For Money and Property

Chapter One : Graduation Day

Hermione Granger stood tall and proud as she made her way onto the podium to receive her graduation certificate - and that would make her a fully qualified witch. She was feeling the same flood of emotions that she had felt on her first day of school here. Nervous to see what awaited her outside the confines of her school, just like she had once done about the inside of the school. The feeling of not belonging and hoping it would get better when she stood in the sorting line – stiff and still - hoping that she was not thrown out, was still there. Now it had changed to uncertainty about what she would be doing in the future. Proud in a scary way – like she felt when she was chosen to be in the school. No one else in her family or extended family had been magical and it made her feel special. She was now proud because she had managed to break the record for the highest possible score in the NEWTs. The previous high score had been set by the wonderboy Harry Potter – the boy who lived, the man who defeated the dark lord not once, not twice but thrice – if you count the very first time too. Hermione had felt unequivocally satisfied when she learned that she had beaten his score. Hermione felt ready for anything – like she had when she went to buy her books for her new school – fully expecting someone to jump from the bushes and tell her that it was all a great big joke. It was her odd conflicting feelings that made her feel like it was her first day all over again.

Hermione shook her head to get rid of all the things that she was feeling. It was no time to get emotional and she knew it. She blinked twice to get rid of the last of the pesky emotions and gracefully walked to the headmaster. She gave him a slight nod and said crisply, " Morning, Sir."

" Morning, Ms. Granger. I see that the typical Gryffindor slackness is instilled even in its finest," said professor Snape – Now headmaster Snape.

That's right. Severus Snape had become the headmaster after his predecessor left, which was just after Harry graduated. The old man did not feel obliged to stay in his position after that. His decision had been a shock to the entire magical world, as living memory did not stretch back far enough to a time when he did not teach the magically inclined. The shock was further more emphasised when realisation set in that most of the other staff would be leaving too. They had stuck it out through the wartime just because of the loyalty that the old man was capable of inspiring. Without him, they had no reason to stay. The only experienced teachers left had been Professor Flitwick and Snape. Of them, the job was first offered to Professor Flitwick – the senior of the two men, but he refused on the grounds that it would be too much work and he wanted to live a nice quite life. Professor Snape was offered the job only when no other suitable candidate could be found. He took the job because in his mind, his loyalty was best demonstrated if he stayed to take care of his mentor's beloved school. Though the mass exodus of the teachers had shocked the students at the end of the year, Hermione had been devastated. When she found out that her favourite teachers were leaving, she was sad, but this turned to anger when she found out that two of her favourite teachers were actually married to each other. Alone it would not have had made her feel as bad – but Harry Potter knew it before her. The same Harry potter that had made no secret of his dislike of those two teachers. Hermione felt an almost physical ache of betrayal that they did not tell her, but they told Harry.

" I'm not slack sir." Hermione said pointedly. She kept her voice low, like Snape had done before her. It amazed Hermione how the man could put a smile on his face and keep insulting her and her house. One would have thought that being friends with Harry would mean she knew a lot better. " The ceremony started early."

Snape ignored her. " Typical Gryffindor excuse. When in trouble blame someone else."

Hermione held back valiantly against the almost overwhelming urge to hit the man. She restrained herself, since Professor Flitwick was there. She did not want to do anything that would disappoint him. Her liking of Professor Flitwick was in the beginning by default. She had already liked him, but when two favourite teachers "betrayed" her, he became her favourite teacher. When her father had died at the beginning of this year, he had been a shoulder to cry on – granted that he could do little but lend a sympathetic ear, but without Harry he had been her only option. Harry would have been her first choice, because he was the only one she knew that had been through a loss like that. When her mother died during her third year, they became friends, after she was assigned to help him research in the library. He helped her cope with the loss in the most unique of way. One was his ability to make her laugh.

" I see the moon." Harry said suddenly. Hermione and Harry had been sitting in the outdoor eating area of the newly renovated three broomsticks. It was just a few minutes past midday, and Hermione knew that it was not possible to see twilight. So her curious part looked up to Harry to see what he was looking at.

" Where?"

Harry took her right hand and pointed it first up at the sky – Hermione squinted her eyes, wondering if she needed to get glasses. There was nothing on the blue sky but a few wisps of clouds. Then Harry started to bring it downwards until she saw what Harry was referring to. Without meaning to Hermione started to laugh.

It was a middle aged bald man. The light was bouncing of his head in such a way, that it emulated the sun hitting the moon. Hermione clamped down on her mouth, but could not stop laughing.

When her father died, Harry had already been out of school for over a year. Oliver – though a very good best friend and boyfriend, was not good with emotions. As the stress of the situation built, Professor Flitwick noticed and took time out of his busy schedule to make sure that Hermione was coping well.

So much death that she had seen though her association with Harry Potter that she did not cry anymore. She had helped him out willingly and often got mixed into things that had nothing to do with her. Several times her life was almost cut short through knowing Harry was dangerous.

" What are you waiting for," Snape barked softly, " The head boy's out sick and you're giving the speech. I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't even written it yet."

Hermione held back again. The man could be an insufferable git sometimes – well all the time to her and the Gryffindors – being gifted with the ability to infuriate the other houses. She took out her long piece of parchment and headed to the stand. Clearing her throat, she started. She had her entire speech memorised and rehearsed. It was good and she was sure it would be well accepted by her peers and their family that were there… well, she hoped it would be. She did not have Oliver to bounce off ideas and make sure they were taken the right way – not that he did anything other than just nod and say, " Yup." Hermione was sad that their long distance relationship did not last, but she recovering from that.

" Good Morning to friends and staff, and an especially warm welcome to all our guests." Hermione said nicely. " It's been seven years since I began at this institution. School I've always though was about education, but I cannot deny that I have learned a lot of things that were not in the curriculum. Friendship is one of them. Over the year I've studied and worked on projects with many of you. I've do…" Hermione's voice trailed off, but not before she started to stutter. The words all jumbled up in her head. The piercing green eyes on that distinct face had always done that to her. She hated the way he had the ability to do that. He knew that he could do that to women and he used it to his full advantage. He was a scoundrel if there was one – but she could not help by think he looked rather dashing in his silk shirt and khakis – semiformal attire. The face that she had seen was none other than Harry Potter. The man who was regarded by many as a living legend – Hermione included. He was sitting in the front row with a smug look on his face. Hermione's face flushed and it took a few moments for her to regain her senses and start again. She avoided looking at Harry for the rest of her speech. She did not intend to repeat the stuttering fool emulation that she had done – no matter how big the temptation was to look at him. When it came to Harry, her emotions were a pile of conflicting mess.

~o0o~

Harry Potter had been talking to the girls of the graduating class for over an hour, before he excused himself to get some drinks. He had grown tired of talking to the girls who could not see past his fame. Fame he deserved, but even then, he did not like it. They saw what they wanted to see and nothing of the real person that he was. He knew that they liked to hear his voice – rich, silky and filled with a male presence that was attractive to them. He knew how vulnerable women were to him and he abused that knowledge. Those that knew Sirius Black blamed it on him, but Harry knew better. As much of a "ladies man", that his godfather was, he was not a womaniser. His godfather was the same as him to a point – both flirted a lot and women flirted back. They both had a presence that attracted women, but Sirius had the good sense not to go any further without knowing more about the other person, while Harry was the opposite. He was not choosy. Sirius had tried his best to teach him about the love that his parents shared. Harry's broken marriage spoke for itself.

Harry had been married right out of Hogwarts. At the end of the 6th year, Alicia – who was Harry's girlfriend at the time – was killed in a deatheater attack in West Brixton. Harry was devastated and got involved with a girl that comforted him. The way the girl treated him after marriage was despicable and one could hardly blame Harry for turning out the way he did – well not too much.

Harry walked past several groups of people, but did not stop to talk to them. He moved to the girl that he had been observing since he arrived back on the Hogwarts ground. The headmaster had called in his last favour to get Harry there, and Harry realised why when Hermione started to stutter on stage. The crooked man had it in for Hermione ever since she arrived at school and it was just another reason for the man to try to humiliate Gryffindor house. Harry did not mind the Gryffindors – well he did not mind the girls – the boys however varied from person to person. He especially did not mind Alicia Spinnet. She had been the first girl to actually like him and come out and say it. In his fourth year, she had even given him his first kiss – a peck on the cheek, but Harry had appreciated it. A lot of first's belonged to her for Harry – including the one that mattered most – feeling accepted. Though Sirius had wanted to have him live with him, Harry had always felt like a burden on him. Harry did not approve of the headmasters reasoning behind his invitation, but he had to admit that his old teacher was every bit as cunning as he was before – though still less than him.

Probably not the best example of Harry's cunning was the funniest one – not to mention the most profitable one. It had happened a few days after the aforementioned incident when Harry and Hermione saw the man with the bald spot.

" Here," Harry said, passing a tall glass of butterbeer to Hermione, " Have this."

Hermione sniffed the drink to make sure that Harry had not put something in it. She would not put it past Harry. The main reason that she had check it was because Harry never gave anything free. There was always a price.

" Don't worry, it's nothing toxic. It's Alicia's birthday today, so decided to be generous – now hurry up and finish it or I might need to extort money off you.

Hermione started to drink it down quickly, when Alicia showed up.

" You're not trying to steal him from me are you?" Alicia joked and Hermione's face had turned almost as bright as a red neon lamp. " You'll have a hefty fight on your hand, girl."

" No!" Hermione replied honestly.

" Alicia…" Harry said as though he was upset, " you make it sound like I'm capable of cheating."

Alicia gave him a long and lingering hard look and Harry relented. " Okay, I cheat – but not with you."

Alicia gave Harry a small peck on the cheek and said, " I know. Just keeping you safe – there's a lot of vultures out there…" Alicia's voice trailed off as she spotted a group of students making their way to towards the three broomsticks… " Speaking of which…"

It was Fred and George Weasley, accompanied by their miniature gang.

Hermione would have left, but the gang were blocking her way. Though a third year did go unnoticed most of the time, she did not really want to be known as the girl that hung around Harry. She did spend a lot of time with him and if people noticed it they might say things like they did about Alicia. Hermione did not think she would be able to live in the house with what Alicia sometimes had to put up with. Harry turned and looked at the direction Alicia was looking. He felt the familiar signs that made him think that the terrible twins were up to something. It was a relaxing feeling – because that was predictable. If they weren't up to something then Harry would have felt very unsure of the world that he lived in.

" We see that the Gryffindor Slut is with…" started one the few people in the twins' gang of friends. Harry exploded in anger. He was going to dash right up to the older boy and smash his face in, but Alicia grabbed him by the waist before he could take a step. " Say that again. Say it again." Harry yelled as he tried to get out of Alicia's grip. She was so used to holding him back that she knew exactly how to hold Harry so that he would not be able to do anything. It was not often that he lost control, but it occasionally happened. It was the Gryffindor bravado that made him do that – or so he claimed.

" Shut up, Justin." Said one of the twins. They did not like Harry or Alicia for being together, but they weren't going to insult them. The twins were slightly neurotic – not completely arrogant gits. " Don't let Justin get on your nerve – he has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth."

" The foot that already stepped onto some dog doo."

Harry stopped trying to get out of Alicia's embrace, but he kept his glowing eyes focused on them.

" Anyway, we've been watching that man over there." Harry noticed that they were pointing at the same man that not two days ago he had pointed out to Hermione, " and we've got a proposition for you."

" Sorry, I don't swing that way…" Harry said turning away slightly.

" Ha ha. Very funny, Potter." said one of the twins sarcastically, " George here thinks that you can't get away with hitting that man on his head."

" And what do you think, Fred?" asked Alicia.

" Me? Erm… I agree with him, I guess. So, we were wondering if you would like to prove us wrong?"

" What's in it for me?" Harry said.

" Well, you get to keep you pride." Said George.

" Nice try, but I'm not an idiot. Money talks, or I walk."

" A wager?" offered George.

" Ohh…This is getting interesting," said Fred.

" Okay, then, you have a bet."

" How much…"

" Harry –" It was Alicia. " You really want to do it?"

" Yes."

" Normal one galleon bet – you can't get away hitting him – by the way, no showing of your scar. People tend to mellow out if they see it.

" I won't show my scar, but the money has to be more. It's Alicia's birthday today, so it'll be five galleons or no deal."

Harry did not know it then, but Alicia and Hermione had both frowned then. The twins agreed quickly - they were certain that Harry would not be able to pull it off, so they offered good odds. Neither Hermione nor Alicia bet on the outcome. They did not approve of what was going to happen. There was a loud smacking noise when Harry's hand hit the man's head, followed closely by a very loud yelp of pain. Harry behaved as though he had done nothing wrong and said, " Steven you, son of a gun! Where the hell have you been?"

The man was upset when he was hit, but Harry's nonchalant behaviour confused him. " I'm not Steven. I'm Jason. Jason Alexandar." (A/N: ^_^;; - I've always wanted to do this to him)

Harry brought his hand to his mouth and pretended to be shocked. " Merlin, No! Get out of here. I have a friend who looks just the same as you… from the back."

" Well, it's not me." The man sat down and Harry made his way back to the table.

Harry was grinning ear to ear. The twins looked disappointed, but they wanted to recover the money. " Bet you can't do that again."

Harry raised his eyebrow. " You sure you have the money to back that up?"

" Of course we do."

Harry took the challenge. He walked upto the man and hit him again. This time Harry pretended to be angry. " You almost had me there with that little other person routine. I know you're Steven."

" I'm not!" the man protested vehemently. " I'm Jason. I'm Jason." Again, Harry apologised and got away with it.

The twins were impressed, as even they did not think they could pull it off and Harry's ego was inflated once more – enough that he said to the boys, " Want to go again? – Double or nothing?" Twins looked in their pocket's and they did indeed have the money – so after an all too brief discussion, they agreed. The man had moved, was looking at the direction that Harry had come from, so Harry had to sneak around some bushes to appear behind him. This time he said, " Steven you idiot! You have any idea what you've done! Because of you, I hit an innocent man. Twice! You should be ashamed of yourself."

" I'M NOT STEVEN. I'M JASON. I'M Jason…" The man broke down and started to cry. Harry apologised once more and left. The man took his case full of paper and ran from there after Harry had left his desk. Everyone in the group was laughing with the exception of Alicia and Hermione – but Harry was too hyped up to see it.

" Fork it over, gents."

The twins gave the money willingly. It had been entertainment worth it's price. Harry came back and said, " Well, I dare you two do what I just did."

" What do we get for it?"

" You keep you pride?"

" Haha. Funny. No, We want our money back." Said George.

" Half. I still need to get something for Alicia with this."

" Agreed."

The twins walked up to man on the chair, and hit his head. However the person had already changed. It was Professor Vector and he was not impressed. Needless to say that the twins were dragged back to the school for some urgent punishment.

That had been the first time he had a fight with Alicia, not to mention Hermione. They had compared his behaviour to those that used magic to humiliate muggles for sport. It had taken him weeks to get the girls to talk to him again and it had been only after a long talk that they both decided that he was really sorry about what he had done.

Harry walked up to Hermione from behind and whispered, " Elliana," very huskily into her ear. It did not take much effort to do it – he had done it a lot after Ginny. Hermione jumped when she realised how close Harry was. She turned and looked at him – rather surprised that he had remembered her middle name. Light pink hue was dusting her cheeks and it made her look very adorable. Thoughts ran through Harry's head that, even he considered wrong – only in the best of ways.

" Harry…" Hermione stuttered out. She was never able to talk properly to Harry if there were other people in the room. It made her feel uncomfortable. It was almost as if she wanted to have Harry's undivided attention or it was not going to let her function properly. " It's…"

Harry did not let her finish – his right hand came to her shoulder and with the back of his hand he felt the midnight blue of the silk dress robe. " Blue looks nice on you." He complemented and Hermione's cheeks got a thicker shade of pink in response. " Tha…Thanks." Was all she could say. Harry's hand slid down her arm and grabbed onto her hand. " Want to go outside?"

Hermione nodded – wanting to be alone with Harry – but there really was no reason to nod. Harry was already in motion, knowing that she would not refuse.

They said nothing to each other until they were outside. Harry seem to know where they were going and Hermione was too busy filling Harry in with her life's events to realise where they were going.

Greenhouse fourteen – there were actually just three green houses, but since they had only three tags to mark them with (14,23,69) it was called that.

Hermione sat down near a bed of roses. " So what did you want to talk about?" She asked, more confidant of herself now. She looked up to him. He was still standing.

" What no greetings? No Hi, Hello, How are you's?"

Hermione's cheeks had been recovering from the earlier blood rushing, but his comments made them turn pink again. She mumbled something while she wrangled her wrists.

" Don't worry about it." Harry's hand moved and reached for the stray hair that covered her face. The strand turned red and soft in his hand. After he tucked it behind her ear, it turned back to normal. His hand rested against her skin a fraction more than he intended and a fraction more than Hermione wanted.

She knew she had a small crush on Harry when she was in her third year, and the fourth and the fifth – even when times he did things to make her mad or even hate him. But she thought she was over it. She had to be. A Lot had happened to her. She had a few boyfriends and one steady one for over one and a half years. She studied hard and achieved the impossible dream to be better than Harry Potter in anything. Hermione did not like the way her heart had the irregular rhythm when he showed up – he had made her embarrass herself in public. Her last chance to make the mark she had made in the school all the more perfect and he had ruined it. " Why did you ask me here."

Hermione stood up and spread her arms to indicate the green house. Once she did it, she realised that she should not have had done that. Standing up allowed Harry to move to the side a little and block any routes of escape she had from there. In a second, Harry had her backed against the wall – though he was still a reasonable distance away. " Can't a friend take another one to the green house to talk to her?' He said moving closer and leaning in.

" Hmm…Her… Umm…" Hermione was cursing her stupidity. She had to be the biggest idiot in terms of common sense. Otherwise why would she allow herself to be left alone with Harry in such a quiet place. It was like leaving a tiger live prey and asking it to take care of it.

" You smell really nice…" Harry said, getting off on the way Hermione seemed to be reacting to him. Of all the girls that he had met in his life, Hermione was the most restrained and contained person he had met. She fascinated him in the way she most obviously had a crush on him, but refused to come out and actually hit on him or even show it openly. Nevertheless, he knew that she liked him and it thrilled him to no end to confuse the poor girl.

" You said that before." Hermione looked out past Harry. Seeing if there was a way to escape. Her mind was working hard and fast. She did not want to be one of Harry's preys.

" I know, but you do smell nice." He paused. " You smell like vanilla."

Hermione gulped. She had inkling in the morning not to wear the light vanilla perfume. It was a nice smell but it was not as much her favourite as the rose one. She knew that Harry loved vanilla – and though she did not know he would be there, she cursed her choice.

It had been in her fifth year that she Hermione learned of Harry liking for vanilla. It was quite an accident too. She had been passing the head girl's room and Ginny Weasley was talking to her friends about "her man" Harry. How he loved vanilla and what they did with it. It was an accident and Hermione obviously did not mean to keep listening for as long as she had.

" No I don't." She said quickly.

Harry closed the distance between them significantly, making Hermione take in a breath. She was trying not to breathe the scent. In the wild Ostriches hid their head in the sand and hoped that the danger would pass. In Hermione's case she was thinking that if she did not smell the scent anymore, surely he would not. Something like this never works and it did not work either.

He smiled at her. " You know, after Ginny and I broke up all the girls that were interested in me suddenly started to wear the vanilla scent." Hermione gave a guilty sob. Her cheeks infused with more blood. " Elliana…" He said in a very soft voice. " I never told you how low of those girls I though of, did I?"

Hermione did not like the implications of the last sentence. It implied that she wanted to make him like her. Which she did – but not in the way he was thinking. She was not the kind of girl that dressed herself up so that she was to the liking of the man she wanted. It was true that she was wearing a perfume that smelled very much like vanilla, but she did not know that he would be there. If she did, she would not have had worn any or if she did it would have been Rose. She liked to do things her way and it just so happened that she liked the Vanilla smell – it what white and pure. Hermione was going to put him straight. Tell him how not every woman wanted him and not everyone wore that scent, did it to please him. In addition, she certainly did not do it for him or any man.

There was no need to.

Harry had come so close that Hermione's could feel his breath on her bare shoulder. She was regretting not having worn something that covered her shoulders. He closed the final bit of distance and kissed her near the sensitive spot on her ear. A feeling that she had never known before reverberated though her entire body. She released the breath as she felt herself start to relax. It was kind of nice, she decided, to be this close to Harry. " Eeek..." Hermione said, when she felt Harry actually give a small lick. Their cheeks rubbed against each other as Harry's lips moved to her cheek and then tracing down towards her lips. Despite all the things that he mind was telling her about how much of a bad idea it was to let Harry have his way with her, her body was not thinking the same. Hermione waned to just run from here, but her feet felt as though they had been encased in concrete. Almost as they did in old mob films to the good people – just before throwing them into the lake to swim with the fishes.

Her body was at wonderment at finding another body that fit in so perfectly with it. It was not as if Hermione had never had make out sessions with boys before. She was a pretty girl – one that blossomed late, but a pretty girl nonetheless. However, this felt exquisitely different. There was no fumbling, not uncertainty and definitely no smell of butterbeer. Hermione gathered her arm with the intention to push him off, but somehow they wound up wrapped around his neck trying to get him closer to her. Harry pulled away. " You taste like Vanilla too." He said, looking slightly winded. It was better than Hermione – who was feeling like she had not had a breath of air in her entire life. He took the lead yet again, and somehow managed to get his hands inside the top part of her dressrobe. When he did touch her skin he kept his hand where they were – very unlike what other boys had tried to do to her. There was attempt to grope her flesh. He did move his hands to her back and brought her close to him – but that was all he did. Hermione moaned into his mouth, but it was just absorbed into his. Inside Hermione's head it felt like fireworks had been set off – cliché, but that was the only way Hermione could describe it if she was given an opportunity.

BAM!

Hermione had no idea what was happening at first, but then noticed that two other kissing people had made it into the greenhouse and were too busy to see that there were other people there. Harry had released her from his kissing when they had entered. She guessed that they had opened the greenhouse door all too quickly and made a lot of noise. Hermione got the most severe of urges to go and tell them off for disturbing her snog session, when she realised who had made it into the greenhouse. It was Ronald Weasley and Millicent Bullstrode – a surprising development since they had been enemies since their first year after a disagreement at Quidditch game. It had resulted in a fistfight between the two – the result of which to this day Ronald claimed was because he let her win.

It was only after Ronald's top half of the body was exposed by Millicent that the two of them notice that Hermione and Harry was staring at them wide eyed. Millicent was looking frustrated and Hermione suspected that if she had said for her to not mind them, she would have had continued on Ronald. " We…we…" Hermione started when Millicent looked irritatingly at her, but her dishevelled clothes and flustered face did give the two newcomers pretty good idea what they were going to be doing.

" We were just leaving." Harry finished her sentence and grabbed onto Hermione's hand. " Nice to meet you two." He did a bit of unknown magic and Hermione found herself standing outside the entrance of the great Hall. " Damn. I still have to get the kinks out of the spell." He said. Hermione shot him a questioning glance. He did not answer her. " I guess we'll have to talk later Elliana. I can see the headmaster and the old man coming – got to go."

He left her at the door and made his way running towards the two men. Hermione, like any other woman in her situation, was furious. Seething on that spot, Hermione promised herself that she would take revenge on Harry Potter. Soon. Very soon. She felt utterly humiliated for having been dumped for two men. One old enough to be his father, the other old enough to be his great grand father.

Age of People
_______________________________________
Harry Potter (21)
Hermione Granger (18)
Oliver Wood (19)
Ronald Ron Weasley (19)
Twins (22)
Ginny Weasley (21)
Draco Malfoy (26)