Heirarchy of Love (Previously Claim for Life)

Disclaimer: I don't own this and am not making money.

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Chapter 11

A while after the Gryffindors secluded themselves in Hermione’s room Dobby aparated in with Crack! carrying two colored baskets of candy. Anthony looked at the elf confused.

“Dobby hopes he is not bothering the young sir, Dobby just had to bring these to the Head Rooms. They is gifts for the Head Boy and Girl from the school governors” Dobby rambled as he placed the baskets on the table, pushing the blue one towards Anthony.

Anthony sneered at the elf, making him whimper, “You’ve done your job elf, now leave,” he ordered.

“Yes, sir, Dobby goes, sir,” and he aparted with another crack.

Anthony eyed his blue package for a moment, before snatching up the card and reading it’s generic congratulations on behalf of the board of governors. He threw the card into the fire, but did not return to his gift, his attention, rather on the red basket addressed to the Head Girl. He reached out for it but pulled his hand back as pain laced through his fingers when they came into contact with the cellophane. Anthony scowled banished the basket to the other side of the room with a quick spell, settling it on a table by the staircase by Hermione’s bedroom. He glanced up at the clock and saw it was almost time for dinner, he eyed the basket of candies that had been sent to him and tore it open, grabbing a few chocolates and popping them into his mouth, before pushing the basket away and returning to his homework, for another few minutes. He felt slightly nauseous for a few minutes after eating the chocolates but brushed it off thinking the board had just been cheap and sent him a poor quality gift. He scowled and considered tossing the rest in the fire, but decided against it. Maybe he was just too hungry for a real meal.

When he looked up at the clock again he saw that dinner started in 5 minutes. He looked up at the Head Girl door before deciding it was a waste of his time to try anything with the Golden Boy and his girlfriend are around, so he left his homework spread out, grabbed his wand and walked out the portrait without a second glance.

***
The Gryffindors left Hermione’s room about a minute later, and wandered down into the common room. Hermione scowled when she saw Anthony’s things laying about carelessly, with the Head Boy no where in sight.

“I don’t understand why that boy feels it is his right to leave his things everywhere. He’s a slob, never picks up after himself.” Hermione glowered.

“Yeah, well he is a git,” Ginny amended as her eyes landed on the red basket on the table at the base of the stairs, “Hey, what’s this?”

Hermione looked at it briefly, before turning to scan the room. She saw a matching blue basket sitting by Anthony’s things. She turned back and approached it, “I don’t know,” she said as she pulled the card off and read it, “Oh, it’s a gift from the Board of Governors, a congratulations on becoming a Head,” she smiled.

“Definitely worth the perks,” Ginny muttered, causing Hermione to laugh.

“Damn right it is,” she smiled, “Now let’s go to dinner before I pass out from hunger.”

“Wait, you mean you’re not going to open the package now?” Harry implored, “It looks like a Honeydukes basket if you ask me, probably a lot more enjoyable than a regular meal.”

“No Harry, we are not going to eat candy for dinner,” Hermione retorted, firmly, heading out the door, “Now let’s go eat some real food, and maybe after you two can come back here and help me eat our way through that?”

“Actually, we have Quiddich practice after dinner today, ‘Mione. How ‘bout after that?” Harry apologized, “You are also welcome to come watch practice is you want.”

Hermione shook her head, “No, if that’s the case I’ll go to the library and pick up a few more books on Veela, I really want to know what I am getting myself into before I approach them, or they approach me.” She didn’t have to elaborate who ‘them’ were. Harry and Ginny nodded.

“Alright, but after, I’m coming here and commandeering your shower,” Ginny declared, “So it had better be free.”

“Hey what about me?” Harry asked.

“What about you?” Ginny countered, “You can use the prefect bathroom, I can’t.”

“You can if I’m there” Harry responded, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“I really don’t need to hear this” Hermione stated, causing the other two to burst out laughing.

“Sorry, ‘Mione,” Ginny said, “But at least soon you are going to have stories to trade with me, and I doubt I am going to be the one with the kinkiest tales.”

Hermione blushed, and Harry raised his eyebrows at his girlfriend, “And what does that mean?”

“Oh please, Hermione is destined for TWO of the sexiest guys in the school. If the sex stories aren’t kinky and outrageous I won’t be the only one disappointed.” Ginny replied simply.

“Ginny!” Both Hermione and Harry scolded, before the three burst into laughter again.

When the walked into the Great Hall the room went silent, “I’m really starting to get sick of this,” Hermione muttered as she steadfastly refused to look at the student body, who were currently staring at her openly. Harry sent a glare towards the students, eyeing Lavender and Parvati who were currently standing between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables surrounded by a group of eager gossipmongers. The gossip queens caught Harry’s gaze and quickly excused themselves from the group, going back to the Gryffindor table, far away from the Golden Trio’s usual seats.

“You really would think they had more important things to do than swap rumors and judge peoples lives” Hermione complained as they sat down at their table.

“Yeah, but this is Hogwarts, they thrive on that kind of bullshit.” Ginny scowled.

Hermione spent the rest of dinner trying to ignore most of the room’s occupants, while Harry and Ginny spent the time shoot warning looks at anyone who they caught staring. At one point Harry’s eyes caught Blaise’s across the room. They regarded each other leveling for about a minutes before Harry nodded his head once and turned to give a death glare to a 4th year Hufflepuff who was loudly telling his friends he had heard that Ron Weasley had been placed under the imperious curse and was forced to try and rape Hermione.

Both Blaise and Draco had been completely floored by Harry’s acknowledgement. Blaise turned slightly to Draco and muttered, “She knows, they know. Interesting.”

Draco nodded his eyes on the object of their affection. She was pushing the food around her plate, only taking a bite occasionally though her mates could clearly feel the hunger that was gnawing in the pit of her stomach.

“Maybe we should just talk to her,” Draco suggested, “If Potter’s being civil, even from across the room then surely we don’t have anything to worry about.”

Blaise shook his head slightly, “No, she will come to us, with or without the potion.” He assured the blonde, “We know she knows, but we don’t know how she feels about this. If we approach her she may feel pressured, she might resist out of spite.”

“And if she finds out about the potion?” Draco asked, starting to worry, she wasn’t the smartest witch of their age without reason

“By the time she figures it out it will be too late.” Blaise smirked, confident. Draco wasn’t so sure but he allowed himself to believe his lover, as he returned to his meal, still watching Hermione mash her food.

Five minutes later Hermione put her fork down and looked up at her concerned friends.

“What’s wrong, Mione?” Ginny asked.

“The gossip mongers have made me lose my appetite. That basket of candy is starting to seem mighty tempting,” she replied, her voice lacking enthusiasm.

“Told you it was a good idea,” Harry teased, “Why don’t you go dig into that? Or go ask the house elves for those sandwiches you left earlier. We’ll catch up with you later?”

Hermione looked around the room once again before responding, everyone eyes were watching her, some covertly, others openly stared at her, “Yeah, I think I’ll do that. I’ll see you after practice.”

“You better not eat all that candy yourself,” Ginny warned.

”I know, I know it will just make me sick,” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“No! I want some too! You’d better save some!” Ginny demanded. Hermione laughed.

“Ok Gin, and thanks. Both of you, I don’t know what I would do without you.” Hermione said sincerely, before turning and hurrying out of the Great Hall. She didn’t turn around but she knew all eyes were on her as she went.

Anthony watched her leave from his vantage point at the Ravenclaw table. He had heard some pretty interesting rumors since showing up to dinner, something about Ron Weasley attacking her and trying to rape her after lunch, he hadn’t thought the Weasel would have been capable of such a move, but judging by Potter’s and the little Weasley’s glares, and Hermione’s avoidance of eye contact with anyone them there was some truth in them. Many people were discussing their sympathy and concern for Hermione and praising Wonder Boy Harry Potter for stopping the attack and saving the Head Girl’s virtue. Though Anthony would never praise The-Boy-Who-Lived he was quite pleased the idiot had saved the Head Girl. He couldn’t win 100 galleons for taking the virginity of a girl if her jealous ex forced it from her, now could he?

Anthony waited another 10 minutes, shoveling as much food as he could into his gullet before standing and striding out of the Great Hall to find Hermione, saying a few short farewells to his friends along with a suggestive wink; she was finally alone and it was time for him to claim his wager. Too bad he hadn’t been able to open that basket of candy that was meant for her, he knew a simple lust potion that would have done nicely mixed in with those chocolates. Oh well, it’s not like he really needed it, and if she resisted a well timed Imperio and Obliviate would solve all his problems, he thought with a smirk.

Draco and Blaise watched Anthony as he left the Great Hall, following the Head Girl, a snarl on both of their lips. They waited a minute before they too stood up and marched out of the Great Hall. As soon as they were in the foyer Blaise sniffed the air.

“Hermione’s gone to her room.” He said before turning down the hall to the left, the shortest way to the Head Dorms.

“What are we going to do?” Draco asked, jogging to catch up with the light footed Italian.

“We keep an eye on her, after the fiasco with Weasel earlier today I don’t want anyone upsetting our mate again, or trying to put the moves on her.” Blaise stated.

“But she knows about Goldstein and his bet, she’s not going to fall for his tricks,” Draco argued.

“Hermione is a trusting person, she never expected Weasel to try and rape her, and she has no reason to believe that Goldstein will take it that far either, and now that Potter and Weaselette aren’t around you can be sure he’s planning on making his next move.” Blaise pulled aside a tapestry and shooed Draco into the hidden passageway before stepping in himself and moving to lead the pale boy though the unlit corridor. About a minute later they reached the end, and Blaise tentatively pushed the tapestry out from the wall and glanced down the hallway. He jerked back when he saw Anthony turn the corner and stride to the portrait guarding the Head Dormitories, he murmured the password and stepped in, closing the entrance behind him. As soon as Blaise heard the click of the lock catching he stepped out into the hall and strode down the hall, before pulling Draco into the shadowy alcove they had hid in before. He muttered a quick cloaking and silencing spell, before casting another spell on the wall that would magnify the noises from inside the room. They listened carefully to everything occurring within the room.

***
When Hermione left the Great Hall she decided against going to the kitchens while dinner was going on, and also decided to forgo the library trip for the moment, she still had two books on Veela in her room that she could read before needing to restock her research material. She also assumed that Anthony would still be at dinner for a while so she planned on making use of their comfortable common room and the huge fireplace that was never too hot.

The portrait caused a little bit of a fuss when she saw Hermione returning so fast from dinner, especially since her stomach had been complaining of neglect earlier. Hermione brushed off her concerns saying she had a headache and she would go visit the kitchens later for a bowl of soup and some crackers. She jogged up to her room, changed into a pair of old faded jeans and a Dead Kennedy’s t shirt. She smile for a moment, remembering the first time Ron had seen the shirt, he had asked why she was wearing a shirt advertising a group of dead guys and when she had explained it was a muggle band he had shook his head and muttered, “weird.” The thought of Ron wiped the smile off her face, she still couldn’t believe what had happened earlier that day.

It was only when she heard the portrait to the common room open and close again did she realize she had zoned out, standing and staring blankly at her reflection in the glass of the window. She shook herself back to awareness and wiped the tears from her eyes with the edge of her shirt, and then looked at the clock. What the hell was Anthony doing back already? Dinner didn’t officially end for another half hour at least.

Hermione decided it was about time she had words with her partner in Head duties. She didn’t want to be dancing around him and avoiding him all year, the common room was hers as well, and she was going to stake her claim. She grabbed her robe, pocketed the book, slipped her wand up her sleeve and strode out the door.

Anthony was sitting on the sofa facing the Head Girl’s room when she exited, popping candies from his blue basket into his mouth, grimacing slightly at the flavor, he still didn’t know what was different about the candies, but he wasn’t about to turn down free chocolate.

“Oh Hermione, I saw you leave dinner early, I do hope you’re feeling alright?” Anthony asked, trying, inconvincibly, to sound concerned and sincere.

Hermione glanced around the room and saw that his books, parchment and quills were scattered everywhere. She stepped up and stood directly across from Anthony.

“Listen up, Goldstein, I have a few rules to set down, that I expect you to follow. First of all, no leaving your shit around the common room like it’s your own personal play ground. Take it to your bedroom, and feel free to be as messy as you like there because I highly doubt I will ever venture there. Second, I know about your sick little bet with your housemates, did you really think I wouldn’t find out, thickwit? So after today, the only time I want to talk to you, socialize with you, or generally be near you is when we have Head Duties and cannot get around collaborating. Now, I wish to use the common room, and I refuse to use it while it looks like your playroom, so I suggest you clean up your shit, and let me be, I’m sure there’s somewhere else you can be right now,” Hermione declared, a note of finality in her voice.

Anthony had been becoming more and more irritated and enraged with each statement Hermione made, and when she finished he found himself angrily advancing on the defiant Gryffindor.

“Now, you listen you little cunt,” Hermione gasped at the statement, “I don’t like taking orders and there is no ways in Hades Hell that I am going to take them from you, understand? I am not going to clean up, if you have a problem with it do it yourself or get one of your precious elves to do it. And I don’t care if we socialize, talk or whatnot, but believe me when I say this, I am going to fuck you, and you will enjoy it and you WILL beg for more,” he snarled. He lunged for her, but Hermione was prepared.

“You sick little fuck!” she screamed as she jumped out off the way, and aimed a stunning spell at the enraged Head Boy, which he deflected with his own wand. He had just lunged again when the portrait swung open to reveal two fully transformed, and angry Veela.

Hermione was enthralled at the entrance of the two beasts, it was the first time she had ever seen a transformed male Veela outside of the books she had been reading the last two days. The taller one, obviously Blaise, with his violet eyes and gold and black wings launched himself at Anthony who had paused momentarily at the entrance of the two magnificent beasts. Anthony screamed as he felt the claws of one of Blaise’s hands bit into his stomach, while the other arm recoiled and then snapped forward to punch him in the chest, sending him straight across the room.

Draco entered after Blaise, his eyes molten silver and his feathers platinum. He snatched up Hermione; caging her in with his wings as his strong arms wrapped around to hold her close, her body melting into his, as he watched the Southern Veela’s attack on their foe. Hermione breathed in the scent of mint, vanilla and hazelnuts coming off Draco. She had never felt so safe, so right in her entire life, and she barely reached his chin! She lifted her eyes to gaze upon his beautiful face, drinking in the wild rage dancing in his piercing eyes, the wicked curve of his beak, his wild fly away hair…

Draco felt her eyes on him and lowered his head to observe her. Gods! She was perfect, and she was theirs. He dropped his head a bit to nuzzle his mate lovingly, causing her to moan.

A bit of scuffling and the readjusting of feathers brought his attention to his other mate, who was now standing calm in front of them. Draco glanced over his shoulder and saw Anthony, unconscious, in a heap on the ground. Draco retracted his wings, revealing their unharmed mate to Blaise who merely grunted before allowing himself to change back to his human form, Draco followed suit, but refused to let go of Hermione. When Hermione saw what Blaise had done to Anthony she gasped.

“Come now, love,” Draco whispered into her ear, causing tingles to shoot through the distressed girl’s entire body, “We couldn’t very just leave him without a punishment he won’t forget.”

“But if he dies? I can’t lose you two, not to Azkaban, not to anyone,” tears blurred her vision as she implored her two future lovers.” They both softened slightly as they heard what she was saying. Blaise leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead, causing her to melt further into Draco’s arms, before turning back to the incapacitated Head Boy, and waved his hand. Hermione gasped when Anthony disappeared. She started to ask what they did with him when she was silenced by a pair of soft lips and the overwhelming scent of both Veela together.

“Don’t worry, love,” Blaise whispered against her lips, “You’re not going to lose us, not now, not ever. And as for the predator, I sent him to the hospital wing. He will be in a coma before he realizes the error in his ways.”

Draco lowered his head and placed his lips on her neck, gently sucking and biting the smooth pale flesh, as Blaise claimed her mouth once again. Hermione was putty in their hands, she couldn’t move or think, just feel. She finally felt complete, for the first time in her life it was like everything was right in the world, despite the fact she had two men attempt to rape her already that day.

Hermione didn’t know how long it was before they pulled away from her, but a whimper escaped her lips as they did. They both looked down at her with amused and triumphant smirks plastered across their faces.

“Come, love” Blaise nipped at her lips, “I think it’s time for us to retire to our room,” he said before stepping away from the girl, intertwining his fingers with hers and leading her from the room, Draco holding on to her other hand and urging her forward.

***

When Anthony Goldstein was suddenly dropped into the middle of the floor in the hospital room Mme. Pomfrey knew exactly what had happened. She grabbed her wand and quickly levitated the bloodied boy on to the nearest bed, vanishing his robes, shirt and the excess blood so she could accurately assess the damage. She was shocked, his intestines were practically hanging out of his stomach and his ribcage had been crushed at the front. Luckily none of his organs had been punctured. Mme. Pomfrey rolled up her sleeves and began repairing the boys abused flesh. She would speak to Professors Dumbledore and Snape later. This could not happen again.