Ch. 28— Driver Picks the Music, Shotgun Shuts His Cakehole
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Hermione was headed north, destination: New York City.
It had been three and half hours since she had begun this little exercise in torturous revenge for her hapless passengers, and she would be very surprised if they were still with her. After all, she had put on the gods-awful song to torment them, to convince them to leave her alone, figuring they could obviously see and hear everything going on around them.
While driving, she had forced herself to occlude the thoughts and emotions she felt concerning Michael, Severus, and Lucius. This was her holiday, dammit! Hers. There would be time enough to fall apart after she returned to London and took stock of the mess her life had become.
This did not mean, however, that she could not exercise a petty form of revenge. And since she couldn't touch them, and they couldn't touch her or anything else for that matter, and so, she had to get creative.
Her goal had been to make it as intolerable to be around her company as possible to be. And from the way things looked—or rather felt— she had succeeded.
At least, she thought she did.
But then, she couldn't really tell, could she? For she couldn't sense them at all with any of her five senses. Sinister, spying bastards!
She tried to reach out with that 'other' sense—the sixth one she had never really believed existed.
It was ridiculous. She felt nothing.
Looking down at her petrol gauge, and noticing it low, Hermione pulled off at the next available off-ramp and rolled to a stop at the light. She had an urge to turn the music down, especially when a group of college-aged boys pulled up alongside her in a shiny red convertible. She still had her driver-side window down, and they waved and blew their horn to get her attention. Feeling patently ridiculous wearing earmuffs while Men without Hats blared openly from her speakers for all and the sundry to hear, she gunned it once the light turned green, leaving them in her dust.
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"Severus, what in Merlin's name is a Cheetos? It looks vile."
Lucius watched as Hermione crunched into another brilliant-hued orange stick, munching on it, and he leaned in closer to examine the little orange club-looking crisps she held. He took a sniff at one before she popped it into her mouth. "Gods, Hermione! That's not even food, witch!"
Still, on she munched, unabashedly washing the glop down with the giant-sized muggle beverage she had purchased, something called 'Mountain Dew'.
Lucius had made sure to take the passenger seat this go around when they had stopped. Both he and Severus had gotten out and stretched their legs while Hermione filled her motor car with the petrol and went to use the facilities.
She came back with a brown paper sack which she had placed in the passenger's seat, and Lucius was just petty enough to get a small thrill every time she had to reach through him to rifle through its contents. Thus far, the only thing he could see was junk and certainly not anything he would deem as edible.
She fiddled once more with the muggle sound-making device in her hand, and Lucius eyed it warily. Gods! Not that accursed song again! It was going to be days before he'd get it out of his head!
But remarkably, she didn't start the song; instead, another smoother and more soothing took its place as she began to drive, this time at a slower, saner pace.
Lucius glanced behind him to find Severus studying Hermione through the top-most mirror near the roof.
He had an air of deep concentration, as if he was trying to piece the girl apart much as he would a finicky potion. It was remarkable to see the darker wizard take an interest in something other than the contents of a flask or steaming cauldron, and Lucius was very grateful for it. After all, Lily Evans' memory aside, Lucius always knew the witch that stole Severus's heart was bound to be extraordinary. And Hermione was that.
And they had almost lost her. Still might once it came down to it.
She felt betrayed, abandoned, wronged. And she was most certainly all of that and more.
But did she blame the actual culprits for it? No. Lucius could tell she was internalizing most of what she felt. Blaming herself.
And this was another reason why Hermione and his estranged wife were so unalike. No self-respecting Slytherin woman would dare take any of the blame for the fiasco that had just occurred in the forest.
And too, a Slytherin woman would also see Severus's and Lucius's presence with her while on her holiday —and the actions that subsequently followed— exactly for what they were: as the indirect sexual overture it was.
But Hermione did not think like a Slytherin woman.
She never had and she never would— never could if it came down to it.
And that's why Lucius loved her…
Except for occasions such as these when the truth was right in front of her very eyes, written plain as day on that damned list of hers, and she didn't know herself, couldn't trust herself enough to believe it.
The thought of them pursuing her had never even occurred to her.
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Through the rear-view mirror, Severus watched the little witch's lips move in time to the music that played. He was exceedingly grateful she had relented in her auditory torture, and it was interesting the songs she chose to play—or rather that she allowed to be played through the muggle device…
And even as he watched, she turned up the volume and began to sing along to one of them.
Paying close attention to the lyrics, Severus realized for as much as the song now playing was one of maturity and accepting the mantle of adulthood, it could also be interpreted as a critique for her on her magical-muggle upbringing. And this song, in conjunction with others that she had unwittingly played for them were telling indeed.
Oh, she was flaying herself alright, his little masochist! Tearing herself apart because of the bastard's words, because they tore at wounds Severus was sure she thought long-healed. The bastard had called into question everything, every single aspect she thought she knew about herself, and it was a rare person who could take that kind of 'brutal honesty' as the bastard had so phrased it without flinching.
It wasn't as if what he had said had been inaccurate, far from it. But it had been one-sided, single-minded. It took everything she had done both during the war and after it and put it into the most demeaned and negative light possible, and she… well, she was just young and inexperienced enough not to be able to apply a little perspective to her actions, to see them in actuality for what they were.
He had his work cut out for himself.
Of course, that was if she allowed him to do so. Which right now seemed to be a big 'if'. As he watched, the song changed yet again, and she flipped through a succession of them before finally settling on another.
Yes, he had his work cut out indeed.
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"Damned throttling Pandora." Hermione pressed the 'skip' button again on her iPhone to no avail. She was stuck for the next hour listening to whatever internet radio service Pandora thought suited her tastes. She hated the fucking program, but she was too cheap to subscribe, and really, it wasn't so bad… except for times such as these when she was stuck listening to absolute SHITE!
'Karma-karma-karma-karma-karma-Chameleon…you come and go…you come and go-oh-oh-OH!' The song continued to play as she stewed. She hated this song!
Finally it ended, only to be replaced with… "Oh, you are absolutely not playing that, you cunt-bag bitch!" Especially if Severus and Lucius were still with her. Hermione jabbed the skip button hopefully and wonder of wonders, it did it! ... only to land on one even worse than Heart's Magic Man.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"
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Both Severus and Lucius studied her curiously.
Whatever this Pandora thing was she was fixated on was earning her ire most assuredly.
Lucius cocked an eyebrow as he watched her violently mash the device she held all the while cursing the damn thing to hell and back. He looked at the display on the stereo and read 'Magic Man, Heart.' It didn't take a Mastery in Divination to see why she didn't want that particular song played, especially as the lyrics 'A pretty man came to me. Never seen eyes so blue. I could not run away. It seemed we'd seen each other in a dream…' began to play.
The next song, however, caused her to blush furiously.
Quickly, Lucius examined the title before she could change it. It appeared scrolling across the small display, and Lucius's eyes widened as he read it. She reached for the nob-like device, wrenching it, trying to turn it down, but he automatically held up a restraining hand, forgetting for the moment his incorporeal state. His hand went right through hers of course, but she paused for just a moment, hesitating. Long enough, Lucius hoped, for the song's lyrics to start so he could hear them.
Something told him this was important.
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Watching Lucius touch her, literally stay her hand, Severus leaned forward. And reaching out, ghosted his fingertips along her shoulder, and then across the line of her exposed neck, watching as she stared ahead, her jaw grit tight.
He looked into the rear view mirror at her eyes and found panic there, fear as well.
She didn't turn the song off, and Severus kept his phantom's contact with her, increasing it as much as he could by placing his other hand through the headrest to ghost into her mop of curls. Slowly, she eased her head back against the seat. Lucius likewise intimated that she should lower her hand from the nob controlling the volume so they could all of them listen.
She did so by degrees, slowly following where Lucius's hand led until hers rested on the console between them, and Lucius had 'hold' of her hand. The both of them studied her intently as she drove and the music continued to play.
The man began to sing, and Severus kept his body as close to hers as possible for such a ridiculous circumstance and setting as this.
'Sometimes I think that you'll never understand me. But something tells me together, we'd be happy.' The singer earnestly professed, and as the song progressed, Severus realized why she did not want this particular song played while both he and Lucius were there with her.
The song was about the love of an older, more experienced man for a much younger woman. And the man was trying to convince her to trust his feelings for her and trust her own—that their love was sacred, true, and beautiful in whatever embodiment it took.
And Severus absorbed the lyrics, likening to the ones that meant the singer wanted them to come together as equals, to stand naked and unabashed in one another's arms in acceptance and trust, to understand one another through devotion and love.
He quickly glanced at Lucius to gauge his reaction to this newest development. The blond wizard had eyes only for the little witch, Lucius's own filled with solemn desire as well as understanding.
The man singing wanted to shower the young woman with affection and give her his world; to consider heaven 'a kiss and a smile' in return for all he was going to give her. Resuming his mirror study of Hermione's expression, Severus focused this time on her eyes: the vulnerability that shown as the song continued to play. And that expressive honesty that he so loved about her, that honesty which got her into so much trouble with his Slytherins, was right there in her eyes for him to discern.
She was fully exposed to them now, and Severus could see this song resonate with her on an intimate level, and he felt himself resonating with it as well.
How he would love to be able to do whatever necessary to make her happy and please her, including fulfilling her every need and fantasy, just as the singer proclaimed. To show her that their love was still pure and true if what she needed most was someone to guide and mentor her, to teach, accept, and nurture her, to make her feel safe, cherished, and secure ' 'til the end of time'.
This was what Hermione wanted, what she needed them to be. This was the role she needed fulfilled.
Severus could do that. He could be that for her!
He and Lucius could definitely be that for her and more.
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A/N: How I've debated back and forth about telling you what song Hermione was listening to, dear readers! And it's not because I want you to guess, far from it. It's just… the song is very… controversial.
It's George Michael's Father Figure. There, I've written it. I can't take it back. :D
If you haven't guessed already by my chapter headings, I use a lot of music and popular culture of the 70's-90's to 'theme' the chapter I'm working on. And so, it is in this spirit I shall include the playlist that helped me write this chapter:
The Logical Song….Supertramp
Walking on Broken Glass…..Annie Lennox
Her Diamonds…..Rob Thomas
Leave Me Alone…..Michael Jackson
I'm So Afraid…..Fleetwood Mac
Why…..Annie Lennox
Karma Chameleon…..Culture Club
Magic Man…..Heart
(and of course) Father Figure…..George Michael
More soon, dear readers. Keep watch!
xxkattiaxx
