A/N: Hello everyone. I want to say thank you to everyone who reviewed. They were awesome and I loved them all. Thank you too to everyone who has added me to their alerts or faves. Also, so far with everyone commenting on my question about Snape. I think the majority of you all said that Snape would say knickers, though I have to say I liked the one that said that Snape would stumble about trying to say undergarments. Someone else said intimates, which made me think he might say delicates. However...knickers won out all around.

Special thanks to my beta, Kristine Thorne, who is very wonderful to put up with my long chapters and odd mistakes. You rock and I have to say, I want to try that pizza you mentioned. I never would have tried prawns on pizza but that sounds interesting and really good.

Anyhow, on with the story. I'm so happy to see so many people are hooked. Take care everyone. And Please keep Reading and Reviewing. I'm greedy for your thoughts and have loved them all.

Chapter 4

She awoke a few days later feeling much better than she had the day before. The dreams had come for the second night in a row, but not as bad as it had been at times in the past. This time when she relived the battle at the department of Mysteries and had seen Sirius die, she had woken up, but it wasn't in a cold sweat and screaming. Not like she had last summer at Grimmauld Place.

Looking around and realizing it had only been a dream, she sat up, knees drawn up to her chest and breathed deeply. Forcing the dreams and memories away. Once they had faded she had gone back to sleep.

Even with the interruption, she felt refreshed. She got up and slipped on her housecoat, a new one in bright purple, and went to get cleaned up. She took clothes with her, and after her shower, she dressed for the day.

Pulling on her uniform and school robes, she tiptoed down to the common room. Seeing very few students even up already, she quietly left and headed to the Great Hall. Not many knew that you didn't have to wait for the trays of food to arrive.

You could arrive early and simply order what you wanted. Since the food tended to pretty much be the same every morning, she knew what she could order that would be ready.

She headed down the halls, glancing behind her when she heard a loud crash as she kept walking. Seeing Peeves laughing as he flew away, she smirked and turned back.

Colliding with a warm, tall body and knocking his books from his arms. She saw who it was and immediately dropped to help him. In the past, had she done this to Snape as a professor, she would help him then stand back as he berated her. Would it be any different now?

She helped gather up the few books he missed and handed them to him. "I'm so sorry. I was distracted by Peeves." His confused black eyes met hers, making her swallow. "I'm really sorry Pro…uh…Snape." Not wanting to use his first name for fear of him hexing her some how from the grave. Or in the future while she was still a child.

Severus frowned at her saying his last name and helping him. No one ever helped him. He didn't know what to make of it or her. "Well…try to be more careful and less clumsy next time." He said though it lacked any real heat with his confusion.

She smiled softly as she stood back up, him standing with her. She had heard this from him before, but normally he roared at her or sneered at her. It was kind of nice to not have him do that to her. Her smile turned into a smirk.

He saw her smirk and stiffened. "What is so funny? Do you enjoy knocking people's books out of their hands?" Sounding more like the Snape she knew.

She shook her head her smirk fading back to a soft smile. "No, I was just remembering my old potion's professor. He used to get mad if I bumped into him. He would get so angry with me over the tiniest things. Sorry. I guess it's not a funny memory so I shouldn't smirk. If he knew I was, he'd probably do something rather vile in revenge."

She saw Snape's lips curve just a bit into a small smirk. "You're an odd one. So what is your name since we keep meeting up in rather strange ways."

Hermione gave him a bigger smile. "I'm Hermione Gr…" She paused, making him raise an eyebrow at her. "Sorry, thought I was about to sneeze. It's Hermione Brown."

He stared at her briefly before shrugging. "Severus Snape." He said formally, giving her a small bow.

Hermione held out her hand afterward for him to shake. "Nice to…er…meet you."

He shook her hand briefly. "Well, I'd better go if I want to be back before breakfast." He said, still seeming slightly confused.

She grinned at him. "Why not go to breakfast first?"

He frowned. "It's not time for the trays yet." He stated matter-of-factly.

She smiled. "Would you like to eat now instead of later?"

His frown deepened as his eyes narrowed. "How?" He asked, unsure if this was a trick.

She shrugged. "Come on. I'll show you." When he was still looking at her suspiciously, she went on. "You don't have to go, but I'm going. I'm starved since I didn't eat much the last few nights."

She turned on her heel and headed to the Great Hall, keeping her ears perked for his footsteps. She didn't hear any so when she turned at the door to call back to him, she bumped into him again. She hadn't realized he was directly behind her.

"Oomph." She said, landing on her bum from the force since he hadn't known she was stopping. She looked up at him and saw amusement in his eyes. "I didn't realize you were behind me. You don't make any noise when you walk."

She saw the amusement grow as he spoke. "It comes in handy. Now how do you plan on eating what isn't there?"

She held up a hand, waiting for him to help her up. He stared at her hand for several moments but she didn't move. He rolled his eyes and shifting his books, took her hand, pulling her up. She gave him a small smile and walked to her table.

She took a seat and waited for him to do the same. He frowned at her. "I'm not sitting at Griffyndor's table." He said, his voice holding a mild sneer while his eyes narrowed again.

She shrugged. "Coffee please. Two sugars, no cream." She said while watching him. His frown deepened but he waited.

When nothing happened right away, he smirked. She went on, remembering the elves waited for a full order before sending anything. "Two eggs scrambled, two sausages, a piece of toast lightly toasted, and apricot jam please. Thank you."

His smirk started to grow as she sat patiently while nothing happened. Then his eyes grew wide as a cup appeared, then moments later a plate did too with exactly what she ordered.

"How did you…" He trailed off. He had been sure she was messing with him. He had never heard of this at all throughout his entire school career. Did no one else know of this?

She shrugged. "The house elves are always listening in here. Haven't you ever wondered how you might say you wished something was on the table and it magically appeared? So if the food trays are not here you just order. Though I only order what I know they serve for breakfast. So I don't know if they'll serve what's not on the menu. Plus, I've only done this for breakfast. So I have no idea if it will work for lunch or dinner."

He thought about this before walking over to his own table. "Tea, Earl Grey, one sugar only. Three eggs scrambled, two slices of bacon, two links of sausages, two slices of toast toasted well with butter."

She raised an eyebrow at him, sipping her own coffee. He didn't say please or thank you, but at least he didn't growl his order like he normally had as a professor. A few moments passed when his plate appeared along with his tea.

He raised his eyes and stared at her, giving her a slight incline of his head in thanks. She grinned and focused on her own breakfast. She was halfway through when she felt a mild push in her mind. She knew he was trying to read her thoughts again.

She finished her breakfast, all while feeling a few mild probes, before she looked up, meeting his eyes. This is getting a bit annoying really. She thought.

He must have seen the annoyance in her eyes because his own narrowed a bit in response. Then she smiled, throwing him off before letting a thought through her wall.

This mind is private so please stay out of it. I did say please. Next time, I might not be so nice about it. She thought, letting it hover in her mind until she felt that same push again. She watched his eyes widen in shock. She gave him a grin and left the room.

She went back to the common room, finding it was still pretty early in the morning. She sat down on the sofa after grabbing one of her textbooks. She started scanning the book for her first upcoming class.

She already knew all of it and in fact, knew more than they were even teaching in this time. They were teaching more during two thousand, in DADA especially, than they were here in nineteen seventy-seven.

Feeling the cushions dip, she glanced up and found Sirius on one side of her and Remus on the other, with James sitting in an armchair letting Lily rest on his lap. All four sets of eyes were staring at her.

"What?" She asked. Not sure why they were merely staring.

"Lily tells us you have some interesting reading material next to your bed." Sirius said, making it sound dirty. Like she had some kind of porn or something there instead of serious books.

"And?" She asked, leaning away as she noticed Remus lean in and sniff softly at her.

Sirius grinned, slipping an arm around her shoulders when she leaned against him. "We were wondering what your interest in the topics were."

Hermione pulled back away from Sirius, but found Remus still trying to sniff at her subtly, only it wasn't subtle at all. She pulled up and out of the sofa, standing in front of them all.

"I don't know what the problem is, but Remus stop trying to smell me. It's kind of creepy, not to mention rude. If you think I stink then say so, don't try sending not so subtle hints with the sniffing." Hermione knew why they were asking, but had no reason to give how she knew just yet.

She knew why Remus was sniffing too. He was trying to smell any kind of werewolf scent on her that didn't belong to Remus. But he was the only werewolf she knew, so she wouldn't have any other scent but him.

The four exchanged looks before Sirius started laughing. "Kitten, we don't think you stink. Remus was merely trying to see what perfume you were wearing since he likes it."

Remus glared at Sirius and blushed. Hermione hid a smirk, but shrugged. "It's called soap. Now can you guys back off a bit? You're starting to freak me out a bit here with all the weird looks amongst you all."

They looked at each other again, this time James spoke. "Hermione, we don't mean to scare you. We're just curious is all. We can back off if you'd like us too."

Hermione opened her mouth to speak when she was interrupted. "Hey guys, sorry for disappearing on you the last few days. Anything good happen?" Said a short, heavy boy with reddish brown hair and beady eyes.

"Hey Wormtail, we got us a sexy new student here." Sirius said looking at Hermione who was staring in shock at Peter Pettigrew. "This Hermione, is our friend Peter."

Peter smiled shyly and held out a quivering hand. "Hello."

Hermione stared at his hand like it was covered in muck. She didn't want to touch him and she really just wanted to kill him. She felt a rage she hadn't felt since the war start to fill her.

Lily noticed something was off and quickly stood up. She walked over to Hermione, bumping her gently with her shoulder, making it look like an accident to anyone else. But it made Hermione meet her gaze.

Lily smiled nervously, meeting Hermione's eyes, then looking pointedly at Peter's hand, before meeting her eyes again. Hermione gritted her teeth as her heart rate sped up in her anger. She saw Remus out of the corner of her eye perk up just a bit, looking curiously at her.

Hermione forced herself to take the sleazy boy's hand and give it a quick shake while forcing a smile at him. "Hello Peter. Why do they call you Wormtail?" She asked, trying to not seem quick in pulling her hand back.

Peter smiled shyly again, looking at the floor. "I can turn into a rat."

Hermione was more than aware of this fact, but did her best to seem surprised. She saw Lily's eyes narrow and knew she wasn't doing a good job acting. "A rat? Really? I guess you can get into all sorts of places then."

Remus still heard her heart racing and blood flowing wildly in her veins. He didn't understand it. If she didn't look so uncomfortable, he'd think she liked Peter. But it didn't look like she liked Peter at all and Remus didn't understand why. She barely met the boy. How could she instantly not like him?

Hermione kept her forced smile in place. "Well guys, I think it's about time for breakfast. I'll catch up with you all later okay?"

James smiled at her, not having picked up on her discomfort. Sirius hadn't either for that matter and smirked as he watched her quickly leave. Lily had noticed and so had Remus.

The two looking around at their friends until their eyes met, and both understood that they both had seen it too. Peter hadn't noticed it, so they were both mildly relieved. Remus gave her a slight nod, which Lily knew meant they needed to talk away from their other friends later.

Hermione left the common room and went to the only room she had ever felt secure in. The library. She all but ran there, needing a place to go to let the rage still simmering in her slowly escape.

She was almost there when a hand shot out and grabbed her, making her spin around with her wand at the ready. It hadn't been long enough since the war to have dulled her senses that quickly.

Black eyes were wide and confused when the wand in her hand was pointed at him immediately upon catching her. He saw her eyes were simmering with rage and were slightly glazed and out of focus. He quickly let her go and held up his hands in surrender.

"Hermione, what's wrong? Why were you running looking…so upset?" He asked, still not lowering his hands.

Hermione was able to focus again and realized she had her wand pointed at him. With a gasp, she quickly lowered her wand. "I'm sorry. It's habit."

He slowly lowered his hands but his eyes narrowed in confusion. "It's habit to be ready to attack if someone touches you?"

Crap. How am I going to explain that? Hermione wondered as she fished for a good excuse, but came up blank. "I'm…well…yeah. Sorry."

Snape stared at her, seeing the rage still simmering in her eyes but oddly enough he knew it wasn't directed at him. "So why were you running?"

Hermione paused as she thought of how best to answer him. "Have you ever met someone that just gives you a bad vibe instantly? Like you don't even want to touch the person and need to disinfect your hand after just a handshake?"

Snape smirked a bit. "Yes, I have in fact. Why? Who did you meet?" He still wasn't sure why she seemed ready to attack though.

Hermione sighed. "Well, I just met someone like that and…he's friends with…I guess my new friends in my house."

Snape raised an eyebrow, looking like she remembered him to look in the future. All he was missing was a sneer on his face. "What friends are those, may I ask?"

Hermione opened her mouth, but remembered future Snape hated the Marauders and had done so since his school days. She quickly closed her mouth not sure if her being friends with them would make him not want to talk to her anymore.

"I was going to the library to escape, want to join me?" She asked, hoping to distract him.

If he noticed her ploy, he didn't show it. He merely shrugged instead. "I guess. I just came from there, but I guess I can go again. I like the library."

She gave him a small smile. "Me too." She started walking towards it when she heard her name being shouted.

"Hermione!" She heard a boy shout.

Turning, she mentally groaned when she saw Sirius and James heading her way. She looked at Snape and saw him stiffen. Crap. She thought just as the two shouting for her stopped.

Sirius glared at Snape. "What are you doing here Snivellus?"

Hermione's eyebrows shot into her bangs. She knew they didn't like each other but she never expected Sirius to show this kind of hostility towards Snape.

Snape's lip curled a bit. "I was just talking to Ms. Brown about the library."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Kitten, you don't want to hang out with the likes of this one. Come on with us to breakfast before class."

Snape glanced at Hermione when he heard the nickname. Kitten? Was she already dating the moron that was Sirius Black?

Hermione sighed. "Sirius, I'm not hungry. I want to go to the library with Snape. So you two go eat. I'll be along in a bit."

Sirius gave her his famous grin that he had perfected while walking these halls. "Oh, come on Kitten. You know you would rather hang out with us than with this greasy git."

Hermione opened her mouth to argue but Snape cut her off. "No, you go on, Kitten." Sneering the word. "I have better things to do anyway. As I said before, I've already been this morning. So go play with your…friends." He sneered again at the last word and was gone before she could even say a word.

She watched him leave, cursing Sirius in her mind. She glared at the handsome boy who would be her best mate's godfather in a few years. "How dare you?" She hissed at him.

Sirius and James looked taken a back. "If I want to go to the library with Snape, then I will. Who the hell do you think you are to tell me who I want to hang around with?"

James and Sirius exchanged looks, both looking unsure. "We thought he was bothering you." They both said in unison. Reminding her of Fred and George.

Hermione sighed. "He wasn't. He was going to help me in the library, then you go and insult him. That's not very nice. It's down right rude in fact. I already told you, I'm not hungry. So you two go to breakfast and I'll see you later."

James and Sirius stared at her a moment before turning around and leaving. Hermione sighed again, knowing she was on her own with the library now. She just hoped she could catch Snape and tell him that she was sorry that her friends were such arses.

A/N: Okay everyone, I hoped you liked it. Personally, I like how Snape sneered at Hermione's nickname. I think he would have either now in his seventh year or as an adult. I don't think he would like cute pet names on anyone and would sneer at hearing them even if Sirius hadn't been the one to give it too her. lol.

Take care and as always, Please leave me a Review so I know what you all thought.