CHAPTER 20

The blouse fluttered and shifted then fell limp to the bed, unchanged, once again. It had large, mustard colored flowers adorning its navy fabric and short, loose sleeves. Hermione sighed in frustration as she pointed her wand at the fabric and tried again to transfigure it into a suitable dress. Coming from the 90’s, she had very little in her wardrobe that didn’t look out of place in the late 70’s she was currently living in. The shirt shook as it lengthened, the sleeves growing and then stopping at what should have been elbow length. Not exactly the look she was going for; but as long as the dress was long enough, she could live with the sleeves being an odd length.

She held the dress up to her and measured how much it would cover. It seemed like it would fall mid-thigh on her. She held up one of the curtain ties that came from her window and muttered the spell under her breath, watching in relief as the twisted rope changed from a white to a mustard color. The strings making up the rope changed to thin cords of leather and unwound themselves only to plait themselves back together. The large tassels that had hung limply from the ends shrunk down into a mustard clasp for the belt she had just made for herself.

Hermione pulled off the healer’s uniform that she had gone to Hogsmeade in with Severus earlier and pulled on the dress and cinched her waist in with the belt. This was not the most flattering look on her, but it did remind her of the clothes the other girls wore on the weekends around the castle.

Her shoes were the last thing to be changed. From the sensible, white heels she wore to the hospital wing and into taller, light brown mary janes. She strapped her feet into them and stumbled when she took her first tentative steps like a fawn taking its first shaky steps into the world.

Hermione stared at her hair in the mirror, deciding to pull it into a French twist. She left a few wispy strands to hang around her face and charmed it to stay in place. Her makeup from the morning was starting to wear down, so she applied a bit more until she was happy with her appearance.

She checked the time twice while she paced, waiting for the time to be close enough to 6 for her to leave for the hospital wing. Her stomach flipped in anxiety, not sure where that had come from. The scariest, most anxiety producing thing had already happened to her today. She thought back on Severus turning to her and slowly leaning down to kiss her softly after she had applied a warming charm to his jacket.

She touched her lips absently, remember the feeling of his lips brushing against hers. He had smelled just as he did in her dreams, the tang of a woodsy scent she couldn’t quite place but clean and not overpowering. His thumb stroked her cheek and made her skin prick with goosebumps. She had wanted more contact, trying to lean into him more firmly and found herself pressing against the warm frame of his body. He had pulled away, much to her chagrin, and his eyes burned into hers. She would give anything to see that look again.

For now, though, she had agreed to attend Professor Slughorn’s party with Remus Lupin. The quick kiss he had stolen from her almost two months ago barely compared to the one Severus had gifted her with that afternoon. She almost felt bad for going with Remus, but she kept the thought from her mind. She and Severus were not dating, future relationships aside, and he couldn’t keep her from being friends with people. And that’s all she and Remus were. Friends.

She finally left her rooms and headed towards the hospital wing, only to be greeted with a small group waiting outside of its doors. She smiled and gave a small wave as she neared the group of Gryffindors and hurried towards them.

Remus, the tallest of the little group, turned and immediately beamed when he saw her. “Wow, Acacia, you look-“

“Damn, Cresswell, you clean up well!” Sirius’ eyes glinted with a mischievous light. “Sure you want to go with Moony? There’s still time to change your mind.” He laughed and nudged Remus playfully.

“Oh, please, Sirius. Like she would want to go with some dog whose drooling all over her.” Lily rolled her eyes and smirked at Sirius as he made a noise of indignance at her comment. “You look lovely, Acacia.” She smiled at her.

Hermione nodded to Lily, “You look magnificent as well. I wish I could get my hair to look that nice.” Lily had her hair curled softly to frame her pale, pretty face and an olive green dress with a white blouse under it. She turned to Sirius, “You couldn’t find a date for the night?”

Sirius’ eyes flashed in amusement, “Nope, I guess you could say I’m going stag tonight. Eh, Prongs?” The boys laughed and Lily nudged James lightly.

Hermione had to hold back her eyes from rolling out of her head at the puns they thought she was unaware of. It was going to be a long night if they kept this up. “Where’s Peter?” She changed the subject and looked around, half expecting the round boy to scurry out from behind one of them.

“Well, uh, you see…Slughorn’s not a huge fan of Peter’s. He tends to blow his cauldron up more often than not in his class. So Peter never goes to these parties.” James’ hand rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck, a gesture she was so accustomed to seeing Harry do in her time when he was uncomfortable with something.

“Speaking of, ready to go?” Lupin offered her his elbow and she took it, allowing him to lead her to the party. The small group made their way to the dungeons she was so used to seeing as Professor Snape’s that she was taken aback at the light, airy atmosphere. It was well lit with a massive amount of Halloween decorations hanging from the ceiling and walls. The scent of warm cider hit her almost immediately as she entered the room with Remus.

The room was packed with students, some of whom she thought she almost recognized but couldn’t quite put her finger on who they were. She saw the mass part as Slughorn pushed through towards them. “Ah! There they are! My prized pupils!” He yelled over the music and sloshed his drink over the edge of his glass in delight. He finally squeezed through the crowd and grasped James’ hand first, then Lily’s, then Sirius’, and finally Remus’. His eyes landed on Hermione last and his expression changed from jovial excitement to slight confusion. “Miss Cresswell, I didn’t expect to be seeing you here.”

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“She is with me, Professor.” Lupin spoke up and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side.

Hermione wanted to shrug his arm off her shoulders, but quelled the urge. Slughorn’s face went from confusion to a knowing smile and he gave Remus a little wink. “Needed a bit more experience in your life, eh? That’a boy!”

Hermione wanted to be sick at his remark, “Oh, we’re not-“

Slughorn eyed a tall, blonde boy who had just walked in, “McLaggen! Good to you see you!” And he was off to squeeze his way to the student.

Her cheeks flushed with frustration and embarrassment at being cut off and ignored, but she felt Remus’ grip tighten on her shoulder in a reassuring way, “Don’t worry about him, Acacia. He is really only concerned with becoming acquainted with students who he deems worthy. Don’t take it personally.”

“Might be better if he doesn’t care for you, to be honest.” Sirius muttered, watching him dote over McLaggen, spilling his drink on the boy then laughing it away as if it didn’t matter.

Hermione’s lips twitched in amusement at that little comment. Remus, James, and Sirius left the two girls alone to get them drinks and an awkward silence encompassed them. The girls made small talk and Hermione found herself missing Remus immensely in that moment. Conversation with him was so easy; but, then again, she also knew him much better than Lily.

Soon enough the boys returned with drinks and she didn’t feel so much pressure to make conversation. She helped herself to the hors d’oeuvres that floated around the room and laughed along with the little group. She drank a fizzy drink which made her giggle uncontrollably, causing her friends to laugh at her ridiculous outburst. Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment, but Sirius caught onto it quickly and took the drink from her hand and took a sip. As soon as he lowered the glass from his mouth, a bark of laughter erupted from his mouth causing James to splutter his drink in a fit of laughter. Soon, they all were taking turns drinking the giggle juice and poking fun at each other. Hermione gave Sirius a grateful look, which he returned with a wink.

Hermione felt light with happiness, a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time. She relished in it, laughing along with the others and letting go of the anxiety and worry she felt all the time from the pressure she was under.

As the party roared on, Remus pulled her onto the dancefloor following behind James and Lily. Hermione laughed as he twirled her clumsily and started twisting to the music. She tried to hide her face as he gyrated in front of her, but he pulled her hands down and pulled on her arms and twisted his hips back and forth. She gave into his twisting and followed suit, keeping a close eye on what Lily was doing next to her so she knew what moves she should be doing. Lily effortlessly moved to the music, swaying her hips back and forth as James smiled and shimmied with her to the music.

Hermione laughed as she watched Lupin’s long limbs flailing to the music. She shook her head as he circled around her and she soon felt him pressing against her back. His hands encircled her hips and he was soon guiding her dancing with his rocking pelvis. Hermione laughed at his terrible gyrating and let him lead her for a moment before turning in his grip and pushing away from him. He caught her hand and spun her into his chest then back out at arm’s length.

Hermione’s heart leapt as he spun her and she caught a set of dark eyes watching her. She turned away from Remus, who was so caught up in his own movements he hadn’t noticed her stopping. Hermione searched the crowd trying to find the eyes again, but couldn’t see over all the people. Just as she was about to turn back to Remus; she saw the tall, dark form of Severus Snape in the shadows of the corner of the room.

Her eyes locked onto his dark ones, her stomach feeling like it was plummeting out of her body. His eyes burned into hers and his nostrils flared before he spun on his heel and swept from the room. She pushed through the crowd, intent on catching up to him before his longer legs took him too far for her to meet up with him. She could hear Remus calling her name from somewhere far away as she pushed through the crowd. Huffy girls snarled at her as she struggled through their little groups dancing on the edge of the dance floor.

She finally emerged from the throng of students and ran from the stuffy dungeon room and down the hall where she saw Severus’ robes disappearing around the corner. She rounded the same corner and ran down the dark hallway. She reached a fork and looked wildly around for a glimpse of him. There was no movement, no signal of where he could have possibly gone. She scrubbed her hands over her face in frustration and let out an angry sigh.

Knowing she would never find him at this point, she turned around and took a step only to collide with a hard, black covered chest. She looked up, startled to see dark eyes glinting dangerously down at her. “Severus!” She said breathlessly.

His gaze lingered a moment before he pushed past her and continued to walk down the dark corridor.

“Please, Severus, wait!” He stopped in his tracks, but didn’t turn towards her. Hermione took a tentative step towards him, “I know what this looks like, but its not what you think. Remus and I were just-“

He whipped around and took a step towards her, his body towering over hers. She was met with his angry glare again and had to force herself not to shy away from him. “Just practically shagging for the whole school to see? Yes. I saw it.” He punctuated the last word with extra venom in his voice, the t hissing between his teeth.

Hermione shrank back from him like she had been struck by his words, “We were only dancing, Severus.”

His eyebrow raised, “Is that what you call that?”

“He asked me to the party earlier in the week, we only went as friends. I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

He smirked in mock amusement, “You certainly looked friendly enough.”

“Please, Severus! I wouldn’t have gone with him had you kissed me before I agreed to it. I just went to be nice. It didn’t mean anything!” Her eyes pleaded with him, but his remained cold and stony. She took a steadying breath before continuing, “I…I really like you. I think we could be really good together, if you want that. But I need you to know that I’m not going to stop being friends with people just because you disapprove.” His mouth opened like he was going to say something but she continued, “Remus and I are friends, and if you can’t come to accept that then this is never going to work.”

Severus seemed to deflate as she spoke. His eyes narrowed, “And what is this?”

Hermione looked down at her feet not sure of what to say, “I’m not really sure. But if you want it to continue, I need to be able to do things without being scared they will upset you.”

He seemed to be thinking about what she said. She waited, not daring to even breathe as he thought over everything. “I want to know if you make plans with him again.” Hermione was about to protest, but he cut her off, “You may have went as his friend, but he had other ideas. I guarantee it. He has kissed you before, so he is more than interested in you, Acacia. I need to know that you will give me the respect of telling me about your plans before meeting him.”

Hermione’s mouth clamped shut and she nodded her agreement.

His hand cupped her face and his thumb brushed her cheek, “I really like you, too.”

She smiled up at him and covered his hand with hers.

“You should get back to them before they come looking for you.”

Hermione nodded and pulled away from him, “Thank you for understanding, Severus.” She started to take a step away from him, but then turned back to him and quickly kissed him on the cheek. She smiled at him and quickly hurried down the hall, leaving him alone in the corridor. His hand absently touching the spot she had kissed on his cheek.