Not So Secret Anymore

All canon characters belong to JKR.

Thanks to June for all of her help and suggestions.

Not So Secret Anymore

Severus and Hermione sat in the Hogwarts rose garden for several minutes. They kissed a bit and talked a bit, and finally decided they should make an appearance as an official couple. They stood, and he offered her his arm, which she gladly took, and they walked out of the garden arm-in-arm. Being out in the chilly air, Hermione began to sneeze. She took out a light green handkerchief to wipe her nose, and Severus noticed it looked very familiar.

“Where did you get that?” he asked suspiciously. Realizing she had taken out his own handkerchief, she decided to tell him just how she came about getting it.

“Well,” she said as she bowed her head and looked at the piece of raw silk material, then looked into his dark eyes. “I asked Ron to get it for me from your rooms.”

Severus’ eyes grew wide at the thought of having the redhead in his personal space without his knowledge.

“Weasley was in my rooms?” he asked in disbelief. “And how did he manage that?” He stood in front of Hermione with his arms crossed imposingly.

Hermione sighed, hoping that things weren’t over with them before they had even begun.

“Draco gave me the combination of your wards.”

Instead of being angry and blowing up at her, Severus decided to take it as a compliment that she would want something of his that bad enough.

“I should be angry,” he said in his low waspish tone, “but the fact that you wanted something of mine with you — oddly enough, it makes me feel quite nice. My handkerchiefs were on my bed the day I caught him outside my rooms. At least I can feel relieved that Weasley didn’t go through my drawers.”

Hermione had to bite her tongue, as they continued to walk towards the Great Hall for the annual Victory over Voldemort ball. She didn’t dare tell Severus that after Ron came back from his assignment, it had taken her all afternoon to convince her friend that he was neither thought of as being a tosser, as he so eloquently put it, nor did his rummaging through Severus’ underwear drawer mean he had any deep seated infatuation with the Potions master.

Before they stepped through the doors of the Great Hall, Severus stopped them once again. He reached into the pocket on his frock coat, and took out the onyx ring he had taken from Neville and held it in front of her face. She smiled up at him, excited that her great-grandmother’s ring was not lost to her.

“My ring!” she cried, as she snatched it from his fingers. “How did you get this?” she asked, warily.

“I saw Mr. Longbottom with it. He said he found it on the ground. Since your Whispering Wings note said that you often looked at an onyx ring you had and often thought of my eyes, I thought I might perform a locator spell on this and find just who my secret love really was.” He looked into her own lovely brown eyes and smiled. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know who had been writing me all of those notes. I am glad it was you that took the first step and revealed yourself to me.”

“Are you saying you were afraid?” asked Hermione teasingly.

“Not afraid, just wary,” he chuckled. “I have to admit, there were times when I thought almost anyone could have been writing those notes.”

Hermione laughed. “Oh, no!” She pictured Severus looking at everyone with suspicion, thinking that a look from just about anybody was a declaration of love and lust. They walked though the Great Hall doors, both laughing and smiling.

As they walked towards the far end of the hall and towards the food and drinks tables, all eyes were on them. Hermione smiled as Severus scowled at the attention. Ron, who was standing next to Luna, immediately put his arm around her as his friend and former Potions professor walked by. He made sure to kiss Luna soundly as Severus passed in front of them. Severus rolled his eyes and suggested they get a room, then made sure to point out to Ron that he had reset the wards to his own rooms. Ron promptly fainted.

Neville, who had been dancing with Rosmerta, tried to blend in with the rest of the guests. However, Rosmerta and Severus had been friends for years, so she made it a point to say hello to both Severus and Hermione.

“Severus, wonderful to see you.” Rosmerta smiled as Severus took her hand and bowed. “Miss Granger, I haven’t seen you in some time. It’s lovely to see you as well.”

Hermione smiled.

“Rosmerta, you are looking lovely as always,” said Severus, and then he looked towards Neville. He’d always thought the young man was totally inept at many things. But he had to admit, any man who could capture the attention of a pretty woman like Rosmerta deserved a bit of respect. “Neville.”

“Hello, sir.” Neville smiled, and seemed to stand up a little straighter.

Rosmerta squeezed her date’s hand, and they walked away towards the dance floor once again.

“I’m so happy Neville finally got the courage to ask her out,” said Hermione.

“You know, for Gryffindors, you two seemed a bit lacking in courage, wouldn’t you say?” Severus decided he’d do a bit of teasing. After all, she deserved it because of the many close calls he’d had during the last few weeks.

She pursed her lips and lightly swatted him on the arm.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the Headmaster approaching them. He groaned inwardly, not knowing if the old man was sober or halfway to happy town by now.

“Severussss, there you both are.” Albus swayed towards the couple. “Ah, and Hermione is here as well.”

Severus sighed and drank down his cup of spiked pumpkin juice in one gulp. Happy town it is.

“Good evening, Headmaster,” said Hermione.

“You know, I’m glad I found you and my boys, Severussss, here. There is something I would like to discuss with you all.” Albus reached into his robes and took out several pamphlets.

“ALBUS!” shrieked Minerva from behind. The older witch walked quickly toward the old man and immediately grabbed the items from his hands. “Will you stop trying to get people to take those damnable holidays.” She threw the pamphlets in the air, and with a flick of her wand they burst into flames. She then looked to Severus and Hermione, who had been standing with shocked expressions. “When I find out who talked him into this idiotic pyramid scheme, I’ll turn the fool into a roll of toilet paper and put them in Hagrid’s hut.” With that, Minerva grabbed Albus and shoved him towards the back of the Great Hall.

Severus and Hermione looked at each other and burst out laughing. They wondered how many poor souls Albus had cornered that evening before Minerva finally found him.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll have the last one up tomorrow.