Chapter 10
Harry and Ron departed from Ginny as she fled to her DADA class on the third floor and tore toward the dungeons. Harry though, could only feel his legs and was only going through the motion of running for the sake of it. He blindly dashed behind Ron in the pathway that Ron was clearing for him, turning wherever Ron turned and speeding up whenever Ron sped up.
When they finally reached their Potions classroom in the dungeons, both Harry and Ron took grateful advantage of the fact that Slughorn had his back turned to the class and silently slipped into two empty seats with their fellow Gryffindors. Strangely, none of them had really paid much notice to their arrival but seemed to be deeply engrossed in Slughorn's lesson, judging from how intently they were staring at the front of the class.
"- many a marvellous achievement that could never have been possible if not for his devotion to the subject", Slughorn was saying, scribbling a name on the blackboard. Eldred Worple, Harry read. That sounds really fam- His thoughts were cut off by the very grainy sound of someone nervously clearing his throat. With a jolt, Harry and Ron realized that there were two other people in the room. Two people who were standing so far back in the shadows that it was no wonder Harry and Ron could not see them earlier.
The first was a small, bespectacled mouse of a man, Eldred Worple, whom Harry recognized seeing in one of Slughorn's parties the previous year. He was smiling nervously at the class and a tic was visibly forming over his left eye.
It was however, the second man (would he even classify as a man, Ron wondered) standing next to Worple who had arrested everyone's attention. Emaciated and gaunt yet tall, poised and carrying an air of dignity about him, was a vampire. His flowing silk cloak was swathed handsomely around his lean body and shimmered mystically in the silver glow of the dungeon candles. His hair was smoothly slicked back and ended in a plunging widow's peak on his forehead. His thin eyes glinted red and there were dark shadows beneath them. Two sharp, white points were also visible at the corners of his pale lips. Harry recalled with another jolt that he had seen this vampire the previous year as well. Sanguini.
Slughorn's booming voice rang about the room again. "Mr Worple and of course, his friend Sanguini have graciously agreed to grace our presence this morning, but I am afraid they cannot stay very long due to ah- ", he tossed a nervous glance at Sanguini "complications. As such each of you will be limited to just one question each, so please, be wise in your inquiries." As the class lined up in a single row in front of Worple and Sanguini, Harry and Ron noticed, with a pang of incredulity, that the girls had clustered right in front. Assuming they they'd be scared right out of their wits at the sight of a full-fledged vampire, it surprised Harry and Ron to see that they were most enthusiastic about talking to him. Craning their necks, they managed to catch snippets of the girls' hushed and excited whispers.
"He is such a dream! I absolutely adore his eyes!"
"So debonair.."
"I wonder what he'll be like in bed-"
Completely repulsed by what they had heard, Harry and Ron exchanged looks of disgust before looking over at Sanguini to figure out just what it was about him that had gotten these girls all hot and flushed. Already speaking to Pansy Parkinson, who was first in line, Sanguini had the ghost of a smirk playing on his lips and held an almost hungry look in his lazy eyes. What would have passed off as perverted on the face of any other man, seemed almost fitting on Sanguini's, for the vampire's suave exterior.
That afternoon, as Hermione lay in bed munching on one of Ron's chocolate frogs and dreaming up Harry in a thousand different ways, she saw Madam Pomfrey approach her with a warm smile. She immediately sat up in bed, expectant and excited to finally hear those sweet sweet words.
"You're discharged, Miss Granger." Madam Pomfrey smiled and handed Hermione a new set of school robes to replace the one that had been ruined. "Now, please do be careful next time, dear. To be honest I don't see many cases like this in Hogwarts, but that doesn't mean you're totally safe." She sighed and placed her palm, large and warm on Hermione's. "You're absolutely sure you don't know who did this to you?" Hermione swallowed and shook her head. Nodding, Madam Pomfrey saw her off.
As Hermione silently headed back up to the Gryffindor common room, she rehearsed the lines that she had practiced the night before over and over again. If anybody asks, just tell them that I had a nasty fall down the stairs to the Astronomy Tower. Nasty fall. Stairs. Astronomy Tower.
Her train of thought suddenly screeched to an immediate halt when a figure collided with her and a mass of long, red, flowing hair obscured her vision.
"Hermione, you're finally discharged!" squeaked Ginny, exhilaration dancing in her every syllable. "Oooh I've missed you so so so much! I'm so glad you're ok now!" she cried wrapping Hermione in a bone-crunching embrace.
"Heh, th-thanks Gin. I've missed you a lot too", Hermione managed.
"Well anyways," Ginny continued, her excitement still at its maximum, "This weekend's Hogsmeade weekend and you know what that means right? Shopping!", she cried, tugging Hermione along with her into some sort of silly jig in the middle of the corridor. "Just the two of us Herm, it'll be such a great welcome back present, won't it?" Caught up in the infection of Ginny's mood, Hermione couldn't help laughing and danced along with her, glad to be back in familiarity.
The weekend bloomed, as bright and promising as the large flock of sixth and seventh years that pooled around the oak double doors, excited at the prospect of re-visiting the much missed village of Hogsmeade. The caretaker, Argus Filch, stood at the entrance of the building with his customary Secrecy Sensor stick and prodded each student wherever he could reach. Harry and Neville were standing with Ron, both of them looking thoroughly amused as Ron ducked and dodged behind random students to avoid the searching gaze of Lavender Brown. Ginny and Hermione were both hesitantly awaiting their go under the prurient prodder.
Argus Filch smirked up at the both of them, revealing chipped, yellowing teeth as his Sensor dipped into Ginny's cleavage and then a tad too far in between her legs. When Hermione stepped up, he poked her on each nipple and rubbed the rod on her inner thigh. "We're al done here, ladies", he grinned shamelessly as they both threw him their most repulsed faces and strode off.
Upon reaching Hogsmeade, Hermione and Ginny couldn't help but stop in their tracks, shut their eyes for a few seconds and take in the wonderfully chilly ambience of approaching winter.
"It's beautiful." Hermione sighed and upon satisfying their nostalgic cravings, they both set off. Their first stop was to Madam Puddifoot's, where they nestled in two warm and toasty beanie chairs with steaming mugs of butterbeer, joking and laughing with all the spirit of a caged animal let loose, despite drawing disapproving glares from the numerous couples surrounding them. Later, they strolled down to Honeydukes where the invitingly warm air, thick with the scent of sweets and honey drew them in. They left with their bags stuffed to the brim with Sugar Quills, Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Exploding Bon-bons and Toothflossing Stringmints. Thinking they were going to take a leisurely stroll back to Hogwarts, Hermione was taken off guard when Ginny pulled her into a shop into which Hermione had never stepped foot into. It was called "Bondage and Bliss" and was strictly only for adults.
"Ginny! What do you think you're-", Hermione cried but was shut off when Ginny clamped a hand over her mouth and shushed in her ear.
"Shutup Herm, you don't want anyone to catch us in here, would you?", Ginny hissed, yanking Hermione into the shop and out of sight from the street outside. Angry and confused, it took a while for Hermione to begin to digest the appearance of the shop. It was small and dodgy, with flickering candles place along the walls to illuminate the place. The walls and ceiling were a deep red and the floor was a large black carpet. Whips and cuffs of every material were arranged neatly in shelves nailed to the wall. Cabinets labeled stood in rows and contained an array of boxes in every size and colour with labels, the closest of which read "toys" and "chocolates" Several racks of clothes also stood at the back of the shop, flanking a dimly lit corridor that had a poorly painted sign that read "Changing room" hanging above it. There was nobody in the shop except the cashier, who was a scroungy looking old man, who seemed too pre occupied in a magazine to notice that two potential customers had just walked in. Swallowing a rising bout of uneasiness, Hermione turned to Ginny and angrily hissed in her ear, "And just why did you drag me into his dump of a place?"
"Calm down Herm, ok? Look, I just wanted to but some lingerie and I figured this was the best place to find some. The clothes here are awesome and cheap too!", she answered, nodding towards the racks in the rear.
"Oh, I'll bet they're cheap alright." Hermione muttered, reluctantly following Ginny to the lingerie. As Ginny began fervently skimming over the folds of clothes, Hermione just stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, trying not to breathe in any of the foul air. Just then, she felt someone push past her. Turning angrily to look, Hermione found herself staring at two sixth year Slytherin girls who were now busy examining their new outfits in a grimy mirror. Hermione forced herself to stifle a gasp, even though she recognized these two girls as the well known sluts of Hogwarts. One of them had managed to fit herself into a pair of denim shorts so tiny that they could have passed off as one large belt and a push-up black leather bra. The other was in just a hot pink g string and a tiny hot-pink bra that looked at least two sizes too small for her.
"You think these are too small for me?" the second girl asked her friend and then turned to the shopkeeper with a quizzical look. He tossed aside his magazine and darted towards her, kneeling down and snapped the underside of her g string, drawing giggles from the pair of them. Hermione was saved from the sight by Ginny who promptly tapped her on the shoulder and held up a very lacy and transparent piece of cloth in front of her.
"What do you think? Bit see-through I admit, but it feels really soft. Should I try it on? Yes, I think I should", she decided and tucked it under her arm. She then pulled out another hanger from the rack and showed it to Hermione. "I think this'll be perfect for you", she announced, thrusting the bundle into Hermione's arms. "Come on, let's see how they look on us!" she squeaked excitedly and disappeared into the corridor before Hermione had a chance to protest violently. Sighing heavily, Hermione held up the outfit Ginny had handed her and examined it. It was a small, black corset, made of saffron, with fur lining its seams and lined with hard wire. It was rather transparent, especially around the breasts and the hips where the saffron ran thin. It is pretty though. Very sexy. Won't hurt to try it on will it?
Shrugging, Hermione walked into the corridor and entered a tiny booth behind a black curtain. She shucked off her jeans and tank top and her underwear too, when she realized that she couldn't possibly wear any underwear beneath the corset. Biting her lip, Hermione contemplated putting on the corset again. There's no one here Hermione. Just Ginny and she doesn't care how you look. Nodding to herself Hermione slowly slipped one leg into the corset, followed by the other. Sucking her stomach in she pulled it up over her hips and her stomach and her chest, where it firmly hugged her round breasts. This doesn't feel so bad, she thought to herself. This is really comfy actually.
With a new confidence, Hermione stepped out of the changing room and into the light of the shop. Ginny was already posing in front of the mirror, her curves showing prominently. When Hermione saw herself in the mirror, donned in that corset, she too was suddenly taken over by a strange sensation, one of such confidence and fearlessness. A feeling she liked a lot. Even the shopkeeper was staring at both Hermione and Ginny, his jaw falling open and a thrilled gleam in his eyes. Hermione smiled and spun on the spot, reveling in how sexy and liberated she was feeling.
It was then that her eyes locked with those of an utterly horrified looking Ron peering at them through the glass window.