Title: Bounty Hunter II: Black and White
Author: Snippy of Snippy and Snarky
Pairing: H/D, Hr/SS, (other pairings added as story continues))
Disclaimer: HP & Co NOT MINE – don't sue.
Synopsis: Note: Disregard sixth book as the first Bounty Hunter was written before it came out, and does not incorporate its plots and character arcs. The struggle between shades of grey is enough to tear a hero in two. . .
Rating: Mature, R, Adult – rated for language explicit sexual situations and violence – reader discretion is advised.
A/N's: Uh-oh, Draco, you bad boy, where do you think you're going? LOL. So, what do you guys think so far? C'mon, give me a sign, is anyone reading this? Should I continue? Do you want to know what happens next?
Thanks! Peace, love and a couple of sarcastic snakes!
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
"Lucius." Bane's eyes flashed. "Come in."
Lucius strode into the room. "It's done."
"Lucius, you old dog, you." Bane smirked. "Well, that didn't take long."
"If you don't mind my asking, how did you know she'd be down there?" Lucius settled himself into a chair and conjured the brandy that he had left behind on his desk.
Bane closed his eyes. "I don't know. I can see the Chamber in my mind. I saw her there." His eyes opened and Bane shook himself a little. "I can do lots of things I couldn't before."
"Welcome to your inheritance, Potter." Lucius looked at him over the rim of his glass. "So, my son stopped by."
"Oh?"
"He is wavering, but I have faith in Draco's survival instincts. He'll stay on the side of power."
"And you believe that's my side, eh Lucius?" Bane scoffed as he leaned against the fireplace. "And where is Draco now?"
"I left him in my chambers."
"Really?" Bane's eyes darkened. "You left him there with Ginny in such a . . . vulnerable state?"
Lucius shrugged. "There's nothing he can do to her that she won't enjoy right now. It's not really my concern. Though Draco's usually not interested in touching my things."
Bane nodded slowly, his eyes still holding that dangerous glitter. He pulled Voldemort's wand out of his pocket, holding it aloft. "I found your present."
"Do you like it?" Lucius smirked.
Bane's fingers clenched and the wand snapped in two. "I have no use for it."
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Draco leaned back against the closed door and crossed his arms over his chest. Ginny stirred. Draco whispered, "Wake up, little Red."
Ginny's eyes came open, though she didn't move. He could see her throat working as she tried to understand why he was standing there. Looking down, she pulled the satin sheet up higher on her chest, her cheeks coloring a deep red.
"Morning." Draco stepped away from the door. "Or evening, as it were."
"What are you doing here?" Ginny asked, her throat scratchy.
"I live here. What are you doing here? Oh wait – fucking my father, that's right." Draco climbed the steps and sprawled himself across the foot of the bed, leaning on one elbow and curling to his side.
Ginny looked down, Draco's presence making her very aware of how naked she was under the sheet. When she had first realized who was standing in the room, she had the thought that Lucius had sent his son in to . . . to . . . well. In any case, her first reaction should have been disgust, shame, anger, something! Something other than what she had felt. Ginny asked again, "Why are you here?"
"Am I making you nervous?" Draco purred.
"A little." She half shrugged, trying to hold onto the sheet. His gaze drifted to her chest and her nipples instantly hardened.
"That's not all I'm making you," he observed. "I never figured you for this sort of girl, Gin."
"I didn't know you figured me for any sort of girl."
"I had the vague sense that you were some kind of goody-two-shoes, destined to marry the golden boy and have lots of chubby redheaded babies." Draco toyed with the sheet beneath his left hand, putting enough tension in the fabric to pull it slightly down her chest. She maintained her grip on the sheet enough to stay covered, but didn't pull it back up.
"I don't think I was the 'golden boy's' type," she murmured, looking pointedly at Draco.
"Boys, girls – it's all the same when you're like us."
"Us?"
"You and me. And the venerable Harry Potter – not that he'd ever admit to it."
"And what's wrong with us?"
"We're addicted to power – attracted to darkness." Draco smiled. "You'll have to forgive the poetics. I tend to romanticize what I can't change."
"And you think that I'm – like that, that I . . . " she trailed off. She had slept with Lucius Malfoy. Because she was sorry Tom Riddle was dead. Maybe Draco was right. And everything she had just done, the soreness in her throat, the bruises on her skin, it wasn't enough. Deep down she wanted more.
Draco's eyes captured her own, the knowing look in his eyes so tangible that she could almost read his thoughts. Ginny quelled the urge to start shaking. "It's not true."
"No?" In a lightning move, his body covered hers, the sheet sliding down to her waist. He pinned her hands to the mattress above her head.
Inside, a war raged. He shouldn't be doing this. Lucius' mocking words of pride echoed in his head. No matter what he tried to do, what side he tried to fight on, at the end of the day, after the battle, he was still a Malfoy. Lucius' heir. His best intentions ended up sinister, his good deeds always self serving.
"No, I'm not." Ginny stared up at him, her naked breasts pressed against his chest, his face so close to hers. Images of Lucius on top of her, holding her down, using her body, making her come over and over until she passed out, played in her head.
"Then why aren't you fighting?" Draco relaxed his grip on her wrists, but she didn't move. He lowered his lips to skim along her neck, teasing the bottom of her earlobe. "You would let me take you right now, if I wanted to."
"What would Harry think of you, then?" She tossed back. "Do you think he'd still have you, then?"
Fury seethed inside Draco. His silver eyes frosted. "Trying to change the subject, are we? Can't face what you've become?"
"And what is that?" She challenged, fully aware she was playing with fire. Her heart pounded.
"I could show you," he whispered. His grip tightened on her wrists. "Admit it – you want me."
"Never," she whispered.
Clasping both of her wrists in his left hand, he reached down and pulled the sheet from between them. Then he tangled his right hand in her hair, holding her head forcible in place, the way his father had. He bit softly into her earlobe and felt her naked body squirm.
"Spread your legs," he demanded.
Ginny complied.
"That's what I thought." Draco watched as Ginny's eyes watered and she looked away. Disgusted with himself, he climbed off the bed. "Be careful with my father. He might as well have offered you up to me on a silver platter."
Ginny looked at him wide eyed, not even bothering to cover herself. She struggled with the realization that not only would she have slept with Draco, but also she was upset that he wasn't going to finish what he started.
Draco shook his head. "Sorry, Gin." And left.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Draco Apparated into his bedchamber in Slytherin, feeling dazed. His mind kept replaying what he had just done to Ginny and it made him sick inside.
"Did you fuck her?" A light flickered in the corner as Bane lit a cigarette, turning on the lamps in the room with a wave of his hand.
"Would you care?"
"I didn't think so." Bane smiled as he exhaled. "Not when your Father got there first."
Draco blanched. "What do you want, Potter? Or am I supposed to call you 'Black' now when I'm irritated with you?"
"Irritated? Is that what you are with me?" Bane smiled, his green eyes flashing through the black fringe that fell across his forehead.
"Something like that." Draco sighed.
Bane stood, prowling forward to stand in front of the blond. "You ever wonder what it would have been like – if we'd grown up in the same house? In Slytherin?"
"Sometimes," Draco admitted cautiously, taking a slight step back. Bane advanced, pushing Draco against the wall.
"If I hadn't met Ron on the train, if I hadn't begged the Sorting Hat not to put me in Slytherin. . ."
Draco's eyes flashed at that little admission.
"Would we have been friends?"
"Not likely. We were born to be rivals, Potter. It's probably for the best we weren't vying for the same territory."
"Do you still want me, Draco? Now that you know you're not going to die?" Bane asked softly.
"Shut up." Draco cupped Bane's face in his hands. "Just shut up." Draco covered Bane's mouth with his own, a deep, savage kiss full of confusion and pain. They moved backwards towards the bed.
"You said you'd follow me into Hell and back," Bane whispered as they fell back on the mattress.
"I meant it," Draco gasped, his hips arching upward as Band toppled him beneath his leather-clad body. Here, here was the punishment he had sought, the delicious pain he was seeking, the razor-edged perfection. He had been trying to inflict that pain on Ginny Weasley, but it had been an empty, hollow act. Now he directed it inward, welcomed the pain within himself, where he should have directed it all along. Draco surrendered. "Is this Hell then?"
"Yes, but which me did you follow?" Bane's soft laughter floated on the air.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Hermione rose from her bath, the scent of roses enveloping her. She dried off and wrapped a thick, soft towel around her damp body before stepping back out into the bed chamber. Severus was seated in an thickly padded armchair, an open book on his lap.
Their apartment was decorated in black. And pale pink. An odd combination that somehow balanced out well. Rather like Severus and herself. She sat down on the plush ottoman next to his crossed feet and began brushing out her hair.
"What's wrong, Luv?" Severus asked huskily, taking in her furrowed expression.
"I haven't seen Ginny all day – I'm worried about her."
"You know, out here people go whole days without seeing certain other people," He explained carefully. "You're used to all your company being locked up in one place."
"Really? You think that's it?" Hermione bit her lip, unsure. She noticed that she kept all the doors in their apartment closed at all times, though it would feel more spacious if they were open. The shut and locked doors felt comfortable to her now. Enclosure was comfortable.
"If she's not at brunch tomorrow, we'll start to look for her," He promised.
"Alright then." She put the brush down in her lap. "So what did you and Dumbledore talk about today?"
"Nothing of consequence," he answered casually. "The upcoming semester."
"Nothing of consequence?" She questioned. "What are you hiding from me?"
Severus sighed.
"I was stuck in a cell with nothing to read but your face, Severus." Hermione put her hand on his knee. "Can't you tell me?"
"I will."
"Alright." She slowly climbed up his lap, sliding her arms around his neck. "But you have to make me a promise."
"Is that right?" His arms closed around her, his eyes drinking in her face, her cinnamon eyes, her perfect lips.
"Tell me a day before you think you should." She said solemnly. "It's always good to stay ahead of the game."
"As you wish." He bent to kiss her. Hooking a hand behind each knee, he lifted and positioned Hermione astride his lap, letting her towel fall to the floor. She returned his kiss with rapt abandon.
Standing up, he carried her in his arms to the bed. Gently, he laid her down, stripped off his robe and joined her. "Hermione? I love you."
Hermione trembled, her heart full. "I love you, Severus."
Severus proceeded to lose himself in her luscious young body, filled with gratitude to be alive, for the first time in his life.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Harry tossed fitfully in his sleep, finally awaking with a start. He tried to hang onto the vestiges of his nightmare, but they eluded him as he came fully awake. The chamber, still filled with bunk-beds, seemed eerily still with just him in it. He looked over at the bunk that had been Ron's.
"Carpe Noctem, Harry."
"Remus?"
There sitting on Seamus' old bunk was Remus Lupin. "Hello, Harry."
"I thought you were dead."
"I am."
"Am I dreaming? Hallucinating?"
"We all see what we want to see, Harry."
"Yeah, thanks for the cryptic." Harry rubbed his eyes, peering again at his old friend and mentor. "What the hell does that mean?"
"A house divided against itself cannot stand."
Harry shook his head. "What house?"
"His house. Your house. Harry!" Remus was starting to fade, his voice sounding like it came from a distance.
"Remus!"
"Carpe Noctem, Harry . . ." And he was gone.