Oh, look, two chapters in one day! Just don't get used to it. There will most likely be stretches of time where I don't update for various reasons.
Again, not JKR. Characters are not mine, except the brothel characters. And Mindy.
Chapter Two
~Bought~
Dead silence fell over the crowd as everyone turned to peer toward the main doors to the establishment. The servant sitting unobtrusively in a corner and magically turning the marble platform forgot his task in his attempts to see who had spoken, and the platform stopped rotating, once more with Hermione Granger facing the crowd, though the other two girls had finally moved, turning their heads to peer over their own and their smaller companion's shoulders. Their eyes were hostile as they waited for their fate to reveal himself.
As the figure lowered the hood of his cloak, Hermione completely forgot her hostility as she stared in shock. There, in all his dark glory, stood Severus Snape, the expression on his face completely unreadable except for his burning eyes as they met hers. Suddenly she felt extremely exposed, and as his eyes openly slid down her body, taking in her costume once more, she felt the urge to sit down and cross all her limbs in an effort to cover herself. She also suddenly found herself extremely glad she was the one currently facing the audience, her body for the most part blocking those of her two friends. And to her shame, she also felt an unexpected heat beginning to pool low in her belly at the intensity with which his eyes examined her.
The reminder of her two friends brought her back to reality, reminding her of where they were and what Snape had just done. And just like that, her anger blazed anew. She didn't know what the hell kind of game he was playing, or even what side he was truly on anymore – for a moment she'd been relieved, thinking he was rescuing them, but the way he'd run his eyes over her body just now made her suddenly doubt he was about to just turn them back into Dumbledore and McGonagall's care – but she was damn well going to get some answers. She didn't know how she was going to bully them out of him, but there were two reasons she would have to pluck up the courage to do so, and they both stood behind her.
Fine, she thought. Her stance shifted ever so subtly, as her head lowered but jutted slightly outward as her body weight shifted almost imperceptibly forward. Her eyes met his in challenge. Take us from this place, Snape, but brace yourself. This is the day of reckoning, and I'll get my answers one way or another. And while you may have purchased all three of us, you can be damn certain you aren't laying one bloody finger on Luna or Ginny.
Severus, despite being across the room from the three witches, saw Hermione's stance shift subtly until she was leaning ever so slightly forward, aggressive and ready for a fight, and knew she would protect her friends with everything she had. She would fight him every step of the way, and he knew that would hold especially true when she learned of his plans for her. She would raise hell. Of course, that particular Gryffindor tendency of hers only made him more determined than ever that he would have her.
We shall see, Miss Granger. I will have you under me, one way or another. You may be certain of that. With that last thought, unspoken but clearly conveyed in a silent promise as his black eyes raked once more over her form before catching and holding her agate-colored ones, he turned to speak with the proprietress of the Silver Serpent in order to finalize his purchase.
Meanwhile, a still-serene Luna, a dumbfounded Ginny, and an increasingly uneasy Hermione were whisked from the main room and back up to the three rooms – like gilded cages, they were, as for all their luxury, the three girls were still prisoners within them – they had occupied during their brief tenure at the Silver Serpent. Hermione assumed they had been separated to keep them from plotting; aside from the day they were delivered to the establishment, the three girls hadn't seen each other until the auction just now.
She was shoved none too gently into her room, the door swinging shut behind her and the wards around her room shimmering into place. As she picked herself up from where she'd fallen on her hands and knees, it occurred to her yet again that she supposed she ought to feel flattered that the proprietress of the thrice-damned brothel and the dark wizards who'd brought her here had been so concerned about her ability to escape or hex the place to pieces around them that they'd erected such powerful wards. Had she her wand, she might be able to break them, but it would take her forever.
With a sigh, Hermione plopped down onto the luxurious queen-size bed that dominated the center of the far wall. She resisted the urge to pull uselessly at the shoes on her feet; she'd realized quickly that they'd spelled every item of clothing they'd given her to remain on her body until she had spoken permission from the proprietress or her lackeys to remove them. Had she not been purchased just now but had instead continued to work here, the spell would have allowed her to remove clothes without permission only while servicing a client.
She gazed out the window of her room and wondered yet again how she, Ginny, and Luna had managed to get themselves into this mess. Worse still was the thought that this time, it didn't look as if there was any way out. They had no wands, no money, and no means of contacting the Order for help. Hermione's grasp of wandless magic was much better than Ginny's or Luna's, but not even what she knew would be able to get them out of this. And now that she no longer had access to the combined, nearly limitless resources of the libraries of Grimmauld Place and HogwartsSchool, she was stuck, unable to proceed with her independent studying of wandless magic and thus unable to learn something that might get her and her friends out.
She had tried, of course, in her desperation to escape all the possible fates that awaited her here in the Death Eaters' brothel. During that terrible first hour after she'd first been shoved into this gilded cage of a room, her panic had been so great that her power surged from her in the greatest display of deliberate wandless magic she'd had since first starting to learn about it. But it was no use. The wards she might have been able to break with a wand did not so much as flicker. With increasing fear but declining hope, she'd kept trying every chance she could get, to no avail.
She found her mind wandering over the events of the past week. That was how long they'd been here, apparently. She had no idea how Luna and Ginny had fared, but apparently it had taken six days for her to awaken in this room from her injuries from fighting Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange, then she'd spent all day here yesterday with the last injuries being fixed – broken bones, cuts, and bruises -, and then she'd spent most of today being lectured, again here in this room, on how she would be earning her keep at the brothel and how she was to behave and interact with her customers. Then, shortly after lunch, she'd been informed that she and her two friends were to be sold. The first time she'd seen her two friends since the fight was just now on the auction platform.
She realized that was also the first time she'd learned of her parents' deaths. Not knowing how they'd died caused a clawing emptiness to enclose her heart and make it difficult for her to breathe, but the auctioneer had spoken of their deaths with such malicious pleasure that she knew he hadn't been lying about it. Her parents were dead.
Just ten minutes after she'd been deposited back in this room and just before she could begin to work herself into hysterics over her parents, the wards at her door shimmered, signifying the arrival of the proprietress herself, the Madam Elapida Serpens. Hermione shot to her feet, knowing that it would be easier to defend herself against the woman's harsh yanking if she were standing. When it came to being cruel, the Madam could give Dolores Umbridge a run for her money. Of course, the two women were like night and day; Umbridge was squat and ugly, with a simpering personality like poisoned honey, while Madam Serpens was tall and elegant, but with a personality like pure sulfuric acid.
The door swung open, and Hermione blinked to see the Madam standing there with what looked like a small procession behind her. Two of the Madam's lackeys – of the same sort as the Crabbe and Goyle men, only most likely too cowardly to become Death Eaters themselves – gripped Ginny and Luna by the upper arm, and a maid carried a small pile of clothing for the three girls. Hermione knew that the maid carried what served as the uniform worn by the girls when they weren't servicing the wealthy patrons of the Silver Serpent: fitted casual robes in either green, silver, white, or black, all with either trim or embroidery in some variation of the Slytherin House colors of green and silver.
Since her arrival, Hermione had been dressed in black robes with curling, twining silver vines with tiny green leaves embroidered about her neckline, the hem of her robes, and the hems of her sleeves. Luna had been dressed in silver robes with green velvet trim, and Ginny had been dressed in green robes with silver and black ribbon trim. All three girls wore black ballet flats on their feet.
The maid put the clothes on the foot of Hermione's bed and disappeared; the two lackeys pushed Ginny and Luna into the room and did likewise, leaving Madam Serpens alone with the three young witches.
"You will dress in your uniforms and wait here for the arrival of your esteemed… benefactor," the Madam said with a drawl and smirk that rivaled those of the wizard who had just spent a million Galleons on the purchase of the three young witches. "He will be coming to collect you shortly, and then you will be out of my hair. You will be his problem to deal with, and I for one wish him luck. Three more willful little bitches I've never met, but then, if anyone is capable of handling ones such as you three, it will be Severus Snape."
Another cruel smile curved her lips as she added, her eyes catching and holding Hermione's as if she knew something about the Potions Master's plans for the Muggleborn witch, "And I've heard that he can be quite…rough. None of my girls want to service him alone, because none of them are able to handle him well enough to last more than one night with him. And during those legendary Death Eater revels, the Dark Lord doesn't like to give him the Muggle whores until after they've been passed round the others, because he's so harsh that when he's through with them they're naught but limp bodies. Of course, being that harsh with the lot of you would be a waste of a fortune, so you don't have to worry about him killing you. Though you might wish he would." And with those cheerful parting words, the Madam turned and left the room, shutting the door behind her and raising the wards again.
The three girls looked at each other silently, wondering how much of the Madam's words to believe. Ginny was wondering about the look the Madam had given Hermione during the second part of her speech, while Luna was wondering about the look Professor Snape had given Hermione right after he'd revealed himself, and Hermione was wondering how the hell she was going to protect Ginny and Luna without a wand. Perhaps she could bargain with Snape…would he agree to leave them alone in exchange for Hermione's willingness to submit? It might be her only hope.
The three girls dressed quickly, all of them eager to get out of their uncomfortably revealing clothing and into something more concealing. As the dresses and shoes they'd been auctioned off in landed on the floor, they vanished. The witches were just pulling on their flats when the wards shimmered yet again, this time alerting them to the arrival of a stranger who had permission to enter from the Madam, and they all straightened and came to stand side by side just in time for the door to open, revealing none other than their purchaser himself.
Severus paused in the open doorway, accompanied by Mindy, the house elf Dumbledore had assigned to help him in his spying, and took in the triad of young witches standing side by side in front of him. The two taller ones, the Weasley and Lovegood girls, flanked the petite older girl, and he couldn't decide if they looked more like they were standing on either side of her in a gesture of support and protection, or like they were staying close to her that she might protect them.
Hermione didn't know how long the four of them stood there, Snape watching the three of them and the three of them watching him. But finally, he was the one to break the silence. "I have completed the transactions required for your purchase. You will now accompany me to Prince Manor. We have much to discuss."
His words, and the sheer presumption that colored them, brought Hermione back to her senses with a thump. She took a step forward, putting herself between him and Ginny and Luna, who both silently stepped to fill the space she'd left. When it came to potentially sticky situations, they both knew to allow Hermione to take charge and follow her lead.
"We're not going anywhere until we get some answers. Who the bloody hell do you think you are, just charging in and thinking you can buy us like—like slaves! You're supposed to be our teacher! What kind of teacher walks into a brothel where three of his students are being held against their will and buys them?!" the small Gryffindor firecracker demanded.
Fully aware that their conversation was most likely being listened to, either by Elapida Serpens or by someone who would report every word to her, he entered the room and shut the door before he responded coldly, his face impassive but his eyes burning at them, trying to convey in silence that they needed to trust him. "What kind do you think, you silly girl?" he responded in his best Potions-Master-of-the-Dungeons voice. "What kind of teacher do you think walks into a brothel that is clearly associated with the House of Salazar Slytherin, that exclusively caters to members of the Pureblooded Elite, and that openly caters to Death Eaters? What kind of teacher do you think walks into such an establishment where three of his students are being held captive and purchases them for permanent addition to his household?"
He paused here, and knew that to any eavesdroppers it would appear as if he were pausing to let that information sink in. But as he met first Miss Lovegood's and then Miss Weasley's gazes with his own, he used his powers of Legilimency to add silently to each of them in turn, The kind of teacher whose loyalty lies with Albus Dumbledore, who provides the Order of the Phoenix with information on the Dark Lord's plans, and who cannot abide the thought of three of the students in his charge being sold into a life of sexual slavery at the dubious mercy of the real Death Eaters.
He left their minds as suddenly as he'd entered, leaving the two younger girls reeling with what he'd just told them. Leaving them to ponder his trustworthiness on their own for the moment, he captured and held Hermione's eyes with his own, entering her mind with as little warning as he'd given her friends. But to his shock, what appeared to be a set of massive wooden doors slammed shut in front of him a fraction of a second before he found himself being expelled violently from her mind.
She glared at him, enraged. "How dare you?" she shouted. "I DID NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO ENTER MY MIND!" She stormed over to him and raised her hand to crack him across the face, but his reflexes were sharp enough that he was able to capture her wrist in a bruising grasp, just millimeters from his face.
"It would be most unwise for you to strike me, Miss Granger. Do not attempt to do so again. As for your desire for answers, you are in no position to make demands. None of the three of you is currently in possession of a wand, while I am. As such, I am fully capable of taking all three of you to Prince Manor by force if I must, whether you like it or not. As it is, since Miss Weasley and Miss Lovegood were wise enough to have offered no resistance thus far, I shall deal with you first." Without taking his eyes off Hermione, he summoned the house elf that had accompanied him. "Mindy!"
"Yes, Master Snape?" the house elf responded demurely as she stepped forward. Unlike most female house elves, who had high-pitched squeaky voices that grated on Severus's nerves, Mindy's voice was in a lower register, much closer to that of a human. Her voice was similar in pitch to that of an adolescent human girl, older than a young child but still with a ways to go before her voice reached the fullness and richness of an adult woman.
"Take Miss Weasley and Miss Lovegood to Prince Manor and show them to their rooms, then take their evening meal to them," he ordered. Though his face was expressionless and his tone abrupt, Mindy knew him well enough to know that he was only speaking to her this way – as if to a slave – to keep up appearances. It was only when no one else was around that he allowed himself to show his true, softer side. "If they feel they must draw comfort from one another, you may allow them to be together, but if they attempt to escape or otherwise cause any other trouble, you will separate them. As for Miss Granger, I will be taking her myself and will be dealing with her in my study."
Mindy bowed her head. "Yes, Master Snape. Mindy will be taking the Missies now, and will have Master's dinner ready when he is finished with Missy Granger." With that, she stepped forward, around Hermione, and took hold of Ginny's and Luna's wrists in her gentle hands. With a crack, she and the two girls were gone.
When the three had vanished, Severus, who still hadn't broken his hold on Hermione's eyes or wrist, spoke directly to her. "And now, little witch," he said, and she had to suppress a shudder at the way his voice deepened and took on a dark undertone. "It is time you learned a lesson." He chose his words deliberately, knowing how anyone eavesdropping would probably take them and that it was vital they kept that impression.
He saw a flicker of fear deep in Hermione's gaze, behind the defiance, fury, and resentment that were still there, and wished he could reassure her. But he couldn't do so here without giving his position away, and he wasn't sure she would believe his words anyway. But once they were in the study at Prince Manor, he hoped to show her something that would clear all her doubts.
So without giving her a chance to do or say anything else, he took hold of her, picked her up so suddenly she squeaked in surprise, and tossed her over one broad shoulder. He made certain he had a secure hold around the upper thighs of the struggling witch, forced his attention away from the fact that her arse loomed tantalizingly close to his face, and turned on the spot, Disapparating with a crack.
They appeared seconds later in a room that was unfamiliar to Hermione; she was so enraged that she barely took note of the fact that the room possessed even more books upon the shelves lining its walls than the Grimmauld Place library, though fewer than the Hogwarts library. But before she could catch more than that fleeting glimpse, she was deposited rather unceremoniously on her feet before him.
By this point Hermione was so infuriated with his overbearing, abominable behavior that her normally sound judgment was rather lacking. For the second time that evening – or in the seven years she'd known him, for that matter – she tried to strike the Potions Master. Once more he caught her wrist in his hand, and when she tried to lash out with her other hand, he captured that one too, and the two started a furious struggle for control.
"You bastard!" she raged. "No right—you have no right—who the fucking hell do you think you are—no one treats me like this—completely lost your bloody mind!"
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Severus acknowledged how truly magnificent she was when she was angry. The young Gryffindor lioness was certainly a little hellcat. He began to think that the man who'd been extolling the particular attributes of the three witches on the auction platform had hit the nail on the head when he'd said that while Hermione Granger might be hard to break, she'd be worth the effort. Any man – or he himself, if he had his way – who landed her in his bed was in for a wild ride. He found himself getting excited at the thought. But he knew he'd have to be patient and wait.
Still, even as these thoughts swirled around his head, his grip was unrelenting; the girl wasn't going anywhere he didn't want her to. However, she nearly undid him when she tried to knee him in the groin.
Abruptly, he lost his patience with her. He whirled her around so that she faced away from him, transferring his bruising grip from her wrists to her upper arms. Then he drove her forward, pushing her inexorably toward his desk with his body, and when her hips slammed into the edge of the desk, pinned there by his own hips, he pulled her arms behind her back and pinned them there with one of his large, strong hands before planting his other between her shoulder blades and pushing her down so that she stood bent over the desk with her stomach and chest pressed to the surface of the desk. And this time he didn't even fight his body's reaction to their provocative position.
Hermione was terrified by now and thinking she shouldn't have tried to hit him. It was becoming more clear to her by the minute whose side he was on, and the last hope she had of protecting her virginity vanished. Oh, yes, she could feel his intentions for her pressed hard against her backside.
"I have had enough of your attacks, witch," he growled at her. "You are in desperate need of a lesson in manners." He punctuated that statement by grinding his now prominent erection against her arse as he ground out the word "manners."
He reached for the shallow stone basin that sat on his desk, keeping his hold on her wrists and her body pinned to the desk with his other hand. "But for now, I suppose I will settle for proving to you once and for all that not all is as it seems. Soon, witch, you will thank me for pulling you and your two friends out of that brothel, no matter how I did it."
He pulled out his wand and raised it to his temple, using it to draw out thick, silvery strands of memory that slithered into the stone basin. When the last memory fell into the Pensieve, he returned his wand to the pocket of his cloak before taking Hermione in a more comfortable but no less secure hold and plunging with her into the Pensieve.
So how many people understood Elapida Serpens's name? Smile if you got it!
Comments make me happy, and constructive criticism makes me happier, so feel free to be honest! (Just don't be rude, or you'll be pointedly ignored)
RP.
