Alright…June was my super-quick reviewer. Thank you for your support! As to why she charged him so much, there are two reasons: first, in the end she wants him to know that she's not killing Weasley and Dumbledore for revenge or anything else—it's a business transaction. Second, she knows that Dumbledore's financing it…and she wanted to take him for all he was worth.
Hand3, thanks for reading. As for HG/SS while she's still in school…it's really messy to work around that, but you'll like a (more cheerful) story I have in the works…

Lil, I posted it cuz otherwise it was just taking hard drive space. Rhiannon—here's a bit more for you! Snape's Witch, I'm glad someone loves it! Droxy—yeah, Hermione's OOC, which is why I conveniently set it in the future, outside of the context of the books that have been written. That way I could cop out and say that she's changed! Nore—so glad you like it!

I'm very sad that I got rather a rather ridiculous angry review. Persom: Am I a sick freak because my ideas don't mesh with yours? I'm so sorry for trying to explore different possibilities. I shall do my best to stay within cookie cutter format in the future. ::snort::

A quick word about this short series of vignettes: I wrote it as taking place after the war and I was intrigued by the moral ambiguities. I mean, the 'right side' won, but every side commits atrocities that are later excused as necessary evils. I wanted to examine how a person changes when they realize that someone they've idolized is not what they seemed…especially in the context of a wartime environment. I also wanted to explore the dynamic of two people who have always existed in a gray area.
Please note: I don't mean to portray Dumbledore as evil—he's not. He simply let his fear make decisions for him and deluded himself into thinking they were right.

I warn that this and the next chapter do contain graphic sexuality.

--Aimes

She let out a long sigh as she shifted against him. He smiled in satisfaction, fingers tangled in her hair, her body sprawled half atop his. Talk about a good time.

She looked up at him, eyes smoky and sated. "Why?" she asked huskily.

His smile became wry. This was becoming their routine. "Why what, exactly?" Her eyes glittered slightly in the half light.

"Why did you save me from Malfoy? Because it…amused you?" He could hear the dark laughter in her voice as she asked. She had no illusions of romance or sweetness. He watched her for a moment, running his fingers through her hair and stroking her face. She turned to kiss his hand and suck on his finger, eliciting a deep growl from him.

"Would it bother you if that were why?" he asked curiously.

"No. Free is free no matter what the reason," she said, cocking her head slightly. "I just wanted to know." She settled her chin on his chest and watched him.

"I didn't want you to die," he replied mildly, honestly. "And I didn't want him to break you. Dumbledore was obscenely stupid to throw you to the wolves as a sacrifice. But then, he was frightened of you, I suppose," he said this partly to himself. He had a good idea that the reason Dumbledore had let Malfoy take Hermione and had done nothing was because the man was just a tiny bit unnerved by the raw power within her. Mixed with her impressive intellect, she was a force to be reckoned with.

"That's why he tried to mind fuck you into thinking he was your salvation," she said thoughtfully. "And why he let Tom Riddle turn into a raving megalomaniacal madman when he probably could have stopped it early on. He was afraid. Better to let the world at large get rid of us or break us than to sully his lily white hands. Wonder if Harry realized it at the end." She trailed her hand down his arm and played with his fingers idly. "Destructive old bastard, wasn't he?"

"You've destroyed a few things yourself," he pointed out. "Was it satisfying?" She drew herself up on her knees so she was straddling him and placed her hands on his shoulders then leaned over to kiss him openmouthed, sucking on his tongue and groaning when his hands moved to her hips.

"Completely," she whispered wickedly, sucking on his ear.

He laughed, the sound rich and true, vibrating through her. "That's not what I meant, and you know it," he admonished. She laughed now, the sound high and sweet.

"I know," she said, teasingly contrite. Her face sobered slightly. "It was glorious," she said in a low, hypnotic voice. "Dumbledore took one look at me and knew he was dead. He tried some pathetic spiel about how he couldn't risk the order to save me, but he knew I wasn't buying it. I looked him in the eye when I killed him. Unfortunate casualty of war. Before he died, I told him that it wasn't just for me. It was for all the truly powerful witches and wizards he'd ruined in his fear of their power. For Tom Riddle, for Harry Potter, for you, and for Draco Malfoy. No one can begin to imagine the tortures Draco endured before dying at the hands of his father. That's why I killed Lucius, eventually. For Draco, who was willing to turn his back on everything he'd ever been raised to believe knowing that the other side would never take him and that his father would destroy him." She closed her eyes and smiled as she remembered her recent job. "Gods it felt good to kill the hypocritical old bastard. Love is the answer, indeed. And in the end, he actually believed in himself as the salvation of wizarding kind. It felt damn good to finish him." She snorted before opening her eyes and gazing down at him lustfully. "Almost as good as completing our transaction."

He laughed again as he ran his hands up her sides, lingering on her breasts, caressing them. "And Weasley?"

"I just shot him. He wasn't even worth the time it would have taken to rub it in. He fancied himself in love with me once, you know," she said mildly. "But when it came down to being me or him we all know which one of us ended up in Malfoy's clutches. He looked surprised when he saw me and almost relieved when he saw the gun. He was a foolish boy who made foolish decisions, in the end, and regretted them. I bet the guilt was just eating him inside," she said dryly. She leaned close to his ear again. "A lot like you were eating me a few hours ago."

"Is that a request for a repeat performance?" he queried, gazing up at her. His hair fanned out across the pillow and he looked relaxed and almost happy teasing her.

"I'll return the favor," she promised with a seductive smile. He flipped her onto her back and began licking and sucking his way down her body.

"I like having you at my mercy," he revealed, eyes burning. "I like having such a powerful witch writhing beneath me and screaming my name." He had reached her thighs and nipped at them gently. "Giving you pleasure is the most arousing thing I've ever done." She moaned and he laughed, abandoning himself to his task with enthusiasm. He teased her with his tongue and lips and her hips bucked against him. Within moments he had brought her to the edge and she came, screaming his name raggedly. She went limp, hands in his hair, eyes half closed. He kissed her thighs once more before moving beside her, pulling her into his arms. He kissed her lips and she tasted herself on him.

"Delicious," he whispered in her ear. She could feel his erection pressing against her and she smiled, sliding a hand down his body.

"I must admit, this is one of the better deals I've made," she said with a grin. "You're better than I ever dreamed."

He lowered himself over her, amusement and lust glowing in his black eyes. "Indeed," he growled as he claimed her mouth and thrust into her heat.