Hermione staggered back in fear
"Lucius Malfoy?" she said recognising the father of her worst enemy.
His look of surprise at her presence soon disappeared and was replaced by a predatory smirk. He had noticed the open dressing gown and Hermione, quickly realising, pulled it around herself. The tie had been lost somewhere on the floor and she hadn't felt the need to find it. Lucius licked his lips hungrily and began advancing on her.
"I'll go and tell Severus that you're here, he must have forgotten you were coming" Hermione said nervously, trying not to sound as frightened as she felt. Vomiting earlier had made her feel shaky and weak and the fear she was now feeling was not helping at all. Her heart was racing, causing a blood rush around her body, which in turn made her feel light headed.
"There's no hurry, Hermione" He smiled
Hermione stopped dead, staring at him open mouthed in shock, she hadn't thought he had recognised her.
"Yes, I know who you are, the little mud-blood bookworm who punched my son in the third year. Now you're fucking your teacher! Quite the little minx aren't you?" He said, moving in on her quickly, grabbing her around the waist.
Hermione pushed against him, still trying to keep the dressing gown closed around her. This struggle only served to make him laugh, and hold her even tighter.
"Get off me! Get off!" Hermione gasped, she somehow managed to push him off and ran into the bedroom. Once in there she ordered the candles to light up, it was then that she discovered to her horror, that Severus was conspicuously absent.
Lucius stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, his arms folded and that lascivious smirk on his face again.
"Oh dear, it seems that our dear friend had pressing business elsewhere, that really was very inconsiderate of him wasn't it? Though I'm sure we can find a way to entertain ourselves, while we wait for him to come back" Lucius said in feigned politeness, looking over at Hermione lustfully.
Hermione felt terror rise in her throat, she was by no means a wimp, she had nearly knocked a guy out once who got too frisky with her, but Lucius Malfoy was a different matter. For a start he was a fully-grown man, not a boy and secondly she knew he was a deatheater, so he was bound to know very effective ways of detaining her against her will. She stood there unmoving, frozen by fear, just looking at him. He began to advance on her slowly, twirling his wand in his slender, ring adorned fingers. She thought about shutting herself in the bathroom, but that would not hold him off long, so it was pointless. He was close now, only a few feet away.
"Why don't you just take off that troublesome robe Miss Granger and make yourself comfortable on the bed." He drawled, the tip of his tongue slaking his lips.
Her hands shaking, Hermione pulled the robe even tighter around her, she intended to keep it on for as long as possible.
"Oh come now, don't be afraid, I won't hurt you..much." Lucius reached out to stroke her cheek, his hand was freezing, making her flinch instantly.
"Don't touch me!" came her exclamation and she suddenly thought about accioing her wand. The state she was in, she doubted it would do her any good, but it was worth a try.
"Accio wand!" she called. The wand obediently flew out of her school bag to her hand, but Lucius grabbed it before she could. With his own wand he spun it round in the air and with a flick of his wrist, it was gone.
"A little charm I learned recently, very useful, sends another persons wand...who knows where? Maybe it will turn up somewhere in the school" He grinned
Hermione was horrified, she didn't know that could be done, her only hope had been taken away from her. She sincerely hoped that it could be found again as she was very attatched to it.
Her only escape route now, was to climb across the bed, but climbing on the bed did not seem to be a very good idea at the moment. She had backed herself into a corner, literally and there was nowhere else to go.
"Oh, such a delicate little flower! How scared you are, those firm breasts trembling so beautifully beneath that flimsy material!" he exclaimed, in a childlike intonation that tried to hide his dark intentions. He reached out to touch her face again, the coldness of his fingers making he shiver. His hand slid slowly around her neck and he suddenly grabbed a handful of her hair roughly, forcing her to walk forward. He brought his face right up next to hers, looking at her seriously for a moment with his steely grey eyes. Then he smirked again, before throwing her hard on the bed. This made her squeal in terror
"Please, please don't do this!" she begged, hoping to tap in to some small bit of humanity in the man, but he ignored her plea, still smiling.
He undid the clasp at the neck of his cloak and threw it off quickly, revealing a dark grey jacket beneath, which he merely touched with his wand to instantly undo. Hermione was now so scared she could hardly breathe, where was Severus? She slid backwards on the bed, thinking that she could make a dash for the door, but she felt an icy grip on her ankle and looked up to see a salacious smile on Lucius's face. He pulled her back easily, leaning over her and beginning to climb on top. Hermione closed her eyes, still trying to push him off, but all the fight gone out of her. She prepared herseldf for the inevitable and only hoped it wouldn't last long.
Suddenly – BANG! The door to the office had been opened and crashed against the wall loudly
Hermione jumped in shock and Lucius hurriedly stood up when he saw the dark, forbidding form of Severus Snape in the doorway.
"What the hell are you doing in here!" Severus thundered, "you were supposed to meet me in the forbidden forest! I have been waiting for over an hour! Then I saw your footprints and tracked them here! Do you think I have nothing better to do, than stand around like an idiot!" He was so angry, that he hadn't properly taken in the scene before him. Hermione was so relieved at his appearance she felt faint, her head span and she managed to croak "Severus!" as she shakily tried to sit up.
The Professor looked at her for a moment, his brows knitted, then he looked at Lucius and took in his state of partial undress. Realisation clicked in his brain and his rage increased
"Lucius! You piece of filth! Up to your old tricks again I see! Well this ones not for you, not this time!" Severus growled, as he advanced on Lucius, his wand held out in front of him threateningly.
"Oh, come now Severus! I was only having a bit of fun with the girl! Why do you care so much anyway! She's only a mudblood bitch! One swipe of my wand and a little memory charm later, the whole thing will be like a dream that she can hardly remember!" Lucius said, in a placatory fashion
"Not her Lucius!" Severus warned, his narrowed, black eyes glittering dangerously.
"What! Are you saying that you actually care for this slip of a girl that dares to call herself a witch! You've gone soft Severus! I've had my suspicions about you for a while, but I kept telling myself, no, not Severus, he's as faithful as they come! But now I'm not so sure!" Lucius accused, suspiciously
Severus had blanched slightly at this accusation and he straightened up, lowering his wand, "I am still faithful, but you must remember that I need to keep my cover here, if I don't I will get thrown out and then I will not be able to watch the Potter boy!" Severus retorted, "Any sort of spell casting of that nature in this place, will catch the attention of the headmaster, even one of your supposedly undetectable charms, you know how powerful he is!"
"Maybe you are right" Lucius replied sounding slightly dejected. To Hermione's great relief he seemed to have accepted defeat and began to do up his jacket and picked up his long cloak draping it over his arm.
"Come into my office, we will have our meeting in there, though it will have to be quick as the hour is now late" Severus said, his voice now back to it's normal velvety, self-possessed tone.
Lucius, looked at Hermione as he went to follow severus and hissed, "One day soon you won't be in the safe confines of this castle mud-blood and Severus won't be there to save you.."
Hermione backed up the bed a little more at this suggestion, she knew exactly what he meant, that he'd get her one day. She sincerely hoped that 'one day' never came. As Lucius disappeared into the office, so did the doorway, leaving her alone.
Her mind was racing, she knew Severus worked for the order as a spy, but could he be a double agent? She knew he had just saved her from Lucius, but was it to protect her or himself and his old deatheater friend? She had no idea, but she was damn well going to confront him about it when she saw him. She was angry and upset, but also tired, so she snuggled up under the covers, staring out at the wall, but not seeing anything lost in her thoughts.
She awoke when she felt someone climb into bed beside her, in her sleepy state, she jumped up in alarm.
"It is only me," said a familiar and comforting voice
Hermione slid back down again allowing him to snuggle into her back and drape his arm around her waist. Tears sprang to her eyes again as she remembered what a near miss she had had, with Lucius.
She felt his strong arms turn her over, so that she was flat on her back, the outline of his face just visible in the dim candlelight.
"Don't worry, I would never have let him touch you. He'll never get a chance like that again I assure you" He whispered breathily in her ear, making her shiver slightly. Reaching up a hand, he wiped away the tears from her cheeks with a touch so soft and gentle, it made Hermione sigh audibly and close her eyes. He kissed her eyelids, while holding her head in his hands, his breath blowing out softly on her forehead. Hermione, despite her earlier experience began to respond to his touch, she wanted to be close to him, to gain comfort from his proximity. She had many questions to ask him, but at this moment, she didn't care where his loyalties lay, she just wanted him to hold her. He seemed to understand this and stopped kissing, lying back down beside her, allowing her to slide her back against him and placing his arm around her waist once more. They lay there for some time before Hermione found the courage to ask a question that had been burning in her throat
"Severus?" she whispered biting her lip
"Yes?" came his sleepy reply
"Do you love me?" she screwed up her eyes, hardly able to bear waiting for the answer. She knew now, how she felt, she had fallen in love with the snarky potions professor, she hadn't known quite how it had happened, or when, she only knew that she did. Her heart began to thump in her chest and her tummy jangled with nerves as she waited, but the answer did not come. All she heard was low breathing, indicating that he must be asleep. Hermione was bereft, was he really asleep or just avoiding the question? She felt sulky and began to pull away from him, but as she did, his arms tightened around her preventing her from moving. She gave in and lay back down again. His head nuzzled into her neck, as she did so, an audible sigh of contentment coming from his throat.
Hermione thought that must have been his way of answering her question, she smiled to herself before falling into a deep and happy sleep, feeling safe and secure in his arms.