DISCLAIMER: Of course, I own nothing. All JKR's characters. As you should know when you're browsing through the "Harry Potter" section of this site. ;)

Authors Note: So, I've been out of the fandom for about a year now, and I deleted all of my stories when I left. But know I'm back, and I changed my pen name. I haven't written something new yet, but I found some of my old stories and, well... I'll upload them again. :) I hope you'll enjoy them!

This is a One-Shot!


Hermione Granger, 28, was bored beyond her own imagination. She hated her job! Boring ministry paper work – that wasn't something she wanted to do. Especially not for him! When she had started at the Ministry, she had hoped for a job in the research department! But now she did nothing else than writing boring notes to boring persons for her superior – which simply had to be Severus Snape, off all people.

Yes, after the war had ended Severus Snape decided to quit the profession he had hated with a passion. Apparently, he had wanted to lead a quiet life, with a quiet job. And now Hermione had to suffer the consequences – Snape never failed to remind her that he hated her because she reminded him too much of 'these annoying brats he had to teach for two decades'. Well. It was nice having such cheerful people around on a daily basis. Hermione groaned. Her life was a piece of crap!

It would have been OK that her job was horrible if she had a nice private life at least. But no – Hermione Granger was still single. She had only had two boyfriends so far. Her last lover had been a bit stupid, to say the least. He'd been a muggle and was known to have absolutely no sense of humour. And he had been awfully boring, too. Well, she mused, he reminded her of Percy Weasley in a strange way. The other boyfriend she had had, though…

That was a different story. During her seventh year at Hogwarts, Hermione had gotten involved with Blaise Zabini, a fellow seventh year. The handsome Slytherin had totally knocked her off her feet, from the first day on. Why they had broken up… Hermione could barely remember it. It had something to do with the war going on outside, the NEWT's and the expectations that came along with Blaise's status as the only male heir of an ancient wizarding family. She hadn't seen Blaise since the night they graduated.

Hermione sighed. It wouldn't do for her to dwell on the past; she had to look into the future. Yes. She was optimistic and cheerful. She could handle a bit of Snape and a bit of loneliness. She would be strong. But it is Christmas time!, she whined inwardly. Everything around her should be glittering and gleaming.

At this moment, Snape stormed into his office, sneering at her. Well, Hermione thought, off you go, my Christmas spirits. Snape looked positively malicious. She tried to smile at him in a friendly way but it turned into a frightened grimace. What had he in store for her? It couldn't be something she would enjoy; Snape was practically glowing with self-satisfaction.

"Miss Granger, I have something to do for you. It would be most helpful if you could pick up a book from my dear friend Lucius at his house. He awaits you in an hour."

Hermione trembled – the bastard knew she was deadly afraid of Lucius, she was sure of that.

"But sir, surely you could have picked it up, too? You could have simply apparated!"

Snape smiled at her. She was terrified. "Oh no, Miss Granger. One cannot apparate into the Malfoy Manor. It is too heavily protected. The nearest arrapation point is about three miles away from it, in the midst of a swamp. You'll simply have to walk from there! Oh, and I would take care – it is rumoured that a basilisk resides in the woods surrounding the manor." Snape said in a voice that was trembling with suppressed glee. He beamed at her, showing off his enormous yellow teeth. From this angle, Hermione mused thoughtfully, he looks rather like a giant horse – those horrendous teeth…

Snape's grin vanished. "I'm a master of legilimency!" he snapped at her, clearly affronted. He stormed into his office. "Remember. You've got one hour. You better be off now!" he shrieked before he slammed the door shut.

Hermione winced. With a heavy sigh and trembling hands, she pulled on her coat. It was freezing outside and the bastard decided to send her out for a bloody safari in a swamp! Hermione thought about dropping the job – if only she wouldn't need the money.

With a sigh, she apparated to the apparition point. And promptly bumped into someone, who accidentally knocked her down to the muddy ground.
"All right, Granger?" she heard an all too familiar vice ask. Oh shit. Of course it had to be Blaise Zabini.

Hermione looked up and tried to look suave. Which was rather difficult, since she was covered in mud. Oh yes, she definitely hated her life. "Sure, Blaise. How are you? And what are you doing here?" she asked, surprisingly normal.

Oh gods. He looked bloody amazing! He was still tall and slender, though he seemed to have gained quite a nice bit of muscle during the last ten years. And his deep, dark brown eyes were still the most mesmerizing thing she had ever seen. And, to top it all off, he was wearing a black fedora. She gulped. Damn, that man was sexy!

Blaise smiled at her. "Oh I am more than fine, now that I've met you again. Hermione, you look smashing! It's so good to see you again, I really missed you, you know? What have you been up to? And what are you doing here, come to think of that? Oh – I am here to visit Draco. Honestly he's such a 'mommy's darling', isn't he? He still lives with his parents."

Hermione had put on a brave fight against fainting during his speech; she had to credit herself for that. Gods, I had completely forgotten how sexy his voice is!

With a dry mouth, she forced out a reply. "I work for Snape now. I have to fetch a book for him which just happens to be in the possession of one Lucius Malfoy… Snape hates me."

"Of course he does. Never doubted that. But I have to be a bit thankful that he gave you this task. Otherwise we wouldn't have met again. Come on, I'll walk with you, it seems as if we have the same way!" he offerd eagerly. Hermione couldn't help but smile at that.

Half an hour later they were still deep in conversation. She hadn't felt this relaxed in years, Hermione realized. She almost wanted to slow down so that they could talk a bit longer before they reached the manor. Actually, it seemed like a good idea to stop walking altogether, Hermione pondered.

She smiled a dazzling smile at Blaise as he told her how much he still loved her hair. Well, a bit of flirting didn't seem to be too risky, she figured. She winked at him and wanted to say something a bit more daring in response, she was an adult after all. She could be a true seductress, she knew that – if she wanted to, she could have the grace of a panther.

She tripped over a root as soon as this thought crossed her mind. Shrieking, she stumbled forwards. And into the swamp.

Oh-oh.

She couldn't move. Shit!

She was stuck in a bloody swamp. Perfect. Yes, she really was as graceful as a panther. She sighed.

"Hey, is everything alright? Are you hurt?" Blaise asked, concern evident in his voice as he made his way over to the swamp cautiously.

Blaise tried very hard not to panic. Hermione was stuck in a swamp. It wouldn't do for her to drown in a swamp just as he had found her again. He fully intended on keeping her in his life, thank you very much. Well, Blaise thought, it was time to show her what a true Zabini was capable of. He straightened, proudly lifting his chin.

There was a damsel in distress to rescue! Blaise switched switched to hero mode instantly. A tough look made its way onto his face and he adjusted his fedora, winking at Hermione. Her eyes had already become as wide as saucers. Yes, 'Indiana Blaise' was sexy as hell, he knew it. He pulled out his wand and conjured up a whip, just for good measure. He knew that he could simply leviatate her out of it, sure. But there was a time for modesty and there was a time for showing off. And this was clearly the latter. He swished his whip through the air and winked at her again.

He circled the swamp with graceful movements, wondering what could be the most impressive method of rescuing her. He decided for a true classic and rubbed his hands together. He conjured a second whip and clamped it into his belt. Then he conjured up a large bush knife and put it beside the second whip.

With a yell of pure masculinity, he swished the whip in his hands into the general direction of a tree above Hermione's head. Surprisingly enough, it hit a branch and circled around it. Feeling rather like a movie hero, Blaise rushed through the air and came to a halt just above Hermione's head. He smirked at her sexily. He took her answering whimper as encouragement.

He prepared himself for his quest. He fastened the first whip on his waist – it wouldn't do for him to fall into the swamp, too. He swished his second whip into the direction of another tree and succeeded again in encircling a branch with it. He was good, he thought proudly. A born hero. Humming the theme of Mission Impossible, he took the knife between his teeth. Gods, he was a real man.

He reached for Hermione and pulled her out of her dangerous whereabouts. By now, she was breathing heavily with arousal, her eyes nearly closed. Pulling her even closer, he took the knife into his hand again and cut through the first whip.

Instantly, Hermione and Blaise rocketed off to the safe ground on the other side of the swamp. Blaise let them fall off, dramatically rolling over to protect Hermione from harm.

Blaise was immensely pleased with himself. He truly was a super hero. An adventurous, reckless bloke who practically breathed danger. Oh, he had been good…

Hermione looked up on him with surprise and adoration. Then she whispered: "Oh my, you are my hero. My rescuer, my everything. I belong to you forever. My Indiana Blaise…" And then, she kissed him.

Blaise was most pleased, to say the least. The life of a super-hero was indeed as great as that strange Potter bloke had always claimed it to be.

Two hours later, Hermione arrived back at the offices and gave Snape the book. She beamed at him. Snape was in a sourly mood. She was supposed to be miserable, not chipper! What had gone wrong?