Good Afternoon, you guys! Hope your weekends have been splendid. I was unfortunately stuck at work all day yesterday and unable to update…BUT. I've come up with lots of nasty, wicked, little plot points AND have finished outlining this story in it's entirety…with some really scary scenes…baddies galore… lots of sex and unparalleled drama with a SHOCKING revelation. (This is my evil attempt at drawing you further into my crazy mind) As always, thank you for your AMAZING reviews and support. Writing this would suck without all of you.
Enjoy!
M. x
Hermione Granger had not slept a wink. Nor was she inclined to rest her eyes anytime soon. Upon receiving that pathetically, nasty threat, she had kicked into high gear; ripping off her heels and grabbing her wand, she had rushed from her bedroom without a second glance at Snape or Draco. Hermione hurried off down to the dungeons, intent on completing their potion before dawn.
By the time Snape and Draco had joined her, she was hunched over a workbench, her hair wild like a storm of electricity; one hand stirring a cauldron and the other taking notes furiously. She barely glanced at them as they joined her and the three of them spent the rest of the night working on the altered Veritaserum.
It was only when the sound of footsteps in the kitchen began, that Hermione lifted her head from her calculations. My God. She gaze at the stone ceiling. Was it already morning? She looked over to Draco who was watching her with the strangest expression. It looked as if he were torn between denial, frustration and exhaustion. Snape was muttering to himself, his eyes, somehow, still keen and alert as he added his own twist to their concoction. He sprinkled an unknown substance that he had brought down from his private stores; the potion hissed and turned a deep red, Snape smiled, staring down at the cauldron. Hermione was beyond curious.
"It must sit for twelve hours...exactly." He turned to Hermione. "Then. We shall test it." He turned to Draco, raising an eyebrow. "Any…volunteers?"
"You could ask Ginny Weasely." Draco smirked at the glare Snape was omitting. "I'm sure she wouldn't object to a little experimentation." Hermione smacked his arm.
"Severus-"
"Go get some sleep Miss Granger." He snapped. "Your hair is absolutely atrocious. I can no longer stand the sight of it." She huffed indignantly and threw Draco a filthy glare before gathering her notes and exiting the dungeons. She slammed the door for good measure.
But no. Hermione didn't get some sleep. She went directly to the kitchens for a strong pot of coffee instead. She would review her notes there and come up with a plan to finish Umbridge once and for all. As she threw open the kitchen door with utter purpose, she was met with two sets of eyes, both extremely glazed over and looking as sleepless as she. All thoughts of Umbridge suddenly fled from her mind. Sirius and Harry were sitting at the far end of the kitchen table sharing a bottle of whiskey. Hermione's eyes flew to the clock.
"It's not even seven in the morning!" She snapped at the two of them. "What the hell are you doing?"
"'Mione." Harry slurred. "I have got a question. Is it still morning if you haven't gone to sleep? Or if you've gone to another place? Like an alternate universe. You know?"
Hermione's mouth fell open in shock. "Of course it's still morning. I hate to break to you, Harry Potter, but time doesn't just stand still for you!" He seemed to consider her words.
"Yeah. Yeah…You know, I think you're right."
"Good Morning, Hermione." Sirius grinned with a sloppy smile. She threw him a glare full of disapproval before heading over to the counter to make her coffee. "Lovely party last night, wouldn't you say?" She turned to him with disbelief as Harry groaned and slammed his head down onto the table.
"You are unbelievable, Sirius." Dammit. She added too much sugar.
"So I've been told."
Hermione waved her wand and two cups of steaming hot coffee settled down in front of them. Sirius slapped Harry on the arm.
"Look, mate! Exactly what you need, a little pick me up." Sirius grabbed the whiskey and poured liberally into each mug. Hermione joined them at the table moments later, slamming her own mug down.
"That's supposed to sober you up!" She hissed with annoyance.
"What?" Sirius looked at her in shock. "Why?"
"Why?" She raged, flinging her arms out and indicating to Harry. "Look at the state of him! He- he's an Auror for God sake!"
"But it's Sunday. Day of rest and all that, no?" Sirius patted Harry's back and gave her his best puppy dog eyes. Hermione sank wearily into a chair. "He works hard Hermione, he had a bloody awful night. Lay off a bit with the bossing." She narrowed her eyes with a furious expression.
"Listen to me Sirius, I know all about indulging in a little fun-" He raised his eyebrows with a wicked smirk.
"Do you now?"
"But-" She continued loudly, blushing at the tone of his sexy drawl. "We have more important things to worry about at the moment. I can't have Harry in this state."
"You do realize that if you sober him up right now, he's going to be incredibly angry, right?"
Hermione hesitated a moment. She could retire with her coffee and notes to the library, this very moment, and leave Harry to wander around like a drunken zombie, or…they could talk. Or yell. Whichever. What was the difference anyway? Everyone seemed to be yelling at her these days. Or maybe that was her own conscience screaming from inside of her brain. She realized suddenly that once she and Harry got this God-awful conversation out of the way, they could focus on more important matters. That brought Dolores Umbridge right back to the front of her brain.
"This was delivered here last night. To me." She slid the parchment over the table to Sirius, whose grin slowly slid off of his face; he picked it up and read quickly. His gaze suddenly turned serious.
"Well we can't have that, can we?" He took a large sip of his spiked coffee then got to his feet quickly. He walked towards the pantry, slipped inside and began rummaging around.
"Dammit Kreacher! Can you not lurk in here."
"Kreacher is sorry he almost stabbed Master with a kitchen knife. Kreacher will be more careful of where he lurks. Though Kreacher doesn't have to listen to Black, no he doesn't. Mistress Hermione tells Kreacher he can do whatever that pleases him. Yes, Mistress Hermione is the boss of this home." Hermione smiled despite herself. Sirius cursed loudly as Kreacher appeared from behind the door, bowing deeply to Hermione before scurrying off.
Harry raised his head slowly. His eyes blinking with confusion.
"Sirius?" He yelled. "Sirius? Did Ginny do it? Did she really sleep with Snape?"
"I'm afraid so." Sirius' muffled reply came from the other side of the door. Harry shuddered and looked as if he was going to vomit. Hermione took pity on him and reached out to grab his hand. His unfocused eyes raised to her worried gaze.
"Hermione? Is that really you?"
"Yes, Harry. It's really me."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"So am I." He smiled at her a bit before dropping his head back down. Sirius returned with a bottle of purple potion. He uncorked it with a pop, and set it down in front of Harry.
"Drink up!" Harry jumped at his voice but did as he was told. Here we go, Hermione cringed to herself. Just then, Pansy came bounding into the room wearing nothing but a skimpy nightie.
"Good Morning!" She sung, before flouncing over to the counter and waving her wand, as food began to prepare itself. She moved around in a whirlwind, setting steaming mugs of tea onto a tray with chocolate croissants and fresh strawberries…champagne and juice, the whole works. Hermione watched her in amazement.
"Sirius," She purred from over her shoulder. "Will you be joining Theo, Blaise and I for breakfast…" She turned completely around, posing up against the sink, giving him a wicked smirk. "In bed?" Hermione gasped at her proposition and Pansy shrieked with mirth.
"Granger, you're more than welcome to join us…" Hermione blushed from the tips of her toes to the top of her head.
"My God, Parkinson. You are such a slag!" Pansy grinned.
"Are you're such a prude!" With another wave of her wand, the decadent breakfast flew into the air and began to follow her out of the kitchen. "Well maybe not so much after last night, I suspect…" Sirius jumped to his feet with anticipation, he threw one quick look to his Godson who seemed to be returning to his senses and took off after the sound of Pansy's delicious laughter.
Hermione sighed in defeat. Who was she kidding? As if she was going to get any work done with Slytherin Sex orgies happening for the remainder of the morning and probably well into the afternoon. Suddenly, she was wondering where Draco was. Maybe in the shower…A shot of lust rushed through her as she tried to rid her head of such fantasies. Enough already! She turned her gaze back to Harry. Shit. All alertness had returned to his eyes and he was staring at her with vivid intensity. Hermione found herself unable to look away.
"So." She began pathetically, not having any clue what to say. After several moments of silence, his eyes hardened into barely suppressed fury.
"So." He spat back at her. "So. So what?"
Hermione was silent.
"So. I got back here last night after getting punched in the face by my fiancé only to literally run into my best mate, who proceeded to punch me in the face again, several times, in fact, before resigning from his position and vacating this twisted excuse for a house. Then, Hermione," He growled with growing agitation. "I went home to find Ginny, who hit me with several hexes, then after hours of screaming, decided to break things off, and reevaluate both of our horrible decisions." He spat as he closed his eyes as if to block out a disturbing image. Hermione was more than a bit upset with his disgust.
"I'm glad to know you feel that way." She replied waspishly. He looked at her with utter rage.
"You know perfectly well that that's not how I feel at all! " He yelled in her face. "What the hell were you thinking Hermione? Why in God's name did you tell that snake!"
"She's not a snake! Draco tricked her-"
"Don't even get me started on that bloody bastard!" He roared standing swiftly and glowering over her in wrath.
"It was my fault! If anything, blame me!" She cried, pushing back from the table and jumping up as well. He stared at he like he had never seen her before. There was an unending silence, and then:
"Your fault? Hermione. It's my fault." The anger left him in seconds and he dropped back down into his seat, his head in his hands. "It's all my fault. Don't you remember?" His voice broke. She approached him cautiously, lowering herself into the seat next to him. "It was my idea. I was the one who said we should keep it a secret. I'm the one who pushed you away. If I had just told them…things would be so different right now." Hermione placed her hand on his back and rubbed it in soothing circles, his body shuddered under her touch. "So. You see? You've always been my greatest strength and my most damaging weakness." She closed her eyes at his words and tears, she couldn't control, slid silently down her cheeks.
"You did the right thing." She whispered. "Ron wouldn't have understood."
His eyes snapped up to hers and his jaw clenched with anger.
"Yes. You loving me would have just been another thing for Ron to hold against me. To view as something else I had taken from him. You heard what he said. You Win." His gaze was filled with contempt. He reached out slowly and stroked her face, his eyes kept flickering down to her lips. "None of that matters now." His quiet invitation sounded like a thousand trumpets blowing against her eardrums. The look he was giving her was bringing back a flood of unwanted memories: their bodies joined together, the passionate thrusts and sweaty limbs, his words of love and devotion, his intense green….Suddenly an image of piercing grey eyes penetrated her vision. She gasped and leaned back from him quickly, looking down at her coffee. Harry stared at her for several moments before lowering his gaze to his own mug. He added a bit more whiskey.
"Don't you think you've had enough?" He was irritating her now.
"No."
"Harry-"
"It's him, isn't it?" He nodded his own head as if confirming with himself.
"Who?" She asked, dreading the next words out of his mouth.
"Since when do you play stupid?" He spat.
"You know. I'm really tired of people calling me stupid-"
"Are you in love with him?"
"What!? Are you insane?"
"No more than the rest of you, apparently."
"I am not in love with him. I already told you why we are "dating." He scoffed at her quotation marks.
"Yes, to catch Umbridge." He rolled his eyes.
"Mock all you want, but for the record, it's working." She snarled as she threw the parchment at him. He blinked several times, his eyes becoming darker and darker as he read the note. There were several seconds of tense silence before Harry slammed his fist down onto the table with a mighty crash; his coffee went flying and Hermione jumped back in shock.
"And why am I JUST hearing about this?" He roared. "When were you going to tell me?"
"It just came last night!" She yelled back in defense. "It's not as if you were in any state to read last night, let alone go off and kill Umbridge."
"Oh, I am going to do much worse than that." His pupils were so dilated it was as if his eyes had turned to obsidian.
"Harry, please calm down." He turned to her, breathing like an enraged dragon.
"I'm going to the Ministry. You are to stay here until I return. I'm not kidding Hermione, don't you dare give me that look. I am ordering you-" She threw him a glare that could have melted diamonds. "-As your superior, not to leave this house."
"How dare you treat me like a child." She flew to her feet and glared at him with everything she had. "I'm coming with you, this has just as much to do with me, and I'm more than capable-" He pulled her against him quickly, his eyes closing at the sensation of her body pressed up against him so intimately. Her cries of pleasure, her words of love as he sent her over the edge into oblivion. In that moment, Harry would have given anything to be back in their tent, hidden away from the rest of the world, just the two of them…always. Snape's words slammed into his brain as he dropped his head into the crook of her neck and breathed deeply.
"Please. Please. Just stay here… for me." He felt the tension in her body flee as she sighed against him.
"Fine, but I will be plotting. I have the perfect plan and the perfect place to catch Umbridge." Harry pulled back from her embrace and looked down at her.
"And I'm guessing this plan is going to involve Malfoy?" Her eyes became steely with determination.
"Yes. And Rita Skeeter." Harry groaned in defeat.
"Wonderful." He turned to grab his jacket. "We will all discuss it together when I get back, alright?" He reached across the table and grabbed the letter from Umbridge. That evil bitch was going to pay for this.
"It's going to work. I know it is." Her eyes were bright with a challenge. Harry almost smiled.
"You're The bloody, brilliant Hermione Granger, of course it's going to work." He headed towards the fireplace, grabbing a handful of floo-powder. "In the meantime, just stay out of trouble." He gave her a warning look before glancing down at the letter again. "I'm sending this straight to forensics, I'll be home later." He turned to leave and then something in his tone struck her as odd.
"Harry?" He looked back at her questioningly. "When you say later, you mean tonight?" He nodded. "If you and Ginny aren't…are you…?" She frowned.
"Looking at your new flat-mate." He grinned before disappearing in a burst of green flames. Hermione closed her eyes and pleaded with the universe to stop complicating her already horrendously disorganized life. She looked around the now deserted kitchen and huffed in annoyance; her coffee was cold and she could cry at the injustice of it all. Instead of logically using a simple warming spell, Hermione Granger reached for the whiskey before collecting her notes, the library on her mind.
Dolores Umbridge does not want to cross an unstable Hermione Granger, now that was fact. Oh joy, she was now referring to herself in the third person. A third person. A triangle. A threesome. A Ménage À Trois . Goddamit Pansy. Hermione closed her eyes and brought the bottle up to her lips. With dread, she braced herself for the liquid fire that slammed down her throat. Maybe I'll drown. She thought hopefully. Hermione Granger was in over her head.