Disclaimer: the characters belong to J.K.Rowling.

Chapter II – Graduation Day

Oliver Wood was looking at the crowd of agitated teenagers who were waiting for Dumbledore's speech to end. He had just finished a short speech himself and sat at the head of the Gryffindor table. He was considered a distinguished alumnus.

The ball following the graduation ceremony was one of the most emotional moments in a student's life at Hogwarts. He could remember well his own confused feelings, his fear of the unknown future, the incipient void in his soul where his friends used to be.

Now he was there on business and had to keep his mind clear of ghosts from the past. He was the focal point for many of the girls and behaved like a gentleman, dancing with as many of them as he could.

A quarter to midnight, Oliver invited Hermione. He noticed both Ron Weasley and Harry Potter frown at his intrusion. It was logical that she had told them about the scholarship. From their cold looks, he guessed her decision.

Hermione kept quiet all during the dance. Unfortunately, his patience caused him to pay more attention to her body language than he should have. He was quite taken in by her slim, nervous, warm body, pressed close to his. He became acutely aware of the areas of contact between them, he was conscious of the way her head rested on his shoulder, of his delicate, but firm grip of her. He felt clumsy and lost some of his natural grace, stepping more than once on her toes.

In about ten minutes of hellish awkwardness, the music ceased. Oliver escorted her out of the Great hall. On the corridor, he asked her:

"What have you decided?"

Hermione shut her eyes, inhaled deeply, giving herself a last chance to change her mind, then said:

"I'd like to go to Egypt"

"Very well. This is the answer we were waiting for"

Oliver felt more secure now. He was on familiar ground.

"All you have to do is sign this contract"

He pulled a parchment out of his robes.

"May I read it first?"

"Wouldn't expect less from you" he smiled.

Her studying of the contract gave him the opportunity to study her. She had definitely grown up. Quite nicely.

Hermione was thin, tall, almost as tall as him, and her luxurious hair looked very seductive, flowing freely on her shoulders. His gaze stopped for a while on her lips. She was moving them a little, debating with herself some of the clauses. Her white, slender, uncovered neck made her look vulnerable. For a second, Oliver imagined sinking his teeth in the distinct, blue artery that was pumping blood forcefully under her alabaster skin.

She looked fragile, like a china doll. Her perfect beauty was not dimmed by her intellect, as it happened when she was speaking. Hermione's biting intelligence drew away the focus from her body to her mind. But silence was surrounding her like a shroud, presenting her as a superb statue.

"Seven years of work for Morgana is quite a price. And fifteen of confidentiality. Very expensive."

"Doubts?"

"That's an underestimation. Are you so confident that something important just lays there?" when he gave no reply, she went on. "Something of this magnitude should be shared with the entire wizarding community, don't you think?"

"Did I leave you with the impression that the terms are negotiable? Let me clarify that: they are not"

"I figured that much"

"Sign it, then!"

Hermione followed his incentive. Upon signing the contract, she felt a charge of energy creeping up her spine, gripping the back of her head, penetrating her skull and wrapping her brain in a ring of fire. The sensation ceased in a few seconds, but she understood she was bound to respect the letter of that contract.

"Was it as good for you as it was for me?'

Oliver Wood displayed one of his devilish smiles. Hermione could almost see the little horns piercing through his short hair. He knew exactly what the perfection of a contract with the Morgana felt like. He could replicate from memory the perception of being possessed. He also knew that this was used mostly as a special effect. He had enjoyed his free will after the signing of the contract as much, if not more, than before.

The sensation had flushed her cheeks and her fight to regain control made her purse her lips and her eyes. She might have been a woman, but she looked just like a little girl. She tried to pull herself together, not make a spectacle of herself in front of this insufferable man.

Hermione had always regarded Oliver Wood with an uncharacteristic respect, but she now looked at him as a man, not just an older student. She still felt dominated by his cool poise. The man gave the impression that he didn't care in the least of what the rest of the world was thinking, to the same extent the Gryffindor keeper seemed impervious to the enemies' attacks on the Quidditch field. She had to respect this.

"Shall we go back?" he extended his arm.

On the stroke of midnight, she took his arm and walked along him in the Great Hall. She felt odd, stepping alongside Oliver Wood, bound to the Morgana, leaving Hogwarts, leaving Europe, leaving her friends. She felt odd, but at the same time, oddly content with her choice. It felt like the proper thing to do. It felt like she had chosen the right path.

************

Comments are still appreciated!

Thanks, blackroseangel69