Lendoren

Fic by kelokelo, translation by septentrion, everything else belongs to Jo

Chapter beta’ed by Tanit

Chapter 11. Secretly


The next days went on the same way between Severus and Hermione. It was an exploding mix of orders and rebellion, of failed attempts to learn and quarrels about who was responsible for said failed attempts.

“You don’t know how to explain!” Hermione yelled.

“Stop yelling at me! You don’t try to understand and follow my instructions. I wonder how you manage to get such results at school!”

“And what do you know about my results at school?”

“Oops,” Severus thought, “good question, how am I supposed to know about them?”

“Arlyn tells me. »

It was a poor excuse but she took him by surprise. If only she wasn’t so clever.

The only real progress they had made was that Hermione was from now on able to feign failures in her spells learning. She still couldn’t contact him and she couldn’t use new Lendoren spells at all, even the most basic ones. Only her power was increasing, it was obvious when she was training in her dorm room on classic spells. Severus found it harder and harder to restrain his desire for her, but to resolve that issue was like trying to square the circle. To become her lover, he would have to confess to her he was also her most hated teacher. Yes, they had discussed a lot and she did project to him a very bad image of himself. Plus, she didn’t even acknowledge his efforts for a fairer way of marking this year. He was managing to give some “E” to Potter! As for her, it was useless to speak about it, she got an “O” each time! She was just digging in her heels about his abrupt manners as far as he was concerned, totally unacceptable for her. If he admitted to her who he was right now, he would crush the weak progress he had made to gain her trust.

When she asked if they could meet face to face, he thanked Merlin his mental shield held on. He wished he could have answered: “right now, I’m climbing.” All the more because it was an evening after dinner and she told him when they began conversing she was already in bed. He was thankfully alone in his chambers. He felt his body tense at that idea and had been suffocated by a wave of desire.

« You’re a Hogwarts student for now, » he managed to answer after a while.

“You mean, we’ll have to wait for the end of the school year?” she had asked horrified.

« No, I don’t think so. There’ll be holidays before and… we’ll see the impact of the Autumn equinox on your magic. »

“Why the equinox?”

“Because it’ll be three months after your seventeenth birthday and it’s an important stage for the female Lendoren. Equinoxes and solstices match an apogee in the Lendoren magic, which may explain your great powers.”

« And there are other stages like that? »

“Yes, six months, which will be the Winter solstice this time.”

The only thing Hermione gained was the authorization to tell her secret to her nearest friends Harry, Ron and Ginny. They had argued more than once but one more time, Severus had relented. It took him several days to understand she could not keep such a thing to herself, that she would need to speak about it with people other than himself. In the end, what had motivated him to allow her to speak about it was the fact she was withdrawing and that her friends had begun to worry about it. He felt nothing but indifference about their worry but rumours were flying in the castle. They were very far from the truth but the less there were rumours about Hermione, the better he would feel.

That was the reason why Hermione had dragged Harry, Ginny and Ron to a quiet place on the grounds one Saturday afternoon. The weather was still beautiful but the coolness was making itself felt. Hermione did not know where to begin. Ginny came to her rescue with her question:

« Hermione, what’s happening to you since we came back to Hogwarts? You look like your minds miles away, and don’t tell me you’re preoccupied with your NEWTs! You do your homework, you attend your classes but you’re away. There’s something else on your mind…”

They were astonished to see tears on Hermione’s cheeks when Ginny uttered these words. Her problems ought to be very serious if she cracked up like that. Her habit was to tempest, to look for solutions in the library, not to cry…

They didn’t press her, they just waited for her to calm down. They surrounded her without a word. The daylight was decreasing when at least she spoke:

« Well, do you remember what Gryffin explained to us in his first class? About the Lendoren,” she added when she noticed Harry and Ron watching her and not understanding her.

« Hem, yes, » Harry answered prudently.

“Well, I’m one of them,” she said in one breath while tears threatened to spill once more.

Harry and Ron were looking at her with wide eyes before Ron burst into laughter:

« Ha, that’s a good one! A very good one! For a moment I nearly believed it, Hermione! All that time you…”

“Ron,” Ginny cut him off brutally while examining Hermione, “I don’t think it’s a joke although I don’t understand what you’re speaking about.”

« But Ginny, » Ron went on and turned to Hermione. He understood only by watching Hermione she was telling them the truth. He stood there, open-mouthed, while the idea was slowly rooting in his head.

Harry thought to everything their teacher explained to them and remembered Hermione had celebrated her birthday before leaving for the holidays.

He exclaimed : « But you’ve known it for three months? »

“Oh no. I only understood what has been happening to me since I came to the Burrow when Gryffin told us about the Lendoren. It was so similar to what I was living at night…and I got confirmation of it when my dear companion at least told me his name!”

She sounded bitter and she had lifted her eyes to the sky while saying it.

“Companion?” Ginny was lost. It seemed Gryffin didn’t give the same information to everybody.

« Who is he? » Harry asked urgently. “I only hope he’s sympathetic. Is he a student here?”

“His name’s Erwin. He’s as authoritarian as…as… Snape! I swear they could be brothers! ‘I know and you shut up and you listen!’ And no, he isn’t a student here, he told me we probably couldn’t see each other here in Hogwarts… And to say that…”

She didn’t finish her sentence for tears threatened to spill once again. Ginny shot a questioning look to Harry, she hadn’t understood one thing. Harry briefly explained to her what they was told by Professor Gryffin about the Lendoren community, the couples and telepathy. Ginny was gob smacked when he finished his explanations. So one could be a Lendoren and know nothing of it until one was of age? And you could communicate with your companion through mean of telepathy? That could be very agreeable, she thought, applying the idea to Harry and herself, but Hermione didn’t chose her companion, and said her companion was far from being the ideal man.

Hermione told them what she had learned about herself & him, which could be summarized to…near to nothing. The most important thing was they were stronger than the other Lendoren and she had a very trying time to master what he tried to teach her. In spite of what had just happened, Hermione was more animated and on her way to recover her usual nature, which left Ginny be perplexed about the reason why Hermione cried so much.

All of a sudden, she understood Hermione’s distress: from what Harry had told her, a man she didn’t know would become her lover. Ginny shivered at the idea. She decided to signal to Harry to go ahead with Ron, she had to have a word with Hermione.

When Harry managed to convince Ron, it was already late and the sun was setting on the park. They’d have to hurry as the teachers were very strict concerning the hour students came back to the castle, all the more with Voldemort lurking around.

Ginny tackled the heart of the matter with Hermione while the boys were ahead of them.

She asked softly: “Hermione, he’s… nice with you, is he not? Given that you…you see, well you…”

« Given the fact we’re supposed to become lovers?” Hermione asked brutally. Ginny saw tears in her eyes again, so she was right. “He doesn’t speak about it anymore.”

“Anymore?” Ginny noted.

Hermione told her then, blushing, why she was entangled in her sheet at the Burrow and Ginny gasped:

“He had that effect on you just in a dream?”

“Yes, but since he’s been speaking directly to me in my dreams, nothing!”

« At all ? »

« No…well…nothing much...My mind wasn’t on it…well, he did called me his dear! Talk about seductive!”


While speaking, they had gone into the castle but didn’t realise Severus was there. He was waiting for them to come inside before he reinforced the door’s wards. As they didn’t see him and no one saw them coming back late, he decided not to say anything about that small delay. The better for him. So Hermione wouldn’t be against a little seduction? He was however beginning to be wary of her. Would her notion of seduction be the same as his? For, to speak frankly, he was too old for poems, flowers and chocolates first, and second he never had a taste for them.

Thanks to you, wonderful readers and/or reviewers, especially Lyssa, Citten, Lisa, Megan Consoer and Firewall. Your appreciation keeps the motivation high!

Some answers:
-there are more than 50 chapters in the original story, that should make you folks happy

-Lisa, I think reviewers should be encouraged as much as writers. It took me a long time before I dared to post a review, I understand shyness. Just a pointer: Severus and Hermione will get together before ch 25 ;)