A/N- Here's another chapter for you all, and I hope you enjoy it! Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts!
"So, 'Mione, me and Draco have something to tell you," Ginny said, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Hermione.
Ginny, Hermione and Draco were sitting in the Three Broomsticks, enjoying a few bottles of butterbeer and catching up. Ginny had owled Hermione saying she wanted to see her friend, and Hermione had readily agreed, especially because Ginny had hinted in the note that she had something of a surprise to tell Hermione.
Hermione beamed and instantly caught on, and looked from Ginny to Draco. "You didn't!" she gasped. "You're engaged!"
Draco rolled his eyes turned to Ginny and huffed. "I told you she would know instantly," he said. "You just can't hide anything. You bloody Gryffindors can be read like a damned book!"
Ginny smacked him lightly. "It isn't that, Hermione is just too good at deducing things, and we all know that."
Hermione grinned, bouncing on her seat in excitement. Two of her best friends were getting married! "Oh my god, I am so happy for you guys!" she gushed. "Have you told anyone else?"
"No, just you. Draco proposed last night, and we wanted you to be the first to know," Ginny said with a smile.
"I feel honored," she said humorously. "Any plans for the wedding yet? Do you know where you want to have it? Or when? I mean, I know it's really soon, and you guys have only just been engaged, and it is sort of early to even begin planning the wedding, but-"
"I wanted it to be in the springtime," Draco smoothly interrupted Hermione's rushed questions. "Ginny here wanted a summer wedding though," he said with an exasperated tone.
"Well I just figured it would be convenient for everything if it were in the summer!" the redhead defended herself.
"Gin, you do remember we aren't in school anymore, right?" Hermione said with an amused gleam in her eyes. "Spring time sounds beautiful to me, especially with the trees blooming." Gasping, she turned to Draco excitedly. "You two should get married in an apple orchard, especially if you plan it for the spring!"
"No," Draco said firmly. "I want the wedding to be at the Burrow, and the reception at the Manor."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I apparently don't have a say in this, all though if it must be spring I would love to be married under an apple tree," she added with a mischievous gleam in her eyes as she lightly poked Draco.
"We'll conjure a bloody apple tree and plant it at the Burrow," Draco said. "I do not want to get married in a garden," he said with feigned disgust.
"I'm sorry," Hermione snorted. "But have you seen the Burrow, Draco? The yard is a garden!"
"Exactly! More reason why we should have the service somewhere else. I quite fancy 'Mione's idea, actually," Ginny said thoughtfully. "The Burrow is too small, anyways. I love my family's home, but Bill and Fleur's wedding was almost disastrous, trying to fit all those guests in and what not, mum nearly expired from it, remember Hermione?"
Hermione grinned and nodded, remembering how flustered Molly had been whilst planning Bill and Fleur's wedding.
Draco shook his head. "Absolutely not," he said firmly. "The Burrow is where I want it, and we can always place an enlargement spell on the tents and in the rooms to make space for everyone," he objected.
"That old house can't take a hint of anymore spells, Draco. It's about to cave in on itself as it is!" Ginny said exasperatedly as she glared at Draco. Leaning towards Hermione conspiratorially, the redhead winked. "I have a few months to change his mind."
"I heard that," Draco said dryly, as he eyed Ginny.
Hermione laughed as she observed the banter between the newly engaged couple. "So when are you announcing the engagement?"
"We were thinking at Christmas Eve dinner for Draco's family, and then Christmas dinner for the Burrow," Ginny replied.
"Oh my, I can't wait to see everyone's faces!" Hermione replied excitedly.
"You will be there next week, won't you?" Ginny said slowly, looking at her friend anxiously.
"For Christmas day?" Hermione asked. "Of course! I wouldn't miss it for the world, especially seeing Ronald's face at your engagement to a Malfoy," Hermione added with a chuckle. Ron, out of all the Weasley's, was the last to accept Draco as Ginny's boyfriend, and it had taken him a while to get over the fact that his sister was dating a Malfoy. Even now, after they had been together so long, he still held a slight rancour towards the blonde boy. "I don't know why you had to ask, Gin."
Ginny nodded, satisfied with Hermione's reassurance, but still looked a little cautious. "Well, er, I wasn't sure, you know, with the whole Ronald situation –" Ginny said hesitantly.
"You mean the one where your brother was an absolute dick?" Draco interjected. Even though he was more than civil to Ron, in an effort to make things smooth between the two families, Draco had never quite forgiven the ginger boy for what he did to Hermione.
Hermione shook her head. "There is no way I'm letting that prick – sorry Gin – ruin my holiday," she said determinedly. "If your family still wants me there, I would be happy to come, as it's always been."
"It's settled then!" Ginny replied satisfactorily, as she clapped her hands together. "We have to be off now, I'm afraid. We have to do some errands for mum. She can charm the kitchen to clean itself, but Merlin forbid she go out on a errand now that her kids are all grown up."
Hermione stood up and walked them out of the pub, and hugged the both of them. "It was good to see you, and I am so happy for you!" she said happily. "You'll have to keep me updated on plans for the wedding, of course, and if you need any help I would be more than happy to lend a hand!"
Draco grinned at her, and the couple apparated away together. Hermione smiled and walked back up to the castle, feeling elated. Two of her best friends were engaged to be married, and she had never been happier for them both. Nothing was more important to Hermione than the happiness of her friends, and she was thankful that the two had found each other, and managed to overcome the difficulties of their opposing families. Hermione started to think about Harry and Luna, knowing that they couldn't be far behind. She knew Harry had a few reservations about marriage, but it was plain to see he was head over heels for Luna, and he just needed a nudge or two. Hermione giggled to herself as she walked. She wouldn't be surprised if Luna proposed to Harry, and if she knew her friends, that would most likely be the way it ended up.
Still in a good mood, she entered the castle and went up to her quarters. Ridding herself of her clothes, she pulled on some pajama bottoms and a tank top, and climbed into bed. She had no issues casting her Patronus that night, and slept peacefully the whole night through, while her silvery otter jumped lightly across the room.
Severus entered the headmistress's office, noticing she already had the chessboard set up and a pot of tea brewing. The headmistress glanced up at his arrival, and grinned at him. The two hadn't spent time together in recent weeks, due to Severus being bogged down with grading student's papers, and patrol duty, along with the never ceasing research for the potion. He spent nearly every night with a book in his hand and parchment at the ready, in order to alert Hermione to anything he discovered, and vice versa. Cosette was enjoying it greatly, as Hermione had never really had a use for her until then. Minerva, however, had demanded Severus appear at the Great Hall that evening for supper, and then coerced him into agreeing to a chess date.
"Severus!" Minerva said as she waved her wand to scoot a chair out for him. "How have you been? We've hardly had a chance to talk all month, and Merlin knows you need a break from holing yourself up in those drab dungeons all day."
"The perusal and note-taking of old magics is generally quite time consuming," Severus said with a sniff as he took a seat in front of her desk. "I apologize, but I do resent the comment on my living space," he added with a slight twitch of his lips.
Minerva batted the apology away with her hand, and ignored Severus's complaint. "No, I understand. No need to apologize. Black, as usual?" she asked, indicating the chessboard.
Severus nodded, and told his pieces to line up. They obeyed promptly, hurrying to line up in the proper order. Minerva did the same, but she had to poke a few pieces with her wand to get them to scurry into place, all the while giving Minerva foul looks. In their places, the pieces stood at attention, waiting for the headmistress to make her first move.
"Has Hermione been helpful?" Minerva asked surreptitiously, as she poured them both tea. Handing a cup to Severus, she made the first move in the game, ordering a pawn to a spot in front of the king.
"Surprisingly, yes," Severus said wryly. "Knight to C three," he commanded, watching as the black stone horseman scurried to the square.
"Pah," Minerva scoffed. "You can't actually be surprised. She has always been exceptionally knowledgeable. Pawn to D five," she added.
Severus considered his next move, as well as the headmistress's words. No, he wasn't exactly surprised by her astuteness, she had always been unusually sharp. "Pawn to E three," he said decisively. "No, I am not surprised – more taken aback. She doesn't seem swayed by anything I suggest, rather she jumps on it with the enthusiasm of a dog on a bone. It's rather irritating at times."
Minerva chuckled. "What an appropriate analogy, Severus," she said as she prodded an unwilling knight with her wand. "She is very overwhelmingly enthusiastic at times, I'll give her that."
"Indeed," he agreed. "A small portion of me thinks we will get the potion done within a year simply because of her extreme voracity." He sent his other knight to attack Minerva's pawn that was dangerously close to his lines, watching as the little horseman crushed the wailing pawn, and threw the pieces to the side. Smirking triumphantly, Severus leaned back and waited for the headmistress to make her move.
"Well, all the better then," Minerva said, swearing loudly as she watched the pieces of what remained of her pawn be tossed to the side. Scowling, she nudged a bishop forward, taking out a pawn at the corner of Severus's line.
"Foul language really doesn't suit you," Severus observed, watching Minerva fume over her losses. Severus sent a rook to take out the headmistress's trembling knight, arching an eyebrow at the feeble fight the little white knight put up.
"I'll say whatever I bloody want to, and I thank you to mind your own damned business," Minerva said furiously, watching as the knight she sent to attack Severus's line of pawns was flung off the board by the little pawns. Her face growing redder as she watched her pieces diminish, she scowled further at the cheers Severus's pieces were emitting.
Severus smirked. Part of the fun about playing chess with the headmistress was her highly entertaining reactions to him foiling her maneuvers. She needed to think farther ahead then just move by move, but he would never tell her that. He enjoyed the ever-growing winning streak he was amassing, and it gave them both an excuse to talk to one another.
Minerva exhaled angrily, and took a sip of her tea and tried to control her anger. "I always overreact when I play this damned game," she said wearily. "I bet it's probably bad for my health. Old witches shouldn't be yelling at a board."
"Most likely."
"Anyways, how is the research coming along?" the headmistress asked, changing the subject after another one of her pieces got thrown off the board. "Any discoveries?"
"As well as anyone could expect," he said as he surveyed the chessboard. "Granger has come up with some astonishing ideas, it was her discovery that put us on the track of moondew and the Wiggenweld Potion. We are brewing the potion tomorrow, to see if we can glean any information from the process. It should give us a new insight on what we need to look for, if nothing else."
Minerva raised an eyebrow. "Really, Severus, with the way you praise her nowadays some might think you've actually grown to tolerate the girl," she said with a smirk. "We can't have that now, can we? You had better watch yourself, lest someone start to believe otherwise."
Severus looked up, annoyed at what the headmistress was insinuating. "I would have, of course, made the same discovery," he said indifferently as he took a sip of tea. "She merely read the right book first, which isn't that surprising, considering how the girl devours anything written down."
Minerva stayed silent, and studied Snape's face. In the time that she had become close to him, she had begun to see through his mask of near constant nonchalance, and make out when he was holding back a smile. A wide grin spread over her face when she noticed the tell-tale signs of ill hidden emotions on the black haired potions professor. "You're growing to like her, aren't you?" she crowed.
Severus glowered at Minerva over the cup he held in his hands. "Where on earth to you get these ridiculous assumptions?"
Minerva's smile brightened. "It's written right there on your face! Your eyes light up when you mention her," she said cheerfully, as she leaned forward to push a struggling pawn to where she wanted it.
"My eyes?" he asked dryly. "You're basing your assumptions off my eyes? Good lord, Minerva, what has gotten into you? It's the torch behind you, idiot woman," he added disparagingly, and shifted so his hair covered more of his face than before. The headmistress was just taking the mickey at him, but nevertheless he didn't want her studied his face with her piercing gaze. In her time as headmistress, she had begun to develop the same soul-searching gaze that Dumbledore had possessed, even though Severus knew that she was no where near as skilled a Legilimens as either himself or Dumbledore, it still irked him that she could understand so much.
Minerva shook her head. "No, I know what I see. Whether you choose to accept that you are starting to enjoy Hermione's company, however, remains up to you," she said crisply.
"It's comforting to know my decisions are still my own," he replied superciliously. Urging his queen forward, he checkmated Minerva's king, having blocked the piece in with a clever placement of a rook, a pawn, and the queen. The king let out a loud string of curses, and pushed his minuscule sword away in disgust. Severus eyed the pieces, amused at the display of anger Minerva's few remaining pieces were putting on. "You really should consider getting a new set. They seem quite bad-tempered, as well as having a bad mouth."
Minerva heaved a sigh and ignored him, she had received that set from Dumbledore long ago, and she wasn't about to start with another. "Another defeat," she said in an annoyed tone. "I swear I will beat you one day, you horrid old bat. Maybe I'll have to resort to trickery, but I will defeat you eventually!"
Severus let out a short laugh at the headmistress's heated words. "You can always try, headmistress."