Once again the disclaimer: I bow in awe of J.K. Rowling genius. All characters and things in the Harry Potter world are hers. Please do not sue me. I make no money and you would undoubted piss readers off if you delay in continuing the saga as we anxiously await your next book.
I have cited other fan fiction articles which have inspired me to incorporate their ideas in this story as well. I encourage you to read them. Please read and review. Thanks~ Leyna
Chapter 7: Madame X's Erotic Boutique
When Madame Pomfrey released Hermione from the confines of the infirmary it was December, and the Yule Ball signifying the end of the semester was fast approaching. She was excused from her normal schedule of classes for several days, and her teachers prepared a list of lessons and tests to help the recovering student to catch up. To the faculty's surprise, the previously comatose student quickly finished each assignment with her usual meticulous attention as if no time had passed. Studies seemed to be of little consequence and hardly presented a challenge in comparison to witnessing the disturbing activities of Lucius Malfoy.
She painfully noted that Snape quietly avoided her. She used to look forward to their lessons, and recently they had become unbearable. She frowned as she knew perhaps he'd misunderstood her previous requests for space. She didn't want him to think that he couldn't help her. It was her fault that she didn't let him know a bit more about what was bothering her. Who knows? Maybe he could…no. She wouldn't put him in that position. Lucius was a Death Eater. Telling him would either guilt Snape into an action that could cost him his life or further cause him pain in reminding him that he could do nothing in order to protect his role as spy.
As her feet carrying the weary girl toward the Gryffindor tower, the portrait hole opened to show the faces of her friends: Seamus, Neville, Colin, Ron and the rest of the crew attempted to welcome her in the common room with a hot chocolate party.
"Hey 'Mione! Come here, check out Fred and George's new Freezing pops!" He sucked on the end of the lollipop and icicles appeared on the end of his nose and ear lobes. A small cloud appeared above and snowed on Ron. "Ha! How do ya like that? It was my idea."
She smiled weakly and noticed as all of the students crowded around Ron. He was taking orders for the joke shop and Hogwarts was a vast source of potential customers. She smiled at that.
Harry put a friendly arm around her, Ginny close to his side. Seamus called out to her, "C'mon Hermione, some hot chocolate will do you good!" He grinned and waved her over to where he and Dean Thomas were sitting.
"It has cinnamon…" Dean said. "And a smidge of firewhisky!" Seamus added with an impish grin. Everyone laughed at the thought of getting tipped on spiked hot chocolate.
One of the girls let out a low guttural 'hmm' after sipping her drink, and suddenly the room erupted with fits of giggles from mostly Muggleborn girls. Chocolat had been a popular movie, and quickly the conversation turned back to the attractiveness of Johnny Depp and the use of chocolate as an aphrodisiac. There were a lot of jokes about chocolate in potion making. "Can you imagine Snape crashing through that chocolate display?" Hermione blushed a bit as her thoughts drifted to the potions master and the mist. Students chatted lightheartedly around her, and as she smiled her little smile, most didn't notice terribly that she didn't participate. Except perhaps Ginny and Harry who had been looking on in concern for their dear isolated friend.
Her mates had attempted to get her back to her own self, the Hermione they knew, entertaining her by the Gryffindor fire as they had on so many occasions before. They even apologized for giving her such a hard time about the points she lost from Gryffindor. But she felt empty.
"Hermione," asked Ginny in a low voice, "do you want to talk for a bit?" She could only shake her head in response and gave her friend an uncomfortable half-hug. She was numb and preferred to keep it that way for the time being.
Hermione couldn't talk about it. She suspected Ginny knew something was up. Harry was suspicious enough but he just offered his friendship and a shoulder if she needed it. Hermione couldn't bear to be comforted by anyone now. Even innocent gestures seemed brutal to her, breaking the thin wall she was carefully constructing to shield her from the weight of it. What she saw was gruesome. After repeated exposure to it over the last weeks, the future visions only seemed to dull her senses.
Maybe she couldn't prevent Lucius Malfoy from kidnapping her. But she sure as hell could be ready for him.
As girls at school were developing broader interests in the realm of dating, Hermione frequently found Lavender and Parvarti giggling about some boy or another. They often traded books and romance novels but Hermione never engaged in those conversations. On one occasion the girls were in a particular fit of laughter over a catalogue that displayed rather questionable nightwear.
"Merlin! Look at that one…"
"Ooooh, what would Seamus think?" Parvarti blushed immediately and turned her body a bit, imagining how it would look on.
"Wow, this one makes cleavage a little less pronounced…"
"It looks like it would pinch too much, metal stays…Why would anyone want that? You don't have that problem…" Pavarti smacked her friend who had just insulted her minimal endowment. "What about this one…the black leather one?" Another fierce fit of giggles ensued ensuring the attention of anyone within ear shot.
They were discussing the serious possibility of purchasing corsets for the Yule Ball, to shrink their waist and exaggerate their endowments. Hermione craned her neck to see. 'X' Hmmm…. "May I borrow that?"
Lavender and Parvarti looked up in shock. Then at each other, then back at Hermione. She was about the most unlikely person who would be interested in such a thing. They secretly wondered about possible matches for her, speculating silently about her date to the ball.
"Oh, give me a break." Hermione picked up the magazine and stared at the opposite page. A combination of different emotions flitted across her face as she read. The Black Widow Body Bind…each crafted by hand…surprise your mate—prolong your pleasure and dominate your lover into submission. It was a full body suit, black, with various charms and Egads!…the price. Her jaw dropped and then reviewed the features of the suit. Suit hell…body armor is more like it. Just the ticket.
"Thanks." She tossed the magazine back to the two stunned girls. Hermione was the prim and proper student, the bookworm, a Prefect. She'd never do anything…like that…would she?
A plan was forming in her mind as she walked up to Harry's dorm to request a favor.
"No way." Harry snorted.
"What do you mean no way?! You always sneak out, what's so different about this?" I always helped you. You owe me. She huffed.
"Dumbledore was right when he said you might be in danger and after the rather hellish year you've had your mad if you think I'm going to let you borrow the Invisibility Cloak to let you catch up on Hogsmeade weekends?!" He was at a yelling whisper.
"Keep you voice down! It's not like that. Y-you could come with me. Part of the way."
Hermione wasn't backing down and one way or another she was leaving. Harry knew better than to stand in her way. If you can't beat 'em…
"Alright, alright. Are you going to tell me what this is about?"
"Nope." She looked smug.
Harry rolled his eyes at her. "I figured as much. Are you at least going to tell me where we're going?"
In her usual sing-song tone of bossy authority she clipped back, "You can stay at the Shrieking Shack. I'm going to make a brief stop and I'll be back in an hour at the most."
"One hour? That's it—you swear?"
"I swear." She held up a hand in mock pledge. "Can we go Saturday?"
"Sure. Whatever you say Hermione." Sheesh.
Saturday came and Harry found himself sneaking around the school with Hermione underneath the Invisibility Cloak. It appeared to have shrunk over the years. They were close and she had grown rather beautiful. He would've asked her to the Yule Ball if it wouldn't have pissed Ron off. Hermione and Harry weren't interested in each other. A shame really.
They reached the statue and whispered "Dissendium." Quickly they ran to the Shrieking Shack and pulled off the silvery cloak. "Be careful Hermione. And you better be back in an hour or I will rat you out." He winked. It was a long hour.
Garbed in the cloak, Hermione ran to the Hog's Head, which had a magically functioning Muggle phone booth as an amusement. She called her mom at the office and asked a huge favor. A monetary one. Her mom, hearing the necessity on Hermione's voice gave in. She had never made a request like this before and she was not a girl to make poor choices. Hermione had her carte blanche to use some of the Gringotts funds from next semester's tuition. They could transfer additional funds later.
She wandered into Honeydukes and borrowed their fireplace. Alighting the fireplace with Floo powder, she muttered, "X, Knockturn Alley". She whisked off and found herself alone in the S&M shop. Fortunately, she was the only customer. She removed the Invisibility Cloak as the store owner turned to see who had appeared by Floo.
"Welcome to Madame X's Erotic Boutique. Oh! My, my, you're a young one. No matter though. I'm surprised, most customers frequent at night, but shopping during the day certainly offers more discretion. My name is Esmeralda Bunch. What can I help you with today?"
The manager was a large woman, with a voluptuous figure, enhanced by garments which could likely be purchased at this store. Hermione's eyes tried to avoid the rather garish displays of "equipment" available to the varied tastes of the other customers who must frequent here. Whips, manacles, and other devices for which one could only speculate the uses of decorated the deep red walls. She noticed the sign and cringed—"Most items available for demonstration by appointment."
In her most businesslike tone, Hermione made her request. "Madame Bunch, I came today to purchase one of those." And she gestured to the skin-tight full body corset on the nearby display mannequin. It looked like it was made of one piece of rubber, no seams that she could see. Interesting.
The saleswoman looked skeptically at the girl. "Isn't there something else that might suit you better? We have a lovely selection of waist high corsets…What's the effect you're looking for?" She quickly searched through the hangers for something…more delicate and much less expensive.
Hermione sensed the managers disbelief in her purchasing power. She cocked her head to one side in annoyance. Hermione reiterated, "I don't have a lot of time today, and I am needing this for immediate use. No other corset will do. An alternative won't provide me with the protection I need. Can you show me how it works?" Hermione's voice was quite firm.
The saleswoman didn't ask her to explain further, discretion was essential with her clientele. "Very well. Only the wearer can remove the corset with a single spell. Anyone else… well, let's just say they will have considerable difficulty in removing it. Eight hours of difficulty that is," she said with a wicked smile.
The plump woman strutted over to the mannequin with pride as she bragged on the specifications with the well-rehearsed ease of a skilled saleswoman. "With practice though, it can be removed in less time. However usually people purchase this in order to prolong the pleasure of bondage and domination. Not everyone is so patient though." She looked away in thought briefly as if she spoke from experience. Hermione suppressed a shudder.
"Does it come with a list of incantations it can deflect?"
"There's no manual. It deflects most hexes and curses, and of course greatly lessens the pain during a scene. The rubber is self-healing, and though the straps require quite a bit of arranging it's well worth the time."
Straps? What straps? Hermione smiled a bit at the last part. Hmmm. I wonder if it could lessen the effects of Cruciatus curse?
After casting the spell on the dummy and demonstrating the complex way of getting into it, Hermione finally realized what the saleswoman meant by "straps." It was all straps. Large wide rubber straps, the bands relaxed and then fit to the user, slowly shrinking so the wearer could arrange them carefully, as not to gather in the wrong place and pinch the hair or skin. They were tight and melted seamlessly into each other.
To Esmeralda's surprise the young woman paid her on the spot, pulling a formal requisition slip from her coin purse and filling it out. It was a enchanted slip. The magic ink changed to show funds had been deducted from the Granger's account at Gringotts and showed credited to the boutique's account.
Hermione decided she had enough time to wear it out of the store, and also received additional embarrassing assistance with the odd adjustments necessary to make sure it fit and that she could take it off. It fit like a glove, she felt remarkably flexible in it, and immediately Hermione noticed her figure go two inches slimmer. Her hips were exaggerated and she could've sworn her bum had never looked as shapely. She felt entirely confident. And just when she thought that was all, she slipped her clothing on over it and the rubber disappeared showing only skin. Hermione could still feel it hugging her body like a second skin.
"Wow." The manager exclaimed with a low whistle. Clearly even she didn't know all about this mystery invention yet. In fact, it had been the first one she had sold. "Thank you and please come again. No pun, dear."
Hermione smiled, proud of her purchase and knowing it was well worth every Galleon.
Author's Notes:
Thank to all of you who have been reviewing! I am trying to add more dialogue and character development. Please read and review!