The role of the pageboy is silent, which makes my casting, in a word, ideal"' Notes, from The Phantom of the Opera
His behaviour was shocking Hermione. His eyes told her the whole story. As unimaginable as it seemed, Severus was afraid of her!
She went over their conversation in her mind.
"…renounced the old ways…knowledge is power…"
Since when had she been reading the Slytherin's Guide to Useful Phrases?
She put a hand to her mouth. "I can't believe I just said that. I'm so sorry!"
"But you did," Snape's tone was more than guarded it was impenetrable.
"I didn't mean it, I don't know what I was thinking." Hermione could feel tears prickling at her eyes. "I just…" she couldn't go on, a tear slipped down her cheek and she quickly tried to brush it away. "I'm sorry…"
Severus' face softened in spite of his apparent anger. "No, this is just as much my fault as yours. If not more… I should've known." He shook his head, his black hair barely touching his shoulders. "I should've known…"
"Known what?" Eyes narrowed slightly, Hermione looked at Snape.
"Nothing. It was beside the point. But obviously, this," Snape waved his hand around the room. "Will not do. Perhaps I can convince the Dark Lord to let me take you…"
"No!" It was as if the thought of moving out of Lucius' rooms had pushed some sort of panic button in her mind. As much as Lucius scared her, he intrigued her. And while she knew that no matter what, Severus would always visit her, if she moved in with Severus, it was doubtless that most if not all contact with Lucius would cease. For some reason, Hermione could not face that fate.
"Wouldn't that be suspicious? Honestly, if there's one thing you don't need that's attention brought to yourself." Hermione knew she had a point and she knew Severus was thinking it over.
"I suppose…" it was Severus' turn for his eyes to narrow. "That's true. But if anything else happens suspicion or no, I'll have no choice but to remove you at once."
She was amazed it had worked. At Hogwarts, on the occasions she'd had to lie she'd been horrible at it. The only thing that kept her from being caught in a lie was the fact that she was normally so honest. But why question her good luck? Hermione let out a nervous laugh. "You know Severus, it's times like these you remind me of my father."
Severus stopped at the door and gazed at her so intently she was afraid she might be crushed under the weight of his scrutiny. "I'm not your father," he growled, closing the door.
Hermione put a hand to her chest to stop her heart, like they did in romance novels. No, that was once thing she was sure of. Severus Snape was not her father.
LHSLHSLHS
The sound of the nearby stream calmed and soothed him. Inhaling the scent of the woods, he bent down and-
"Draco! Draco you ferret, wake up!"
The rustle of the sheets against Draco's cheek did nothing to aid the brigade trying to wake him. Instead, he burrowed deeper, hoping that, in time they would go away. The nerve of them, invading his dream.
Instead of deterring the intruders, Draco's refusal to be awoken only made them more determined. Draco could hear a hand coming behind his head and snatching the pillow away, but he had been powerless to stop it.
"What the bloody hell!"
"Get your clothes on."
Draco had been right. He was in hell. Standing over him was the inseparable twosome, Weasel and Potty.
"Is there a reason you've decided to wake me up at…whatever time it is?" Draco mumbled into his pillow.
"You're coming with us," the boys threw a pair of jeans and a shirt at the blond. They fell on his head and when Draco snatched them off his head his hair stood up in all different directions.
"Coming where?"
"To the Headquarters."
At that word, Draco woke up at last. "The Headquarters? Are you insane? I've spent the last six months trying to stay away from that hellhole, why in Merlin's name would I go waltzing back in there?"
"Because you owe it to us," Harry gave Draco a pointed look and was rewarded with a sneer.
"I don't owe you anything, Potter," Draco spat but got out of bed anyways.
"Oh really? Does this mean I should call up the Weekly Oracle right now and tell them where the traitorous son of a Death Eater is?"
Draco knew that Harry couldn't reveal his whereabouts, he wasn't as oblivious as everyone thought. It was clear that there was no way Harry could be the Secret Keeper, it was most likely someone much more inconspicuous. But despite himself, he was intrigued.
"Why do you want me to come?"
"You know the lay out better than anyone. We would never be able to break Hermione out on our own," Weasley said, clearly not as happy as Harry about having Draco as a travelling companion.
Draco pulled on the pair of jeans over his white boxers. "So that's your master plan? To storm into the Headquarters and them to just hand her over?"
"No," Harry and Ron looked at Draco as if he had two heads. "We plan to storm into the Headquarters and sneak her out."
"Was that supposed to be any smarter?"
"And what do you suppose we do?" Ron asked. "You said yourself that she wasn't safe there. This maybe our only chance to get her out!"
Draco remembered with a start that Ron and Hermione had been involved before she'd been taken. So that was the reason he was taking things so well, relatively. He was driven by love, which was enough to make any man welcome his enemy. Even if Ron wasn't exactly welcoming him.
"Okay, I'll come."
"We knew you would," Harry gave Draco a smirk that was eerily familiar.
LHSLHSLHS
Regardless of everything that had happened between Hermione and Severus, she continued to read more books about the Dark Arts. She felt faintly deceptive, which was understandable, but found that even the unpleasant emotion wasn't enough to keep her from Lucius' library. Besides, slowly the guilt of her deceptiveness began to diminish.
But she was growing impatient. She was eager to learn the Dark Magic hands on, even if she wasn't allowing herself to question her motives. Merely for educational purposes, she kept on trying to convince herself. But she could no longer pretend that that reason was the only reason when Lucius at last asked her to accompany him in making Dark Magic.
And yet when they had been just about to begin, Lucius had been summoned. All the excitement Hermione had been dutifully hiding from herself came out in one huge breath. She waited for him to return, but it was clear when he did that there was to be no more talk of magic for the night.
"I'm dreadfully sorry, but there's just no time right now. After the banquet, I promise." Lucius had said.
Great. Now I'm being subjected to the Dark-Voldemort's social calendar. Could there be anything worse?
An image from the dungeon sprang into Hermione's head. Yes, she decided. There could be.
LHSLHSLHS
"Do you really think she'll be ready in time? You have a week." Severus was not going to let Lucius think that his task would be easy. They were just coming back from a meeting with the Dark Lord who'd informed them that Hermione's training would be put to the test at the banquet to honour the Ogre diplomats.
"She's smart, it shouldn't take too long for her to pick things up," Lucius didn't seem at all daunted about the task ahead. Severus was prepared to fix that.
"She knows nothing about our customs, our traditions, anything-"
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Lucius murmured. "Cooped up all day, a girl gets bored. I'm sure Hermione has read something about us."
What angered Snape more than Lucius' shoddily hid allusion was the way he spoke Hermione's name. What gave him the right? Then again, who gave Severus the right to be angry about it?
"Even if she has, there's the fact that the people she's expected to dine with have kept her prisoner for the last half year. Most of them want her dead. That, if nothing else, is going to present a problem."
For a moment, Severus could see he'd gotten through to Lucius. That was a liability his old friend hadn't thought of. But the look was gone and replaced by the same smug indifference.
"We'll see, Severus. I'm sure that I have a thing or two to hold over her head."
Lucius slid into his rooms, leaving Severus to wonder what in the hell he'd meant.
LHSLHSLHS
Okay, you cannot say that I didn't try with this post. 5 pages.
I think that deserves a review.
Just my humble opinion.
Responses
CareBearErin: I love your reviews. They're always so nice and long. Yes, the references was to Jane Eyre, one of my favorite books. You scare me though. You're very perceptive.
Jessierox: Hold your horses, there will be action soon enough. But I couldn't let Hermione seem to be too much of a slut, now could I? Especially since Lucius isn't the only man she'll be getting busy with.