Chapter 15

A/N: Hello readers! I think it's only been a week since my last update, so this one's on time. Hooray! I haven't been doing much typing recently. Instead, I've been crocheting... I learned from youtube and am determined not to stop until I have a blanket, except my poor hands hurt.

As always, thanks to all of the wonderful people who reviewed and to the lovely irianaceleste for betaing.

~Frosty

"Daisy, what was that the Pythia said about deceiving people?" Harry asked as they found a concealed alley to use as a secure Apparation point.

"Nothing. She was talking in riddles."

Hermione and Harry shared a look; neither of them were positive that she was lying, but they both had a feeling that she was concealing something.

Whether she was lying to them about something or not, Hermione believed that Daisy was Cassy's mother and that the woman was desperate to have her daughter returned to her. For that reason alone, she was willing to give Daisy the benefit of the doubt.

They Apparated back to the Manor, Daisy riding along with Harry this time. Hermione wasn't sure that her poor arm would be able to take another puncturing so soon after the last one.

This time, Daisy only gagged a few times, but managed to keep her food in her stomach. "Why are we back here?" she demanded. "We're supposed to be out looking for Cassy!"

"We're all tired. I say we get some sleep and start searching in the morning." Hermione was really exhausted. Maybe it was all the mental trauma that she'd been through in the day or maybe she was coming down with something. Either way, it was all she could do to keep her eyes open.

"I'm done doing things your way," Daisy snarled, pacing up the drive towards the Manor. "Our little trip to see the oracle has clearly gotten us nowhere."

Hermione tried to understand that Daisy had lost her daughter and was barely holding herself together, but the woman's complaining was dancing on her last nerve. "Your way clearly didn't find you your daughter. At least we've got some leads. Give us a chance to explore them after some sleep. Exhausted investigators make mistakes and miss obvious clues."

"I'm not going to get any sleep until my daughter is with me again and safe."

"I have a plan," Hermione assured.

"What's this plan then?" Daisy asked sarcastically. She clearly didn't think that Hermione had one.

Looking to Harry, who was just watching quietly, Hermione shrugged. "Where's the one place a goddess of love is most likely to be?"

Hermione had been so tired that even Daisy noticed. She'd eventually agreed to let everyone get some rest before Hermione fell over or something.

After falling into bed so tired that she only felt the tiniest of twinges that Draco wasn't there with her, Hermione fell asleep. Unfortunately, her dreams were not restful ones. Draco was there, but he wasn't angry with her as she knew that he had to be, so it was only a cruel reminder of what she may never have again. She knew for a fact that Draco wasn't a forgiving person, and she doubted infidelity wasn't something he was willing to just overlook, especially since she didn't really have an explanation for her actions.

In her dream, she was in a plain of infinite emptiness. As far as she could see, there was nothing. Somehow, there was a surface beneath her feet, yet it wasn't something that she could see, it just blended with the rest of the vacant space.

Draco was beside her, watching her take in their surroundings.

"Why do you look so down, Granger?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He ruined the kindness of the remark by sliding his hand further down her shoulder and reaching for one of her breasts.

She slapped his hand away but leaned against him, solid and warm even in her dream. He even smelled just like Draco. Her imagination was more accurate than she had ever given it credit for. She'd always seen herself as more of a logical than creative creature, but it appeared that she'd been severely underestimating herself.

The couple was distracted from each other when Eros, in all his godly glory, wandered onto the dream plain. He looked perfectly at home in the expanse of nothing that was Hermione's dream world. He was just as impressive as she remembered him being, and probably just as annoying.

"What trouble are you here to cause?" she demanded, stepping away from Draco and crossing her arms over her chest. It was best that she be ready for anything in the presence of Eros – even if he was only a conjuring of her own mind.

Eros looked at her like she was being a naughty child. "I know that you're a little miffed at me for leaving you to your own devices for so long," Draco snorted in disbelief, but Eros just talked right over him, "But I've been horribly busy with my wife, catching up on lost time. I would come to visit myself, but I didn't want to leave Psyche, even for two of my favourite mortals."

Hermione mentally replaced the word "mortals" with "playthings" while Draco was thinking along entirely different lines. His face scrunched up in disgust.

"You're talking to us in a dream because you're shagging her right now, aren't you?"

Eros grinned, not in the least abashed at being caught. "Of course. She's the most gorgeous creature to ever grace either Olympus or the Earth."

That was kind of sweet in a squidgy way. Hermione decided not to dwell on it too long for fear of mental images that she would never be rid of. Instead, she focused on the fact that, according to Eros, who was something of an expert in the matters of his own magic, she and Draco were really there in the same place.

Hermione looked at her partner sideways, pleased to note that Draco didn't seem angry with her. Despite whatever bomb Eros was going to drop on them (because he wouldn't bother with the trip if he wasn't up to something), Hermione was pleased that she was having this dream.

"I'm glad you're happy together once more," Hermione said. And she really was pleased that Eros and Psyche were together again. For powerful immortal beings, they were kind of adorable together. As a god of love, Eros was very virile by nature. While many of his fellow gods strayed on their significant others, Eros remained completely faithful to his wife, even when he was spending nearly a century avoiding her. His devotion was something to admire.

As usual, Draco was less willing to exchange pleasantries. "What are you doing here?"

"I sensed some tension in your bond and came to see how two mortals had managed to unravel some of my best work. Why are you two not together?"

Hermione looked to the stoic blond at her side. "I wasn't myself when I kissed Smith," she said quietly.

While she was almost certain that Draco had witnessed the kiss, she was still a little apprehensive about his reaction to her admittance that she had kissed Smith. It had occurred to her that Draco, in some strange surge of out of character surge of courtesy, was waiting until Eros left to speak to her about what had happened.

Having already figured that out, Draco wrapped an arm around her. Her face clearly said that she thought he was upset with her, so to reassure her, he kissed the top of her head. "I know you weren't."

Hermione leaned against him, sagging with relief. His easy acceptance of her answer took a huge weight off her chest. Telling him that she had been compelled by a mysterious divine magic to kiss someone she had no feelings for whatsoever was a feeble excuse at best. Granted, it had probably worked back when the gods were more involved with the affairs of mortals, but it was much less likely to in present times.

She was so boneless with relief that she was counting on Draco to support her and keep her from pooling on the ground. Thankfully, he had been watching her closely and wrapped a firm arm around her to keep her upright.

Eros, being the interfering god that he was, had been shamelessly eavesdropping on their little exchange. "My mother must be involved in this somehow. You were shot with my arrows, and those contain the forever and a day kind of love." His perfect brows furrowed. "The only thing with the power to get between the two of you is another god."

How was it possible that Hermione was exhausted even as she slept? Draco was essentially holding her up all on his own. While Eros went on a little rant about Aphrodite and her scheming, she peeked up at Draco.

"If you're not mad at me, then how come you haven't come back?" She was a strong, stubborn, logical woman and hated it when she let her emotions rule and sounded all vulnerable. Draco was the only one who ever made her feel that way. It was a delicious type of vulnerable though, like waiting for something that could be massively rewarding, made all the more wonderful because of the potential for devastation.

"There's something I have to do before I can come back," Draco said. He didn't seem to want to elaborate any further, despite the curiosity he had to know Hermione was feeling.

Hermione didn't like being left out of the loop, but she trusted him. "Just be careful."

"That goes double for you."

Eros had been eavesdropping again. "You two are so wonderful together; you're going to be wonderful parents when the baby's born." His eyes widened as Hermione and Draco exchanged a surprised look and then both stared at him in confusion. "Did you not know?" Eros sounded a little too delighted for the almost contrite tone to be believable.

"No, we didn't," Draco gritted out.

They had no reason to suspect. Magical contraceptive spells, something that she and Draco were both very careful with, were one hundred percent effective all the time. She stared down at her stomach and then back up at Draco, terrified. If the spells were infallible, then some outside force had to have interfered in some way. She couldn't see Eros doing something like that – at least not with his wife to distract him – so it was most likely his mother.

"Excellent," Eros said. "I'm glad I could be the one to break the news. Dreams are my third favourite way to interfere in the lives of mortals. For the record, my first is shooting them with love arrows and my new second favourite is turning into a lizard and following them everywhere they go." They were still unresponsive, too shocked by the news. Eros didn't seem to mind much though, he just cheerfully continued talking. "And don't worry about my mother, I'll speak to her."

Before any more words could be exchanged by any of them, Eros dissolved the connection he had formed to hijack Hermione's dream. She was left sitting bolt upright in her own bed, gasping for air and covered in a cold sweat.

It was impossible to tell if her dream had been real or something that her imagination had cooked up to cope with recent events. Even worse, she couldn't think of a way to confirm either way without sending a Patronus to Draco. That option was out of the question since she wasn't sure where Draco was and if it would put him in any danger to give away his location with a glowing, speaking otter. She wasn't willing to endanger him because of a dream, even such a thought provoking one.

She flattened a palm against her abdomen, wondering if there was really a tiny person growing inside of her. It was a terrifying and wonderful thought.

There was only one way to find out for sure.

Hermione reached for her wand.

Harry looked up at the building, shooting a disbelieving glance at her. Hermione had seen him more comfortable facing down an army of Death Eaters.

"This is where you think she'll be?" Harry asked in disbelief.

Hermione looked up at the building before them. It wasn't obvious from the exterior what went on inside the large house. Only the creepy man wearing a trench coat, hat, and large shades slipping in the door as if he desperately didn't want to be recognised gave any hint what they were actually looking at.

"Tell me this isn't what I think it is." Harry continued when he didn't get an answer to his first question.

"It's a brothel." Hermione thought about trying to phrase it differently, make it sound like something it wasn't, but she decided against that. Harry was smart, he'd be able to work out pretty quickly that she was twisting words around to make their situation sound more pleasant – and he probably wouldn't appreciate her efforts.

"I suppose brothels fall under Aphrodite's specialty?" Daisy asked. She didn't share Harry's aversion to the place; she only seemed curious.

Hermione shrugged. "Sex for monetary gain is a kind of love." Okay, so not really, but prostitution was still right up Aphrodite's alley and this was the biggest brothel that Hermione could find.

"I worry about you sometimes, Hermione." Harry didn't take his eyes off of the building, but Hermione knew that he'd be looking at her in disapproval if he hadn't been so focused on watching the door the shifty man had entered. It was as if Harry expected the man to make another appearance, this time wielding a gun.

"You shouldn't, Harry. This isn't the first time I've been to a brothel. I'm still the same person."

While this wasn't the first time she'd visited a brother, Hermione certainly didn't make a habit of visiting them. The first and only other time Hermione had been to a brothel was a few years ago when there had been an outbreak of some kind of magical creatures that was turning jaded prostitutes into full grown women who had cried crocodile tears and demanded to colour with their crayons when they should have been working. It had been horrible for business and Hermione and Draco had been called in to get rid of the magical mites that were giving people the mentality of five year olds.

They had done their job and removed the magical creatures before reporting the brothel to the Aurors. It seemed though, that the Aurors hadn't done much to shut down the business.

"What's the plan?" Daisy asked, interrupting what would have probably been a barrage of questions from Harry. "Are we just going to burst in there and demand that they surrender the dangerous goddess that they're harbouring?"

Hermione shook her head. "Facing Aphrodite directly isn't going to get us anywhere. We need to find out what she's up to before facing her. Just follow my lead."

"If she's the one with my daughter and has brought Cassy to a brothel, it'll take more than immortality to keep the bitch safe from me."

They hadn't had much time to plan anything too involved, but that was okay. In this situation, Hermione believed that simple was what they wanted. They weren't going to bother with disguises and covert actions because Hermione seriously doubted that Aphrodite herself was physically inside the brothel. However, Hermione was willing to bet that, at some point, Aphrodite would have paid a visit to this brothel in particular.

Hermione strode forward and pushed open the door without hesitation, not bothering to check behind her to make sure that the other two had followed her.

There was a middle aged woman in the center of the large front room, seated comfortably on a piled of pillows. When she saw Hermione, she smiled, showing off her cigarette yellowed teeth. Other than the poor dental hygiene, this woman was immaculately groomed. Her eyebrows were plucked to thin lines and her lips were carefully traced with blood-red lipstick. All in all, she looked just what Hermione had thought the madam of one of the largest and most successful brothels on the continent would look.

It wasn't the woman though, that had Hermione's attention first, it was the pair of busts sitting on either side of the door she'd just entered. They were perfect likenesses to Aphrodite. Hermione had met the goddess on more than one occasion and it was clear from the detail of the statues that the artist had also laid eyes on the real goddess. These busts were the main reason that Hermione had chosen this brothel in particular.

"Hermione," the woman greeted. "Did one of the girls call you? I don't remember having any problems recently."

"No, Madam Tari. I'm not working. I'm actually here on personal business." Hermione's clear voice was almost a shock after listening to the raspy, sultry purr that Madam Tari adopted even when she wasn't trying to ensnare clients like a spider in a web.

One of Madam Teri's eyebrows rose as amusement twinkled in her eyes. "I wasn't aware that you were interested in the type of 'personal business' my girls provide."

For the first time in a while, Hermione found herself fending off a blush. She had forgotten Madam Teri's sense of humour in the years since she and Draco had been there.

"I'm not interested in that kind of personal business at all. I'm actually here because recent experiences have given me a new understanding of something I saw the last time I was here."

Amusement fading, Madam Tari folded her hands and waited, not going to reveal anything before Hermione put her cards on the table.

Hermione nodded her head towards a large glass display case half hidden behind a curtain in the corner of the room. Perched on a velvet pillow topped pedestal was what looked like a belt made of intricately entwined gold wires and jewels. The metal was slightly worn and seemed very old, ancient even. On their previous visit, it had struck Hermione as out of place in a brothel, but she had dismissed it, not having the knowledge she did now.

"I'm looking for information on Aphrodite and thought you'd be a good person to ask since you have her girdle on display just over there." She nodded her head towards the display case.