Snape Redux

Snape Redux

By April Grey

Chapter 12 – The Ship that Made Jo Cry

It all belongs to Rowling, except what you don’t recognize.


She awoke to someone banging on the door downstairs and calling her name. With a start she realized that she was in the wrong bedroom. Snape was still asleep, but he was looking better, except for his bruises, which had become rather colorful. She cast a spell on the room to prevent any noise from escaping and Apparated into her own room.

“Hello?” she said groggily and opened the door.

“Hermione, did you sleep in your clothes last night?” asked Tonks.

“Is that a problem?”

“You weren’t downstairs for breakfast—“

“I was up late reading and I slept in. I used a muffling spell on the door so I wouldn’t be disturbed.” Hermione surprised herself with the ease of her lying. She was really getting the hang of it.

“Right,” said Tonks, still uncertain. “Well, I left you some toast and bacon.”

“Thanks,” Hermione forced a smile, “I’ll be down in a bit.”

Hermione watched her head down the stairs. She had to get an owl to McGonagall right away. It would have to be anonymous and she needed to word it carefully. But she should check on Severus first.

She Apparated into the Master bedroom only to find that he was gone!

His wand she’d left on the nightstand so it was obvious that he’d probably woken up, sneered in disgust at being in Sirius Black’s bed and left.

That made sense. She made the bed and carefully checked that there was no evidence left behind of the Wizard. Then she Apparated back into her room. There was an empty, hollow, feel to all this. She liked having him there, all hers. She shook off the feeling. Plenty of time to examine it later, in the meantime there was a letter to be written.

Dear Headmistress McGonagall,

This is to inform you that Voldemort has plans to awaken the powers of an ancient site on Midsummer’s Eve, at which point he plans to then launch an attack.

There are six possible locations that he might invoke. They are: the Ring of Brodgar in the Orkneys, Callanish in the Western Isles, Long Meg and her daughters in Cumbria, Carn Gluze in Cornwall, Meayll Circle at the Isle of Man and Avebury in Wiltshire.

I wish I could tell you which place he will choose, but he has not revealed that information.

Sincerely,

A Friend of the Order


Fortunately, the quills they had used for the invitations had different types of script available. Hermione would be able to disguise her handwriting and switch ink color.

At the back door of the house, Hermione whistled for Diana her owl. The Little Owl showed up in less than a minute.

“Diana, can you take this to Hogwarts and get it to Prof. McGonagall without letting her know it’s from us?”

The owl gave a small screech and Hermione fed it an owl treat. “Good girl. Thank you.”

One less thing to worry about, thought Hermione as she ate the bacon and toast that Tonks had left her. It would be a busy time at the Burrow for the next few days!

Hermione choked on her tea. Did she have sawdust for brains? Admittedly quite a bit had gone on since leaving Hogwarts, but how could she just sit there eating calmly? The battle would commence in two days time--the day after tomorrow. The day before the dual wedding!

There would be no weddings! Even worse, there were still two Horcruxes missing! If Harry couldn’t find them and disarm and destroy them, then, then it didn’t matter if they did manage to defeat Voldemort, he’d be able to come back again.

She buried her head in her hands. How could she go on with this? Even with the advance information of which day Voldemort was going to attack, and a list of places they might attack, they had no hope of success!

Hermione threw out the rest of her breakfast and washed the mismatched plates and cup, setting them on a tea towel to dry. She wanted to head back up to bed and pull the covers over her. She couldn’t face pretending that everything was all right and going through the motions of preparation for a happy event that she knew wasn’t going forward. Hermione felt very alone and a bit queasy.

Two days before Voldemort’s attack. Two days to find the Horcruxes. Two days.

&&&

Snape awoke. He was alone. At first he felt alarm not knowing where he was, but then he was able to gather up vague memories of Hermione Granger taking care of him. Equally vague was a sense of her trespassing in his head, yet again! He really had to do something to seal up the access to whatever little attic she’d been nesting in.

Unfortunately, he’d taken a few too many liberties with his mind since the return of Voldemort two years ago and there were more holes in his memory than the Yorkshire Dales had caves.

On that ghastly day when the Dark Lord had returned and the Dark Mark summoned him, Snape resisted the summons and went to Dumbledore for help. He feared he wasn’t a good enough Occlumens to hide his being a double agent from Voldemort. With Dumbledore’s help they had devised a way to use a Pensieve to hide his true feelings about the Dark Lord and his need to avenger Lily’s death. By erasing memories of both Lily and his mother, the only two women for whom he ever felt love or felt loved by, he’d been able to withstand the scrutiny of the Dark Lord. With each summoning to the Lord a few more memories had to be removed, especially any feelings of fondness for Dumbledore. For two years his mind had been chipped away until his connection to humanity felt null and void. And it was in the bleak despair of these years that his plan to avenge himself on Potter had been born.

Snape returned to the barn, dressed only in a nightshirt. Fortunately his change of clothes still hovered where he’d left them up in the loft. Three spiders had managed to drop down from above the bundle onto his clothes. They were quickly and violently dispatched.


&&&

Hermione went through the motions of helping Tonks and Fleur get ready for their weddings. But while helping with wedding gown alterations, and creating matching brides maids’ robes, her mind kept going back to Snape.

She hadn’t known what love was. Not true love. What she felt for Ron and Viktor was a lit match compared to the firestorm aroused in her by Severus Snape. With those two young Wizards her relationship and feelings of tenderness had been created out of a matter of convenience and selfishness on her part. However, for Severus she’d give up her life--she wanted nothing but for him to be safe and happy. It was a strange feeling to know that though he fancied her, he still planned to do away with himself. A few shared kisses and a sexual fantasy wasn’t enough to change his mind. Hermione wondered what it would take to get him to rethink his plans.

Severus Snape had honed the weapon, Harry, for years, whetting the boy’s hatred of Snape with Snape’s own cruelty. He would use Harry to help him defeat the Dark Lord. And then he’d challenge Harry—make Harry think his life was at risk and Harry would defend himself, full force--thus ending Snape’s life! While Hermione could not guarantee this was exactly Snape’s plan, her instincts told her it was so.

The upcoming tragedy played itself out in Hermione’s mind over and over again. And though Severus didn’t love her, she had to find a way to save his life.

‘I won’t let it happen, Severus’, she thought. ‘Lily and Dumbledore wouldn’t have let it happen to you. You are loved too well, in spite of yourself.’

It was another beautiful day at the Burrow. Good weather looked to be holding for the entire week. Hermione was having lunch outside with Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fleur, Bill, Gabrielle and her mother, Camille, who had just arrived from France that morning. Camille Delacour could have been sister to Fleur and Gabrielle. She was willowy and there was an ageless quality about her increased by a sense of humor that was quite appealing. Her laugh won over any man in hearing distance and even women found themselves drawn in by it. It was obvious that she wasn’t fully human but something else. Something created by old magic that had existed before humans crawled from the sea.

When Hermione saw Viktor walking up the path to them, she ran into his arms and they kissed long and hard. Hermione sincerely hoped that Ron was getting a good eyeful, even as she felt herself go all wet and giggly in delight.

“Viktor! Why are you here?” She looked in his eyes and sincerely wished they were someplace private, where he’d make good on a certain promise to force her to scream his name.

“I do not know, Hermione. Your Headmistress Minerva McGonagall contacted me and asked me to meet her here.”

On cue, Professor McGonagall now came walking down the road.

“Ah, Mister Krum! I am so glad you could meet with me.”

“Anything for Hermione’s friends,” he gave that little frown that Hermione adored.

Mr. And Mrs. Weasley came out from the Burrow, followed by Tonks and Remus.

“Ah, good. Viktor Krum may I introduce you to the Weasleys, Molly and Arthur, and I believe you know Fleur and her sister from the Triwizard Tournament,” said McGonagall looking a bit confused at all the people suddenly milling about. “This is Tonks and Remus and Bill and—“ She sniffed and mentally threw up her hands. “Mr. Krum, we have a special group that we wish you to join. But here is not the place to discuss it. If you would allow me to Apparate you with me.”

“Hermione, do you approve of me going with your Headmistress?” Viktor’s eyes were filled with excitement and curiosity.

Hermione was touched that he would defer to her desire on the matter. She felt tears well up in her eyes and she wanted to say “no” stay out of it! I love you too much, keep playing Quidditch and be safe. She nodded and kissed him on the lips.

He took her hand and flashed her a pleased look before kissing his ring on her finger.

“Now, Ron and Ginny I expect you to be good hosts to Camille and Gabrielle. We’ll be back as soon as we are able,” said Molly. “And the tents need to be assembled as soon as you are done with your lunch!”

Hermione noted that Fleur would be going with them. So she’d been made a member of the Order! It was so unfair that one had to be both of age and out of school to be allowed to join. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been appealed to time and again and they steadfastly refused to let Ron and Ginny be part of the Order until they had their N.E.W.T.s. Harry was still under aged, and Hermione hadn’t even bothered asking, knowing what the answer would be. The four of them were still locked out of all discussions; however, George and Fred were now members and could be counted on to let them in on what was happening in the meetings.

No sooner than the Order members along with Viktor had Apparated, Hermione’s senses left her. Like a puppet with her strings cut she collapsed on the ground, clutching herself and howling.

Camille, upon seeing Hermione’s state, immediately stepped forward and took Hermione in hand. She brought the girl inside the house and plopped Hermione on the couch with a glass of lemonade. She sat next to Hermione patting her face with a cold wet face cloth. Ginny and the others stayed outside. Ron could be heard through the open window saying, “She’s daft, I tell you. Gone barking.”

“Zat man, Krum, he is your lover, no?” asked Camille in a quiet, friendly manner.

“Umm. No. Err. I’m not sure,” said Hermione gulping air.

“Ah, your fiancé then?”

“Well, we are engaged to be engaged. I mean it’s all a bit too soon.”

“And you fear for him?” the older Witch nodded sagely.

Hermione felt calmer now, “I’m sure Viktor can take care of himself.” She took a sip of the lemonade.

“As Bill and Fleur can, aussi.” Camille patted Hermione’s cheek with her hand. “By the way, my mother shall be arriving tomorrow for the Wedding, and she is a Veela. When she wishes, she can transform into a bird and throw balls of fire.”

Hermione nodded, eyes wide. “That’s good to know.”

“Oui, eet eez.”

“Actually, Madam Delacour, can you keep a secret?”

“Why of course, cherie!”

“I love Viktor, but I’m also in love with someone else.” Suddenly Hermione felt much lighter saying it out loud, “And, and I just don’t know what to do!”

“Zat other person doesn’t love you back?”

“He fancies me.”

“Ah, the eternal triangle. What you must do est rien, nothing! Take your time, it shall all become clear to you. Now, have some rest. You look tired.”

Hermione closed her eyes. She was tired, having spent the night before with Snape.

When she awoke it was late afternoon and everyone was outside setting up the tents that had arrived. Hermione, though she’d been alone all afternoon, desperately needed some time to herself in order to read. She wanted to research the Neolithic sites that she’d listed to McGonagall. She wanted to read the book that Viktor had sent her. And though it made her blush, the book, Tie Me Down--Tie You Down, was also calling to her, begging to be read.

That night they had the Witches Night. Hermione tried her best to participate. When Fleur opened her gift Mrs. Weasley went pale and gasped, Tonks went red, and Fleur, Gabrielle and her mum all burst into laughter until they cried. Camille pronounced that it was a very good joke indeed, and related a story about how at her Witches Night she was given a nurse’s uniform and an enema kit.

Tonks on the other hand couldn’t quite get over the edible knickers and oils. She kept shaking her head and saying, oh no. She didn’t stop blushing for a moment. Hermione wondered what would it be like with a werewolf husband, but she quickly put the thought away.

Hermione returned to Grimmauld Place late, but she had managed to obtain a copy of Ancient Stones: Circles of the Past from the Weasley family library. It had actually been part of the syllabus of Ancient Runes, but Hermione had only skimmed it, few of the Ancient Places listed in the book still had runes one could actually read.

She bookmarked each of the six places: the Ring of Brodgar was reputed to have Giants petrified in stone, just as Long Meg and her daughters were supposed to be Witches petrified. In Callanish on Midsummer’s Day a god walked, his name was the Shining One or Lugh. At the Meayll Circle was reputed an army of ghostly horsemen, while both Avebury and Carn Gluze were said to be places where the Fairy Court gathered.

Now, if she were a Dark Lord she’d leave the Fairies alone, as they were known for a nasty disposition and no love for the Wizarding World. The Stone Giants might be useful as Voldemort already had an alliance with the modern day Giant community. Hermione couldn’t imagine how some stone witches would be all that useful. And she didn’t know if ghostly horsemen or Gods would be interested in helping Voldemort. Hermione’s bet was that the battle would take place in the Orkneys.

That night Hermione dreamed of stone circles coming alive and she and her friends fighting not just Death Eaters but Giants and Witches made of stone, fierce Fairy warriors on ghostly horseback, and Ancient Gods. She saw Severus in her dream. He winked, smiled and said, “D’you know I fancy you?” and then died under an Avada Kadavra sent by Harry. Harry stood with Voldemort and they both laughed at Severus’ poor broken body. Then she watched Viktor die, impaled by a Stone Giant’s crossbow.

Hermione awoke with a scream.

It was still hours before dawn and Hermione studied her book on Bulgarian curses. The book of curses came complete with a spell that would give the proper pronunciation of Bulgarian words. She practiced a bit before reading through the Tie Me Up book. She even got in a little nap before heading over to the Burrow to join them for breakfast.

The day went by in a flash. There were errands to be run and last minute magic to be created as the weddings were suddenly a day closer. At the close of day, Hermione made her goodbyes and again turned down offers to stay at the Burrow.

When she arrived back at Grimmauld Place, she paced her room. She had to see him again. Severus. She had to convince him to give up any plan he might have that included his own destruction. If she could only get him to change his mind about Harry! Get him to see life was worth something more than living for vengeance. If he would only love her instead of just fancy her—

She Apparated to outside the barn. There was no sign of life. Well, he wouldn’t advertise he was there. She walked carefully in the dark, and jumped when a hand wrapped around her mouth.

“Granger? Why are you here?” Snape led her into the barn. It was lit with only an oil lamp.

“I sent an owl yesterday to Professor McGonagall about his plans. Bill headed to Albania to try and get curse breaking information. And they enlisted Viktor Krum to help the Order.”

Snape sighed. “Why should I care?” He sat on a bale of hay.

“You need to care. I need you to care.” Hermione’s heart was hammering in her chest as she took Snape’s hand and pressed it to her. “Please, for me?”

Snape looked at her and laughed. “Well, our little know-it-all has a crush on her teacher. How absolutely delightful.” The sneer on his face dashed any hopes that she’d be able to reach him.

Infuriated and hurt, she slapped him. His black eyes flickered in shock and then a look of raw passion slid over his face before the expression disappeared.

“I’m about to die,” he said, “would you like to slap me again. Would that make any of this more palpable?”

“Professor.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Severus—“

“Mr. Snape will do.”

“No. I,” Hermione didn’t know what to say, how to say it. “Please.” She reached up and kissed him. “Please.” He pulled roughly away from him and then the answer came to her.

Of course, it was simple. She slapped him hard, and a small trickle of blood appeared at the corner of his lip. Eyes wide with surprise, he gingerly touched the place where her hand had hit him and looked at the blood on his finger. He took her in his arms and kissed her brutally, forcing his tongue into her mouth as if it were a rape.

Hermione gave a small cry, muffled by the wild kiss. She wanted him to live—to make him want to live. And if this was the only way…

He pulled back, a look of self-loathing on his face. “Granger, that was a stupid thing to do.”

She grabbed a lock of his long, greasy hair and yanked him back to her.

Her eyes met his and she slipped into his mind--directly into the white room.

“What is this, Granger? You know I could force you out of here in a second.”

“But you don’t want to.” She imagined herself in the red corset and there she was. Knickerless and dressed exactly how she was in his fantasy. “This is how you see me. How you want me. Don’t kick me out. Let’s share this.”

She pushed him back against the bed. Her hand tangled in his hair. If he wanted rough sex, she would provide it. She felt him shudder under her touch and used her advantage to kiss him and then nip his bottom lip. She was rewarded by his groan.

Still kissing him, she waved her wand and shackles appeared at each corner of the bed. She pushed him down on the bed and the shackles grabbed his wrists and ankles. Hermione decided from here in she wouldn’t even bother with the illusion of a wand.

“Granger?” his breathing was quite shallow. Suddenly his clothes were gone. She made the shackles go tighter until he was stretched out on the bed.

“I want you to be happy—just this once.”

“What are you doing, Granger?“

Hermione noted that he wasn’t fighting it. That he looked a little pleased, in fact.

Hermione slapped him. “You may speak only with permission. You must address me as ‘Mistress’. And the code word is ‘puffskein’.”

“Code word?”

She slapped him again, even harder causing his head to snap to the side. “You didn’t ask permission to speak. Say, Mistress, may I have permission to speak?”

His face twisted into something between beatitude and astonishment, “Mistress, permission to speak?”

Hermione had never seen such an expression on his face, even when giving Harry detention. She bent down and kissed him, again biting his injured lip.

“Permission granted,” Hermione couldn’t help but notice that his cock was semi-hard.

“What is a code word, Mistress?” there was a softness in his tone and an eagerness that made her skin crawl.

“You may scream or cry. You may beg or plead for mercy but to say anything more you must have permission. But I will only stop if you say the code word. And then it is over. I make the rules here and you have no choice but to obey or stop. You are not even permitted to ejaculate until I give permission.” She tweaked one of his nipples. “Is that clear?”

His body shivered with delight but he only nodded, already following the rule not to speak unless granted permission. He learned quickly. And already his cock was fully hard and bobbing in the air.

Hermione pulled open the top drawer of the chest and removed a mental duplicate of the cock ring she’d bought. He gasped as she strapped it over his jutting erection. For a second she thought he was going to say something, but he merely closed his eyes with a contented sigh. Hermione for the first time believed it was really going to work.

Going back into the top drawer she took out a whip of soft red silk cords. It looked more dangerous than it was because the cords were extremely soft. She delicately flicked the cords on the bottom of his foot. He let out a quick breath and opened his eyes. He looked at the whip with longing as she hit the bottom of his other foot.

“Permission to speak, Mistress,” his voice was thick.

“Granted,” she trailed the cording up his inner leg to this thigh. His cock was a vivid pink with large bulging veins.

“Harder, please Mistress?”

Hermione turned her back so he wouldn’t see her smile. He was so willing to play this role that it was confounding. She forced her face into harsh lines, imitating the way Snape had been in so many of their classes together.

“Only as your reward for being good.” To emphasis the point she flicked the cording at his cock.

Snape practically yelped at the touch. “But if you come, you will be severely punished.”

“No, Mistress.”

Hermione with a sweep of her hand removed all her pubic hair. Snape gasped and she was pleased at his reaction to seeing her so denuded. It had been a look of awe. She’d been worried about going too far, but everything was happening smoothly.

She got onto the bed and straddled his chest, enjoying the sensation of his chest hairs tickling her outer labia. Then she pressed a bit harder, grinding her hips into his chest. She again flicked the whip at his balls and his hips thrust up wildly.

She had become very wet and she smeared the wetness on his torso. Opening her folds, she thrust first one finger and then a second into her cunny and brought them out, slick and shiny. A thin strand of lubrication bridged the two fingers.

“Clean them,” she commanded harshly as she outlined his thin sensuous lips before pushing her fingers into his mouth. He suckled on them, his tongue roving up and down them. Hermione was feeling quite aroused.

Rising to her knees, she brought her glistening pussy to his mouth.

“Pleasure me, and you shall be rewarded.”

“Thank you, Mistress.”

She reached back and squeezed his balls. He groaned loudly and then opened his mouth. She eased herself down on his mouth and felt his tongue exploring her gleaming inner lips.

Hermione was still a virgin, and didn’t plan to give up her maidenhead to him even though she knew that all of this was happening purely in their minds. They could make love and she’d still be intact in real life. Nonetheless, she was saving that experience to share with Viktor. It was an odd way of thinking, but doing this with Severus in her mind was not being unfaithful to Viktor. Pleasuring Severus was something pure and therapeutic. She hoped that when they were done, and he’d found catharsis for his guilt, then his will to live would be restored.

His lips and tongue felt wonderful down there. She wondered how good it would feel if it weren’t just his tongue making her happy. She could take off the cock ring early and give into her own lust. She swallowed heavily, realizing it might not be necessary. As his tongue darted inside of her she felt a pulse quickening in her center.

Opening even more to him she rocked forward, rubbing her clitoris against his lips.

Hermione came close to her climax when she felt him move his tongue upwards, flicking against her clit. She ground down harder on mouth and then found her release.

Clear female ejaculate spurted into and trickled down the side of his mouth. His eyes were glassy and he was groaning, his hips were moving rhythmically up and down in self-excitation. Hermione was stunned by the intensity of what she’d just experienced.

She moved her hips away from his face and back down to his chest. They were both covered in a thin sheen of sweat and she stroked his hair back from his face.

“Please, permission to speak, Mistress,” he gasped.

She made him wait a few seconds before saying haughtily, “What is it?”

“Tell me how disgusting I am, please I beg of you,” tears formed in his eyes. Hermione had to turn away for a second and make sure her emotional shields were up. It would not be right for him to sense how much she pitied him.

“You have pleased me, you disgusting blood traitor.” She swallowed and forced her voice to stay steady and full of loathing. “You just ate out a mud—mud—a muggle born. You fill me with nothing but loathing. You are not worthy to lick the sole of my boot after walking through Knockturn Alley.”

He sobbed, “Yes.”

Scared and unsure of herself she slowly removed herself from his chest. She gave him a sharp slap to the face. The next words were awful. “You are an evil, murdering bastard. It’s your fault, completely your fault.”

She waited a moment, wondering if she had the courage to continue.

“You destroyed the only woman you ever loved. You destroyed the family she loved. You treated the only child of the woman you loved like shite. You murdered the one man who believed in you.”

Snape was shaking with emotion. Hermione decided to continue.

“It’s your fault, your fault entirely. You are the ruination of everything you touch.”

“Mistress, please, please hurt me more.” Red faced, he pleaded with her through his tears.

Hermione used the Velcro quick release of the cock strap. His genitals were an alarming shade of deep red with purple veins cording all over.

She took the soft whip and flicked it on his erection. She knew the material was too soft to do any damage, and all this was imaginary, still after being swollen for a half hour even a whisper of air must have been incredible. When she flogged his hardness, his sac would jump and his whole body would convulse.

Finally she cradled his balls in one hand. They were swollen huge and hard as rock. Her other hand grasped his engorged penis and stroked, “I have not given you permission to come,” she said, remembering that this was part of the game. “You must not come.” Her hands continued to work at him.

He sobbed and moaned and finally gibbered, “Please, Mistress, please, please, please.”

She sensed that he was just on the edge and she allowed one finger to press down on the very vulnerable spot between his balls and anus.

“You vile, greasy git, I give you permission to come,” and she stroked his leaking cock.

“Thank you, Mistress, thank you,” and then inarticulate screams came from him as gobs of semen spurted up onto her hands and over his stomach. The orgasm last minutes as the thick liquid spurted from him and his body went into convulsive aftershocks.

She undid the bindings, even though she could have removed them with merely a thought.

Snape lay there. His face was still wet with his tears and Hermione’s fluids. He glanced at her for a second. His face was an open and vulnerable.

“Hermione?” He got up and was dressed again. Hermione thought herself back into her robes.

The room dissolved and they were back into the barn. She saw a very dark spot on the front of Snape’s jeans. He noticed her looking at it and with a wave of his wand the spot was gone.

Hermione was keenly aware that her own juices were running down her leg.

He kissed her gently on the lips, “It’s almost worth it,” he whispered. “I don’t know what you’ve been doing in my mind these past days, but that was truly lovely.”

“I want you to promise me that you won’t incite Harry to take your life and that you will do everything in your power to survive the battle.”

He laughed, “Was that what all that was about? Foolish girl, I make no such promise.” He started to turn from her.

She grabbed his arm, “You must.”

“It would be rather empty. I take it the last two Horcruxes have not yet been found? Without them this nightmare continues whether I live or die. I choose death.”

“No. No, you can’t believe that. Nagini! We can locate Nagini and then there will only be one Horcrux left. It’s a pity about the rattle, but—“

Snape went very still, “What rattle?”

Hours later Hermione would realize that this was where it all went wrong, incredibly, horribly wrong. But a know-it-all is a know-it-all. “When Voldemort went to Godric’s Hollow he brought with him Helga Hufflepuff’s cup and Rowena Ravenclaw’s rattle. Harry has it now. We think James Potter’s death empowered the cup but when Lily died for Harry’s sake—“

“This rattle was prepared to accept a part of Voldemort’s soul?”

“But the rattle is still just a rattle, it didn’t become a Horcrux.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner? Now it all makes sense.”

“What?” Hermione asked, not noticing that Snape had raised his wand.

“Imperio,” commanded Snape, and suddenly Hermione had no will of her own.


A/N: **cough** Sort of gives a new meaning to “mind fuck” eh?

Would this be a good time to remind the reader to: Please Feed the Author?

Many thanks to my reviewers: TheAngelOfSilence, prettydelial, Vampire_Exotica, IdaMae, Lyndie578, firewall, LittleBird, Joani, Killer Kadoogan, Natalya, and Hypatia

List of Neolithic sites-Which do you think Lord Voldemort will choose?

Ring of Brodgar, Orkneys
http://www.orkneyjar.com/folklore/giants/brognt.htm

Callanish, Isle of Lewis
http://www.stonepages.com/scotland/callanish.html

Avebury, Wiltshire http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/23

Long Meg and her daughters, Cumbria
http://tinyurl.com/88k8u

Meayll Circle, Isle of Mann –
http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/368

Carn Gluze, Cornwall
http://www.megalithics.com/england/carngluz/carnmain.htm

Also, with chapters longer than 3,500 words I start getting careless in proofing. (One of the reasons I try to keep to shorter chapters.) Please be tolerant and if it really annoys you, just e-mail me where the error is and, if I agree with you, I’ll fix it.