Allo! Cordyangel back for another post! Nothing much to say, so I guess I'd better get on with the story. But thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'm hoping I'll break 200 with this story (hint,hint). But no pressure.
Chapter 16: Possession
Past all thought
of right or wrong -
one final question:
how long should we
two wait, before
we're one . . .?
When will the blood
begin to race
the sleeping bud
burst into bloom?
When will the flames,
at last, consume
us . . .?
- Past the Point of No Return, The Phantom of the Opera
Afterwards, the pair lay on the floor with Severus' arm resting protectively across Hermione's abdomen.
"That was nice," Hermione said, nuzzling her face into his neck. "Almost better than Lucius," Severus heard the rustle of material and assumed she was redressing.
He opened his eyes. Hermione's were once again the exact copy of the Dark Lord's. Except, this time when she blinked, they remained changed. Was he the one who brought on this transformation? A ripple of revelation went through Snape. He could see that now, only the Dark Lord's soul remained. Hermione's was nowhere to be found.
"Hermione," Severus began, terror knifing through his heart. "Hermione, this isn't you." He stood also and cast a spell to clothe himself.
"Yes it is. That may scare you, but it is. I'm just better and stronger than the old Hermione. Unlike her, I don't run from the darkness. I embraced it."
"Hermione, you have to fight this." He told her firmly.
"Fight what?" Hermione's darkness was keeping Snape in still awe. It dared him to run and laughed at his refusal. "Destiny? Fate? Or my own self-will? Which one, lover?"
"Hermione, you don't mean that."
"You're right. You were never my lover. And best of all, you're no longer my teacher either Severus." His name came from her lips like nails on a chalkboard; he cringed as she said it. "There's nothing more that you can teach me."
"Good gods Hermione, come back! Dammit, you're stronger than this!"
"Of course I am. That's why I lasted so long. But there's only so long a girl can hold out. Eventually, she can't help but give in. The dark side is rather seductive, you should now."
Severus remained silent but slowly began to back away from her.
"Are you scared? Are you?" She taunted him with every move she made, every step, every blink seemed to mock him. "It's not my fault you wouldn't let me kill myself. I wanted you to. I begged you to. But no. You were still clinging onto the desperate hope that I could be saved. Or perhaps you were just hoping that given enough time, you could stomach me long enough to get into my pants."
He studied her, but was still silent. There was nothing he could do for her now. Seeing her in action made him realize that. Reaching behind his back, he took out the dagger she had conjured. He ran his hand over the blade.
"What now Professor? Do you at last have enough balls to do what you were supposed to, now that you've fucked me? Little late now. How many people do you think have died already, because I am still alive? Take a guess, an estimate."
"Hermione," Severus' hand had found the handle of the dagger. "I am so sorry." He pulled it out and the blade was inches from her abdomen when he stopped at the sound of his name.
"Severus," Hermione doubled over in pain. "Severus, please help me!" She gasped out, crumpling to the floor.
He caught her, but with more than a healthy dose of caution. He pulled open her eyelid and was relieved to find that it was its normal toffee color.
"Hermione, wake up. Wake up, dammit!"
Her eyes opened, but only a crack. "I…I didn't…I didn't mean those things I said…I'm sorry," she said.
"Shh. I know." He hoisted her into his arms and she curled up there like an infant. "Don't worry, I know."
But Snape knew even more than that that it was the beginning of the end for Hermione Granger.
LHSLHSLHS
"What's wrong with her?" Hermione had been taken to the infirmary and there were several doctors hording around her, each with a different opinion. Hermione being a top priority patient was getting the best of care, but she kept on floating in and out of consciousness with no apparent reason.
"She's dying." Severus said at last in a grave voice.
"She's what?" Lucius' head gave a sharp spin in his direction.
"She's dying," Severus repeated. "There's no doubt about it."
"Of what?" Lucius asked.
"The two souls inside of her a warring with one another. Until she dies she will go through periods where her soul is dominant, periods when The Dark Lord's is dominant and others when they are intertwined."
"But…" Lucius had read about this possibility, it was in one of his books, the one Hermione had been reading when he found her. But the Dark Lord had been confident that the souls would mingle. "The Dark Lord-"
"The Dark Lord underestimated her! Her soul is too strong to allow usurper. Instead, it will fight to the death to regain its place. You Lucius just ought to hope and pray that her soul doesn't end up winning or dying, taking the invading soul with it. It does, and you're death warrant will be signed in blood."
"How do you figure that?" Lucius asked quietly.
"You were the one who revealed to her that she is a Horcrux, despite it being privileged information. And I can testify that it was that knowledge that drove her soul to reject the Dark Lord's. As her body cools so will yours."
Snape's words cast a little fear in Lucius' heart, but not nearly enough. He had not come so far merely to be cut down by a schoolgirl. He would make the best of the present situation. He surveyed all the scenarios. Scenario one, Hermione dies. That would undoubtedly be the worst of the three. He knew Severus wasn't bluffing about telling the Dark Lord that Lucius' spilling the beans had been the cause of her demise. But Severus himself had been alone with her for an hour of unaccounted for time. Who knew, perhaps Severus had done something then that resulted in her fainting. If Lucius was going to go down, then he would take Snape with him. If Hermione didn't die and rejected the soul, then of course the Dark Lord would be angry as all hell, but he had known the risks. He could hardly pretend that he hadn't. Neither would he ignore the fact that his Horcrux was now rendered useless, but he would not execute both of his advisors for the same crime. And if by chance Hermione's soul was the one which died, then there would be no problem. Lucius chances of advancing were shot, but now, that was the least of his problems.
Knowing that there was nothing else to do he promised to return and retired to his rooms. He poured himself a firewhiskey. His rooms seemed so…empty. His thoughts turned to the people who had once occupied this space with him. First to Hermione and then to the inescapable Draco.
A knock came at his door and Lucius went to get it. Strange that he should get visitors at all, no one dared to venture up to his or Severus' apartments. Whatever it was must have been big. A small voice said that it might be about Hermione's condition and for a moment he feared that she had died.
"Sir," the man was clearly a lackey, at best a messenger. "We have news."
"Is it concerning Hermione-" Despite himself a worry line or two appeared on his smooth brow.
"No sir, this is concerning your son-Draco."
Lucius scrutinized the messenger. "What of him?"
"He's dead."
Lucius' blood ran cold through his veins, flowing through him like ice. He had to remind himself to take a breath. Dead? His son, his only son was dead.
"Leave me!" He slammed the door in the messenger's face and sank to the ground. Hot tears began to flow down his face for the first time in forty years. A part of him had been ripped from him, he no longer felt complete. The pain he felt was incomparable to anything he'd ever felt in his life. It didn't compete with the torture he'd withstood, his time in Azkaban, or even when Narcissa had died.
Hours past and Lucius remained on his carpeted floor. He was in shock and the emptiness inside of him was swallowing him whole. He was a ghost of himself, a shell of the man he once was. He'd always known it would come down to this. He'd sent most of the assassins himself. Stressed the fact that Draco should be terminated, there was no time for torture in this case. But he'd never dwelled on the guilt, the shame he would feel after killing his own blood. And now he was wallowing in it.
LHSLHSLHS
Well, whaddya think? I know that people are glad that Hermione and Severus slept together, but even I have to admit that this chapter was rather intense.