(If someone got a warning that I posted, sorry, I was just tinkering about!)
This story has two chapters; the second one is written but not typed, it won't take long, just in case anyone wants to read it.
Only the plot belongs to me, and even that is a bit silly; there are lots of loose ends, characters are a bit ooC, but hopefully it is still enjoyable… it just came out like that, one hour typing like mad! Also, my English isn't all that great. If you do not tolerate mistakes don't go through the pain of reading, it is not worth it. I'm sorry I couldn't get a beta.
And, oh, yes. Please… review!
"It's an ambush!" Hermione Granger shouted.
But it was too late. They were wandless.
Two managed to escape. The remaining seven were forcefully apparated into a big, cold room.
No one said a word. Bill, Ginny and Ron Weasley, Remus Lupin, Nimphadora Tonks, Knightley Shackebolt and Hermione Granger exchanged worried glances for a few seconds, making sure everyone was alright, but they didn't talk; silence was so heavy it was painful. They knew what they were thinking; what they had been thinking all along. They were well aware what the consequences would be if their plan failed. And failed it had.
Still, Harry Potter was nowhere to be seen, what had to mean he had managed to escape.
Shackebolt and Tonks inspected the room. It had a high ceiling and cold stone walls, no windows, and the iron door was magically sealed. Antiapparition charms had just been set.
Ginny's eyes filled up with tears, but she held them back and nobody noticed. Lupin was conspicuously worried about the three youngest ones and about Tonks, who didn't need any of his concern, but who still welcomed her husband-to-be's affectionate embrace. Ron was whispering angrily to Bill, who was apparently not listening, his suspicious glance fixed upon Hermione Granger, who seemed as calm as if she were just sitting in the library at No. 12 Grimmauld Place. Not to him, though. He had learnt how to read her face, and he was sure she was no longer with them, but deep in thought.
She was, indeed. First, she was trying to figure out who it was that had just kidnapped them. It seemed only natural to assume it was Death Eaters. However, and although Death Eaters were notoriously efficient, they did not engage in finesse. And those men had been extremely clever, and clean. It was not like the Death Eaters to pass on an opportunity to leave behind a pool of blood, especially blood belonging to members of the Order.
She had nearly figured it out when the door opened, and four men dressed in black went into the room.
Shackebolt gave way to his Auror instincts, and charged against one of them. That earned him a curse, and left him lying there like a broken doll against the wall. Lupin and Bill, being the most practical ones, quickly bent down to check his vital signs. He seemed to be doing ok, so they just helped him into a more comfortable position and looked at the strangers. Five people were very scared. One was unconscious. Hermione Granger was past fear. If she was right, she might just prefer the Death Eaters.
And she was, she knew when a new figure walked into the room.
He looked different, somehow. His hair was a bit shorter. His face was a bit darker. His eyes were glowing with a new, different kind of light. His mouth looked softer, no longer tight with disapproval.
He scanned them, and she could feel by a slight shift in his position that something was amiss.
Good.
She knew he didn't tolerate mistakes.
He stopped dead right before her; he hadn't expected her there, that much was obvious. But again, he had left the Order before she was a full member. How would he know they took school kids in their ranks now?
"Snape" spat Ron.
He didn't acknowledge him. He did, however, smile cryptically at her, making her hackles raise, and left the room in one swift motion.
"Snape" said Tonks, half-surprised, half-awed, when they were alone again.
Hermione looked at Bill. He and Remus were the experts. She could read preoccupation in his eyes.
"Well, I thought he looked remarkably better" she said, lightly. "Teaching definitely didn't suit him"
Bill, Ginny and Tonks snorted.
Hours passed slowly and unmarked in the artificial light of the room. It was very cold. Slowly, they had moved closer to each other, and were now sitting on a line with their backs against the wall trying to keep each other warm.
"It would be good if we tried to sleep a bit" Remus said. He and Bill exchanged a glance, and Bill nodded. He passed his right arm around Ginny and his left around Hermione. Both girls curled up next to him.
"But I am hungry!" Ron complained. Hermione rolled her eyes at him, and he laid his head in her lap angrily.
No one thought they would be able to sleep. However, Ginny's breathing soon became softer, more regular; Tonks and Remus laid a bit apart, their eyes closed, Nimphadora's head moving rhythmically with the motions of Remus's chest; Shackebolt was still unconscious, and soon, Ron started snoring on Hermione's lap.
Bill let out a soft laugh, and Hermione looked up and smiled at him. He just pressed his arm around her, urging her to sleep.
But she wouldn't. She could not.
She felt responsible, in a way. She had known something was not right about this mission. She had known it was too big a risk to send so many members of the Order at once. But she hadn't said a word, because it was her first important mission and she didn't want them to reconsider her admittance.
And there they were.
She could feel Bill's slow breathing; she knew he would not sleep. He too felt responsible for them, having been one of the members who had most actively defended their early joining. That and his new supernatural instincts would keep him awake. Still, she could not sleep.
She tried not to think about what Snape wanted from them or what he would do to them to get it. The belief that his being a teacher would keep him from doing anything truly horrendous was one she no longer held. He had, after all, killed Albus. She didn't know how it had happened. She was fairly sure there had been no other way out. It might even have been orchestrated by the old headmaster himself. But still, he had cast the final curse.
Hermione had seen Harry's pensieve account; she had witnessed how the other Death Eaters paid him their respects; she had watched some of them flinch in his presence.
That was why she wasn't sure regular Death Eaters weren't a better option. It would be brutal, and painful. But it would be quick. No power games. No mental tricks.
Just murder.
- - - - - -
Bill didn't know how long it had been. A few hours, perhaps, and he could already feel Ginny stirring awake at his side. Hermione's hair had been tickling his neck for a while then, but he hadn't minded. Ron's snoring had ceased, Remus and Nimphadora were talking softly. Even Shackebolt opened his eyes, a bit confused.
Reluctantly, Bill pushed the two girls aside and got up to check on the Auror. Except for a small concussion, he seemed fine. Bill sat down again.
He was a patient man; as a curse-breaker, he needed to be.
But he hated waiting. He couldn't stand it. He was a man of action.
Still, he waited. And it wasn't long.
Four men came into the room. Fully dressed in black, it was hard to tell whether they were the same who had visited the previous night or not. They headed for Lupin. Bill saw Tonks stiffen, ready to do something stupid.
Heck, he himself was about, too. Lupin was still sick from the last full moon, his transformations being complete and therefore much more painful than his own. He stood up to say something. Then, he heard her.
"Tell Snape I have it. What he wants" clever she might be, but that didn't seem to save her from doing something utterly daft. And she was curious as to what Snape wanted that badly.
Everybody in the room turned to look at her.
The four men pointed their four wands at her; flanking her sides, they dragged her out of the room into a different, smaller one.
They questioned her in turns; they asked questions she was expecting and couldn't answer (such as where the headquarters of the Order were. Snape couldn't say the words or take them there, and nor could she. It wasn't news to anyone, so they soon left that alone), and questions she wasn't expecting but couldn't answer either. They seemed particularly interested in a potion. Not a potion, but an ingredient, noted Hermione, but they didn't seem very surprised that she didn't know the answers.
The door opened, and a third man entered the room. When she saw his face, she knew she was in trouble.
"Viktor" she muttered.
He was red with anger.
"That's right. That's right, Hermy-own-ninny "
She hadn't told anyone why she had left Viktor Krum. The boys hadn't asked and Ginny knew when she didn't want to talk.
She still remembered the cold Bulgarian night when she had tried to stop his advances and he had hit her. She remembered her revenge, getting him to undress in the garden during his family party, then getting everyone outside, all his acquaintances watching him stand there, stark naked, humiliated. She hadn't seen him again, but now she was scared, and right to be.
He slapped her hard.
"Bitch" he muttered
She didn't say a word.
"You bitch" he said again, and slapped even harder. She lost her balance and fell.
He kicked her side.
"I really liked you, you know" he said, furiously "until you exposed me in front of everybody I knew"
"You don't try to rape and hit the people you like"
"You are too sensitive. We will see if by the end of our interview you aren't begging me to continue what you stopped"
She spat on the floor, and he kicked her hard again. She doubled with pain.
"Come on, Hermy-own-ninny " he said "for old time's sake, tell me, which is the ingredient the Order used?"
He prepared to punch her, but something held his hand.
The two guards at his backs had been replaced by a furious looking Snape.
"What did I say, Krum?"
Krum seemed to become visibly smaller. He mumbled something. Snape raised his tone.
"Do you recall me telling you not to get near the prisoners?"
He nodded.
Snape nodded, too.
"Good. Now get out of my sight. You will report to me later this evening."
Krum fled. Snape bent down and helped her get to her feet. She made a point of flinching at his touch, and he smirked. He directed her towards the room where the others were; all of them got to their feet when they heard the door opening; a sick-looking Bill pulled her out of his arms.
"Are you ok?" he whispered to her.
She nodded, but she could feel something was wrong. Breathing was becoming painfully hard, and the room seemed a bit blurry.
"Hermione" said Bill
"Miss Granger" said Snape.
Both men collaborated to get her to lie on her back and kneeled down next to her.
"What did you do to her?" Bill muttered.
Snape didn't answer, focused on trying to undo her jacked.
"Don't" she hissed with as much air as she could muster from her lungs.
"Don't be stupid, girl. It is for your own good" he snapped.
She shook violently. She was trying to breathe but she couldn't get any air. What was happening? Was she going to suffocate? Snape and Bill were now barely shadows.
"Your stupid acolyte probably broke my rib and punctured my bloody lung" she complained. "I don't think I need any further assistance from you" she managed, before fainting.
"Weasley" Snape said. "hold her arms up high"
"Don't do it, Bill!" shouted Ron
"Shut up, Ron" both Ginny and Bill said, while the latter obeyed Snape's order.
"Ok. Miss Granger, I do not know if you can hear me, but this is a painful procedure. Difficult though it might sound, you have managed to dislocate your sternum. We need to get it back in place quickly" he gestured to Bill. "On the count of three, you pull. One, two… three"
They heard a soft "click", and Hermione let out a muffled cry of pain, now fully awake again, breathing desperately.
Bill quickly sat her up and held her, perhaps a bit too strong, his eyes closed, his face resting against her head.
When he looked again, Snape was no longer in the room.
- - - - - - - - -
Several hours passed before they were bothered again; Bill was fairly sure it had to be evening by now, but he couldn't tell. This time, it was just a guard. He left a tray with six plates full with a grey mass on the floor and went straight towards Hermione.
"Miss" he said, not unkindly "will you come with me?"
She didn't ask a thing. She didn't much care, and at least he was asking nicely, so she followed him out of the room.
He took her to a bunch of stairs. They were stone, old and twisted. She climbed them tiredly. She was a bit hungry, and her chest hurt like hell.
At the end of the stairs, there was a door, and after that door, another one, and another one, and another one. In less than five minutes she didn't have a clue how they had gotten there, or which way she should follow should she try to escape. Finally, the last door opened. A wave of heat washed through Hermione as she entered the room. The fire croaked in the corner in front of a sofa and two armchairs. And right in front of her lay a big table prepared for dinner… for two.
The guard who had brought her to the place left and closed the door behind him. Hermione heard steps coming closer from the opposite side of the room and it didn't require much investigation to be able to distinguish a hidden door on the wall. She was reminded of the Roman circus. Only this time, she was the prey.
The door opened in front of her, and Severus Snape walked through it. He moved one of the chairs and gestured so that she would sit on it. She did, speechless for once.
He took the other chair.
"Miss Granger" he said "I believe you will be interested in hearing what I am about to propose to you"
She just gaped at him.
"But first, let's have a glass of wine"
He poured two glasses, and held her one. She took it and sniffed at it.
Snape actually laughed.
"It is clean, Miss Granger. You will have to trust me on that. Here" and taking the glass, he sipped a bit of wine. Then, he handed it back to her.
She drank then, eyeing him carefully. It seemed to be clear of any poison, but again, you couldn't taste Veritaserum, among others.
"Let's get it over with" she snapped. "Just tell me what you want"
He smiled at her straightforwardness.
"Let's talk business, then, Miss Granger. Someone made a mistake. You were not supposed to be here. As you well know now, the Order has developed a new potion. It is imperative that I learn what one of the ingredients is. However, the new potions expert the Order has found seems to be a bit of a mistery" he smiled "so we needed to find either him or his secret keeper. I am fairly sure none of your friends is either. Are you the new potions expert's secreet keeper, Miss Granger?"
"No" she said quickly, and she knew he was using legilimency on her. She wasn't worried. She was telling the truth.
"Very well." He nodded. "As I was saying, your presence here as well as your friends' is a most uncomfortable mistake. Some would insist that I kill you all straight away, but I find no profit on that. So I though we might just cut a deal everyone benefits from"
"What do you want?" she asked sharply.
"You" he said, watching her reaction with a mildly interested gaze.
"What?" she asked again.
"I think I made myself clear. I want you. I want you to be at my disposal this whole weekend, and I want you to be willingly so. While you are, your friends will be safe. By the end of the weekend, we will have either obliviated or warned them to silence, and they will leave safely and alive. That is a very good deal I am offering to you, Miss Granger"
She didn't think she would manage an answer, but finally she whispered:
"What about me? Once they leave, what will happen to me?"
"Oh, we will see to that when the time comes" he said, calmly pouring himself another glass of wine.
"What do you want from me?" she asked, shakily.
"We will see to that, too. I just want you to remember something. I can take anything I want from you at any time. You are my… prisoner. Let's just say other people's displays of suffering bother me, and I would like to spare myself that, thus this deal. Don't forget that, Miss Granger; you just do what I ask from you willingly, and your friends live. Or you do it unwillingly, and they die"
"You can't be serious"
"I assure you, Miss Granger, that I am"
"Can… can I think about it?"
"We are going to have dinner. You can tell me your answer when we are finished. Meanwhile, just enjoy" he said, as a house elf made his way into the room with a huge tray. A very nice smell filled the air, and Hermione remembered just how hungry she was.
A plate of risotto was placed in front of her, and despite her stomach's groans, she didn't touch it.
"Don't you like risotto?" Snape asked, conversationally.
"I prefer to eat the same my friends are having, thank you" she replied tersely.
"Miss Granger…" he shook his head. "That's not really a very good way of showing your good will, is it? How can I trust you will do what I tell you if you are unable to eat a simple plate of risotto?"
She looked down.
"I'm sorry" she said, through gritted teeth, and she ate a forkful of rice. Flavor exploded in her mouth, and she resisted the urge to empty her plate in barely seconds, in what would have been a Ron-like feat.
"Forget it." He said "but watch yourself in the future. I would not like having to remind you again"
"You seem pretty sure I am going to accept"
"I am. Finnegan" he called.
The house elf reappeared.
"Yes, Sir"
"Can you arrange six more meals and get Dorian to deliver them in the dungeons?"
"Yessir. Right away"
Hermione looked up at that.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked.
"Why is not important, Miss Granger. Have you tried the white wine? It goes pretty well with the risotto" he said.
Hermione looked at him. He didn't seem the same man who had taught her. He had been spiteful back them, but she had rather liked that man, at least more than this cold, cruel wizard who made small talk over wine while having her friends locked up in the basement.
"Why are you so sure I will say yes?" she asked again.
"There is a strange combination on you, Miss Granger… you are smart, so you will recognize a good deal; and you are a Gryffindor, so you will go for the greater good, even if it costs you your life. Here, have some more wine."
He had her there. How could she say no and risk her friends' lives? He just knew she wouldn't. There was no way she could refuse. But her? Why did Snape want her? She guessed she was about to find out.
- - - - - -
Down in the dungeons, her friends were starting to be seriously worried. They stared at the guard named Dorian when he entered the room, looking for Hermione, but she was nowhere to be seen.
He left a tray with six new plates on the floor, and also some blankets.
"Thanks" said Lupin.
The young man nodded. He seemed sorry for the whole situation. As he turned to leave, Bill went up to him.
"Is she ok?" he whispered
"Yes" answered Dorian, without looking him in the eye. And he closed the door behind him.
"Is this risotto?" he heard Tonks exclaim, baffled.
- - - - - - - - - - -
"So, your answer is, Miss Granger?"
She knew he was just playing with her; she had no real choice.
"I will do it"
"Excellent"
She stared.
"Do I need to do any… kind of bonding?"
He seemed slightly troubled at that. Again, his features didn't change, but she had become an expert in reading closed faces, as of late.
"No, Miss Granger, it will have to be a matter of trust."
"What if I don't trust you? Can we not have the Unbreakable Vow?"
If he was distressed he didn't show it this time.
"If you will. Although an incident such as the dinner one could cost you your life" he said blankly. "Do you want that, Miss Granger?"
"No" she said, defeated. "I guess I will have to trust your word. Which is a bit difficult, professor"
Finnegan came into the room and started cleaning the table, and Snape turned away, ignoring her last comment.
"Now, if you will follow me, I still have some important work to do" he lead the way to the sofa, and they both sat down. He picked a thick book and started reading.
Whatever Hermione had been expecting, it hadn't been that.
"What… should I do?" she asked, unsure.
"Oh." He said. "Just be quiet for a while"
She was a bit offended at that, but she remained silent. Quiet was unnoticed, and unnoticed was good. She was warm and no longer hungry, and she was starting to feel things would somehow get better. She just stared at her ex-professor while he read. He was so deep in concentration he didn't seem to notice.
He wasn't that changed. It might be the robes; they were different. It might be the room, with its burgundy drapery and its wooden furniture, but he reminded her of Malfoy. Curiously enough, she had never before thought of her professor as sadistic, but for the first time, she was a bit scared, aware of what she had just gotten herself into.
Snape was drinking something yellowish out of a small, thick glass. Perhaps she should try something... but no. She had made a deal. It was her friends' lives or hers. She had made a choice, and she was going to see it through, whatever happened. One life was a cheap price. She would, of course, she what could be done about that when the time came, but she was sticking to her choice, and staying alive at least until she was sure her friends were safe.
She looked up and realized Snape was now staring at her. She blushed.
"I wasn't aware you were able to be silent for so long" he commented.
She didn't answer.
"Don't just look at me. Pick a book if you want, you are distracting me with your stares"
"I…" she was going to protest, but she held her tongue; she just got up from the sofa and went towards the wooden selves. She eyed the collection. Impressive, indeed, but she wasn't about to compliment it. She picked a random book and sat down.
It turned out it was a book on human anatomy, with pretty graphic pictures.
Snape quirked an eyebrow, amused, but he said nothing.
She made a point of reading the book, but sitting there in front of the fire after drinking wine was making her drowsy. After all, she hadn't slept for two nights in a row now; first worrying something would go wrong, then worrying something had actually gone wrong. So despite the unlikely situation, she could not really fight a yawn.
The next she knew, she had opened her eyes and found herself resting against Snape's side. She froze.
"Miss Granger" he welcomed her back.
She still had to get over the shock of having lain against her former professor, so she just gaped.
"Let's do something. Why don't you wait for me upstairs?"
"Upstairs?" she said, dumbly.
"Yes… warm up the bed, I believe it is called."
That put her back into place. What had she thought? Had she thought all he wanted her to do was sit by his side and read books? She was naïve, Merlin. That was Severus Snape. He was a killer, not a nice scholar wanting a pal to discuss potions. With a clenched jaw she followed the house elf upstairs into a long corridor, and then into a big room with a nice, huge bed.
The elf left something over the comforter and exited. She looked at it.
It appeared to be a dress of some sort, but surely there was too much lace on it… was she supposed to sleep on that?
She guessed she was. And she didn't want to make him angry, so she just slipped it on, hoping nobody had to see her wearing that. For Merlin's sake, she was the kind of girl who wore daddy's old pajamas.
She watched the bed with a sick feeling.
Was that Snape's bed? Yes, and it was obvious by the way he had said "warm up the bed" that he very much intended to share it with her. Was she supposed to… yes, of course she was, what was she thinking?
She wasn't sure she could manage it. She had made a promise, and she would do all she could to fulfill that promise, but she wasn't sure how much that was. It wasn't that he was… unattractive. It was just that she was scared of him. He had kidnapped them. He was blackmailing her into this… but he was being nice. He could have made it worse. She shook her head. That's what he wanted, exactly what he was trying to do. He had her on his hands, and he was playing to see if he could mess up her mind. Well, she wouldn't let him. He could… take her, but she would keep her mind whole.
She opened the bed a bit and sneaked inside. The mattress felt good, like sleeping on a cloud, and soon, as warmth wrapped around her in the form of a comforter, she forgot her embarrassment, her fear, her friends. She forgot everything and just slept.
- - - - -