he searched for the right word, "Sickly."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"What? He gets sick twice and suddenly you think him sickly?" Hermione asked him, "It's hardly his fault he got the flu."

Hermione knew it wasn't the flu. It was his curse. He grew pallid and looked unwell every full moon. Hermione always made sure to be especially kind to him, sneaking him the chocolate he so adored whenever he was under the weather. He'd looked at her oddly the first time she'd done it, but he was slowly coming to accept that she could tell when he felt like rubbish. Hermione was hoping that eventually he might own up to being a werewolf to her. If he didn't by the end of the year, Hermione planned to confront him about it, letting him know that she knew. That she didn't mind at all. That she still enjoyed his company.

In all honesty she didn't think she fancied any of them. They were too young and immature at the moment. Hermione supposed it didn't bode well for her. It might very well come to it that she would need to use her feminine wiles to keep Severus and her other charges from Voldemort's clutches. How she was going to do that when she currently thought of them as precious little kids, she didn't know. They would grow out of it though, and being back in her smaller body and spending time with them was effecting her mental age too.

Hermione could feel it. Every now and then she felt much older than everyone else – much more world weary – but other times their enthusiasm and vivacious youth was infectious and she found herself feeling like a kid all over again.

"He gets the flu a lot," Severus grumped and Hermione knew he was jealous over the idea that she could fancy Remus.

"Not that much," Hermione argued, "Besides, you were the one accusing me of fancying James. You can't get upset with me for correcting you on the type of boy I might one day fancy."

"You anticipate fancying Lupin?" he sneered, looking disgusted.

"I didn't say I would fancy him specifically. I said someone like him. Someone smart and not prone to showing off every spare minute. Someone I can laugh with, without having to worry every other girl in the school is going to steal him," Hermione grinned at him, enjoying the way she was listing traits both Remus and Severus possessed. She wondered if he would click that she could fancy him too. She didn't yet, though she enjoyed him immensely. Also, knowing what a good kisser he would one day grow to be was definitely a point in his favour.

"Why are you in my bed?" he asked, obviously thinking himself into a snit.

"I have something for you," Hermione smiled at him, "And I missed you. And you're warm."

She snuggled closer to him until their thighs were pressed together, their noses still touching and they laid side-by-side.

"What have you got for me?" he asked curiously, forgetting his bad mood at being told she'd missed him in the eight hours since she'd bid him goodnight.

"An invitation to come and stay with me and my family over the Christmas holidays," Hermione told him, "My parents are throwing a Yule Ball on Christmas Eve, but I'm allowed to have friends stay for the entire break. Will you come?"

Severus looked surprised by the offer.

"You want me to come to your house? To meet your parents?" he asked.

"Of course I do. They've read all about you in my letters and they know you're my best friend. They want to meet you. Please say you'll come? I know you don't want to go home to your place," Hermione wheedled, staring at him across the mattress.

"Who else is going?" he hedged, and Hermione could tell he wanted to come, he just didn't want to seem too eager or too desperate.

"Mum and Dad said I could invite all of my friends for the whole holiday, though I don't imagine everyone will be allowed to come. I only got the invitations from Mum last night. They're on your nightstand," Hermione told him.

"You invited everyone? Even Potter and Black?" he asked, looked slightly crestfallen when he realised he wasn't so special after all.

"They're our friends, so don't look so disappointed," Hermione told him, "Besides, I can't very well exclude them. Sirius's parents are awful if those howlers he's been getting are anything to go by. And I think Remus's Dad might be a bit like yours…"

Severus's face darkened at the mention of his father, the loathing he felt for the man evident in his eyes.

"And anyway," Hermione went on in a whisper, "I invited everyone else because they're our friends and it would be impolite not to. I invited you, you great big blanket-hog, because I want you to be there. Please say you'll come? Even if everyone else says no? Please spend Christmas with me, Sev?"

Hermione watched his expression change as he listened to her whispered request, his dark eyes widening slightly to learn that she would beg him to come with her. That she desperately wanted to spend the holiday with him.

"Even if no one else came, you'd want me to come?" he asked, also whispering, his dark eyes searching what little of her expression he could see while they both had their heads stuck under his pillow. It smelled like him. Like peppermint.

Hermione smiled widely at him.

"Of course I would Sev," she told him, "You're my favourite person in existence."

And it wasn't even a lie. Her friends and loved ones didn't exist yet and the amount of time she'd spent with him since she'd arrived back here had endeared him to her. She actually did enjoy his company.

He looked slightly uncomfortable, though also pleased.

"What's going on here?" Rabastan's voice suddenly interrupted the moment and Hermione blinked at the harsh light when he lifted the pillow that covered both of their faces. Dressed in his pyjamas, Rabastan LeStrange grinned at the pair of them even as he peeled the covers back on Sev's bed and climbed in beside Hermione, sandwiching her between him and Severus.

"Must you, Bass?" Severus grumbled, trying to pull his pillow back over his head even as Hermione was forced to roll until she laid on her side instead of her tummy, pressing herself intimately against Sev while Rabastan wrapped himself around her back.

"You can't just exclude me when you snuggle," Bass protested, looping his arm over Hermione's waist playfully and poking Sev's side to tickle him.

"If I wanted to snuggle with you, I'd have invited you," Severus retorted, rolling as well until he was on his side and facing towards Hermione.

Hermione burrowed her face into his chest happily, wrapping her arms around him and pressing herself against the full length of his body. She soaked up his warmth gratefully. The worst part of her assignment thus far – other than leaving her family, friends and all she knew behind – had been the fact that it was always so cold and damp in the dungeons. Living there meant she almost always felt cold. She was always burrowing into her new friends to keep warm and Severus was her favourite. She enjoyed the way he tended to grit his teeth and bear it as though he didn't enjoy it.

Maybe he didn't. Hermione didn't much care. He kept her warm and she liked being warm. She also liked the peppermint scent that always lingered on his skin.

"What are you two talking about anyway?" Rabastan asked them curiously.

"I'm inviting everyone to my place for the Christmas holidays," Hermione told him, "My parents are holding a Yule Ball at our house. But I'm allowed to have friends over for the entire break, if you're all allowed to join me."

"Sounds like fun," Rabastan said, "I won't be able to come though. My folks are big on family Christmas. But I imagine we'll be at the ball."

"You don't even want to ask them if you'll be allowed to come to stay?" Hermione asked him, her voice slightly muffled by Severus's collarbone.

"They'll say no," Rabastan shrugged, "My older brother, Rodolphus, just got engaged to Bellatrix Black. I'm expected home for Christmas break to congratulate them and get on with all the posturing and bullshit that comes with a pureblood marriage."

"Oh," Hermione sighed, "Well, I hope you can come to the ball."

"It's a social event of the wizarding world," Rabastan replied dryly, "My mother wouldn't let us miss it. Especially not when she can spend the entire night bragging about Rodolphus's impending doom… erm, I mean nuptials."

Severus snorted, "Is he not willing to get married?"

"Not exactly," Rabastan shrugged, "He's ten years older than me, so he's almost twenty-two. But he's going to be marrying Bellatrix Black. She might be beautiful, but the bitch is bonkers. Bat-shit crazy. Rodolphus is terrified she'll slit his throat in his sleep."

Hermione smirked against Severus's chest, recalling Bellatrix Lestrange's mental instability. The niggling reminder that if she didn't interfere, Rabastan would one day go with Bellatrix and his older brother to torture Frank and Alice Longbottom into madness bothered Hermione and she resolved to make Rabastan and Alice better friends in the hopes of preventing it.