Part 18 – THE SEVENTH WARD

If you wish, I shall rage on raw meat;

« Sir ? », called Hermione tentatively.

He didn't answer.

« Sir ? What was he talking about ? », she said again, her voice a little louder.

She could barely see him in the dark. He wasn't moving, and his head was leaning against the wall, his eyes closed.

« I want to know what he was talking about. », she said eventually.

« Trust me, you don't. »

« If there's a way to get us out of here, you have to tell me. »

« There's not a way to get 'us' out of here. There may be one to get you out of here. »

Hermione had goose-bumps at how his voice was hoarse. How he sounded old and weary. She remembered what McGonagall had said the week before – he had been the spy, she was certain of it. Anger started to boil inside her.

« Whatever. »

Snape was still not looking at her.

« Tell me. », she said, walking towards him and stopping in front of him. He was sitting on the ground, his robes bloody, his arms bound to the wall over his head.

« How much do you know about Celtic magic ? » , he said eventually.

« Not much. Wandless magic, obviously. Based on primary powers. »

« And what about the Epona spell ? »

Hermione's mind rocked around – where had she heard that name before ?

« Epona », she tried, « a translocation spell ? »

« Little know-it-all. », he whispered in a strange voice.

« How does it work ? »

« It can't work for you now. »

« Shacklebolt said it could. »

« He was wrong. »

Hermione was now thouroughly annoyed by the quieteness of his voice. She kneeled beside him and took his chin in her hand, forcing his face upwards.

« You tell me about it now. Your greatest ambition is to be murdered by your friends, I don't care. But mine is to get out of here this instant. », she hissed.

« Fine. », he hissed back. « Fuck me. »

« WHAT ? », she yelled, jumping to her feet.

« You heard me. »

« Are you insane ? Are you blackmailing me ? »

Hermione was so furious and shocked that she could barely speak.

« Are you taking advantage of me in this situation ? Who the fuck are you ? »

Snape glared at her.

« That's how the spell works, you brat. And I'm doing that as a special favour to you, as it won't help me the slightest. »

« You're lying. », she said flatly.

For the first time, he looked positively fuming.

« I'm still your teacher, girl. You want to show some respect for me. », he said in his croaky voice. « Celtic magic is complex and simple at the same time – this spell needs the magical powers of a man's seed to be activated. It allows his partner to be translocated to a chosen destination. »

Hermione eyed him suspiciously.

« I'm not doing that. », she said. « Not with you. »

« Fine. Have it your own way. I said it wasn't going to work in the first place. », he replied, looking unconcerned.

Hermione moved as far away from him as she could and sat down. The best part of her brain believed him, but she couldn't live with the idea of having – of having –

And anyway, this spell could only help one of them. She would feel guilty beyond bearable at the thought of leaving him there.

He had spied for the Dark Lord, she sensed it, but he had danced with her. He had been in her room.

She would die with him.

She would die like a hero. Like those war stories her granpa was always talking about. Head straight, wounds on the front.

Snape was observing her from the shadows. He knew the look on her face. He had seen too many people preparing themselves to death to misread it. He wondered vaguely if she would held on to the end. She was young, and that could prove either a help or a block. She surely wanted to discover what her life was going to be like, but on the other hand she still was stubborn enough to live up her principles.

Both of them suddenly looked up when the yelling started.

It was Shacklebolt's voice.

It seemed to last forever.

Sometimes, parts of words could be understood, but most of the time it was just empty, meaningless, animal pain.

Snape closed his ears to the sound and looked down at her again.

Hermione kept her head on her knees and her hands joined for the whole time.

In the end, when the Auror became too hoarse or too weak to yell again, she quietly started to sing to herself.

« Take me back to my boat on the river, I need to go down…and I won't cry out anymore… »

She had always loved that song.

« The river is wide… »

The river. The river Styx – the one you had to cross to go in the land of the Dead.

Would she be crossing it, in a few hours' time ? Wearing white, a coin in her hand to pay the fee to the ferryman?

She jumped to her feet.

No, she wouldn't.

In one moment, all her dreams about heroes had been reduced to what they truly were – a bunch of tombstones. And she had a life to live. She wanted it. She wanted it badly.

She walked towards Snape.

« Changed your mind, have you ? », he drawled. « Scared ? »

« No. », she lied defiantly. « Angry. »

That was the last answer he was expecting, though he didn't show it.

« I want make them pay. »

He stared at her without speaking. So the youth had played in her favour after all – that and a touch of pure Gryffindor essence. As long as it got her out of there.

Lowering her eyes, her movements quick and practical, she took her knickers off and she went to kneel beside him.

« I'm sorry I can't take you back. », she whispered, trembling slightly for being so close to him.

« Don't worry, Miss Granger. I fully deserve to be here. », he said, wondering why he was telling her this. But then, this would be his last opportunity to have a civilised conversation with a living person. What was the point of lying ?

« You don't think that. »

« I do. »

« Well, I most surely don't. »

She straddled him and looked expectantly into his eyes, blushing.

« What- I mean, how- Oh, you know. »

He stared at her in disbelief.

« Are you – are you a virgin ? »

She lowered her eyes, blushing crimson.

« Get down of there. The price cannot be so high. »

In his quest to the book, he had almost forgotten that she was fifteen. So young. And everything was so new, and scary.

« I don't care about the bloody price. Tell me what to do. », she hissed, trying to meet his eyes.

« Miss Granger, I was completely unaware of your unexperience. As it is, I would suggest an oral intercourse. »

It helped a lot that he was keeping his Potions Master voice to talk about that. It made everything so much easier.

« But you said-»

« My semen must be inside you, it doesn't matter where. », he pointed out. « And I trust you have enough imagination to work out what to do. »

Well, maybe not that lot easier. She blushed scarlet.

Without another word, she opened his trousers and looked at his member.

Snape looked away, seemingly bored.

Hermione hesitated one moment before taking it in her hand and squeeze her fingers on it. It immediately started to grow hard.

She got on her belly, trying to find a comfortable position, and when she raised her head she was eyes to eyes – well, eyes to something – with – with it.

« Miss Granger. », he whispered, closing his eyes. « Go deep and fast. Use your tongue. It won't last long this way. »

« Ok. Thank you. », she answered nervously.

She licked the tip tentatively and heard him taking in his breath. The taste was very strange – a mixture bewtween something familiar and an exotic, wild scent she didn't know could exist.

She licked it again, circling the gland, and he moaned.

Encouraged by his reaction, she tried to take the whole thing into her mouth, and nearly gagged. She caught her breath, and tried it again, going as far as she was comfortable with.

In the beginning, he found the situation strange indeed. Hermione Granger, top student, had eventually surrendered to him.

If only Minerva knew, he thought, and his lips twitched slighlty.

Of course, it was nothing like he had imagined it.

The second is getting it, he thought. Indeed.

And then everything became blurred, as he tried to increase the physical pleasure with mental recollections and dreams to make it shorter…shorter…

Hermione had the strangest feeling that it should have melted a bit after a while – like an ice cream. It definitely wasn't normal to lick and suck and lick at something without it changing the slightest.

Well, it should in the end – if I'm doing it right, she thought, and she chuckled, causing him to moan louder.

It wasn't such a bad feeling, she decided. Quite amusing. And the fact to see her scaring Potions Master completely in her power was exciting enough. If only there wasn't that thought at the back of her mind about getting caught and tortured if she wasn't fast enough, she could have enjoyed it.

And then, while her thoughts were wandering around, and she wasn't expecting it at all, he came. She felt a hot liquid in her throat and tried to swallow it, and she heard him cry out her name – and then –

« Hogwarts ! »

A/N Ok, sorry everyone again, here is the chapter and I really didn't have the time to correct the ponctuation and this kind of stuff. I'm sorry some of you can't follow anymore ; apparently others do, so I don't understand what's happening. But, really, I said some chapters ago that Hermione and co were stayin at Grimmauld Palace for Christmas, so last chapter was based there. And Snape has been captured and hold prisoner in some DE place, we don't know any of them, do we ?

Anyway, connection is still crappy and I have a lot to do before Easter, so happy holidays everyone and see you again April 8th.