Wheee, another update!
Disclaimer: See Prologue and Chapters 1-5. I don't know how many chapters I'll end up with, and I'm getting tired of repeating myself. I don't like imitating broken records.
Chapter Six
~Rules~
When he reached the three girls, Ginny glanced at Hermione before speaking up. Ginny could tell from that single glance that Hermione needed a chance to gather her wits and mentally prepare herself for the discussion with Snape.
"You wanted to speak with us, Professor?" Ginny asked calmly.
"Indeed," he replied, inclining his head briefly. "I wished to speak with the three of you together about what to expect of the coming days. It is vital that we are all on the same page, so to speak. There are a few rules that must be obeyed. First, none of you is to leave the house without informing myself or Mindy. Since the grounds are so well warded as to not allow anyone in or out, not even the Dark Lord himself, you will be allowed onto the grounds, but you will be bound to them. Do not even attempt an escape. For one thing, you will be physically unable to leave the grounds, whether by magic or not. For another, I will instantly be alerted should you try. Subsequently, I will bind you solely to the house and you will no longer be allowed even into the garden.
"Second, you may come and go within the house as you please, though there will be certain rooms which will be off-limits, including my private Potions lab. Once again, they will be warded, so do not even attempt to enter them. Later I will take you on a tour of the Manor and will show you which rooms are off-limits and which ones you are free to enter.
"Thirdly, the library is one of the rooms which you are free to enter. However, there are certain books within the library which you will be forbidden to touch, as they are all on Dark Magic and most of them hold nasty consequences for anyone other than me, the owner, who attempts to read them. They are all on a separate shelf, and I will show you where they are so that you do not touch them. The rest of the books you may consider yours to peruse as you wish so long as you treat them carefully. You will also be free to study certain kinds of magic you will find within them, so long as you seek my approval before you begin studying something new. Though as you do not possess wands and most of the wandless magic to be studied in these books is likely too advanced for you to attempt, you may not find much you will be able to do."
Hermione kept her facial expression carefully controlled; all her studies of wandless magic during the last year had been completely extra-curricular, and some instinct she'd had as she'd pored over various library books had told her to keep her improving skills in wandless magic as secret as possible. It would be extremely difficult for an enemy to prepare for and counteract abilities he was unaware of. So Snape had absolutely no idea she'd even been studying wandless magic at all, never mind that her abilities were progressing nicely. She'd find something useful to study in his books, wand or no wand, and she'd master whatever magic she tried to learn come hell or high water.
"Finally, you will join me for breakfast and dinner, though you will be free to take lunch as you please. When the new school term starts I will not be present for dinner as often, but I will continue to take breakfast here."
He paused to look at each one of them, his eyes lingering on Hermione's face the longest, before he continued. "Those are the only rules for now. Keep to them and they will be the only ones you will need to worry about. Break them and you will find yourselves with more restrictions. Are there any questions?"
Hermione and Luna shook their heads; Ginny, however, spoke. Where Hermione had learned when it was best to fall silent and observe quietly when seeking answers rather than always voicing her questions aloud and expecting answers to also be voiced aloud, Ginny had not quite reached that point. She still expected verbal answers to her questions, even if it meant browbeating them out of a person.
"What are your intentions for us, then? Clearly you're not going to just hand us back over to Professor Dumbledore and the Order, and you've made it pretty clear you're on the Order's side. So now that you've purchased us and for all intents and purposes, much as I hate to admit it, own us in the eyes of You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters, what are you going to do with us?" she asked bluntly, crossing her arms. She may have realized he was on their side, and may have acknowledged he wouldn't harm them, but she wanted him to say it. Plus, he seemed to have made his intentions for Hermione pretty clear, but hadn't said much as to what was going to happen to her and Luna.
He raised one eyebrow at her, drawing himself up to his full, considerable height. "Do you think me an idiot, Miss Weasley? Surely you don't expect me to believe that you and Miss Lovegood did not express your concern over what I wanted with Miss Granger after she returned to you. Or that she did not share anything of what transpired between us when I told her she could tell you what was going on. Doubtless she has told you everything, including the fact that the Dark Lord will require proof that I did not simply remove the three of you from the brothel only to hand you back over to the Order and that I have no intentions of fabricating a memory to satisfy him. I believe I have made abundantly clear to Miss Granger my intentions for her, as well as the fact that I do not have similar intentions for you and Miss Lovegood, and as I have been under the impression that she will have made you aware of what is going on, I see no need to repeat myself." He spoke with his best Professor Snape drawl, and though he addressed Ginny, when he spoke of his intentions for Hermione, his fathomless black gaze cut over to Hermione's face, snaring her eyes and daring her to challenge him before her friends.
Despite the verbal dressing-down she'd just been given, Ginny's determined quest for answers did not falter. "Fine, then. Just what is going to happen to myself and Luna? You've made it clear that you don't have the same interest in us that you have in Hermione, but will You-Know-Who be satisfied with a memory only with her? He won't need a memory with each of us?"
"I believe I may have another solution. I need to finish working out the details before I tell you anything more, however, so you will simply have to be satisfied for now that no harm will come to either of you, nor will either of you be forced to do anything against your wishes."
Ginny glanced at Luna and Hermione; she found no help from Hermione, who was watching Snape, her mouth in a thin line and her eyes hard, but Luna met her gaze and nodded almost imperceptibly. Ginny let the matter go.
Luna took her turn to speak up. "I expect you'll be required to show us off, Professor," she said candidly. Trust her to bring up something that hadn't occurred to the other two to ask about. "How will you do that?"
Severus blinked, momentarily surprised by the casual manner in which she asked the question, but he recovered quickly. "Undoubtedly, once the Dark Lord hears about the purchase, he will arrange a meeting with his Death Eaters, to which I will be summoned and where he will most likely ask me or Lucius Malfoy, the two of us being in possession of the largest and most suitable homes, to host a gala. I will be expected to bring the three of you, and all three of you will most likely be cross-examined thoroughly by the members of the inner circle." At the horrified looks of the three girls – well, of Hermione and Ginevra, at any rate; Luna's expression was serene as always – he hastened to add, "Not for information, but to see how well you hold up under pressure. Honestly, the members of the inner circle will most likely be envious when they learn I will not be required to share your…favors…with them, and will settle for making you as uncomfortable as they can and trying their hardest to provoke you into causing a scene, purely for the sake of entertainment. They will ask you as many personal and uncomfortable questions as they can think of, questions about how rough I am, how deviant my sexual preferences are, that sort of thing. Ignoring them completely would be unwise, so I leave it up to you to decide how best to answer them."
Hermione frowned, having thought of something. "What about here? Will there ever be other times when we will have to worry about the Death Eaters' company here?" she asked, her brows furrowed. The ruse would be much more difficult to maintain if they could not expect when other Death Eaters or, heaven forbid, Voldemort himself might show up.
To the girls' immense relief, he shook his head. "The Dark Lord has taken up residence at Malfoy Manor. All Death Eater meetings take place there. I am high enough in the Dark Lord's favor that if other Death Eaters wish to speak with me, they must either wait until the next meeting or send a letter by owl. For the other highest members of the inner circle, such as the Malfoys or the Lestranges, should they decide to drop in for a visit, my wards will notify me with enough time in advance to warn you and give you adequate time to prepare."
"What about visitors?" Ginny asked. "Will we be allowed to have any at all?"
Hermione wanted to shake her head. The fewer people who knew he wasn't using them as sex slaves as he was supposed to the better. How well would Harry and Ron or anyone else be able to keep it a secret if they knew the truth?
"No. The fewer people who know I am not using you for the purposes for which I purchased you, the better. The only people who will be allowed to see you are my own personal physician, the Headmaster, and Minerva McGonagall. The first will be in case of injury or illness that I do not have the skill to treat, the second because he is the one I truly work for, and the third because if she is not allowed to see you, she will most likely kick up a fuss and find a way to storm in anyway." His lips twitched almost unnoticeably, and Hermione found herself barely able to resist a smile of her own in response.
Ginny smirked. That was exactly what Minerva McGonagall would do should Snape attempt to keep her from her precious cubs. She almost wished he would try; she'd pay money to see that duel. She allowed herself a brief moment of fantasy, but then banished it with a mental shake of her head. No, she told herself, Snape was on their side. He wouldn't harm them, so there would be no reason for him to duel McGonagall. She returned to the conversation.
"So if you're binding us to the grounds, I'm assuming then that there's no chance of us getting to go out, even if you take us," she stated.
He did not answer right away; instead, he was considering the merits of risking an outing against the potential disaster of holding hostage three teenage girls who would get bored even with access to his library and grounds. On the one hand, if they were recognized in public, problems would arise, either for them or for him, depending on who recognized them. On the other hand, while he knew Hermione would probably happily spend all day in the library if she could, he wasn't sure if the same could be said of the young Ravenclaw, who was certainly a bit of a free spirit, and he knew the same would definitely not be said of the temperamental red-head.
In addition, these three girls had been three of the most prominent members of the one group that had given Dolores Umbridge more trouble than any others combined during her disastrous tenure at Hogwarts. Luna Lovegood was unpredictable. Ginny Weasley was temperamental with a tendency toward impatience. And brilliant Hermione Granger was devious enough to rival any Slytherin and had a potential for mischief to rival Fred and George Weasley or even the thrice-cursed Marauders. He shuddered to think of what trouble these three girls might create as a means of alleviating boredom, with or without wands.
He made his choice. "For now, no. But, if you show yourselves to be capable of behaving, following the other rules and not creating mischief as I know members of the notorious Dumbledore's Army are wont to do, then perhaps I will allow an outing, but only if you are disguised. No one must recognize you. In addition, I do not have the time to go gallivanting all about Diagon Alley. Therefore, should these outings occur, it will be Mindy who accompanies you, and she will be able to bind herself to all three of you, so again, do not consider that you may be able to attempt an escape." As he spoke, he drew himself up to his full, imposing height and glowered down his nose at them.
The three girls nodded their agreement. The prospect of possibly getting out of the Manor every once in a while was too great a temptation to risk it by making trouble. They'd be good.
When no other questions were forthcoming, he spoke again. "Then, if that is everything, I will bid you good night. Mindy will accompany you to your rooms. In the morning she will escort you to breakfast, after which I will show you around the Manor that you may learn your way around, as well as where you may or may not go."
He called for Mindy, who appeared with a pop, and bade her take the girls back to their rooms. As the three of them turned to go, however, he smirked to himself. Surely Hermione hadn't thought it'd be that easy.
"A moment, Miss Granger. I'd like a word with you. I will accompany you back upstairs myself after I finish speaking with you."
Hermione stopped, her back to the Professor, and closed her eyes in resignation. She opened them to find Ginny and Luna looking back at her, as if to ask if they should wait for her. She shook her head at them, knowing Snape would just send them away anyway.
With reassuring looks back at her, they followed Mindy from the room without a word.
Hermione took another moment to steel herself, taking a deep breath. Then she schooled her expression so that it was unreadable.
"What is it, sir?" she asked, fighting to keep her pounding heart from showing on her face.
One side of his mouth tilted up in almost a half-smile. The look was one of part amusement, part smugness, and all arrogance. "Come now, Hermione," he said, drawing her name out in a purr. Oh, now that went straight to her knickers, and he knew it, damn him. "Is it not typical of Gryffindors to want to cut straight to the chase? Don't pretend you have no idea why I have sent your two friends away while holding you back."
Her nose flared and her lips tightened. Oh, yes, she knew very well why he'd done that. And clearly he wasn't going to let her spend the first night or two with her friends. Clearly he expected her to strip, jump straight into his bed, and lie on her back with her legs open for him right from the off. Well, if he thought she was just going to submit to him without a fuss and let him take her whenever he wanted, then he had better think again.
If he wanted a memory of an encounter with her to prove himself and satisfy some twisted voyeuristic fetish Voldemort had, fine. But she'd see him in hell before she allowed it to be a memory of him forcing her or just taking her as he pleased. Far better anyway for it to seem like she'd consented because she trusted him.
But the real issue right now was the fact that apparently he expected to keep her in his bed even after the one memory had been produced. As far as she was concerned, once would be enough, and after that there would be no further need to keep her in his bed.
So, with those thoughts worked out, she straightened her spine and shifted until her stance was the same challenging one she'd taken on the auction platform in the brothel.
Severus watched with satisfaction as the militant gleam entered her eyes, her spine stiffened, and she took on an aggressive pose similar to the one on the auction platform in the brothel. Oh, yes, she was beautiful when she was angry.
"Fine then," she said, her eyes blazing. "Mindy told me just where you plan to have me sleep, and I won't have it. You want a real memory? Fine. I'll do it once so you can have your fucking proof, but that's it. I'm not staying in your bed. If you think I'm going to become your personal whore just because I'm more convenient or cleaner than whatever you might find in Knockturn Alley or because you think I should be grateful, you've got the wrong Hermione Granger." She crossed her arms, the gesture intended to be defiant but only coming across as protective, and her mouth and jaw took on a stubborn set. "You don't really even want me anyway, I'm not sure why you're going to so much trouble when I'm sure you really could fabricate a memory if you wanted to."
As he met her gaze, he saw that she truly believed what she was saying, and he wondered what she'd heard during her days at school to become so convinced that no one could possibly be attracted to her. And as he'd already figured, he realized that the surest way of getting her into his bed and keeping her there was to not only make her want to be there but to make her realize that he wanted her there.
He didn't answer her immediately. He simply began to approach her, determined, and as she moved back, he drove her toward his desk once more.
When she'd backed up as far as she could get, he trapped her between the desk and his body, and brought his arms up to cage her in, bracing his hands on the edge of the desk on either side of her body. He lowered his head, putting his lips close to her ear, and said, "You truly think I don't really want you? Why don't you tell me again?"
With that he kissed her for the second time that evening. This kiss was very similar to the first; long and hard, taking her senses and any resistance she had by storm. Just like before, his tongue forced its way into her mouth and began to duel with hers.
One of his arms was wrapped around her waist like a vise; his other hand captured one of hers, and before she could even wonder what he was doing, he pulled her hand down and pressed the palm of it to the hard bulge in his trousers. She gasped and shuddered as he moved her hand, trapped in his much larger one, up and down along the bulge.
"That's going to be inside you one way or another," he said against her lips. His rough, dark voice was seductive, and she felt herself being drawn in without thought of a struggle. "And it won't be rape. In fact, if I have my way, and I will, you'll be begging for it." Those last five words came out in a ragged half-whisper that went straight between her legs and she had to suppress a shudder.
Dimly she realized that if her present state was any indication, he was probably right. She'd be able to resist him about as well as a piece of cooked spaghetti.
Just as she had thought that out, he removed his other arm from around her and brought his hand back around between them. Almost before she realized what he was doing, his hand stole under her sweater and tank top and under her lace bra, covering one of her breasts. Her nipple puckered instantly; his hand felt like a brand on her skin.
Her head spun even more wildly, and her knees buckled. He dropped her hand and removed his other hand from her breast in time to catch her. He grasped her waist and lifted her up until she perched on the edge of his desk, and then he let go of her waist in favor of grasping the undersides of her thighs with his hands so he could spread her legs and step between them. Then his large hands stole around her and he cupped the fleshy globes of her arse, bringing her forward a little so he could grind his hard cock into her core. He could feel her heat even through the layers of their clothes, and reveled in the moan she couldn't hold back as he rhythmically ground himself against her.
Finally, he broke the kiss, though he kept his forehead pressed to hers. She regained her senses, and straightened where she sat on the desk, though she was still a little dizzy. Clearly he realized this, for he gave her a vastly amused and immensely smug smirk, and said, "See? Now tell me I don't want you."
This chapter was also an effort. Turns out it's a helluva lot harder to write the stuff that builds up to the real drama. Either that or I'm just not interested in hearing the rules Snape is laying out for the girls. I'm much more interested in finding out what kind of magic those girls are gonna find in his books. Yeah, Hermione's bookwormyness always did remind me of my own. She's not the only one who could spend all day in a library.
So. Now can I have a peanut - er, review - for my efforts?
