A/N: Hello all, I'm sorry it took so long to update, but everyone said the FF site was not showing updates, so I waited. Anyways, here we are again for more fun at the Christmas party. Hope you all like where I decided to take it.

Special Thanks: To my beta TabiPrewett for double checking that this actually reads as good as I hoped it did. You are amazing.

Chapter 3

Hermione was deep in a conversation with a middle-aged witch wearing bright orange dress robes. Hermione's gaze kept straying to the wide brimmed floppy hat the witch was wearing, that was in an equally bright, almost neon green color. It clashed terribly with the dress, but the older witch didn't seem aware of it.

She noticed Ginny kept glancing at it too and fighting a giggle as she talked to the witch with the odd hat's husband. Hermione itched to pull her wand and with a quick flick of her wrist, change the color of the hat to one that matched the witch's outfit. However, she refrained since she doubted the older witch would appreciate such a gesture.

The couple finally took their leave and the girls waited until they were out of earshot to start laughing. Ginny had to grab onto her Hermione to keep from falling over with her mirth. Hermione was shaking her head.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my two of my favorite former students?" A silky voice stated from behind them.

Both witches quickly turned at the sound of the voice. Hermione's eyebrow came up as a smirk filled her lips at his words. Ginny smiled sweetly at their former potion's professor, before moving in close and embracing the man tightly.

"Professor, it's been too long. How have you been?" Ginny asked with enthusiasm.

It took all of Hermione's poise to hide her amusement at seeing the dark man trying to extricate himself from Ginny's arms. She didn't believe for a second that either one of them had been Snape's favorite students.

Snape grimaced at Ginny's greeting. Patting her back awkwardly, unaware that the man with pale gray eyes was laughing at the situation the potion master was in. "I am well. How are you and Mr. Potter? I heard you were married now."

Ginny pulled back. "Yes, we are married and doing quite well."

Snape turned his black eyes on Hermione, letting his eyes roam over her form, before meeting her gaze. "What about you Miss Granger? No hug for a former teacher, like your friend here?"

Hermione smirked. "Sorry, Professor Snape. You didn't look quite comfortable with a hug. How about a handshake instead?" She held out her hand, again making Lucius chuckle from his hidden spot.

Snape raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what it would take to get the lovely woman in his arms. He took her hand, but instead of shaking it, he raised it to his lips and gave it a soft kiss.

Hermione bit her lip and tried not to pull her hand back. With a sweet smile she spoke. "So, which favored students did you spot before deciding to speak to us?"

Snape smirked at her, keeping a hold of her hand. "Why, Miss Granger, you wound me. I was referring to Mrs. Potter and your lovely self. You two were my most favorite students." His words sounded sincere, even if they were a total lie.

Hermione laughed softly. "Is that a fact? Funny Professor, I always thought you disliked me. Maybe you repeatedly calling me an annoying little know-it-all was just a term of endearment, then?"

Snape frowned slightly. Damn girl is still too smart for her own good. "Hermione, may I call you Hermione, now that I'm no longer your professor?"

Hermione cocked her head to one side to study him, but she nodded. Snape went on speaking, ignoring her deep probing stare. "Hermione, I only called you that to get you to work that much harder, and to you get you to give your fellow students a chance to learn as well. You must know that I was always proud of your exceptional work."

Hermione fought another laugh, keeping her face straight, but her eyes gave her away. Not that Snape was looking into her eyes, she noticed, as he took another look at her body encased in the tight silk dress.

Lucius was smirking, seeing her laughter at whatever Severus said even though it looked like he was trying to be charming. He saw Hermione's eye change from laughter to annoyance before going back to being amused. It didn't look like his friend, Severus, was making much headway. It made Lucius smile even more.

Snape was back to looking at her face, having missed her look of annoyance at him ogling her in tight dress. When she didn't respond to his statement, he decided to change tactics. "Hermione, can I interest you in a dance?"

Hermione frowned slightly, still not sure why he was even talking to them, but decided to play along for now, more out of curiosity than anything else. It might be fun to toy with the man that had made her school years hell.

She smiled shyly at him. "Professor, may I call you, Severus?" Repeating to him the same line he used on her.

He inclined his head in assent, a small quirk of his lips was his attempt at a smile. A real smile instead of the smirks he usually gave. She allowed a pretty blush to stain her cheeks, when she was trying so very hard not allow a giggle to slip through. "Very generous of you. Severus, I must decline. I'm not that good of a dancer, but Ginny is. Why don't you dance with her?"

Severus' attempt at a smile fell, and he suddenly looked for a moment like he had swallowed a bug. Hermione fought another laugh, as the silver eyed man let his laughter loose at Severus' expression.

Snape looked at Ginny who smiled sweetly at him. "I would love a dance, Severus."

Snape fought a sneer at the redheaded girl who he hadn't given permission to use his name. Instead, he gave another attempt at a smile, a tight one this time. "You know, Hermione, I do recall you dancing with that Bulgarian, Viktor Krum, during your fourth year Yule Ball. You danced beautifully, if memory serves. You really couldn't have forgotten how so soon."

Hermione glanced at Ginny who shrugged just enough for Hermione to notice it. She gave Snape a small smile. "I'm sure it will come back to me if you insist on taking the risk."

Snape gave her a genuine, but small smile, something she doubted she had ever seen before, and doubted she'd ever see again after tonight. "I do insist."

Snape took Hermione's hand and led her towards the dance floor. Silver eyes watching them move as the music played through a nice waltz. Both men noticed how graceful Hermione moved with the steps.

Severus was a strong partner and he led Hermione all around the dance floor without missing a single step. Sending her on a few slow spins before pulling her back against his hard chest.

Hermione's eyes widened just a bit at the feel of the strong muscles beneath his black dress robes. She never would have guessed he was so well formed. She had always assumed he would be a bit soft. Then again, being a spy, he must have needed to stay in shape in order to stay alive.

Snape danced her around, pulling her close to speak into her ear, his words causing her to laugh now and again. He was pointing out the less than skilled dancers around them and she couldn't help the laughter that escaped as she saw what he was talking about. She saw a man all but mashing his partner's toes with each step.

Silver eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of her smiling and laughing while dancing with Severus. He didn't know why this bothered him, but it did. He saw her redheaded friend talking to another couple, not paying the dancers any mind.

At the end of the song, Severus brought Hermione back to her friend. It wasn't long before Hermione saw that Severus was bored and was looking for a way to escape the discussion without being overly rude, which was a rare thing for him.

Leaning close to his ear, Hermione spoke. "You know, we could dance again and pray they have left Ginny by the time we return."

"We can only hope." Severus said chuckling softly.

Hermione asked rather loudly if Severus would honor her with another dance. Hermione watched at Severus smirked as he nodded, catching Ginny's frown at her, but ignoring it.

Severus whirled her around the dance floor again. She leaned in close to him to speak in his ear to be heard over the amplified music of violins and cellos pouring over them. "You know you weren't the only bored one, so thank you for dancing with me so I could escape too."

Severus smiled at her. "My pleasure. It served two purposes. We both got to get away, and I got to hold a beautiful woman in my arms." With how close Hermione was to him to be able to speak clearly, he couldn't see her face and missed her rolling her eyes at his words.

They danced for two straight dances but they both noticed Ginny was still talking to the same couple as before. By the end of the third dance, the couple had moved on thankfully.

Severus kissed her hand again, thanking her for the lovely dances. Hermione smiled at him. Thinking she really shouldn't be so hard on the man. He had been a prat during her school years, but he seemed nice now that she wasn't his student.

She gave him a genuine smile this time. Allowing him to lead her back to Ginny. They stayed talking for a while.

Severus told the girls of what he had been working on as of late. He worked at creating new potions during his free time. It not only gave him something to do to keep the boredom at bay, but his successes meant more money to put away for when he retired from teaching.

Especially since he'd given up position as Head of House and could retire to his home each evening after classes and his meals. A new option that Minerva had implemented as Headmistress, and one he took full advantage of. He'd had enough of dealing with the students after hours.

Lucius continued to watch Hermione, still curiously drawn to her. Having seen her dancing and smiling at his friend, Severus, he decided to go down to ask her to dance too.

He slowly made his way down the stairs that led to the hidden loft. He nodded at a few people that said hello to him. His eyes were still on the lovely brunette that was smiling and laughing with Severus.

He was still several feet from her when he was stopped. He knew he couldn't be completely rude and walk away, so he had to make idle chitchat with those that stopped him. He kept her in his sights though, so she didn't escape him. Her back was to him and gave him a chance to glance at the base of her spine.

I'll be damned, she does have dimples there, he thought. Suddenly curious if his thumbs would fit in the indentations or not, before he pushed that particular thought away.

His thoughts though, were still on the witch that had held his attention all night, while those he spoke with hadn't a clue he wasn't really listening. He was good at making it look like he was truly listening, even when he wasn't. A nod here, a laugh there, it was what he had been taught during his training as a child.

Hermione was listening as her former potion's professor started to tell her about a new potion that he was hoping to get perfected soon. Voices were floating all around them, so she had to really pay close attention, so she didn't miss what Severus was saying. Suddenly, she heard a laugh that brought chills to her skin.

She hadn't heard that laugh in a long time. She had a quick flash of years ago, writhing in pain as she was being tortured and hearing that same laugh. Her eyes widened just a fraction as she pulled herself out of the horrible memory and started to look around her. Doing her best to seem nonchalant about it.

Severus had noticed the change in Hermione and saw her starting to glance around her while trying to maintain the charade of paying attention. He had seen her do this many times in his classes as his student. He found it irked him just as much now as it did when she'd been a student.

It annoyed him that she wasn't paying attention to his story, at least it did until he noticed that she had grown a little pale. She looked like something had spooked her. He frowned, but he continued talking.

Hermione scanned every face she could see near them, but she didn't see the one she had feared seeing. That particular aristocratic face was not in the crowd around them. Maybe she had imagined the laugh, or maybe someone just laughed similarly to him.

With a small shake of her head, she went back to focusing on her Snape's story. "So, Severus, how soon do you think it might be ready for testing?" She asked, while trying to focus on the conversation again.

Severus launched into more details, satisfied that he had her full attention again. He did wonder at her earlier behavior though. He didn't know what could have cause the look of fear on her face only moments before.

Lucius finally managed to escape from the boring wizard that had stopped him and was making his way over to Hermione again. He was almost there when he was stopped by the Minister of Magic himself.

Lucius smiled politely. "Minister." He gave a slight nod.

Kingsley smiled at the former Death Eater before launching into his own tales. Lucius bit back a sigh at being waylaid again, but he knew he couldn't insult the Minister by simply walking away.

Lucius nodded when he was meant to, added his own thoughts on the subject as well. The Minister started to tell him about all the amusing things that had happened at the previous year's Christmas party, seeming to forget that Lucius had been there himself and seen what all had happened. However, he laughed as was expected of him and let the Minister continue with his story.

Hermione's laugh faltered, and her smile faded just a little. She knew she heard him this time. Lucius Malfoy had to be somewhere in the room. There was no way she was imagining that laugh. It was impossible for anyone to sound that similar to that hateful man. She fought the memories that threatened her once again.

Severus noticed her faltering and wondered again what was wrong. He leaned in so only she could hear him. "Hermione, are you alright?"

She met his eyes, and he saw the hint of panic in them and he frowned. Hoever, her words were at odds with the look in her eyes. "I'm quite fine, Severus." She gave him a small smile to reinforce her statement.

Severus didn't really believe her, nor didn't push her either. Ginny went on with her story about one of Harry's first assignments as an Auror. All three laughing again as the tale of Harry being tricked so easily was finished up. The two other women that had joined them, laughing as well at the tales of Harry Potter in Auror training.

Lucius finally was able to get away from Kingsley, who was pulled into a heated debate by one of his advisers on a new policy that was about to be implemented very soon. The blond man quickly took the last few steps to the interesting brunette in the sapphire dress that had caught his attention and surprisingly held it all night. His eyes straying to her dimples again before moving further up her bare back.

He came up behind Hermione who was telling her own tale of her first days at the Ministry and how she had been sent on an errand. She was supposed to file a report that that she had written.

Only no told her that there were certain procedures to filing any reports. The slot she was supposed to deposit it in wouldn't accept anything unless her department head had signed off on it. So, it kept spitting the papers back at her.

It wasn't until the fifth attempt to slip it in, while using her wand to try to make it stay inside, that a kind woman who also worked there had taken pity on her. The slot had spat the papers back at her once again, this time shooting them all over the room. The witch, between soft chuckles, had informed Hermione what she was supposed to do.

Hermione had been so angry at not knowing this herself, plus angry with the snide woman who had given her the errand to begin with, that had told her to just drop it off as it was. The woman that gave her the errand had known about the policy that required her boss's signature, but thought it was be fun to do a bit of hazing with Hermione being new.

Hermione had of course gotten her revenge. She had put a spell on the witch's quills making all her reports spill the ink from the words written, right off the parchment the moment it was picked up off the desk. The ink acted like water sliding off plastic.

That little spell had made the witch's reports late for over a week. Hermione had only figured it would take one or two tries with the quill to figure it out, but the witch hadn't been that bright. It had taken someone else to point out the problem while laughing hysterically at the daft woman.

Hermione was laughing as she finished her tale, Ginny softly chastising her for being mean, while Severus pointed out that it had been an excellent way to get revenge. The other two women in their group agreeing with Severus too. Hermione was still laughing until a voice made her sober instantly.

"Well, if it isn't my dear friend, Severus. I see you are surrounding yourself with much…lovelier company that normal. Not that I blame you, of course, these ladies are quite beautiful indeed. Entertaining too." Lucius said, his eyes not leaving Hermione who had turned slowly at hearing his voice.

Hermione was staring wide eyed at the man who had haunted her nightmares for years. She no longer heard the voices of the other people at the party around her. All she heard and saw were the horrible things that happened that night so many years before.

She heard herself scream as Bellatrix once again hit her with the Cruciatus curse that sent nothing but pain radiating throughout her entire body. Her body jerking as her muscles seized up in agony, fire burning through her veins, which grew worse and worse with each spell cast. She vaguely saw all the faces around her watching, smirks on their faces as they taunted the Mudblood.

She heard the sound of Lucius Malfoy laughing at her pain, at her agony as she writhed on his expensive rugs while Bellatrix kept firing the curse from her wand at Hermione. Her gaze landed on him, his ragged appearance not anything like she was used to seeing before, though she could barely focus on it at all.

She caught a small glimpse of his unshaven face, and unkempt hair, which seemed nothing like the impeccably groomed man she'd met before. The strange look in his eyes at odds with the laughter coming from him. His face held the slight look of remorse, like he was upset as seeing her in pain, but his laughter at her torture assured her that he didn't feel a damn thing for her, but joy and delight at seeing her brought down low.

Severus saw her face pale, her wide eyes glaze over, and saw a mild tremor shoot through her body as she looked up at Lucius with slightly parted lips. He saw Lucius stiffen at her reaction to him. Not sure what Hermione might do, Severus quickly commented on needing a fresh drink and asked Hermione to join him.

When she didn't respond, or even seem to hear him. Severus took her arm in his hand and started to pull her with him away from the man she couldn't tear her gaze from. When they were several feet away, he felt another long, sharp tremor rack her body.

Her eyes were still glazed but at least she was walking without him having to drag her away. They ended up at the bar and Severus ordered two fire whiskeys. When they arrived, he shoved one in her hand and ordered her to drink.

Hermione, as if on autopilot, downed the first glass at his sharp command. Choking just a bit as it went down. Severus plucked the now empty glass from her and shoved the second one at her. She drank it down too.

Severus watched her closely and saw her color starting to return, saw the haze leaving her eyes. He nodded and ordered two more drinks. When they showed up, he handed her a third and started drinking one himself.

Hermione sipped, feeling the shaking start to leaving her body. She looked over at her old potions professor and cursed softly. "I'm sorry sir, I…I just…I'm sorry. It must seem silly to you." She said looking down into her glass.

Severus raised an eyebrow at her. "Sir? What happened to you calling me, Severus?"

Hermione shrugged, still not looking up. "Old habits, I guess. Sorry."

Severus sighed. "Hermione, it's perfectly normal to react badly to a man whose home you were tortured in. You are not expected to just forgive and forget any and all horrible deeds done to you in life."

She looked up at him in confusion. "How did you know I was tortured in his home? I don't remember you being there."

Severus sighed again. "You forget Lucius and I are friends. We've spoken of it before. He feels distressed over what happened. He didn't want you to be tortured, but he couldn't stop it either. It would have meant death for him and his family if he stepped in to stop it."

Hermione snorted. "Right. The bastard, I'm sure, is very remorseful for having a dirty Mudblood tortured in his home while he watched on in enjoyment."

Severus frowned at her. "Actually, he does regret it. He regrets not standing up sooner and stopping it from happening. He hates that a girl so young had to endure something so painful and horrible. He never enjoyed it, but he couldn't let on that seeing it happen upset him. It would have made him appear weak or traitorous."

Hermione snorted again. "You know, I have a hard time believing that. Look, thank you for taking me out of there. I think…I'm going to go home. I don't want to go back over there and socialize with the man and I…I need to go. Tell Ginny that I left, please."

Severus nodded, but he was still frowning. He had hoped to dance with her again. "I'll tell Mrs. Potter that you suddenly felt ill and retired to your home. Can I…" He paused, not sure why he hesitated. "I'll send you an owl sometime next week and we can have lunch."

Hermione nodded, suddenly anxious to leave. "Yes, do that. I'd like to have lunch. Thank you, Severus, for letting Ginny know for me. I'll see you another time. I'm sorry, but I need to go."

She quickly went to get her cloak, pulling it on, and quickly walking back outside to apparate back home, unaware that pale silver eyes were watching her once again from the loft after Severus took her away get her a few drinks. His eyes held remorse for causing her even more pain, since that hadn't been his intention.

Hermione arrived back home and saw that it wasn't even eleven o'clock yet. She sighed as she slowly made her way into the kitchen. The three fire whiskeys she had quickly drank were going to her head.

Drinking a glass of water, she pulled off her shoes. Setting the now empty glass on the counter, she slowly and quietly made her way upstairs to the bedroom she shared with Ron. She didn't want to risk waking him if he was asleep.

Since he had lost his position with the famous Quidditch team he had become very grumpy. She had often wondered if things would have been better if he had never played for them, considering how he was not acting towards everyone.

She heard a loud thump upstairs and wondered if maybe he was awake. She stopped to get her balance as the fire whiskey kicked in even more, making her sway a little. Getting her bearings back, she continued up the stairs.

At her door, she paused, wondering what she might say if Ron asked how the night went. Maybe she should leave out the part where Lucius Malfoy showed up and ruined the night. Lucius, she was sure, was not one of his favorite people.

Though maybe that wasn't quite true anymore. He had commented when she said Lucius was trying to buy people's forgiveness. Defending the man saying he was just trying to help out now. Ron defending the pale-eyed ex-Death Eater had surprised her, but she had let it go.

Hermione shrugged and opened her bedroom door softly and froze at the sight in front of her. It took her a minute in her slightly drunken state to figure out what she was seeing. However, once she did figure it out, she was livid.

Her fiancé, who wouldn't go to the party with her tonight, the same one that couldn't seem to set a date for their wedding, was busying shagging some other woman in their bed.

"Ronald Weasley, what in the hell do you think you're doing?" Hermione screeched at him.

Ron paused mid thrust and looked over his shoulder at Hermione with a shocked look on his face. "Hermione, what are you doing here? I thought you weren't supposed to be back before one or two in the morning?"

That statement alone brought Hermione out of her shocked frozen state. That and seeing who was under Ron with her legs wrapped around him. Lavender Brown. Hermione hated Lavender Brown with a passion and Ron was shagging her while Hermione wasn't home.

Eyes full of fury, Hermione spoke. "That's what you have to say for yourself? That I'm not supposed to be home yet? You bloody prick."

Hermione raised her wand and shot a stinging hex at them both and stormed off before they even yelped at it hitting them. She wasn't even sure where it hit them. She just hoped it was somewhere that hurt. A lot.

She almost slipped on the stairs as she ran back down them while still a bit drunk. Catching herself she ran into the kitchen to get another glass of water, hoping it would help settle her racing heart.

Ron followed her down a few minutes later wearing a pair of faded jeans. "Hermione, I'm sorry. It was stupid to bring her here."

Hermione glared at him as her anger grew. "You're sorry? For what exactly? Getting caught or cheating on me to begin with?"

Ron blushed. There was no point in lying anymore since she knew about it. "I…I didn't want you to find out that way. Lavender and I have been seeing each other for a while now."

Hermione gritted her teeth to keep from striking him. "What?" She asked softly.

Ron looked down at his feet. "Look, the reason why we got together…was the war ending. When I asked you to marry me...I thought that was what I wanted, but it was a mistake for us to get together at all, really."

Hermione felt like she had been slapped. "A mistake? If you felt this way, why didn't you tell me sooner instead of making excuses for why we couldn't set a damn date?"

Ron didn't look up. "You're not the easiest person to talk to sometimes."

Hermione fumed. "You're going to sit there and tell me that the reason you couldn't be man enough to break up with me, was that I'm not the easiest person to talk to? Did you expect this to be just a walk around the park? This wasn't going to be easy no matter how we dealt with it. Finding you shagging some other woman, a woman I can't stand and never could, is an even worse way to deal with this."

Ron shrugged. "I'm sorry that you had to find out this way, but we haven't been happy together in a long time. You are always working and never have time for me. When was the last time we even shagged?"

Hermione laughed, she couldn't help it. "I don't have time for you, so you go find some twit to shag? I don't know when the last time we shagged was because you never seem interested in me anymore."

Ron shrugged again. "The few times you tried…I was…tired."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "From shagging some other bimbo, no doubt." Seeing Ron blush even more confirmed her words.

Feeling tears sting her eyes, Hermione spun around and grabbed the bottle of fire whiskey. She needed another drink.

Taking a large gulp of it, feeling it burn all the way down, she glared at Ron. "You are a bloody bastard, Ronald Weasely. I'm done."

She yanked off her engagement ring and threw it at him. It hit him in the head, bounced off, landed in the sink and slid down the drain. She thought it a fitting place for it. "I wouldn't marry you now if you were the last man on earth and you begged me to do it."

She grabbed the bottle and fled up the stairs again. Finding an empty bedroom and with a flick of her wand, locked the door while placing silencing charms all around it. She collapsed onto the bed, glad that Ginny insisted that all the rooms be cleaned after she had married Harry.

Hermione drank the rest of the night as she cried. Not because she lost Ron, but because she felt like a failure. She had wasted so much of her life waiting for Ron to grow up and become the man she had hoped he would be.

She had turned a blind eye on the obvious. They hadn't been happy for a long time. He was right about that. Hadn't I just been thinking about that myself earlier? Wasn't I almost trying to convince myself that I was happy and in love?

She wasn't in love. She knew she wasn't. If she were in love, maybe this would hurt more. Her pride hurt, but not the actual loss of him.

Finishing off the bottle and feeling the bed spinning on her, she realized that Ron had actually done her a favor. She was free now. She could date other people if she wanted to. In fact, she kind had one, though she wasn't sure if she would really call that a date.

Severus wanted to have lunch with her next week. Again, she wouldn't really call that a date since she wasn't interested in him in that way. Who would interest me? She wondered.

A face with long blonde hair and pale silver eyes popped into her head, making her snort in laughter and derision. There is no way in hell that would ever happen. She had reacted badly to just seeing him. True, it was the first time she had seen him in person since the night in home where she was tortured. Still, it would never happen.

She took a deep breath. She doubted she would ever see him again anyways. If she did, she would be more able to handle it. She wouldn't allow herself to get sucked into far away memories. She'd spent ages working on trying to stop the memories and fear thinking of that night brought on. She could do it.

That being said, she still wasn't interested in him either. She needed to find someone around her intelligence level, someone that shared her interests, her goals in life. Someone who was right for her and that she was attracted to.

How hard could that really be anyway? That was her last thought before she passed out.

A/N: I know, Ron bashing is easy, and kind of lazy writing, but it's fun too. Anyway, I hope you liked my portrayal of her fears and nightmares with Lucius. Let me know what you all thought. More coming soon. Take care.