Every large city has one of "those" places. The seedier side of town. The place where law enforcement even hesitates to enter because it is quite possibly they won't make it out alive. If you want drugs to take the edge off, you'll find a dealer on just about every corner, right next to the prostitute who would be more than happy to get you off for a few bills. Clever people don't wear anything nice or expensive in places such as this because there was likely someone who would kill you over your shoes alone.

Hermione pulled her cardigan around her more tightly. With the sun having gone down and the shadows cast by the buildings the evening was quite cool. Had she known they were going to be trolling around the city all day she would have brought a coat instead of just a sweater. She jumped a bit when the warmth of quality merino wool settled about her shoulders.

"Relax, Hermione. You're practically screaming 'victim'." Draco rubbed his hands up and down her arms a few times. He looked unfazed by the chill even though he had just given her his cloak.

Hermione frowned. "Isn't that sort of the idea? Aren't I supposed to be the poor, mistreated girl so that Denise comes to rescue me from your clutches?"

"Relax a bit, Sweetheart. You might find my clutches are rather comfortable."

"Mr. Malfoy, kindly leave your wooing for a time when we are not hunting demons."

"Of course, Severus. Forgot myself for a moment there."

Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled the cloak about her more snuggly. The spicy scent of Draco's cologne tickled her nose; woodsy and warm. Well, if nothing else he smelled better than the first three. Adrian had liked cologne as well, but had worn far too much of it. Goyle had smelled like whatever he ate at his last meal. She pretty much tried to block Knott out of her memory all together.

In a Muggle suit, Severus cut a lean and somewhat dangerous figure. Both of the younger people trailed a bit behind him and watched in mild shock as more than one woman tried to approach him. And it wasn't just the prostitutes.

"You're a woman," Draco whispered in her ear, "is he considered attractive?"

Hermione considered the question honestly before whispering back, "Tall is popular with most women. And he's got a nice bum." She heard Draco make a choking sound and smirked. "You did ask."

"Something I'm regretting."

"Well, aren't you a lovely thing." A woman with far too little clothing for the temperature and far too much make for her skin to survive practically slithered herself around Draco. Her voice was rough from a lifetime of smoking. "Why don't you ditch the swot and come with me. I can make you purr."

Hermione turned to watched, amused by the look of pure horror on Draco's face as the woman trailed the long, artificial nails of one hand down the front of his shirt. It was all she could do to keep the laughter behind her teeth. Oh, for the want of a camera!

Draco was too busy trying to determine if the thing propositioning him was human or some sort of monster. Snape was a few feet ahead, his eyes scanning the street before him. Neither of them was watching Hermione when a hand shot out from the dark shadows of the nearby alley and yanked her inside.

"Well, let's have a look at you, then."

Hermione was pressed back against the rough brick wall of some random building. Her hand automatically reached for her wand, but her captor's hand got there first, clamping down around her wrist with all the strength of an iron vise.

She was taller than Hermione. That was the first thing she noticed. Then she leaned back a bit and the glow of a nearby door lamp cast illumination on her features. Hermione resembled her mother more than her father, with a nose that was just a bit too long for the shape of her face, eyes a bit too far apart and hair that was brown instead of her mother's honey blond but just as wild and frizzy. The woman looking at her was a younger version of Helen Granger… perfected. The nose was the right size for the face, the eyes were spaced just right and slightly canted to give her a hint of the exotic and the honey brown hair was a wealth of perfectly sleek, gorgeous curls. If Hermione wasn't completely straight, and looking at her sister, she might have leaned in for a kiss.

"Denise?"

"Not anymore. I haven't been called Denise since I left the Church." She took the edges of Draco's cloak and held it open. "My, but you've grown up nicely. Lovely curves. Those bastards probably toss off dreaming about burying themselves to the hilt in this tasty little body." She closed the cloak and stroked Hermione's cheek. The motion was gentle and tender. "No worries. Big Sis isn't going to let that happen.

Hermione swallowed. "So, you are the one who cursed me."

"It was the most efficient way. I considered just screwing them until I killed them, but when I saw your first fiancé," she grimaced, "neither of us should every have to lower our standards that far." She smoothed a hand over Hermione's hair. "You should look for a better conditioner, Sister Mine. Your hair is a haystack. How many so far?"

"Three."

"That's all?" She looked honestly perplexed. Her hands again opened the cloak, eyes raking over the figure underneath. "Are they blind? Do they not see you?" Hermione didn't have time to respond, because just then her sister gave a hiss and whirled to the mouth of the alley, pulling her behind her as though to shield her.

Snape came out of the shadows; just behind his shoulder was Draco. Both had their wands out and pointed towards the half-demon.

"Hello, there. Which of you is the latest bastard who thinks he can pin my sister down and slobber all over her?"

Snape arched a single brow. "Miss Blackwell, you are not an easy woman to find."

"Apparently not hard enough to find. You're here, after all. Thank you for bringing her along. I've always wanted to meet her. You can run along now. We have catching up to do."

Draco moved as if to step forward. Snape shot out his arm to block him. Hermione noticed a subtle shift in her sister's stance.

"So, you're the one. Let's have a better look at you, Blondie."

"Stay where you are, Draco."

"Oh, don't be a spoil sport. There's plenty of me to go around." She stepped away from Hermione, her movements fluid and graceful. She paced forward like some beautiful jungle cat, liquid sex in a skirt far too short for any code of decency. "Why waste your time on that child, handsome. I can show you things you never dreamed of."

Draco swallowed, hard. Even with the distance between them Hermione could tell that whatever her sister was doing was having a profound effect on him. Severus saw it as well, because the older wizard shifted so that he was between Draco and her sister.

"Oh, all right. I'll give you a ride after I'm thru with Junior back there. I've got the staying power for it."

"Denise…"

"That's not my name. I changed it."

"Then what should I call you?"

"Deamonique."

Both of Snape's brows went up this time. "Hardly subtle."

"Subtlety is overrated. And, honestly, if I'm going to be reminded every day that I'm damned by virtue of being born, I might as well own up to it. Now, why don't you step aside and wait your turn?"

"I think not. We have come here to ask that you lift the curse you placed on your sister."

Deamonique cocked her head to one side. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you're killing people."

"No, I'm killing would-be rapists who think some idiotic law makes it all right to force themselves on a woman against her will. Such individuals do not qualify as 'people'." She placed her hands on her hips, her weight shifting a bit. "Come to think of it, I'm not certain the individuals who actually wrote the law should qualify either."

"I am more than happy to discuss politics with you at length. However, at this time, we are discussing your sister and her state of mind. Does it not occur to you that knowing she is the cause of their deaths may endanger her sanity?"

"Why would it?" Deamonique turned in place to look at her. "Did you want any of those men?"

"What? No! They were horrible. Well… two were horrible and the third was just pathetic. But I'm not sure the deserved to die."

"Pucey did." Draco had moved back out from behind Snape. "Everyone knows he killed that girl he married. The Ministry just doesn't want to make the family angry so they're not looking into it. Knott might have had it coming."

"Mr. Malfoy, be silent."

"And what of you, pretty boy?" Deamonique had turned her attention back to Draco. "What are your plans? Tie my baby sister down to your bed and use her at your leisure? Force her to her knees and make her suck you off if she can't accommodate you otherwise? Turn her into your personal whore?"

Draco's chin lifted a bit. "I plan to give her the full weight and protection of the Malfoy family name. Estates. Every luxury she could desire. All the prestige she would need to support her charities and projects and then some. I want her as my partner and help mate."

"Pretty words. Why didn't you ask for her first, then? You could have saved those three 'poor men'."

"We didn't know about you or the circumstances of her birth. There are those who would have killed Hermione if I had asked before. Now that we know who and what she truly is, those parties will shut up about it."

"And I meant to believe that nonsense?"

Severus again placed himself between Draco and Deamonique. "Miss, even if you do not agree with the law or Draco's reasons, is killing him before he's actually committed any crime against your sister reasonable?"

She leaned forward just a bit. "It wouldn't hit him if he didn't have every intention of carrying through with the idea. I'm protecting her from having to live with the aftermath."

"How noble of you." Snape kept himself in her direct line of vision. He needed to keep her focused on him. Finally, the cracking sounds of apparition, two of them, signaled that Draco had finally moved his arse and gotten himself and Hermione out of there.

Deamonique whirled to find her sister gone. An incoherent screech of fury ripped from her throat. Next he knew Severus was flat on his back amidst the dirt and the grit and the broken glass, a furious succubus on his chest. Her hands were on his shoulders, one knee on his stomach and, in an impossible feat of contortionism, her other foot stretched out to pin his wand hand to the ground.

"Where is she!?"

He drew in a breath, then another. It was difficult with her atop him like this. "Safe. I do believe his intentions to be sincere. He will not allow any harm to come to Hermione."

Deamonique's face lowered to just above his, nose-to-nose. He found himself looking up into a pair of eyes that were the color of fine scotch. "Where. Is. She?"

The musky scent of sex, desire and longing swirled around him. He swallowed because he has started to salivate like a dog that had caught the scent of a particularly succulent cut of meat. The silk of her hair brushed the skin at the side of his face, gentle and promising. "Away. Lift the curse."

"Why? Do you want a chance to mistreat her as well?"

"The law gives that right only to purebloods. My father was a muggle. I am under threat of the law as much as Hermione. The family of a witch could just as easily force me into matrimony. Do you not care for the wizards victimized by the law as well?"

Her weight shifted, the foot on his wrist pulling back and the knee leaving his gut. He felt her settle over his hips, the already insanely short skirt riding up. He was fairly certain she wasn't wearing knickers. Why should she? She dressed like the whores in this part of town, likely to attract the occasional nibble.

She tilted her head just enough that she could brush her lips over his. He struggled to keep his control. "Bring her back." The words were whispered into his mouth.

"No. If you're going to fuck me, do so. Otherwise get off and let me up."

The eyes were level with his again. He met her gaze, ignoring the painful state of his erection with a creature of pure sex and debauchery hovering so close to it. He saw her smile just before the scent of brimstone and jasmine enveloped them. Heat and darkness squeezed them for a moment, and then he felt himself falling deep into the softness of what was most likely a bed.

Lips claimed his, hot and hungry and full of promise. For a moment he indulged himself, letting his tongue wrap around hers and relishing the flavor of her mouth. She tasted of chocolate and just a hint of hot peppers, like the original recipe for chocolate before European nuns learned to add milk and sugar to it for a less adventurous palate. He allowed his hands to grip her by the arms to pull her closer for a moment before reversing and forcing her back.

Her breathing was more controlled than his, but he could see the desire in her eyes. "How is this, you using your nature to seduce me, how it is different from what is being forced onto those witches?"

"Because if you apply yourself, you can stop me." She licked her lips. "Do you want to stop me, Wizard?"

Did he want to stop her? It had been too long, and he had dallied with witches who were more of a threat than this creature. Logic and reason gave him an idea of her true nature. Her father's blood would give her the appetite of a succubus, but she was still half-human. Did he want her to stop?

"Severus." He pulled her back down and caught her lips with his own. He heard her chuckle deep in her throat as she returned it.

They didn't do much talking after that.

"We have to go back!"

"She clearly wasn't in the mood to listen to reason."

"Draco! You left Severus with a succubus!"

"Who happens to be your sister and the one who cursed you. Relax. Severus is very good at convincing people to change their minds."

"And if he can't. Draco, that incubus nearly killed my mother. A succubus is just the female version of an incubus. They," she flailed her hands, looking for the proper word, "screw people to death. Literally!"

"Miss Granger, Severus is a grown man." She jumped. She had not noticed Lucius present in the room when they had popped in. He was rising from a chair by the hearth and moving to a wet bar. She watched as he got out three glasses of cut crystal and a bottle of what looked like brandy. "He can handle your sister."

"And if he can't? We don't know that much about her. What if he can't handle her?"

"Well, then I suspect he will die quite happy." He offered her one of the glasses. She took it out of stunned reflex, looked at it a moment, then tossed it back like a pro. "My, I didn't expect that."

She only coughed once and declined a second drink. "My whole world has turned upside down. Everyone has gone insane. I've fallen through the looking glass."

Lucius gave his son a questioning look. "Muggle children's book. 'Alice In Wonderland'." Hermione gave Draco a stunned look and he shrugged. "I was bored and came across a copy in the library while we were in school. Interesting story. For a long time I wished for one of those cats who could talk and disappeared bit by bit until only the smile was left. That would have been fun."

"It's official now. I'm in Wonderland."

"Well, I know it likely seems that way, what with being engaged to marry me and all."

Even Lucius rolled his eyes at that one. "Draco, make yourself useful and advise the house elves we will be having a guest for dinner. And send your mother down. Miss Granger may wish something for her nerves."

"I'm fine."

"Apparently not. Please sit down, Miss Granger. Worrying yourself into a state of madness serves no one. Have faith that Severus is skilled enough and clever enough to find his way back. Your sister does not know with whom she is dealing."