A Ghostly Curse

Disclaimer: Yes, I confess… I am JKR. Everything in the world of Harry Potter belongs to me. And by the way, did you know that I can also fly? Well, in my dreams, anyway. In real life, I just enjoy playing in the HP world. I own nothing you recognize.

A/N: I posted ch 10, and was so happy to see how many wonderful reviews I received in response that I had to go ahead and get ch 11 ready as well. See? I told you it feeds my Muse when the reviews are so numerous and wonderful!

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Ch 11 - Facing Demons

“I could hear you when you entered my room. I knew you were both there and discussing what might wake me. But it was like I was trapped in a fog that I couldn’t find my way out of.” Draco paused in his story to look longingly at Angelina, who held his hand as if she were terrified some unseen monster might come and tear him away. “Except when she would come to me.” He smiled and placed a kiss on her palm. “Whenever she dreamed, I would be swept away to whatever world she was in.”

Lucius stood beside Hermione, his frame offering her a safe break from Severus’ mutinous stare. He was listening to his son, but very aware of Severus’ behavior. The man was acting nonchalant except every time he made eye contact with Hermione, his expression would turn to one of calculated rage.

Sending Severus yet another warning glare, he asked Draco, “Was there no one there? Did no one before Angelina make any kind of contact with you?”

Draco turned from Angelina and gave his father a sad look. “Aunt Bellatrix, when she first damned me to the sleep came to me and told me that it was nothing personal.” He shook his head. “She insisted that you had to be punished for your disloyalty to the Dark Lord.” He rolled his eyes. “If she wasn’t trying to do me in, I’d hate to see what she’d have done if she had known that I’d turned disloyal as well.”

He fell silent for a moment and then added, “And Mum came… Once. She told me that your body has been hidden in plain sight.” He shrugged. “Whatever that means.”

Hermione stepped forward. “Did she say where? Is it someplace we haven’t looked yet?”

Draco gave Hermione a once over and considered being tacky just for old times, but decided against it when he saw the look on his father’s face. Instead, he inclined his head, thinking. “It’s been a while, Granger. I’ve been stuck in that limbo for a few years now. It’s a wonder I even know how to walk anymore.” He was running his fingers through Angelina’s hair as if reassuring himself that she was really there.

Finally, he looked back to Hermione with a stunned expression. “Have you looked in the statue room?”

Hermione gave him a baffled look. “Where’s that?”

Draco dropped his jaw before turning to look at Lucius with a smirk. “You haven’t checked the statue room? You must be joking, right?” He stood up and grabbed Angelina’s hand, pulling her along with him.

Lucius shrugged. “It never occurred to me to check there.” He muttered. When Hermione turned with raised eyebrows in question he had the decency to look flabbergasted. “What? There’s nothing there but lots of naked statues--”

As soon as the words left his mouth, his face turned sour. “Oh! It would be just like that bitch to pose me naked for any future tenant to gawk at!”

He moved to follow his son but side-stepped quickly to once again block Hermione from Snape’s path. “Don’t even think it!” He growled at Severus angrily as he took Hermione’s hand to pull her along with him as he concentrated on keeping himself solid.

Perplexed by Lucius’ strange behavior, but not missing the angry glares her ex-husband had been sending in her direction, Hermione reminded herself to ask Lucius what they were all about later. For now, she would be happy just to find her lover’s body.

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When they reached the room in question, Hermione was amazed to see all the statues posed in different sexual position. Some where couples, engaged in different acts of foreplay. Others were actually in the act of making love.

Some were pleasuring themselves in different ways. Some in ways Hermione had never dreamt of. She wondered if some of those things were even possible. Blushing deeply, she buried her head on Lucius’ shoulder. “Out of curiosity, why do you have a room like this?”

Sighing, Lucius turned to look his lover in the eye. “In the early eighteenth century there was a Sculptor that took a trip to India with his wife. They discovered what is known as the Karma Sutra. He became so intrigued by it that he decided he wanted life-like replicas of what was in the texts they had read.” Turning to look at one of the sculptures, he smiled a little. “He was an ancestor of mine. These,” he gestured around them. “have been in this house since they were made.”

Draco chuckled. “Aunt Bellatrix always hated this room!” He looked to his father. “Since she hated you, it seems appropriate that this is where she’d put you. Don’t you think?”

Hermione turned in slow circles, looking at each face, each torso trying to find a likeness of him. When she moved to the center of the room, she stopped and stared.

There, laying on a cold marble slab, in a torturous position, was Lucius. His hands were bound, as were his feet. He was naked and an expression of agony was on his face. Moving closer, Hermione let her gaze wonder over his form. His member stood fully erect with no relief in sight. This was the only pose that had nothing to do with the Karma Sutra.

Hermione knew it was him. Reaching out to touch his cheek, she gasped when her hand touched hard, cold marble. She turned and saw the phantom Lucius staring at his form with a look akin to shock on his face.

Trying to muster up a positive response to it all, she whispered, “At least we’ve found you.”

He nodded, a bitter smile playing across his features. “Yes, but how will we make my body flesh again? I don’t know a spell or potion for that one.” He looked at Severus. “Do you?”

Severus stared at Lucius’ body with an ironic smile. “It is an easy enough potion to brew. I just need the proper,” he paused, his eyes meeting Hermione’s, “incentive to brew it.”

Hermione dropped her jaw as it dawned on her exactly what Severus was talking about. Sputtering at the insult, she responded, “But, you’re married. You left me for the woman you wanted.” She shook her head. “And you’ve already had me! What do you want me for now?”

Severus shrugged nastily. “It is not for you to fret about. Only, decide soon. One night with me and then you’ll be free to be with him. Otherwise the only way you will truly be able to be with him will be to fuck his statue!”

Turning, he made his way from the room, leaving the other four staring after him in a mixture of fury and shock.

Angelina was the first to speak. “Well, I’ll be damned! I’ve always heard that he was a snarky bastard. But this is the first time I’ve ever witnessed it first-hand.”

Draco stared after him before turning to look at his father and Hermione. “All right then. Now I know I’ve missed something. Would either of you care to explain?”

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“Potter’s dead?” Draco’s voice echoed through the kitchen as Mud poured everyone yet another cup of tea. “Poor bastard! To have your life so completely tied to the Dark Lord. That’s quite possibly the saddest story I’ve ever heard.” He pursed his lips before adding. “And that Ginevra bitch never loved him after all.”

Hermione’s head snapped up. “Of course she loved him!” she responded quickly, only to blush when Draco raised an eyebrow in her direction.

“Then why did she jump at the chance to get remarried after he’d only been dead a few years?” he glanced at Angelina. “I certainly hope I’m not that easily replaced. And besides, Hermione,” he said softly. “what kind of friend becomes lover to her best friend’s husband? Sounds to me as if they both betrayed you.”

Hermione shrugged her shoulders halfheartedly. “It’s done and over with now. I’ve let it go.”

Angelina looked at Hermione and her southern drawl came out as she responded. “Well, honey, it sure as hell seems that Snape hasn’t. He wants a piece of your sweets and doesn’t seem to care the tiniest bit about the fact that he’s a married man with a baby on the way.”

Lucius had been standing staring out the window, but turned to look at Hermione at Angelina’s words. “He won’t have you. I forbid you to give him five minutes, much less an hour. I’ll just stay the way I am for now.”

Hermione shook her head. “No. Lucius, you deserve your freedom. There has to be a way to get what new need without me being forced to do…” She paused as her face twisted into a deep grimace. “that.”

Draco looked from Hermione to Angelina, then back again. “You two are the brightest witches in all of the wizarding world. With your heads put together I’m sure you could come up with something that will far surpass anything Professor Snape could come up with.”

Lucius nodded, then scowled. “But we must still find a way to get through to your god-father about how important fidelity is between couples. I won’t have him trying to con Hermione into this game he continues to try to put her in.”

Draco smiled at his father. He recognized the protective nature the man had once had for his mother coming out. “Protective much, Father?”

Lucius’ gaze snapped to his son. “Careful, Draco. If it had not been for Miss Granger, you would still be trapped in that miserable sleep of yours.” He looked back to her and his expression softened. “I had all but given up trying to find myself. Her arrival brought back my desire to regain my life.”

Draco looked to Hermione and offered her a sincere smile. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized this was the first smile he had ever offered her that hadn’t been condescending. “I know.” He spoke in answer to Lucius. “It’s quite all right to be protective of her.” His eyes moved to Angelina. “True treasures are meant to be protected.”

Angelina’s eyes lit up and she smiled brightly in response to his open affection. “I’m sure that Hermione and I can come up with an answer.” She looked to Hermione with a strange expression on her face. “Actually, I do already have an idea… But it is a rather pagan way of reversing the spell.” Shrugging, she added, “I’m not sure you’ll really want to do it.”

Hermione sat looking at Angelina for a moment before she realized what the other witch was suggesting. Her face broke out in a big smile and she nodded. “Oh, I’d do it. I could do it in a heartbeat if you think it might work.”

Draco and Lucius both looked curiously at the women for a moment before they both blurted out in unison. “You’re going shag the statue?”

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A/N: LOL! I don’t know where that came from… I really don’t… But there will be a charm the witches will work around the statue before anything happens. Hermione is willing to try anything before she would give in and do what Severus requests.

By the way, just so you know… I hated making Severus the bad guy here… But as Voldemort is gone and Hermione can’t be with both of them… One of them had to be a jerk. Severus just picked the shortest straw.

Actually, I am working on an idea where she does have both men… I know, I know… But in my dreams and on fan fiction… it might actually be fun… I’ll let you know if I ever get it worked into a story.