Hermione's body automatically gasped in a lungful of air in reaction to the uncomfortable squeezing sensation she'd endured. She looked around eagerly, turning her head this way and that in anticipation.
"Over here, Miss Granger," a voice called behind her and she whirled around. Wilkie Twycross, her apparation instructor, stood a few yards away. Hermione felt a thrill of triumph at successfully managing to apparate to the correct location, and then she quickly looked herself over to check that she hadn't managed to splinch herself.
"Well, let's get a good look at you," Twycross said as he strode across the hilltop. "Need to make sure nothing's missing before I sign you off."
Hermione had noticed no major or minor body parts were missing, but she knew that if even half an eyebrow had been left behind then she would fail. Twycross scrutinised her closely as he closed the gap but Hermione was momentarily distracted by the arrival of Tonks, who had followed Hermione from her previous location to check that everything was OK. Tonks grinned when she saw her, giving her a thumbs up and a wink, boosting Hermione's confidence that she had been truly successful.
"Yes, well, I must admit that my expectations were not high when I was given this task," Twycross continued as he circled her. "After all, most students have practice sessions spread out over two months before attempting to take their test, and we've only had these three Sunday afternoons, but…" He paused dramatically as he stopped in front of Hermione's front, his inspection apparently complete. "I am pleased to inform you that you have passed, Miss Granger."
"Congrats, Hermione," Tonks said, beaming. "I knew you'd do it."
"Of course, when one really embraces the methodology of The Three D's of apparation, success isn't far behind. Now, even though you've successfully apparated once, you must ensure that you are always determined to reach your destination with deliberation," Twycross lectured pompously and Tonks rolled her eyes behind his back and adopted an overtly bored expression at the three words he had repeated endlessly during her lessons, which Tonks had also had to endure as part of her assigned protection of Hermione. "It doesn't matter if it's your seventh apparation or your seven hundreth - you must do all you can to keep yourself safe."
"Yes, sir," Hermione replied politely, desperately trying to ignore Tonks's antics.
"Come, let us return to the Department so that I can get your examination paperwork written up," Twycross instructed, waving his hand towards a small house at the bottom of the hill. "The fireplace inside is connected to the Floo Network."
"See, there's nothing to it," Tonks told her amiably, slinging her arm around Hermione's shoulders as they all trudged down the slope. "Not for a smart cookie like you anyway."
"Thanks," she replied, unable to resist the wide smile that spread across her face. It was nice to get the pressure of one of her anxieties off her chest - Merlin knew she had enough to be dealing with at the moment. She was looking forward to telling Ron and Harry the good news.
The Ministry was quieter than it had been on her last visit and Hermione put that down to it being a Sunday. She imagined that the building would be almost deserted if there wasn't currently a war being fought.
Within a few minutes, she and Tonks were being shown into Wilkie Twycross's office in the Department of Magical Transportation after he'd paused to fill out a couple of memos at the front desk. It was a rather dull room, much like the man himself, but it was well-organised and therefore met with Hermione's approval. He started pulling parchments, quill and ink from various drawers without having to look properly. He murmured to himself about the correct procedures for filling in the forms even though Hermione was sure he had done so hundreds of times before. "If you'll just bear with me, I'll have this filled out in a jiffy."
This turned out to be a misleading statement as Twycross was painstakingly precise with his paperwork. Hermione was tempted to talk to Tonks as they waited, but she thought this might distract the instructor and only make him work slower, so the two women could only exchange exasperated expressions as the seconds ticked slowly by. Hermione could sense that Tonks was reaching the end of the tether when Twycross exclaimed, "There, all done."
"Brilliant," Tonks sighed with relief, getting to her feet. "So we're good to go then?"
Twycross looked surprised. "Oh, no, that was just the record of the examination - I've still got the certificate and licence to complete. I'll be finished before you know it!"
Tonks's expression fell and Hermione could see that her jaw was clenched tightly as she stared at the man with annoyance. "Great," she replied through gritted teeth. "Hermione, you must be thirsty - I'm going to go and grab you a drink."
"Oh but - " Hermione began to protest that the offer wasn't necessary but Tonks had already opened the door.
"Back in a tick," Tonks called, clearly mocking Twycross's misleading phrases before she disappeared from view.
Hermione's shoulders slumped at the prospect of having to remain in the awkward, boring atmosphere. Twycross rose from his desk and moved towards the cabinet behind Hermione to remove some items. As he returned to his desk, Hermione caught a whiff of fresh parchment and she smiled at the pleasant scent - one of her favourites, as had been proven by her ability to discern the aroma when she'd encountered the Amortentia potion at the beginning of the school year. She'd also been able to easily pick out the scent of freshly-mown grass but had struggled to place the final aroma that was meant to replicate something else that she was attracted to. It wasn't a particularly sweet or fragrant smell, but much more earthy and heady. She had spent a few days struggling to place it and had given up finding the source of this attraction.
The truth had hit her like a punch to the gut.
Dolohov.
The scent belonged to him.
She'd made the connection during her first visit following the exposure to Amortentia as he'd slid his hand behind her neck, unknowingly bringing his scent much closer. The intoxicating nature of the aroma made more sense as it filled her brain and she'd reacted in a rough panic, shoving Dolohov away as comprehension began to seep through her. She wanted to deny it but now that she had made the connection, Dolohov's scent seemed to surround her, and there was no mistaking that it matched what she'd sensed in Professor Slughorn's lesson.
That she could be attracted to the cruel, manipulative Death Eater that had tried to kill her was an incredibly upsetting revelation, and she'd cringed away from his touch for the remainder of their session, looking for any opportunity to distract herself.
Inevitably, she had pondered over the realisation at length in the following days and had re-read a lot of information about the potion. And, after a while, she had come to accept that on a biological level her body was attracted to Dolohov's presence. This was not a new revelation: she'd realised very early on that she physically enjoyed the effect his touch had on her. But the association with Amortentia and the potion's links to love had thrown her, and she'd questioned whether their intense relationship had tricked her mind into thinking there was more to her time with Dolohov than pleasurable relief. It was something to do with hormones, Hermione was sure about that, but the Hogwarts library was horrendously lacking in books on neurobiology and so her theory couldn't be confirmed.
She did not love Antonin Dolohov - she was absolutely sure about that. She was, however, attracted to the pleasure his touch invoked in her but that had nothing to do with him personally. Dolohov was merely the conduit through which pleasure was achieved. If anything else was capable of soothing her curse like his touch did then she was sure she would become attracted to scents linked to that instead. And not just scents…
The scent revelation had been easier to accept, but the awareness that, at times, she found the appearance of Dolohov appealing had been much harder to stomach. Every time she recalled the moment when his hand had been on the verge of delving beneath the fabric of her blouse to explore the hidden skin beneath, she felt a rush of arousal and her cheeks flushed. Not just because of what it would feel like to have him touch her there, but because of the way he'd looked at that moment: dark curls falling across his pale face, his eyes almost black as they moved up from her chest to meet her gaze. The look on his face was hungry, wanting, desirous of her. Nobody had ever looked at her like that and it had sent pleasurable heat straight to her core. For the first time, she had found herself knowingly sexually attracted to Dolohov.
But then the Amortentia scent had slapped her in the face, and she had felt confused and shameful about the incident ever since. She'd admitted to herself that Antonin Dolohov, in other circumstances, could be considered ruggedly handsome, and the aforementioned hormones would be making the source of her curse's pleasurable cure seem more attractive to her. Thankfully, however, she never forgot who Dolohov really was inside and this was a welcome cold tonic to the strange feelings he evoked in her. And so, even if a part of her was attracted to Dolohov beyond just his touch, she trusted within herself that nothing would ever come of it - as their encounters since then had shown. She might secretly want him to touch parts of her body that went beyond the appropriate, but she was still in enough control of her mental faculties to not allow him to do so. She wondered if it was partly due to her work in training her mind through Occlumency or just a strong resolve not to surrender more of herself to the wicked man who sought only to further his own agendas and that of the evil master he served.
She had watched Dolohov as closely as possible through her hazes of pleasure ever since and, even though she was inexperienced in such matters, she was pretty sure that she still glimpsed flashes of lust in the way he looked at her. She knew that this should probably scare her and at the start of her visits, when they had been exploring the boundaries of their situation, it certainly would have, but she felt weirdly confident in claiming that she knew him well enough now to sense that he wouldn't cross that line. He was much less antagonistic and volatile than those early days of trying to bully and intimidate her. He wasn't exactly enjoyable company now but a grudging, tentative acceptance existed between them. He hadn't called her a mudblood in many weeks but she knew that he still considered her to be one, which made the heated looks he sent her way even more interesting. The most logical explanation was that he was, after all, a red-blooded man. She was the only woman he had seen in months - even a muggleborn like her apparently became desirable in those circumstances.
Still, there was something quite potent about being desired. She didn't want Dolohov to act on his hunger, but it was somewhat empowering that he did want her. The thought made her blush sometimes and wonder if it was wrong to think that way. Deep down, everyone wanted to be desirable, didn't they? She had liked the surprising attention that Viktor had shown her in Fourth Year and had noticed people looking at her differently at the Yule Ball and afterwards. She had enjoyed the innocent kisses and gentle caresses she'd experienced with Viktor. No one could argue that there was anything wrong with that. But finding satisfaction in the heated glances of a man like Dolohov was not expected or acceptable from a girl like her.
She could only imagine the shock, horror and disapproval of her friends or anyone from the Order should they find out what she had been thinking lately. If this had happened to someone else, she was sure her emotions would be the same as theirs. But the simple truth was that it was happening to her, and only her - nobody else had any idea what it felt like with Dolohov in that cell and they never would. This was her burden, her journey, and she was the only one who could help herself come to terms with and accept her feelings, whatever they were.
Hermione started as Wilkie Twycross flourished a piece of parchment in her face. "There's the certificate verifying the passing of your exam, Miss Granger. I'm afraid it's only pass or fail, no other grades to signify the quality of the piece of magic. However, off the record, if I had to assign you a letter-grade it would be another D!"
Hermione's face fell at the insinuation that she'd been 'Dreadful'.
"For Distinction!" Twycross explained merrily, seemingly clueless to the momentary alarm he'd created in her. "Yes, D is certainly the letter of the day and I must say you performed admirably - especially given the speed at which you've covered the course. Now then, just the licence to go."
Hermione ran her eyes over the certificate Twycross had given her while she waited for him to fill in the final form. He was done with it much more quickly than she'd anticipated, and she glanced up in surprise when he said, "And now we just need to get it signed off. It's normally done so by the Head of the Department but the Minister himself has requested the job." Hermione's mouth dropped open a little in surprise and Twycross looked pleased with her reaction to this honour.
"Oh," she murmured, anxiety curling into her stomach. She had no wish to see Rufus Scrimgeour. "I wouldn't want to take up the Minister's time."
"He specially requested it, Miss Granger," Twycross reminded her. "We don't want to go against the wishes of the Minister for Magic, do we?"
Hermione grimaced. "No, I suppose not. Is he in the Ministry today?" she asked, hoping for a negative answer. "It is a Sunday, after all."
"Sunday it may be but there is a war on, you know," Twycross told her as he shuffled his paperwork into a tidy pile and straightened the quills on his desk. "The Minister's been in the building every day since he came into office. I'm sure he'll be down shortly, I did send him a memo the moment we came into the Department."
Hermione tried not to let her disappointment show at this news and secretly wished that Scrimgeour was too busy to come down to Twycross's office.
Almost at once, there was a brief knock at the door and though Hermione fervently hoped that it was just Tonks returning, the disappointing truth was revealed as Rufus Scrimgeour opened the door and stepped into the office.
Twycross jumped to his feet and hurried over to welcome the Minister, shaking his hand enthusiastically. Then Scrimgeour turned to Hermione, who had gotten to her feet much less eagerly. "Well, Miss Granger, I hear it's good news, eh? Passing on your first attempt with only a few hours of lessons under your belt. Very impressive." He stuck his hand in her direction and she shook it politely. "But I shouldn't be surprised given those impressive O.W.L results you bagged last year."
"Thank you, Minister," she said dutifully, his praise making her feel just as awkward as it had at their previous encounter. "I had a good teacher."
Twycross beamed.
"Of course," Scrimgeour said, turning back to Twycross. "Thank you for assisting us in seeing Miss Granger safely through her exam."
Twycross inclined his head. "It was my pleasure, Minister. Now, Miss Granger's licence is just here, sir, awaiting your signature," Twycross said, motioning towards the desk.
Scrimgeour glanced around the office as he followed Twycross and he momentarily frowned. "Where's Tonks?" he asked.
"She went to get me a drink," Hermione replied. "She should be back soon."
Scrimgeour nodded and then picked up one of the quills arranged on the desk.
"All it needs is a signature here, sir," Twycross explained, indicating the correct place with a pale finger.
Scrimgeour bent down to ink his name to the parchment. Hermione let out a small breath as he straightened and returned the quill.
"Excellent," the instructor said. "I shall go and add it to our records immediately."
Hermione had little time to brace herself before Twycross had scooped the licence into his hand along with the other paperwork, and exited the room leaving her standing alone with the Minister for Magic.
"So, Miss Granger, is there any progress to report in regards to that unfortunate curse?" Scrimgeour asked, peering at her through his glasses.
Hermione shook her head. "I'm afraid not, sir."
Scrimgeour shook his head. "A pity, a great pity that, Miss Granger. But, still, we must remain hopeful that our endeavours will succeed, eh? It is that exact sentiment that keeps me working night and day to lead our community through these troubled times." He paused a moment and raised a hand to rub his eyes under his glasses. "I can't remember the last time I got more than three hours of sleep in an evening," he murmured, "but it's a small sacrifice to make in order to keep people safe. We must all do our bit to help the fight, mustn't we?"
Hermione nodded stiffly, thinking it best not to say anything.
"Of course, for you and your school fellows we just ask that you follow the precautions advised by the Ministry," Scrimgeour continued and then he tried to smile. "I hope you passed on my best wishes to Mr Potter and the friends that fought here so valiantly last summer."
"I…" Hermione began but then trailed off because the truth of the matter was that she hadn't, but she didn't want to either admit it or lie to the Minister for Magic.
Fortunately for her, Scrimgeour seemed to take it as a given that she would do as directed by him because he moved on to what she was sure was the reason behind his insistence on signing her licence. "So, when can we expect Mr Potter to pay us a visit? I'd half thought he might be with you today, but I imagine it would have been a bit complicated with people disapparating over the country, eh?"
His tone was friendly but expectant and Hermione screwed up her courage. "As far as I'm aware, sir, Harry has no plans to visit the Ministry any time soon."
Scrimgeour frowned. "What's that?" he asked, as though he'd merely misheard her.
"Harry won't be coming," she said, balling her hands into fists to combat the nausea in her stomach for going against the wishes of the highest authority in magical Britain. "I never passed on your invitation."
Scrimgeour's genial expression hardened at once as he stared at Hermione. "Why not? Did you forget?"
She shook her head. "No. After the disgraceful way the Ministry treated Harry last year, I couldn't bring myself to mention it to him. I won't help you use him as propaganda to try and win back the public's confidence in the Ministry when it spent a year ignoring the threat and calling a fifteen year old boy a crazy, attention-seeking liar." She felt a little faint at letting those words pass out of her mouth and clenched her fists harder so that the nails bit into her skin, the pain helping her mind to focus once again.
The Minister's gaze was very cold now as he stood stiffly before her. "Foolish girl," he muttered harshly.
The door of the office swung open and Hermione gratefully looked away from Scrimgeour to see Tonks holding two bottles of butterbeer, a wary expression on her face.
"Ah, Tonks, good, you're just in time to hear the changes I'm afraid we must make to Miss Granger's security," Scrimgeour announced bluntly.
Tonks looked confused and unease crept down Hermione's spine.
"Changes, Minister?" Tonks asked. "I don't understand."
"As I'm sure you're both aware, unfortunate but necessary cuts need to be made in times of war and my auror numbers are stretched thin," Scrimgeour said dispassionately. "It is vital that the Hogsmede posting isn't understaffed given that the village is the largest all-magical community in the country and is in close proximity to the school. Now that Miss Granger is of age and has earned her apparation licence, I see no need for you to leave your post to accompany her to Azkaban anymore. Some of your colleagues are always stationed at the prison after all. No harm shall come to Miss Granger, I am sure of it."
Tonks looked astonished but Hermione's gut clenched with a mixture of anxiety and anger. Even though she was much more at ease in Dolohov's company, she didn't like the idea of losing Tonks's reassuring presence whenever she had to face him. And she was in no doubt that Scrimgeour's announcement was a direct consequence of her refusal to be cooperative. "And you really think this is how you're going to convince Harry to do your bidding?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
"If Mr Potter has a problem with the new arrangements, he knows where to find my office," Scrimgeour replied curtly. "Providing that you actually bother to pass on the message this time, of course. I'm still open to negotiating the auror rotation before the changes come into effect at the end of the week, just so that you're aware, Miss Granger." He gave her a brief nod and said curtly, "Good day," before sweeping out of the office past a stunned Tonks.
Severus thought that she'd acted like a naive, self-righteous fool. Or, in other words, like a Gryffindor. His mouth twisted distastefully. Honestly, what did she think would happen when she obstinately defied the prickly new Minister for Magic - he'd shrug his shoulders and laugh it off? And Granger was supposed to be one of the smart ones… Why hadn't she just lied and told Scrimgeour that Potter was trying to work out a convenient date and would be in touch at some point? If the boy didn't want to be a Ministry puppet then he could tell Scrimgeour himself without everyone else scurrying around trying to protect him as usual.
Minerva seemed to be under the illusion that Granger had committed a selfless, noble act (but she had been a Gryffindor too so it was hardly that surprising she should think that way) and had praised the bravery of her actions, offering her comfort and reassurances.
"I don't want Harry to know what the Minister said," Granger has told the assembled adults - Tonks, Minerva and Severus. The Headmaster was on one of his newly-frequent trips away from the castle and wasn't due to arrive back at Hogwarts until much later that evening. "It was my decision not to extend Scrimgeour's invitation to Harry and I don't want him to feel any guilt about the consequences. I know how he feels about the Ministry after last year and if we tell him what's happened, he's only going to get angry, overreact, and maybe do something rash."
Finally, there was something Severus did agree with - if Potter knew that Scrimgeour was threatening Granger's safety unless he show support to the Ministry, the boy would undoubtedly do something stupid. It was almost a given. When would Potter grow up and stop the reckless hero act?
Minerva had agreed that perhaps keeping the meeting from Potter would be wise for now, at least until they had spoken to the Headmaster.
Much to Severus's irritation, the matter had bothered him for the rest of the day. He could tell that Minerva, Tonks and Granger were confident that Dumbledore would make things right - maybe even get the Minister to back down without involving Potter at all. Severus was not so sure.
Relations between Dumbledore and Scrimgeour were strained - already tainted by the Minister's previous position as Head of the Auror Office amid Fudge's ridiculous attempts to discredit Albus last year. Scrimgeour had inherited Fudge's distrust of Dumbledore, no doubt recognising that the Headmaster knew better than anyone how to defeat the Dark Lord. This wouldn't have been an issue however Dumbledore wasn't sharing that information with anyone. Even Severus, whom he had brought into his confidence on many highly secretive matters before, did not know what his plans were. To be so kept in the dark would obviously irk the man who was supposedly in charge of magical Britain.
And then there was Scrimgeour's insistence on trying to use Potter as a beacon for the country to get behind. The cult of the 'Chosen One' only aided the Ministry if the boy was seen approving of their actions. Apparently, the reputation of Scrimgeour's Ministry was much more important than it actually being successful at protecting people and defeating the Dark Lord's forces.
Albus was too protective of the boy to allow him to be used in that way and Scrimgeour was too obstinate to let himself be dictated to by Dumbledore. If Severus had judged the men correctly, Granger would be without the protection of Tonks by the end of the week.
In theory, Scrimgeour was right about the chances of harm coming to the girl to be minimal: she was safe in the grounds of Hogwarts and there were aurors stationed at the prison, so only the few moments when she was beyond the gates posed any danger to her. But that was more than enough time for some sort of ambush. Granger was a capable witch but those seconds still left her vulnerable.
Severus recalled the meeting he'd had with Albus over the summer where the Headmaster had insinuated what might happen should Granger's dependence on Dolohov become too much of a risk. Severus didn't think they were at that moment yet but he was concerned that Dumbledore might see this development as evidence of Granger becoming more of a liability. The possibility troubled him far more than he would have anticipated.
Albus's face was grim when Minerva reported the day's events to him late that evening, and there was a long pause after she'd finished speaking. Severus was normally a master of patience but his inability to know what thoughts were going through the Headmaster's mind was testing him to the limit of his endurance.
"I can escort Miss Granger to and from the school gates when she needs to visit Dolohov," Severus found himself offering, pre-empting any suggestions the Headmaster might have for tackling this setback.
Albus's blue eyes looked up at him with faint surprise. "Thank you, Severus."
"As can I, Albus," Minerva said. "If we alternate, it shouldn't impact on our other duties."
The Headmaster leaned backward against his chair with a sigh. "Yes, perhaps that is the wisest course of action at this moment. There are options that I would like to take, believe me," he added a little agitatedly, "but I fear that they would only make matters worse. After all, Miss Granger is currently free to visit Azkaban when the need arises, but I wouldn't put it past the Minister to interfere or limit her movements should he feel provoked."
Minerva looked appalled. "He wouldn't be so cruel, surely?"
"If Scrimgeour is already threatening to endanger one of my students just so that he can paint the Ministry in a positive light, I suspect that he would be able to justify a harsher move in his head as being for the good of the war effort," Albus answered sadly. "But it would be best if we don't find out."
Minerva tutted noisily. "What is the world coming to? If only the people knew..." She trailed off because that was a useless thought and they all knew it: they couldn't risk word getting out about Scrimgeour's treatment of Granger without alerting everyone to her predicament.
Dumbledore dismissed them not much later for he was clearly in need of rest, but he called Severus back just before he reached the door.
"How is Hermione faring in her Occlumency studies?"
"She shows some potential," Severus allowed unenthusiastically. "Though I doubt it has had any serious positive influence on her encounters with Dolohov."
"It is early days yet, give it time," Albus reminded him. "And the encounters themselves - what have you gleaned of them?"
Severus paused. "In truth, very little. I have not pushed specifically for her thoughts on Dolohov and so I've only caught glimpses. Their interactions seem reasonably civil. She enjoys the relief she gets from his touch. That's it."
Albus considered this for a few moments. "Push for Antonin in the next couple of weeks, Severus. I'd prefer greater reassurance, all things considered."
"If you wish, Headmaster," Severus replied distastefully.
A/N I know some of you are going to be severely disappointed in the lack of Antonin in this chapter when you've been waiting so long for an update. I'm sorry! He is in the next one and I'm extremely hopeful that it should be a quick update because I've got a good chunk of it already written.
Anyway, thoughts on this one? I'd love to know what you think about Hermione's thoughts about Dolohov in particular. You guys were amazing with your responses last time, so thank you.
I really hope you're all keeping safe in these worrying times.
Lots of love,
Red
