Becoming Familiar with a Man of Misery

by Ms-Figg

A reluctant Severus Snape is ardently pursued by Hermione. A few tantrums, hexes, nasty spells and wellplaced knees later an understanding is reached...sort of: RemusOFC too. Yummy. Alternate Universe, Humor, Lemons, Oral, Anal, More.

2. Becoming Familiar with a Man of Misery 2

Becoming Familiar with a Man of Misery Part 2

Severus dozed off and had an erotic dream. But it wasn't about him. It was about Marcus and Hermione. They were in a bedroom and Marcus was slowly removing Hermione's clothing as the witch stared up at him. After he undressed her, he helped her into the bed, then undressed himself and joined her, rolling on top of the witch and kissing her passionately.

Severus groaned in the armchair as he watched the wizard lift the witch's legs to his shoulders and drive into her, Hermione arching up and screaming, presumably from being deflowered. He watched as the wizard shagged the witch almost brutally, came and rolled off her. Hermione was sobbing. Marcus then left the bed, scourgified the blood off himself, dressed, said something to her by way of thanks and left the room, leaving the crying witch alone in the bed. She rolled over and curled up in a fetal position. The dream ended.

Severus suddenly awoke and rubbed his hand over his face, not knowing how he felt about the dream. One thing was certain, it hadn't been arousing at all. It was all very cold and clinical in a way. Severus had imagined that Hermione would at least enjoy having sex with the wizard, but in the dream, Marcus had kissed her, then penetrated her and left her crying. There was no foreplay, no caresses, nothing. Severus wasn't exactly Valentino in the sack for the most part, he hadn't taken time out with a woman since his first love, but he figured that something more could have been done to make the witch enjoy the act. It was Hermione's first time after all.

Still, it was just a dream. Plus, he had nothing to do with how Marcus would take Hermione. His job was to distract her, shag her and make her forget about him. But if that dream was predictive, Severus had no doubt that she could forget about all men as a result of the blonde wizard's treatment of her. He didn't want Hermione to end up frigid, or hating all men. He just wanted her to get her mind and hormones off him.

He'd have to talk to Marcus about this and make sure he wouldn't so blatantly mistreat the witch. Marcus probably wouldn't take the intrusion on his method of operation well, but despite his dark nature, Severus did have somewhat of a conscience. Not a large one, but he had enough guilt concerning lives he had a hand in destroying because of his service to the Dark Lord. It was his elixir that kept the despot alive and powerful after all. He didn't want to add Hermione to those ever-increasing numbers.

He sat up in the armchair.

"Raucous!" he called, wondering if the bird was in the study or out winging about Hogwarts. A squawk rang out from overhead and the raven dropped down, landing on the table next to the armchair. He cawed a greeting to the Potions Master.

"Raucous, I need you to do something for me tomorrow. I want you to spy on Miss Granger," he said, "She's having lunch with Mr. Delaluci and I want to know what transpires between them."

Raucous stood up proudly and cawed assent. He would be happy to spy on the witch. He hoped he'd see something incriminating.

"Good," Severus said, petting the bird, "They are going to lunch in the astronomy tower at noon tomorrow. You'll need to get there before they do and situate yourself in the rafters, and send me what you see and hear. You can do that, can't you?"

YES

The Potions Master gave the useful bird a thin smile, then looked at the clock. It was lunchtime.

Severus stood up.

"Care to accompany me to lunch?" he asked the bird. In answer, Raucous hopped on to the Potions Master's shoulder. They exited the rooms and started up the corridor.

They heard a door close behind them. Raucous looked behind and saw Hermione following, also on her way to lunch. He opened his beak threateningly as he glared at her. In response, Hermione narrowed her eyes at the bird and drew out her wand, holding it at her side as she walked. If the bird launched himself at her, he'd be more than sorry.

Severus knew Hermione was walking behind him, and slowed his stride. Hermione noticed this, and sped up, intending on passing the Potions Master. When she drew alongside him, Severus annoyingly matched her pace. She couldn't out walk the wizard. His legs were too long. Raucous fluttered to Severus' other shoulder, eyeing the witch's wand warily. Severus glanced down at her and saw the drawn wand.

"Really Miss Granger, must you stalk the halls as if spoiling for a duel?" he commented.

In answer, Hermione looked at Raucous, who clipped his beak at her nastily.

"I just want to be prepared if that motley feather ball tries to dive bomb me like he usually does. I'm tired of cleaning bird shit out of my hair," she said, scowling at Raucous.

The bird made a noise that sounded like a chuckle.

The Potions Master hesitated, then said, "I noticed you cozying up to Mr. Delaluci this morning."

"Marcus happens to be a very fascinating wizard. He's descended from a dragon. I find that absolutely intriguing. He's clearly the most interesting wizard at Hogwarts," she gushed.

Severus fought back the urge to remind Hermione that dragons had a taste for virgins, but that would open up a whole other jar of flubberworms. He wouldn't tip Marcus' hand.

"I suppose you find those purple orbs of his fascinating as well," the Potions Master said, rather sullenly. Hermione looked at him sharply.

"You're jealous!" she accused him with glee. "You think I find him attractive, and it pisses you off!"

Hermione laughed at the sour-faced wizard.

"Don't be absurd. I don't give a niffler's ass if you find that wizard attractive. I want you to find him attractive, then you could retract your claws and stop clinging to the hope that I'll ever want you," he snarled at her.

Hermione looked at him soberly.

"So, you're telling me you wouldn't care one bit if I gave what I've been saving for you to him," she asked him, looking into his eyes.

Severus scowled at her.

"No. I wouldn't give a damn if you shagged him or anybody else. I wish you would and stop dangling your virginity in front of me like bait. I'm not going to bite, Miss Granger!"

Hermione frowned at him, and her eyes began to fill with tears.

"You're a fucking ass, Severus Snape!" she screamed at him and ran down the corridor, Raucous cawing after her in birdie laughter. She turned into the main hall. Her vision blurred, she slowed and put her wand back in her pocket.

Maybe she should just give up like he said. He didn't want her. He didn't appreciate what she was offering him. He didn't want to be happy. He didn't want to be her first. He didn't want anything to do with her. Suddenly she stopped walking. She was tired of the fighting, of him stepping all over her heart. She thought he was worth it, worth the struggle, worth fighting for. She realized he wasn't.

For the first time in her life, Hermione Granger was giving up.

The Potions Master rounded the corner and saw Hermione standing in the hall. She looked at him, an expression of defeat on her face. He went to walk by her. She stepped in front of him.

"Severus, wait. I have something to say to you," she said.

"Other than I'm a fucking ass?" he inquired snarkily.

Then he looked at Hermione closely. It seemed like the light had gone out of her eyes. They were wide and dark as she looked at him. He got a cold feeling in his stomach.

"Yes. I just want to say, you win. I'm giving up. I realize that you really don't want me and I'm saving myself for no good reason. You can't feel anything for anyone, and I was a fool to believe that you could. I was an idiot for thinking I could make a wizard like you happy. That you could make me happy," she said softly.

She took a strengthening breath.

"So, you don't have to worry about me trying to seduce you, or throwing myself at you, or even wanting you any longer. Things die every day. My feelings for you will die too. If they don't on their own, there are potions that can kill them permanently. I imagine you wouldn't have a problem brewing one for me if I need it, would you?"

The Professor slowly shook his head.

"Then I suggest you do that, and put it away for me. I've wanted to be with you for years, and I can't expect those feelings to go away overnight. I'll come to you if I need it. But from this point forward, you don't have to worry about me loving you anymore. You can live your miserable, loveless, joyless life in peace from here on out," she said. "No more fighting, arguing or retaliations."

She looked at the bird on his shoulder, who was watching the witch with his head cocked.

"At least you have Raucous. He's a kindred spirit. You'll be happy together. I did that much for you at least," she said, then turned and walked into the Great Hall without looking back.

Severus blinked after her. Was he free? Was he truly free of her? Yes! The gods had heard his plea. The witch had given up. Probably for the first time in her life, she was a failure. He finally got through to her.

He walked into the Great Hall, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He looked up at the dais. Hermione was seated, sticking her fork half-heartedly into her salad. She didn't look up. Down the table a ways, sat Marcus, who nodded at him.

Marcus. He had to tell the blonde wizard his services were no longer necessary. That the siege was over, and he had been victorious. Of course he would let Marcus keep the money for services rendered. He was tantamount in the downfall of Hermione Granger in a way. It was Severus' unconcern about her fucking the wizard that finally broke her. If Marcus had not approached the witch, Severus wouldn't have been able to shoot her down.

---

After supper, Severus stopped Marcus in the hall.

"I have good news, Mr. Delaluci. Your services are no longer needed. The witch has told me she will desist in her pursuit of me. It's over. Of course, you may keep the money I've given you. You did help to bring this about," the Potions Master said.

Marcus looked at him a moment.

"Well, Professor, I'm happy for you," he said slowly, "And even more happy for me."

Severus frowned at the wizard.

"What do you mean?" he asked him.

"Well, if Hermione has given up on you, I imagine it is because you said something to her that made her realize her love was wasted on you. She's going to need…comforting. Women in her position are ripe for the pickings. They want someone to hold them, comfort them, make them feel better. Her inexperience ought to make her very easy to shag at this point in time," Marcus said.

Severus scowled at him.

"Surely you don't mean to continue to pursue her, Mr. Delaluci?" Severus said, his voice a bit raw.

"I most certainly do. I want what I saw in that pensieve, Snape. You might not appreciate that sweet body, but I sure do. I'd do her without your money. And I intend to," the wizard said, "I haven't washed blood off my tool in a long, long time. I believe I'm overdue."

Severus looked at the wizard. He was even more of a pig than the dark wizard had imagined. He still intended to take the witch. He wouldn't have even noticed her if Severus hadn't hired him. The Potions Master glared at the wizard for a moment.

Marcus noticed his glare. The Potions Master was definitely sending mixed signals. He didn't want the witch, but it seemed he didn't want anyone else to have her either.

"You're all right with this, aren't you Snape? I mean you didn't want her, and she's finally written you off. It's only right another bloke takes a shot at her. She's gorgeous after all, and I've got a hell of a good chance of shagging her," he said, smiling at the wizard lasciviously.

"You can do what you want to her, Mr. Delaluci. She was a concern to me only because of her hopeless pursuit," Severus said evenly.

Marcus rubbed his hands together.

"You have no idea what I'm going to do to her, now that it's open season and I'm not under contract," he remarked, "I'll see you later, Snape."

With that, Marcus walked off toward his rooms. Severus walked in the other direction, his eyes shifting back and forth as he thought about what Marcus intended.

Shit. It wasn't his problem.

Raucous squawked on the Potions Master's shoulder and sent him an image of Marcus and Hermione eating lunch, followed by a question mark. The bird wanted to know if Severus still wanted him to spy on them.

"No, Raucous. It's no longer necessary. Miss Granger is no longer a problem," he replied to the raven.

Severus headed back towards his rooms. It was early, but he was going to get good and drunk.

He had nothing better to do now.

---

At about ten o'clock at night, Hermione heard a knock on her door. She had been sitting in her study reading, trying to keep her mind off of the Potions Master. She had cried a few buckets worth of tears and was all cried out now. She had to get back on track.

"Who is it?" she called.

"Severus," an unfamiliar voice answered her. It sounded like the Potions Master, but it didn't

Hermione didn't answer. What did he want now?

"Hermione, open the door. I have something for you," the Potions Master said with a slight slur as he leaned against the door with one hand.

Hermione still didn't answer him.

"Please," he said.

This made Hermione sit up. He had actually said please. Something was going on here. Grabbing her wand in case Raucous was with him, she walked to the door and stood in front of it.

"I'm not going to leave until you open the door," the Potions Master said thickly. Hermione realized he was drunk. Taking a deep breath, Hermione opened the door, lifting her wand and pointing it at the wizard. He looked at the tip of it cross-eyed.

"Going to hex me, Miss Granger?" he asked her, his bloodshot eyes looking into hers. He had a bowl in his hand. He held it out.

"Here," he said.

Hermione took the bowl. It was a pensieve. The silver liquid swirled as if it had a life of its own.

"What is this?" she asked him.

"Truth," the Professor replied, moving away from the door. Before she closed it, Hermione heard him say in a low, slurred voice that she was obviously not meant to hear, "I was desperate. I'm sorry."

Then there was a loud thump, a curse, then the sound of a door closing.

Hermione looked down at the pensieve.

Desperate?

She closed the door and walked back into the room. She stopped by the armchair and set the pensieve carefully down on the table. She sat in the chair and stared at it for a good half an hour. She wasn't sure she wanted to see what was in it. The fact that the Professor was drunk when he brought it to her made her worry about the contents. Anything could be in there.

But she had to know.

She took a deep breath, then stuck her finger in the bowl and found herself in the Dark Arts office, standing behind Severus as he spoke to Marcus. She listened to their conversation.

"

Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock. She continued to listen.

"I think you should take a look at that, Mr. Delaluci. It might help you make up your mind."

Marcus stuck his finger in the bowl, and his expression changed. He licked his lips. Impulsively, Hermione rushed forward and stuck her finger in the bowl. She didn't know if she could view a pensieve in a pensieve, but she thought she might be able to. She was. It was a pensieve of her undressing, getting ready to take a shower. How had Severus seen this? Then she realized. Raucous. She withdrew her finger the same time Marcus did.

"What I am into is myself, Mr. Delaluci. I don't need a witch in my life."

The scene in the pensieve suddenly changed. Now she was standing with Marcus and the Potions Master in the hallway outside the staff exit of the Great Hall. They were engaged in another conversation.

"Well, Professor, I'm happy for you, and even more happy for me."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if Hermione has given up on you, I imagine it is because you said something to her that made her realize her love was wasted on you. She's going to need…comforting. Women in her position are ripe for the pickings. They want someone to hold them, comfort them, make them feel better. Her inexperience ought to make her very easy to shag at this point in time."

"Surely you don't mean to continue to pursue her, Mr. Delaluci?"

"I most certainly do. I want what I saw in that pensieve, Snape. You might not appreciate that sweet body, but I sure do. I'd do her without your money. And I intend to. I haven't washed blood off my tool in a long, long time. I believe I'm overdue. You're all right with this, aren't you Snape? I mean you didn't want her, and she's finally written you off. It's only right another bloke takes a shot at her. She's gorgeous after all, and I've got a hell of a good chance of shagging her."

"You can do what you want to her, Mr. Delaluci. She was a concern to me only because of her hopeless pursuit."

Hermione was suddenly back in the armchair. She slowly withdrew her finger from the pensieve and stared down at it for a moment.

Then she stood up, picked the bowl up and threw it with all her strength against the fireplace, shattering the bowl into pieces, the silver contents spilling on the floor and evaporating.

Then she screamed, a loud, piercing, animal-like scream

Next door, sitting in his armchair and drinking another firewhiskey, Severus heard her. She was just that loud.

"I guess she viewed the pensieve, Raucous," he said to the raven thickly.

Raucous stood on the table looking nervous. The witch sounded upset, and she was already mean as hell. The raven took cover in the rafters, flying up to the highest beam and shuffling deep into the shadows. Raucous hunkered down, trying to make himself as small as possible, his beady black eyes focused on the study door as if on a death watch.

"Funny, I always thought the Dark Lord would kill me," Severus said thoughtfully, staring at the deep amber liquor in his glass and waiting for Hermione to burst into his rooms and Avada Kedavra him.

But the witch never showed up.

---

Mid-morning on Sunday, a rather hung-over Severus exited his rooms to visit the infirmary and get some sober-up potion from Poppy. He still hadn't brewed a new batch for his personal stores. The Potions Master noticed a piece of parchment magicked to the door. He tore it off and read the message printed on it. The message consisted of only three words.

Brew the potion.

Severus didn't need a signature. The note was from Hermione. She had decided to drink the Lotus Root potion to kill her feelings for him once and for all. He hurried to the infirmary for the hangover cure. He had brewing to do.

As he rode one of the staircases on the way back from the infirmary, Severus caught a glimpse of Hermione crossing the Great Hall. She was heading in the direction of the Dark Arts rooms. She had her wand in her hand and walked quickly with a determined look on her face. She was going to see Marcus. By the look of her, it was going to be quite a visit. Severus was tempted to disillusion himself and follow her, but decided against it. He'd do better to go and brew the Lotus potion. It was a simple potion to create, but the effects of it were permanent. Any feelings that the potion extinguished remained extinguished for life. All that was needed was a drop of blood from the person they wished to lose feeling for. In this case, his blood.

The Potions Master returned to his rooms, entered his lab and got to work. He should be finished brewing the potion by the time the witch was done with Marcus.

---

Hermione walked up to the Dark Arts office and knocked on the door.

"Come in," said Marcus, who was seated at his desk, looking over his schedule. Hermione opened the door and walked in. Marcus immediately stood up and smiled at the witch.

"Hermione! What a pleasant surprise," he said, glancing at the clock. It was only eleven-thirty. "I thought we were to meet up in the Astronomy Tower at noon. You're a bit early."

Hermione sat down in the comfy armchair in front of his desk and crossed her legs, her wand resting across her lap. Marcus noticed the drawn wand, and sat back down.

"Yes. There's been a change of plans, Marcus. We won't be doing lunch," Hermione said quietly. "In fact, we won't be doing anything. Ever."

Marcus had been in enough situations to know he was in danger. There was a look in the witch's eyes he had seen many times before an enemy attacked him. She must be on to him.

"What do you mean, Hermione?" he asked, tensing to leap out of the way. His wand was in his robes, and his robes were hanging on the back of the door. He was defenseless.

Hermione noticed him tensing and read his body language. She knew which way he was going to move. He was on to her.

"Incarcerous!" she cried, aiming her wand two meters to the left of the wizard.

Marcus leaped right into the path of the ropes that flew out of her wand and crashed to the floor on his face, bound tightly. Hermione stood up and walked around the desk, looking down at the wizard. His nose and mouth were bleeding. Hermione didn't feel a thing as she looked at his battered face.

She pointed her wand at the wizard again and levitated him back to the chair, dropping him in it hard. Then she walked back to the chair, sat down and looked at him for a good while.

Marcus stared back at the witch, hardly believing she had caught him so easily. But then again, he had heard the witch was smart. She had anticipated where he was going to go. Finally Hermione spoke.

"I think you know why I did this," Hermione said to him, her eyes narrowed.

Marcus nodded, then spit out some blood.

"Why, Marcus? What did I ever do to you?" she asked him.

He looked at her.

"I needed the money," he said simply.

"No. That may have been true initially, but when the Professor told you there was no need to pursue me, you were going to continue anyway," she said evenly.

"You ever look at yourself in the mirror?" he asked her, "Especially naked? You're beautiful. I'm sure I'm not the only wizard in the world who wants to shag you. We're not all Snapes you know."

"What kind of wizard would seduce a virgin for pay?" Hermione asked him, her eyes dark.

"Me. It was kind of like a double reward. Money and fresh trim. You can't beat that with a broom," the wizard said. He didn't sound repentant at all.

"So you planned to seduce me, shag me and leave me afterwards," Hermione said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Pretty much my standard mode of operation," Marcus replied, lifting one eyebrow, "You would have been no different than any other witch, with the exception of you being a virgin. But I would have taken care of that. Anyway, you should be blaming Snape for the brunt of this. It was him who hired me to take you and get you off his back. What the hell you want with a sour bastard like that is beyond me anyway," the wizard said, his tongue licking at his split lip.

"I do blame him," she said quietly. "I've already decided what I'm going to do about him, but it was you who would have hurt me the most if I fell for you. You're the worst kind of predator. Taking advantage of heartbroken witches and adding to their pain."

Marcus looked at her.

"How did you find out anyway?" he asked her.

"A little bat told me," she responded, "the question now is, what am I to do with you? I can't just let you get away with this, but I can't ruin you so badly you can't teach class. Of course, I could go to Dumbledore with the entire story and get both you and Severus in trouble, maybe suspended if not outright dismissed. But I don't want the story of this to get around. Telling Albus about it would be like shouting it through a bullhorn to the entire school."

She looked at Marcus consideringly. She had heard about the wizard's exploits and for the most part had written it off as gossip. No one could be that bad. But after what she witnessed in the pensieve, she knew the wizard was probably worse than anything rumor could come up with. He was a pig in every sense of the word.

Hermione's eyes lit up.

"I know what to do to you," she said. Marcus' eyes went wide as Hermione pointed the wand at him.

"Animus Porkcus!" she said.

Marcus began to writhe in the ropes. Then a blue glow surrounded him as he shouted for help. His body shrunk and rounded as the ropes fell off. He disappeared behind the desk.

Hermione stood up and walked partially around the desk.

"Here piggy, piggy," she called.

A pink snout emerged.

"Come on out, Marcus," she said. A round, pink, violet-eyed pig walked from behind the desk and grunted at her.

"There, now the body fits the personality," she said, pointing the wand at him again.

"Phallus Impotentus," she intoned, bathing the pig in white light. The pig began to squeal angrily.

Hermione smirked at him.

"The pig transformation will wear off by morning. The impotence spell will last about a month. Not even a gallon of lust potion will help," she said, standing up and heading for the door.

She looked back at the pig, who was still squealing miserably.

"I suggest, Marcus, that next time you need extra money, you find yourself a second job," she said, exiting the room and closing the door tightly behind her.

Hermione put a silencing spell on the door as well as a "Do Not Disturb" ward, so whoever came to the office would know not to bother the wizard. She left no food or water, but Marcus would survive just fine. The witch headed back towards the dungeons. There was just one more thing she needed to do to end this nightmare. Then she thought about it. Actually there were two things.

Walking through the Great Hall and toward the main doors, she reached in her pocket and took out a piece of crumpled parchment. She transfigured it into a black hooded cloak and slipped it on, raising the hood.

She walked out of the main doors on to the Hogwarts grounds, and headed toward the owlery, scanning the skies. After about twenty minutes, she saw what she was looking for. Raucous, winging his way back to the owlery and the floo to Severus' rooms. She was hooded because if the bird spotted her, he would flee. As it was, Raucous gave the hooded figure a quick glance and continued on to the owlery. Hermione pointed her wand at the flying bird.

She muttered a spell, and a bright beam of yellow light soared directly in front of the unsuspecting raven. It hit Raucous squarely. The bird let out a squawk and tumbled from the sky for several heart stopping moments before he recovered and streaked to the owlery.

Hermione smiled wickedly and walked back into the castle.

In his lab, Severus heard Raucous raising hell and opened the door. The racket moved closer and closer as the bird hopped through the rooms, looking for his master. Finally he appeared, angry as a wet kneazle. Severus looked down at the bird and shook his head as Raucous chattered and squawked, fluttering around in a right temper.

The raven's glossy black plumage was now a bright fluorescent yellow. Raucous sent images of a hooded figure standing outside of the castle. Then he sent another image of Hermione lying on the ground with what appeared to be a stake through her heart.

Severus shook his head again at the bird sympathetically. Hermione had struck again.

"Sorry Raucous. There's nothing I can do. The spell has to wear off on its own. It will take a week at the most," he said.

Raucous screeched in outrage. He had to look like this for a week? Damn that witch.

"She probably got you for showing me the image of her naked," the Potions Master said.

The bird's feathers drooped. That had been pretty nasty of him. Then he squawked at his master angrily. This was his fault. He showed it to Marcus.

"I'm sorry, Raucous," Severus said.

The bird cawed something scathing at Severus, turned and flew from the lab, heading for the rafters in the study to sulk. He was yellow. Yellow. How would he ever live this down?

Yes, Hermione had struck again. Severus had to admit, it was quite original. She had probably taken care of Marcus too, though he couldn't imagine what she had done to him. Hopefully not anything that would get her arrested. Like casting an Unforgivable on him. Well, soon she would be coming for him. But she had to get the potion first. If she drank the potion before hexing him, she wouldn't do it. She would have absolutely no feelings toward him at all. No love, no anger, no hunger for revenge. Nothing. He would never be able to affect her in any emotional manner again.

He would become a kind of non-entity. She would see him, possibly even speak to him but never react to him. She would retain all her memories, but they would no longer touch her. She'd know that she once loved him, but there would be nothing else. He would be out of her mind and heart for good.

Severus looked down at the bubbling black brew. It was finished. He turned off the flame and applied a light cooling spell. It was best consumed warm.

There was a knock on the office door.

"Come in," he called.

Hermione entered and walked into the lab. She looked at him silently, her amber eyes glistening. She didn't have her wand in her hand, and she made no threatening moves. She just looked at the Potions Master, pain evident in her eyes.

Severus stared back at her.

She was dressed in blue jeans and a red tee shirt that said "Please Don't Make Me Kill You." Severus imagined the slogan was meant to be humorous, but right now…it was downright chilling.

Hermione finally spoke.

"Is the potion ready?" she asked the wizard.

"Yes," he replied, "It's cooling."

Hermione fell silent again. She still made no threatening moves. She didn't even look angry.

"I saw what you did to Raucous. What did you do to Marcus?" he asked her.

Hermione looked at him.

"I'm sure he'll be here to tell you once he's recovered. You might want to keep your wand close by. I guarantee he's going to be pissed," she said obtusely. She wasn't going to tell him.

He lifted a brow at her.

"What about me? Surely you have some particularly nasty hex to cast on me," he said to her.

Hermione shook her head, and said tiredly, "No, Severus. I'm not going to do anything to you. It's your nature to be nasty and sneaky. Hiring someone to get me off your hands isn't really that surprising when I think about it. You're capable of just about anything."

"But I think you will be punished. After I drink this potion and you are taken out of my heart for good, I think that later on you might come around and realize what you threw away. And when that happens, Severus…you will not be able to forgive yourself. It will be too late for us and you will be haunted by this missed opportunity until the day you leave this earth. And I won't even care. You won't exist for me anymore except as someone who takes up space. I'll lose my virginity to some other wizard and move on with my life. That is what you wanted after all. That is what you will get."

Severus' eyes swept over her.

"I see," he said quietly, feeling that the witch was probably right.

Someday he would regret not accepting her love, even if he didn't love her. She could have brought him some pleasure, some respite. In fact, he was starting to regret it now. But he couldn't admit it. Something inside him wouldn't let the words come out. Instead, he poured the potion into a glass, half filling it.

Hermione looked at it.

"Give me a double dose," she said.

Severus looked at her. Did she want to forget how she felt about him that badly? Obviously she did. He added more potion and handed it to her.

Hermione took the glass and brought it to her mouth. Then paused as she looked at the Potions Master over the rim.

She lowered the glass, and walked up to the wizard. Standing on tiptoe, she kissed him softly on the lips. He didn't resist. It was the sweetest, softest kiss Severus ever received in his life, full of innocence and longing. Hermione stepped back, her eyes full of unshed tears. His dark eyes rested on her steadily.

"Goodbye Severus, my love," she whispered.

Then she brought the potion to her lips, and Severus watched quietly as she drained the glass.

---

Hermione lowered the glass and stared at Severus, who reached out and gently took the glass out of her hand and set it down on the counter.

The witch's eyes were confused as she looked at the Potions Master. After several moments, Hermione said, "I don't feel any different. I'm still sad…I'm still…in love with you."

Severus nodded.

"It takes time for the potion to take effect. This is not a general Lotus Root potion, but a targeted one. It doesn't wipe out all feeling. It works selectively. It will take several hours to go into full effect," he said.

"Oh," Hermione replied.

She had hoped the loss of feelings would be instantaneous. Now she had kissing him to think and agonize about. The Potions Master had let her kiss him, and his mouth had been soft and accepting. She could almost swear he kissed her back, but the movement was so slight, her own lips moving against his could have caused the illusion. The kiss had made her feel warm all over. Now having to wait for the potion to work would torment her more.

The Potions Master looked at her silently for a few minutes, as the witch stood there lost in her own thoughts. He could see regret play about her face, but wasn't sure what she was regretting. Kissing him then discovering she still had feelings for him after taking the potion? Or taking the potion itself? He cleared his throat and Hermione's eyes shifted to him.

"Perhaps you should go to your rooms and rest a while. Then you can come back and I will check to see how you are, in about six hours. You will still remember to come back," he said to the witch, who seemed dazed. Then Hermione started.

"All right, Severus. I'll see you in six hours then," she said softly, hesitating. She looked at him as if she would never see him again. In a way, she was right.

"I wish we could have…" she began.

The Potions Master brought his forefinger to his mouth and shushed her.

"No need to be wishful now, Miss Granger. Things will now go the way they were meant to go," he said, turning her and guiding her to the door. It was the first time he had ever touched her this way. His hands on her shoulders were firm but gentle.

Hermione pulled away from him, and impulsively wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for another kiss, more passionate this time. Severus allowed himself to respond and kissed the witch back, closed mouthed, letting her work her soft lips over his and press her body against him. He felt her trembling and sighed. He put his arms around her…because that was what she wanted, he could tell, and she tightened her hold on him. It seemed she wanted to kiss him forever. Severus pried her off of him and held her at arms length. Her amber eyes were blazing.

"Go now, Miss Granger," he said, turning her towards the door again and pushing her gently through it.

"Goodbye, Severus," the witch said, the light fading from her eyes. She walked away.

Severus closed the door, then slumped against the counter.

"Good gods," he breathed. He licked his lips experimentally. He could still taste her kiss. He set about cleaning up his workspace, but his mind was on how passionate the witch was. How she clung to him almost desperately. He could have taken her. She would have willingly let him, he knew.

Severus sighed. He knew the witch was right. He would curse himself forever for not accepting her love. But she wanted the potion. She thought it was the only way out of a one-sided love affair. And it truly was one-sided. Severus did not love the witch, but kissing her had been pleasant. Her desire for him was real. He couldn't remember the last time a woman wanted him and not his galleons. He was thinking of the prostitutes in Knockturn Alley of course.

The Potions Master scourgified the cauldron and glass, put them away, then picked up a cloth and wiped down the counter area.

He had brewed the potion perfectly.

Well, almost perfectly.

Well…not perfectly at all. He meant to. He added everything he was supposed to add until the last moment. He had pricked his finger and squeezed out the drop of blood ready to let it fall into the mixture, then found he just couldn't do it. He couldn't erase himself from the witch's mind.

So he didn't add the blood.

Without the blood the potion had no effect whatsoever.

He had lied to the witch.

Hermione was now sitting in her rooms, expecting her feelings for the Potions Master to disappear, and they weren't going to. To make matters worse, he accepted two kisses from the witch knowing full well her feelings for him weren't going to fade. He told himself it was because the witch believed she was losing him forever that he let her kiss him, but the fact was over the past couple of weeks, the witch's vindictive ways had softened him to her somewhat.

He had been ready for her to kiss him. Ready to experience what it would be like to have such a stubborn little hellcat surrender to him for a moment. Both kisses had been sweet. But the first kiss affected him the most, because it held all of her longing and sadness at the thought of not loving him any longer. The second kiss held the witch's physical hunger for him. He could feel her curves as she pressed her body against him, moving slightly as she almost choked him to death with her ardor. She had felt good in his arms as well. A nice fit.

Hermione was the first person in a long time who had the courage and the gall to stand up to him, even best him on occasion. She could be downright dangerous if she wanted to be. He liked dangerous. She had shown him she wasn't all sweetness and spice. She had some fire, some backbone and wasn't anyone's doormat. She had a nasty streak too. And it was probably going to come out full blast when she found out he tricked her. "Tricked" was a much better word than the combo of "lied to."

Severus had no idea what he would say to the witch when she returned to him complaining that the potion didn't work. He could lead her on and tell her it would take a little longer, to give it twenty-four more hours. But then what?

Maybe he could just tell her the truth and she would realize that he was willing to accept her without him having to do some kind of song and dance. That fact he didn't add his blood to the potion would make that clear. But the real question was, would she be as willing to accept him as she was a few moments ago, once she realized what he'd done?

Shit. He was a Slytherin after all. Hermione knew that. She knew he would stoop to whatever means available to get his own ends. She had seven years to observe him just as he had to observe her. His actions should come as no real surprise. A wizard was entitled to change his mind.

Severus strode through his rooms and to the armchair before the fire. He sat down and looked over at the liquor cabinet.

"No," he said to himself. "No hiding in a bottle tonight. I've got to take control of this situation."

A loud caw sounded high above him, and Raucous dropped down to the table, in all his fluorescent yellow glory, startling Severus who has forgotten what happened to the raven for a moment.

Raucous looked at him rather accusingly. The bird was connected to him by their bond, and knew his master was weakening on his stand about bedding Hermione. How could he even think such a thing? The raven sent an image of a coat to the Professor, which promptly turned around.

Severus raised his eyebrows at the bird.

"Are you calling me a turncoat, Raucous?" the Potions Master asked him.

In response the bird sent him a very erotic image of the Professor and Hermione shagging, then a big "X" appeared over them. Then an image of Hermione as a devil again, this time with much longer, pointier horns and a pitchfork. The expression on her face was pure malice. And she had fangs.

It was obvious that Raucous was very much against his Master accepting the witch.

"Raucous, a wizard has to do what a wizard has to do. Miss Granger has shown herself to be just as black-hearted as we are on occasion. She wasn't suitable when she came to me the first time, but she is now. We have molded her into the perfect paramour," he said to the raven.

Raucous clicked his beak several times. It was true. Hermione was a whole lot nastier in temperament than when he first came in contact with her. But would she stay that way?

The raven sent the image of goody two shoes Hermione in the frilly pink dress, then the devil Hermione with smaller horns, then a question mark to Severus.

"Will she stay like this? Most likely since I am not going to force you to be nice to her, and I don't plan on being any nicer to her myself. She acts as if she is willing to accept me as I am, and I will not change. She might find out that wanting me is not as good as having me in the end, and leave me alone. I don't know. But I do know I am willing to deflower her now."

The Potions Master looked thoughtful.

"I suspect my willingness is a mixture of lust, because she is quite lovely, and the desire for payback. Miss Granger's been a real 'thorn in my ass' the past couple of weeks, with all the little spells she's been throwing at me in class. Impaling her a few good times would satisfy my need for vindication adequately."

Raucous cawed. He seemed to approve of this.

"I'm not willing for her to become a clingy, nagging shrew, however, making unreasonable demands of my time. If she does, I will drop her. Simple as that," Severus said.

Raucous nodded. He liked the way his master thought. Plus he'd be able to shit on the witch as much as he liked, provided he could continue to get away with it. He owed her for turning him yellow.

Severus settled back in the armchair and closed his eyes. He was looking forward to Hermione returning to his lab. It was the first time he had looked forward to anything in a long time. He might be able to make this work.

If Hermione didn't hex his bollocks off, that is.

---

Hermione sat in her rooms, thinking about the kiss she had shared with Severus before she left, how he had wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. There was no doubt about it, he had returned her kiss this time, and it had made her feel wonderful, and hungry and trembly and almost insane for more. But soon, there would be no desire for more. The way he made her feel would be wiped from her emotions like spilled pumpkin juice was wiped from a tabletop.

Would she be like a zombie when it came to him? Stare at him blankly when he spoke to her? All of his snarky comments would just slide off her back. He probably wouldn't even bother making them any more, since she wouldn't react to them. A whole part of her life was about to die, something she had wanted for years was being murdered, destroyed. Part of her hoped Severus would mourn her loss of feelings for him terribly. Another part just hoped he'd find some peace in his life.

It was cruel of him to finally respond to her when everything she felt for him was in the process of dying. He was so perverse, even when witnessing the last throes of her love, he ripped at her heart, tantalizing her with an intimacy that she would never fully know.

No one would ever understand why she loved the wizard, she didn't fully understand it herself. She saw him in a way that no one else did, even Severus himself. Was it romanticized? No, it wasn't. He was really a dark, snarky, cruel, cold-hearted bastard through and through, but his mouth had been so warm, his arms gave her comfort and her body craved his possession. Love never made sense. If she were asked why she loved the Potions Master, her answer wouldn't be because he's kind, he's sweet, he's good to me.

Her answer would have been, "Because he needs to be loved."

At the bottom of all of everything, was her belief that she could have given him the love that he needed to feel whole. She knew it would have been a long, hard journey, but everything living responds to tenderness and care over time. Severus was like a withered plant in dry, empty soil. And happiness, that sun that brought life to everything else, was simply wasted on him because he was too withered by bitterness, and didn't have the ability to process it. Hermione could have fed him with her care, watered him with her passion, given him what he needed until he flourished, and could process what it meant to be happy. She could have done this, but she hadn't been strong enough to break through his misery. She hadn't been strong enough to fight her way inside his walls. She folded.

Two large tears rolled down the witch's cheeks. Yes, she would go on, probably find a nice wizard to settle down with, have a family and a career, but she knew she would never in her life meet another man like Severus Snape. She wouldn't have been adverse to settling down with him and bearing his children, beautiful, snarky, pale-skinned sons with dark eyes and a love of mixing things, lovely, intelligent bushy-haired daughters with a liking for books and rule-breaking, unlikely as it was. Severus would probably die by the Dark Lord's hand before this was all over anyway. But it was a wonderful dream she would have liked to have pursued.

Yes, she was in pity mode. The potential of an entire life was dying here, and she murdered it… aborted it with one glass of black liquid ministered to her by the wizard she loved at her request. The witch had abandoned her hopes and dreams, given up, given in to failure.

And she called herself a Gryffindor.

Hermione drew her legs up into the chair, leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Soon, it would all be over.

---

When Hermione woke, she looked at the clock. She had slept through the six-hour mark. She was two hours late. She sat up, and immediately realized that she didn't feel any different about the Professor than she did when she fell asleep. Something was definitely wrong here. All her feelings for him should be gone. She didn't know whether to be happy or angry. Should she ask for another batch of potion, or leave it as it was? Maybe the fates or destiny had intervened. Maybe she was meant to continue to love the dark wizard.

She rose, stretched, then headed for the Potions office.

In his study, Severus was wondering where Hermione was. It was not like her to be late. Especially in a situation this important. Several times he rose to go to her rooms and check on her, but then he sank back down, deciding to wait.

He jumped up when he heard the knock on his office door. He smoothed down his robes. Raucous squawked encouragement at the Potions Master as he walked through the study door to the let Hermione in. He pulled the door open and looked down into her shining eyes.

"The potion isn't working Severus. I can still feel you," she said softly.

He opened the door wider, letting her in.

"Go to my lab, Miss Granger," he said, gesturing towards the lab door.

Hermione nodded and walked through the door, followed closely by Severus.

He had no idea what he was going to say to her. Then he had an idea.

"Miss Granger, I need to check the intensity of your feelings toward me. I need you to open up your mind fully and give me access. I know you can use occulmency. I ask that you do not employ it this time. Show me everything," he said.

Normally, Hermione would have balked at this. She would be exposing her very soul to the Potions Master, who would no doubt use it as ammunition to hurt and humiliate her further. But since tonight was the night all those feelings and thoughts would die, she felt it would be fitting for him to know the depth of her feelings for him before they disappeared completely.

Hermione acquiesced.

The Potions Master put two fingers to her temple to deepen the connection, and whispered, "Legilimens."

The Professor was pulled into the world of Hermione's love and desire for him. There were erotic fantasies everywhere, with the witch performing acts on the wizard that made him bite his lip in reaction. How did she live with this running through her mind? He continued through, seeing himself as she saw him. He was relieved to see it was true to life. He was as cruel and callous in her mind as he was in real life. So she had no illusions about him.

He saw her putting the fish in his rooms, and casting all types of sneaky spells in his classroom before he arrived. There were the arguments they had over the weeks. There was also the memory of what happened to Marcus. The Potions Master almost let out a low whistle. She certainly had given the wizard what for, turning him into a pig then rendering him impotent. Yes, Hermione had a nasty, nasty streak.

Severus decided he had better prepare for a physical altercation with the wizard. No doubt he'd be out for blood and would go for him rather than the witch, who was well within her rights to be furious.

Severus continued to sift through Hermione's mind. There were quite a few rather unskilled masturbation incidents with him as the focus. It appeared that Hermione had practiced this Severus-focused self-love a few times during her time at university as well as when a student at Hogwarts. Most incidents occurred in the witch's bed, with a couple of very wet episodes in the shower. There was even one incident in his Potions class when she was in her seventh year and he was giving a lecture. He raised an eyebrow.

Well, well, Miss Granger. You naughty, nasty little Gryffindor.

Severus watched these masturbations with interest to see if the witch came. Something happened, but it wasn't his idea of what an orgasm should be. Well, she was a virgin after all. He moved on.

Next he saw Hermione surrounded by children. The boys looked like him and the girls like her. This image was almost transparent. It was a hope that was near hopeless…just a glimmer. The image wasn't a reality the witch believed in. It was more like an impossible wish. Still, he found it interesting. Then he saw a withered plant with his head on it, bent, the eyes closed. The sun was drying him out. Then Hermione flowed over him and he strengthened, turning green and strong. It was a symbolic image of what she believed…that she could bring him new life.

The Potions Master then saw the first kiss they shared, except in her thoughts, when she kissed him, she was immediately bathed in a golden light that began where their lips connected and flowed over her body. Then the same thing happened during the second, more passionate kiss except this time she was covered with fire instead of light.

Next he saw a disturbing image of Hermione in a graveyard, looking down into an open casket. He moved closer and saw that he was inside it, his eyes closed in death. Severus watched as Hermione closed the casket, and with a great effort pushed it into the open grave. She was crying heavily as she lifted handfuls of earth and threw them on top of the coffin. It would take her forever to bury him. That was the image of the pending death of her feeling for him. A death that wasn't coming.

Then he saw the Gryffindor standard and the Slytherin crest floating together in a black sky. The crest slowly faded away. The scarlet and gold flag rippled furiously as if it were caught in a powerful wind or storm. It suddenly burst into flames, black, thick smoke roiling from it until it burned away to ash, and fell from the sky. That was a symbol of himself and the witch. He fading out of her life, and she being completely destroyed.

The Professor broke the link.

"Did you see what you needed to see?" Hermione asked him.

He stared at her a long moment. He had seen more than enough.

"Yes," he said, looking at her intensely, "I've seen all I need to see."

Hermione felt a gush of warmth at the look the Potions Master was giving her. She couldn't ever remember him looking at her in such a way. Usually he was scowling, or sneering or contorting his face unpleasantly. But now, he was just looking at her in a very focused way, his dark eyes seeming to penetrate her to her core…which was heating up uncomfortably.

The Potions Master gestured to the stool next to the counter.

"Sit down, Miss Granger," he said commandingly.

Hermione obediently walked over to the stool and sat down.

Severus looked her over.

"Do you have your wand with you?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied, furrowing her brow at him, "Why?"

He held out his pale hand.

"Give it to me," he said.

Hermione hesitated.

"Give me your wand, Miss Granger. I will return it to you," he said tiredly.

Hermione drew her wand out of her waistband and deposited it in his pale hand. The Potions Master stuck it deep in his robes pocket. Well, she wouldn't be hexing him…not right now at least. Severus looked at Hermione with a measured glance.

"I have something to tell you, Miss Granger. I don't want any scenes," he said silkily, "I expect you to react like a mature young woman. Do you understand me?"

Hermione nodded.

"The potion was faulty," he said.

Hermione frowned at him. Something was wrong with the potion? No wonder she was still drawn to him.

"Faulty? How?" she asked.

"It seems an important ingredient was missing from the brew. One that was necessary to make it viable," the Potions Master replied.

Severus moved closer to her, causing the witch to catch her breath as he looked down at her with that same intense gaze.

"What ingredient?" she asked him.

"My blood. My blood was not in the Lotus Root potion," he said, stepping closer to her still.

"How could you forget to add the most important ingredient, Professor? That was the catalyst to make the brew work," the witch said.

"I didn't forget," the Potions Master said, "I didn't want to add it."

Hermione stared up at him. He was so close now.

"You purposely gave me a potion that wouldn't work?" she asked him, thinking about how she had agonized in her rooms over losing her feelings for him, when it wasn't going to happen.

"Yes," he said, moving directly in front of her, his voice dropping to a silky tone, "And you know what that means, don't you?"

Hermione looked up into his dark eyes, and drew a long breath. Then drove her knee into his groin as hard as she could.

The Professor grunted, clutched himself and fell to the floor, curling into a fetal position groaning, his hands between his legs. He was gasping with pain. She got him right in the balls.

"Yes, I know what that means," Hermione said, jumping off the stool and rummaging through his robes for her wand. "It means you are a total asshole! How could you put me through that? If you didn't want me to take the potion, you should have said something," she spat at him.

She was tempted to hex him, but he was already down and in pain.

Raucous heard the commotion and hopped down to the stone floor of the study and started walking toward the lab. The bright, yellow raven linked to the Professor's vision, and all he could see was a horizontal view of the Potions lab floor and some white trainers that were moving back and forth. He walked a little quicker.

Hermione looked at the groaning wizard. Severus was rolling back and forth in pain. He was going to kill her when he recovered. The hell with shagging her.

"You're lucky I don't turn you into a snake and feed you to the nifflers," Hermione seethed at him. Then her voice softened a bit.

"You really should have just told me you didn't want me to stop loving you."

Hermione turned and exited the potions lab, heading back toward her rooms. Her head was spinning a bit as the enormity of this new development hit her.

Severus wanted her to want him. She had gotten through. After all this time, she had gotten through to him. A thrill of happiness shot through Hermione as she entered her room, and securely warded her doors. She sat down in the armchair, a broad smile plastered on her face, her wand positioned defensively in her lap, waiting for the dark wizard to come after her in retaliation.

He wanted to be wanted.

---

Raucous walked into the lab and saw his master on the floor. He fluttered over to Severus and looked down into the wizard's pain contorted face. The raven sent him an image of devil-Hermione and a question mark.

"Yessss," Severus hissed through clenched teeth as his balls throbbed, "She did this."

Raucous made a sound like choked laughter, then sent an image of Severus fucking Hermione, then the witch's mouth growing extremely large and biting the Potions Master's head off. His pale body was still copulating, headlessly.

"Not now, Raucous," the Potions Master said, rolling to his back and breathing heavily as the pain in his aching balls began to subside a little.

Considering what he had done to her, the witch had taken it rather well. She could have hexed him too. At least she knew now that he kind of accepted her. They would have to talk first. Lay down the law.

Severus sat up and rubbed himself tenderly through his robes.

Yes, first they'd talk…then he was going to shag the shit out of her. She'd pay for this.

---

After about half an hour, Severus made his way to his potions stores and drank down a healing potion. The ache in his balls stopped. His black eyes narrowed, and he started to make his way to Hermione's rooms. He wasn't sure if he would hex the witch or not. Actually he had deserved what he got, but knowing Hermione, she'd be waiting for him, wand at the ready.

As he went to open the door, a sharp pain shot through his forearm.

"No," he breathed, clutching at it, "Not now."

Raucous, who had been hopping along behind him let out a worried squawk as his mind was filled with the image of Voldemort casting the Cruciatus curse on his master.

Grimacing and holding his arm, Severus turned, opened the study wall and entered his rooms. He walked up to the floo, took some floo powder out of the box resting on the mantle and tossed it into the flames. They turned green.

"Dumbledore's office," he breathed. The mark was searing now.

"Albus!" he called.

There was silence, then the Headmaster answered him.

"Yes, Severus?"

"I've been summoned," he said.

"On a Sunday night? That's odd. Well, go to him. Poppy will be alerted and we will wait for your return. Your classes will be covered if you do not return tonight. Good luck my boy," Albus replied.

Severus walked quickly from his study to his bedroom and pushed a stone in the wall. A secret panel opened on the other side of the room. Inside it was his deatheater robes and mask. He quickly changed, fighting off the scorching pain in his arm. Raucous stared at him worriedly.

The Potions Master pulled on his skull half-mask and pulled the pointed hood over his head. He looked down at the raven. He certainly looked frightening. He addressed the bird.

"Raucous, I'm afraid you will be on your own until I return. Hopefully you can forage for your meals," the Potions Master said.

Normally, Raucous would be appalled at this, but realized the gravity of the situation. He squawked assent. He'd figure out something. Hopefully the wizard would return soon. And in one piece.

Severus nodded at the bird, then disapparated with a clap of thunder. Raucous looked at the empty space the wizard had occupied and let out a sad, worried croak. He hoped the wizard would be all right.

---

Hermione waited for the wizard to come for her. Three hours passed and he still didn't show. Now Hermione was worried. She had read that men could be seriously injured when kicked in their balls. Maybe the Potions Master was more hurt than she initially thought.

Her wand in hand, she exited her rooms and headed for the Potions office. She tried the door and it was still unlocked, which was surprising. Something was wrong. Her wand drawn in case of a sneak attack, Hermione cautiously entered the Potions office. She noticed immediately that the study wall was up. This was also strange.

She checked the lab. The Potions Master wasn't there, but she was heartened. It meant he was able to leave the room. She checked the potions classroom and the stores area, making sure he wasn't there before she entered the study.

"Severus?" she called, keeping her wand extended in case the wizard should suddenly appear and try to hex her. There was no human response. Instead, Raucous answered her. From the sound of him, the raven was in the bedroom.

Hermione walked into the wizard's bedroom slowly, wand first. Raucous was standing in the middle of the floor. He was a florescent yellow from the spell she cast on him. She narrowed her eyes warningly at the raven, then looked around the Professor's sparsely furnished room. He had nothing on the walls, and only a bed, a chair and a wardrobe. The bed was covered in Slytherin colors. It figured. Then she saw his robes on the floor. She didn't know much about the wizard's habits, but felt this wasn't normal treatment of his clothing. He always was dressed meticulously. He didn't seem the type to carelessly cast his clothing around…unless…

She looked at Raucous.

"He's been summoned, hasn't he?" she asked the bird.

The bird nodded, and let out a sad little croak.

"Gods," she said under her breath, sitting down on the edge of the Potions Master's four-poster bed. The mattress was extremely firm. It figured such a hard man would have an equally hard bed.

Now she knew why he hadn't come after her. Voldemort had summoned him. On a Sunday night. That was unusual because the Dark Lord usually made sure that the Potions Master was available for classes during the week. Severus rarely came back the same night of a summons. Normally he would leave on a Friday night and return late Sunday. At least that had been the pattern when she attended Hogwarts.

Hermione's brow furrowed with worry. Whatever was going to happen tonight between her and the Potions Master had been put on hold, and would probably be on hold for a while. Rarely did Severus returned from an encounter with Voldemort unscathed, having either been beaten or repeatedly tortured with the Cruciatus curse in an attempt to get information the Dark Lord suspected him of holding back. If Severus ever did reveal anything under torture, he would be killed. Period. The wizard could take an unbelievable amount of pain. But no one could develop a tolerance for the Cruciatus curse. It was always excruciating.

Well, there was nothing Hermione could do but wait for his return. She looked at Raucous, who stared at her silently. He was so worried about Severus he didn't even think about retaliation against the witch.

"Raucous? Do you want to stay with me while Severus is gone?" the witch asked him. She didn't like the raven any more than he liked her, but it seemed wrong to leave him here alone.

Raucous shook his head. Things weren't that bad that he'd stay in Hermione's rooms.

"Suit yourself," Hermione said, rising and exiting the bedroom.

She exited the study and lowered the wall. Then she exited the Potions Master's office, warding it securely before returning to her rooms. She entered her bedroom, dressed for bed and crawled under the covers. She lay there looking up at the ceiling, trying to keep awful images of Severus being tortured out of her mind.

She prayed he'd be all right.

---

Severus appeared in the middle of Voldemort's throne room. A revel was in full swing, copulating deatheaters all around. In one corner of the room, some unfortunate wizard was hanging by manacles as several deatheaters took turns scourging him. Blood ran freely down his legs, dripping to the floor below. He was beyond screaming, and the deatheaters were flogging him mercilessly, trying to get at least one more cry out of him.

There were several lines of deatheaters patiently waiting for their turn to rape, beat and mutilate the unfortunate muggle women who had been snatched off the streets of London for that purpose. From the condition of these poor souls, the revel had been going on for quite some time. They were beaten and bruised, a couple of them obviously on the brink of death.

Lucius Malfoy was busily thrusting into the mouth of a gagging muggle woman, slapping her on the back of her head and demanding she swallow him down her throat. One of the woman's eyes was swollen shut, and a trail of blood ran from her mouth. Lucius looked up as Severus lowered his hood and removed his mask, and waved at him before returning his attention to the battered woman kneeling before him. Severus gave him a sober nod, before approaching the Dark Lord, who was sitting on a large golden throne in the center of the room, observing the activities going on around him

Peter Pettigrew was standing beside the throne next to a table. On the table was a bottle of vodka, the Dark Lord's favorite liquor, some never-melting ice, a shaker, a wicked looking dagger and several glasses. As Severus approached, he heard the Dark Lord say to Peter, "Make me a Bloody Muggle."

"Yes, my Lord," Peter said, picking up the shaker and the dagger and looking around the room speculatively. His beady eyes fell on a muggle woman who was near dead, a deatheater riding her for all he was worth. The rotund little wizard walked over to the woman, leaned down and neatly sliced her throat, holding the shaker underneath and catching the blood.

"Hey!" complained the stroking deatheater, "I wasn't done with her yet, Peter!"

"Care to tell the Dark Lord that?" the fat wizard snarled at him as he withdrew the shaker.

The deatheater paled, and stopped raping the now dead muggle woman.

"No. It's fine, Peter," he replied.

"I thought so," Peter smirked as he turned and walked back to the table next to the throne.

The wizard added a scoop of ice to the shaker, then carefully measured out three shots of vodka and poured them one after the other into the container. He screwed on the top, and shook it soundly, then opened it, poured the contents into a glass, and put a little decorative umbrella in it. He handed the glass to the Dark Lord.

"Just the way you like it, my Lord," the wizard said, bowing.

"Why, thank you Peter," Voldemort replied in his high-pitched voice. He took a sip of the drink and smacked his scaly, almost lipless mouth appreciatively. Then his red eyes slid to Severus, who was standing before him, the wizard's face carefully blank.

"Care to join me in a drink, Severus?" he asked the wizard, "There is plenty."

"No thank you, my Lord," the Potions Master said, bowing.

"You have no idea what you're missing. A Bloody Muggle is quite good, especially when the blood comes from a brutalized victim. The adrenaline makes it…sweeter," he said, taking another sip.

"Yes, my Lord," Severus replied, his black eyes glinting a bit. He hated the Dark Lord with every fiber of his being. He had to work hard at hiding it, especially at times like this. But he had plenty of practice.

The Dark Lord looked at him speculatively.

"I was sitting here, enjoying the entertainment when the thought crossed my mind that I hadn't seen you in some time. I realize your duties at Hogwarts require your presence and make allowances for it, but tonight I just felt like seeing you, Severus. How are things at that damnable school? Do you have any information for me on the activities of that fool Dumbledore?" he asked the Potions Master.

"Things are quite quiet my Lord. Albus hasn't made any moves that I know of. He seems to be sitting on his hands," Severus replied smoothly.

The Dark Lord frowned at him.

"You mean to tell me, Severus, that in the month since I've seen you, you've collected no information at all?" the Dark Lord asked him, anger rising in his voice.

"I cannot collect information when there is none, my Lord. I assure you I have been listening," the Potions Master said, aware of what was coming.

Voldemort drained his Bloody Muggle and handed the glass back to Peter. He leaned forward in the throne towards the Potions Master, his red eyes hard.

"Tell me why I keep you alive, Severus," the wizard asked him.

"To provide information on the activities of Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix, my Lord, "the Potions Master replied evenly, "And to brew the elixir that keeps you alive."

"Ah yesssss, the elixir," the Dark Lord lisped, "the brew that you will not give anyone else the details of."

"It is a very involved process, my Lord. There is no one else with the skills to create it," Severus replied.

"More than likely, Severus, you keep the exact recipe to yourself to save your miserable life," the Dark Lord spat.

Severus looked at the Dark Lord coolly.

"As you say, my Lord," he responded.

Voldemort was exactly right. Severus was not about to give out the exact formula to the potion. He had been tortured for it and still would not give it up. Voldemort couldn't kill him, because he needed the wizard to brew the elixir. Without it, he would die. But he had been sending Peter into the lab to observe the Potions Master's brewing with the hope the fat wizard could discover the formula, but Severus was quite good with sleight of hand, and although Peter knew the ingredients, he did not know the precise measurements to add to the brew. He had tried several times to recreate it for the Dark Lord, but failed every time.

Severus's reply infuriated the Dark Lord. He pointed his wand at Severus, who braced himself.

"Crucio!" Voldemort cried, and the Potions Master begin to writhe in pain as the wizard applied the curse, his eyes rolling up into his head and body spasming terribly.

As he held his wand on the Potions Master, Voldemort said to Peter, "Peter, have McNair string up the manacles and bring the scourges. I have found a new entertainment for the rest of the evening."

"Yes, my Lord," said Peter gleefully.

He loved when the Dark Lord tortured the Potions Master. Severus was important to the Dark Lord, more so than he was, though the animagus was Voldemort's most trusted servant, and served him personally. When Severus was mistreated, it made Peter feel his position was more secure. He himself rarely felt the Dark Lord's wrath. He rushed off to find McNair.

Voldemort released Severus, who crumpled to the ground, shuddering.

"You will serve me better, Severus. I need you for the moment, but I don't want you thinking you are beyond my wrath. I am the Lord here. You are mine to do with what I please!" he said to the wizard.

"Yes my Lord," Severus gasped as a wickedly smiling McNair approached followed by Peter.

The wizard had an armful of chains, scourges and a bullwhip. He looked down at Severus hungrily, then dropped his load on the floor beside him. One after the other he levitated the ends of the chains to hooks on the ceiling. He didn't need to measure them against the wizard. McNair had done this so much, he knew the right height to hang the manacles by heart. He pulled Severus to his feet and began to unbutton his robes.

"Welcome back, Severus," the wizard growled at him with a nasty grin, "You have no idea how I've missed you."

The Potions Master still shuddered slightly as the burly deatheater removed his robes, then tore his shirt off of him, revealing his lean, pale upper body. He turned him around and inspected the scars on his back.

"I'm going to have to really work on you to open this back up," he hissed in the wizard's ear, "You have so much scar tissue, it's protective. That will never do."

The deatheater lifted the unresisting Potions Master and clamped one manacle after the other around his wrists, then dropped him so he dangled a foot off the floor, his ruined back facing the Dark Lord. Then McNair picked up the scourges and held them out to the Dark Lord, whose red eyes inspected them.

"Use the bone scourge first, McNair," Voldemort directed.

McNair put the other scourges on the table holding the liquor and did a few warm-up lashes in the air, the sharp bones tied to the leather thongs rattling as he drew his arm back. Then he walked to the left of the Potions Master and stood there, waiting for the Dark Lord's orders.

"I think we'll start with twenty lashes with the bone scourge, McNair, then transfer to the bull whip."

"Yes, my Lord," McNair replied as a crowd of deatheaters gathered to watch the show.

McNair drew back his muscular arm, then lashed the Professor's back with the scourge, the sharp bones embedding in his skin. Then McNair pulled sideways, tearing the flesh open. Severus arched from the pain, his body swinging slightly, but didn't cry out as the crowd chanted "One!"

McNair drew back his arm and lashed the Potions Master again, ripping his already bloodied flesh.

"Two!" the crowd of deatheaters shouted.

"Three!"

"Four!"

Severus' head dropped forward, his hair falling around his face as he mentally removed himself from the pain. For the first time since he agreed to serve the Order as a spy, the Potions Master had someone to think about other than Albus who he knew would hate what was happening to him.

Hermione.

---

Beaten and oozing, Severus lay on the floor in front of Voldemort's throne for almost two days, deatheaters stepping over him as if he were a stray piece of garbage, and Voldemort randomly hitting him with short bursts of the Cruciatus curse when the thought crossed his mind. The Potions Master slipped in and out of consciousness. His back was severely ripped and torn, flesh hanging from it like macabre strips of ribbons. He reeked, covered in his own blood, urine and excrement. Peter occasionally threw a bucket of salted water over him from time to time, continuing his torture. Finally on Tuesday evening, Voldemort told Peter to ennervate him to consciousness.

Peter kicked Severus to his back, pulled out his wand and brought the wizard to full consciousness. The Potions Master opened his crusted eyes and grimaced as pain from his back making contact with the hard floor washed over him. The first face he saw was Peter Pettigrew, grinning down at him.

"Wakey, wakey," the fat little bastard said.

"I'm going to kill you, Peter" Severus rasped at the rotund wizard, hate in his dark eyes.

Pale, Peter looked up at Voldemort, who narrowed his eyes at the Potions Master. Severus never made threats he didn't intend on carrying out.

"Barely awake and already threatening my most trusted servant, Severus. You really have no idea how to be properly submissive, do you? Crucio!" the Dark Lord cried, hitting the already broken wizard with the Unforgivable.

Severus simply shuddered under the excruciating pain, his lips drawn back from his teeth, his eyes rolling up in his head. His back arched slightly. Not getting the reaction he wanted, Voldemort ended the torture. The wizard was no fun.

Severus continued shuddering for several more minutes…then fell into the spasms that were the result of the curse, coming about a minute apart. Voldemort looked down on him without pity.

"Severus," Voldemort said to the broken, stinking wizard, "You may return to Hogwarts now. I trust next time you come into my presence, you will have news for me. But I need you back here Friday evening to brew a batch of elixir. Peter will milk Nagini later today for the venom you'll need. Now, leave my presence."

Severus, with great effort managed to roll over to his belly. His back was partially scabbed and oozing. He spasmed. Then disapparated.

---

Raucous had spent a horrible day and a half, fighting to keep the images of Severus' suffering out of his head, croaking miserably as his master was abused over and over again. The bird looked terrible. He hadn't left the rooms at all since the Potions Master left. He hadn't taken any food or water the entire time.

Dumbledore had come to Severus' room, and although he had not quite forgiven Raucous for shitting on him, he did try to coax the bird down to give him something to eat. He noticed the raven was now bright yellow. The headmaster knew Hermione probably had something to do with it. She and the raven had an ongoing war.

"We all are worried about him, Raucous," he called up to the bird.

Raucous scowled down at the old wizard, and if he had the strength would have shit on him for saying such a thing. No one cared about what happened to his master. At least that was what the bird believed. But there were four people concerned about him. Albus, Poppy, Minerva and Hermione.

Albus left the Potions Master's study, setting the floo to green so Raucous could alert them if and when Severus returned.

Hermione went about her duties, but wasn't a very good assistant. She had to be given instructions several times, and gazed blankly at the wall when she was supposed to be grading parchments. She absently botched a transfiguration demonstration when Professor McGonagall told her to transfigure a niffler into a trunk. She turned the creature into a skunk, which immediately did a handstand and set about improving the air quality, effectively driving everyone from the classroom.

"Really Hermione, you have to focus!" Minerva scolded after she restored the niffler, a kerchief held over her face. "We are all concerned about Severus, but life goes on, my dear. Life goes on!"

Hermione felt as if life had ground to a halt. Technically, she was doing what she was supposed to, earning her credits, working toward her degree, assisting other Professors. But she was in a kind of self-imposed limbo. She had been so focused on the Potions Master, his absence left a gaping hole inside her. The witch was little better off than Raucous, half eating and neglecting herself. Her hair looked horrible. She hadn't given it a good brushing in almost two days. She couldn't focus on herself while the Potions Master was gone and going through who knew what. She had to force herself to stay out of his rooms. She found herself entering it every hour or so initially, checking to see if he returned and aggravating Raucous. Finally she managed to stop. She was only tormenting herself.

What if he was dead?

No, he couldn't be. Raucous would have made it known. The raven was upset and worried, but it wasn't mourning.

All the witch could do was wait.

---

Raucous was crouched on the rafters when he heard the thunderclap of apparation in Severus' bedroom. The weak bird half-fluttered, half fell to the stone floor of the study and with all his strength hopped quickly to the bedroom. He saw his broken, bleeding Master lying face down on the floor. He had no shirt or shoes on and was very still. He smelled awful. The bird watched him closely and let out a soft squawk of relief as he saw Severus draw a ragged breath. Then the wizard began to spasm strongly.

Raucous hopped out of the bedroom, up to the floo and began making an awful racket.

"We're coming, Raucous," Albus' voice sounded through the floo, "Poppy and I are on the way."

Raucous hopped back into the bedroom, and over to the Potions Master. He stood peering down into his pale face for a moment, then preened his matted hair. Severus groaned. Raucous then stepped back a bit, and nestled down in front of the unconscious wizard to keep watch until help arrived.

---

Peter scourgified the floor of the blood and shit left behind by the Potions Master, then walked over to the throne and took up position by the Dark Lord's side. He was very quiet.

Voldemort looked at his servant. Usually Peter had a rather inane string of chatter going. The latest gossip, rumors and questionable acts of fellow deatheaters, tall tales about the latest women he had fucked and the like, all to keep the Dark Lord entertained. When Voldemort was bored, he was more likely to cast an Unforgivable for his amusement.

The evil wizard used the Imperius curse on Peter, rather than Crucio, and made the wizard do all manner of horrible, embarrassing acts. He had once made the fat little wizard strip and perform ballet in front of a group of tittering deatheater females, guffawing the entire time. Peter had looked like a fat, hairy little balding bear doing circus tricks. The deatheater wasn't very flexible, so it had been quite painful.

"What's wrong, Peter? You aren't deluging me with chatter as usual," the Dark Lord asked him, his red eyes fixed on the wizard. He looked into Peter's mind and saw him being beaten mercilessly by Severus.

"Oh, you're afraid the Potions Master will make good on his threat, eh Peter?" Voldemort said, amusement dancing across his scaly face. "Don't worry. You are under my protection. He wouldn't dare touch you."

"Yes, my Lord," Peter said, bowing slightly.

He wasn't so sure about that. The Potions Master showed a surprising lack of fear of the Dark Lord, despite his constant suffering. The wizard would not break. He might go after him anyway. The Dark Lord wouldn't kill Severus because he needed him.

Voldemort knew Peter's doubts, and it irritated him that his servant feared the Potions Master would disobey him. That gave Severus too much power in the Dark Lord's estimation. He already hated the wizard's strength. He was a lion among the sheep, and therefore dangerous.

The Dark Lord was quite aware that Severus hated him as well. He could see it in the wizard's eyes, if not actually discover it in his thoughts. The Potions Master's mind was surprisingly empty of anything other than his teaching at Hogwarts. There were no other details of his life in evidence. And this made Voldemort suspicious. But he could never catch the wizard wrong. He looked at the worried Peter again.

"Get out of my sight, Peter," he snarled at the fat wizard in irritation, "Go milk Nagini!"

Peter bowed.

"Yes, my Lord," Peter said, bowing, then walking across the circular throne room and entering one of several doors spaced around the walls.

Nagini had her own room. It was better furnished than Peter's own. The King Cobra had been with Voldemort for twenty-five years and was of enormous size. She also hated the fat wizard, and tried to bite him every time he came close to her. Naturally, Peter hated her as well, and would have liked to kill the snake, but she was Voldemort's familiar, and had an even higher status in the Dark Lord's eyes than he did. Peter had no doubt Voldemort would kill him if he harmed Nagini in any way.

Peter opened the door to the snake's room cautiously. Nagini was coiled on a large cushion, apparently sleeping.

"Nagini. Nagini! I've come to milk you," the fat wizard said, entering the room cautiously, his wand drawn, ready to cast the binding spell.

The snake didn't move. That was odd because she was usually immediately alert the moment the wizard entered the room, ready for battle.

Peter cautiously approached the snake.

"Nagini?" he said, gingerly poking her in the tail with his wand. She still didn't move. He moved to the great wedge-shaped head which rested on top of her coiled body. The evil eyes were staring sightlessly. Peter poked the head with his wand and it flopped over lifelessly.

"Oh shit," Peter breathed, looking down at the snake, "She's dead. Nagini's dead."

---

Severus was lying on his stomach on a cot in the infirmary, Poppy tutting and clucking her tongue in sympathy as she worked on healing his ruined back. Albus and Raucous looked on. The bird looked a little better. Poppy had coaxed him into eating a little something.

"An animal. Worse than an animal. To do this to another human being," she hissed, referring to the Dark Lord.

Albus looked on the injured wizard sadly.

"Yes. But Voldemort is hardly human, Poppy. He has next to no humanity left, he has altered himself so greatly in his constant search for power."

"But why does he do this to a wizard who serves him, Albus?" Poppy asked him, her eyes glistening as she cut a strip of dead flesh from the Potions Master.

"Because, Poppy, Severus will not break. He continues to be strong, and the Dark Lord fears strength in anyone other than himself. The only reason Severus is not dead is because he is the only one that can brew the elixir that keeps Voldemort alive," Albus said, wincing as the medi-witch had to cut open a badly healing wound. Severus groaned. He was awake, and heard them talking. He didn't say anything however.

"He should poison the wizard," she said, "fix the elixir so it will kill him."

Albus shook his head.

"Voldemort is too smart for that, Poppy. The moment Severus created the proper elixir, he attached a signature spell to it for identification. He would be aware of any variation in the elixir immediately, and would punish the wizard even worse," the Headmaster said.

This was true. If not for the spell that identified the potion, Severus would have killed Voldemort long ago.

Suddenly, Hermione pushed through the privacy curtain. Raucous looked at her and squawked disparagingly. Hermione walked up to the cot and looked at the Potion Master's torn back. Poppy had cleaned him up, and a sheet covered the lower half of his naked body. Hermione's eyes filled with tears for a moment.

"How is he?" she asked quietly.

Severus started at the witch's voice. What was she doing here? He didn't want her to see him like this.

"Out!" he rasped.

Poppy stopped working on him for a moment.

"What, Severus?" she asked the wizard, leaning closer to him. He whispered something to the medi-witch, who straightened and turned to Hermione with soft eyes.

"He wants you to leave," she said to the witch.

Hermione looked at Poppy for a moment, then down at Severus.

"But why? I just want to know if he's all right. If there's anything I can do," she said.

Poppy started to reply when the Potions Master suddenly groaned loudly and half rolled on to his side.

"Severus!" Poppy cried, running forward. "Lie down. What are you doing?"

With effort Severus rolled completely over and sat up, the sheet falling over his loins. Hermione got her first look at his lean, muscular upper body. He was strongly built, his chest defined and his belly ribbed. His shoulders were wider than she'd thought and she could see the cords in his arms. She could also see Voldemort's mark. It was red and pulsating.

Severus grasped his Dark Mark, his face contorting with pain.

"I'm being summoned," he hissed.

---

Both Poppy and Hermione protested as Severus slowly sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Wincing, he looked at Poppy.

"Bandage me up, get me a cane and some clothes, Poppy," he said, gritting his teeth, "I have to go. The summons is urgent."

"But Severus, you are in no condi…" her voice trailed off as she saw the look in his eyes. He had no choice, he had to go.

The witch sighed and went to her office, then returned with some bandages. She walked around the cot and started applying them to his torn back. Hermione watched for a moment. Severus' face was contorting with pain as the Mark pulsed on his arm, a deep angry red. Then she pushed her way through the privacy curtain, ran to Poppy's stores and picked through the bottles. She selected several, shoved a few in her pockets, then brought the rest back, depositing them on the nightstand near Severus' bed. She began to open bottle after bottle, and held one up to the pale wizard as Poppy looked over his shoulder.

"What's this?" he asked.

"Stamina potion. The others are pain, pepper-up, and healing potions. If you're going to go to him at least be in as best shape as possible," Hermione said, shaking the bottle she held a little.

Severus' dark eyes swept over her.

"It's a good idea, Severus," Poppy said, still applying the bandages.

Albus looked on, his blue eyes worried as they rested on his Potions Master. Voldemort summoning him so soon meant something important was happening.

Severus took the bottle from Hermione and drank it down, his eyes never leaving her face. He thought about what he had seen in her mind as he took the next bottles from her and drained them. She really did care.

Poppy finished bandaging him and left again. Hermione neatly capped all the empty bottles and turned to look at him. His color was better. He was pale, but then again, he was always pale. This was a healthier shade than when he had first returned.

Pomfrey returned with clothing, a set of robes and a silver-tipped cane, similar to the one Lord Malfoy used. Severus started to stand up, then remembered Hermione was there. Delighted as she might be at seeing his assets, he wasn't ready to reveal them to her yet.

"I suggest you leave now, Miss Granger," he said, "Unless you want a little peep show."

He really wanted to say, "Unless you want a little preview," but that would have alerted Albus to his licentious plans for the witch. He didn't want the old wizard to know. He would be absolutely insufferable.

Hermione reddened. She was very curious, but in didn't savor the idea of seeing his goods for the first time in the presence of Poppy and Dumbledore .

"I'll just wait outside," she murmured, walking quickly through the curtain. Severus smirked.

In a few minutes, the curtains parted and Severus walked out, assisted by the cane and followed by Albus and the medi-witch. Raucous flew past him and perched on a small ledge about the infirmary door, waiting. Poppy tried to help Severus walk but he shrugged her off.

"You can't walk me into Voldemort's presence, Poppy," he said to her, "Let me be."

The medi-witch fell back and clasped her hands together worriedly.

"Do be careful, Severus," she called after him as he walked toward the infirmary doors.

Albus watched him go silently. The old wizard couldn't speak, his eyes glistening. He was worried that this time the wizard wouldn't be coming back.

Hermione however, fell in step beside him as he exited the infirmary. Raucous soared out behind them. If the wizard had been in better shape, the raven would have perched on his shoulder. Hermione looked up at the grimfaced wizard.

"Severus, surely you don't intend to walk back to the dungeons," she said.

He didn't answer her. He was in a lot of pain from the mark, but the pain potion Hermione had given him helped. The witch had a pocketful of the potion. She nicked it from Poppy, figuring he would need more.

Severus stopped and began to spasm. Hermione grabbed his arm so he wouldn't lose his balance. After about thirty seconds, the tremor stopped. Severus looked down at Hermione's small hands gripping his arm.

"You can let go," he said darkly.

Hermione released him, and he started walking again.

"Severus, take the floo," she said, gesturing toward a fireplace up ahead.

Her suggestion made sense and the Potions Master walked over to the fireplace, took some floo powder off the mantle and tossed it in.

"My rooms," he said to the floo. The flames turned green and he stepped through. Raucous swooped in behind him, followed by Hermione. The three stepped out into Severus' study. He turned to Hermione with a frown.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have classes to help with?" he seethed at her.

"I just want to see you off," she said quietly, looking up at him. He was so brave walking back into that despot's presence. She watched as he spasmed again. He was in no condition to do this.

After the spasm passed, Severus walked into his bedroom, preparing to apparate. Hermione followed him.

"Hermione, stop shadowing me," he hissed at her, "Get out of my rooms."

Hermione stood there stubbornly.

He looked at Raucous.

"Raucous, you drive her out of here the minute I'm gone," he said to the yellow raven, who nodded and glared at Hermione. He owed her. Big.

Hermione looked at the wizard.

"Be careful Severus. Come back to me," she said softly.

He looked at her, grunted something, then straightened, preparing to apparate to the Dark Lord.

Suddenly Hermione rushed forward and flung her arms around him, clinging to him tightly as he disapparated.

Raucous stared at the empty space with his beak open. Shit. The witch had gone with him. The master was not going to be happy about that.

---

Severus and Hermione appeared directly in front of the Dark Lord's throne. Voldemort looked startled to see two people instead of one, but nowhere near as startled as Severus. Hermione looked at the Dark Lord, still clinging to the Potions Master.

"Who is this, Severus?" the Dark Lord demanded.

Severus scowled down at Hermione. What the fuck had she done?

"A very foolish little witch, my Lord," Severus replied.

Voldemort lifted his wand and stunned her. Hermione fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Get her wand, Peter, and lock her in one of the back rooms. We'll deal with her later," Voldemort said.

"Yes, my Lord," Peter said, his piggish eyes glinting as he looked down on the pretty witch.

He approached Hermione, bent and ran his hands all over her body, pretending to look for the wand.

Severus looked down at him, his nostrils flared as the wizard's pudgy fingers fondled Hermione's breasts. Voldemort had restored his silver hand back to flesh after the wizard killed a fellow deatheater with it in a decidedly unfair fight having turned the hand into a sharp spear and running it through his unarmed opponent.

"Peter," Severus said evenly. "Her wand is in her robes pocket. The witch is promised to me. You put your filthy hands on her body again I will cut them off and shove them up your ass."

Voldemort looked at Severus with interest. Hm. He was interested in a witch? Severus rarely ever indulged himself with women, and when he did the most he would do was let them suck him off.

"Peter," the Dark Lord said, "Put her in the back room…untouched."

"Yes, my Lord," the wizard replied, removing Hermione's wand from her pocket and hoisting her over his shoulder, carrying her away. Severus looked after him.

"Why is the witch with you, Severus?" the Dark Lord asked him.

"I think it is because she believes she can help me, my Lord," he replied.

Stupid little chit. Why had she done this?

"What is her name?" the Dark Lord asked him.

"Hermione Granger, my Lord," Severus answered.

The Dark Lord looked thoughtful.

"I remember her. She was the most brilliant student to graduate Hogwarts in the last fifty years," he mused.

"The same, my Lord," Severus responded.

"Maybe she can help you. We have a problem, Severus. Nagini is dead," the Dark Lord said, his red eyes on the wizard to watch for his reaction.

Severus' expression did not change.

"You have my sympathies, my Lord," he replied.

"I need more than your sympathies, Severus. Without her venom, you cannot make my elixir!" the Dark Lord hissed, "I had Peter cut her glands open to see if we could salvage any, but they had dried up. What am I to do, Severus?"

"Die," the wizard thought. Then he responded.

"You do not need a feeding for several more days, my Lord. The expedient thing to do would be to find a substitute cobra. But although all cobras are poisonous, their venom has distinct differences. We will have to try and find a match for Nagini's venom and test each sample by brewing the elixir. Very time consuming work. Miss Granger is quite talented in a number of fields, she may be able to find a way to test the venoms faster, or develop a spell to slow your weakening," Severus said, trying to find a way to save the witch's life.

"Then it is very fortuitous for me that she accompanied you," Voldemort said, "you both will stay here with me and work on creating the elixir with a new venom. I will send all my deatheaters out to acquire snakes for you to work with."

Peter reappeared with Hermione's wand and several bottles he had taken out of her pockets. He was disappointed. He had every intention on molesting the witch, maybe even shagging her while she was unconscious. Voldemort had nipped his plans in the bud. Damn Snape.

He walked up, placed the bottles on the table and offered the wand to Voldemort.

"Give it to Severus," the Dark Lord said.

Peter handed the wand to Severus, who snatched it out of his hand, his dark eyes murderous. He looked in the fat bastard's mind to see if he had done anything to Hermione in the back room. He hadn't. That was good for him. Severus planned to bash him in the head with the heavy silver tip of his cane if he had. Peter probably would have died right at the foot of Voldemort's throne.

Voldemort looked at the bottles.

"What are those?" he asked the wizard.

"I found them in the witch's pockets. They are mostly pain potions, my Lord," Peter replied, "a couple of stamina and healing potions too."

Voldemort's eyes shifted to Severus and looked him up and down.

"I assume she brought them for you," he said quietly.

The Potions Master looked a hundred times better than he did when he left a scant three hours ago. The witch must have tended him. How sweet.

"Take them," he said, "I will have more brought to you as you need them. You must be in a condition to work."

Severus walked over to the table and pocketed the bottles. Suddenly, he started to spasm, one of the bottles slipping from his hand, falling to the floor and shattering. The Dark Lord watched him. He would be in no condition to brew…his hands shook too badly. The spasms would pass in a couple of days. In the meantime…

"Peter will assist you for the time being," Voldemort said, "until your 'condition' betters. You can bring the witch in later."

Voldemort wanted to have a talk with the witch before setting her loose in his lab.

Peter blanched as he looked into the dark eyes of the Potions Master. Severus would like nothing better than to get the wizard alone, but he had to think of Hermione, maneuver her into a safer position.

"My Lord, I need a skilled assistant immediately. Peter is very good at brewing, but he doesn't have the knowledge to explore other options. Miss Granger is more suitable as my assistant if you want results. We can't waste time, my Lord. She is one of the best minds in the wizarding world," he said smoothly.

The Dark Lord considered this. What the Potions Master said made sense. He would talk to Hermione as soon as possible. After he gave his orders to the deatheaters.

"Yes. Yes, of course. I will put Peter to work milking the snakes. He has experience in that area," the Dark Lord replied.

Peter wasn't wild about the idea of milking cobras, but it was better than being alone with a wizard that wanted to kill him. He bowed to Voldemort.

"Yes, my Lord. I will be glad to do it," he said.

"Very well. I will summon my deatheaters and give them my orders. Severus, you may go and check on your witch. Peter, set up the lab for him. Make sure he can run several experiments at once," he commanded.

Both wizards bowed.

"Yes, my Lord," they said in unison.

Peter headed for the lab and Severus for the back room that contained Hermione.

The Dark Lord watched them go. Severus had to be successful, or he would die. What an unsuitable death that would be. To die because of a snake. Well, if the Potions Master could not create his elixir, Voldemort planned to go out in a blaze of glory.

And like the great kings of old who had many servants, he wouldn't go into the Underworld alone.

---

Severus walked to the back hall and checked each room until he found Hermione, laid out on her back on a small bed. He bristled as he thought of Peter. The randy little bastard wouldn't have hesitated to rape the witch while she was unconscious.

Severus himself had caught him at it when a group of muggles were brought in for a revel. He had walked into the holding room to find the wizard on his knees, thrusting between the thighs of an unconscious woman. The wizard said he was just 'warming her up' by way of explanation.

The Potions Master scowled. If Voldemort hadn't intervened concerning Hermione, Severus' cane would be covered in the wizard's blood right now.

He pointed his wand at the witch.

"Ennervate," he said.

Hermione stirred, her eyes fluttering. Then she opened them and looked up at the dark wizard. She sat up in the bed, holding her forehead.

"What happened?" she asked, looking confused.

"The Dark Lord stunned you. You're lucky he didn't kill you. What the fuck were you thinking when you grabbed me, Miss Granger? Do you have any idea how much danger you are in?" he snarled at the witch.

"I…you…you weren't in any shape…" she started.

"So you thought you could save me? You stupid little twit. You've just made my job all that much harder. Now I have to baby-sit you while I try to finish off Voldemort," he seethed.

"Finish Voldemort? How?" she said rather loudly.

"Will you keep your blasted voice down!" he hissed at her, sitting next to her on the bed.

Hermione blinked at him.

"Nagini is dead. She provided the venom for his elixir. Now he has no viable venom to sustain himself. He is going to order the deatheaters to collect king cobras for us. We will use their venom in the apparent hope that we will find a match for Nagini's. But we won't," he said to the witch in a low voice.

"Why not?" Hermione asked him, "the venoms should be close enough in composition to work."

"Yes, this is true. But the bond is missing. Nagini was bonded to Voldemort, and that is what made her venom viable. King Cobra familiars are extremely rare. It is doubtful he will find one, especially since he is focused on the snakes, and not acquiring another snake familiar. He will die, Hermione. All we have to do is stall."

Hermione digested this. They could bring down the Dark Lord.

Severus looked at her.

"I hope your occulmency skills are up to par. He will send for you to 'talk'. Try to feel you out. I had to tell him you were promised to me to keep Peter Pettigrew from molesting you," he said, "so he will want to know about that. Make something up convincing."

Hermione looked at him with a small, tremulous smile.

"I won't have to make anything up. I am promised to you, Severus," she said softly. Without realizing it she leaned toward him, her eyes on his mouth, her lips pursing.

Severus dipped his head back and scowled at her.

"Look, this is not the time to go hormonal on me, Miss Granger. Both our lives are at risk. Keep your libido on low or you'll die a virgin, I promise you," he said, frowning at her.

Hermione stopped moving toward him, realizing what she had been about to do. Her entire head turned red.

Severus stood up.

"I have to go check on Peter," he said, his eyes darkening even more, "You wait here until Voldemort calls for you."

Hermione felt her pockets.

"My wand's gone," she said.

Severus looked at her.

"I have it, and am going to keep it. I don't trust you not to play heroine and try to take the Dark Lord out yourself in a sudden flash of Gryffindor idiocy. Just stay put," he said, leaving the room and locking the door behind him so she wouldn't leave.

That would be all he needed. Hermione snooping about and running into some uninformed deatheaters. She was a stranger and a muggle-born. They'd be on her like nifflers on gold. He shuddered when he thought about what they would do to her. The witch was insane to have grabbed him and disapparated with him here. What the fuck was she thinking?

Severus paused. He knew the answer.

Hermione had been thinking she was in love.

---

About two hours later, Hermione heard someone at the door and sat up. Peter Pettigrew opened the door and looked at her rather hungrily. He remembered Hermione, but she had been only a child when he last saw her. He had been hiding out as Ronald Weasley's pet rat Scabbers, been discovered by Sirius Black, and almost taken to the dementors. Luckily, he had escaped. The witch had certainly filled out well. He leveled his piggish eyes at her.

"The Dark Lord wishes to see you," he said, opening the door wider.

Hermione swallowed, then stood up and walked past Peter and into the hall.

"Follow me," he said, walking down the hallway. The witch followed him as he opened a door that led out into a large circular room. A throne sat in the middle of the room, but Hermione couldn't see who was seated in it because they were behind it. Hermione pushed all knowledge of Severus dual role as a spy and their last conversation behind her mental walls, invoking the power of occulmency. She left all else as it was.

Peter led her around the throne, and stopped in front of it.

Hermione looked up into the frightening countenance of the Dark Lord. He was very thin and hairless. His skin was flesh colored, but covered in tiny scales. He had no eyebrows and his nose was nothing more than two slits. He looked lipless, and his eyes were red as fire. His fingers were very long, and his hands, elegant. He held a wand in one hand, resting against the arm of the throne. He looked down on her imperiously for a moment, then his red eyes shifted to Peter.

"You may go, Peter. I wish to talk to the witch alone," he said to his most trusted servant.

Peter bowed.

"Yes my Lord," he said, taking one more look at Hermione then exiting the throne room. He was hoping to listen in on their conversation.

The Dark Lord looked at Hermione. She was a small witch but quite lovely and curvaceous. He flicked his wand, and a comfortable upholstered chair appeared next to the witch.

"Sit down," he commanded. Hermione obeyed.

"How did you come to be here?" he asked her.

"I found Severus in his rooms in bad shape and was tending him, when you summoned him. I saw the mark. When he went to disapparate, I grabbed him and was taken with him. He had no idea I was going to do that," she said. She said she was tending him because she did not want the Dark Lord to know that Severus had people helping him, people who knew he was a deatheater.

"Why were you in his rooms?" the Dark Lord asked.

"I assist different Professors at Hogwarts with their classes to earn credits toward my degree. The Professor went missing and we needed his lesson plan, and when I couldn't find it in the classroom, I went to his rooms to see if he had taken it there to work on, and found him," she lied.

Hermione imagined herself doing what she described so it would be in her mind if the Dark Lord looked for it. Thoughts could be manipulated, and a Legilimens, tricked.

Voldemort looked at her, tapping his wand on the side of his throne.

"What do you think about him, now that you know he serves me?" the Dark Lord asked.

"I'm not sure what I think. He must have his reasons, but I'm not thrilled about it," she said.

Voldemort looked at the witch consideringly. She was quite honest…not realizing that even this admittance could be grounds for her death. Not thrilled? Definitely a Cruciatus-worthy reply. But the Dark Lord withheld his wand.

"Didn't you realize that by following him, your life could be made forfeit?" the Dark Lord asked her.

"I wasn't thinking about that. I was only thinking I wanted to help him," she replied honestly.

Voldemort could feel love radiating from the witch. It was a most unpleasant feeling for him. He shunned love. Yet he didn't feel that love from the Potions Master. It seems the relationship between the two was rather one-sided.

"I see," Voldemort said, his eyes narrowing.

He looked into the witch's mind and saw the fighting, arguing and general aura of dislike that passed between the witch and his servant. He also saw a slew of creative retaliations by the witch against both Severus and his familiar; and how she dropped Severus with a knee to the groin. This impressed him. Severus was a formidable fighter. The fact that the witch had managed to injure him was very impressive indeed. The Dark Lord also saw she loved a wizard that obviously didn't love her back. Another fool for love.

"Are you involved with Severus? Has he fucked you?" the Dark Lord asked her.

Hermione colored at the directness of the question.

"No," she said honestly, "on both counts."

She couldn't say she was actually involved with the Potions Master.

"But he claims you are promised to him," Voldemort said, "Is this true?"

"Yes, it is. I have been saving myself for him," she said quietly.

Voldemort cocked his head at her.

"But he doesn't love you. From what I've seen in your thoughts, he treats you horribly. Yet you still save yourself for him?" the Dark Lord asked in amazement.

"Yes," Hermione said, coloring. Hearing the truth of her situation from another made it all sound so foolish, "I can't help it. I love him."

Voldemort's mouth quirked as he fought not to laugh in the witch's face. Most likely Severus would use her and discard her. Then most likely she would blame herself for not being able to keep him. Such blind idiotic loyalty. The kind he liked to see among his ranks directed at him

He gave the witch a small thin smile that quickly faded.

"You would have made an excellent deatheater," he commented, "but I fear Hermione…I may call you that?"

Hermione nodded.

The Dark Lord continued.

"But I fear Hermione, that unless you and Severus can create the elixir for me, neither of you will live to consummate this one-sided little affair," he said evenly. "Your life depends on this. Do you understand me?"

Hermione nodded. He intended to kill them both if they failed.

"However," the Dark Lord continued, "If you do manage to recreate the elixir, you will be obliviated and allowed to return to Hogwarts. You will also have the favor of the Dark Lord, although you will have no recollection of it, and be safe from the tribulation that is to come. No deatheater will harm you at the Final Battle or in the New Order that follows. Is that agreeable?"

"Yes," Hermione said in a small voice, "What about Severus?"

Voldemort looked at her, a slight frown on his face at her audacity at asking him about one of his own. But the witch didn't know she overstepped her bounds. He let it pass. Normally he would have hit her with an Unforgivable. But she was needed.

"He will continue in service to me," the Dark Lord replied.

"I see," Hermione said…then in a fit of boldness she asked him, "Why was he so hurt when he returned?"

The Dark Lord's red eyes swept over Hermione. She certainly asked a lot of questions. But then again, that was probably how she became Hogwarts' smartest graduate in the past half-century. You never know unless you ask. It was a bit refreshing really. No one questioned him, and with good reason.

"Severus is my servant, and has certain duties to me. When he performs adequately, he is rewarded. When he performs badly, he is punished. This time, he was punished," the Dark Lord said, his red eyes on her.

Hermione nodded.

It was a simplistic answer for what she knew was a very complicated situation. She knew for fact that Severus was usually punished no matter what he did. Voldemort was a deviant and took pleasure in causing others pain.

Voldemort took another look into her mind. He saw the erotic images of herself and his servant. They were quite arousing. He wouldn't mind witnessing them. His expression became rather lustful. Hermione quailed at the intensity of it. But the Dark Lord didn't share his thoughts.

Instead he asked her, "Have you eaten?"

"No," Hermione replied.

"For the time being, you are my guest so you will not be locked in your room. Yet I expect you to stay close to the lab and not wander. My deatheaters will not take kindly to you, but they are not allowed in the lab area. Go through that door," he said pointing a long, scaly finger to a door on his far left, "That is the lab area. There are a number of rooms with beds in them. Select one. I will have food sent to you."

Hermione stood up and thanked him. She started to walk toward the door.

"Hermione, for both our sakes I hope you are as intelligent and clever as you are claimed to be. If not, you will never see Hogwarts again," he hissed at her.

Hermione looked at the evil wizard wide-eyed and nodded, then continued on to the lab area.

Voldemort watched her go with mixed emotions. By rights he should kill her. She was a muggle-born and an intruder. Yet if she could help Severus save him, the Dark Lord had to fight his natural inclination and let her live. He needed to do something however.

"Peter!" he called. The fat wizard appeared almost instantly. He walked in front of the throne and bowed.

"Yes, my Lord?" Peter asked him.

Voldemort lazily raised his wand and pointed at the wizard. Peter's eyes went wide.

"Imperio," Voldemort said with an evil grin.

---

Hermione chose a room that was next to the one Severus was to occupy. She felt better knowing he was close. A very bedraggled house elf brought her a rather tasteless stew, but she ate it all hungrily. It had all the proper ingredients…it just wasn't seasoned. The Dark Lord didn't eat, so the quality of the cooking, when there was cooking…was poor for the most part.

Severus joined her a bit later, and via legilimency saw the conversation between herself and the Dark Lord.

"You did well," he said, looking at her with his dark eyes. They were sitting on Hermione's bed.

"I had no choice. I had the distinct feeling he would have liked nothing better than to kill me," she replied, shuddering.

"He would love to kill you. Particularly since you are 'promised' to me. He looks for every opportunity to cause me pain," Severus said.

"If he were to kill me, Severus…would that cause you pain?" she asked him.

Severus looked at her.

"It would cause me some guilt, not pain. It would be your own fault if he did kill you. You had no business following me here," he replied evenly. "This is why I hold no faith in 'Love'. It causes people to act stupidly for no logical reason, to make assumptions and take risks that are detrimental to their well-being. You are a fool, Miss Granger, being led around by a naïve heart and your libido."

Hermione frowned at him.

"If I'm being such a fool, then why didn't you give me the potion that would have 'wised' me up? I wouldn't have any feelings for you at all if you had did as I asked. And I certainly wouldn't be here. Voldemort could have cut you into tiny, wriggling pieces and I wouldn't have cared a bit," she retorted.

"I didn't give it to you because I thought it would be a shame for a portion of your mind to be shut down permanently. It would have limited your life experience," he said, reaching for something other than the obvious reason.

Hermione stared at him in disbelief.

"Am I really supposed to believe that, especially the way you were closing in on me?" she said to him, both of her eyebrows raised. "I couldn't have kneed you if you weren't invading my space.'

Severus' face went black.

"Yes. About that. You could have caused me irreparable damage. If not for the Dark Lord's summons, you'd have paid for that little stunt in spades," he snarled at her.

Hermione adjusted herself on the bed and turned to face him.

"Oh really, and what were you going to do? Hex me?" she asked.

He glowered at her.

"No," he replied in a low growl, "I intended on letting the injured party wreak his revenge."

"The injured party?" Hermione began, then her eyes dropped to Severus' loins then back up to Severus' face. His eyes were hard.

"Let me inform you of something, Miss Granger. You have been pursuing me, and now I am willing to be captured, if only to get my due from you. You have been completely insufferable, retaliatory, smart-mouthed, vindictive and totally disrespectful of my wishes. However, you have shown some dark qualities that I appreciate, although I suffered because of them. I didn't see those qualities in you initially."

"I am now willing to deflower you, but it isn't affection for you that drives me. I want you to understand this, and if you have good sense, which you don't, you will withdraw from me. I just want to see you submit to me totally. Do you understand that? I want to exert power over you in the most intimate, dominating unforgettable way I can. I want to put my mark on you. There is no love, affection or any of the softer, sweeter emotions that women want from men involved. If I take your virginity, Miss Granger, it will be driven by my desire to reduce you to your most primal, uncontrolled state of submission, not because I care about you."

"I haven't shagged a woman in years and I have reasons for it. I have let them attend me in other ways, however, ways I find more appropriate due to their nature. I think you need to understand how I view women, Miss Granger. To me, all women are whores. It is in their nature to be so, and I have seen the sweetest witches betray their wizards…in fact I have exposed quite a few. All it takes is for a man to know what to say, and their knickers fall down and their legs go up. Women are a faithless lot."

"A woman will open her legs for anyone if he knows how to go about it. I do not trust them, Miss Granger. I will not trust you either. Once you are deflowered, you will fall into the same category as the rest. As of right now, part of your appeal to me is that no other wizard has not had you. I won't be able to be sure of that after the first time. I will not invest my heart in you, ever, despite your claim to love me. I am sure you have the best intentions, but the weakness of your sex will supersede your pureness of heart. Women are born whores and they die whores."

Hermione looked at the wizard. His jaw was tight and his eyes were hard. Bitterness radiated from him.

"Who hurt you, Severus? Who mauled your heart so badly that you've damned a whole world of women to hell?" Hermione asked him softly.

Severus stared at her.

"It's not a matter of being hurt, it's a matter of truth, Miss Granger. Women cannot be trusted," he said with finality, "and if you involve yourself with me, know I will never love you. Ever," he said, his eyes locked with hers.

"Kindness. What about kindness, Severus? Are you capable of that?" she asked him.

"Not in great amounts. I am not a kind man. I treat people the way I feel they should be treated," he replied, "and it isn't reciprocal in nature. Being nice to me is in no way a guarantee I will be nice in return. I am more likely to be cold, no matter how much niceness is piled on me. No one is truly nice. You should know that. Just look at your record the past year," Severus said, an eyebrow arching.

"You drove me to react the way I did," Hermione said, "I wasn't about to let you treat me any kind of way because of how I felt about you."

"Yes, and you are to be commended for that. Not many witches or wizards have the courage to stand up to me. I have respect for you because you refuse to let me run over you, but that respect would soon fade if you lost your edge because of sexual intimacy, and became a doormat or love-sick little doxy, or a whining, complaining shrew that wanted me to change. I will not change. Just because I give in and shag you doesn't mean you will be entitled to special treatment. You won't be."

Hermione looked at the Potions Master.

So, if she got involved with him, he would always think she was having sex with someone else, wouldn't love her, would be cold to her, wouldn't change in any way, shape or form, and would give her no special treatment. He was a real gem, this wizard. It was insane to want anything to do with him.

Still, he was a bitter man. Obviously he had been deeply hurt by a woman. He just wouldn't admit it. Hermione found it hard to believe that he would not respond to love over time, once he saw it was a true, loyal love. He might mean everything he was saying, but living it was another story. Besides, she didn't want him to change. She liked him this way. She even liked fighting with him…it did something to her. Of course, she wanted him to treat her well…his actions toward her would go much deeper than his words, which would probably always be caustic.

And as far as what he said about bedding her, and his reasons for doing so…it turned her on. Maybe it shouldn't have but it did. Being reduced to her most primal, uncontrolled state of submission in his arms was the stuff of her fantasies.

Plus, with Voldemort dead, he wouldn't be a spy anymore, would not be subjected to the tortures he went through now. That might change his outlook in the future as well. He would be a free man, and might actually seek happiness that he didn't look for now. The man that he was inside, the one that was selfless, willing to sacrifice himself for others might come out to some extent. And that would be worth her efforts. She looked at the wizard and took a deep breath.

"Severus, I'm still willing to love you despite all you've told me," she said softly.

The Potions Master looked at the witch, his dark eyes searching her face for any sign of doubt or hesitation. He didn't see any. Severus sighed and shook his head.

"The world is full of fools," he said to her quietly.

"It's full of hope too," she replied.

They sat there together in silence after that, each thinking their own thoughts.

Life would become very interesting, if they survived.

---

When snakes, specifically King Cobras began to come up missing, Muggle authorities all around the world were stymied. Zoos, refuges, private owners and laboratories were all being robbed of the dangerous reptiles at an alarming rate.

When snake charmer Habib Sahmudra awoke one morning to find the body of a man with the face of a skull stretched out beside his empty, toppled snake basket, he notified the local authorities and head Brahma, who immediately proclaimed that half-demons were upon them, attempting to steal their beloved cobras, and that every snake be bathed in milk and sprinkled with haldi-kumkum to protect them. This was easier said than done, but the people put forth their best efforts any way. The snakes were less than appreciative.

At Voldemort's stronghold, crate upon crate of writhing, angry cobras were piled near the laboratory doors, and Peter Pettigrew was a complete wreck trying to milk them all without being killed in the process. The fat little wizard started stunning entire crate loads and quickly milking and tagging the venom samples.

Severus and Hermione, both under guard, were up to their elbows in snake venom, creating elixir after elixir and testing them against the signature spell to no avail. The Dark Lord's next feeding had to be within the next forty-eight hours, and the despot was coming to the conclusion that his demise was upon him. He made plans for an elaborate, mandatory good-bye celebration where he would name his successor. This announcement was the subject of much debate among the deatheaters. They would all be sure to be there for this changing of the guard.

Hermione and Severus were to keep working up to the last minute. They would be brought out in the final moments. How they would meet their demise was unknown. Yet the couple put on a good show, working hard, several brewings occurring at once. The guards who reported back to the Dark Lord assured him the pair seemed to be making every effort. Both Severus and Hermione were exhausted. They averaged only about four hours of restless sleep each night. Stamina and pepper-up potions kept them on their feet for the most part. Severus' tremors had stopped, and Hermione changed his bandages twice a day, letting her fingers linger on his strong shoulders a bit longer than necessary. Severus was aware of her extra attentions, but said nothing. It might be that was the only contact she would ever have with him.

Hermione was not able to find a way to speed up the process, and she made no true effort at creating a spell to extend Voldemort's life. Even if he killed her, she would have comfort knowing he would soon follow. Severus watched the witch work. Although they were stalling, Hermione was still quite interested in the elixir itself, and did all manner of experimentation on it, testing its properties. She commented over and over on his brilliance in having discovered such a powerful potion as she worked with it.

Of course, Severus hated that he had created the elixir, since it kept Voldemort alive and powerful, but his ego was stoked quite a bit. Hermione would not give undeserved praise, and her fascination with his work was quite satisfying to him, though he wouldn't admit it.

Soon, the final night was upon them, and no suitable substitute had been found. Hermione convinced Severus to give her wand back, and she cast altered repelling wards around both of them when the guards were otherwise occupied. The wards would not stop physical contact, but would repel most spells, except Unforgivables, which would probably be what the Dark Lord would use on them.

Deatheaters were arriving to the stronghold in droves. There would be no muggle entertainment tonight as it was to be a somber occasion. The arrivals were slightly dismayed to find that their wands were collected by Peter Pettigrew and two other burly minions of the Dark Lord, and piled next to the seated despot.

Voldemort sat on his throne, dressed in splendid black robes, embroidered with snakes. He was sullen and brooding as he watched his servants fill the throne room. That they would live while he was cast into utter darkness was a great injustice. One Dark Lord was worth the whole of his army in his estimation. Severus had failed him, and he was finished. But his death would be remembered. He'd make certain of that. He was already feeling the tingle that announced his need for the elixir, and a feeling of extreme tiredness. He fought it off. Finally, when all the deatheaters had gathered, he sent for Hermione and Severus.

Both of their wands were taken, and they were led out and stood in front of the throne, among the other deatheaters. Severus was surprised they weren't singled out. What was the Dark Lord up to?

The Dark Lord raised his hands and quieted the milling throng. Every eye was upon him. With effort he raised his thin body up out of the throne and stood up to address them.

"My faithful servants. Tonight you have all come to witness the extinguishing of the wizarding world's brightest star and hope. Because of Nagini's death, I am unable to continue, due to no substitute venom being found. All of you put forth your best efforts to try to save me, and I find that most commendable. Yet still, you have all failed me."

Several hundred heads hung in shame.

"Be that as it may, my passing is imminent, and as in such cases it is fitting to name a successor to continue my cause and my dream."

Here Voldemort paused and looked around the crowd.

"Before I continue, are there any among you that still retain wands? If so, please turn them over to Peter now. Due to the nature of my announcement, it is deemed best that all be disarmed so no unpleasantness will occur when I reveal my choice."

There was murmuring, and several wands were passed to Peter, who carried them to the large pile of wands next to the Dark Lord's throne and deposited them there. Then he stepped back.

Severus looked at the pile of wands and got a bad feeling. A very bad feeling.

Catching hold of Hermione's hand, he moved them back into the crowd. Hermione looked at him with her eyebrows raised but followed him in. The guards watched them tensely for a moment but when the couple stopped, they relaxed. The two weren't going anywhere. The guards were also wandless at this point. Every wand except for Voldemort's was in the pile.

The Dark Lord's eyes raked over the crowd. Then he pointed his wand at the pile and it burst into flames. A collective gasp went up from the crowd.

"You all are no longer in need of wands. I have searched and searched for a successor, and have found no one suitable among you. You are all servants. There are no leaders in your ranks. Instead, I have chosen to bestow a great honor upon you. You will all accompany me into the next world, where we will again rise to power!"

The deatheaters all stood around staring at him. What did he mean, 'next world' and 'rise to power?' Had the Dark Lord gone mad?

Voldemort turned to Peter Pettigrew.

"My most trusted servant…I send you first to prepare the way for me. Avada Kedavra!"

The Dark Lord hit Peter with the killing curse, and the fat wizard crumpled to the floor, his eyes staring up at the ceiling sightlessly.

The Dark Lord turned to the crowd.

"Don't worry," he said, smiling broadly, "You won't have to come one by one. I have adapted the curse to send you in groups."

He made an intricate pattern with his wand, then cast the curse at the deatheaters standing directly in front of him. The green light enveloped about a dozen of them, and they fell to the ground dead. The Dark Lord staggered a bit. He was getting weaker

Pandemonium broke loose as the Dark Lord fired the curse again, killing several more of his servants, including the guards that had been watching Hermione and Severus.

Screams erupted as deatheaters found they could not apparate, and people were trampled in the mad rush to get away from Voldemort, who was walking about, killing them at his leisure, but becoming weaker and weaker with each blast of power he issued. His magic was running out but he had killed over eighty deatheaters so far. His Otherworld army was growing.

Hermione and Severus were separated, Hermione jumping up to see if she could locate the wizard over the fleeing crowd, and rushing out of the way when the Dark Lord turned in her direction and fired the curse. He missed her, but caught four other unfortunates.

Hordes of wizards and witches were trying desperately to break through the doors surrounding the throne room, but they had all been warded shut. Some were crushed to death against the doors by the surging crowd behind them. Voldemort was very weak now. His red eyes shifted and he saw the Potions Master with his back to him, looking for Hermione.

"You will come too, Severus," he gasped.

With a great effort, Voldemort pointed his wand at the Potions Master and whispered the curse. A pale green light burst from his wand and shot toward the unsuspecting wizard, who was just beginning to turn around.

"Noooo!" screamed Hermione, diving at Severus and knocking him out of the way, the blast catching her fully, bathing her body in its deadly glow.

It stopped as Voldemort collapsed, dead.

Hermione fell to the floor.

All around her fallen body deatheaters were sobbing and screaming. She was stepped on twice. Then came the sounds of apparation. With Voldemort dead, his anti-apparition spell faded and everyone fled. The throne room was empty except for Severus, Hermione, Voldemort and the bodies of the dead.

Stunned, Severus stared down at the witch.

"No," he breathed, dropping to one knee, "I said to withdraw from me, witch…but not like this. Not like this, damn you. You silly little fool."

Severus lowered his head to Hermione's breast and listened. He lifted his head, his eyes wide in disbelief.

There was a faint, very faint heartbeat. Hermione wasn't dead. Yet.

Severus scooped the witch up into his arms and disapparated back to Hogwarts.

Maybe she could be saved.

Then he could kill her himself for being so stupid as to take the Killing Curse for him.

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A/N: And that is the end of part two. Quite a few more parts coming. Thanks for reading.