Hermione was bent. She had been back almost a month and a half and both Severus and Lucius treated her like she was any other student. She didn't know what she expected really, but some kind of sign, a notion, an anything would have been better than walking around on egg shells, trying her best to figure out what either of them thought and it was driving her insane.

But really, what did she expect? Lucius Malfoy was no longer the sweet, 17 year old boy without a serious past, and Severus, well Severus had never shown a smile in his entire adult life that she could recall and she could imagine, after everything that he had been through, that being with, shagging, or even talking to a girl who was his student that annoyed him to no end, was not on his list of things to do… ever. So she kept her feeling to herself and stewed.

But her stewing only led to another problem, a little thing that she liked to call anger. She had tried her best in class to act as they did, without a care, but as time went on, her anger grew and grew like a three headed purple monster that could think of nothing but walking up and smacking the living shit out of both men. It was frustrating. She needed to do something to get their attention, maybe that way she could get an idea of where they stood.

As she reached the great hall, she took her seat between Harry and Ron, both had managed to accept the fact of what had happened, but neither really cared to talk about it either. Well, talk about it very much anyway.

"Anything yet?" Harry asked, piling food onto her plate.

"Nothing, not a single damned thing." She replied, "Im really starting to let this whole thing get to me."

Ron shook his head, "Well what do you expect? Snape professing his love for you? Malfoy saying he's sorry for hating your muddy blood? Face it Hermione, it's done an over with… they would have said something by now if they were interested."

Hermione wanted to tell Ron he was wrong, but her heart wouldn't let her. She had been pretty much telling herself the same thing over the last few weeks and now that someone else had actually said it, it felt more real.

"Maybe your right Ron… I just don't know." Hermione said quietly, "And whats worse is I have Snape's class first thing and Malfoy's this afternoon. Its becoming a real pain in the ass."

"I wish I knew what to tell you Hermione, I really do." Harry stated, feeling more sorry for his friend then he could have imagined, considering the circumstances.

When Hermione got to the potions classroom, she took her seat in the middle and waited patiently. She hoped with all hopes that Snape would go with the flow and leave her alone like he had been. Normally, she wouldn't dare yell at a professor, but if he started any crap with her, she couldn't be sure that she would just sit quietly and take it.

Severus, for his part, could feel a shift in her. It wasn't the calm, uncertain demeanor she had been displaying, but looking at her, knowing her, he could tell she was a mass of angry and hurt emotions that were going to bubble up to the surface and explode on anyone around her. It wasn't something he cared to see, so despite his normal MO of getting under the skin of a student, he decided to just let her be.

Class, for the most part, had gone without a hitch, that was until half way through, she got up from her seat and walked out, not being able to be in the same room with him for another second longer. She had pretty much decided that it would be the same thing in Malfoy's class so she did the only thing she could do and went to Dumbledore, she needed guidance.

The walk was a quiet one as most students were in class. She took time to notice the little differences that she has spotted from 20 years ago, which really weren't many. It wasn't until she reached the last stretch that she encountered anyone, and to make things worse, it was the other one of them, Malfoy.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class, Ms. Granger?" He asked, knowing damn good and well that she was supposed to be in potions.

"I am, but I need to speak with the headmaster, so if you'll excuse me." She replied, ducking around him and making her way to the stone gargoyle as fast as she could.

Lucius watched until she was out of sight, and for some reason, he had a feeling that something was amiss, he just didn't know what.

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"I just, I think its for the best right now. Things are too confusing and I find myself growing angry."

"But a transfer, Ms. Granger? Surely there is something else we can do." Dumbledore stated calmly, hating to see such a bright student wishing to leave the school where she had grown up.

"I'm sorry sir, but I have both of them in classes and each class I feel myself getting worse… I feel like, I don't know, I feel like I'm being mocked, laughed at… I can see them in my mind laughing at me and what we had been through… I feel like a… a.. "

Dumbledore raised his hand to stop her from completing the sentence; he didn't want any students thinking of themselves in such a way.

"Give me a week, Ms. Granger, to see if I can come up with something… if not, I will approve your transfer elsewhere." He said finally, hating the deal as the words left his mouth. He would find a way if it killed him. " In the meantime, I'm sure you will not be missed in their classes. I will make sure you know what work is due. This way, you will have some space."

Hermione felt better and worse at the same time. At least now she didn't have to deal with the nagging feeling she got every time she looked at them.

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Two days had passed since he had seen her in the halls and she had failed to show up to a single class. He was frustrated. The brief memo he had received from Dumbledore was vague, but considering he and Severus were the only ones invited, he naturally assumed it had something to do with her.

Once he arrived, Severus was already waiting with a bored look as the headmaster fiddled around with a few papers on his desk.

"Good, Lucius has arrived and we can now begin." Dumbledore stated with a smile. "This meeting is of much importance and the two of you are directly involved."

Both men waited for the headmaster to get down to the meat of the matter, but instead of talking, he hand each man a small pile of papers.

"Transfer papers?" Severus asked, "How are we directly involved with this?"

"Look at the name, Severus." Lucius hissed, suddenly feeling very irritated.

When Severus looked down again, her name shown on the documents like fire, how could he have missed that to begin with?

"Because of you two, Ms. Granger has decided that her best bet for an education is to attend a different school." Dumbledore sighed and sat back in his chair, "Look, I know that this whole thing is a mess and has been since the beginning, but you two made a choice along with her when you three decided to embark on such an unorthodox relationship. If I am correct, she had told you well in advance that you were her professors in her own time along with the age difference that was between you. The three of you made a decision that is now causing troubles within the school and one of our brightest students wants to leave us, not to mention she feels… cheap. We need to figure something out because not only do I have an angry and hurt female student, I also have an absolutely livid house elf that is ready to bite your ankles off as first sight."

"Sir," Severus started, "We are both having difficulty with this… situation. Neither of us know what to do about any of it. It's just not as easy as we thought it would be."

Lucius nodded in agreement.

"Well," Dumbledore stated as he stood, I have an idea… lemon drop!"

Both looked at the headmaster like he had lost his mind, but took one none the less.

"These are special order… im certain you will like the flavor." Dumbledore stated, patiently waiting for Severus and Lucius to eat the lemon drop.

Seeing that the meeting wasn't going to go any further until they tried the blasted candy, both men opened the candy and placed it in their mouths, Knowing something was wrong almost immediately. Only seconds earlier, they were wide awake, and now, neither man could hold their eyes open.

"You drugged us?" Lucius stated weakly

"This is for everyone's own good." He replied with a smile, laughing a little as both men started to snore.