Chapter 34: In Celebration of Cupid

The Corridors, Hogwarts...

Hogwarts had been buzzing with the impending holiday approaching. Hermione Granger looked down at her ring and smiled warmly. She had wished Sebastian could be here with her for the holiday, but his gift meant a great deal. Dumbledore commissioned a dance for the holiday, Cupid's Ball and even decorated the castle to commend it. Everywhere pink, white, and red hearts floated above the castle. Holiday décor had lined the castle walls and banners of all sorts both depicting and encouraging love were strung up. The only places not touched by the spirit of the holiday had been any room associated with Professor Severus Snape.

The young Gryffindor witch had thought it sad that Professor Snape had no reason to get into the holiday spirit. Both she and Harry had known how much he loved Lily Potter and with her death it made the man seem all the more tragic. The Professor was not really a bad guy. Just a git on occasion and with the life he had no one can truly blame him. Hermione took it upon herself to at least make the man not feel left out on the holiday.

It was a strange time to be at Hogwarts, Harry had been excited about asking Ginny Weasley out to the dance. Ron had gotten Susan Bones to agree to accompany him. Of course Draco was taking Pansy. Out of all of her friends, it seemed that only Hermione would be left without a date but she didn't seem to mind. She knew Sebastian would be there if he could.

Ginny Weasley had caught up to Hermione as they made their way to class.

"Hey Mione where are you off to?" she asked.

"Well, I believe we have Potions next." replied Hermione.

"I almost forgot." replied Ginny. "Professor Snape hates Valentine's day."

"I know." replied Hermione.

The girls were joined by Harry and Ron.

"Hey Ginny." said the green eyed wizard with a bright smile. "Hey Mione."

"Hey Harry." replied Ginny with a smile.

"Hey is for horses Harry Potter." replied Hermione smirking.

Harry shook his head.

"Well, good evening to you then...ladies." he replied.

"Much better." said Hermione.

Ron shook his head.

"Have you heard anything from your bloke yet Mione?" he asked.

Both Harry and Ginny glared daggers at him. They knew this was going to be a rough holiday for Hermione, she never really did care too much for it and then it was only made worse with Sebastian being gone.

"N-No Ron I haven't heard much from Sebastian lately." she replied trying hard to keep the sadness from her voice. "I know that he loves me and that's all that matters."

Harry looked at the ground. If only she knew.

The group had continued down the corridor only to be joined by none other than Draco Malfoy and Pansy had been on his tail. The two Slytherins caught up to the Gryffindors and exchanged pleasant smiles.

"Off to Potions?" asked Draco.

"Yep." replied Harry.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him.

"I mean yes." he amended.

Hermione stopped glaring.

"Professor Snape hates Valentine's Day." said Draco.

"That he does." added Pansy. "You should have seen what he did to the little hearts Professor Dumbledore sent to the dungeons."

"What did he do?" asked Ron curious.

"He burned them." replied Draco. "Everyone of the red, white, and pink bubbles turned to black ash and fell into little piles."

"Wow." said Ginny. "He really hates Valentine's day."

Draco nodded.

"Can you really blame him?" asked Hermione. "It's a holiday dedicated to love among other things."

Harry sighed knowing where she was going with this. He not even considered what this holiday was doing to Professor Snape this year, especially since he had fallen in love with Hermione when he was Sebastian.

"Poor Snape." he said sadly.

"Yeah." replied Ron. "I never thought I would say this, but I agree with Harry...the bloody git's got it bad."

The group finished their walk and finally reached Potions class.

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Potions Classroom, Hogwarts...

It was clear when the group entered the classroom that Professor Snape had been in a very black mood. He had everyone sit in specific seats ensuring that neither Harry, Ginny, and especially not Hermione sat anywhere close to him. At first this confused the green eyed wizard but he eventually figured it out. He had his mother's eyes and seeing him up front could not have been very comfortable on a good day but on Valentine's day it was worse. Ginny had red hair and resembled Lily Potter in some respects, There was no way Snape was going to have her anywhere near him and keep his sanity. Then there was Hermione. He had been in love with the young witch and knew things about her that no one would ever imagine. He didn't need the extra temptation given that she would be wishing for Sebastian to return.

Everyone was silent.

Snape sat at his desk looking as if he had not had a decent night's sleep in days. His lank raven hair covered his face and his obsidian eyes held a sort of sadness only matched by the sorrow in his usual baritone drawl. He wore his usual teaching robes and there was an air of coldness that seemed to ooze off him that put everyone of the students on notice. Snape was not going to tolerate any form of disrespect in his class. Not today be the student Slytherin or Gryffindor you would be buried so deep in detentions that the dance would be out of the question.

"Turn to page 147." said Snape in an icy tone.

The class did as he instructed.

"Today we will go over the basic properties of a Nirnroot." said Snape. "If you familiarize yourself with the text you will find that there are two different kinds of Nirnroot plants."

The class read along in silence.

Snape paced between the desks oozing coldness from every pore as he continued his stroll.

"Can anyone tell me what the other Nirnroot plant is called?" asked Snape.

No one dared raise their hand.

"Anyone?" asked Snape.

Still no one raised their hand.

"How disappointing." replied Snape in the same low icy manner.

His obsidian eyes scanned the classroom. They fell upon Hermione as she tried her best to keep from drawing attention to herself.

"Miss Granger." said Snape. "I have reason to believe that you know the answer to my question."

Hermione looked at Harry and took a breath.

"Y-Yes sir." she replied.

"Would you be so kind as to enlighten the rest of the class as to what that might be?" asked Snape not at all meaning it to be a question.

"Y-Yes sir." replied Hermione. "The other root that you spoke of is called Crimson Nirnroot, it's larger than the original and is crimson in coloration...it is believed that the root had been grown during the time of dragons and got it's color and potency when it became infused with dragon's blood...as a result it is extremely rare and found only in the deepest and darkest of caverns."

Snape's expression remained impassive.

"Thank you Miss Granger." he replied. "No doubt you live up to your reputation as the Walking Encyclopedia of Hogwarts."

Hermione sighed.

She knew one way or another Snape would try to poke fun at her.

Snape left her table and turned his attention to Draco.

"Mr. Malfoy." he said in the same icy tone.

Draco seemed to be unnerved by his Uncle's attention.

"Y-Yes sir." replied Draco.

"Do you mind telling me why you saw fit to pass notes in my class?" asked Snape.

"I-It isn't a note Sir." replied Draco in a shaky tone.

Snape raised an eyebrow at this.

"If it isn't a note then what is it?" he asked.

"I-I don't think you'd want to see it sir." said Draco.

"Place it on your table Mr. Malfoy." said Snape in a dangerous tone. "I will not ask again."

Draco pulled the vibrant pink heart shaped card from his table. It looked to be homemade and whomever created it was very thoughtful when putting it together. The young albino wizard knew that his uncle despite thing of this sort and that only meant one thing for the card in question. No doubt the one who made it would be shattered.

Snape waved a hand over the card and it floated in mid air. He made his way toward the front of the room and made sure the entire class got his attention.

"In the future you will do well to remember that things of this nature are not welcome in my classroom." said Snape barely concealing his anger. "Such frivolous displays are not welcome in this room...if you wish to indulge in the nauseating little holiday keep it outside of my classroom!"

Draco sighed knowing all too well what was coming next.

"Ignis." said Snape in a low tone.

Suddenly the card burst into flames before everyone's eyes. Collective gasps filled the room and quickly silenced.

"Get back to work." said Snape as he turned and headed back to his desk in a billow of robes.

No one dared make a sound that wasn't work related after that.

Hermione looked over to see Lavender Brown trying her best to hold back tears as she focused on her text book. It was all too clear she had sent Draco the card. Her gesture was well meaning and quite impressive considering the boy was a Slytherin, but she failed remember the one thing about Snape and this time of year.

The Potions Master hated Valentine's Day.

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Head Girl Room, Gryffindor Tower, Hogwarts...

Finding the proper outfit had been a lot harder than Hermione Granger realized as she tore through her closet casting clothes every which way in an effort to gain a dress for the up coming dance. It was to be the following day and she still had not found anything remotely close to what she wanted to wear. Ginny came in and observed her friend in silence. Hermione's frustration had been clearly boiling over.

"Mione, are you okay?" asked Ginny.

"I-I'm fine Ginny." replied Hermione getting a hold of her temper. "I just can't seem to find anything to wear for tomorrow."

Ginny shook her head.

"Do you have a particular look in mind?" she asked.

Hermione looked at her friend and thought for a moment.

"No." she replied.

Ginny smiled.

"Well, then there is your problem." she said.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at this in a style similar to what Sebastian would have done.

Ginny burst out laughing.

"You're starting to act like him you know." she said after composing herself.

"Act like whom?" asked Hermione.

"Like Sebastian." replied Ginny.

Hermione gave her a shy smile, then let out a sad sigh.

"You really miss him." said Ginny.

Hermione nodded.

"I really do." she replied.

"Do you remember what you liked best about him?" asked Ginny curious as to why her friend had been so interested in the usually less than savory Slytherin boy.

"I like everything about him." replied Hermione with full confidence.

"Don't you remember anything specific that you like?" asked Ginny fishing for more.

Hermione thought for a moment.

She had rather enjoyed looking into his obsidian eyes. They seemed as dark and as endless as the night sky. And lit up only whenever he was around her.

"I-I don't know his eyes." replied Hermione innocently.

Ginny smiled conceding the point at least temporarily.

"Well, the Slytherin did have nice eyes." she agreed.

"Oh and his voice." replied Hermione recalling everything she fancied about Sebastian Prince. "It was always so deep and soothing...like Professor Snape's without all the venom."

Ginny laughed.

"Yes, Sebastian was defiantly a lot nicer than Professor Snape." she said doing a bit of reflecting of her own. "But, I don't think there is a real difference in their voices."

Hermione considered this for a moment.

"You know I guess you're right about that." she conceded. "I also miss talking to him."

Ginny sat on her bed as Hermione's eyes took on a dreamy state while she thought of Sebastian Prince.

"We could talk about anything for hours and it still wouldn't get old." continued Hermione. "He read a lot...more than me I think...probably because he "read for pleasure" as he put it and I read for information."

Ginny shook her head. Her friend was truly smitten with this boy.

"There are other things that I like about him that he would only show me when we were alone." replied Hermione. "He seemed so vulnerable and sweet most of the time...and unsure and terrified on other occasions."

"Oh come on Hermione." said Ginny throwing a pillow at her friend. "That's not the only thing Sebastian showed you when you two would sneak off alone."

Hermione blushed thinking about all those times and picked-up the pillow throwing it back at Ginny.

"You are so not getting any details." she replied.

Ginny sat up folded her arms across her chest and gave Hermione a pouty expression.

"So...I might know one detail about your secret trips with Sebastian." she said with a confident smirk.

"Oh?" said Hermione raising an eyebrow once more.

"Pansy already told me that Sebastian had a huge trouser snake." said Ginny giggling like mad. "No wonder you fell in love with a Slytherin."

Hermione blushed and grabbed a pillow from her own bed.

She swung it at Ginny who dodged it giggling as she grabbed a pillow of her own.

The two girls had a small pillow fight and giggled over Sebastian Prince.

In the middle of the fight Hermione was suddenly hit with an idea...and a pillow.

She knew exactly what she wanted to wear at the up coming dance.