Author's Note:

'This is a contest entry for the Dracolov challenge! If you would like to enter you must e-mail Dracolov, her e-mail is in her profile. The last day to enter is 12/1/04. Please R & R (read and review) and thank you for reading my story.

Disclaimer:

I don't own any of the original Harry Potter character because I am not that creative... but I wish I was... I only own the plot and my characters.

chapter 8: Secrets Deepen

With both of their emotions running high from all the turmoil of the day, they were both acting out of pure instinct. No cares or worries were entering the equation in the slightest. His hands were roaming freely, removing clothing from her and then himself while she was cupping his face in her hands and running her fingers through his perfectly groomed tresses. Draco was determined to make this the night of her life because she had opened herself to him so willingly and without prejudice. Once they were down to just their undergarments, he picked her up and carried her off to her bedroom, located upstairs.

Placing her gently on the bed, he stood back to admire her in all of her stripped down glory. Her breasts, which were just slightly larger than his hands and held in place by a lacy white demi-cup bra; a flat toned stomach which lead down to a white lace thong to match her bra, barely covering her prized sex. The sight quite literally took his breath away and for a split second, he questioned his own worthiness of her. Before going any further, he wanted to make sure that this is what she wanted and not just an act of desperation to forget her other troubles.

"Hermione, are you sure that this is what you want?" he whispered seductively in her ear.

"Am I still the weapon for your revenge?" she asked timidly, practically dreading the response.

"Yes, but not in the way you were before."

"Then how is it now?"

"I plan to get my revenge by getting the girl and proving that they were wrong. I want to play this out and see where it leads, not lead you on," he told her.

"So you don't know what you feel for me, do you?"

"Not exactly, but I know that I want to be with you. I just can't say that I love you… yet."

"Yet?"

"Yes, yet. We've known each other for ages, but not as we are today. We were enemies, combating head to head, but now I'd like to think that we are friends, walking hand in hand."

Poetically put, she thought to herself. She reached up to pull him into her embrace to give herself to him, but was interrupted by an annoying beeping sound coming from downstairs.

"What's that?" she sat up on the bed, a little frightened.

"What?" he wondered.

"That beeping sound."

"Merlin, what now?" he huffed before getting up and heading downstairs with her in tow. "It's my emergency pager. Something has to be terribly wrong with the company."

He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the paging device, looking over the text message. "Can I use your phone?"

"Sure, it's right there." She pointed towards the table on his right.

Dialing the number, Draco wonder who up in the heavens he had pissed off so much that he couldn't get some uninterrupted time with his woman. "Yeah, it's me. What's so urgent?"

Hermione could hear a voice mumbling on the other line and watched as his expression changed from frustration to bewilderment to panic.

"What? How could that possibly happen? I thought the product was safe? Fine, I'll be there shortly and don't do anything until I get there." He hung up the phone and rotated to face her before he spoke again. "I'm sorry, but something terrible yet wickedly comical," he grinned, "has happened and I have to get to the office. Can I get a rain check?"

"What's wrong?" She couldn't stand the suspense, as she knew it had to do with one of their products. "Maybe I can help."

"Well, this is of a very sensitive nature, as one of our clients has had a 'reaction', so to speak, to one of our oldest products." He began the explanation while dressing, and she did the same just in case she was able to tag along.

"What's happened?"

"It seems that a male client of ours was taking one of our hair restoring products and well, somehow, he has become pregnant." He chuckled at the idea.

"What?" she gasped, horrified.

"And that's not the worst of it. The client is someone that we both know."

"Who?" She couldn't control herself any longer with at those words.

"Promise not to say a word?" He regained his serious tone.

"Of course," she reassured him.

"Alright. It's..."

"It's… who?" She was growing impatient.

"Well, it's Professor Snape. And believe me, he's not very happy right now." He blurted it out wondering if that was really wise to tell her.

"Oh. My. G-"

"I couldn't agree more, but I really do have to go. What about that rain check?"

"Let me come with you. I might be able to help. I mean, this opens a world of questions about how and who the mother is..."

"Wrong."

"Huh?"

"No mother..."

"But that would mean..."

"Yep."

"Oh...."

"Rain check?"

"I still want to come."

"No. How would that look?" he challenged her.

"I'll stay in the background. He would never see me but I could look at the results and the test results to see if I could find the cause. Maybe it wasn't something that the potion did," she defended.

"This really isn't your area of expertise, but I appreciate the offer."

"I just as easily could've become a Healer. I know my way around the body," she pressed.

"Really???" That filled his mind with imagines that made her blush.

"I'm serious."

"So am I," he replied in his sexiest voice, followed by the infamous smirk.

"I'll follow you after you leave," she persisted.

"Why is this so important to you?"

"I think it may have something to do with the Priory and their private research. I don't think that Snape was a mishap or an accident. Someone's sending you a very prominent signal… or didn't that cross your mind?" she reasoned.

"Now that you mention it, that would answer a lot of questions that the researchers were asking about test groups and so forth." Now it was his mind that was reeling.

"If we're going to solve this, we have to do it together, and you have to trust me. I won't betray you, I swear, especially since… who would really believe this?" she continued dramatically, but stopped by him.

"Fine, but we need to go now." With that settled, she grabbed her purse and his hand, and with a 'pop' they were gone.

----------------------

meanwhile in Knockturn Alley

"Master, it is done," a feeble but husky voice resounded.

"Good. And what of the girl?" a soft but educated voice inquired.

"We can't find her. I believe that something has spooked her, but I know that she has the information we need. I have every available resource looking for her; therefore, it shouldn't be long," was the weak reply.

"Have you checked with our Ministry contact?"

"No, we can't find her either. I believe that someone else is after her, though. I heard a rumor, but I think that's it's reliable enough." He lowered his voice out of fear of retaliation.

"What?" the normally subdued man bolstered.

"She crossed paths with a very stupid but dangerous sort. But we're bringing him in for questioning to see what, if anything, he has done," the submissive replied in a panic, bracing himself for punishment.

"We are far too close for such errors to be made. Fix this or suffer my wrath," the master warned.

"Yes sir. Right away," said the weaker of the two while backing out of the room and thanking Merlin that his meeting was done with now and that he hadn't been harmed.

Making his way to the dungeons, the weakling ordered a cloaked figure to bring him the captive immediately. As the battered and bruised likeness of the great hero approached, a smile crept upon the captor's face.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, so glad that you could join us, seeing as you have some information that may be of some value to me..."

-----------------------------------

As Draco and Hermione arrived at the main research and development facility in London, he reminded her again of the rules of her involvement. She was not, under any circumstances, to make her presence known to Snape; she was there with the intent to help determine whether or not this was an unfortunate side effect of the potion; and she was not to breathe a word of this to anyone in the Ministry. Having agreed to these conditions, Hermione was cloaked with an invisibilitycharm so that she could see the examination of Snape that was in progress when they arrived. Draco immediately greeted Snape and tried to diffuse some of his anxiety with a series of sensitive questions and reassurances that they would abide by Snape's wishes at all stages of the process.

"Severus, good to see you again, even under such circumstances. Now, I apologize in advance for the questions that I am about to ask, but it is necessary for us to determine what course of action we shall be pursuing at this point. Do you agree?" he began with the kind of confidence that only he could pull off.

"Yes," was the curt reply.

"First, I assume that this was quite the unexpected scenario, but do you wish to terminate the pregnancy, as that would be the easiest solution?"

"I haven't decided." This astonished Hermione because she could not picture Snape as a parent – even in the conventional sense.

"Very well. For now we shall see what can be done to accommodate your condition until the time in which you make your final decision. Do you wish to contact the father?" Draco continued gingerly like this was a common occurrence.

"Not until I make my decision."

"Fine, fine. How are you feeling?" Was that concern that she just heard in Draco's voice?

"Tired and a little nauseated." Really, him too?

"Yes, we are concocting a potion to help ease that. Will you agree to stay here for the next few days so that we may monitor your condition in more detail?"

"Yes."

"Thank you for your time, Professor, and I have just one last question for you for you. What made you think that something was wrong?" Draco inquired.

"I wasn't feeling well and I went to Poppy to have her check me over when she discovered the abnormality. Naturally, she thought that she had done something wrong, but I feared the worst and contacted your office. Your secretary arranged for me to come straight here to be checked out," Snape explained flatly.

"Quite clever of her. I'm going to check with some of the researchers now, but I shall be back to check on you soon." Draco patted him on the arm then exited the room to talk to Hermione.

She was practically jumping out of her skin when he entered the room. From the look on his face, Hermione deduced that they both had some strong observations about the information Snape had given.

"He's lying," they said in unison.

---------------------

Meanwhile, back at the Ministry

Sapphire was making good on her promise to Hermione. In the midst of lunch, a stroke of luck fell right in to her lap. She had run into an old friend of hers, Bonnie (or BJ, as she called her), who was now a liaison between the Ministry and the IWB. The attractive blonde was utterly absorbed in a book while munching on a salad when Sapphire approached her with a little small talk in mind.

"BJ, I haven't seen you in forever!" she cried.

"Merlin, what have you been up to?" BJ retorted with the same fervor.

"Same old, same old." She pulled up a chair to join her friend.

"Don't I know it, but I have to admit the IWB is starting to pick up, though," she replied offhandedly.

"Really, do tell."

"Well, we have this one chick who has been under heavy cover that has disappeared, and it's been virtual chaos with everyone scrambling to find her. And I overheard the scoop of a lifetime," she hinted.

"What?" exclaimed Sapphire.

"You'll never guess who she was dating," BJ teased, since Sapphire looked like she might burst.

"Who?"

"Harry Potter."

"No, really?"

"Yep, and that's not it..." Again with the drama...

"Stop teasing," she scolded her friend

"Well, in typical Potter fashion, when he heard that she was missing he volunteered to go look for her, and now he's missing too." That tidbit prompted Sapphire's jaw to drop. This was definitely not good.

"What's the ministry doing about this?" Sapphire asked anxiously.

"They're waiting to see if he shows up or contacts someone, but since he didn't really tell anyone where he was going, they don't know where to begin," she replied, looking to Sapphire to see what she was up to.

"I think I may know where to begin, but you can't tell anyone about this, ok?" she finally replied mysteriously.

"Sure, but are you going to tell me what this is all about?"

"Only that it's going to require the help of one of his best friends." After she said this, Sapphire got up and left the table without so much as a goodbye. She had to talk to Hermione right now, and she knew it wasn't going to be a good conversation.

BJ had no idea what had just happened, but she believed that if the rest of the Golden Trio were called in, then all would work out somehow. It just had to….

-------------------

The shocking part of the story relating to Snape's condition wasn't the fact that they were on the same page; it was that it felt natural, almost necessary, for them to be working together. During the interview, Draco noticed that Snape didn't seem terribly shocked by the situation, despite the unlikely event of a man becoming pregnant. That was his first conclusion. Furthermore, the fact that Parisa was the one to refer Snape here was also suspicious considering who her father is. He knew that Parisa's lineage was not something that Hermione was aware of, but she still seemed to pick up on the strange course of action by his secretary.

"Draco, are you listening to me?" Hermione snapped him out of his reverie.

"Sorry, I was thinking about Parisa and her connection to this," he answered honestly.

"Who's Parisa? What's her connection?" she asked.

"She's my secretary and the one who referred Snape here, but she's also the daughter of a Priory Head member."

"But that would mean that she's had access to us all this time. Yet you didn't tell me?" she questioned.

"Yes, but she wasn't the link that I was focusing on." Draco attempted to defend himself but quickly realized that it was useless.

"Are you so daft as to believe that only one person is behind all this? Don't be so simple. You're going to have enemies everywhere now, at least everywhere that the Priory has access to," she chastised him relentlessly.

"But she'd also appeared to be sweet on me. I never would have guessed her to be a part of this." This statement only proved to Hermione that he had been so preoccupied by hate that he had blinded himself to all others.

"Who asked you to place her as your secretary? I thought your father would have raised you better than to leave yourself exposed in such a way," she fumed at his arrogance, forgetting her own.

"Don't presume to know anything about my father or what he taught me. Remember your own predicament at the hands of your trusted friends at the Ministry. It seems to me that my only mistake was to underestimate the prowess of a woman much like they did you," he spat venomously. Fearing that she had just alienated her only friend, Hermione began to do damage control.

"I'm sorry, Draco. I was just surprised by your trust of strangers after what the Ministry did to you. We are all each other has right now and we can't turn on each other. Forgive me?" she offered.

"Admittedly, this goes far deeper than I knew, but these people were the ones to help me in my time of need. I had no reason to distrust them, but that's all changed now that I know what they were really up to," he said, accepting her apology.

"Snape is connected to the Priory by someone. Who do you think could have orchestrated this?" she moved on quickly.

"Maybe Flint?" he suggested.

"Were they close? Did everyone in Slytherin know of his lifestyle?"

"No, he was always discreet to say the least. Maybe someone approached him recently?" Draco began to think out loud.

"Like who?"

"Like maybe one of Jacq's girls?" he guessed.

"Maybe Tara..." the bells and whistles began to sound in her head and she had epiphany...

-------------

"And what kind of information could I possibly have for you? I don't even know who you are," Harry spat back in confusion to the stranger before him.

"It's the girl, of course. She's really quite exquisite, isn't she? But what I need to find out is what she wanted with you."

"What girl?" Okay, so he knew, but was stalling for time.

"Do I look like a fool to you, Mr. Potter? Or is this just another pathetic attempt to buy yourself time? It's really useless. She won't come for you. No one will because there is no one that cares. It was really foolish of you to fight so unnecessarily with the only brain in the department, but that seems to be typical of you. Act now, think later, am I right?" the stranger taunted him, causing his thoughts to venture to Hermione and how horribly he had treated her. Yes, the stranger was right, he never was good at planning things out.

"Why such an interest in her then? She was only there to get information from me, wasn't she?" Harry asked in genuine confusion.

"Well you see, she has been working both sides now, hasn't she? What I need to find out is which side she favors, seeing as she knows enough about both sides to pick the winner. My job is to ensure the victory for our side. So who is working for you on your side and what exactly has she told you?" The voice sounded more strained now.

"Obviously not all she knows, or I would know who you are. If I tell you what I know, you aren't really going to let me go now, are you?" Harry was always amused by the way people really thought they could intimidate the condemned.

"Sure, if you don't know who we are, then why wouldn't we let you go?" the man reasoned with Harry.

"Now who thinks who is stupid? Just kill me and get it over with since I'm not going to tell you anything." Bravely he stood his ground, accepting his fate in light of his own arrogance.

"Fool, I can do far worse to you than kill you. You're making me angry, and you won't like me when I'm angry." the stranger warned. (A/N: That was from the movie the Hulk, I love that line.)

"I think that I'll take my chances," he exclaimed defiantly.

"Really. Would you take your chances at the expense of the Mudblood?" The menacing tone told Harry that the stranger was not bluffing. What could he do now that he was powerless to stop it? Damn the irony, he thought to himself.

-----------------

Each of them having come to the same conclusion, Draco was the next one to call in a favor from a dangerous and unlikely source. They had to find this Tara person, and there was only one logical source for that. He picked up the phone to call the last person that he knew of that may have a way to contact her.

"Jacq, old friend, I need a favor." He spoke boisterously into the receiver of the phone.

"What's that?" His friend played along, having a good idea of where this was going, but betraying nothing to Draco.

"I require a date for a charity event this evening, and I thought that you may have a friend here in London who would fit the bill."

"How about Marg? She was quite distressed over the way you abandoned her last night," Jacq offered, knowing damn good and well that she wasn't who Draco wanted.

"No, I was thinking more along the lines of the smaller girl of the three from last night. Taryn, or something like that." Draco casually reeled him in, oblivious to the game that was afoot.

"Tara, ah yes, lovely girl, but not very friendly." Just a bit more and I shall have you right where I want you, dear boy, Jacques thought to himself with a smile.

"I was actually looking for someone with some spunk who could carry on an intelligent conversation, not entertainment. She seemed like she'd be perfect. Can you give me her number?" Draco asked casually.

"I can do better than that. Tell me where and when you want to meet her and I will get her there personally." Jacques now had him right where he wanted him.

"Fine, have her meet me at my Hotel at 6 sharp. Thanks Jacq, I owe you one." Pleased with himself, Draco sealed the deal and hung up the phone, but was stirred from jubilation by a simple observation from Hermione.

"A bit too easy, don't you think?" Dammit she's right, he scolded himself. Nothing's ever that easy without a trap.

"Possibly, but it's a start, and we can be ready for them if it is a trap."

"If you say so, but I think I should give Sapphire a call and see if she's come across anything yet."

"All right, shall we go see her now or would you rather pay a quick visit to Parisa at my office?" Draco questioned.

"Sapphire first. We'll check on Parisa after we talk to Tara. Besides, we don't want her alerting anyone of our inquiries." Smart girl, Draco considered while donning his trademark smirk.

-----------------------

Hermione opted to call Sapphire rather than stop by the office since she wasn't sure if Harry had told the Ministry of her plans. She picked up her cell phone while Draco busied himself dreaming up ways of arming Hermione and him against a possible attack by Jacq. After several rings, Sapphire finally picked up her phone. She was excited over her news for Hermione but afraid of someone overhearing the conversation, so she suggested that she meet them somewhere privately.

"Hermione, I have been trying to a hold you for hours. We must meet and soon, as I have a lot to tell you, and a favor of my own to ask of you."

"Ok, did you have anywhere in mind?" she answered with a sigh of relief. They were in desperate need for some answers-and fast-so this was the best news of the day.

"Some place private."

"How about the hotel? We're at the Berkeley in the Plaza Suite, and we'll be waiting for you."

"I'm on my way." Sapphire bid her goodbye and hurried to the street so that she could Apparate from there. Within just a few minutes, she was knocking on the door while looking around nervously, wondering if anyone had seen her arrive.

"You're quick!" Hermione exclaimed as she ushered Sapphire into the room, also taking a quick look around to see if anyone had followed her. "Ok, Draco, this is Avery Thomas or Sapphire. Sapphire, meet Draco Malfoy."

"Hello." She greeted him while extending her hand to him. "It's wonderful to finally meet the man behind the myths."

"Pleasure's all mine, since you have some information for us, I believe."

"Yes, of course. May I sit?" she asked, and they both motioned for her to do so. "I ran into Bonnie from the IWB at lunch and she informed me that we have a witch and wizard that have turned up missing."

"What? Who? Please tell me that one of them is not Tara, I beg of you." Hermione felt her stomach drop at the prospect that the Priory was already beginning to cover their tracks.

"Unfortunately, yes, but that's not the important one. It seems that she was seeing Harry Potter, and once he caught wind of her disappearance, he went to find her, and now he is missing too," she informed them.

"Harry? How can that be? How could he have been seeing someone and not say a word?" This news took her completely off guard, and Draco felt an instant pang of sympathy for her. She, like him, had believed that they were all still the best of friends, but now it seemed that each of them were harboring secrets from the other. Worse yet was the fact that he felt largely responsible for her pain, as none of this would be happening if it weren't for him.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but everyone at the Ministry needs your help to find him, and I think that Draco will be the key to it all." She tried to soften the blow a little, but Hermione's hurt ego was the least of any of their concerns, and she was going to have to accept that for now.

"Yes, of course. Draco, do you think that the Priory could be behind all of this?" The words flew out of her mouth before she could stop them, and it was abundantly clear in just a second of her mistake.

"The Priory? Is that who's behind all this? Merlin's beard, I thought they were just an old folktale." Sapphire appeared to sink even lower into the couch at the idea of how much danger she may now be in.

"I'm sorry, Sapphire, but now you are knee deep in this with us. You're going to have stay with us. We can't have you running around out there with this much knowledge. You're now a sitting duck, just like the rest of us." Draco sat next to her in an attempt to keep her calm, but that only seemed to heighten her anxiety more.

"I never meant to drag you into this, but Draco's right. We can't let you out of our sight now because if they have Harry and Tara, it's only a matter of time before they come for us." Hermione resigned herself to their fate, and much to Sapphire's dismay, so had she.

"Well, it looks like Jacq is definitely setting a trap now, so we have a lot to do before Tara's arrival in a few hours." Draco took this opportunity to take control of the situation and try to get the girls back on track before the full weight of their peril was able to sink in.

"Tara's coming here? But how?" Sapphire gasped.

"Well, it's a long story, and I promise that I'll explain, but not until everything is ready for Draco's date. Come with me, we'll work on the charms for the room while Draco prepares it," Hermione apologized, but took Sapphire's hand to help to get her moving. The reality of the situation was that the measures taken right now could the final factor to determine if they lived to see the morning, so time was of the essence. With just minutes to spare, Draco double checked all their surprises and hid the girls at opposite ends of the room, and then sat to wait for impending knock on his door.

Tap, tap, tap... The moment of truth had finally arrived and Draco ascended on the door with baited breath. As he slowly turned the knob, he swore that he could hear Hermione and Sapphire suck in deep breaths in anticipation. Dressed to perfection but ready for battle, he swung the door open forcefully just in time to see....

Author's Notes: this chapter has not yet been beta'd by the amazing Kat (that other girl), my sickeningly talented beta, who also happens to be the author of two of my favorite stories on this site....they are Dirty Snake and Her Eyes which incite horrible jealousy at her incredible abilities but which everyone should check out...thank you for all your help and the wonderful comments in her review.

Also, I have noticing that most of the stories that I am reading have hundreds of reviews on them and I am sitting here at 30 wondering if I am doing something wrong. If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can get more readers, Please let me know because I am absolutely baffled at this point.

A special vote of thanks, hugs, chocolate and anything else they want to my most loyal of reveiwers slyswn28, Darktwistedpoet and that other girl for all support and a warm welcome to a new reader, Sheilalein. Hope you all enjoy this chapter as it is my favorite one so far......