AN:

So the very lovely hizqueen4life is probably going to wish England was a smidge closer so she could wring my neck for posting while she's sleeping and this not having the chance to edit before the chapter goes live. As always, any errors she catches will be adjusted after I get my tush chewed out for being impatient, again.

***Please be sure to check the chapter's end note for information regarding my projected update schedule for October***

Chapter Twelve: Obsession

"No, no, no," Regulus protested, jumping into the doorway of Severus's library. "You stayed in last weekend."

"I had to regrow the bones in my knee, Reg!"

Waving him off, his hyperactive little brother dismissed, "A convenient excuse. I'm still not convinced you didn't do it to yourself to get out of going to Gilded with me."

Picking him up with a grunt and throwing him over his shoulder, Severus walked into the room, tossing Regulus down on the couch in a heap as he said, "One, Cissy will vouch for me. Even if it's just to complain about my lack of compliance with her healing directives.

"Two, you and I both know, I don't need a fucking excuse. I'll just tell you no. And don't even think about making those sad, silvery eyes at me. That shite only works when coming from my mother hen.

"And three," he ticked off, scanning the titles on his shelves in search of a particular text dedicated to casting tracking spells on objects and people. "You do release, you aren't released from school every weekend so that you can go chase after gold digging bints looking to birth your bastard or get so pissed you can't even find your prick when you need to… well piss, right?" he chuckled. "You're supposed to be off in one of the circles of hell spending every last minute that you can with your dear ole' dad."

"Okay, one correction, two counter-arguments, and two points of victory."

"Oh this should be good," he drawled, turning around, book in hand, to lean against the shelf as he crossed his arms. "Go on then, tell me, how exactly are you going to come out victorious and force me out tonight?"

Giving him a wicked smile, Regulus taunted, "Just you wait and see, you raggedy runt."

"Don't forget, baby brother, I can still whoop you, magic or not," Severus tsked.

Once again dismissing him and making him roll his eyes in affectionate exasperation, Reggie began his counterattack by correcting, "Orion is our dad–"

"Only by technicality."

"His sperm makes up half your DNA, Sev. Technicality or not, he is our dad and you are my brother. So please, stop trying to disown me. If you don't accept me, that leaves me with Sirius," he shuddered.

"Now that would be unfortunate."

"Exactly, and you love me far too much to subject me to him and Mummy Dearest without backup."

Sighing as he nodded in feigned reluctant agreement, Severus circled his fingers through the air, urging his brother to speed things along. He had a witch to find before he went completely spare from her disappearance.

Hermione had vanished through the floo of the Leaky Cauldron two nights ago and had yet to resurface, leaving him none too happy about it–not that he was often classified as a happy sort. Regardless, his little witch had seemingly dropped off the face of the earth transforming his general prickliness into full on, short patiented moodiness.

At first, he had paid her hasty departure no mind, assuming she hadn't wanted to reveal where she lay her head at night to a wizard she knew to be a Death Eater. The thought had even made him smile as she was swallowed up in flames because he was obviously infatuated with her, wanting far more to care for her and hear her breathy sighs of Daddy aloud than to cause her even an ounce of harm. But then his sweet angel hadn't shown up for her shift the following morning. Odd given how uniformly she kept to her schedule, but not concerning as the meddlesome shop owner seemed unperturbed. She had even offered up that Hermione's presence had been requested at the Ministry to sort out the transfer of her SEAL scores when Severus had come in under the pretense of inquiring about taking her to lunch.

Things went from odd but easily dismissed to peculiar however when he turned up at the Ministry not too long after hoping to catch her in the mass exodus knowing no one who kept the firm tape of bureaucracy in place would miss their lunch break. But he hadn't seen her and moreover her name was nowhere to be found on the day's visitor log and there was absolutely no mention of any last minute appointments posted on the secretary's calendar for the department. Always thorough–or obsessive as Narcissa and Regulus would say if they knew what he was up to, Cissy undoubtedly also slapping the back of his head in reprimand for throwing out years of education on proper courting–in his searches, he hung about, scanning the minds of the department's employees as they returned waiting to see if she turned up. Aside from some less than scandalous interdepartmental gossip about who was sleeping with who though, there was nothing to find and no trace of his witch.

She was toying with him, he was certain. Giving chase, testing his admittedly overzealous attention and pursuit of her. A page ripped right out of any well to do witch's playbook when handling potential suitors. Narcissa would be so proud–and flabbergasted–to know not all of her teachings had fallen on deaf ears. If his angel thought it would deter him, she was wrong and had a great deal to learn about him. It only further piqued his curiosity about her. Driving him to want to delve into her no doubt beautiful mind and learn every facet of who she was. His covetous nature rising to the surface as he greedily sought to know the things she shared with no one else. To be the one she lacked filter with. The one she unburdened herself to each and every day.

Fresh out of places of where Hermione should be on a Thursday afternoon, Severus had turned his focus onto places she would want to be. That too proved to be a fruitless endeavor. She wasn't taking in a lavish tea at the Briar Lounge, uncaring of the fact that she was alone, her company coming from within the pages of her books. And she wasn't stepping out on Between the Covers, to covertly search and erotically caress the spines of her naughty novels deep inside Flourish and Blotts. Checking inside Spring Frills–the sweet little boutique off the main alley that caters to the tastes of the hyper-feminine–was his last ditch effort of tracking her down without other, less favorable means, at work knowing how dreamy eyed she would get flitting through their racks of clothes, her fingers skimming the fine fabrics before reluctantly turning away. All that had ended up providing him with was a detour that tempted him into shopping until he was parted with more galleons than he would have spent on anything other than potion ingredients or equipment had he been shopping for himself. Though he did admit seeing her in the scraps of lace and silk, baby soft jumpers and flowing dresses, and velvet bows he purchased would bring just as much enjoyment to him—probably more so—as he hoped it brought her to receive and wear. By the time the first day of her absence had come to a close, he was no closer to knowing where she had gotten off to. So reluctant as he was, Severus bit the wand as it were and did the one thing he desperately had wished to avoid.

Though always hidden under long sleeves and occasionally masquerading as an unfortunate potions accident that warranted being wrapped in bandages, the tattoo on the inside of his left arm that branded him for what few could confirm he was, granted him certain leverages. In particular, unfettered access to the Muggleborn Registration Commission. He didn't agree with the tightening noose that had been placed around muggleborns' necks but he also wasn't above availing himself to such a resource. Its placement as a last resort option came instead from a fellow follower, Corban Yaxley. Severus knew word of his interest in the department and pulling of files would spread throughout the Inner Circle and to the Dark Lord within a week. Something he did not want to happen if only because he wanted to keep his little witch's Phoenix affiliation off the radar of others.

Still, he had ignored Yaxley's prodding questions and tasteless jokes about his known history with the muggleborn in question and pulled Lily's file. The demonic specter of his past wasn't good for a lot these days but activating the trace that had been placed on her person following the completion of her NEWTs made her invaluable. Or at least needed so as to not waste any more time tracking Hermione.

Yes, he was obsessive and even he could agree that his actions had officially crossed into stalking and not mere reconnaissance, but he truthfully didn't care. He was helpless to the driving need inside of him to get closer to her. A losing battle that he hadn't even tried to fight.

Thus after temporarily activating Lily's trace, his entire Friday went to stalking the depthless cunt he had once fancied himself in love with. And by the end of the day, his desire to be Crucioed by Bella was stronger than his wish to spend another minute listening to her whine to the McKinnon chit about Potter and his apparent fascination with his witch. Because of course he would once again find himself facing off against Potter, the two of them seemingly caught in yet another battle of garnering a witch's favor.

By the time Lily had begun to lose steam in her tirade and he had followed them back to her flat–a place he despised Hermione living in, knowing how vitriolic the redhead was towards his little witch–he was in dire need of a drink, or three. That wasn't to say however the vapid cow's ranting wasn't informative. While he hadn't learned where she'd gotten off to, he had learned all about how his witch had Dumbledore's ear and confidence. Her presence within the Order apparently shaking up and obliterating the established hierarchy. It was good information to have given his own alignment in the political conflict–information he would no doubt have to utilize when word got out about his sojourn to the Commission–but it also made him wish to wring Lily's neck for openly talking about and naming such things.

Was she not aware of the danger she could be putting Hermione in? Or was she that self-absorbed and petty that she didn't care? Either way, his former friend's behavior further spurred him in his quest of finding the little witch. He may be a Death Eater but it was her Order's blatant lack of self-preservation and secrecy that was going to put her in danger. Hence his new desire to tap her with a trace once located. He may desire to be all things to her, but even he knew it was unrealistic to become her permanent shadow. At least with a trace he would know where she was at all times and with a few minor tweaks to the spell, he would be able to monitor the level of potential harm she faced.

"Sev, are you uneven listening to me? Severus… Caelum!" Regulus shouted, jolted him out of his deep thoughts.

"What?"

"Fuck's sake, you didn't hear a word I said, did you? Ugh, no matter, the important thing is this: You are coming out with me tonight and you will be singing my praises for years to come because of it. Fight it all you want, but it will be happening."

"Reg, I already told you, I have things—"

"No!" he interrupted. "Unacceptable. Nars should be on her way over any minute now and you already admitted you can't say no to her. So go upstairs, get showered, put on something that will have all the good little girls dropping their knickers for ya, and get your arse back down here."

Massaging the space between his brow, he sighed, "Can't this wait until next weekend? I promise I will go out with you then to any and all bars and clubs you demand. But I need to work on this, it's rather urgent," he said, holding up the book as he summoned his decanter of whiskey.

Catching the crystal as it traveled across the room, Regulus held it hostage and met his tired eyes with the burning mercury of his own as he dangled, "I know about Hermione Lukovë."

The reminder jerked Severus's full attention back to his brother as he recalled the other issue he faced in garnering her affection. Not only was Potter an obstacle, but a bigger, more important one stood in his way. How could he have forgotten about the derisive comments he had overheard about Hermione being unable to keep Regulus's attention?

Plopping into one of the arm chairs and spreading out, he evenly commented, "Yes, I heard about the witch you refer to as your Lady. Quite the deceleration ahead of the Season starting. Cissy will be devastated to learn that she won't have you to put all her attention on."

"Is that jealousy I hear?" Regulus smirked, leaning back to hook an ankle over his knee. "My, my whatever could have your wand in such a knot? Surely not the idea that Nars would rather play the role of overbearing mama to me and not you."

"You're delusional."

"And you're deflecting," he laughed. "But in the interest of time, I'll dispense with the games. Yes, I refer to Hermione as my Lady Black, but not my Lady, yours. Give whatever façade you wish, Severus, but you and I both know you are obsessed with the little doll and covet a taste of her sweet, untouched—"

"Watch it," he hissed, his blank tone changing to sharp and clear warning.

"Gotcha."

Rubbing his hands over his face, Severus huffed, "Okay, yes. I met her the other night and have been… consumed by the thought of her. Are you happy?"

"No, but it's a start," Regulus triumphantly smiled. "What will make me happy is you getting your arse upstairs and getting ready for Gilded. I put her and the rest of those arseholes on the list and extracted about a dozen different promises from her that she would show tonight.

"I also have it on excellent authority that she will be dressed to devastate tonight. Wouldn't want anyone else—say Sirius or Potter—trying to mosey in on your little pen, now would you?"

Sitting up and leaning in, he pointed at his brother's far too pleased and mischievous face and growled, "Don't fuck with me, Reggie."

Hands up in surrender, he solemnly swore, "About the little doll that'll become your wife? Never."

Making a fist to consolidate the near reflexive and arousing response he had to such a possible future, Severus calmly replied, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

With his pupils blowing wide until nothing but blackness remained, Regulus distantly whispered, "Mmm, no. It's as inevitable as the sun rising tomorrow," before shaking his head clear and reiterating at a regular volume, "Now go upstairs and maybe take a few extra minutes in the shower to release that growing situation between your legs so you won't be a minuteman later tonight," his eyes returning to normal as he laughed at his own joke.

Wanking the air, Severus muttered, "Piss off," before standing up and taking the stairs to his bedroom two at a time, his body humming with anticipation for what the night would bring.

AN:

First, all credit for Reggie's "minuteman" comment goes to hizqueen4life. When discussing this chapter we had a crack-fic moment that has had us laughing for days and I couldn't resist putting in her commentary

Now since you have finished reading the admittedly very short chapter, y'all also are probably wanting to wring my neck huh? So let me just say, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. The club scene was totally supposed to happen this chapter. However as I got deep into writing, this ended up having a very natural chapter conclusion popup. So instead of fighting it I rolled with it. I promise though, the next chapter WILL have Severus and Hermione on page together once more and tings will be getting... spicy

Also, due to some new shifts in my schedule for the month of October, any posting I do will be occurring to Wednesdays. I MAY be able to post early but there are a lot of busy days ahead so I'm not counting on it. Bright side, hizqueen4life may be a LITTLE less exasperated with me
Thank you so much and again, I promise, promise, promise, the club scene is for real next. The song teasers at the end of last chapter still apply and it has already been named... Territory. And because I truly feel awful about the slow progress of posting updates AND the delay in what we're all waiting for, the chapter after Territory is called... Firsts

And one last thing, for my DDlg lovers, I do have an ABO Snamione posted that will feature Potions Daddy and I have a new fic-well it's teaser-posted that will have Potions Daddy as well, this one being an Eighth Year fic with Headmaster Snape and Head Girl Hermione. I also have begun re-posting Soulful Surrender, my Voldemort Wins, soulmate Snamione. Not DDlg but still BDSM if it so pleases y'all.

Thank you so much for all your support,

💕 Melanie