Author's Note: Thank you so much for all the comments, favs, alerts, etc on this story. I am very humbled and I hope I don't disappoint!

Hope everyone had good holidays or is going to. I would have had this uploaded sooner probably, but the holiday came first. So yeah. Anyway, thank you to AshTonks to giving me her opinion on this (as well as pointing out my grievous errors). Hope you enjoy it!

Please remember: This is just fiction, so don't read too much into it. This is a sort of twisted AU. Everything else I say at the beginning of chapters...

The title of the chapter is from a new song by Abney Park. *addicted* And if you're wondering about his motivations and what not, don't worry, we'll be exploring them next chapter again. Happy Holidays!

Disclaimer: Yeah, don't own the title, the chapter title, the characters, and no money is made from this.

Jar of Hearts

Chapter Three: Wrath of Fate

"Oy, where did you get up to last night?" Ginny demanded of Hermione as soon she awoke. Hermione was certainly surprised that Ginny was up so quickly considering how late she had returned the night before. However, it was early afternoon and Ginny had been asleep for hours.

"Something came up," Hermione told her, glancing up from her textbook. It wasn't a lie at all. Lavender Brown had shown herself to be a more apt replacement for company at their table, and then there was that eerie man with the mysterious eyes...

"Like the water incident or the Ron one?" Hermione tried to keep the livid color out of her face. Should she fib? But while she was debating, Ginny continued. "I know Ron might not be much to look at, but e's actually quite shy when it comes to girls."

"Ginny, I appreciate your efforts, honestly I do, but I'm not sure I have time for a boyfriend right now." Ginny studied Hermione hard before she rose from her bed and stretched.

"If you say so," Ginny commented. "Though Ron would like to see you again soon." While Hermione wanted to say no, she couldn't bring herself to do it outright.

"When?"

"This afternoon?" It was Saturday and there wasn't a class for Hermione to scuttle off to. How else would she spend the day then? Reading? Doing homework? Working on her projects? Extra credit? Calling her parents? Hiding in the library?

"ermione Jean Granger! Don't you dare tell me that you 'ave other plans!" Ginny laughed, grabbing one of the fluffy pillows from her bed and tossing it in Hermione's direction.

"But I do." She didn't want to live up to the humiliation of seeing him again and attempting to provide a convincing excuse for her absence.

"And what exactly is that so important?" Time to break out the half-truth.

"I have a study date."

"Study date? With who?"

"This nice boy that I know from one of my classes. Cormac McLaggen." Ginny had never met him, Hermione was sure. Honestly, Hermione wasn't fond of him, but he provided a wonderful pretext. He tended to be a bit of a know-it-all as well as a stalker, and he had a ghastly temper when provoked.

"Never 'eard of 'im," Ginny shrugged as she grabbed things for a shower. "Sure you didn't make 'im up?"

"Positive," Hermione assured her as she gathered some books and bits of her homework together into her fraying satchel. "Look at the time; I've got to be going." She grabbed her coat, as the library was a little ways from their hall.

"Alright, but you don't know what you're missing." Hermione was quite assured she did know; an afternoon of discomfited dialogue between herself and a boy who wasn't an intellectual match for her? Why bother?

She hurried out the door and took off down the hall for the stairs. Normally, people moved out of the halls and into a flat after their first year. But Hermione hadn't known who to rent with so they had let her stay on. Maybe after this year, she and Ginny could at least rent a place together.

She stepped out into the zesty sunshine, caught between feeling warm and freezing. All the walkways were fairly clear of snow and it would be a while yet before it melted fully on the rest of the grounds. Summer break would see her back at home with her parents, but that was months away yet.

Hermione needed to decide exactly what it was that she wanted to do in life. It seemed that her interests were far ranging and she was proficient at everything. It just didn't seem like there was enough of a lifetime to complete it all.

She was leaning heavily on sciences, although she tended to like every subject equally. Maybe she would figure it out in the library today. She clomped on with her burdensome satchel, hoping Cormac wasn't actually in the library.

Since the first day of school he had followed her around to the point of scaring her sometimes. There wasn't much she could do about it though, as he had never tried to harm her, and everyone thought of him a pleasant young man. He was exasperating to Hermione though.

The library was one of her favorite hide-outs on campus though. It was massive with lots of study carols one could hide in if they wanted to be left in solitude. The chances of anyone bothering her there were next to none.

The salubrious air helped absolve her mind but she was appreciative of the enveloping warmth and heavy aroma of the library. She nodded to the desk clerk as she continued to the stairwell in the back. It was the fastest and least conspicuous of all of the methods to reaching the other floors.

The clerk was Neville Longbottom today. He sometimes worked weekends with the head librarian, Madam Pince, a rather shriveled and austere woman. Neville was taking some of the same science classes as Hermione. It seemed to the only thing he was good at, compared with the basic classes. He was inordinately bashful, which made people perceive him to be younger than he actually was.

Hermione guessed that his girlfriend, Luna Lovegood, found that attribute charming though. Luna was also in some of their classes as well. If Hermione found Neville a little peculiar, Luna was positively outlandish. But she got along amiably with both of them none the less.

The second floor was abandoned as best as Hermione could tell, though she was cautious to choose a secluded area where she could spread out her books as she pleased. The heady scent of thousands of antique books and magazines called to her more than any expensive perfume. She inhaled deeply. This was all she needed next to a unsullied leaf of paper, a decent writing pen, and homework.

She took off her weighty coat and draped it over the back of her chair before she got to work. It was effortless to lose her inhibitions among figures and formulas for a period. She could decipher problems like pianists played concertos for a living, sinuously and unpretentiously. Sometimes though, she allowed herself to be too engrossed and lost track of her surroundings.

"Oh, Miss Granger, I didn't expect to find you in here today." It took a moment for the superficial voice to register with the face in Hermione's view.

Cormac. He was always so formal, even though it was apparent he was undressing you with his eyes. His tone inflected that actually, he had meant to find her in the library sometime today.

"McLaggen," Hermione nodded, her smile was strained however.

"You are well I hope?"

"Of course," she agreed. "You?"

"Oh you know, studying," he rambled as he sat down across from her. Hermione's heart dropped. She had hoped this would not be an extended stay.

She glanced at her watch. It was much later than she had realized and her stomach was beginning to rumble. She placed a hand over it, hoping to stifle the noise some, so that Cormac would not have much more of a reason to hang around. He was still dithering on about details of which Hermione had no curiosity.

She did pay enough attention so as not to be beguiled into a date or something with him though, while nodding or shaking her head at appropriate intervals.

"You know, as fascinating as all of this is," Hermione interjected politely, "I just remembered that I have somewhere I'm supposed to be." Cormac appeared flabbergasted for a few moments but regained control promptly.

"Well let me accompany you," he offered, his hand brushing hers as she began to cram all of her belongings back into the same bag. Hermione had not actually lied to Ginny. Sooner or later, Cormac always found her, especially when she least wanted him to.

"No that's okay. I wouldn't want to inconvenience you or anything." Predictably he answered that it wasn't a problem and he would be happy to see her safely to wherever she was going.

"I'm fine," Hermione brushed off as she began heading for the front stairs instead of the elevator. At least she wouldn't be stuck in such a small space with him, should the modern convenience happen to break down. She didn't dare tell him where she was heading after she left the library.

"Hermione, if I may, I get the idea that you're playing hard to get," he grinned as he followed her. If Hermione thought that she could take the stairs two at a time and not break her neck, she would have. However, her satchel weighed her down considerably. "I like that," he added, sending unpleasant shivers down her spine.

"No, I'm not leading you on," Hermione confessed.

"Oh, an admission then?" He tried to grab her arm and whirl her around to face him, but Hermione jerked away at the last moment. She could see the bottom stairs and the door just beyond. She broke into a hobbled sprint across the lobby. The desk was surprisingly deserted.

"McLaggen, I'm not interested," she told him. If only Ginny were here to beat him up.

Outside, it was murky and she could see snow flurries wisp by every now and again. A gut feeling churning her stomach told her that being alone with Cormac was a bad idea, especially if he followed her outside. She wouldn't be able to fend him off for long should he attempt anything, which he probably would.

But Hermione didn't want to wait for anyone else to show up. She pressed through the doors and into the frosty darkness, Cormac on her heels.

"I think you are," he insisted, this time grabbing her sleeve. The front steps were a little icier than she had anticipated and she had to crash against Cormac or fall and risk breaking her skull.

"Is this man bothering you love?" a silken voice interrupted from the shadows. Out of absolute disclosure, Cormac stopped his assault as they both glanced to the side of the steps. Hermione could not believe her eyes, as the ostensibly arbitrary stranger from the pub the night before boldly swaggered up to them.

"Who are you then?" Cormac demanded, wrath flashing behind his eyes.

"I'm her boyfriend, mate," the stranger smiled as he pulled Hermione from Cormac's bewildered grasp and led her away. Cormac kept his location on the stairs, dumbfounded, watching after them.

As much as Hermione hoped this was just a happenstance, some part of her knew that it really wasn't. It might have just been the sudden pseudo heroic light he had been cast in, but he didn't seem nearly as abhorrent as the night before. In fact, his scent reminded her of the library with the leather and tobacco; the obvious aroma of a man, as compared to her male classmates that believed the more cologne the better.

"Thank you," she told him as she pulled out of his arms once they were out of sight of Cormac. He let go willingly, but kept pace with her. Hermione felt more ill at ease than before. For all of his eerie behavior, there was a confidence about him that was also alluring. The dining hall wasn't too far away and the current area was better lit as well as more populated.

"No worries." He lit a cigarette, holding it between his index and middle fingers on one hand, the other safely in his pocket. He wasn't trying to assault her either. Already that made him better than Cormac at least. "Another love interest scorned then?" he continued, taking a drag and studying her.

"My love life or lack thereof is none of your business," she chided him.

"Really? I think it becomes my business when I save your arse," he shrugged. He had a point; Hermione relented.

"Fine. He's just some boy that has fancied me for a while."

The man nodded, blowing his smoke away from them, "and do you fancy him?"

"I think that answer is obvious."

"Just had to be sure," he chuckled. "You know, the damsel in distress usually thanks her hero?" Where were her manners?

"Right. Thank you," Hermione told him again.

"I heard you the first time. I meant with a kiss." He turned a scruffy cheek in her direction, waiting, his smoke trailing between them like phantom fingers.

"No." Hermione drew the line at kisses. "I don't even know your name!"

"Problem solved. Scabior," he told her, sticking out the hand that had been in his pocket.

"Just Scabior?"

"Yeah." His hand seemed safe enough.

"Hermione," he introduced, taking her hand briefly and only with his fingers. There was no harm in him knowing her first name was there?

"Just Hermione then?" His accent wasn't cockney exactly, but it was clearly not polished.

"That should suffice."

"You're a strange bird," he shrugged.

"You're one to talk," she fired back. "You follow me out of the pub last night and now you just happen to be here to rescue me? Are you following me around now like him?" She gestured in the direction of Cormac.

"I was here about a job." Hermione raised an eyebrow and Scabior gave her a smirk.

"A job?" He clearly didn't look like the sort that would work anywhere near a university.

However, the front desk had been empty and he had been just nearby. His story could be valid.

But he was wearing some of the same clothes from the night before, especially that faded scarf. Someone needed to get him a new one, as his current one looked hardly adequate against the cold.

"Don't give me that look," he scolded her. "I've seen that look my whole life. Seems the old bird needs some help."

That story could also be true. Everyone on campus knew that Madame Pince was difficult to get along with, as there were never enough assistants because of her authoritarian behavior. Hermione wasn't convinced that Madam Pince would hire him.

The man looked like he had never read a book; much less knew how to behave around them.

"From the likes of you?" While Hermione was nice to mostly everyone, the difference in their class couldn't help but show itself.

"Seems so. She hired me alright." He shrugged and the move was so fluid, so casual that Hermione was envious; as if that shrug enhanced their differences.

Hermione sniffed. Madam Pince must have seen something that she didn't. Or maybe he was lying. She stole a sideways glance; she wouldn't put it past him. Unless there was some sort of higher up that let him in.

Scabior looked exactly like the sort of riff-raff that the Malfoys would associate with to do their dirty work. Lucius Malfoy was one of the prosperous benefactors behind her university, which meant that he pulled quite a bit of weight. His son, Draco, got extra attention during classes.

"Good for you," she told him, although she wasn't sure if she meant it or not. He smirked, although his eyes seemed different. Hermione tried to avoid looking too profoundly in them, lest she glimpse something she actually recognized. "Although you might be leading me on."

He let out of snort of mock surprise. "Why on earth would I want to go and do that? What could I possibly gain?"

"A lot of things," she snapped. "You would be wise to leave me be." A quick severing of ties was best. She picked up her pace as best she could. But things were never that simple.

"I would be wise to leave you be?" he repeated, unable to keep the laughter from his voice. "You," he said, catching up easily and taking her elbow to steady her hobbled pace, "who couldn't fight off one of her would-be suitors?" Hermione had to admit that he had a way of striking her buttons and showing her points of view she didn't want to see. He had her stopped in front of the dining room.

Hermione watched as he dropped some of the cinders from the cigarette, the embers sizzling against the damp surface of the concrete keeping her temporarily mesmerized, until he stubbed them out with a hard boot.

"What do you want from me?" she demanded.

"Who says I want anything?" His eyes, which she had been trying to evade, actually seemed to reflect a sort of innocence, as opposed to the several different emotions that seemed to continually flicker behind them.

"Because men who try this hard always want something."

"No one does anything for free anymore do they?" One of his slender hands reached for her hair, unbound around her shoulders. Hermione flinched, as a knee-jerk reaction.

Scabior didn't seem affected though. He continued reaching until he had a decent lock of the wild curls between his fingers. Every instinct in her body told Hermione to knee him in the groin and run off, but there was some sort of childlike inquisitiveness about him that drew her in as much as it repelled her.

"No, everything has a price," she muttered.

"Then how much would it cost me to get to know you?"

"More than you could afford."

"Are you sure?" Later, Hermione could think of no reason to rationalize her next move other than she felt like she owed him for saving her from one foul situation.

"No." Something akin to amusement flickered behind his gaze.

"Just a trial period then?" Hermione could not control the erratic hammering of her heart as he leaned closer, to study her in the weak light. Somehow this man set her on edge almost as much as he intrigued her.

"Fine."

"That wasn't so hard, was it love?" He pulled away and Hermione couldn't help but feel the degrees around her drop slightly. She shook her head. "Tomorrow," he said as he flicked the cigarette and started to head back the way they had just come. "Meet me outside the library."

"Maybe," Hermione confirmed in a small voice. She felt extremely drained and would have just gone back to her room if she hadn't been so hungry. Her cell phone had been buzzing the entire time but she hadn't noticed. After a few seconds of watching Scabior retreat into the night, she dug around in her pocket and pulled it out. Ginny had called several times.

'ermione, where 'ave you been? I've been trying to reach you to see if you want to eat with me. Call me back as soon as you get this. I'm worried! Shouted the voicemail. Hermione called her back as rapid as her freezing fingers would allow. Why hadn't she brought gloves before?

"Ginny?" she asked once someone picked up.

"ermione! I was really worried," the younger woman shouted. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine; I just got carried away studying you know."

"Exactly. Where are you now?"

"Outside the dining hall."

"Good. Get inside and get something to eat. I'm at our usual spot."

"Fine." They exchanged perfunctory goodbyes and Hermione followed her usual routine. Ginny was sitting in a corner near the front that Hermione had staked out her first year so that she could do homework and eat since she was despondent. Ginny was waiting for her, minus Harry or anyone else and Hermione couldn't help but feel relieved.

"ow did your study date go then?"

"Oh really well. Got a lot done."

"Really?" Hermione knew in an instant that she had fallen into one of Ginny's traps. "Because it seemed like Neville said it got a little physical at the end." Busted. Neville must have been nearby. Hermione had overlooked the fact that Ginny knew the clerk too. He probably called her and told her that something was wrong.

"Fine, so I wasn't actually going to meet Cormac McLaggen."

"You don't even like 'im it sounds like, as some boyfriend that I'd never 'eard of came to your rescue?" Double busted. If she mentioned Ron, then Hermione would be going for three.

"You caught me," Hermione sighed. Ginny raised an eyebrow keenly. "Okay, so it's like this," Hermione started as she spilled out the whole story. She should have known that she couldn't lie to Ginny. What had she been thinking?

"And now this creepy bloke works 'ere?"

"He's not that bad," Hermione found herself saying as she picked at her food. Her ravenous hunger before had vanished with the story. Ginny looked incredulous.

"ermione, you know I don't normally tell you what to do," Ginny started, her voice quiet. "But please be careful?"

"I will," she agreed. After that, talk turned to habitual topics even after the girls continued to their hall. Hermione tried to push Scabior as far from her mind as possible, and it worked until she was ready for bed. Her mind continued to rotate him through her thoughts as she tried to get a good night's rest, though she only succeeded in spending most of the night tossing and turning.

Author's Note: A penny for your thoughts?