Unexpected Results
A/N: We finally see a little angst in this chapter between Severus and Hermione. But Remus asserts himself in her life. This story has gone a whole different direction than I intended it to...but characters have a way of poping up in ways you never expected. This chapter is a little shorter than usual, but I wanted to get it up.
Chapter 4: Boiling Up Desire
Hermione gathered the volumes of research she had accumulated over the last couple of weeks and packed it all into a sturdy satchel. She slung it over her shoulder and prepared herself to make her way to Hogwarts. She looked around her study one last time to make sure she had everything she needed. Spotting the vial of crushed daffodil dragon flower, she grabbed it and stuck it in a small side pocket on her satchel.
It was Monday night, and Hermione was heading to Hogwarts to begin their first session of practical brewing. She and Severus had been working for the last two weeks to examine the properties in the daffodil dragon flower. After a lot of debate, and some yelling sessions of pure stubbornness, they came to the conclusion that they would try to make the moonstone go into the potion using the daffodil dragon flower as a catalyst. But, Severus was convinced that it would not be able to be removed once the process had reached the final stage of brewing.
Hermione fought with him on the point. So they decided to try it and find out who was correct.
Hermione checked the clock as she running out the door and noticed she was running late.
"Oh, no! He is not going to like that."
--
"Do you make it a habit to arrive late to your assigned meetings?" Severus drawled out his annoyance as Hermione rushed into his private lab.
"I apologize." Hermione was breathing hard from her effort to make it there quickly. "I am usually early to meetings. I don't know how time got away from me."
Severus raised his eyebrows at her comment and turned around to make his way over the cauldron he already had set up.
"I have already prepared the base for the Wolfsbane. It is ready for the addition of the moonstone."
Hermione put her satchel down and grabbed the vial of daffodil dragon flower from the side pocket. Rummaging through the satchel, she found her notebook with her most recent notes in it.
"I have the daffodil here." Hermione walked over to the workspace and looked over the cauldron to check on the process of the potion. "Do you have the moonstone out?"
Severus pulled over a small tray that had a sharp knife sitting on top of it and a lump of moonstone. He grabbed the knife, and began to shave the moonstone in small slivers as Hermione watched his hands with apt attention. She had never noticed the expertise that he had in preparing ingredients. His exacting movements and measured control were intriguing to watch. She lost herself in thought as she stared unabashedly at his skilled hands. It was with a sudden flush that she realized how her thoughts had betrayed her by thinking about the way his hands would feel pressed against her skin in a passionate embrace. She began to feel lightheaded with visions of him focusing the same attention he put into his potion making on her.
Once he finished preparing the moonstone he turned to Hermione and noticed her mesmerized state.
"Ms. Granger, it is not advisable to daydream while in the middle of working with volatile substances!" Severus snapped her out of her reverie with his biting remark.
"I'm sorry, Headmaster." Hermione flushed with embarrassed and pretended to look over her notes in an effort to distract herself from the awkward situation.
Severus pulled out a diffusing tube and placed the moonstone slivers in the bottom of the container. With the addition of a quick spell to diffuse the potency of the daffodil dragon flower, he turned to Hermione to acquire the ingredient.
"Ms. Granger, pass me the daffodil."
Hermione took the vial of daffodil and poured it out on a measure to procure exactly 2mg of the substance. Once she was sure of the measurement, she removed the desired amount from the scale and handed it to Severus.
When her hand came into contact with his, she blushed with arousal and quickly removed her hand from his proximity.
Severus noticed her sudden movement and observed the tinge of red that appeared on her cheeks from their contact. He watched her reaction with confusion and wondered if the little chit had some lingering school girl crush for her old professor. It amused him to think of her pining away for someone dark and socially repugnant, like himself; simply because he held a position of authority over her at one time in her life. It must torture her to be stuck on someone that abused her so vehemently; when all she wanted was acceptance and approval in the magical world.
He dismissed his train of thought and began to concentrate of the diffusion of the daffodil in his hand.
Once he finished the procedure, he had a small portion of the combined ingredients in a silver vial ready to be introduced to the Wolfsbane. He handed the vial to Hermione and moved to stand behind her while she stirred it into the potion.
"Be sure to stir counter-clockwise, with a pace of two rotations per minute." Severus stood tall behind her and scrutinized her work.
Hermione was very aware of his position and unable to focus fully on her task. She closed her eyes briefly to gain back her concentration, and began to slowly introduce the diffused combination in single drops.
Her breathing became slightly ragged as she tried to pull her mind away from its constant wandering to old dreams of being in this exact position, and counted the seconds as she stirred with a slow precision.
Once she finished introducing the ingredient, she sighed with satisfaction that the potion did not explode in her face. She was proud of herself for being able to keep her cool; even with Severus standing right behind her the whole time.
Without moving or turning around, Hermione put the ladle and vial down on the counter next to the cauldron.
"Should I turn the fire down slightly for the next stage of brewing?" Hermione asked her question into the cauldron.
Severus stepped closer to her back until he was millimeters away from her body. Hermione opened her mouth slightly as her breath caught in her throat at his sudden intrusion into her personal space.
"Use your senses to decide."
"I don't understand. It has a rolling boil right now. I thought it had to have a slow simmer for the next stage." Hermione felt uneasy with him standing so close to her, and found herself unable to think intelligently.
Severus raised one of his arms and wrapped it gently around her waist, pulling her body into complete contact with his own.
"Close your eyes." Severus rumbled his instructions in a soft low tone that dripped with hormones.
"What?" Hermione nervously squeaked out her confusion of the rising angst of the situation.
"Close your eyes. I want you to pay attention to your other senses to feel the potions status."
Hermione hesitantly closed her eyes and waited for her next instruction.
Severus leaned down to her ear and whispered his next direction.
"What do you smell?"
Hermione slowly pulled in a long breathe as she analyzed the smell of the air protruding from the cauldron.
"I smell flowers and stone."
"You are being intellectual. Do not give me the answer you think I want to hear. Tell me what you really smell."
"It smells…it almost smells like a spring day."
"What else?"
"It's sweet. Like candy."
"Now what do you feel?"
Hermione blushed with her eyes closed as she thought about how she felt his hard body pressed up against her back.
"I feel heat. It feels humid?"
"Good. Finally, what do you hear?"
Hermione listened closely to the silence of the room and concentrated on the bubbling of the potion just below her head.
"I hear the rolling bubbling of the potion."
"There's more. What is it?"
"It…it hisses with the release of each bubble of air. It's very faint."
"Open your eyes Ms. Granger."
Hermione slowly opened her eyes and placed both of her hands flat on the table surface in front of her. She was very aware of Severus's presence still pressed tightly to her.
Severus leaned further down until his lips were right next to her ear. She could feel his breath flush hotly across her ear lobe as the hand around her waist rose slightly to middle of her abdomen.
"Brewing involves all of the senses Ms. Granger. Let this be a lesson to you to always be aware of every aspect of your potion."
And with that he removed his arm from her waist and pulled away from her back. He stepped around the table and caught the sight of her aroused body holding on to the table for composure.
"Wolfsbane should have a bitter smell to it at this stage; and the heat that comes from the potion should be dry in nature, not humid. It seems that, although the daffodil does keep the potion from exploding when the moonstone is introduced, it does not produce the desired result we have for the Wolfsbane.
"I believe this means that I was correct about the daffodil dragon flower."
Hermione's felt the familiar feeling of desire roll around deep within her stomach as she desperately tried to concentrate on what he was saying. She noticed the wetness that was present in her knickers, and a blush rose up the sides of her neck from sheer embarrassment.
"Ms. Granger, are you paying attention?"
Hermione blinked a couple of times as she refocused her attention on the dark man standing in front of her.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"
Severus raised an eyebrow at her completely distracted state. It shocked him to see her so lost in her own misguided arousal, that it amused him to have such power over her. He considered the many years of dealing with her constant arm-waving in his classroom and exasperating need to assert her knowledge on him at all costs; and wondered how it would feel to see her pushed out of her comfort zone and brought down a few notches.
He looked her up and down in a manner that could only be described as leering.
"We need to continue our search for another ingredient to use as a catalyst. If we can find something with similar characteristics to the daffodil, I believe we can test the two ingredients and find out the determining factors that are causing the reaction we had today."
Hermione listened to him closely, and began to thumb through her notebook to find a clean sheet of paper. Once she found one, she began to make some notations on what she was looking for to help find the next possibility.
"What if we looked for an ingredient that has to do with the sun?" Hermione absentmindedly blurted out her thoughts as she was writing her notes.
"The sun?" Severus looked at as though she said something absolutely ridiculous. "There is no such thing as sunstone Ms. Granger. Unless you have the desire to be incinerated while harvesting the ingredient."
"I meant an ingredient that reacts to the sun. For example, the flower diffused the reaction of the moonstone and acted as a good catalyst because of its dependence on the sun to find nutrients during its growth process."
"So if we find another plant form that is solely dependent on the sun, we may be able to truly diffuse the moonstone without reducing its place in the potion." Severus thought out loud as he began his usual cleansing routine of his workspace.
Once he disposed of the ruined Wolfsbane, he pulled out the second batch he had started brewing a week before to set it up for its simmering time.
When he realized they would be starting the experimental phase of this project so early on, he began the initial phase of brewing for Wolfsbane in many doses; keeping them all under a stasis charm, waiting for the moonstone to be added.
Hermione looked up suddenly and leapt to her feet as she twirled in place to find Severus.
"Sunflower!"
"Excuse me?"
"Sunflower! I don't know why I never thought of it before? It's the perfect counterpart to the moonstone. The sunflower thrives in direct heat of the sun. It is also known for its ability to be used as a natural stasis charm for brewing, when the brewer does not have a wand with them. It could be perfect!" Hermione spouted her sudden spark of genius off to him in an excited manner.
Severus looked at her without focusing, as he thought about the properties of the sunflower.
"I hate to admit it, but you might be on to something Ms. Granger." Severus begrudgingly admitted. "Can you procure some pure sunflower before tomorrow's meeting?"
"I believe so. I'll go by 'Petunia's Potions' as soon as I get off of work to pick some up. I should have it ready in time for tomorrow night."
Severus nodded his approval and picked up his own notebook with his ideas and theories scrawled throughout. He made a few quick notations and snapped the notebook closed with a sharp finality.
"It's getting late Ms. Granger, I suggest we finish this tomorrow. I will research the sunflower in greater detail before our next meeting."
Hermione looked down in defeat at his dismissal and began to gather her items to leave.
"Yes sir. I will see you tomorrow evening."
"Do try to be on time tomorrow." Severus made his last biting sarcastic remark before turning to enter his office and closing the door behind him; making his dismissal of her presence final.
--
Remus sat in his living room reading a volume on the mating habits of the werewolf. It was an in-depth look at the calls and bonds that can be made due to the instinctual nature of the werewolf. He focused his reading on a section about the blood of a virgin and the werewolf's ability to be marked by her blood in a bond. It stated that this bond was not designed by a natural pull or destined partner, but can be controlled by the host of the lyncanthropy.
So that meant that Hermione was not preordained to be his…just that he attached himself to her unknowingly. As he read on, he found out that this marking can turn into a lifelong commitment that will always strengthen the bond between the two. But it can also be a detrimental to the Lycan if they choose to ignore the pull they get to complete the mating process around their times of transformation.
The wolf's desire is to mate with his bonded partner. It is routed in his instinct to ensure his bloodline. The constant denial of this mating will slowly drive the Lycan insane with lust.
Remus became more worried as he read on about his condition:
The Lycan has the ability to dismiss the constant pull and desire for this mate if they are unaware of the other's affections. There have been many cases of the Lycan making this bond without their knowledge and continuing their life with no consequences. There is no scientific reason why this phenomenon takes place.
But the dangerous part comes to the surface when the Lycan becomes aware of the marking and of their partner's affection for them. If the Lycan knows his partner is willing, and still denies the bond to take place, the Lycan can be driven mad with lust to complete the mating.
Documented instances of this situation have been researched at great length. In all of the cases the Lycan fully lost control of their cognitive reasoning within 10 months of the realization of their bond.
It is advised to allow the mating to take place at least once every three months to ensure the sanity of the Lycan. If the bond can be completed fully each month (the day before their transformation), the Lycan will experience the greatest ease of life and comfort during their transformations.
Remus laid the book on his lap as he thought about all he had just read. The authors words confirmed to him all of the feelings and desires he had felt these last couple of weeks.
His relationship with Hermione had suffered slightly over the last two weeks. He would watch her intensely each time they were together and had a hard time concentrating on anything other than their rather heated encounter the week before.
At one time Hermione noticed his distracted look and questioned his attention. She joked that he was probably picturing her naked.
But he found it hard to participate in their usual playful banter with his mind consumed of thoughts of her writhing beneath him with her legs firmly clamped around his waist, screaming his name.
It was even harder on him, knowing that all he had to do was say the word and Hermione would gladly submit to his every desire.
His mind turned to her again as he remembered that she was at her first brewing session with Severus tonight. He became agitated as unwanted visions of her pushed over one of the lab tables with Severus pounding into her from behind, came rushing to the forefront of his mind.
He growled in frustration as he jumped from his chair and began to pace furiously in front of his fireplace. He kicked the side of his chair as he looked up to check the clock.
9:30 p.m. Hermione would be home by now from brewing.
Making the decision to talk to her, he went over to his fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder.
"Hermione! Hermione are you in?"
Hermione heard Remus's voice coming from her fireplace and quickly put her books down and ran to the living room.
"Remus? Is something wrong with Teddy? It's rather late."
"No, nothing is wrong with Teddy. He's sound asleep." Remus pulled forth his courage and continued, "I was wondering if we could have a talk? Can you come over for a little bit?"
Hermione thought about her day tomorrow, and decided she could lose a little sleep without disturbing her work too much.
"Sure. Give me a second to change out of my work clothes…I'll be over in a few."
"Great."
Remus pulled out of the floo and went to find the book he was reading just a few minutes before. He found it flung open on the ground in front of his chair. He picked it up and flipped through to find the part he was reading about the situation he and Hermione were now in. He didn't know if he was prepared to tell her about the consequences of their circumstances just yet…but he wanted to be prepared.
A couple of minutes later Hermione came through the floo with her hair pulled up in a loose ponytail, her hip hugger jeans on, and a loose men's button down shirt on, with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, the collar pulled open and un-tucked. She was a vision that set him on fire.
Without even greeting her, Remus rose from his chair and swiftly made his way over to her by the fireplace. With a fervor she had never before seen from him, he pushed her forcefully against the wall behind her and plundered her mouth with his own.
It took Hermione a second to realize what was going on. She responded with trepidation as he consumed her with his fierce domination of her body. Remus trapped her against the wall with his body pressed up against her, and ran his hands up her sides until he found her breasts. He began to massage them through her shirt and bra as he released her mouth and moved his attention to her neck.
Hermione became breathless under his aggressive behavior. She clasped her hands tightly in the back of his shirt.
She tried to understand what was going on, and became concerned that something was wrong.
"Wait!...wait." Hermione breathed out her command in an effort to gain some semblance of control over the situation. "What happened to waiting until I was done with my project?"
Remus paid little attention to her words as he became consumed by her. He growled at her attempt to distract his assault.
"Remus, I don't understand." Hermione gasped loudly as he bit down on her neck and pushed his hips into hers. His erection was very evident; and Hermione's resolve started to become cloudy. "We have to talk about this!" With all of the will power she could muster, she pulled her hands around to the front of his chest and pushed him from her.
Remus stumbled back a step and checked himself when he realized how much he had lost control of himself.
Hermione looked at him with a shocked expression as her eyes became glassy as tears began to form.
"What is wrong with you Remus? I thought you wanted me to come over and talk."
Remus closed his eyes in a guilty gesture.
"I'm sorry Hermione. I can't seem to control myself around you, and it's eating me up inside."
"I thought we agreed to wait until I was done with this project."
Remus sighed in frustration as he began to pace once again in his living room.
"I can't wait Hermione. Every time you are near me I am consumed with thoughts of you laying beneath me in the throes of passion. I can't concentrate at work, and I find myself unable to do anything without you entering my mind.
"I don't care about waiting anymore, Hermione. I want you! I don't care about getting hurt or losing you…I just want you now, for as long as you'll let me have you." Remus stopped his pacing at the end of his rant and looked expectantly at Hermione.
Hermione looked deeply into his soul with confusion, shock and utter disbelief at his words. It was everything she thought she wanted to hear from him.
Unable to process all the events from her night she tightly closed her eyes and looked down, as tears started to form in true confusion.
Remus watched her reaction and knew something was wrong.
"You are already in love him, aren't you?"
The silent sobs and tears began to come faster at his words as Hermione shook her head in a refusal.
"I don't know." Her words were strained through her gasps of air. "He's never given me any reason to believe he will ever feel the same way about me. He's mean, he's distant and he always feels the need to embarrass me. But, for some reason, I react so strongly to his presence that I cannot concentrate on my research or work. And then there are times when we are talking that seem so wonderful as we play off of each other's intelligence. It's amazing.
"My heart tells me to choose you Remus. I love you, I know you will treat me right, and I know you love me in return. We could be perfect together. I love Teddy as if he was my own, and nothing would make me happier than to be his step-mother. But my body chooses Severus. And I hate myself for it.
"I have no idea what my mind wants. I'm just so confused. It hurts." Hermione wrapped her arms around herself and slowly slid her body to ground against the wall. She grabbed her knees in front of her and hugged them to her chest as she rocked her body with her sobs.
Remus watched her as his heart broke. He walked over to her on the floor and sat down next to her. He wrapped her in his arms and laid her head on his chest as he rocked with her.
"Why is it that we are always comforting each other, Hermione?"
"I don't know." Hermione looked up at him from within his arms. "I never thought falling in love would be so hard."
Remus gave her a small smile as he rubbed her back in a comforting gesture. She turned her head back down to the floor as she closed her eyes to relax in his embrace.
"That's what makes it so amazing."
--
A/N: I am working on the next chapter now. I hope to have it up in a couple of days...sorry for the wait. I wrote myself into a corner and my muse decided to take a vacation.