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Part 3/4
Chapter 3: Scent of a Siren
Okay it was official now: This was hell!
It was day twenty three in her life as a Siren and obviously the surprises were not over by now. First her voice, than her touch and now...now even her scent seemed to be a drug to every wizard around her. A drug that turned them into randy animals!
Hermione thought that she could probably be happy if Minerva didn't kick her out for causing all the trouble. But it really was not her fault that her scent was strong enough to reach some of the classrooms was it? She did not even know about the pheromones she was releasing till a horde of randy teenagers and a couple of teachers tried to get into her chambers, so she should not be worried about loosing her job. Right?
Right! Hermione thought bitterly as if she would be working in her job ever again if she couldn't find an antidote.
"You okay, Mya?" Charlie asked next to her and she sighed inwardly.
Of all places where Minerva could have sent her to, she had chosen to sent her to Charlie Weasley.
From a logical point of few Hermione could understand why. After all he lived in a small cottage on the Hogwarts grounds that was far away enough from every wizard in this school and he was detectable not affected by her.
From her point of view that was exactly the problem. Not that he didn't jump her like the others because of her condition -no she could live with that thank you very much but the reason why he was immune to her depressed her more than she first thought. Since the day he had rescued her from his brothers she had given him a bit more thought. Given that he practical hadn't left her side ever since, it wasn't too surprisingly.
To protect her from her admirers how he put it.
Hermione knew she had had a crush on the second eldest Weasley. Of course it had been nothing more than a silly school girl crush. Charlie looked bloody fantastic and worked with dragons -who would not be impressed by that? She was only a girl after all and like every other female with a pulse she was not immune to tall, good-looking and charming wizards who had the far scent of danger around them. The rough on the outside, good at heart cliché never failed its effect and Hermione had fallen under it, too.
Tough that had been over a decade ago, at least she thought that. She was nearly turning thirty and thought herself a little too old for crushes. So she was astonished to find out that she still felt attracted towards him when he started to teach at Hogwarts.
Of course Hermione had seen him before on a few occasions, like the traditional Weasley Christmas dinner or during weddings but they had barley talked to each other than. But ever since he gave up on his old job three years ago, due to an accident that made it impossible for him work as a dragon keeper furthermore, he plagued her dreams.
Not every night, mind you but often enough for her to blush from time to time when she looked at him and remembered the images. Naturally she didn't act on it, apart from her current situation she wasn't really a witch wizards dreamed about.
She was okay looking she guessed but she was bookish, boring, shy and more or less married to her job. Hermione had accepted a long time ago that she probably wasn't meant to find someone. It hurt but time only confirmed what she thought was true anyway.
Three or four disappointing attempts to proof herself wrong after the disaster with Ron and a lot of unsatisfying dreams was all her so called love life was made of. That was if she ignored everything that had happened since that damned potion mixed up her life.
Nonetheless a man like Charlie was way out of her league and much more than she could probably handle anyway.
Unfortunately that didn't stop her from dreaming about him. The potion made it downright impossible to sleep a night without having vivid sex dreams. She had no idea where she got all the ideas from, but Merlin she certainly wasn't shy and clueless in them.
She wanted him. Had since forever and now more than ever and she hated herself for it.
Why him? If one thing was clear than that he was in love with someone else.
Lucky witch! She thought enviously and sighed inwardly. How the hell could she possible survive living with him in such close proximity without embarrassing herself in the process?
"Mya?"
"Hmm?"
"I just wanted to know if everything's okay with you?"
"Just peachy," she snorted but sighed. "Sorry, Charlie. I don't mean to be snippy with you...it's just...well...This whole situation is getting on my nerves."
"Don't worry," he grinned at her and took her hand to squeeze it softly as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "We will find an antidote and your days as a men eating Siren will be over!"
"Very funny!" He just laughed good natured and pulled her with him.
Charlie's home was nothing like the small, murky hut Hagrid had lived in. In its place was a little cottage now. Nothing big or fancy but quite cosy. Hermione liked it very much and although she had been there before Charlie showed her around. Two bedrooms, a kitchen, an astonishing big bathroom and an inviting looking living room.
"What's upstairs?"
"The attic. I could probably use it as living place,too, but what for? Orpheus and I are happy down here." Orpheus his over-grown hound barked in agreement and waggled his tail happily as the wizard continued to pet him. Hermione had never been much of a dog lover but it was hard to resist Orpheus, especially when he walked over to her and nudged her till she petted him, too.
"Always charming the ladies, this one." Charlie smiled at his dog and left her for a moment in the living room to come back with a tray of tea and biscuits.
"What are you going to do now? Seems as if it won't come off on its own."
Yeah, she noticed that too. "To be completely honest I have no idea."
Doubtfully raising an eyebrow -after all it didn't happen often that she admitted to have no idea about a subject -he looked at her for a moment before he put a cup of tea in front of her. With two sugar and a squash of lemon. Exactly the way she liked it.
"Okay. Tell me what you have. I mean," he hurried on as he noticed she was about to protest, "what exactly was in that potion? What are the symptoms and when did what happen?"
"Amortentia, Cupitas purpurea and Sirens hair," she listed the indigents after she told him about the embarrassing encounters he had missed.
"Well, it has been quite some time since my last lesson in potions so help me here, yeah? I know about the Amortentia potion but that's it."
"Sorry, I tent to forget that not everybody is interested in that stuff," she apologized. "Alright, I guess it's the Amortentia what makes them a little possessed but it is also the cause why the ones who are deeply in love with someone don't feel affected by it. Cupitas is normally used in fertility potions and I think it's save to say that the Sirens hair is what turned my voice, skin and scent in some sort of Aphrodisiac."
"But why?"
"What do you mean why?"
"I mean," Charlie explained carefully,"every potion has its uses. A pain potion will sooth your pain, Polyjuice will make you change your form and Amortentia will make a person fall for you. But what is the use of this potion?"
"I don't know, perhaps make the user attract people of the opposite gender? Don't forget it was an accident." She had really no idea, although she had to give him that it was a good question. "There isn't much to find about Sirens. Unlike as in muggle mythology the wizard world claims them to be creatures of light. But there are only females left and it is the loneliness and sorrow that makes them sing their songs in hopes that there is still a mate for them out there who hears their calls and comes back to them."
"So this is all about mating." Hermione wanted to roll her eyes about his typical male point of view but there was no smugness in his voice and he did look rather thoughtful than amused.
"Did you feel affected by the Cupitas thing? I mean you said that the Amortentia and the Sirens hair both showed effects what about the third ingredient?"
"Luckily I have no idea if I'm more fertile than usual," she answered sarcastically. Getting pregnant during this mess wasn't that high on her to do list.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Charlie winced as he realised that she got him totally wrong. "On the reservation in Romania," he explained not without some hurt in his voice and Hermione was reminded how hard it had been for him to leave his job, "we used fertile potions on the dragons, too. Usually that also had an affect on their behaviour. They got more restless, aggressive and downright searched for the nearness of the males. And depending on the dose it would only end when..." Suddenly he stopped mid sentence and looked at her with a hint of panic.
"What is it?" Alarmed she sat up straighter and looked at him. "It would only end when what?" The sharpness in her voice surprised herself but if he knew a way to end her situation she wanted to know. The way he was looking at her didn't look promising though.
"It would only end when they were finally pregnant."
Gasping for air like a drowning woman Hermione sat up in her bed. Sweat was running down her overly heated body and her thin nightshirt clung to her like a second skin. Swallowing tightly she pushed some of her damp curls out of her face and tried to calm herself down. It wasn't working. She was so aroused that it wouldn't need much to push her over the edge right now. For a second Hermione played with the thought to finish what a certain redhead started in her dream but she clutched both of her hands tightly into the bedsheets beside her.
No, she wouldn't do that. That would be so...so wrong. Especially with the object of her dreams sleeping in the next room -probably dreaming about his love.
That did it. The thought of the unknown witch who had captured Charlie's heart was like a bucket of ice water. With a frustrated growl Hermione pushed the sheets aside and marched to the bathroom. Her favourite place in the cottage. At least one could think that, given how much time she spent in there. Mostly for cold showers, though.
By now she had been living with Charlie for nearly a week and every day was getting worse. She felt hot and restless during the days but that was nothing compared to the nights. Her dreams were so steamy and vivid that more than once she was awoken by her own state of arousal. But somehow she was never able to find relief. She always balanced on the very edge and then she woke up. Mostly to find herself sweat covered and wrestled out of her clothes. Not to forget never far away from giving in to the urge to storm into the next room and demand relief from the man sleeping in there.
"They got more restless, aggressive and downright searched for the nearness of the males."
Hermione remembered Charlie's words and could not deny the truth of them any longer. She showed the same symptoms and it was only logical to trace that back to the Cupitas.
"It would only end when they were finally pregnant."
The ice cold water that ran down her overly heated body was not the only reason she shuddered. Pregnant! Like before she wanted to scream at the thought but her voice stuck in her throat.
There is always the possibility that he was wrong.
They had decided to share that bit information with Poppy who found Charlie's suggestion a bit far fetched but promised to speak with an old friend who was working at St. Mungos. Something they should have done long before, Hermione thought. But of course she was arrogant enough to think she would find the solution by herself.
Tomorrow they would know more, but deep down Hermione already knew that Charlie was right with his theory.
Pregnant, her mind screamed again. Pregnant! With child! She didn't even have a boyfriend let alone husband, how could she become pregnant? Of course at the moment there were more than a few willing wizards who would provide her with everything needed but what was after that?
What was after the potion lost its effect and the wizard realised what they had done? And with whom. Hermione wasn't that desperate for a man that she would trick him with this potion and force him to marry her eventually because of the child.
Rita Skeeter would have a field day. She could practically see the headline before her eyes. Desperate war heroine drugs helpless wizard to get pregnant!
Besides that there was only one wizard she wanted but he was out of reach. With or without that damned potion.
Her skin was turning to a light shade of blue and Hermione finally allowed herself to turn the hot water on. Sighing she closed her eyes and enjoyed the pleasant feeling.
Why had it to be her? Hermione knew dozen of women who would give their right leg to get into her situation. They would pick out the richest and best looking bloke and bind him to them with a child. Hell, with the potion the wizard would marry them instantly.
Hermione wasn't interested in all that. She just wanted someone who loved her because of her. But the only love she was going to find under the influence of this potion was the love other people felt for their partner and the love she was never going to have.
Was she really so ugly and undesirable? She thought about her past relationships and all that she found was hurt, loneliness and the feeling of being not enough.
First Ron, who wanted different things in life than her, at least at that point. A home and a family but she did not want to be a mother and home witch at the age of nineteen so none too surprisingly things didn't ended good between them. She still thought herself in love with him but knew they had no future together. The fact that he married Lavender Brown not entirely one year later showed her plainly that Ron had never loved her the way she thought.
Out of hurt she had started a fling with a wizard named James Allington who was studying potions, like her. It ended as quickly as it started and afterwards Hermione felt even worse than before. She wasn't the type for casual sex without feelings and also there had never been any promises between the two of them and James made it clear quite from the beginning that he wasn't looking for love, she felt used.
Afterwards she had kept her distance from men till she met Eric during the year she had spent in Sweden in the exchange program. For her it was love, for him obviously nothing more than a meaningless fling cause after she returned to England to start her job at Hogwarts he responded less and less to her letters and calls till one day he didn't answer at all.
That was around the time she accepted that she was not destined to find someone. She never believed in destiny, stargazing and all that crap before but a broken heart changed a lot of things.
After Eric there had been only two men. Both stupid attempts to show herself that she did not need love but was perfectly content with a sexual relationship. She wasn't and she was glad that she would probably never see the men again. One had been a muggle she met in London the other a wizard she met during her vacation in Australia, where her parents remained to live.
What was she supposed to do if it really came down to get pregnant? She always connected getting pregnant with love and marriage and nothing of that was anywhere near in sight. Though what she felt for Charlie felt close to love, it was not what she dreamt about. On the other hand what had love brought her in the past? Nothing but a broken heart and a lot of tears. So she should be happy that she wasn't head over heals for him and that he was immune to her. Otherwise she would have probably given in to her own longing, lulled by his desire for her and then...then the potion would loose its effect and he would look at her in disgust and hate for what she had done. And this time she would be broken beyond repair with a child on the way.
Her life was a mess!
As her body begun to shake again it wasn't because of unfulfilled sexual desire or because it was cold. No, as Hermione Granger sunk down in the shower, shaking all over her body it was because she cried. She had not allowed herself that luxury in years but there was only so much a girl could bear. Miserably she pulled her legs close to her so that she could hide her face against her knees and let the tears flow.
And it wasn't before the water turned could again, that she stood up on wobbly legs and left the shower, trying with all her might to put herself together. And like any other time in her life when she had felt miserable there were no signs of how she really felt, as she finally left the bathroom.
Who would want to know anyway?
She didn't cry and break down after she read the letter Minerva handed her over with a pitiful look in her eyes, she had already done so. And the letter announced nothing she didn't already know.
Though there was no unalterable certainty it was the most logical assumption. But nothing conclusive could be said without testing that theory further.
Testing that theory further! Great Merlin what was she? A lab rat?
But all in all she wasn't surprised. So she had to get pregnant. The word echoed in her head till it was all she could think about. Hermione didn't notice that her legs were about to give in before she felt Charlie's hands around her waist to steady her.
"You better sit down, Mya." Without waiting for her to agree he lead her to his big old leather couch and sat down beside her and took one of her hands in his own.
The headmistress seemed more than a little uncomfortable with the hole situation but finally her Gryffindor courage seemed to take over and she coughed slightly.
"Miss Gr-Hermione," Minerva sighed and she finally looked up. "I know that it can't be easy for you but as far as we know it's the only way to stop this potion from working. I'm sure there are a lot of wizards who would," her pale cheeks coloured a bit, "who would be more than willing to help you with that."
Merlin! Hermione really did not want to talk about that with Minerva. Could it get worse? The next second she was assured it could.
"Mister Wood would surely help you."
Was it her imagination or was Charlie gripping her hand tighter than before?
"I mean," McGonagall continued with more confidence, "Oliver as well as Mister Zabini seem both very taken with you. Without the influence of the potion as well," her old professor hurried to assure her as she saw she was about to protest. "Especially the latter," she added not without a hint of distaste, probably because Blaise was a Slytherin.
But Hermione had no time to think about Oliver and Blaise as the pressure on her hand became too much to be ignored and her face contorted as it became painful.
"Charlie!" she grasped. The pressure lessened instantly but he didn't let go of her hand.
"Mister Za-"
"Take me!" Charlie interrupted McGonagall roughly.
"What?!"
TBC
A/N: I'm a bit surprised about the interest in this little story, but I can't say that I'm not happy about it^^ I hope I don't let you down and you will enjoy this fic till the last word!
Thanks and sugar quills to: Tate Dean, emp 69, SinDoll, kk1999, RxDJxB Lestrange, IGOTEAMEDWARD, Eva1983, cjewellm, Werepug, ginsensu, zelandoni0045, diamond-helen, fire dragonheart, Lady Zymurgy...you're all fantastic!
