A/N: Hi everyone. Glad to see you guys are still hooked. Thank you everyone for the awesome reviews. Thank you too for all of you still adding me to their alerts. I'm really am blown away at the response this story is generating. But I love it all. As always Please Read and Review.

Special Thanks to my lovely beta, Kristine Thorne. You are one awesome lady.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the HP universe. I only play with the characters for free and its a pity. If J.K.R would let me, I would willing own Severus any day. Surly and bitter or not. lol.

Chapter 15

The days passed quickly for Hermione. Weeks going by so fast she couldn't keep track of them. She spent much of her time between classes with Severus. He didn't push her for anything. But he didn't back off either.

When he would see her in the Room of Requirement he would walk up to her, wrap his arms around her, pulling her to him for a kiss. She hadn't been able to resist kissing him back either.

A few times got a bit heated, but he always backed off before it went too far. Though she felt him itching to take more. She smiled to herself as she tried to work on reading his mind one day.

He had taught her the basic skill but he was teaching her to get past simple walls right now. So far she hadn't been able to do it. But she was having a hard time focusing so that could be her problem.

He was filling her thoughts. She had been surprised at first, but she no longer was. She found she wanted him to take more, but couldn't bring herself to tell him. Fear of changing their future holding her back.

Severus sighed as he watched her smile again. She wasn't keeping her mind clear if she was smiling. "Hermione, you wont break through to my thoughts if you keep thinking your own." He tried to be patient but so far all night she hadn't been focused.

Hermione really was trying. "I'm sorry. I'm distracted and can't seem to focus."

He quirked his brow at her. "What is keeping your mind otherwise occupied?" His silky voice asked. His words sounding like he did as her professor. She blushed at his question. Not wanting him to know her thoughts.

His brow rose even more at her blush. With his curiosity peeked now, he waited for her to tell him. But she didn't say a word, she simply continued to blush and smile as she sat on the sofa facing him.

"You already know that if I wanted to, I could find out. Your walls only hold so much against me." He said, still surprised to find that out. Her walls had been so stable that he hadn't realized that they weren't as strong as they looked at times.

She frowned at him. "You already know that I can out duel you. Do you really want to risk my wand by doing that?"

He smirked at her. "Possibly. I enjoyed it the last time we dueled."

Her blush got brighter even as she smiled slightly. "Well, I can assure you that this one wouldn't be as fun for you as the last time was."

He moved closer to her, watching her breathing speed up just a bit. "You never know. I didn't plan on enjoying the last one as much as I did. But I found I learned…many things during it too."

She laughed softly. "You are trying to embarrass me, now stop it. I'm trying to focus."

He smirked. "No you're not. You're too busy thinking things that are making you blush. Which says you're thinking things that I'm very interested to know about."

She simply smiled and didn't say a word. She instead tried to focus again as his eyes raked over her sitting beside him while facing him.

Finding her focus at last, she tried to push into his mind. She saw his wall and tried to push a little harder but still met resistance. She saw his eyes move up to hers before slipping away again.

Refusing to be deterred, she didn't pay attention to him. She drew up on every ounce of focus she could grasp and pushed as hard as she could. She felt a crack and her mind was suddenly flooded with images from his mind.

She saw herself in his lap, just like the last time she had ended up in his lap. Her shirt was gone, and his mouth was on her breasts. Only she wasn't wearing jeans either. She was down to her knickers and his hands had been moving to remove those too when suddenly it vanished.

Her startled eyes met his and he was surprised that she broke through, yet he was smirking at her. She felt heat flood her face again. "You're nothing but a dirty little perv like my mates Harry and Ron back home." She said laughing at her own embarrassment at his thoughts.

He chuckled softly and she narrowed her eyes at him. "Did I actually push through or did you drop the wall so I'd see that?" She asked.

He smirked again. "What do you think?"

She frowned at him. "I thought I felt a crack, but all of that came through too easy at the end before it vanished.

He chuckled again. "You did crack through a little, which did surprise me and the surprise made my simple wall drop. I wasn't expecting you to actually focus enough to do it this time. Which is why I let my thoughts wander to…well what you saw. It took me a second to rebuild the wall a bit stronger this time."

She pursed her lips as she thought about it. So she got it to crack, but she didn't break through it. So she was slowly getting there.

"Okay, I want to try again." She said.

Severus held back a smirk and lowered the strength back on his wall to what it was the first time. He felt the probe and waited. He felt it again, a bit stronger this time but she still didn't break through.

Hermione put more focus into to it and felt a small crack. She pushed a bit harder and felt another one. Drawing on everything she had, she pushed a final time and broke through.

She saw herself on her back completely naked, or his idea of what she looked like naked. He was shirtless and kissing every inch of her he could reach.

She gasped as she blushed again and quickly pulled away from his mind, seeing him fighting a laugh. "You thought that on purpose this time."

He let his laugh out, reaching over and pulling her into his lap. She narrowed her eyes at him, as she got comfortable straddling him. "I did. You look very adorable when you blush."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "I still say you're a perv."

"I never said I wasn't. You seem to be of the opinion that I'm not a normal eighteen year old, with normal eighteen-year-old thoughts. Especially when looking at a very sexy young woman who is staring at me very intently while blushing at her own pervy thoughts." He told her as his eyes stayed locked with hers.

Hermione opened her mouth, but she couldn't argue. He was right. She didn't always see him as only eighteen years old, and she had been having some pervy thoughts too. She quickly closed her mouth since he was right.

Which only served to make him chuckle more. She smirked, suddenly wishing she could project like he did. "So how do you project your thoughts?" She had been curious before.

"You haven't even gotten mind reading down really yet and already you want to project. Your not insufferable, you're impatient." Severus said as his hands rested on her waist. Though his words lacked any heat.

"I was just curious. Is it hard to do? Is it like reading a person's thoughts at all?" She asked him.

He sighed and shook his head. He started to tell her how he did it. Knowing she wouldn't let it go otherwise. She listened intently to him, still sitting in his lap.

She thought about what he had told her. It sounded simple enough. She wanted to try it though. Seeing his smirk she figured he knew what she wanted.

"All right. I'll drop the wall. Give it a shot, but don't expect much. That is much harder than it sounds. It took me quite a bit to get it down." He told her.

She smiled, excited to give it a shot. She had no clue what she wanted to send to him. She took a moment to decide, and then started giving it a shot.

She focused hard on pushing the thought to him. But she had no idea if it got through. She paused. "How do I know if you got my thought or not?"

"You'll see it in my mind. Like trying to break a wall you feel the crack. You'll feel the thought get through." He told her, leaving a part of his mind open to receive her thoughts.

She tried again and again, but it never got through. He couldn't help his curiosity so while she was trying to push it into his mind, he pushed into hers to read. He grinned and leaned forward to kiss her like she wanted him to.

She pulled back before his lips could touch hers. "You got it?" Sounding surprised since she hadn't felt anything in his mind.

He reached up cupping her face. "No, I got impatient and read it." He said before his lips found hers.

She felt a flutter inside her. Both in her stomach and in her chest. The chest flutter was new, but she didn't think about it for long as she opened up for him to brush his tongue with hers.

It didn't take long before he was ravishing her mouth as his desire for her started taking over. His fingers digging into her hips, as he wanted nothing more than to flip her onto her back and fully take her.

He settled for what he got, knowing he still couldn't have her yet. But his fingers on one hand started inching their way up her body anyway. She moaned against him as his hand closed around her breast and brushed against the peaked nub. The sound making his other hand inch higher up her body as well.

He was about to fill his other hand when they both heard a knock on the door of the Room of Requirement. They pulled back and looked over at it. They had locked it but not warded it from people being able to knock, though the room was silenced so nothing could be heard from inside.

Hermione frowned and realized she must have only set a one-way silencing spell. Severus had distracted her when he stalked towards her with his intent to kiss her in his eyes when he came inside earlier.

She slid off his lap, making him groan at the interruption. She opened the door and saw Peter on the other side. She frowned at him, even as she lowered her hand close to her wand in her back pocket.

Severus saw her inching towards her wand and stood up as she asked what Peter was doing there. Sounding strained but polite.

Peter glanced past her when he saw movement. Peter's eyes narrowed slightly at seeing the dark haired young man inside. "Severus, what are you doing here locked away with our Hermione?" He asked sounding a bit timid like he always did.

Severus raised an eyebrow at Peter. "She's helping me study."

Peter swallowed and looked at Hermione again. "James and Sirius told me to come find you and Lily. Come on."

Hermione frowned slightly. She tried to probe into his mind, but found it blank. She found that a bit odd, but shrugged. "Okay, give me a moment to get my stuff."

She closed the door again. Looking up at Severus to find him frowning at the door still. "I'm sorry. I should go anyway. Otherwise, you might show me bit more of your pervy side and I don't know if I'm up for all I saw in your mind."

His eyes met hers, still frowning. "No, you're right. You should go. Do the other two normally send Peter to get you for things?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, but I know Lily doesn't like Peter either, so she probably told him to go on without her. I didn't see anything to worry about in his mind. In fact it was blank. Not a wall, just blank."

Severus has seen that too. He looked at the door again for a moment. Peter wouldn't be any match for Hermione magically or physically anyway, so he wasn't overly worried about it.

"Hmm. Well, I guess I'll see you later." He leaned down and kissed her one last time. Then stepped back as she accio'd her bag of stuff she usually brought with her. It's why he told Peter they were studying, knowing she had her books to back up their story.

She gave him a smile and opened the door again. She saw Peter and when he smiled at her, she fought a shudder. "Okay, I'm ready."

Peter started walking away with Hermione following, but Severus saw the stiff set of her body. She didn't trust Peter, which was obvious by her distance from him. Not to mention her hand being ready to throw a spell if she needed to.

Severus sighed. He'd wonder all night about her after seeing her leave looking like that. He put a disillusionment spell over himself and followed after them at a distance. Making sure he kept to the shadows and keeping silent as he moved.

When they got to the doors of the castle, Severus sped up just enough to get out the door after Hermione pushed it all the way open. He didn't want them wondering why it opened again if no one came out.

He let them get a bit away again. They made their way across the grounds. He noticed Peter didn't say anything to Hermione on the way where ever they were going and Hermione didn't try to speak either.

Severus kept his eyes peeled, searching in the distance to make sure nothing was amiss. Seeing nothing but a cloud filled night that promised rain. They moved into an open field and Hermione was so intent on trying to read Peter again she didn't notice where they were.

All she kept seeing was blankness. It threw her. She couldn't imagine a blank mind. Peter has to think something right now. Even if it's just about what they were doing or where they were walking, or…something. Something about the grass or the air or… Her thoughts trailed off.

She saw where they were headed and frowned slightly. Why are we going towards the Whomping Willow? She didn't know but kept on walking.

They neared it and Hermione stopped without Peter telling her to. He glanced at her a moment curiously and then smiled at her. He shrank down to be a rat and went to press the knot that froze the tree for her.

She stared for a moment at Peter, still leery, before walking again. She watched, wand hand still ready as she waited to see if he would let go of the knot so it would attack her. She didn't want to go flying on it again.

But he stayed put until she moved, crouched down to the hidden tunnel. She felt Peter scurry by and jerked her hand away as she was squatting and moving into the crevice. She heard a scrape behind her, but figured it was the tree settling back into place.

Peter transformed again, looking timidly at her. "Sorry, didn't mean to spook you while you were climbing down."

They saw a flash followed by a crack of thunder and jumped. The skies opened up and started pouring down rain.

Perfect. Hermione thought. Just what I need, a rain soaked trip back to the castle. She saw Peter just staring at her timidly again.

Hermione forced a smile out. "No, it's fine. I've always had a fear of mice and rats. It's nothing personal." Oh, yes it is. She thought. I don't want you touching me in rat or human form.

She knew Peter couldn't read her thoughts so she didn't worry about her walls as much. Though she always kept her one wall up surrounding her past before arriving here in this time. It was more habit than anything now.

She pulled out her wand and called out, "Lumos." She made her way behind Peter as they heard the rain pelt the ground above them. Another crack of thunder hit. She had a bad feeling wash over her.

Something is off. She thought. Why would Sirius and James call me all the way out here? They're trying to keep this shack secret. Unless they're planning on finally filling me in on it all that they think I don't know yet. But why now when it's raining?

She heard another small scrape behind her and turned her head. Not seeing anything, she kept walking. It's probably just our steps echoing. She thought.

They were almost to the entrance of the shack when Peter stopped. Looking up at the hatch before turning back to face her again.

"Let me go up and I'll let them know you're here." Peter said.

She scanned his mind again, but still found it blank. She nodded but didn't say anything. That same bad feeling hit her again. Something still feels off.

She watched Peter transform and head inside via a crack in the floor of the shack above them. She waited for a moment and heard a loud thumping upstairs. She lifted her wand that was still shining light to the hatch and looked. Was that thunder?

She heard it again. She took a small step back, her hand lifting as well and placing a shielding charm as she waited. This isn't right. She thought again.

She heard another thump, much louder than before. I don't think that's thunder. She backed up again and bumped into a solid mass. Spooked, she spun around. She still didn't see anything but knew someone was there.

"Show yourself or you're getting stupified." She said, her wand turned towards the mass, as she backed back up towards the hatch in the floor of the cabin. Her hand still holding a shield in front of her, only now between her and the disillusioned figure.

"It's me." Severus said a second before she saw him after he dropped his spell.

She sighed in relief and dropped her hand, ending the spell. "Nox." She said ending the lighting spell so she didn't blind him by it and not wanting to waste her magic, just in case. She had already used quite a bit earlier with Severus trying to break his walls. She was already a bit drained.

"You could have warned me before scaring me half to death." Hermione told him.

He looked back at the hatch. "What is up there and why is this place a secret? You know some thing is off already. What do you think it is?"

Hermione sighed. "You've been reading my thoughts. I didn't think I needed to put my wall up with Peter. This place is a secret because…" She trailed off. No. No, its not tonight. Is it?

"What's not tonight?" He asked her, drawing his own wand out.

They heard loud crash, followed by several more thumps like something running down stairs. She turned to Severus. "We need to go. Now."

He didn't ask a single question. He had seen her handle herself in a fight in the Room of Requirement just fine. If she said they needed to go, instead of stay and fight, it had to be bad. He grabbed her hand and they took off running down the low ceiling tunnel. Doing their best not to trip over roots sticking out of the ground. When they reached the opening. Hermione pulled his hand to stop him.

"I need to hit the switch on the tree or it will attack us." She slowly climbed up and reached her hand out, not daring to poke her body out fully. This tree had hit her before and it had hurt like hell.

Her hand kept slipping on the now wet roots. She inched her way up closer and found it. She pressed it, and the tree froze. She grabbed Severus' hand and pulled him up to follow her.

They had just gotten out when she heard another crash, this time much louder followed by a howl. Crap. She thought as fear filled her. "You need to run. As fast as you can, run. Now!" She shouted while the rain soaked them as they stood there.

Severus didn't know what was coming at them, but he wasn't leaving her. "You come with me or I stay here with you."

They didn't have time to argue. She took off, his hand still in hers, as they ran as fast as they could. Having had plenty of practice at this, she was able to keep up with his long strides.

She heard another howl and risked a glance behind them. Sure enough Mooney was chasing them as Sirius was trying to stop him. He's going to catch us at this rate. She thought as she let go of Severus' hand.

He saw she was still running, so he kept on moving. But then she spun around and fired a spell. "Stupify." Knocking Mooney onto his back but not knocking him out. Severus almost slipped on the wet grass as he stopped when he heard the spell.

Severus glanced back and cursed even as he felt the air back up in his lungs at the sight of the werewolf. She was slowly backing up towards him, but her eyes were on the wolf.

"Remus, I know you're in there. I know you had to have taken your potion." She shouted to him over the rain.

Severus gasped. Remus. Remus Lupin was a werewolf? "Hermione, what the hell are you doing. Run." He called out to her, moving towards her to grab and carry her if he had to.

Hermione didn't take her eyes off the wolf that was standing up again. The dog and stag trying to push him away from her and Severus, but the wolf wasn't having any part of it.

"If I turn my back he'll attack. Go. I can take care of myself." She said. The wolf knocked the stag to the ground and Sirius attacked.

Severus' hands closed over her waist. "Come on while the dog fights it. We can make it back if we hurry." He pulled at her as she slipped her wand into her back pocket and they took off again. They slipped on the grass a few time and she lost her wand, but didn't feel it fall.

Hermione heard all sorts of growls and snarls behind her but didn't stop to look. They were half way back when she heard a loud animal yipe. She kept her ears perked, knowing they'd never out run Mooney in wolf form.

"He's going to catch us soon. We have to hide." Hermione panted, and she turned and headed for the trees, pulling him behind her.

"Remind me…" he panted a bit, "…to kill your friends if we…" he gasped air again, "…get out of this alive." He rasped out and pulled her behind a large tree to catch their breath. They were both drenched and Hermione hoped it masked their scent somewhat.

"I doubt any of my friends would have done this." She paused for a few breaths. "This is all Peter and I'm going to kill that bastard when I see him. I don't get why the potion isn't working right now. Remus always takes it. It keeps his human mind in tact." Hermione panted out as her heart rate finally started to slow down.

They were both watching, but didn't see anything. "We need to move." Severus said. "It's going to find us if we stay here."

Hermione nodded and crouched a bit. She quickly sped to another tree and stopped. Severus followed her, marveling at her stealth. This too wasn't something you learned from a book. This was something you learned by doing.

She looked all around, making sure she kept on searching for Mooney while straining to hear his growls, his paws thumping, or his howls.

Not seeing anything, she quickly sped to another tree after taking Severus' hand. Making him run with her. She wanted him close, just in case. She had the stronger magic between the two so she figured he might need help. She needed to protect him. He had protected her as a child and she wouldn't leave him to defend himself alone.

She knew they were taking longer to get to the castle this way, but she was praying this would work for them. She was about to move to a new tree, when she heard a growl behind her. She reached for her wand again, but didn't find it, making her panic.

Spinning and pulling Severus behind her, she raised her hand as she saw Mooney charge. She threw another stunning spell, knocking him back again as she felt the spell drain her a bit. "Mooney, you know me." She yelled at him. "I know you can fight this Remus. I swear I'll come back and haunt you till the day you die if you kill us."

The wolf stood and growled again. "Remus, please don't make me hurt you." She said softly, knowing he could hear her.

Severus drew his wand, he hadn't used this curse yet but he was familiar with it. He knew what he would have to do and he just hoped Hermione forgave him. "Hermione, we have to kill him."

The wolf growled again. Hermione felt her heart clench. "No." He's all I have left out any of you. We can't kill him. She thought.

"Sirius…James." She shouted. "Get your mangy arses over here and do something. Don't make me have to hurt him."

Severus had one arm around her waist with her back pressed into his chest, ready to do whatever he had to. He couldn't lose her. He loved her.

The thought hit him out of nowhere and surprised him. He pushed it away. He couldn't take the time to analyze it right then. Not with what was going on in front of him.

The wolf growled and backed up a bit. Hermione knew he was about to charge again, he had looked just like this in her third year. Between the magic she used trying to break through Severus' walls in the Room of Requirement, and her run, not to mention the fear wearing on her, along with the spells she had already thrown, she was becoming exhausted.

She felt her magic draining and knew she couldn't do a long battle with him. She saw him charge and hit him with another stunning spell. Knocking him back, but not as far with her gaining weakness.

She threw several more spells, each a little weaker than the last. Severus felt her leaning more against him and knew she was getting tired from the strong wandless spells. He wrapped his hands tighter around his wand. He wouldn't kill her friend unless he had to.

"Sirius!" She shouted again. She almost cried in relief when she heard the dog growl before it lunged at Mooney again. "Come on." She said, taking his arm and running again.

Her strength was flagging, her steps slowing, but Severus pulled her along. They heard the growls and yipes in the distance. Hermione stumbled and hit the ground, pulling Severus with her.

He stood and pulled her to her feet as they heard a loud cry and whine. Hermione knew Sirius was down again. They had to do something.

She saw Mooney running towards them, she saw Severus grab his wand again and knew what he was going to do. She suddenly remembered she could apparate. She just prayed she had the energy and could do a side along apparation wandlessly. She had never tried before.

She grabbed his hand, stopping him. "No. There's another way, but you have to trust me." She said.

Unsure if she could pull Severus into the castle, she thought of a place. "Grab on to me and hold tight." She said as she wrapped her arms around him and felt him do the same, holding her tight like she told him to. She heard a snarl almost directly behind her and felt Severus tense even more, ready for the attack from the wolf, before with a crack they were gone.

A/N: I know this is a terrible place to leave it...but I'm kind of evil that way. lol. More coming soon. Take care and please leave me your thoughts on this chapter. Good or bad I love reading them all.