Happy Memorial Day to all my fellow Americans!

So Friday was my last real day of high school. I have two finals to take this week. Graduation this Saturday. First day of college at the end of August. Holy Crap.

Also random story: We are the first graduating class from our school so we wanted to do our senior prank right. I was not involved but the prank involved rats, crickets, water guns, birds, SNAKES!(love Slytherins hate snakes on a phobic level) baby oil, blow up sex dolls, etc, etc. resulted in the police department and another local school's security being called in to help. It was less a prank and more a creation of chaos

At least we are not like our neighbor school that I went to for freshman year. All I know is it ended in a full on riot with lots of damage particularly to windows and a full lock down. A big change from the past few years of teacher approved pranks

The best part was that it started so innocent, we had stink bombs and they had string tied everywhere. They were distracting the teachers from the real stuff that was about to erupt

Disclaimer: I'm about to be a broke college kid, this wouldn't be a problem if I did own Harry Potter

The walk from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade was cold, dreary, and miserable. Some would say the weather went perfectly with Severus Snape's general attitude.

With a scowl on his face people would see nothing out of the ordinary in the dark Slytherin's attitude except that maybe he was grumpy about missing the carriages to the village. Of course he was the only one walking down the path from the castle since everyone else was already at Hogsmeade. Severus had fifteen minutes to get down to the Hogs Head to meet Lucius for a couple drinks. If he was not there on time then he would have to come up with some excuse for being late that Lucius would believe. While Severus usually enjoyed the older wizard's company there were times when it was just a burden. Not only would he try to persuade Severus to the dark lord's side but he also lectured Severus on how to redeem his half blood self in the pureblooded world's eyes.

"You have the potential, the intelligence, and the strength. If only your mother was not a blood traitor, you would do the wizarding world proud." Whenever Lucius began to lecture Severus would let his mind wander a bit like it was now as he walked. What was he pondering you ask? Why, that small hug from Hermione of course.

How many times had he ever received a hug? Never in his recollection, his only real friends were Lily and Lucius. Lily never liked him that much and not at all now and Lucuis was too proud and a guy. There are very few occasions when guys hug and none if you were a proud pure blooded Slytherin. His mother must have embraced him at some point in his infancy and perhaps some paternal grandmother or aunts that Severus had not seen since the day he was born.

Why did she do it? Obviously it was to say thanks for making her feel better but why a hug? Surely she could have just said thanks and gone back to her books. But no, she decided to use a more intimate gesture and it made Severus a good bit uncomfortable. After a life like his, human contact was not generally considered a pleasant thing. Hermione's hug was a huge invasion of privacy and personal space, something she seemed to realize quickly to Severus' relief yet… Once he got past how unfamiliar it was, the embrace was not that bad. But that was not the most important thing to be thinking about in regards to the hug. The most important question was why would she want to do that? Why would she want to hug the 'greasy git'? It was odd enough that she wanted to hang out with him. Did she… No of course she did not like him.

'Stop it Severus, the last time you read into some kindness too closely you ended hoping and being disappointed by Lily,' the teen scolded himself. It was just kindness, yes that was what it was, Hermione was just being friendly.

'Friendly? The only other person she's even on speaking terms with is Lupin unless you count the teachers. You never know, maybe she does like you,' an inner voice told him. Severus reminded himself that everyone else spread rumors about her and told his inner voice to shut up. He was thoroughly convinced that it was a mistake on her part and that she had absolutely no feelings for him, she probably hugged Lupin all the time. He was not going to let one little slip up cause him to think about her too much and cause another unrequited, unattainable crush. He had learned his lesson with Lily and he would not repeat that mistake. Sure she was smart, and kind, and pretty but that did not mean he had to like her. They had the same love of learning and spent a lot of time together but as they had been saying for the past few weeks, that didn't mean they were in love. Yup, Severus had no feelings for Hermione what so ever, he was sure of this. Except he really wasn't all that sure.

XXXXXXX

When he finally arrived in Hogsmeade he scowled at all the immature children running around the magical village as if they were still in muggle primary school. They all took advantage of their parents' absence to spend their allowances however they wished, mostly in the joke and sweets shops. Considering that Quidditch is the only form of exercise here in the magical world it would not take long for all of these children to become obese like Slughorn. 'I should start running,' Severus thought to himself. Sure he was already pretty skinny but it wouldn't do for him to be out of shape.

"Severus!" an aristocratic voice called. The Slytherin turned to see Lucius exiting one of the few buildings not flooded with children. Lucius had skin as pale as Severus' but not sallow, long platinum blonde blonde hair that was almost white pulled back into a ponytail with a black bow. His clothing was subtle in order to not attract too much attention but screamed out his wealth once you did see it. His dragon leather boots had a slight heel to them that caused him to be a couple centimeters taller than Severus with whom he was usually the same height. His cape emphasized his broad shoulders and that he was of a wider and more muscular build than the leanly built Severus. But the most striking feature that Lucius Malfoy possessed was his ice cold, steel gray eyes. "Severus! Getting here a bit late aren't you?" the older wizard inquired as he meet with Severus in the middle of the road and lead the younger towards the Hogs Head.

"Late? It is two minutes before we are supposed to meet and you appear to be just getting out of a meeting. Therefore I am not late and if you continue to insist that I am then so are you."

"Now now, no need to be touchy. I was merely pointing out that you seem to just be arriving in the village while everyone else has been here for hours now."

Severus shrugged, "I decided not to take the carriages this morning."

"Why ever not?" Lucius asked incredulously. In the eyes of someone such as he, rich and magical, walking any great distance must appear to be a horrifying task. It made Severus briefly wonder how people like the Malfoys get around their large estates since they seem so against walking. Perhaps it was just walking out in the elements, especially on a day as miserable as this that seems baffling.

"I rather not wake up early to spend my morning with these fools waiting around for you," Severus explained with a sweep of his arm towards some rowdy fifth year Gryffindors wrestling on the sidewalk while two prefects walked by too busy flirting with each other to stop the shenanigans. "And the only shops I'm interested in are the book store and the apothecary, as you know. Those two can be taken care of after you leave."

"True, it seems like a smart idea. But now you have to deal with an unwanted consequence."

"Walking? I am not adverse to a little exercise."

Lucius let out a short laugh, "Don't be ridiculous my friend, you are skinny enough. Perhaps we should go to restaurant instead of this bar."

"Hogs Head will do even if it is dirty, honestly do they even clean it?"

"I'm not sure," Lucius sneered, "But it is this or the Three Broomsticks with all those obnoxious children. I think my next business investment should be a decent bar here."

"You wouldn't have enough patrons to keep it running. Maybe you should just buy Aberforth out."

"He's a Dumbledore, he wouldn't agree. I'd have to pay an far too much then it's worth before he cracks."

"Perhaps that is why it is so dirty," Severus mused, "Dumbledore's office is a mess with all that clutter. Maybe it is a family trait to be so untidy."

The two Slytherins were now at the front door of the dirty, shady bar. Each had thoughts of going to the Three Broomsticks but neither said a word and they found a secluded table to sit at. After magically cleansing the table and chairs and ordering a couple of firewhiskeys—Lucius paying Aberforth to clean the bottles—Severus cast his muffliato spell.

"So Lucius, what have you been up to since your last letter?"

"Well Narcissa and I have some news. We believe she may be pregnant," Lucius declared proudly.

"Well congratulations," Severus said.

"We are not sure yet but if she is we were wondering if you would be the Godfather?" Severus was taken aback by such an offer. "You are the only person we know that we can trust with this responsibility. We only what's the best for our son or daughter."

"I would be honored Lucius. Tell me as soon as you are sure of the pregnancy."

"Of course. So I have heard that you may have your eye on some witch," Lucius said, changing the subject to what he truly wanted to discuss.

"Lucius, you should know better than to listen to gossips," Severus said smoothly as he took a sip of firewhiskey. He was going to need it with where this conversation was going.

"Yes, well I've heard you have a crush on yet another Gryffindor mudblood," Lucius claimed with a raised brow.

"And you believe this because? Besides there is no proof that Jean is a muggleborn, she could have come from a foreign family or was orphaned at a young age."

The blonde smirked as he ignored the question, "Their blood may be dirty but I have to admit you have good taste. You've chosen the two mudbloods our Dark Lord is willing to grant pardon to."

It took years of conditioning not to visibly react to that, "What on earth are you talking about?"

The smirk grew, "Both Lily Evans and Hermione Jean have shown a great amount of intelligence and power on par with many purebloods. The Dark Lord is willing to offer them a place amongst us in exchange for their cooperation. If they refuse then they will die. Plus if we get Evans then Potter and his lackeys are sure to follow."

"They are too headstrong, neither would ever work for the Dark Lord," Severus insisted.

"Evans perhaps will be difficult to persuade but Jean is still moldable thanks to her amnesia. We could even convince her that she is a pure blood orphan. And with you persuading her…"

"I haven't even been persuaded, Lucius."

The young Death Eater narrowed his eyes, "I highly suggest you stop resisting, Severus, the Dark Lord grows impatient. Think of it this way, if you agree and get your little girlfriend to agree you will both be safe from the Lord's wrath and you'll get to live together happily ever after. I'd still suggest finding a nice pure blood or even half blood girl."

Severus knew this would not be an easy decision and life would not be 'happily ever after' no matter what choice he made. "I'll think about it."

"You have at least until the new year before you have to decide. I do have two questions about this girl."

"Fire when ready."

"What?"

"Sorry muggle saying, I have unfortunately picked up a couple over the years."

"I guess that's normal, anyway what I want to know first is is she a good dueler?"

"We haven't had a chance to duel but I have a feeling she's pretty good."

"Okay, see if you can fix that. Second, has she joined Slug club yet?"

"I think she is finally going to relent and go to the next one."

Lucius smirked again, "Good because I've been invited to that one. It seems I'll finally get to meet your little girlfriend."

"Not my girlfriend," Severus mumbled under his breath.

XXXXXXX

A couple hours later and Lucius had apperated back to his mansion and Severus was in the book store. Now the Dark Lord and Lucius would be breathing down Hermione's neck and since she knew nothing of what was going on and she had no other friends besides Lupin it would be Severus' job to make sure she didn't make any stupid decisions. She was in Gryffindor for a reason and would probably be rash without any guidance.

So now had no longer his own life to deal with but a future Malfoy's and sort of Hermioe's to an extent. Why couldn't his life ever be normal and filled with regular stresses like 'what should I do for a summer job'?

He was looking through a potions text when he heard the familiar noises of Marauders come into the store.

Severus took a deep breath to steady himself as Black approached him. "Thinking about your girlfriend, Snivellus? I'm surprised she'd stoop so low to date a greasy little Death Eater like you."

"You know Black, it would be a shame to damage all those books behind you when I blast you."

"As if you could-"

"I don't think that is necessary," came Lupin's calm voice of reason. "Sirius, we are heading back to the castle once Lily checks out her book." Black nodded but didn't move. "Just go before I have to report you, you've done enough now grow up."

Black looked surprised at his friend's backbone and left. Lupin did not follow though, when Black was out of sight he turned to Severus, "So how was Hermione this morning?"

Severus was surprised, "How did you-"

"I can smell her," Lupin said pointing at his nose.

"Of course, I forgot surprisingly. She's fine just normal stuff."

"Alright and, uh, thanks for saving Hermione last month." Severus simply nodded and Lupin took this as his cue to leave. Severus followed soon after with all the events of the day playing through his head. He remembered to add 'warn Lily of approaching Dark Lord' to his list of things to worry about. Ah, to live a normal, relatively stress free life.

So first to all of you canon freaks—I use the term lovingly since I myself am one—who have noticed that the Malfoy pregnancy is like three years early don't yell at me I will explain in the next chapter or two.

Also are you guys happy with the extra long chapter? 2,377 words without the author's notes. Ideally I would like to keep updating with chapters this length but obviously that doesn't always happen.

So please please review and tell me some of your senior prank stories. Are they as crazy and apparently newsworthy as mine or more tame? Did anyone have actual pranks? Oh and another little story: one of our other district schools had a Hunger Games scenario complete with (fake) weapons, I wish we had that