Thank you's and chocolate to Dizi 85, crazedreader, harmswife, XIII Welcome To My Nightmare, ProperT, IluvSEVERUS, spikeecat, Darkness-Lightness, HappeeGoLuckee, rowenarave565, OdangoAtama17, notwritten, bookworm3213 and Angelic Bladez.

Disclaimer: I own the plot, the drawings and one of my pens! But Harry Potter? Um can't say I own that…

Chapter 14: A Gift, Sweets and a Rose

All during the following weeks, Hermione and Severus were relatively untroubled by the Marauders as Remus continued to stop his friends. While he usually caused a distraction which caught the boy's attention, he has also begun telling his friends off properly though, when he did, both James and Sirius sulked because he had 'spoiled their fun'. Remus, however, normally turned to smile over to where Hermione would stand watching; silently thanking her for any support she may have given.

But, as Hermione was about to find out, there was one day of the year where nothing would annoy Sirius nor James, not even Severus. This day was the 14th of February, otherwise known as Valentines Day and both Marauders took full advantage of the 'happiness' it caused, mainly to the female population of Hogwarts. According to Lily, neither boy had ever spent the day with the same girl each year, even though James always tried Lily first every time. And, as Valentines Day was normally on a weekend, that day was always a time when people could go to Hogsmeade.

While the Marauders seemed to thrive off the day of hearts and romance, their was one who, until now, never even thought of the day as anything other then a waste of time. Severus had never seen a real need for the day; why would he when he never had anyone of interest with him? But now it was different, now he had Hermione and he had no idea of what to do. That wasn't the case for Hermione however, who greeted then unsure Slytherin with a warm smile and a small hug when the day had begun.

"Hello Severus!"

"Hermione, what in the name of Merlin are you so happy about?" said Severus, gesturing at the Great Hall.

The entire hall had been decked out in pinks, reds and whites for the occasion. Red petals lay on the ground from the roses that had wound themselves around the hall, reaching up to even the highest points of the pillars. Small pink and white confetti fell from the enchanted ceiling and streamers of the three colours hung around, outlining the halls walls.

"I know that you don't like today–"

"That's putting it mildly," he said, looking at the walls in disgust.

"Ok fine; you absolutely hate today. But, even if you do, I'm still going to give this to you," Hermione said, still smiling brightly.

She reached into the bag that hung over her shoulder and pulled out a small gift, wrapped in her own house colours. Seeing this, Severus raised an eyebrow in question. Noticing what he was looking at, Hermione laughed.

"I didn't have anything else. That and I thought you might appreciate my colour choice."

Severus smiled slightly and looked at the small box in his hands.

"May I open it?"

Hermione nodded though she felt a little anxious now. She wasn't sure of what to get him and when she finally did deicide, she stilled worried about his reaction. As Severus carefully undid the gold bow on top he found it was used to hold the lid down, preventing it from opening. As he slowly opened the lid he pulled out a slightly smaller box with a button to push it open. When he did so, the lid popped open to reveal a small silver ring which was shaped as a snake. It was a very simple design, the snake only having a few scales etched on and to connect both sides the snake had its mouth open, the tip of the tail just inside its mouth.

When she saw that he was only staring at it she began to worry; maybe he didn't like it after all. Just as Hermione was about to say sorry, Severus smiled again, pulling out the ring and placing it onto his right ring finger. She glared lightly at him and when he asked what was wrong she couldn't help smiling too.

"After you just stared at it I was worried that you didn't like it. When you didn't say anything I just assumed I was right and… stop smirking at me Severus Snape!"

"Hermione, you're rambling. Please desist as it does not suit you. I really do like it but, it's the first time I've been given anything like this so…"

Hermione smiled warmly once more and Severus returned it, albeit much smaller then Hermione's but returned it all the same. They had planned to go out and eat at Three Broomsticks so they pasted the brightly coloured hall, much to Severus' pleasure, and headed for Hogsmeade. After a quick breakfast the pair made their way over to Honeydukes and spent most of their money on the newest sweets that the store had to offer. Well, Hermione did, Severus on the other hand spent most of his time getting varying types of dark chocolate.

After they had finished there they decided to head off towards the Shrieking Shack, hopefully to have a better time there uninterrupted, unlike last time. As they reached the Shack, Severus began to move closer to Hermione, taking advantage of the peaceful atmosphere. She immediately moved in to him, leaning against his chest lightly as he moved behind her. Hermione carefully moved her head around so she could place a light kiss in his cheek, which didn't last for long as he turned her around so her lips met his instead. She adjusted herself so that she could slip her arms around his neck and he so that his arms went tentatively around her waist.

They stayed together for a few more minutes, just enjoying the others company. After a while Severus looked down at Hermione smiling slightly.

"You know what, Mione?" he whispered.

"What Sevvie?" Hermione whispered just as quietly.

"I may like Valentines Day just a little bit more now. But I still detest that nickname you insist on giving me."

"Oh you love it and you know it. Quit complaining already," Hermione answered sounding amused.

Severus then leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Who said that I was complaining?"

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"Severus! Sev, where in the name of Circe are you?"

Hermione was looking around for Severus, who seemed to have slipped of with out her noticing. She had no idea how he had managed it; they were both walking side by side so that they wouldn't become separated.

'So much for that great idea,' Hermione thought sarcastically.

But just because she had lost who she was walking with didn't mean that she could stop to look for him. Many other people wished to move and she was in a particularly narrow walk way, leaving her with no other choice then to move on forward. Hermione wondered around looking for Severus for a good hour and a half until she gave up and sat down on a near by bench, waiting for him to find her. She didn't have to wait long as she felt a pair of hands resting lightly on her shoulders.

"Severus Sebastian Snape! Where on earth have you been? I've looked everywhere for you and you… you just," she broke off.

"I'm sorry to have worried you Hermione. I was pushed backwards and was unable to reach you. I too have spent that time after looking for you."

Hermione's face broke out into a smile as she apologised for how she reacted. Severus was silently thanking what ever gods were listening when he hoped that she would by his story. If all went well she would be in for a huge shock later that night…

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As the two stopped outside the Gryffindor tower Hermione turned to face Severus before she went inside.

"Well, despite how much you hate today, I think it was great."

"Yes, you would. Though I must admit, I found rather enjoyable as well."

She leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss before saying goodnight, turning to go inside. But Severus grabbed her arm before she could go in.

"Look on your bed when you get in," he whispered, before turning and walking away.

After hearing this, Hermione ran full speed up the stairs and looked over to where her bed sat in the corner of the room. There, resting on her pillow was a rectangular box wrapped up in green and silver.

'Well now I know where he went. Sneaky Slytherin.'

As she pulled the silver ribbon of the box she felt how heavy it was; it felt like there was nothing in it at all! Hermione closed her eyes as she opened the lid and, when she opened them, all she could do was stare. Inside laid a perfectly crafted glass rose, all clear except for some tinges of red on the petals. It had every last detail from the small dents in the petals, to the very bottom of the rose, which showed the texture of being cut off at the base.

'Severus must have made this when he 'got pushed back',' Hermione thought in awe.

She carefully placed the rose onto its velvety bed and got into her own, still staring at the little glass object, right until she fell asleep.

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Well that's another chapter down and only six more to go! Wow, it won't be long at all until this is complete. So please, as always, kindly review when you're done!

Lady of Elysion

PS I apologise for a lack of content and any errors; I was half asleep when I wrote this so yeah.