A/N:

Hey Guys! Sorry its been so long!

I have been super busy with the end of semester projects! But hey I got all A's so it was all worth it!

I just want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who checked out my blog it really meant a lot and you can still check it out if you want!

I should be able to get part II up pretty soon so you wont have to wait as long as you did this past month.

Hope all of you guys had a lovely Chanukah, Christmas & Boxing Day! Mine was great!

Anything that you recognize in this or any other chapter belongs to JKR

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Chapter 17

The Party Part I

Hermione's heart had just broken. Why is he doing this surely this isn't because she suggested that they spend the holidays together? No more working in the lab anymore. No more fireside chats. No more Severus. Her thoughts were interrupted by a bought of giggling she looks up to see Ron doing a cruel impression of her. For some reason his stupid attempt at trying to get her back for laughing at him pushed her over the edge. The tears started rolling down her face as she ran quickly out of the Transfiguration classroom.

As she ran down the corridor towards the girls' lavatory she started thinking about what had just happened. How could he do this to her? Did he even really want this? Or did he do this because he thought he should? Maybe she could talk to Dumbledore? No, that would only make matters worse. If anything she would have to talk to him over the holiday.

The more she thought about it the madder she got. Really who did he think he was to make decisions about their friendship! She deserved to at least have a say in the matter! She needed to do something to get his attention. Then suddenly it came to her. One of his greatest strengths was also his greatest weakness. He didn't like questions to go unanswered. She smiled when she realized that the same could be said for her. In order to get him to start talking to her again she had to peak his interest about something that only she could answer. It would have to be something that would really bother him, something that would annoy him so much so that he would have to confront her about it.

She slowly pushed open the door to the girls lavatory luckily there wasn't anyone in there. So she just let the tears flow. She looked in the mirror to see that she looked a total wreck.

Great, just what she needed, if people weren't sure that she had run from the classroom crying, after seeing her face they would have their answer. She shook her head as she remembered that she was trying to think up a way to get Severus to talk to her. First she thought about not handing in her homework. But there were major problems with this plan. One, she had just had her last DADA class of the year. If she waited two weeks it might be too late and much less effective. And she really didn't want her grades to suffer. Also this plan seemed a bit childish, the equivalent to stomping her foot. Their difference in age was not something that she wanted to particularly point out, it seemed quite counter productive in her opinion.

Then suddenly she had the perfect idea. It involved a question only she could answer, it wouldn't hurt her grades, and if all went as planned they would be having a conversation by the end of the night!

That evening Hermione walked into the Great Hall with a huge smile on her face. She could see that many people were turning their heads as she passed, looking quite surprised considering only this afternoon she had been seen crying. As she made her way over to the Gryffindor table she noticed that Severus and Minerva just happened to be standing where she usually sat with Harry. "This is going to be easier than I thought." She said to herself. As she sat down she decided to sit a little further down from the boys than usual to give Lavender and Parvati room to sit beside her. It was the gossiping duo that she wanted to speak with tonight.

Not a minute had passed before the two girls sat down, Lavender next to Ron and Parvati in between Lavender and Hermione.

"Oh! Hello Hermione." Parvati said looking guilty after laughing at her today in class. Instead of not responding or giving her a cold look Hermione practically beamed at her giving her the brightest smile she possibly could. She could see out of the corner of her eye she already had Severus' attention who was doing a very poor job of pretending to listen to Minerva at the moment.

"Hi Parvati are you going to Slughorn's Party tonight?" She knew that it was kind of obvious what she was doing but honestly she might not get as good of a chance as this.

"No invite. I'd love to go though. It sounds like it's going to be really good. You're going aren't you?"

"Yes I'm meeting Cormac at eight and we're-" Hermione paused a moment when she heard a disturbance coming from where Ron and Lavender were. Obviously Ron had been listening. She badly wanted to look over at Severus but knew she would give herself away if she did. "we're going up to the party together."

"Cormac? Cormac Mclaggen you mean?"

"That's right! The one who almost became Gryffindor keeper."

"Are you going out with him then?" Parvati said wide-eyed.

"Oh yes didn't you know?" She said with a stupid giggle that didn't sound like her at all, she thought scolding herself for sounding like such an airhead.

"No! Wow! You like your Quidditch players don't you. First Krum then Mclaggen."

"I like really good Quidditch players. Well see you! Got to go and get ready for the party."

She knew the damage was done. Very pleased with herself she got up and walked out of the Great Hall with a bit of skip in her step. Oh this evening was going to be very fun.

SPOV

He had to do this. He had no other choice. It was for her own good. They would both only end up getting hurt. These are the things that Severus Snape kept saying to himself as he wrote the letter. These are the things that he kept saying to himself as he walked to class that day. These are the things that he kept saying to himself as he handed her, her paper. These are the things he said as he saw her leave the classroom along with his last chance to take back the those words he wrote.

It was done. She would hate him now. No more working in the lab with Hermione. No more evening discussions with Hermione. No more Hermione. He didn't know what was worse, the fact that they were no longer friends or the fact that he had knowingly ended his most meaningful friendship of the past 17 years.

The rest of his day went painfully slow. He couldn't stop thinking about Hermione and her reaction to what he had written. Was she upset? Angry? Complacent? Even thought the best scenario would be for her to not care, deep down he hoped that she would care enough to have some emotion. He felt that he needed her to, that her emotion somehow validated what they had was meaningful. Even if they had only been friends since June he needed to know that it meant something to her. For once in his life he was thankful that she was a Gryffindor. As soon as he saw her he would know exactly how she felt.

It was now early evening and he was currently making his way to the Great Hall for supper. He noticed however that there was more whispering going on in the hallway than usual. Normally he would have just tuned it all out but he had definitely heard Hermione's name in the mix of it all so as he walked behind a group of girls he listened intently.

"Yeah I heard that she actually cried! Can you believe it! In the middle of Transfiguration!" said a snotty Ravenclaw 7th year that he had never particularly liked. "She actually ran from the room crying, at least that's what Lav told me at lunch today."

"Why was she crying?" Asked a timid 4th year Hufflepuff.

"Lav said something about her boyfriend making fun of her but honestly it wasn't that bad from what I heard. Hermione totally overreacted if you ask….."

So Hermione had been crying. And in the class right after his, the girl had said that she had cried because of something the Weasley boy had said, but Severus wasn't fooled. He knew that Hermione would never be brought to tears from something the Weasley oaf could come up with. No she must have read his note. Stupid girl he had told her to open it when she was alone. If only she had listened to him then at least she wouldn't have had to deal with everyone else seeing her cry.

It was ridiculous to take anyone else's opinion on how Hermione felt. He doubted that Miss Brown was a person to trust for accurate information. He would know as soon as he saw her how she was doing. He would also know right away how she was feeling towards him, hopefully she wasn't too cross with him. On the other hand that was probably better. When he made his way into the Great Hall his eyes went straight to what had now become in his head "her spot" at the Gryffindor table. But she wasn't there. Was she really so upset as to miss dinner? As he was passing her spot he suddenly heard his name being called. "Severus!"

He turned to see an out of breath Minerva catching up to him.

"Good evening Minerva. What may I do for you?" He said in his usual annoyed tone.

"I was wondering if you had heard from Albus."

He was about to answer when his attention was suddenly drawn to the main entrance to the Great Hall. At that moment a positively glowing Hermione was skipping down the aisle. Many heads were turning as she passed no doubt because of the rumors that had passed through the halls earlier today. How could she be so happy? Hadn't his note upset her? She ended up sitting only feet from where he and Minerva were standing.

"Severus?"

He quickly snapped back to the conversation. When he raised his eyebrows in question she said, "Well did you?"

"Did I what Minerva." He said bitingly it was obvious that his anger at Hermione was being directed at Minerva now but he couldn't care less.

"Have you heard from Dumbledore!" She said in an urgent whisper.

"This is hardly the place to be talking of such things." He said indicating to all of the students. "Oh please none of them care what their professors are talking about. They are too excited for Slughorn's party and Christmas break."

Snape rolled his eyes at the mention the sickening event. Thank Merlin he didn't have to go! "So have you Severus? Heard from him I mean."

Suddenly Severus and Minerva were startled by a loud shriek coming from Miss Brown and Miss Patil. Wondering what all of the fuss was about he decided to listen to the Patil girl who was still talking to Hermione.

"Cormac? Cormac Mclaggen you mean?" What about Cormac Mclaggen? He thought to himself.

"That's right! The one who almost became Gryffindor keeper."

"Are you going out with him then?" He heard Miss Patil say. What on earth had he missed? Since when had they been seeing each other? Surely she would have told him, it couldn't actually be true!

"Oh yes didn't you know?" He had to physically stop his jaw from dropping right then and there.

"No! Wow! You like your Quidditch players don't you. First Krum then Mclaggen."

"I like really good Quidditch players. Well see you! Got to go and get ready for the party."

How could she say yes to him? Didn't she have any standards? The last he had heard she didn't even like the stupid oaf as a friend. As he thought this a tiny voice in the back of his mind said, "She didn't seem to mind his company too much at Slughorn's party." He knew he was crazy. She had told him later that she was only being nice. "But what if she was just embarrassed to tell you she actually liked him." The annoying voice chimed in.

He had to know why she was with him. Maybe she could get the Weasley girl to somehow divulge something. "Or you could just ask her yourself." Said the annoying voice again.

"Severus? Severus, are you quite alright?" He was suddenly aware that Minerva was now looking at him with genuine concern on her face along with a few students in the vicinity. He had totally forgotten that he was in the middle of a conversation and had no idea how long he had been non-responsive to her. Not wanting people to think that something was wrong he said, "Minerva just because I was not giving you my full attention does not mean that I am unwell, it simply means I have better and more important things to think about than what you have to say. I think I will have dinner in my rooms this evening." And with that he left in a swirl of black robes leaving an affronted and confused looking Minerva behind wondering what on earth she had done to deserve such treatment. Luckily he was Severus Snape and did have a reputation, this kind of behavior was not out of the ordinary for him.

As he walked the halls he thought about what he had just heard. The facts just didn't add up. There was something missing from the equation and he didn't know what it was. He came to an abrupt halt when he heard a group of students coming around the corner. One of the voices that was most prominent, he recognized at once, Cormac Mclaggen. With only a moment to think he decided to disillusion himself maybe he could learn something from the stupid boy after all.

"…. I'm telling you! She's been begging for it for months. At first I wasn't really interested, not with all that bushy hair." Mclaggen said with a cocky grin plastered across his face.

"Sure Cormac." Said a 5th year Ravenclaw named Roger McGee.

"Tonight's the night." Cormac said confidently.

At hearing this the group of boys laughed.

"Come on Cormac the princess of Gryffindor? I doubt it!" McGee said after some of the laughter calmed down.

"Hey believe what you want but it'll be me who's getting it off with Granger tonight!"

This started a whole new round of laughter from the group. They were now making they're way down the next hallway, obviously on their way to the Great Hall.

Severus hadn't moved an inch the entire time. Normally he would have reappeared and taken away 100 house points but he knew that wouldn't do anything Mclaggen would still take Hermione to the party. It would also look very suspicious for him to lash out so harshly. Out of all the gossip that Severus had heard today he knew this to be untrue. He knew Hermione Granger very well and he knew that she hadn't been begging for it nor had she been after him for months. It did seem however that Hermione was going to the party with Mclaggen and that she had no idea how much a scoundrel the boy was. This of course meant only one thing. He was going to have to go to the party. And not only would he have to deal with a inebriated Slughorn he would have to be constantly watching the one person in Hogwarts that he was consciously trying to avoid. This was going to be a very long night.

HPOV

"Don't you look nice." Ginny said walking into Hermione's dormitory.

"Thanks Ginny you look lovely as well!" Hermione said turning around to see her friend in a beautiful gold dress.

"So I hear that you are now dating Cormac?" She said in a scheming voice.

"We're not dating! Just going to the party together. That's all." Hermione said turning from her friend to hide her guilty look.

"Mmhm." She said not believing a word. "Hermione I know you don't like him whatsoever so what's really going on?"

"It's complicated." Said Hermione deflating at once. "I don't really feel like talking about it."

"It's alright. As long as you're okay." She said shrugging her shoulders.

"I am, really. But thanks for the offer." She said giving her a warm smile.

"Anytime. So what do you say we go find those dates of ours the party started over half an hour ago!"

"Oh gosh I hadn't realized that much time had passed!" She said as she quickly grabbed her things and followed Ginny down to the common room.

As they were walking down to meet Cormac and Dean, Ginny turned to her and said, "Did you hear who Harry is taking to Slughorn's party!"

"You mean he actually asked someone! Who is it?"

"Luna Lovegood!"

"No!" Hermione said letting her jaw drop.

"Yes! Wasn't that really decent of him? Luna is so excited she keeps saying how no one has ever invited her to a party just as friends before."

"Oh I'm so glad!" Hermione said as she and Ginny made their way into the common room.

"Hey Hermione! Ginny!" They looked over to see Cormac and Dean coming over to greet them.

"Hi Cormac! Hi Dean!" Hermione said kindly.

"Wow you look gorgeous!" Cormac said captivated.

"Thanks! So do you Cormac." Maybe having Cormac as a date wouldn't be that bad. Hermione thought to herself. He does actually seem quite nice this evening. Maybe the other stuff was all an act.

"So shall we go?" Cormac asked, offering her his arm.

"Lets!"

When Hermione, Cormac, Ginny and Dean got to the party it was already in full swing. The room was beautiful. It looked as if Slughorn had put more than a few charms on his office. One of which was some kind of enlarging charm to make the room more spacious for the extra amount of people here this evening. Off to the left was a large table with tons of food and sweets, in the center there was a fountain pouring punch into the empty glasses of passersby. The walls were draped in different fabrics of gold and red, which surprised Hermione considering that Slughorn was a Slytherin. He and Severus really were different in every way possible. She thought idly to herself.

"Ahh Miss Granger, Mr. Mclaggen! Good to see you, good to see you! I heard from quite a few people that the two of you would be coming together this evening!"

"Hello Professor Slughorn. Happy Christmas!" Hermione said smiling up at him.

"Thank you my dear the same to you!" He said jovially. "Now Miss Granger there are many people that want to meet you tonight. Some are even quite high up in the Ministry! There was one person who claims an acquaintance with you already!"

"Really? Who?" Hermione asked looking around. And as if he was using magic Slughorn grabbed an arm in the massive crowd pulling out and confused looking Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Kingsley!" Hermione said as she lunged forward to give him a tight hug. She really had missed him. Over the summer they had become good friends and until seeing him now she hadn't realized how much she had missed their friendship.

"Hermione it's so good to see you!" He said in his usual booming voice. "I was so happy when the Professor told me that you would be here tonight! And you are looking lovely if I may say so!" He said stepping back a little to get a good look at her.

"Thanks Kingsley so do you! It's been so long since we've spoken, I should have written."

They were suddenly reminded that they were not alone when Slughorn asked, "And how do you two know each other, if I may ask." Slughorn asked looking thoroughly entertained by the familiar exchange. Before Hermione could even answer Kingsley replied for her.

"I have been assigned to protect Hermione on several occasions and over time we have become good friends!"

"I hadn't realized that Miss Granger led such a dangerous life!"

"Well being the friend of Harry Potter makes her very important." Kingsley said fondly. Then as if only noticing Cormac now Kingsley raised an eyebrow and said. "And who might this be?"

"Oh! I'm so sorry I totally forgot you didn't know each other! Kingsley this is my date Cormac. Cormac this is my good friend Kingsley Shacklebolt." She said feeling quite thick for not introducing them sooner.

"Hello Mr. Shacklebolt, nice to meet you."

"Likewise! Cormac would it be all right if I stole Hermione for a dance? It's been such a long time since we've spoken and I'd love a chance to catch up."

By the intimidated look on Cormac's face there was no way he would deny the very foreboding man in front of him anything. "Of course I think Ill just go get some punch. I guess Ill see you in a few? Hermione?" He said looking at Hermione with a hopeful look on his face.

"Of course thanks so much Cormac! Get me a drink I will only be a moment!" She said as Kingsley led her out onto the dance floor.

"Kingsley I had no idea that you were such a good dancer!" She said as the man in front of her spun her around on the floor. "Well I haven't really had the opportunity to dance with you before have I?"

"No I suppose not." She said smiling. "So how are you? How has everything with the Order been going? I really haven't heard much."

His face darkened at the mention of the Order. "Not as well as I would like it to be, but we can't really talk about anything with all these people around."

"Yes I suppose you're right. So what was that all about? You were never my bodyguard if I recall." She mischievously.

"What else could we have said? There was no way around explaining my knowing you without saying something about the Order. So I just made up that story, it was completely plausible."

"Why did you even tell Slughorn that you knew me in the first place? We could have just pretended not to know each other."

"I suppose we could have done that. But then I wouldn't have been able to show you how good of a dancer I am. And that would have been quite a shame, wouldn't it?"

Hermione threw her head back and laughed. "You really are quite a good dancer."

"So tell me Hermione why are you with that Cormac boy. He doesn't really seem your type."

Hermione rolled her eyes exasperated. "It's a very long story and I don't think I will be able to finish it by the end of this dance.

"Fair enough." Kingsley said understandingly.

They spent the rest of the dance laughing and enjoying each other's company. When they parted ways Hermione made her way over to the punch fountain to see Cormac waiting for her with her glass in hand.

"You looked like you were having fun."

"Yes so much! Kingsley is a very good dancer!"

For the next hour Hermione and Cormac danced almost nonstop. She hadn't danced this much since the Yule ball. She was also surprised at how much fun she was having with Cormac he really was different than what she had thought. She was however a little sad to see that a certain dark Potions Master hadn't shown up yet. She was kidding herself if she still believed that he would show. It saddened her to know that he didn't care enough about what was going on in her life to ask. Maybe he will come to me over Christmas break. She thought hopefully to herself.

"Hey do you mind if we go get some fresh air I'm getting quite hot!" Cormac yelled over the loud music and chatter. It was getting quite hot in there and her feet were starting to hurt a bit.

"Sure! Lets go!"

As Cormac led the way through the crowd he grabbed her hand so they would not get separated. Hermione thought it quite forward but decided that it would be rude to snatch her hand away. Being as crowded as it was it took them quite a long time to make it across and out into the cool dungeon hall.

"Did you want to sit my feet are killing me." Cormac said exaggeratedly.

"That'd be great my feet are starting to hurt as well."

"Here lets just go into this empty classroom." He said as he opened the door for her.

"Thanks. Are you sure it's okay that we're in here after hours?"

"It's not like anyone will know and we aren't planning on stealing anything, so I can't see anyone minding too much."

"I suppose you're right." Hermione said sitting on the teachers' desk. "I'm having such a nice time Cormac, you're a good dancer. Even though my feet are killing me I can't wait to get back out on the dance floor." She said cheerily.

"Oh really." He said walking up to her so he was only two feet away.

"Really! You're a very good dancer you just need more confidence."

"How's this for confidence?" he said as he bent his head down and captured her mouth in a kiss. She tried pushing him away. While she had been having a nice time this was all just going way too fast for her liking. After a moment she realized that he wasn't getting the message and tried pushing harder. Finally he broke the kiss. But instead of being relieved she became even more outraged to feel him grabbing her as he started kissing her neck. "Cormac! Stop what do you think you're doing! Stop!"

"Oh come on! You just said that you were having a great time! Don't stop the fun now!"

"Cormac stop! I was having fun dancing with you! That's all!"

"Come on Hermione I know you want this! Why else would you have asked me to come with you tonight? I know you want to do this as badly as I do."

"I invited you as a friend nothing more! Now please STO-"

"WUUUFFPPPPPP" Suddenly Cormac was nowhere in sight. Hermione couldn't see what had happened on account of the only light source being the light coming from the corridor. Someone had come in and grabbed him off of her. Quickly coming to her senses she remembered she was a witch and cast lumos. She gasped when she saw the sight in front of her.

A/N:

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