Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own sexy Alan Cumming or his sexy alter egos, especially not the Medatron or Rasputin. But I wish I did.
Chapter 11: Open Mouth Insert…Tongue?Serafimo away with this pretence!
You cannot speak - but kiss
me in my husband's absence
-Poor Fool The Phantom of the Opera
It was amazing how slow time could go by while one was learning the difference between a salad fork and a shrimp fork. Hermione had now learned the proper way to address Voldemort (The Dark Lord, surprise, surprise,) Lucius and anyone he deigned to speak to (Sir) and any female she was to run into was to be called Lady.
All of this etiquette education was a poor substitute for the subjects Hermione really wanted to touch upon. But Lucius had promised that if she behaved like a good girl for the banquet, he would teach her something practical of the Dark Arts. He'd even hinted that he might be able to get her wand back for her.
Between her studying, lessons and visits with Snape, from whom she was still concealing her reading habits, Hermione began thinking of Ron, Harry and her life 'before,' less and less. No longer did she think of Malfoy, or Lucius as she'd been calling him, as the enemy. And increasingly, whenever she did have time to think her thoughts were on Severus and Lucius.
There was Lucius. Light where Severus was dark, but only in terms of appearance. Lucius was a mystery to Hermione. Yes, she knew he was 'evil' but there were different shades of evil, weren't there? He had done evil things, but did that make someone evil? He had taught her more than she'd ever learned at Hogwarts in the space of a few short weeks. For some unknown reason, Hermione was reveling in the fact that with Lucius, everything was possible.
And there was Severus. He was really a remarkable man. She loved watching him as he brewed potions, his masculine hands chopping and stirring; his veins tensing and relaxing underneath his pale skin. He was so focused then, so intense. While he was working it seemed the years fell of him like a mask. As if the part of him that was a Death Eater, a murderer a traitor was just a dream. That the calm, serene Severus was the only one existing. Watching him like that made Hermione want to do things she couldn't have even dreamed of only several months before.
And while Hermione knew that on the gradation of evil, Severus would definitely be on the less than pristine side, she couldn't help feeling safe with him. He was her home away from home, in every sense of the word. She knew that there was plenty about himself that he was choosing not to show her, but that was part of what made him so dependable. He would always do what was for the greater good. It was nice having someone to count on.
It was these thoughts that had led her into kissing Snape.
They'd been daring enough to steal into his quarters, and Snape was explaining once again the proper amount of times to shake a cloth napkin when Hermione had kissed him. He'd been smelling so good, his skin was begging to be touched.
It had been a soft kiss, almost childish being that besides Viktor and Ron, Hermione had never kissed another man before. But that didn't stop her from deepening the kiss when Snape gently opened her mouth with his tongue. Hermione gave Severus control of the kiss, not really knowing what to do but eager to find out.
She tangled her fingers in his dark locks and pulled his face closer. Her teeth scraped his lips, and that was when, much to Hermione's chagrin, he regained his senses.
"Hermione…don't," he pushed her away.
"Don't what?" Hermione was still clouded in a haze of lust.
"You're barely eighteen, I'm old enough to be your father…" Severus ran his hands through his hair. The regret of his actions was rolling off of him, Hermione could feel them.
"Severus, we've been over this. You're not. And I really don't care." She sauntered up to Severus once again and tried to touch him.
"But I do," he pushed her away more firmly this time.
Though Hermione couldn't see herself right then, she was sure looked very much like a scorned lover. Who'd of thought she'd ever play that part? "Oh, bull Severus! Don't try to tell me you didn't want this!"
"It doesn't matter what I want," he said in an oddly bitter voice. "This is how it is."
"Why do you do this? Why do you deny what you desire?"
"Sometimes there are more important things than what a person desires, Ms. Granger. You of all people should know that."
"If you want to castrate yourself, fine. But don't expect me to," Hermione slammed the door in his face.
LHSLHSLHS
Severus supposed that it was better Hermione try to act out her new sexual urges with him rather than Lucius, but he was still pretty shaken over what had happened.
Why had it taken him so long to remember that particular side effect?
A part of Severus wished he'd given in. When a girl like Hermione was cursed with insatiable lust, it was useless trying to keep her from relieve it in some way. But it wasn't him she wanted. It was a pulse. A live man, that's all she wanted from him. It hurt Severus more than anything to realise that, but it was true. She wouldn't look at him twice if she was in her right mind. So he, being the able-minded adult was forced to do what was best for them best.
Though the kiss had been mind blowing.
Severus forced the thoughts of Hermione's tongue kneading his from his mind. It would never happen again, he'd make sure of that. The only problem now was this: how would Snape keep Lucius from taking advantage of Hermione?
The words she'd said before still rang in his ears.
"Don't expect me to."
What was lying beneath that threat? In this case was Hermione talking about the magic or Lucius? Was he driving Hermione into Lucius' arms?
Severus was beginning to realize the knack he had for making a bad situation worse.
LHSLHSLHS
"I told you, I'm not Secret Keeper for the headquarters! I have no bloody clue where they are!"
The boys had been searching for over a week with absolutely no progress.
"Bull! Your father is practically the Head Death Eater! Do you really expect us to believe he didn't tell you?"
"You think Lucius' is the Secret Keeper? Newsflash, my father isn't the most trusted Death Eater, that honor goes to…" Severus. The name hung unspoken in the air.
Why hadn't Draco ever thought about that? Why hadn't he asked Severus?
Because you haven't talked to him for 4 months. Oh, yes. That was the reason.
"You think Snape," Harry's voice was saturated with disdain and hatred. "You think that…thing…is the Secret Keeper?"
Draco willed his blood not to boil. Who did Potter think he was? But then again, the Boy Wonder wasn't privy to the information he was, so Draco could understand, if not sympathize his rage.
"Most likely."
"Well that seems bloody stupid, doesn't it? To have the man known for his skills for deception guarding your secrets?"
"The Dark Lord has more than one way of making sure his followers are loyal. Don't be a prick just because Dumbledore was too noble to use them." Draco hadn't meant to use that sharp a tone, never mind say the words that spilled out of his mouth. He was perpetuating the myth of Severus being faithful to the Dark Lord, an idea that would have to be invalidated eventually. But for now at least, this was how Severus wanted it. And in this case, Draco was more than happy to oblige.
"The Dark Lord?" Ron's eyes narrowed. "And here I thought only Death Eaters called him that. How sure are we that you aren't just leading us into a trap?"
"Let's remember whose father has placed a bounty on my head." Draco rolled his eyes.
"How do we know that it's not just an elaborate scheme?" Ron was becoming rather tiresome and irrational, but what was Draco to do about it? There was nothing he could show them that would prove he was on Lucius' Most Wanted list.
Well, there was. But there was nothing Draco wanted to show them. But seeing the looks of determined curiosity, Draco knew he had no choice.
"You really want to see?" Draco began lifting his shirt and the undershirt he'd slept in. He had just reached his navel when a spell came from nowhere, whizzing past his ear.
"Aw shit," he cried, pulling down his shirts again. "They've found me again."
Seeing as the assassins usually worked alone and there were three of them on defense, they had a few moments. But also seeing as the bounty hunter was very well trained, the few moments were going to run out soon.
"Duck!" Draco shouted at Harry, who was standing there stupidly. Did he have a death wish? The blond crawled over to him and knocked him to the ground. "Down! Follow me!" Draco led both boys behind a boulder. "Stay here." They gave no sign of hearing him, their eyes were glazed over. The wizarding community was in Potter's hands? That was a scary thought that Draco didn't wish to dwell upon.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Draco fired the spell, watched it hit the bounty hunter but for some reason, the hunter didn't go down. "Petrificus Totalus!" Draco tried and failed again. What was going on? It usually worked. He'd bet his life on it working.
"Stop!" Harry's voice boomed, taking on an effervescent quality Draco had not heard before. "Lay down your wand!"
The words were being torn from Harry, like the words were being channeled through him; he was only the vessel.
"Go! Tell no one of what you've seen here!" The voice seemed to rethink his proposition. "On second thought, take this," with a calm hand, he ripped Draco's finger off in one graceful move. "As proof of his demise," he tossed the finger to bounty hunter who nodded methodically before scurrying away.
"AHH! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL! YOU JUST TOOK OFF MY FINGER!" The shock that had numbed Draco while the bounty hunter was in sight wore off and he was panicking. "YOU JUST TOOK OFF MY BLOODY FINGER!"
"Relax!" Normal Harry had returned just in time to hear Draco's rant. "It will grow back within the hour."
Sure enough, Draco could already see a stub of a finger pushing up. "That's no excuse! What if it hadn't?"
"I knew it would! And you should be thanking me. Now you're father thinks you're dead. Isn't that a good thing? Perhaps he'll stop sending assassins now." Harry seemed quite shaken.
"Am I the only one wondering what the bloody hell just happened?" Ron piped up.
"I'm not sure what happened," Harry admitted. "I felt like someone or something possessed me. Took me over. I don't think I can really explain it…but it felt so intensely…"
"Magical," Draco supplied. "In the purest sense of the word."
"And he will have power the Dark Lord knows not…" Harry whispered. Ron paled at his words; his freckles were vanilla beans in ice cream.
"What?" Draco asked, looking from Potter to Weasley.
"Nothing," Potter replied, a bit too quickly. "Nothing at all."
LHSLHSLHS
Personal comments
Sarah: Totally know the feeling, even though I'm onlya lowly freshmen. Why does highschool have to start so dang early?
SiriusJamesRemus'sgirl: Isn't it so good? Thanks for the congrats. I loved reading The Picture of Dorian Gray too, even though it is completely unlike Earnest.
SugarQuill Cutie: Thanks, I love Draco to pieces. Even though I can't write another fic with him as a main character lately, I like having him in my stories.
lost angel92: I know, scary isn't it? But it'll get much worse before it gets any better.
laragirl007: I know how that feels. Once upon a time, poor cordyangel didn't even have internet, she had to go to the library everytime she wanted to read or write fanfiction. It sucked.
Natsuyori: No, not unless there's something J.K Rowling isn't telling us...(though didn't she say Snape definitely didn't have a daughter?)
CareBearErin: I swear, it's creepy. You're always only one step behind me while everyone else is around five.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed and everyone who congratulated me on my role!
Cordyangel is being a review whore. REVIEW or you will be missing my services.