Allo, cordyangel here. A bit depressed. But depression leads to posting, so my depression is your gain!

Chapter 13: Pillow Talk

"I have come here, hardly knowing the reason why
In my mind, I've already imagined our bodies entwining,"

-Point of No ReturnThe Phantom of the Opera

Hermione woke up next to Lucius' sleeping form and the memories of what she'd done the night before came rushing back to her. Feeling sick, she rose. The meadow of last night was gone and replaced once again by a room. Being surrounded with that much magic made Hermione want to scream. She found the door in the wall and raced the bathroom. She got there in time to vomit the entire contents of her stomach into the toilet.

Cleaning herself up, Hermione thought of what had happened. What had possessed her to do those things? She couldn't think about it, she had to see Severus. Sneaking as quietly as she could out the door, she knocked on Severus'.

He was surprised to see her, that was obvious. He was in pyjama bottoms, his chest bare with a little bit of hair on it. His dark hair was dishevelled and his eyes looked bleary. "What are you doing here?" His words were strangely indifferent.

"I had to see you." A few moments passed before he let her in.

"What did you want?"

Hermione didn't want to sugar coat the truth. " Severus, I slept with him." There. It was out. Then it hit her. She'd slept with Lucius Malfoy. "Oh gods," she gasped out. The room seemed to get smaller around her and she felt like she couldn't breathe. "I slept with him. I slept with Lucius Malfoy! My first time and I did it with a mass murderer!"

But all Severus did was nod, his cold eyes becoming even colder. "And you felt the urge to tell me this why?"

Hermione's mouth dropped open in a comical gape. Of all the things she'd been expecting, this was not one of them. "You can't be serious?"

"About what? If all you had to tell me was about your latest conquest than perhaps you should leave." He strode to the door and flung it open.

"Do you feel anything?" She asked cruelly, her face twisting up.

Snape shut the door and twisted his head around to face her. "Pardon me?"

"You talk about me having to resist the dark side, but do you even know what you're talking about? Have you ever felt passion, love, hate anything worth living for, anything worth dying for?"

"Hermione…" Snape cautioned her from going further, but she refused to care.

"No, honestly! Sometimes I wonder if you've ever felt anything other than indifference. Even when you killed Dumbledore!"

As Snape's lips thinned, Hermione knew she'd gone too far. And worst of all, she knew her words weren't true. But she couldn't stop herself. His eyes were blazing with something she couldn't identify. But she wasn't going to back down. She wanted to cause him pain.

"I don't think you did," she spat at him. "I think you just-"

With out a word, he flew at her. Before she realized what was happening, Severus' lips were on hers, their tongues sparring with one another. Anger, resentment, love, hate and every other emotion Hermione could think of, was flowing from his mouth to hers. And then, all too quickly, it ended. Just as the first time they kissed, he shoved her as far away from him as possible. Like he didn't want to sully his clothes with someone or something, so…impure.

"I feel, Hermione." He murmured huskily. His eyes were glazed over with something Hermione now knew as lust. "I feel all too well. Now get the hell out."

LHSLHSLHS

"What were you about to show us?" Ron asked Draco down the road. His finger was at last normal length once again, though it hurt like hell.

"Clarification."

"Before that assassin showed up, what were you going to show us as proof?"

Draco threw his hands in the air, he was sick to death of this, the constant distrust. "Wasn't the man trying to kill us proof enough?"

"Of course it was," Ron said smoothly. "But that doesn't change the fact that you were going to show us something else to prove your sincerity."

"Ron, stop it," Harry turned to Draco. "You don't have to show us if you don't want to, it's really none of our business…"

"You're exactly right; it isn't any of your business. But since you're so eager to see, here it is." Draco whipped up his shirts, displaying two gruesome injuries.

One was the Dark Mark, it burned on Draco's flesh surrounded by his pale smooth chest. It looked like it was etched in fire; it glowed with dark magic over his heart. The other was a strangely familiar lightning bolt. It was as if Harry's had been magnified 100 times and then planted on Draco's torso. It too glowed an angry bronze, though duller than the Dark Mark.

"Bloody hell…you've been branded." Ron stated the obvious.

"But you'll notice, not in the usual place. That was what Voldemort did to me. From five miles away. That's how far his power reaches. And the other, looks familiar, doesn't it? It doesn't hurt as much," Draco said, looking down at his torso thoughtfully. "Figures since Lucius made that one. Said that since I was throwing in my lot with you, it would be fitting. Pretty good likeness, huh?"

Potter and Weasley seemed to be at loss for words. And Draco didn't care one wit. If he stood their any longer for their scrutiny, he was sure he'd implode. So he did what he was good at. He ran away.

LHSLHSLHS

Snarky4Severus: Thanks for your review. Yes, Voldemort was. He really doesn't care who gets Hermione, but Severus has less strings attached and Voldemort likes Snape better. I don't think I would do a cross over, at least not yet. I'm thinking about doing one from Vermeer's point of view, but I'm not sure.

tallgiraffe32: Actually, I'm only 99 sure that Hermione and Severus will physically 'get together'. But I thought it would be important for Hermione to willingly lose her virginity to Lucius.

IRISHslytherin22: NO, it's not wrong. In fact, in this case, it's natural. And, I think that even though this was the last of my fics started, it'll be finished before Whole Again or What Not To Do. It really flowed well, I was surprise. Thank the Phantom!

SugarQuill Cutie: Tee-hee. The next chapter was already written! As is the next one!

laragirl007: Getting Normal? Not precisely. Will end up normal…I'm not sure yet. But she will definitely try to redeem herself before this story is finished.