A Fate Worse Than Death
Disclaimer: The Harry Potter Universe belongs solely to J K Rowling and her chosen associates.
Chapter Two: Sneaking through the Dungeons
Hermione had chosen this particular corridor because it was well lit but little used after school hours. This meant that she could avoid having to use a Lumos spell and making the invisibility cloak pointless.
Most of Hogwarts myriad corridors were unlit, she suspected partly on purpose to deter foolhardy students. She had learnt by bitter experience that trying to traverse a long corridor in the dark, even if not clad in an encompassing cloak, meant many encounters with uncharted statues, complaining suits of armour and hard stone walls (the list could continue for some length including wandering professors, ghosts, caretakers, their cats, house- elves etc.)
The disadvantages of choosing this corridor was that it was popular with the portraits and other painted characters, who enjoyed hanging out in this location and seemed to invite friends from all over the castle. Hermione, however, had passed a number of large paintings along the corridor and was surprised to realise that they were mostly empty except for one rural landscape of field and meadow that seemed to feature a quietly snoring pony. Hermione felt that she recognised this steed as belonging to Sir Cadogan and near the end of the corridor her thoughts were confirmed.
A large ceiling to floor panel depicted a Regency Ball in full swing. In the back of the painting, through archways adorned with floral swags, dancers could be seen treading elaborate measures. Hermione had come to a halt at the sudden bustle of noise and light and could see that several elderly wizards from seemingly respectable portraits located outside the staff common room, were leading ladies wearing very low cut chiffon gowns around the dance floor and were staring very unsubtly down their cleavages.
Hermione forced her gaze to the front of the painting, which featured that vital element of every Regency Ball, the gaming tables. Among the young Bucks who were already obviously worse for wear, if the state of their cravats were any indication, there were a number of familiar characters from around the Castle.
Foremost among these was Sir Cadogan who sat, clad in full armour with legs astraddle at the nearest table, making a poor show of concealing his cards but not bothering to disguise a smile.
Opposite him sat a severe sorceress whom Hermione thought she recognised from a gloomy painting located near Snape's Office. Dressed from head to foot in swathes of black, the dark beauty gave a terrible smile as she laid down what was obviously a winning hand onto the table.
Sir Cadogan merely responded with a theatrical sigh and proceeded to unbuckle one of his gauntlets, which he then dropped onto the floor. Watching the mailed glove fall Hermione realised that it was joining a small heap of discarded garments already dropped there.
Great Merlin! She was watching the start of a major session of Strip Poker. No wonder Sir Cadogan was smiling – it would probably take 200 hands to get him down as far as his underwear. As for the three nymphs, visiting from a Birth Of Venus further up the corridor, all they had on were two strategically placed seashells each and a wisp of gauze. Three poor hands of cards and they would be more exposed than the beach scene they had deserted for the evening. Not that they seemed to mind – from the giggling and the sly looks that they were casting at the young Regency Bucks – this would suit their purpose very well.
Hermione felt a blush rise to her cheeks and quickly resumed her route. Emerging onto the Grand Staircase she risked a jump onto a set of stairs that was already in motion and lightly descended at speed, jumping a newly appeared trick stair with practised ease.
As she sped down the long stairwell Hermione reflected on the scene above. She had blushed at the overt sexual display of the nymphs, their confidence and their pleasure in their revealed bodies. This was very fitting for followers of the Goddess of Love, but was certainly not true for the average seventeen-year-old student of Hogwarts such as Hermione.
Take a cold draughty magical castle, add voluminous layered robes, watchful Heads of House, nosy ghosts, annoying poltergeists and competitive Houses and teenage sex was reduced, in its practical form, to a hasty fumble in an inconvenient and inadequately sized corner leaving young explorers in the arts of love less in the sense fulfilled and more usually feeling just a bit squidgy instead.
This was certainly Hermione's experience to date. Though no longer technically a virgin, none of her intimate encounters had even remotely approached the glorious descriptions in the small rolls of parchment that were delivered by monthly subscription to Parvati's dormitory bedroom by a small pink owl.
Parvati generously shared her enlightening treasures with her dorm mates and although Hermione made disparaging comments to the rest of the Sixth year bedroom while reading about these never ending crescendo's, trembling limbs and much forceful thrusting, she wondered if there was any possibility that a sexual encounter could reach these heights.
Thoughts of the corridor above were pushed firmly from her mind as she reached the entranceway outside the Great Hall and started to cross, with as little noise as possible, to the staircase that led down to the Dungeons.
The full Moon was flooding through the high windows and turning the stones of the cavernous hallway to molten silver. Hermione looked up at the silver orb shining down upon her and unbidden the words of Professor Sinistra rose to her mind.
"The period between the Three Quarter Moon and the Full Moon is most auspicious for acts of positive magic especially spells, potions and rituals associated with increasing magical powers. The night of the Full Moon is the most potent of all for increasing magic."
What was Voldemort up to on this most potent night, the first full moon after Imbolc with its promise of the awakening Earth? The Dark Lord had appeared to be licking his wounds after the failure of his latest attempt to counter the threat posed to him by Harry Potter. Professor Snape had not reported anything of significance for the last two months as far as Hermione had been kept aware. Thankfully Voldemort was no nearer learning the truth of the full prophecy that a concerned Ron and Hermione had forced out of an almost tearful Harry shortly after their return to Hogwarts the previous autumn.
Hermione knew she would only find out second hand if at all about the gathering of Death- eaters that Snape had been called to this evening. She knew better now than to dwell on what might be going on but her imagination could easily supply a few images and with a slight shudder she stepped out of the silvery light and descended the dark of the dungeon staircase.
She was soon standing next to the stone owl holes outside Professor Snape's office and quickly took the roll of parchment from under her arm and slid it under several others in the small pile awaiting the Potion Master's return. Hermione rearranged her cloak and hastily glanced up and down the empty dungeon corridor to check that she was still alone.
Her glance fell on the gloomy portrait that normally contained the sorceress who was currently in battle with Sir Cadogan. It showed a dark interior of a dismal castle room but Hermione noticed that the dark hangings and furniture were all in disarray with items of clothing scattered about the scene. She remembered how heavily covered up the woman had appeared – was it possible that she had gone prepared to meet Sir Cadogan wearing as many layers as he had on?
Hermione was smiling at the thought of this when a slight sound almost at her shoulder made her start with fright and then freeze as still as she could.
The door of Snape's office was slowly swinging open. Hermione flattened herself against the wall as the figure of Draco Malfoy, his white-blond hair startling in the dim gloom of the corridor emerged from the room. Draco was wearing an outdoor cloak gathered over his arms that were clutching a large cloth bag from which faint chinks could be heard as he closed the dungeon door with exaggerated care. He quickly scanned the corridor, including the empty portrait hanging across the passageway, the sight of which seemed to bring a slight smirk to his face, then moved rapidly away from Hermione's position.
Almost before she could help herself Hermione started to follow him, her head whirling with thoughts.
The bag was presumably full of potion ingredients taken from Snape's private stores. A treasure house of rare and dangerous substances as Hermione well knew.
Did members of Slytherin house regularly sneak into Snape's office at night? Wasn't it more likely that Snape would allow his favoured students access to special ingredients if they asked?
Draco had looked very cautious as he came out of the room, almost scared in fact. More amazing was the fact that he had been alone. It was almost unheard of for Draco to carry out any exploit without his two dim-witted but reliable cronies, Crabbe and Goyle in close attendance but there was clearly no sign of them.
At this point Hermione almost ran straight into Draco who had stopped in front of a blank piece of corridor wall. "Serpent Tongue, " he murmured and a hidden door in the stone swung open. He vanished through it and Hermione realising that the Slytherin Common Room obviously lay beyond knew she could not safely venture any further.
She now felt cold and tired and decided to retrace her steps homeward. As she re-passed Snape's office door, the sight of the empty portrait recalled to her the expression on Draco's face as he had glanced at it – as though he had known that the sorceress would not be there.
Had he also known that Snape was not in the castle? Hermione found this an uncomfortable thought, as it would mean that Draco knew about Snape being called to Voldemort's side this evening. With the elder Malfoy still imprisoned in Azkaban and Snape keeping his double role secret from everyone except the Order of the Phoenix it must be a coincidence that Draco had chosen this night to sneak around the dungeons.
Hermione's head now felt distinctly fuzzy and she decided to leave any thinking about what Draco might have been up to until the next morning. In fact she now made a firm decision to take a different corridor back to Gryffindor Tower, as she feared that the goings on now probably taking place at the Regency Ball would leave her with insomnia.
T.B.C
Second Author's Note: I had not really expected any positive reviews for a fic as slow paced and wordy as this one is turning out to be. So a warm thank you to my reviewers – you have inspired me to update the story about three weeks earlier than I thought I would manage! The Regency Ball is a nod to the Regency Challenge on WIKTT.