A/N: I'm so sorry that it took me this long to get this chapter up! I had plans to have this out a bit after Halloween, but plans changed drastically and I haven't been able to get it up until now. Please don't hate me! This chapter is rushed a bit because I wanted to get it out so that you guys wouldn't think I was ditching the story, so if it seems a bit tentative, I'm sorry. Anyways, moving along, I also typed up a story a while back that I finally published a few days ago, called, Mr. Prongs Would Like To Welcome Padfoot Home. It's a small dedication to Sirius, so if you want to read it, be my guest! I also went to go see the new Harry Potter movie last night! It was great, except I didn't really like how it didn't follow the story, and anyone that hasn't read the books would be extremely confused… in my opinion. I didn't like the character they picked for Fleur either, but that's just me. Was it just me or did Voldemort not have red eyes? Eh.. Anyways, here's the story! Enjoy!

Regular actions; speech

Thoughts, memories, or emphasized words

: Memories :

Mandalen: Lol, thank you. I was sort of at a loss of what to put on that. I hate knowing that a lot of things for pranks have been used in other stories, so I just did that in hopes of not using a cliché; I'm unsure if it's been used before though.

Caitlyn: To answer your question, Peter was asleep the whole time. I had it planned when I was writing that chapter that the others would wake him up after Hermione left. I didn't leave him out on purpose! Just read on and find out who finds Hermione and Severus in Hogsmeade!

Melissa Trent: Yes! Ickle Sirikins. : D I liked how it sounded, so I had to use it somewhere in my story. And, I'm honestly not sure if I will put any Hermione/Sirius fluff in it. It might be a bit much with how I'm planning my plot to go, but I'll keep it in mind.

Reanne1102: Thank you! Your review made me smile. ( : I'm glad you like the story. I hope you and your friend enjoy reading this next chapter!

LunaLovegoss: Thanks! Alright, the deal with the whole scar/tattoo looking thingy will be revealed in her meeting with the whole Order. I honestly let that slip my mind when I was making the last chapter, so thanks for reminding me! I should have put that somewhere in there, but I was so caught up in the story that I didn't exactly think of it. So, whenever she goes to the Order meeting, it will come up. The reason why I didn't have her bring it up beforehand was because she was planning on telling Dumbledore when they were alone; but she wont get much of a chance to. So, just keep reading if you want to find out.

Hiei is MYNE: Thank you! I'm glad that you like my story! Yes, the description I used for Severus Snape was how I would picture the younger and more innocent persona. I didn't want to make him seem mean and ugly like a majority of people made him because he's still young and there are twenty years ahead of him to get through.

Wally4ever: I'm sorry if you didn't understand the theory thing about the shadow. To put it short, Hermione is in a dimensional status where she doesn't exist anywhere. She's in the past, where she isn't supposed to exist, and therefore, she doesn't present herself as an actual persona that belongs there. If you don't understand it still, I'll try to give more of a explanation over it. Sorry! Also, yes, this story is going to stay a Remus/Hermione fic. I don't have any plans on that changing.

Duos Gurl1: Thank you! I'm not sure about Sirius hooking up with anyone, but if the majority of you reviewers want him to, then I'll gladly do it. I just don't know what kind of person he would go for exactly. Any ideas? Also, about your email, thank you for pointing out a few of the things I hadn't realized.

1: On chapter 2, when I put the website that I got the information from, it cut it off and I hadn't realized it. I guess it cut the site off because of the http thing. Anyways, the site that I had used was: hp-lexicon. org/index-2. Html (without the spaces)

2: Now, on chapter 6 where I it said, "As Hermione passed the Slytherin table, she saw Severus and smiled warmly at him. He nodded to her, and resumed talking to a boy that looked disturbingly familiar to Hermione." I had meant that the boy (Lucius Malfoy) looked like Draco; therefore, familiar. In other words, the sentence could be revised as: "As Hermione passed the Slytherin table, she saw Severus and smiled warmly at him. He nodded to her and resumed talking to a boy that Hermione found disturbingly familiar."

3: About the mark. This has came up more than once, and I realize my mistake about it, but I had had intentions to add something about it in my last chapter but while I was typing the chapter out, I guess it slipped through my mind. About the mark now; I hadn't meant to leave it out just like that. When Hermione was speaking to Dumbledore and he asked her if there was anything else she'd like to tell him about, I forgot to add this--

"I'm going to have to look into that," Dumbledore said calmly, "because for once, I'm at a loss at what to tell you. I'll get back to you on that, Hermione. Until then, is there anything else you'd like to share with me?"

Hermione gulped. :Missing Part: She desperately wanted to tell the Headmaster about the mark that had appeared on her stomach, but she was scared to present the problem in front of so many people. Even if she knew them in the future, she didn't know anything about them in this time and vise versa. Hermione decided that she would wait until Dumbledore was alone to ask him about the mark. She let the problem drift to the back of her mind until later. /End Missing Part:

She had intended to tell him everything that she'd told the Marauders but she wasn't sure if she wanted to now. "Professor, I'm guessing you heard about the incident with the boggart yesterday--"

Dumbledore put a hand up to silence her. "I am aware of it all. Professor Ian came to me yesterday evening and told me of the incident. There was one thing that I'm curious about though. He told me that the boggart turned into two different things. What might they have been?"

Other thanks go out to: TheDoomer, Parvatti, Katsheswims, amrawo, Evil Cat Hater, the-kaiba-heir, Torri-Chiobie, SuperGirl0026, FireBringer, AzNAnGeL07 and, little mimi!

"Wait, did you want to go to Hogsmeade with us?" Sirius asked.

"No, I'm already supposed to meet up with someone." Hermione smiled. "Thanks anyways."

Remus watched as Sirius was about to protest to Hermione's words but before he had the chance, the girl rushed out of the room and closed the door behind her. Everyone either stood or sat where they were and blinked, apparently confused of the girls antics.

"O…kay." James finally said, breaking the long stretched silence. "That was weird."

"Yes, that was weird." Sirius shook his head.

"Very weird." James replied.

"Very weird indeed." The other dark haired boy agreed.

"I concur."

"Are you two finished being remotely stupid?" Remus mumbled while he got out of his bed and stretched, a slight blush still glowing on his pale face.

Just because it was Hogsmeade day, that didn't mean he wanted to be woken up earlier than normal; especially by means of a squealing girl. Though, Remus admitted to himself, it was somewhat of a nice change to have Hermione wake him up instead of Sirius or James. God always knew what they planned to do every morning in attempt to wake up the dorm. Though, Hermione being in his dorm while he's hardly dressed was somewhat…

"No." The other two boys retorted in unison, breaking Remus' train of thought.

"Hey, Wormtail never woke up." Sirius whined, looking over at the sleeping boys form and then bounded over towards Peter's bed.

When he reached the four poster bed of his friend, he catapulted himself onto the lump under the red comforter. Mumbled threats surfaced from under the laughing boy who was now repeatedly poking at the shorter boys sides.

"Oi, geroff me." Peter mumbled and kicked Sirius off of his bed.

Sirius landed on his back and let out a great 'oomph' of air as he hit it. "Ow, Wormtail!"

"Sorry, but you deserved it." The disgruntled boy replied while he kicked his blankets off and moved off his bed. "Why're you all up so early anyways?"

"Hoggy Hoggy Hogsmeade!" Sirius sung in reply, slapping his palms against the carpet.

"Oh!" Peter squeaked after a moment and hurried over to his trunk. "I nearly forgot."

Sirius blinked. "Yeah, I think we all did."

"So what's first on today's agenda?" James asked as he began to pull clothing out of his own trunk and tossed it randomly onto the already messy floor.

"Breakfast, of course!" The other dark haired boy answered as he pulled a clean shirt over his head.

"Yes, we can't forget breakfast," Remus said sardonically as he too pulled a clean shirt on.

As the boys hurried to get dressed, Remus walked over towards the window and looked out. His breath caught in his throat as he looked out over the grounds and at the melancholy sky. Snow was drifting lazily down onto the earth from the clouds that obscured the sky and covered the grounds in a white blanket. It was always something that Remus had always found beautiful.

"Snow!" James exclaimed as he came up beside the werewolf.

"Great! This weekend is going to be perfect," Sirius grinned towards his friends while hopping on one foot as he attempted to put on a sock. "Anyone up for a snowball fight tomorrow?"

"I'm in!"

"So am I!"

"I don't know what use it would be to try and object. So I suppose I'm in too," The other boys laughed at Remus as he shook his head and tsked at them.

Once all of them were ready to go to breakfast, they left Gryffindor Tower. Upon sitting down at the Gryffindor table to eat the morning meal, Remus scanned the many faces of students that had already been there. He felt a small pang of disappointment when he didn't find the familiar face of Hermione.

"What's wrong Moony?" Sirius mumbled through a mouthful of eggs.

"Nothing."

"All right, there's something," James pointed his fork accusingly at his friend. "You always say 'nothing' when there is something."

"And you'd know this?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow. How could he explain to his friends that he was feeling a bit off because Hermione wasn't there?

"It's because of Hermione, isn't it?" Peter said shrewdly with a small grin.

"What?" Remus sputtered. Speak of the devil, he thought and inwardly groaned.

"Ah hah!" Sirius shouted loudly, causing a few second years to jump and stare. "So it is!"

"No!" Remus denied and suddenly busied himself with his toast. He knew he was starting to blush, even if it was slight.

"Yes!" James grinned and gave the other boy a small shove in the shoulder.

Remus rolled his eyes and was quiet. What was the use in trying to deny it? They wouldn't drop it, even if he tried his best to assure them that Hermione wasn't the reason. He looked at his plate intently and replied, "So what if it is?"

"Oh, oh, oh! Moony has finally found himself a Lily!" Sirius crowed triumphantly while James scowled at him.

"A Lily? Now you're using our situation as some sort of metaphor?" James spat playfully.

"Metaphor?" The other boy blinked confusedly.

Remus rolled his eyes and smiled. Leave it to his friends to not know what a metaphor was and how to use it properly. As breakfast past, Remus listened as his friends bickered at one another, played around, and joked about. He was quite surprised that they hadn't planned a new prank yet; they were usually always planning something.

"Moony, you ready to go?"

Remus looked up to see his friends already standing up and waiting for him. "Yeah, sorry about that."

He stood up and joined his friends on their way to the double doors. The russet haired boy was vaguely listening to James inform Peter of the newest Quidditch 'gossip' as Remus called it. He could already tell that the day was going to be full of mischief from his friends, who were all in high spirits.

Meanwhile, some of the students had already made their way to Hogsmeade for the day, two of them being a certain Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Hermione was making her way to the place that her and Severus had decided to meet at; the Shrieking Shack. It would have been suspicious if they had left to castle together, so they had just decided to meet up in the village before many people came.

The girl was now trudging down the road leading to the 'most haunted house in Britain.' She hadn't realized that it was snowing before she left; if she had known, she would have grabbed a warmer cloak but she was content at the moment. In fact, she was quite enjoying herself as she walked along the deserted path with snow falling around her and the only noise being the hushed flapping of her cloak and the wind that whistled quietly through the surrounding trees.

Hermione was glad that Severus had asked her to go to Hogsmeade with him. She liked hanging out with the Marauders, but she needed some quiet in her life and Severus was a quiet person. He was also becoming a great friend of Hermione's and vise versa. They could sit for hours in comfortable silence, just enjoying each others presence. It was something that Hermione actually found comforting.

Through the screen of white falling from the sky, Hermione could see the silhouette of the Shrieking Shack in the distance. Turning off to the right of the path where it was obvious that someone had passed through, she wove around the trees where less snow had fallen on the ground, leaving her own footprints in the white powder.

Up ahead, a bit to the left of her, she could see a cloaked figure standing near the fence whom was staring out at the shack. Hermione approached the person slowly and quietly, knowing that it was Severus.

"Hey."

He turned around and nodded to her in acknowledgement. "I thought you would take forever getting here."

Hermione chuckled quietly, hearing the teasing in his voice. "I couldn't make it seem too obvious, now could I?"

"Of course not." He replied in his usual, quiet voice.

Hermione walked up to the fence and brushed the snow off of the top wooden plank before hoisting herself up onto it backwards so that her back was to the shack. She pulled her cloak tightly around her torso, trapping in what warmth her body gave off.

It was silent for a few moments before the boy glanced at her with a smirk and asked, "So the notorious Marauders let you go?"

"They wanted me to come here with them but I told them I was going with someone else." She grinned.

"You could have gone with them if you really wanted to." Severus looked at the shack while he spoke, though his voice held a certain edge to it that Hermione immediately realized was scorn.

"I could have, but I didn't want to; I wanted to come here with you. You did ask me first, you know."

He nodded then turned to look at her with a small, half smile visible on his face. "You're the only person who I've ever asked to come here with me. The only other person I would ask would be Lily since she's always sticking up for me, but I don't think that would fair good with her lover boy."

Hermione made a face. "James?"

"Who else?"

The brown eyed girl laughed lightly and looked at the trees that obscured them from anyone's view if they were walking along the path. "He's hopeless when it comes to her."

"Indeed." Severus sneered.

"Oh, come on Sev, you know that they'd be a great couple if they just realized that they like each other."

"Don't call me that," he said with narrowed eyes.

"Why not?" Hermione asked while raising an eyebrow, "It's not like anyone else is around to hear."

The raven haired boy let out an undignified snort, showing his amusement. Hermione flashed a smile his way and swung her legs back and forth a few times. The boy just leaned forward against the fence as it continued to snow, neither of them saying anything for a long time until Severus broke the silence.

"What are you planning on doing here in Hogsmeade?"

"Oh, just a bit of shopping." She said matter-of-factly while waving a hand dismissively.

Severus stared at her in bewilderment, "Shopping? Shopping for what exactly?"

"Yes, shopping. Not for anything girly, mind you, just some presents for Christmas." She rolled her eyes.

"Good, I wouldn't have you drag me into any of those… girl stores." He mentally shuddered at the thought.

The girl let out a good natured laugh and hopped down off of the fence. "You know you like those shops. With all the pink fluffy things and all the perfumes--"

Severus glared at her good naturedly and kicked at the ground, sending the powered snow up into the air in front of him so that it landed gracefully, yet coldly, on Hermione.

Hermione shrieked loudly as the snow landed on her, melting against her flushed face and neck. "Severus!"

He smirked at her and ducked when she threw a handful of snow at him. He leant over and scooped up a handful of snow, pressing it into a snowball and then chucked it at the girl, hitting her in the shoulder. She huffed and did the same, this time actually hitting him in the arm.

He scowled at her as she attempted to throw another one at him but he stepped to the right, avoiding a headlong collision with the accurately thrown snowball.

This continued for quiet a while until Hermione put her arms in the air, indicating her surrender. Severus smirked triumphantly and leaned against the fence again, this time with his arms crossed against his chest while he faced the girl who was now sitting cross legged in the snow.

"You should have gone easy on me." Hermione pouted.

"Easy?" Severus snorted, once more.

"Yes! I think you cheated." She sniffed and turned her head away from him.

"I didn't cheat!" The boy sputtered, "You're just a sore loser."

"Humph!" Hermione huffed and trust her hand towards him, which he just blinked at. "Will you help me up?"

Severus sneered slightly and grasped her hand in his and attempted to pull her up, but much to his surprise, the girl jerked him down into the snow next to her. She laughed outright as he tumbled ungracefully into the snow beside her, flailing in attempt to keep himself from falling face first on the ground.

"How very graceful." She giggled.

Her friend pulled himself up so that he was sitting facing her. She watched in amusement as he tried to brush strands of his hair out of his eyes but only succeeded in getting snow all over his face. Watching the fruitless attempts, she leaned forward and did it for him, grinning at his annoyed look.

"That was a dirty trick you did just a moment ago."

"Oh, was it?"

"Indeed, it was." He glared at her and crossed his arms once more. "And you said I cheated."

"And you call yourself a Slytherin. Ha!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Hermione grinned at him, "It means exactly what I said."

There was comfortable silence after those words. Hermione decided to fall backwards in the snow with a muffled 'thump' and lay sprawled out in the cold powdered precipitation. Severus casually watched her and the surroundings, though he found himself staring unashamedly at the mysterious girl in front of him for the majority of the time.

The main thing that always went through his head when she was around him was, 'she doesn't seem to belong in this world where rivalries are constant and muggleborns are hated by most.' He wouldn't admit that out loud of course, but the thought was still there.

And it was a true thing, he argued with himself. Seeing her stretched out in the snow in a contented way while in the company of one of the most hated Slytherin's caused an aura of ease to surround and envelop him. Was it always this nice to have friends?

Hermione was beginning to freeze her bottom off by now but she didn't feel like moving just yet. Severus was being quiet, lost in his own thoughts which left her in her own as well.

She began to think about a few things that Harry had once told her, though by accident, about Severus-- or, as he called him at the time, Snape. Did he really have such a neglected childhood? Did his parents really fight all the time? All of these questions led to more and more, until finally she looked a bit to the right, peering off into the distance at the Shrieking Shack and was now lost in memories…

: "I don't believe it! You-- You--!"

"Hermione--"

"--You and him!"

"Hermione, calm down--"

"I didn't tell anyone! I've been covering up for you--"

"Hermione, listen to me, please! I can explain--"

"I trusted you and all this time you've been his friend!"

"You're wrong. I haven't been Sirius' friend, but I am now-- Let me explain..."

"NO! Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead to-- he's a werewolf!" :

She sighed heavily, remembering not only how horrible that night had been; but also how successful her and her friends were. She recalled how she was shocked to find out that Scabbers had been Peter the whole time and how he was a servant to Voldemort. Was Severus part of the Death Eaters in this time already?

Hermione shifted slightly so that she was in a more comfortable position. She couldn't feel her face that well, due to the icy wind and her feet were starting to become uncomfortably numb, but otherwise she was fine.

"Severus?" She said timidly.

He looked at her, slightly startled by the tone of her voice but nonetheless replied, "Yes?"

"Tell me… have you thought about joining Voldemort's ranks? Like… becoming a Death Eater?"

The boy froze in place, his face becoming an impassive mask while his eyes hardened, showing no emotion. He refused to respond, so Hermione just took a different approach.

"Look, Severus. I'm not blind. I know that Voldemort wants you to join him. Whether it's on or against your will, I know he wants you." She sighed as he stared at her. "Severus, please tell me, I wont hold anything against you and I wont tell anyone anything, but are you planning on joining him on your own will?"

The boy didn't respond for a long time. "How do I know you wont tell anyone?"

"How about we use an Unbreakable Vow?" She replied calmly.

He thought for a moment before nodding his head and Hermione sat up, extending her hand out for him. Severus took hers in his and held his wand tip to their locked hands and said, "Will you, Hermione Granger, not speak of anything I will tell you about my intentions to anyone other than myself?"

"I will." She replied evenly, watching as a bright red flame shot out of Severus' wand and covered their hands. Then, she asked, "In turn, will you, Severus Snape, tell only the truth to me while you speak of your intentions?"

"I will."

Another flame encircled the interlocked hands, encasing them in a cool heat as it glowed and faded. Hermione looked up expectantly at Severus who in turn, took a deep breath and stood up, putting up his wand. Hermione got up to, her backside now numb and she hopped around a bit, getting the feeling back in her feet.

"So, what did you want to know exactly?"

"If you were going to join Voldemort."

"Honestly, I don't know exactly. My father wants me to join him, but I don't want to. He sent me a letter not to long ago telling me that he was expecting me to show my loyalties soon, and the only thing I can think that that means is…"

"Getting the dark mark." Hermione finished for him as she trotted over to her previous place on the fence. Raising herself up again, she looked up into the sky.

"I know you've only known me for a few days, but I want to tell you that if you're forced to get the dark mark, I won't ever hold it against you. There is good in you, I know it. I've seen it, but things will try to turn you to the wrong side even if it's against your will. You still have the chance to refuse allegiance to Voldemort. There always will be. It's just that you yourself have to decide what path you want to take. You probably don't realize this, but you will play a major part in the future whether for good or bad; maybe both. The decisions you make can save hundreds of lives, or take them. I've seen a fair number of things in my life, and one thing I've seen happen is someone who is completely lost turn to what is right or vise versa. You have a chance Severus. If you put faith in Dumbledore, he will protect you. He's a good man who's true to his word. That's why I'm on his side."

There was a long pause after this until she turned to face Severus, who was staring at her with wide eyes. As a shaft of light broke through the blanket of clouds, she smiled at him, her eyes sparkling in the light of the morning. "I trust you Severus."

I trust you…

He'd never heard those words spoken to him before; no one would ever trust him, or so he thought.

Severus stared at the girl in front of him, unsure of what he was feeling. She looked almost unearthly, sitting on top of the fence as if she had no care in the world of what the future held, whether dark or peaceful. He watched as the fluffy snow flakes drifted down from the sky and lazily floated around her body that was now drenched in the shafts of sunlight, a few curls of her brown hair falling into her flushed face.

Her eyes were sparkling with so many emotions as they watched him, though her voice was golden and pure all the while that she spoke, her lips in a delicate smile that made him feel secure and, Merlin forbid, carefree.

Something about how this girl held herself as she talked to him kept him in a small trance. Her hair haloed her appearance in a golden prestige, giving her the air of someone full of knowledge, power, and spirit. For a brief moment, he didn't even know if she was human, her form standing out amidst the shadows that the light cast upon the snow, though she herself stood out without any darkness obscuring her exterior.

She turned her head away from him, looking up at something in the sky. Her upturned face glowed in the warmth of the daylight and she laughed softly, the same type of laughter he'd heard before in the Great Hall during one of the meals.

"Severus, promise me something."

He snapped out of the small trance and collected himself. "What?"

"Promise me that you'll stay true to me, as I will to you?"

What is she getting at? He questioned himself, uncertain of her random thoughts. He had a feeling that she already knew what he would say to that, but he decided to assure her. "I promise."

She grinned broadly and jumped down off of the fence so that she was in front of him, then enveloped him into a tight hug. He was quite startled at first, but then he felt that he quite liked the feeling; he had never really known how it would feel to be hugged, his mother hadn't given him the affection that most children craved.

As she started to pull away, he wrapped his arms around her and drew her back into a hug of his own, which she readily hugged back in. He couldn't help but bury his face against her hair, smiling softly, knowing that this was just the beginning of a strong friendship that they would hold for each other. He was about to tell her that he trusted her, until someone stepped from the shadows of the trees to their left, interrupting their embrace.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

A/N: Sorry for the cliffy, I'll get the next chapter up soon!