June 6th

A pleasant calm overtook Hermione once she was secure in the fact that she had a cauldron of polyjuice potion bubbling away in the kitchen of Number Twelve. She hadn't been aware of exactly how anxious she'd been feeling until the day after her unexpected visit to the former headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Now, able to take a deep breath and see the light at the end of the very long tunnel she stood in, she began to believe that her end goal was possible. She was going to save Aberforth Dumbledore from his execution and somehow remove the target the Resistance placed on her back. Of course, she would never be able to satisfy William Wood with anything less than her brutal and painful death. She could handle one loose cannon. He wasn't exactly the first.

Knowing that it would take a month to brew the potion was disheartening, but at least there was a timeline. She wouldn't be stuck in her Hogsmeade home or her Ministry office wondering how much more she had to endure before she was free to run again. Once she left she had no intention of looking back. Antonin would come searching for her, she had no doubt. If she was careful and smart, she could avoid him for the rest of her life. The desire to climb aboard a ship going to another part of the world was so overpowering she could almost taste it. What would it be like to no longer live in fear? No longer have to look over her shoulder?

Part of the reason why so few in their society, pre-rise of the Dark Lord and post, ever even considered trying to procure their own batch of polyjuice potion was simply because it was an incredibly difficult potion to brew correctly. If she was completely honest with herself, it was an absolute miracle that Hermione was able to brew it successfully in her second year. Her issues with the cat hair aside, if she had made a single mistake in the brewing, all three of them could've been killed or irrevocably mutilated. It wasn't safe to have the average brewer even attempt it. The laws in place making it illegal were also there for everyone's safety. Wasn't it better to just ban the dangerous substance outright than to allow another incompetent potioneer to hurt themselves? Besides, polyjuice potion took too long to brew. Few had the patience to wait.

Back in the Ministry the day after Draco's rather eventful birthday, Hermione was surprised to see Rabastan. He didn't speak a single word to her all day. Didn't even look in her direction. His attention was focused solely on his work. Based on the incessant scratch of his quill for hours, she assumed he was writing up his official notes and report for an interrogation he conducted the previous day. It would certainly explain his absence the day before after his strange offer.

She didn't have the first clue which of the unfortunate prisoners was his latest victim. If it was Aberforth, she assumed that he would throw that knowledge in her face as some sort of cruel taunt. Rabastan knew there was more to her connection with the elderly wizard than she was willing to admit. He could be frighteningly perceptive. But, she knew her Co-Head well enough to understand that he played numerous games at the same time. To assume that one knew all that he was up to was foolish and almost always entirely incorrect. He could be simply waiting for her to ask him what he had been up to. Doing that granted him a level of power over her that she didn't like.

So, she tried to focus on her work instead of what he was doing across the room. He'd given her a lot to think about as it was. She didn't really need anything else. There was a long and violent history with Antonin. Rabastan knew that well enough to make the offer to team up against her husband. If she stood with Antonin, he would never let her leave. Maybe Rabastan and his partners would allow her to simply walk away from the country in exchange for her assistance in the coming power struggle. It wouldn't take much to make the offer very attractive.

Perhaps another hour of Rabastan's quill scratching passed before she could stand the suspense no longer. Hermione tried to seem as disinterested in what he was doing as possible when she asked him what he was working on. Immediately seeing through her ruse, his frustrated expression quickly morphed into an amused grin.

"What do you care what I'm working on?"

She assured him in no uncertain terms that she didn't. Each of them returned to their own individual files. It didn't take him long to forget his amusement. Back to being frustrated and annoyed by his work, his scowl returned and several sighs punctuated the air. In the past, back when she would suffer the man's touch on her body, she would use her considerable charms on the man to put him in a better mood. Of course, she usually only waited to dive down to that level when there was something that she needed from him.

Like the answer to whether or not he spent the previous day interrogating the very wizard she was risking her life and her freedom to help escape. The report he was working on was still laid across the top of his desk. It wouldn't take much persuasion to distract him long enough to read at least the name on top of the report. When he sighed one more time, she made her decision. Despite going against what she felt was right, she would do what was necessary to get her answers without rousing the horrible man's suspicions. Besides, it wasn't as if she hadn't done the same countless times before.

A nonverbal spell shut the door to their office with a deafening thud. Rabastan looked up to see what was happening just as she muttered the incantation to lock the door. The sound of the click brought his old smirk back to his face. He turned his gaze to Hermione. She stood to her feet, dropped the Ministry robes she loathed, and began to the familiar trek across the carpet to his desk.

"How is anyone supposed to concentrate with your constant sighing?"

"I did not realize I was bothering you, pet. Please accept my heartfelt apologies."

There was nothing sincere about the man, not his words, not his smile. Hermione berated herself for even considering this drastic course of action. Surely there was another option, another way to discover what she wanted to know without stooping so low. But, he was tricky and when he stared at her with that familiar hunger in his eyes, she found it easier to push aside her concerns, push aside her fears after that horrible day in Fenrir's bedroom. Maybe this was what she needed to get those thoughts out of her mind. She'd been at his complete mercy then. Now, he would be at hers.

The seams of his trousers threatened to burst with the pressure of what he was holding within. Hermione dropped to her knees, pushed his knees apart, and ran her hands up his thighs. Part of her felt nervous. Mostly, however, she felt empowered. He'd told her secrets he didn't mean to in the past when she'd appealed to his baser instincts. One brush of her hand against his bare skin drew a deep guttural moan out of the man. It had been over a year since the last time they were in the same position, but it felt like no time at all had passed. Wrapping one slim hand around the base of his length, Hermione looked up to meet his eyes.

"Do I have your promise that you'll cease your obnoxious sighing for the rest of today?"

Rabastan nodded his head, unable to utter more than another moan at the feel of her tongue lavishing his most favorite of body parts. She wasn't sure how much time passed with her mouth moving over him, tasting him, teasing him. Long enough that his breathing grew ragged. Long enough that just as she thought he was about to lose all control, he gently pushed her head away and lifted her entire body in one smooth familiar motion. Carefully, yet firmly pressing her down on top of his desk on her belly, Rabastan lifted her skirts and tore her knickers. Only mere moments passed until he buried himself up to the hilt inside of her, ripping a scream from the witch.

So lost in the sensations of their illicit encounter was she that Hermione almost forgot to take the opportunity to look over his reports while Rabastan was distracted. Knowing that he was the sort of wizard to prefer to keep his eyes closed for much of the act to be able to feel what was happening, she knew that she could get enough of a glance to at least determine who the unfortunate victim was. With his bruising grip on her hips and his frantic and fierce slamming into her body, she found it difficult to focus long enough at the words written out in front of her face. Determined that she would join him in his quest for pleasure, the wizard's right hand left her hip long enough to slide down her front and slip between her thighs. Knowing exactly where to apply the right amount of pressure due to frequent opportunities for practice, she felt her nerves on fire just as she read a name that she was unfamiliar with at the top of his report.

Hermione was able to give herself over completely to the sensations once she knew that her mission hadn't been a failure yet. Her body continued to convulse and tremble until Rabastan's last deep moan of completion. Still nestled inside her body, he lowered his heaving chest on her back as he tried to catch his breath. He kissed the base of her neck. Just outside of her ear, he whispered.

"Did you get the information you were seeking?"

Before she could even stutter out a denial, his chuckles tickled the back of her neck.

"All you ever need do is ask, pet. I'll tell you whatever it is you long to know."

She stood up to her full height abruptly, almost knocking the horrible man off of his feet. With just a single push, she was able to extricate herself from his touch. As she crossed the room to retrieve her discarded robes, she pulled her skirt back down and tried unsuccessfully to repair her ruined knickers with a spell. Instead, she settled for removing the remnants and destroying them with an incendio spell as her partner laughed.

When she was presentable enough to face the world again, Hermione rushed out of the shared office without speaking a word to the wretched wizard. She had a potion to check on, and she wanted to be as far away from him as physically possible.