By Adriana
trixielou60@hotmail.com
All previous disclaimers still apply!
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And I have seen my share of long nights
And I have told my share of lies
And I have run into the darkness
When I saw the look in your eyes
But if the night didn't lie in the darkness
Then the daylight would be hard to find
And if the truth didn't turn to a weakness
I would have never have spoken my mind
~ From the song, "If I Were The Man You Wanted" by Lyle Lovett
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Chapter 10: Lies
The sound of Malfoy's banging and yelling had a similar effect to cold water being thrown on molten lava. Breathing heavily, Hermione and Severus immediately jumped away and regarded each other with disheveled hair and wild eyes. Hermione noticed that Severus was flushed and shaking and he in turn noticed that Hermione's pupils were dilated and her lips were swollen from kissing.
They stared at each other in awe. Temporarily ignoring Malfoy, they stepped towards each other again.
Draco was persistent. "Alright, I've had enough of this! On the count of three I'm coming in . . . one . . . two,"
The door flew open. Draco stalked into the room, a wide grin on his face.
"For Godsakes, Hermione! Haven't you heard of wards? Any undesirable could have walked in here at any time. Oh . . . erm . . . oh my, my." He took in the appearance of Hermione and his "uncle".
"Well, this is an interesting turn of events." His tone was sarcastic. "Good Lord, Hermione, I can see your nipples from way over here. I'd tell you two to get a room, but I see you already have one."
Almost before he could finish his sentence, Draco was lifted off the floor and his body thrown violently back into a chair. Severus was scowling at him, his eyes narrowed in fury.
"You will address Dr. Granger with respect!" he growled with quiet menace. "If I hear anything like that again from your filthy mouth, I'll send you back to your mother in a small box!"
"Alright, alright," Draco mumbled. "I'm sorry, you just caught me by surprise, that's all. By the way, does Voldemort know you do wandless magic? Because, aside from the fact that you almost broke my neck, that was really amazing."
"Voldemort is aware of my powers." Severus offered no more explanation.
"Why are you here, Malfoy?" Hermione looked at him in supreme irritation. She couldn't help but cross her arms in front of her chest.
"Isn't it obvious? After my announcement, you both flew out of the room like a couple of bats out of hell . . . no offense, Uncle Severus." He grinned before turning serious. "We have to talk about this."
"What is there to talk about? She's not going to Voldemort. You are to end this charade now."
Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but Draco interrupted her. "Uncle Severus, I know you're concerned about Hermione's safety. Believe it or not, so am I. But we have to come up with a plan to deal with this. If we don't continue, my life as a spy is over, in fact, my life is over. Not only that, but we'll lose our advantage. We can't give a knee-jerk reaction to every hard situation that comes along. Surely you understand that."
Severus sighed. "Point taken." He sat gracefully on Hermione's couch and motioned for her to join him.
Draco eyed them warily. "Erm, I'm a little afraid to ask, but what is going on with you two?"
Hermione spoke quickly. "Nothing. Nothing at all. We work together, that's all." She glanced at Severus. His expression was closed.
Draco snorted. "Oh, right! How stupid do you think I am? How stupid do you think Voldemort is? It's obvious that you two want to crawl inside each other's knickers . . . I'm practically suffocating on the hormones in this room. Don't look at me like that, Uncle! If I can see it, then others will be able to, as well. After all, I'm not exactly known for my sensitivity," he said, stating the obvious.
Hermione looked at Severus warily and turned to Draco. "Well, it's obvious to you because you and I are not really a couple, are we? To everybody else in the wizarding world, we're romantically involved. It would never occur to anybody that there's something going on between Severus and me . . . not that there is," she added again quickly. "Besides, even if there was, I can assure you that we'd never compromise the mission." She looked at the floor in embarrassment.
"You're being awfully silent, Uncle."
Snape's face was implacable and Draco could almost hear the proverbial door slamming shut.
"I'm not discussing this with you. Ever. If you want to talk about a plan to keep Dr. Granger safe, then let's get on with it."
"Well," said Draco slowly, "I've been thinking about this for several days. If Voldemort wanted me to use Hermione just to distract Potter, he wouldn't bother meeting with her. It's risky bringing her to where he stays and he'd be more likely to use his Watchers to report on her activities. It's obvious that he has other things in mind. If I bring her to him, I think I'll have a better chance of finding out what they are."
Severus got up and began to pace. "That's your plan? To just take her to him?" He gave Draco an incredulous look. "And if his plan is to kill her, or to have you kill her, what then?"
Draco ran a distracted hand through his long blond hair. "I don't believe that he would test me that way. Think about it . . . if he wanted to kill her, he would have done it long ago. She was very vulnerable living alone and working in London. No, I think he wants to use her for something. The problem is, I can't tell what it is, but I think that I could find out, given time. One thing I've noticed about Voldemort is that he's surrounded by 'yes men' and he enjoys my company because I tell him the truth, not what he wants to hear. I told you he thinks of me as a confidant, remember? For instance, did you know that he's obsessed with Ginny Weasley? He talks about her all the time. I think he wants to make her his queen or something."
"That's disgusting!" Hermione interjected.
"Well of course it is! This is Voldemort we're talking about," said Draco. "He says his interest in Weasley went beyond having her open The Chamber of Secrets. He's been waiting for her to grow up so he can claim her as a bride."
Hermione paled. "How long have you known about this, Malfoy?" she asked.
"For a couple of months now." He looked sheepish. "I guess I should have told you about this sooner."
"We'll deal with that issue later," snapped Severus. "Right now, I'm concerned about his plans for Dr. Granger."
"I have to keep cooperating with him. If I don't, I might as well give up my undercover work."
"He has a point, Severus. If we play our cards right, we could find out what he's planning. If he wants to meet me, I think we should do it. If Draco and I could convince him that I've turned to the Dark, we stand a better chance of infiltrating his operation and defeating him."
As Severus walked over to the fireplace, it spontaneously lit into a roaring fire. Draco and Hermione exchanged amazed looks. "There may be a way," said Severus, staring thoughtfully into the fire. "Professor Flitwick has been working on a tracking charm. The beauty of it is that it can't be traced. He started working on it when it became apparent that my life was in danger. The plan was for me to use it when I was called to the revels, but after my cover was blown, we obviously couldn't. Filius tells me that he could complete it in less than a week." He turned to Draco. "Can you hold him off that long?"
"I can do that," said Draco. "Voldemort hasn't directly asked me to bring Hermione, I heard that from Lucius. However, I think he'll be talking to me about it soon."
"Then do it. I have a little secret of my own, something which will aid us further, should Voldemort pull a surprise."
"What?" asked Hermione.
"In due time."
Draco got up from his chair. "Well, I can't say it hasn't been fun . . . because it hasn't. I'll just leave you two alone so you can be 'colleagues' together, or whatever." He leered at them.
"Mr. Malfoy, if you don't wipe that look off your face . . . "
"I'm leaving, I'm leaving!" Draco stepped to the doorway. "Hermione, you're going to have to do a better acting job if you want Voldemort to believe we're in love. I can't have you mooning over someone else." Before Hermione could retort, he was gone.
Severus sighed. "Impudent boy." He looked at Hermione carefully. "He's right, you know."
"About what? About me mooning over someone else? It's too late." Hermione stepped closer to him.
Severus instinctively backed away. "Don't say that. If Voldemort suspects you're not madly in love with Malfoy, he'll kill you on the spot. We should stop this now."
"No, we should be more careful. We can do this, Severus."
"Hermione, if circumstances were different, I'd be tempted to agree with you. But we have to consider our work. If anybody suspects that there's something going on between us, we're dead. Voldemort will see to it. I know it's a cliché, but there's just too much at stake. It's best if we put this 'thing', as you so eloquently put it, on hold for now."
Hermione let out a deep breath. Closing her eyes, she thought about everything he'd said that day. "Perhaps you're right," she conceded. She lifted a hand to his cheek and bringing her face close to his, she looked into his eyes. He could feel the soft stubble on his face and gloried in the feel of it. "I guess this is going to have to tide us over for a while," she whispered. She tentatively brushed her lips against his, before deepening the kiss.
Severus couldn't help but respond. Wrapping his arms around her, he returned her kiss with fervor, reveling in the soft feel of her lips. He broke away before he lost himself completely. Leaning against her forehead, he gasped, "We can't take any chances. As of right now, we're colleagues and nothing more."
"Wait," said Hermione quietly. Stepping forward, she wrapped him in a tight embrace, her arms encircling his neck. She tucked her head under his chin. "Just give me a minute."
For several moments, they stood in the middle of the room, enfolded together. Severus absently placed a kiss on the top of her head. "This is going to be the longest wait of my life," he thought.
Reluctantly, he pulled away from her. "I've got to go, I need to collect supplies for the next step in the potion." He looked at her intensely, before walking to the door.
"Severus, I can do this, but I just have to know that you won't push me away once this is over."
"I won't." With a customary sweep of his robes, he was gone.
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One minute Draco Malfoy was taking a joyride around Hogsmeade on his broomstick, the next he was kneeling on a cold stone floor, Voldemort's hand yanking at his hair.
"How the fuck does he do that?" Draco thought. "He always catches me by surprise. My Dark Mark barely burned and suddenly here I am again."
Voldemort pulled on his hair even harder. "Mr. Malfoy. My Watchers tell me that you've been openly lusting after the waitresses at The Boom Boom Room in Knockturn Alley."
"Tattletales," muttered Draco. He lifted his head to look at Voldemort and had to suppress a gasp. The creature looked even less healthy than the last time he'd seen him, if that was even possible. His usual powerful voice had been reduced to a harsh wheeze and Draco noticed the effort it seemed to take for him to even speak.
Keeping his voice neutral, he said, "My apologies, my Lord. Some habits are hard to break. I can assure you that Hermione Granger thinks I'm totally besotted with her. I tell her that often enough, anyway. She likes me even better in bed."
"You're going to have to be more careful, Mr. Malfoy. If Dr. Granger has any idea that this is just a ruse on your part, I'm afraid that I'll have to take drastic action. Painful, deadly action."
"I understand, my Lord," Draco murmured. He suppressed a shudder.
"Come sit with me, Draco," Voldemort said weakly. He gestured to a chair next to him.
"How are you feeling? You look a little tired. Is there anything I can do for you?" Draco sounded sincere.
Voldemort smiled affectionately at him. "Do you know that you're the only person who has ever asked me that? All my other servants seem to shun my company." He let out a breath and Draco again suppressed a shudder. While Voldemort had never smelled clean and minty fresh, the odor emanating from him was particularly foul. "I'm not feeling well, Draco. I haven't told anybody this, but recent activities have taken a big toll. Soon however, all that will change."
"Change? How?"
"I have a plan," Voldemort confided. "While I'm not ready to give the details, soon my health problems will be over. I've struggled with this for years and frankly, unicorn blood is not all it's cracked up to be. No, I have something else in mind."
Draco knew from years in the Dark Lord's service that it was best to let Voldemort confide in him in his own time. If he appeared too eager, it would raise suspicions. Something in what Voldemort was telling him was raising red flags, but he didn't have time to contemplate it. Time enough for that later.
Voldemort changed the subject. "Things have been progressing very nicely, you're doing good work. All accounts that I've been given indicate that Dr. Granger is a changed woman because of you. Have you told her that you're in my service?"
Draco answered carefully. "Well my Lord, she knows that I'm a Death Eater, if that's what you mean. It's hard to hide seeing as I bear the Dark Mark and she has seen me naked. Several times." He smirked.
"And how has she reacted to that?"
"To my being naked? She loves it, of course. Oh . . . you mean to the Dark Mark!" Voldemort snorted in amusement. "Well, it's very interesting," Draco continued. "She and I have had several conversations about the war and she's a very ambitious woman. I didn't realize it until we'd been dating for several weeks, but she was not at all happy with how her life had been going up until I met her. She was a workaholic, she was poorly paid, and she's had to kowtow to stupid people who were her medical supervisors. Her ego has taken quite a beating."
"It's as I always suspected," Voldemort said with satisfaction. "Her friends and co-workers have never understood her. Tell me, how does she feel about Harry Potter?"
"She's angry with both him and Ron Weasley. It appears that they only contact her when they want something from her and it's just like when they were at Hogwarts together. She used to do all their homework, you know. She feels used by them and is particularly upset that they've seemed to move on with their lives without her. She's very resentful."
"Excellent, excellent! This is even better than I could have hoped for. Do you think she'd be willing to turn on them?" Voldemort ended the sentence with a hacking cough. Draco showed no emotion.
"Not yet, my Lord. Give me time. I think that I can manipulate her to where she'll be willing to do anything to keep me in her life. I've wined and dined her and I've shown her all the luxuries that only money can buy. She's insatiable in bed and it's been a particularly satisfying aspect of our relationship. The only problem I'm having is with this 'pureblood' thing. Intellectually, she has a hard time with the concept that Muggleborns are inferior to purebloods and your stand on that issue is very vexing to her. Do you have any suggestions as to how I can approach this?"
Voldemort laughed softly. "Tell her that whether or not a wizard is pureblood is not important to me. It's important to some of my more loyal servants and because of that I've had to adopt a policy of Muggleborn genocide, but it's a political decision, a compromise to keep them happy. Personally, I can say that as long as someone is loyal to me and to my cause, I could care less as to where they came from. It's particularly true if they're powerful wizards or witches, like Dr. Granger. One Dr. Granger is worth ten Goyles to me." Again he laughed harshly. Draco noticed that he seemed to be having trouble keeping his blood-red eyes focused. "I'm a practical wizard, Mr. Malfoy. I kill Muggles when it's useful to me and I leave them alone when it's not."
"I'll talk to her about what you've told me. Hermione loves nothing more than an intellectual debate. To be truthful, I think she's rather bored at Hogwarts. She agreed to stay on after Pomfrey died out of some sense of loyalty, but at least she seems to be happy with her research." Draco calculated as to whether or not he should mention Hermione's research, but felt that it would be prudent to bring it up. To do otherwise would raise Voldemort's suspicions.
"So how goes Dr. Granger's research? Does she confide in you?"
"A little, my Lord. She's working on some sort of Soul Gathering spell. I think it could be useful to our cause when our Death Eaters are injured by curses from the Ministry Aurors. She seems to be close to completing her work."
"It doesn't matter to me, really," wheezed Voldemort. "I'm immune to the killing curse, but I suppose it could be useful to some of my servants. If doing that research keeps her at Hogwarts, then it serves my purposes." He waved a dismissive hand. "By the way, I'll be wanting to meet with Dr. Granger soon. I suggest you get busy and convince her that it's a good idea."
"As you wish, my Lord," Draco said softly.
They were both silent for a moment. Suddenly Voldemort turned to Draco and said, "You may go now. I'm entertaining a guest and I don't want to keep her waiting. I will allow you to apparate to Malfoy Manor."
"A lady, my Lord? Anybody I know?"
Before Voldemort could answer, a cowering house elf entered the room and stammered, "She's here, my Lord."
Draco stood up to receive the guest, but Voldemort took him by the elbow and steered him to the front entrance hall. He moved very slowly. "I'm not ready to reveal her yet, Mr. Malfoy." He leaned over to Draco and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "She pleases me very much. Even I get lonely sometimes."
Draco tried to wrap his mind around that concept.
As Draco was leaving the entrance hall, he turned his head towards a side hallway and was able to catch a brief glimpse of a slight figure as she slipped into a side door. She was wearing a heavy fur-lined cloak and he couldn't see her face. Was that a curl of red hair he saw under her hood? Or was it blond? He couldn't tell.
Making sure that no one was following him, he made his way to the side-door, where she'd just stood. The only scent that lingered in the air was that of a perfume.
He sniffed deeply. "She has expensive taste," he thought.
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That night, Hermione and Severus worked hard on the Soul Shattering Potion. There was a sense of urgency for its completion, and for the first time in their lives, they both wished their work to be over and done. Severus wondered what it would be like not to have the threat of Voldemort hanging over his head. Would he even know how to conduct his life in a normal way? The thought of being with Hermione, without restraint, without reservation, was intoxicating, but he tried not to think about it. He had to stay focused.
They were very careful not to touch each other and they limited their conversation strictly to the task at hand. It was the hardest evening they'd ever spent together.
"I've found that yarrow is probably the most potent ingredient in all the love potions I've ever analyzed," remarked Hermione. "I've been doing some reading and Shorinda would be a good antidote to counteract its effects. I'm having trouble deciding which is the best way to prepare it, though."
Severus looked up from his cauldron. "Well, there are several ways to prepare it. I think that given the chemical properties of the base potion, the preparation used by some of the Lapland tribes in northern Finland would be best. You remember, don't you?"
Hermione loved this part of working with Severus. When she was a student at Hogwarts, he would drill his students on what they were supposed to know, barking questions at them until somebody got the answer wrong. Then he'd sigh in mock despair before castigating the offending student for his or her ignorance. He'd never been able to beat Hermione at this game, but looking back, she suspected that he never really tried very hard. That was a revelation in itself.
She smiled at him. "Shorinda, or Blade Venom can be mixed with one quart of urine and must ferment for 6 days before the remaining liquid is distilled. The plant is a lichen found in needleleaf forests on trees, and is occasionally found on stone . . . the Laplanders used this technique because --"
"That's enough, Dr. Granger," Severus said dryly. Hermione grinned. "Luckily, we don't have to wait for six days because I anticipated this last week and began processing the plant." He couldn't help giving her a superior look. Changing the subject slightly, he added, "I've also been examining a copy of the Nine Herbs Charm. What do you know of that?"
Hermione used her best "student voice". "The charm was found in the 11th century manuscript known as Harley 585, called "Lacnunga" by one of its translators in the 19th century. The Charm exhorts the properties of the nine main healing ingredients against poisons . . . mugwort, plantain, stune, venom-loather, chamomile, wegulu, apple, chervil and fennel."
Severus nodded and recited the charm verse by heart. "These nine have power against nine poisons. A worm came crawling, it killed nothing. For Woden took nine glory-twigs, he smote the adder that it flew apart into nine parts."
"I remember that verse," said Hermione. "Do you think it's important?"
"It sounds like a recipe for shattering, don't you think? The adder flew into nine parts, using these nine ingredients. It's worth a try, anyway."
Hermione nodded. "I have some of those ingredients at the infirmary and I have to check on one of the students. You remember that second year Hufflepuff, Alfred Needlenose?"
Severus rolled his eyes. "A Neville Longbottom- in- the making, if I recall."
Hermione stifled a grin. "Yes, well, he injured himself in Herbology this afternoon. He couldn't seem to keep his hands away from the Venus Flytrap and it almost severed a finger. He's meeting me at 8:00 so I can check on his wound. Why don't you walk with me to the infirmary and you can retrieve the potion ingredients while you're there?"
"I've got one more step to perform on the experimental potion. I'll meet you up there in about five minutes."
Hermione made her way to the infirmary. Giving the hospital wing a cursory look, she noticed that Taryn Butler was nowhere to be found. "She probably needed a break," she thought. "I haven't been spending enough time with her recently."
She was waiting for the Hufflepuff student when Draco Malfoy waltzed into the infirmary. "Hermione, my love! It's been hours!" He grinned.
"Not now, Draco, I'm very busy. Why don't you warn me before you come over?"
Draco flounced lazily into a chair. "Sorry, I just can't stay away." He noticed a cloak lying across the chair and frowned. "Who owns this cloak?"
Hermione gave it a brief glance. "It looks like it belongs to Taryn."
"Taryn Butler? The mediwitch?" Draco picked up the cloak to move it. He caught a whiff of something familiar.
Perfume. A very familiar perfume.
Suddenly, the horrible pieces fell into place.
"Oh shit! Hermione . . . where is Miss Butler?" Hermione looked up to see a look of total panic on Draco's face.
"I don't know, she was gone when I got here. What the . . ." Draco grabbed her by the arm and Hermione winced at the hard pressure he applied. "Where's Severus?"
"He's down in the Potions Lab. Draco, whatever is the matter with you?"
Draco was dragging her out the door. "I can't stop to explain," he yelled. "Follow me . . . oh Merlin! I think Uncle Severus is in trouble! I have reason to believe that Taryn Butler is a Death Eater, possibly an assassin!"
They began to run down to the Potions Lab. Draco yelled to a Slytherin student, asking if he'd seen Miss Butler down by the dungeons. The student had just enough time to yell to them that he'd seen her about five minutes earlier, near the Potions Lab.
When they reached the lab, the door was wide open. Entering cautiously, Draco peered into the doorway and was stunned by what he saw.
The Potions Lab was in total chaos. Broken glass lay on the floor and chairs had been overturned. But most surprising was the sight of Ron Weasley. He had Taryn Butler in a headlock and was struggling to reach her wand. Severus was lying at their feet and Hermione was horrified to see that he was bleeding from his nose, eyes and from the corners of his mouth. He wasn't moving.
Ron yelled, "Oi! Malfoy! Do you think you could give me a hand here?" He was puffing with exertion.
Leaving Taryn Butler in the capable hands of Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy, Hermione ran to Severus, kneeling in front of him. She choked back a sob.
He wasn't breathing.
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Author's Note: Oooooh! Drat that evil Taryn Butler! How many of you saw that coming, eh?
Sorry it's taken me a while to update, but real life intervened. Once again, thanks to my wonderful reviewers! You guys keep me writing . . . I love hearing from you. I didn't have time for my beta to review this chapter so I hope there are no glaring mistakes.
It's not totally intentional, but I can't seem to get away from the dreaded "Cliffhanger". I don't mean to be so evil (bwahahahaha.) I promise to update soon, so you won't be in suspense for too long.
The Nine Herbs Charm is an actual charm found in G. Storms' "Anglo-Saxon Magic, Martinus Nijoff: The Hague", 1948, pp 187-197. This manuscript is found in the British Museum.