A/N: As promised.

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Chapter 11: Unexpected Offer

Pansy didn't even wait for a reply before apparating to Draco's, her head was swirling with ideas. She couldn't help but worry that she might have opened up a bigger can of worms than she planned. She wondered if it'd just be better if everyone stayed believing that Hermione was dead and just let her life her life under a different identity. Though, she supposed, the only one that could really make that decision would be Hermione.

"Weren't you just here a few hours ago?" Severus asked her with a raised eyebrow, expressing his annoyance at her presence.

"Where's Draco?" she asked, ignoring his question.

"I believe he and Hermione are out having coffee, he left a little over an hour ago." Without another word Severus walked away, obviously taking no interest in continuing the conversation.

At your house waiting - Pansy

She hoped he would find a way to leave Hermione, but a few minutes after sending the message she heard two pops and saw both Draco and Hermione. Well, that's swell, she though - wondering how she was going to explain that she needed to speak to Draco and only Draco.

"What's the urgency? I just saw you this morning." Draco drawled out, clearly mildly annoyed by Pansy's incessant nature.

"I was in England and had an interesting interaction that I was hoping I could speak with you about privately?" She eyed Hermione, knowing it'd stir a reaction of curiosity.

"Why privately?" Hermione asked, seeming a bit upset that she was being intentionally left out of whatever this information could be.

"Because I wasn't sure if I should speak with you about it or not." She stated honestly, wishing she'd just waiting until Draco had gotten back to her rather than storming his castle with no notice.

"How about you tell me and not treat me like a child, if you don't mind." Hermione clearly was already upset with the fact that she felt like a prisoner, she didn't enjoy being handled with kid gloves even if she knew that Pansy was well meaning.

"Fine, but for the record I really don't think this is a good idea." Pansy looked at her firmly, "shall we sit? I think a cuppa might be in order."

They all took a seat with a tea in hand, Hermione choosing to sit near Draco rather than Pansy as a means of showing her displeasure.

"I decided when I got back that I would go to the ministry, under the guise of visiting Blaise, but as I was on my way to his office I spotted Harry and George and couldn't pass up the opportunity to try to get some information from them. While I'm speaking with them, George mentioned that he had a theory as to your disappearance, Hermione. He didn't want to talk about it there so we went to my place." She paused, letting them each take a moment to process. "George confessed that he believes that Ron was abusing you, and he feels terribly guilty about not saying anything sooner. He thinks that either Ron has done away with you permanently or that you escaped."

"What did you tell him?" Hermione asked nervously, obviously uncomfortable.

"I didn't tell him anything, I played along saying that I suspected something similar and felt awful as well for not saying anything when there was time." Pansy felt defensive for some reason, feeling like she betrayed Hermione in some way. Shaking it off, she continued "Anyway, Harry had a hard time swallowing the possibility but eventually got around to at least a mild acceptance. We ended it by saying we'd have people look into it and see if anyone can find you or knows anything and would owl each other if we found any information."

"Wow." Was all Hermione could say.

"What do you propose we do? If we have the rest of the Weasley's on our side then you might not have to worry as much, Hermione." Draco spoke up, putting a reassuring hand on Hermione's thigh that caused Pansy to raise an eyebrow.

"I need to think about this," was all Hermione said before she got up and made her way down the hallway, she wasn't sure where she was going but she just needed to walk and process what the best course of action was with this new development.

"What was that?" Pansy said accusingly, shooting a death glare at Draco.

"What was what?" He replied, clearly confused what the hell she was talking about.

"Your hand on her thigh, what the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"Well, I thought I was offering comfort but clearly I'm mistaken." He rolled his eyes, knowing exactly where Pansy was going with this and he really didn't feel like explaining the fact that she couldn't be more wrong in her assumption.

"You better not take advantage of her, Draco Malfoy, I swear to you I will make you pay." Her cheeks were pink with heat from her anger as she got closer to Draco's face to make sure he understood just how serious she was.

"Look, I do not have romantic interest in her. We've developed a small friendship and I admire her greatly, but I will not be taking advantage of her I swear to you." That was all he was willing to offer, to be truthful with himself he wasn't sure exactly what he felt towards Hermione, but he knew that while affection and protectiveness were two feelings he could pinpoint, romance wasn't one of them.

—

Hermione found herself wandering aimlessly down the halls of Draco's property. She wasn't as shaken up as she thought she likely should be, she felt more of a sense of resolve by the fact that at least George knew, even if he didn't say anything. She wasn't really angry with him for not intervening based on a hunch, but she did wonder how much different things might have been if he had.

"May I help you, Hermione?" She heard a deep voice vibrate through the room, shaking her out of mind.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't meaning to intrude." She apologized, recognizing she was in the lab now with a very annoyed Severus Snape.

"Again, may I help you?" He asked with that trademark eyebrow causing her to smirk a little, "well, if I cannot help you perhaps you can explain to me what's so amusing?"

"Oh, erm, I just am grateful that some things never change." She replied, looking up at him now and realizing he'd moved closer to her than she'd realized.

"Indeed?" Was the only reply he offered, taking a seat to look through the notes he was carrying in his hands. "I looked through what you provided when you were here yesterday and I do believe your theory has merit."

"Oh?"

"Close your mouth, you'll catch flies." He smirked, looking at her and really seeing her for the first time. He took in her features, how much tamer her wild hair had become. Her features and body, much more womanly, shapely. I guess some things do change, he thought to himself. He would be a fool to deny that Hermione Granger had become a very attractive woman, though he could see that the fire she once held in her eyes had diminished significantly since he last saw her.

"I could say the same to you," she retorted, clearly amused, "if we are going to work together I must request you could keep the ogling to a minimum." She smirked again, thinking to herself how strange it was to jest with Severus Snape.

"You're one to talk, I'm fairly certain I saw you ogling me just this morning. Not to mention last night." again with that eyebrow, she thought.

Clearing her throat, she tried to find something to change the subject with. "Okay, fair point," was all she could muster. Feeling slightly embarrassed she looked through the lab again taking in all of the different instruments that they had at their disposal.

"Draco informed me of your situation," Severus stated out of the blue, mildly startling Hermione.

"Excuse me? I apologize, but that was not his information to share." She looked angry, why would Draco break her confidence?

"I expressed concern about having an unstable witch looking through our research and in our lab and he felt that if I heard the full story then I'd likely show sympathy and allow it."

"Oh." She said sheepishly, at this rate everyone's going to know.

"I only mention this, because… and I may regret this, but… if you are to need someone besides Pansy or Draco, I am here if necessary. I have a cell phone as well and can provide you with the number if you so wish." He shifted uncomfortably, obviously uneasy with how far outside of his comfort zone he was by making such an offer.

"I, wow, thank you Prof-erm… Severus." She looked down for a moment, fighting emotions she couldn't pinpoint. "Thank you, Severus." She reiterated. She sat there in silence for a few moments, allowing herself to feel thankful for the people she did have in her life - people she never would have thought she would be thankful for when she was back in Hogwarts.

"May I ask why?" She asked, unable to shake her curiosity as to why he would offer after only being back in her life for less than 2 days.

"You may, but I think I'll save the reason for a later day." He offered her a small uncharacteristic smile before beginning to retreat. "If you'll forgive me, I must retire to my rooms. There are some notes I need to look over to continue our development here." He stood awkwardly for a moment before handing her a piece of paper, "here is my number, I trust you will not abuse it." He nodded and quickly walked out of the room, leaving a still confused and mildly stunned Hermione.

Hermione took out her cell phone and entered his number in, knowing she likely would never use it but also feeling a strange warmth from the reassurance that she had someone else there for her if needed. Taking a deep breath, she found her composure and decided to make her way back to Draco and Pansy and come up with a final decision on how to proceed with the situation.

As she approached Pansy and Draco she noted that they both looked very tense, they were sitting at opposite ends of the room each drinking their respective teas and not looking in the other's direction. She couldn't help but feel like she was going to regret speaking to them considering the state they were in.

"I'm back," she announced in a sing-song voice, causing both of them to jump a bit as neither of them had seen or heard her enter the room. "Everything okay in here?"

"Yeah, fine." Pansy said quickly, "where'd you wander off to?"

"Just around, I ended up finding myself in the lab. I just needed to process things." She didn't mention Severus, there wasn't exactly a reason to in her opinion. "So, what do you guys think about this? Should we let them know I'm alive?" Hermione wasn't exactly sure what she wanted to do, but she knew that she wasn't going to stay in hiding forever and while she wasn't sure she was ready since so little time had passed, she knew she'd been through a lot worse in her life and believed herself to be a very resilient person.

"I'm not sure, honestly. I was thinking if more people believe you, especially Harry, we might be able to get Ron sent to Askaban." Pansy said, hoping Hermione would bite. If Ron were sent to Askaban, Hermione wouldn't have to look over her shoulder ever again.

Hermione sat there for a few moments before replying, she knew Harry loved her - they were practically brother and sister even if they had drifted apart the last couple of years. She almost felt guilty for not having confided in him sooner, but she did what she felt she needed to in order to survive and she needed to keep reminding herself of that.

"I think I'd like to reach out to Harry. I'm… I'm nervous and I'm not sure what to really say to him, but I want him to hear my side of the story from me."

"Are you sure Hermione? You've only been gone a little less than 2 months." Draco leaned towards her, again resting his hand on her thigh close to her knee - Hermione barely registered it.

"I'm sure, I mean, I've fought in a war and I've survived. I can't let someone as pathetic as Ron Weasley be my downfall. Pansy, do you think you could set it up? Maybe I could apparate to your place and meet there, that way there's no risk of me being seen in public?"

Pansy took a few moments before agreeing, she wasn't sure if this was the best idea but she understood her bestfriend's need to put things as right as she could and regain the family she rightfully deserved.

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A/N: Next chapter will likely be a Hermione/Harry reunion. I have much planned and I am currently on a roll. Please review and let me know what you'd like to see happen! Once again, I love and appreciate all of you!