Autumn was coming, but the weather had just enough warmth to still be enjoyable. Harry, Ron, Draco and Hermione made their way out of Ashmere House and into a large, well landscaped back yard. There were dozens of artfully laid out flower beds, a fantastical array of topiary, and a variety of trees. Almost all the flowers were experiencing their last bloom of the season. There were places where some flowers drooped or had died, but even that, in its own way was a kind of beauty. The leaves of most of the trees were red, gold, yellow; natural flaming torches leading all the way down to a forest at the end of the property that was a conflagration of Autumn color. At the center of the landscaping was a hedge maze and this is where their curiosity took them. They paused only briefly, and then Harry led the way through the entrance.

The maze was an enchanted maze that closed up behind them. New paths were opened, old ones hidden or closed, and new twists and turns presented a puzzling challenge for them. The goal of such an enchanted maze was to reach the center. Once that was achieved, the path to the exit would be open. It was thankfully free of the hazards of the maze on the grounds of Hogwarts.

"Hermione!" The girl was lifted off her feet and pulled around a corner by Draco. "Hello!"

Hermione fought for release, but Draco could tell she wasn't putting much of an effort into her struggles. She was smiling, too. He leaned closer to her, close enough to hear her heart beating excitedly in her chest. His lips were very close to hers and her eyes shut in anticipation. Draco let go suddenly, chuckled, pecked her on the cheek, and when she opened her eyes, he was jogging ahead. He glanced over his shoulder and was pleased when she began to run after him.

This cat and mouse game went on for a few more twists and turns until Hermione finally tackled Draco. Her hands were pressed against his chest as she sat upon him. Her wild, curly brown hair fell on either side of her face; the ends of some of the curls tickling his cheek. Hermione began to move closer to him, a wicked gleam in her eye and she quickly gave him a teasing, peck on the cheek. In the blink of an eye Draco had her pinned beneath him. This time he didn't hesitate and kissed Hermione soundly.

Draco was roughly body slammed from out of nowhere. "Get off me!" he shouted angrily and landed a wild punch on someone's nose.

Draco was punched right back just when he discovered he'd been hit by Potter. Their fists were flying as they punched and wrestled angrily.

"Don't just stand there, Ron! Get Professor Snape!"

Ron was staring at Hermione as she got to her feet. "Are you hurt, Hermione?" asked Ron.

Hermione's brown eyes blazed as she growled, "Get Snape!"

Ron sidestepped the fighting duo, but had no idea which way to go. Hermione pulled out her wand, pointed at the hedge, and snapped, "Revelio!"

The wall of green parted to reveal a direct path out of the maze. Ron began to run out of the maze and toward the house. Hermione turned her attention to the two boys. Waving her hand wand again, she muttered a binding spell and the two of them were immediately bound tightly in rope.

"'Mione!" complained Harry angrily. "I was trying to rescue you!"

"Did she look like she wanted rescuing, Potter?" snarled Draco.

"You were sitting on her, Malfoy. Seems to me she needed some help!"

"She was having a perfectly good time until you..." Draco was interrupted by Hermione casting one more spell, Silencio.

Ron had made it in record time to the back door of Ashmere, but he had no idea where in the house Professor Snape could be. "Oy! Professor!" Ron shouted a few more times, but there was no answer.

"What is the problem, young Ronald?"

Ron let out a yelp as the deep voice of King Henry rumbled behind him. "I need Professor Snape." He added as an afterthought, "Your majesty. Uhm, do you know where he is?"

"Where are your friends, boy? I'll send your professor to them."

"The maze. I'm going to go back. Tell 'im to hurry, would ya?" Ron saw the ghost king vanish and he ran back outside.

Henry knew precisely where the man in black was and made his way down to the lab. He smiled to see Lyrica in a rather passionate embrace with the dark fellow. "Professor Snape!"

Henry's voice was loud enough to send a rack of empty glass vials to rattling. Henry enjoyed the reaction his shout had caused as Snape broke the embrace as though he were a teenager caught snogging in the corrdors of Hogwarts between classes. To the man's credit, he managed a very severe glare at the large ghost.

"The maze, professor. Trouble with the youngsters." Snape frowned at the ghostly king. Another maze? He hoped it wasn't as dangerous as the one at Hogwarts.

"Thank you, your highness," Lyrica gave the king a half curtsy.

"Can we apparate to this maze, Lyrica?" asked Severus.

She nodded and slipped her arm around his waist. "A little closer, please, Severus. I told you, my side-apparation isn't the best and I'd like to get us there in one piece." Snape pulled the headmistress tighter and they soon apparated to the maze.

"Oy! Professor!" Ron was running toward them.

"What the devil has happened here, Mr. Weasley?" shouted Snape.

For once Ron didn't flinch or falter at Snape's tone. "They're fighting again."

Lyrica pointed her wand, "Revelio!" The hedge parted until Hermione was revealed standing indignantly in front of the bound and silenced Harry and Draco. Snape gave Hermione a glance of approval, strode past her, and then grasped both Draco and Harry by their collars and hauled them to their feet.

"Did I not warn you two that if I had to resolve your disputes I would put a very serious to end to them?" Snape bellowed.

Both boys began to talk at once, trying to defend themselves. Unfortunately, with the silencing spell, no one heard a thing.

Snape glanced over his shoulder at the Gryffindor girl. "Silencing spell?" She nodded. "If you wouldn't mind, Miss Granger?"

Hermione removed the spell and the air was filled with their angry voices. "He punched me in the eye! He punched me first! He shouldn't've been doing...!"

"Silencio!" snapped Snape. "Professor Arcahnum, would you do me the favor of escorting these two hooligans back to the house? I'd like to speak to Miss Granger and Mr. Weasely briefly."

"Come along, gentlemen," urged Lyrica as she stepped behind them and nudged them onward and out of the maze.

Snape then faced Hermione and Ron. "Would either of you care to enlighten me as to who started what and why?"

"Draco was attacking Hermione!" blurted Ron.

That caught Snape off guard. He spoke guardedly, wondering if Draco truly believed the propaganda his father fed him about 'mudbloods' and had finally taken his moment to strike out. "Miss Granger, did Draco hurt you?"

Hermione was caught in the middle of a rock and a hard place. She really didn't want to admit the truth of the matter, but if she lied, the consequences would be so much worse. Casting her gaze to her feet, she spoke very softly, "No sir... he... he was kissing me."

Snape had to bend down to hear her soft whisper. "He kissed you?" He kept his irritation and a sarcastic remark to himself. "Did Mr. Malfoy force himself upon you, Miss Granger?"

Hermione wished she could just disappear. She raised her eyes to look into Snape's face. "No, Sir, he didn't. I... I kissed him first." Her cheeks turned a bright red.

Snape straightened up. He was going to need to brew more than a week's worth of headache potion with these teenagers in his vicinity. If he could deduct points from Gryffindor, he would, purely for the inconvenience. He smiled grimly as he recalled that there was something he could do that was almost as satisfying as deducting points. "Miss Hermione, Mr. Weasely, I distinctly recall telling you and your two battling cohorts to stay inside Ashmere and to NOT get into trouble. As you deemed my orders as unworthy of your attention, I would like to see an essay on the dangers of disobeying an elder by tomorrow morning." Their expressions were priceless. "One foot each," he intoned darkly and then pointed toward the exit.

Sullenly they both fell into step and left the maze, with Snape following behind as his robes billowed in the breeze. Ron whispered to Hermione, "What'd you kiss Malfoy for?"

Hermione didn't get to answer Ron's question as Snape whacked the back of his head.