Chapter 3:

A few days had gone by and Hermione was getting bored of sitting in her bed. Then, as if her thoughts were heard, there came anxious knocks at the door.

"'Mione, it's Harry and friends. Open up!" Harry's voice came from the other side.

"Come on in Harry, I was ordered not to get up from bed."

Harry came through the portrait hole followed by Ron, Ginny, Draco, Millecent, and Pansy.

"Hi Granger, how are you feeling? Sorry Crabbe didn't come, he still blames you for Goyle's imprisonment." Draco greeted.

"It's good to see you too, Draco. I am fine, and you?"

"Fine, we all are, except for the fact that we all have been worried about you and your ass." Pansy said before Draco could say anything stupid.

"Why are you all concerned with my ass, Pansy?" she asked smirking

"Did I say 'we?' I meant to say Draco and the boys."

"Like hell it's just the guys! You may not be worried about that exact body part, but you were worried." Ron exclaimed.

Pansy blushed and shut her mouth. Suddenly, quiet Ginny spoke, "Hermione, you should know that the ministry is going to make Goyle pay for what he did to you. He won't get away with it."

"I suppose that's great news."

"It's wonderful news Hermione, he can't hurt you anymore." Ginny said placing a hand over her older friends.

"Yeah, but it still won't ease the pain he put me through. Do you all have any idea how many times I wanted to tell you why I couldn't talk to you, or see you? Hermione asked tearing up.

"Hermione this is in no way your fault. He did this and the Ministry is going to make sure he pays, " Draco said pulling his friend to him for comfort.

"I wanted to tell you guys for so long, I was dying."

"We understand Hermione, it was hard but we are here now. And we will be here no matter what." Hermione nodded in Draco's chest and tried to breath to calm herself down.

"I am so sorry that we didn't try harder to help you Hermione, This is almost as much our fault as it is his. Stupid Ministry law, we are going to fight this."

"Speaking of the Ministry, Ron, Ginny, I saw Percy the other day, he was the witness to my signing of a proposal parchment." Hermione said after a moment of calming herself.

"Really? Who would have thought of that son of a bitch would be here, and be a witness to your marriage to another man who will treat you as property?"

"RONALD!" Hermione and Ginny exclaimed at the same time.

"What?"

"For your information, Ronald," Hermione snapped, "I asked him to be here, he is after all the head of the Marriage law committee."

You could still see the anger in Ron's face, but he was smart for once, and kept his mouth closed.

"Who are you getting attached to this time Granger?" Millecent asked curiously.

"Snape." And the room was full of shocked silence.

"Why him Hermione? There are so many other men out there who would gladly accept your hand." Draco snapped.

"Like you." It wasn't a question.

"Ok, plenty of others, besides us."

"Actually, according to records, he was the only one available, and I didn't want to be attached to your father."

"I don't know why his is even out there, he still has my mother."

"Could be because your father is a bastard and wants to gain more than extra heirs, like say a higher ranking with Voldemort." Pansy stated flatly.

Draco glared at her with daggers and looked back at Hermione, "I am sorry you have to go through this Hermione, but just so you know, we will be here for you."

"Yah, 'Mione, we will help you in any way possible. And as long as you are happy, we will be happy for you." Harry said with as much sincerity as possible.

She smile in thanks and the group sat in silence.

A few more weeks went by and almost everything was as it should be; Hermione was back in classes being an obnoxious know-it-all, Severus was still hated, and everyone was bustling around with classes and making sure Hermione was doing well. Not only that but Goyle had gone to trial and had been expelled from Hogwarts, and the entire Magical community.

This upcoming week was the beginning of the Christmas Holiday. Severus had gotten a hold of his parents and had convinced them to come spend Christmas with Hermione, the Grangers, and himself. Hermione seemed fairly excited about the whole situation, it annoyed him. But his future bride did have a point, the sooner they got acquainted with everyone, the better.

Hermione had told Severus that her parents had taken her decision a lot better then she had thought. So far, everything was going according to plan.