Lucius needed all his strength to control himself. He would have preferred not to give Hermione any time to make a decision. After she had returned from the herb garden with Severus, he had felt a strange restlessness. Why did he have the feeling that the relationship between his slave and Severus had changed, that it was no longer filled with panic and disgust, but rather - he didn't know either. He wanted to reassure himself here and now that despite everything that stood between them, Hermione still desired him, that she needed him. Slowly, to give her time to protest, he lifted one of her legs and placed it gently on his shoulder.

"Please don't," he heard her whisper softly, but contrary to her words, she only opened herself up to him even more.

"It's wonderful to watch your mind say one thing and your body say something completely different," Lucius purred as he opened his trousers with infinitely slow movements. It amused him how Hermione's eyes followed his hand in panic, but at the same time her breathing became faster and faster.

Hermione was actually getting more and more anxious by the second. She felt her control over her body slipping away and she had less and less idea why she should actually close herself off. Lucius was more capable than any other man of tearing her away from reality, of giving her freedom and ecstasy, even if only for a moment. She wanted that, at least this one last time. Christmas was coming and either the plan succeeded, in which case she would no longer be a slave, or they failed and she was dead. Either way, today would be the last time. With all her might, she pushed aside the image of Snape and his disappointed gaze.

"Tie me up."

It took Lucius a moment to realise the quiet words. Did she actually just ask him to tie her up? His grin widened even more. "With the greatest pleasure, my beauty."

He grabbed both her hands hard and brought them together above her head. He ignored her surprised cry of pain and instead reached for his wand, using it to conjure a soft leather strap around her wrists, which then connected to the table.

"There's no escape now, little lioness," he whispered to her. "No matter how much you scream and beg, you're mine now. And I won't let you go until I'm completely satisfied."

A gasp escaped Hermione as his words sent another wave of heat and desire through her body. She felt him position himself between her legs, her left leg still resting on his shoulder as he pushed her other leg as far to the side as he could with one hand. He was hot, at least as hot as she felt. For a moment, she was overcome by familiar panic as he slowly pushed himself into her. She involuntarily tensed up, wanted to turn away, to flee. Just as she opened her mouth to express her fear, Lucius bent down and kissed her. She hungrily returned the kiss, surrendering to his tender passion.

"Relax, Hermione," he finally whispered, "Let yourself go, trust me. I would never hurt you."

oOoOoOo

Deep in thought, Snape wandered through the dark corridors of the manor. He couldn't find Hermione in the kitchen or in her bedchamber, so there was only one place left for her to be. He wanted, no, he had to talk to her. She had asked him to trust her and put some of his burden on her shoulders. As hard as it was for him, he wanted to do that. But to do so, he needed her to trust him too. Completely. And they would have to talk about it at some point anyway, so better sooner than later. They had to talk about the rape. It stood between them, no matter how strong Hermione was, but the task at hand demanded that they could rely on each other, completely. And he didn't want anything to come between them either.

Severus knew he wasn't a likeable man. But neither was he the monster she inevitably and despite everything had to see in him. He longed for a human to see him as he really was. The way Lily had seen him before. Or Albus.

Snape stopped in surprise. He arrived at the large door to the library and he was sure he heard a noise from the other side. Slowly, he opened the door a crack.

At first, he wanted to push the door open completely, wanted to tear Lucius away from Hermione and take her in his arms. He knew himself that he had been the first man to do violence to her, but it disgusted him to watch another man do it. But before he could act on this impulse, he realised that there was something wrong with the picture. Hermione's hands were tied and she was obviously completely defenceless under Lucius. But the expression on her face, her closed eyes, her slightly open mouth, the film of sweat covering her skin. That was not the look of a frightened person.

"Mr Malfoy..." came softly to his ear and even these whispered words were imbued with lust.

"Yes, little lioness? Are you going to protest? Are you trying to tell me that you don't like it, even though I have clear proof of how much you enjoy it?"

The knuckles of his hand turned white, Snape clenched his fists so tightly. What he saw before him was not a scene between a master using his slave against her will. What he saw was passionate sex between two lovers. He was about to turn to leave when he caught her gaze.

She saw him.

He saw her. Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but Malfoy immediately put his hand over it. "Oh no, you're not going to protest any more. Be a good girl and keep your sweet little mouth shut, understand?"

She shook her head desperately, trying to alert Lucius to the fact that they were being watched, but the blond man above her was too distracted. His right hand pressed firmly over her mouth, while the fingers of his left buried themselves almost painfully in her hip. His thrusts quickened and although Hermione could almost physically feel Snape's gaze, she couldn't help the arousal that still dominated her body. Her eyes focussed on the spot where all her sensations suddenly seemed to be concentrated, where Lucius kept thrusting into her. He finally released his hand from her mouth so that he could reach for her hip with his second. He thrust into her almost violently, pulling her hips towards him in the same rhythm, his gaze also directed downwards, completely focussed on his imminent orgasm. A deep, loud moan escaped Hermione.

Was Snape still there? Jerkily, she turned her head towards the door and immediately met his gaze. Although she could only see a small part of him, Hermione thought she could feel his anger. He stood there, unmoving, his expression unreadable in the half-shadow, watching her as a fellow Death Eater orgasmed just inside her. Why was he always so unaffected by everything? Shouldn't he ... feel something when he saw his ally having sex with a potential enemy? Did he care so little for her that it left him completely cold? She defiantly held his gaze as Lucius poured himself into her and then slumped over her, moaning.

She was looking at him while another man came inside her.

Wordlessly, Snape turned and walked away. He didn't know what he expected, but what he just witnessed in the library certainly wasn't it. Hermione had assured him that she wasn't in love with Lucius Malfoy, that it wasn't feelings that had blinded her judgement of him. Had she been lying? Could he really rely on her judgement? The rage that gripped him at the sight of the two of them still made his blood circulate ice-cold through his body. He had to talk to her, now even more urgently than before. Determined, he made his way to her sleeping chamber.

oOoOoOo

Hermione was not surprised to see Snape waiting for her in her small cubbyhole, but she would have preferred not to have to face him immediately. Lucius had said goodbye to her with a tender kiss, which had once again shown her that her master felt more for her than he should have.

"Hello," she said curtly as she sank down on her mattress next to Snape.

"Is that all you have to say?" came the cool response.

"Yes."

"I think you owe me an explanation, Miss Granger."

"Why should I explain myself when it was you who invaded my privacy?" she shot back just as coldly. She was embarrassed that he had seen her, but she didn't see that it was any of his business.

"You assured me that your judgement of Lucius Malfoy was not based on love for him. In this context, how do you explain what I just had to witnessed?"

"You had to?" Hermione snapped angrily, "You had to? Who forced you?"

Snape furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. "Don't try to use my phrasing as an excuse to divert attention from the subject. So?"

Equally annoyed, Hermione gave in. There was no point in arguing with Snape if he thought he was right. Defiantly, she explained, "I was just saying that I'm not in love with Lucius Malfoy or that there's any such relationship between us. Yes, I'm sleeping with him, and yes, I'm doing it of my own free will. But that doesn't mean I'm blind."

"Why are you sleeping with him of your own free will?"

Hermione was too upset by the question to notice his strange tone. "Why? Why? This is really going too far, Snape, it's none of your business."

Angrily, he grabbed her wrist. "You bet it's my business! If you're sleeping with someone you advertise to me as trustworthy, then I have to make sure that your adolescent hormones haven't run away with you. How else am I supposed to trust your judgement?"

"Let go of me!" hissed Hermione, intimidated. His sudden proximity in this room, his touch, everything made her uncomfortable all at once. A stale taste settled on her tongue as memories of the rape mingled with her perception of reality. To her relief, however, he let go of her immediately and moved away a little.

"I didn't mean to get too close to you, Miss Granger, forgive me," he murmured apologetically, as if he could read the memory in her eyes. "However, I must ask you to be open with me."

He was right and she knew it. Nevertheless, she found it difficult to discuss her sex life with him, of all things. She swallowed. "Lucius Malfoy is a poor, desperate man who only knows hopelessness and gloom in his reality. He sleeps with me because he seeks oblivion. And ... it's the same with me. You know, Mr Malfoy understands me, at least in that respect. He manages to get me to let go, to forget where I am and what's going on around me. And he's shown me facets of myself that I didn't realise. It's really just purely ... physical between us. We need each other, but not emotionally, but ... just to forget."

Closing his eyes, Snape leaned against the back wall of the cubbyhole and thought about what he heard. He still had the urge to shout at Hermione and make her realise that she shouldn't sleep with Lucius, but he knew he had no right to do that. He couldn't even say exactly why he was still so angry with her, despite her logical and factual explanation. And the thought of talking to her about the rape now was simply absurd.

"Very well, Miss Granger. Once again, I have no choice but to trust you," he said dryly, "It's amazing how many times I've said that now. You should consider yourself lucky, not many people get me to trust you."

"I know, sir," Hermione replied quietly and seriously, "And it really means a lot to me. Really a lot."

His anger melted away. Her serious words, which she muttered with a lowered gaze and almost inaudibly, sounded so sincere that he simply could no longer harbour negative feelings towards her. She cared about his trust, she was actually worried about him. He looked at her in silence as she continued to study her feet with determination.

Before he got too sentimental, Snape decided it was time to leave. He rose slowly and patted Hermione on the shoulder once more before leaving her room. "Sleep well, Miss Granger. You're doing very well, no matter what I try to tell you sometimes."