Dangerous Games

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, but this is Rosmerta as I see her. I am making no money from this so please don\'t sue me.


Dangerous Games

Chapter 12: A Deception Revealed

Rosmerta absently wandered through her pub, occasionally checking on customers. She was relying on Mae more and more to take care of the day-to-day workings of the place. Rosmerta was having difficulty focusing on her establishment with so much else at stake. It had been a few more torturous weeks and she hadn’t heard anything. She had stooped to reading the Daily Profit. That rag! She even read the Quibbler because she was so desperate for any information on what was happening.

And to find out if Lucius was safe.

She was on edge and she sometimes felt that nothing was worth all this.

What had she gotten herself into?

The arrival of few more patrons broke her reverie. As they made their way into the inn, Rosmerta began to have some hope.

Minerva…and Snape.

They must have news!

She quickly ushered them into a private room and had Mae take their orders. When the young girl had gone, Rosmerta asked what was foremost in her mind.

“Well?” she questioned them hurriedly. “What is happening with Voldemort? Have you heard something about Lucius?”

“Nothing,” Professor McGonagall replied solemnly.

The disappointment that they had still not gotten anywhere left her exhausted and defeated. She slumped down in a chair.

“Then why are you here?” she asked dully.

“We need a favor, Rosmerta,” the older witch began.

Suddenly Rosmerta had had enough. How much could she be expected to take anyway?

“You have another Death Eater you need me to sleep with?” she interrupted bitterly.

“That does seem to be your specialty,” Snape drawled.

“Severus!” Minerva reprimanded him sharply.

The room grew quiet as Mae returned to serve their drinks. She left as quietly as she had come.

This gave Rosmerta time to think about what Snape had implied and she was shocked. Snape was known to be cruel but thus far, he had not been so to her.

“And I was beginning to think you were actually a nice guy, Professor.”

“We can’t have that can we?” he retorted smoothly. “Since you seem to prefer bad boys.”

“Snape!” McGonagall barked. “Stop it! What do you think you’re doing?”

“Just trying to snap Madam Rosmerta out of whatever pity party she happens to be attending. This morose frame of mind is most unbecoming,” he said walking over to the young woman and grasping her by the shoulders. His dark eyes bore into hers as he spoke sternly to her.

“We need your help. This is no time to be emotional and self-indulgent. You need to be strong, Rosmerta. There is much at stake.”

He was right. She knew he was right. She had to gain control of the feelings that threatened to overwhelm her.

“What has happened?” she asked gaining some of her composure back.

Minerva was the one to answer her.

“It is about Harold.”

“Harold?” Rosmerta repeated in a surprised tone. “But he has been dead for over ten years now. What has he got to do with anything?”

“Rosmerta, we have reason to believe your husband was a Death Eater.”

The silence seemed to envelope them like a somber blanket. Rosmerta struggled to break through the shock that now permeated her whole body.

“Impossible…” she whispered and then continued in a stronger voice. “That can’t be true.”

“Rosmerta, I assure you…” Minerva began but Snape interrupted her.

“Tell us, Madam Rosmerta. How did your husband die?”

“It was an accident at work,” she stated defensively.

“He was a banker at Gringott’s,” Snape added dryly. “What did he do? Fall on his quill? Or perhaps he was thrown from a moving cart? ”

“No, of course not.” She shot him an angry look. “He was levitating heavy volumes of ledgers from a high shelf when he became distracted and they fell on him…”

A look of realization appeared on her face.

“Oh!” Her eyes flew to her oldest friend. “Minerva. All those times he had to leave suddenly because of an emergency at work. He would never talk about it. Then, he would come home looking ragged.”

Could it be true? Had her husband been a Death Eater?

“Do I just have horrible luck?” she moaned.

“No, actually. We have information that he was…placed in your life to keep an eye on you.”

“So my whole life was a lie?” she questioned weakly.

Rosmerta looked up at Snape then.

“I don’t understand. Why? It doesn’t make sense that they were so interested in me.”

“We believe that Lucius’ father arranged it…possibly to keep the two of you apart.”

“But he was already married to Narcissa when Harold and I met.”

“Obviously, they thought it was not enough.”

Rosmerta felt as if she had been hit with a stunning spell. Nothing made sense anymore. Memories of Lucius floated through her head. There had been a time when he started frequenting her place more often…she had hoped he missed her… She shut down those memories. That was right before Harold had suddenly appeared in her life.

Although it wasn’t much, it was enough to give credence to the things Snape was telling her.

“How do you know all of this?”

“We have recruited one of Voldemort’s minions and he was quite anxious to tell us what he knew in return for protection.” Minerva decided to rejoin the conversation.

“And you believed him?”

“It all fits together,” Snape told her coolly.

His calmness infuriated her.

“It’s not some puzzle for you to figure out, Snape!” she replied passionately. “It’s my life. My memories, my feelings…all a lie. All a plan of Lucius’ father…or possibly Voldemort!” She took a deep breath as she gathered steam. “So it may all fit together neatly for you, Snape, but it tears my life…my reasons for everything I do, apart!”

“You’re angry…” Snape began calmly.

“Of course I’m fucking angry, Snape!”

“As you should be, Rosmerta. You should be pissed off. But not at me. I’m just the messenger.”

Rosmerta backed down. She was physically spent after her outburst. She was surprised that her mood swings were so becoming so extreme.

“What do you want from me?” she asked quietly.

“There are some important papers Harold had possession of before he died,” Minerva explained. “We need those papers.”

***************

Rosmerta tossed in her bed. She was exhausted but she couldn’t sleep. So many thoughts tried to crowd her mind but she pushed them back, one by one. She just couldn’t handle them all at once.

Harold was a Death Eater.

Marriage to her was his assignment.

Lucius’ father was a prick. Okay that one was no surprise to her at all. She already knew that.

Their life together had been a sham.

And yet on some level she had also known that. Not that he intentionally married her for nefarious reasons, of course. Just the fact that they hadn’t had a real marriage.

She had tried to make it work, though. Honestly she had. It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t live up to her ideal…

To Lucius.

Memories flooded back to her quicker than she could push them away. Her defenses quickly faded leaving her drowning in her own thoughts.

Lucius…

He had come to her one night after closing. She remembered he looked worn down, tortured. His eyes were wild and his hair hung loosely around his tormented face. She tried to brush him off but without speaking a word he pulled her into a searing kiss.

Even through her grief the memory stirred the latent passion inside her.

He always had that power.

It had taken everything she had to push him away that night. The memory still haunted her.

“No, Lucius. I cannot do this.”

“Rosmerta, I know you miss me.” His breath had been ragged as he tried to pull her closer. All his polish and shine stripped away to reveal a raw need.

Still she had her pride and he had made his choice. She still remembered her reply.

“Lucius. You are married. Now, go away.”

“You are the one I want, Rosmerta,” he had whispered to her. His breath had caressed her ear and she vividly remembered how weak she had felt. She had to be strong.

“Then I suppose you should not have married her.”

“It doesn’t matter. We can still be together. I know you want me,” he coaxed in that deep, seductive voice.

Still the same…cocky, sure, and determined to get what he wanted as his hand reached up to stroke her breast. Her resolve had almost fallen.

Almost.

She pushed him away.

“Whether you admit it or not, Rosmerta,” he told her fiercely, “you have always belonged to me and you always will.”

Her pride had won out in the end. The look on his face as she had explained her position; she would not be a whore to an arrogant, pureblood bastard whose wife was too frigid to service him.

It had almost been worth it.

Almost.

And so when Harold started coming around, paying attention to her, who could blame her for latching on to him like a lifeline. He was no Lucius, that was true…but he was not married. And that mattered a lot to her at that moment.

But he was a Death Eater. And she fell neatly into their plans. How could she be so stupid? So blind?

An unexpected pop startled her and she gasped at the dark figure beside her bed. A sudden fear overcame her and she started to shake violently.

As the wizard sat down on her bed, the identity of her intruder finally registered.

“Lucius,” she said in a choked whisper. She was so confused she didn’t know what to think.

He placed his gloved fingertips against her mouth.

“Sh...” he answered softly. “Don’t speak. I cannot stay long. I just wanted to see you. Are you doing all right?”

She nodded her head mutely, eliciting a chuckle from the cloaked man.

“Nothing to say, my dear?” he remarked smoothly. “It is not often that you actually obey my instructions.”

A heated reply to this observation quickly died in her throat as Lucius’ eyes drifted downward to the flimsy nightgown she was wearing. His hand followed suit, causing her mind to completely shut down as she felt the soft leather stroke her breast.

Rosmerta felt off balance. Not just from his onslaught to her senses but to the new information she had recently learned. She didn’t know what was real anymore; what to believe.

She needed to think. To figure things out. But wasn’t that what she had been trying to do before he arrived? And she had gotten nowhere.

Even if her thoughts were unsure of what to do, her body wasn’t. She could feel herself responding and the familiarity of the sensations comforted her somewhat. No matter what they had been through, she could trust that he wanted her and needed her.

All these thoughts dissipated as he pulled off his glove to touch her. His warm, strong hands slipped under her nightgown as he pulled her into a kiss. His lips were rough as he hungrily claimed her mouth. His hands were insistent as he pushed the white cloth up and out of his way.

His right hand traveled up her thigh and she moved her legs further apart to accommodate him. His mouth moved to her neck, as he eagerly tasted her heated skin. She reached down to grab his wandering hand encouraging him to move it closer.

All of a sudden, he pulled her knickers down and off exposing her to the cool air. Rosmerta gasped as he briefly teased her before plunging his fingers into her.

It had been so long and she was suddenly impatient to have him inside her. She spread her legs wide bucking up against his hand, inviting him to continue.

As if reading her mind, he quickly pulled off his clothes and lay down on top of her. The weight of his body was reassuring to her like an anchor holding her in place so she couldn’t drift away.

Lucius swiftly buried himself inside her and they both groaned at the delicious sensations. It had been too long.

He slammed into her, each time trying to go deeper. Rosmerta grabbed his arse, trying to pull him as far in as she could. As if she could somehow keep a part of him somewhere deep inside. Always with her.

Lucius gasped as the orgasm overtook him. She was so close and she silently begged him not to stop. As she felt the pressure building, Lucius reached between them to pinch her nub, releasing a flow of wonderful sensations.

Much too quickly it was over and he was standing up and dressed once again.

“I can’t stay. In fact I just wanted to check on you,” he continued with a smirk. “It is entirely your fault that I became distracted.”

At her surprised look he leaned down and whispered softly in her ear.

“You are just so beautiful.”

And then just as quickly he was gone.

Rosmerta was ready to believe it was just a dream, an enticing fantasy. She might have convinced herself, if it were not for the sticky wetness that was already drying on her skin and the satiated feeling that now claimed her body and created a smile on her face.