Hi everyone, thanks to those of you who have already reviewed this little tale. I'm finding this is a lot lighter in nature than Breakages, which is a welcome change. Although I love the nature of that story, there is only so much dystopia one can take before feeling utterly miserable! I am interested in seeing where this little trip will take me and I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Thanks

Lu

Hermione had never thought that she would willingly hand around with Lavender Brown. Back at Hogwarts, she had found the girl insufferable, especially after the whole affair with Ron. It had driven a wedge between them and as such, they'd not had all that much to say to each other. That had all changed now she had stepped back in time. Lavender proved to be a rather adventurous girl who shared in her growing irritance at the propriety of the society in which she now found herself. The two of them decided that sitting demurely at the edge of the ball while everyone else had fun was not going to do them any favours. Besides, Hermione was hungry and that always sent her good cheer spiralling away.

Once the food had been found and they'd managed to snag a couple of bites to eat, she was able to think more clearly. There were so many things that she needed to know if she was going to be survive in this world. How long she had been engaged, where Viktor was at the moment, how she was going to get out of it and how she was going to insert herself in the direction of the man she actually wanted were just a few of them. She was also curious to know where everyone else was. If these few of her friends and acquaintances were here, the rest would be somewhere no doubt.

"Come on Hermione," Lavender said as she took her hand, "We should go and see if Remus will get us some of that punch!" she smirked. There was a look of complete defiance in her eyes and something in the back of Hermione's mind twitched.

"We're not meant to drink the punch, are we…" she said, letting the question trail off so it sounded as though she was unsure, rather than clueless.

"That's not stopped us before," she said. The blonde girl gave her another one of her grins and Hermione followed her slowly to where Remus was standing. He was as tall as she could remember him but he had rid himself of the ridiculous moustache. He was also a lot tidier than she recalled. His suit, brown as it was, did not bear the mark of having seen better days. His shoes were neatly polished and his hair had been combed. He wasn't unkempt either. The smile he gave them both was almost dashing and the skin around his eyes crinkled when they approached.

"What can I do for you pair?" he asked amicably enough. His eyes hardened a little when he spotted Lavender's demeanour however and he shook his head, "No punch, not after last time," he said. Her companion pouted a little at that but Hermione felt relieved. She was sure Molly would have some awful things to say to them if they did steal the punch. Hermione glanced over at the woman who appeared to be her guardian. She was fussing over her youngest daughter for the time being, ensuring that she spoke to all the young men at the gathering, rather than focusing her efforts on Harry alone.

"How is everything?" she found herself asking Remus, "It seems like an age since I saw you last."

"Since this morning?" he said, "Not a lot has changed," he shrugged, indulging her with a smile. Hermione raised both her eyebrows when she realised he had not answered the question and he chuckled again, "I am fine."

"Good," she replied with a little smile of her own.

"How's your project coming?" he asked. Damn. Hermione had no idea what he was on about. She took a moment to think about it, came up blank and just gave a brief nod.

"Not too bad, I'm making a little bit of progress but it'll take more research yet," she lied. It seemed to satisfy Remus well enough, as he have her a sage nod.

"When you're ready, just let me know and I'll help where I can," he said.

"I'll appreciate that." She hoped that was the right thing to say. Again, it appeared to satisfy him as he nodded again. Her palms had begun to get a little sticky and she rubbed them on the fabric of her dress. It did little to cool them and she found herself getting rather hot.

"Have you made any wedding plans yet?" Remus asked, changing the subject. She shook her head slowly.

"No," she replied.

"Hermione doesn't want to rush into anything yet," Lavender said coming to her rescue. She gave the girl a warm smile, glad for the rescue and nodded. Remus gave her a look that she couldn't quite decipher. He made no further comment on the matter however and once again, she felt a little relieved at that. Lavender's grip on her arm brought her attention around and she gave her a questioning look. "Do you need to sit down?" she asked, "You've gone a funny colour," she added. Hermione shook her head.

"Just a little warm," she replied. She swallowed, finding her throat a little dry but did not relent. Hermione found that she should have spent a little more time reading her letters than getting dressed up with Ginny. She would give herself away of she carried on like this! Perhaps she should have called off tonight, said she was ill so she had more time to get her head around the situation. There was no further time to think on that however, as Lavender once more touched her arm. She looked around, straight into the black eyes of Severus Snape.

"Good evening Miss Granger, Miss Brown," he said. He inclined his head respectfully and Hermione dropped him a perfect curtsey, using all the grace she could find. It seemed to work as the trace of approval glittered in the depths of his eyes. "May I congratulate you on your engagement," he said. His cool, deep voice did something rather strange to the depths of her belly and for a moment, she was unable to find her voice.

"Thank you," she said, once more inclining her head. "I'm glad to see you looking well," she added. It sounded a little lame in her ears but she couldn't help herself, she found she wanted to hear his voice once more.

The flicker of a frown appeared for a moment between his brow before one eyebrow jerked upwards, "Miss Granger, you have never been one to make small talk, why change the habit now?" he asked.

His words took her by surprise and she stood, stunned. It seemed as though she had found someone with a little bit of common sense, if nothing else, "Perhaps I am just enquiring as to your health? Is that such a bad thing?" she asked.

Severus was not given the opportunity to answer however, as Fleur appeared by his side. Hermione kept her face level as she took his hand in hers and gave him a look of adoration. Hermione kept her face as level as she could but the display sent a shiver through her that was difficult to suppress. Lavender's little smirk did nothing to help. Severus' contempt for the woman squeezing his hand would have been difficult to see but Hermione had been taught by him for many years and it was something she was accustomed to seeing. The look gave her a small glimmer of hope, yet she was determined to be nothing but civil to Fleur. It was not her fault that she happened to be in her way. "Good evening Fleur," Hermione said with a smile.

The other woman gave her a look of open revulsion however, one that she did not try and hide, "Miss Granger, how many times do I have to remind you, it's Miss De La Cour." Lavender's eyes widened at the rudeness of the French woman, a scandalised look appearing on her features. Hermione however, was less perturbed.

"My apologies, how silly of me," she heard herself reply. Inside, she was seething but there was no need for her to let the other woman know that. Severus gave her a look that spoke volumes, it was as much of an apology as she would get and knew it for what it was. "I think it best if we leave you to your evening."

"Yes, run along and annoy someone else," Fleur said.

Before she turned to go however, she fixed her eyes onto Severus' black ones, "It was good to see you, good evening."

"Miss Granger," he replied. With that, she linked her arm with Lavender and they left the couple alone. As soon as they were out of earshot, Lavender let her disgust show completely.

"How rude can you be?" she snorted. "I knew Fleur wasn't your biggest fan but what was that about?"

"I have no idea, wonder what I did that got her knickers in such a bunch with me!" Hermione laughed. They returned to the table in which they had been formerly sat and settled back into the seats.

"Does she know about your infatuation?" Lavender whispered. She had leaned a little closer and her eyes had returned to the couple, who now looked as though they were quietly disagreeing about something. Hermione hoped it was her manners.

"Who knows, not that it should matter, I am promised elsewhere remember?" she said. Her gaze followed Lavender's and the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach returned. It made her wonder again why she would have accepted Viktor's proposal if she was as infatuated as she was. Surely there was more to it than she knew. She tucked the thought away for further thought and twisted the stem of her glass as she scanned the room again. It seemed as though Molly and Ginny had finished being swarmed by the boys within the room and they came to join them.

"I never knew how exhausting this was," Ginny said as she sank into a chair, "Is it always like this?" she asked.

"Just wait until the dancing starts." Lavender said. As if they had heard her words, the band began to play a gentle tune. Lavender smiled, "This is the entire reason I come to these things," she said. Hermione smiled at her friends and watched as the men in the room began to pluck up the courage to ask the girls to dance. It did not take long. The rest of the evening was spent dancing with a variety of different people. At first, she was keen to avoid such activities. That was until Sirius Black insisted that although she had never been a great dancer, she was always a fun partner. She had let the man haul her to her feet and turn her around the floor a few times. It turned out that Harry's godfather wasn't too bad and by the time the night was drawing to a close, she had relaxed and begun to enjoy it.

Ron had insisted on dancing with her as well, so had Harry. The only person she did not see on the dance floor was Severus. Fleur had politely danced with several others but her intended had remained stoically at the side lines. Hermione did not speak to him again; she did not want to intrude on the couple as Fleur obviously found her so objectionable.

When the music stopped, Hermione found that her feet ached and she was ready to go home. She found Lavender, who had danced with nearly everyone in the room, and linked her arm with hers. Molly and Ginny soon joined them and their carriage was summoned. The journey home was swift and by the time she was back in her room, she was exhausted. When she lay on her bed, she realised that she had really enjoyed the evening. She no longer felt as anxious about being in the new situation and was keen to learn more about this world. Glancing over at her writing desk, she knew that would be a good place to start, there were letters there that she could read through to find out more of her situation.

A yawn stopped her from thinking any further, sleep claimed her as soon as she had shirked her many layers of clothing and collapsed onto her bed.