Adventurous Hearts Part 2: Nimue's Island

Chapter 13: The Morning After







Severus groaned and opened his eyes, regretting it instantly when the sun shone directly into them sending pain shooting through his head. He shifted and frowned. There was something heavy on his back, too heavy to be Hermione. He opened his eyes again and glanced down. There beside his left arm was another one bearing the same ugly brand as his own.





He made a disgusted sound and tried to move only to discover a rather insistent prodding against his right butt cheek.







“So help me god, Lucius, you better have brought your wand to bed.” He growled.







Lucius lifted his head, wincing at the bright light coming through the window. He moaned in agony then looked down to see that he was laying across Severus’s back, his morning erection prodding the wizard’s right buttock.







“Good Goddess!” He breathed, rolling off of him to sprawl on his back, his forearm thrown across his eyes. “Where is Hermione?”







“She must have gotten up already.” Severus said, trying to stretch his aching body.









“I haven’t been hung-over in ages.” Lucius grumbled. “Now I remember why I don’t drink in excess. I can’t recall the last time I was high either.”









“Yes, well we used to snap back a lot easier when we were younger wizards.” Severus said, sitting up and looking over at Lucius. The wizard was naked.







“Cover yourself for Merlin’s sake! I don’t need to see that first thing in the morning.” Severus tossed the top sheet over his friend.







“Did we really do what I think we did?” Lucius asked quietly as the previous nights activities began to run through his head.







“Yes, we did.” Severus said, not sure how he felt about what happened in the light of day without the wine and cannabis altering his perception.







“Ugh….did we really kiss?” Lucius asked, his lips curled in disgust.







“Yes, and you are a horrible kisser.” Severus said as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and strolled naked across the room to the bathroom.







“Screw you!” Lucius called, and then groaned when his head ached from raising his voice.







“Luckily the witch didn’t seem inclined for things to go that far.” Severus drawled as he tossed a small phial of red potion at Lucius. “That will help.”







“Even if she was so inclined it wouldn’t have happened. I would have lost my erection at the mention of it.” Lucius said, tossing back the potion in one swallow.







“Ha, keep telling yourself that Malfoy, if you’d rolled over just a little bit more it wouldn’t have been my aching head waking me up, it would have been another ache altogether.” Severus snorted as he tugged on a pair of trousers.







“Sod off, I was asleep. How was I to know it wasn’t Hermione I was cuddling?” Lucius said as he wrapped the sheet around his waist and disappeared into the wardrobe.









“I don’t know….perhaps because I’m nearly a foot taller than her and she’s a bit softer and rounder in the right places. Oh…and let’s not forget that she didn’t have a cock the last time I checked.” Severus went to the window and looked outside, the position of the sun indicated that they had slept for the better part of a day; it was clearly after the noon hour.









“Alright, let’s just forget that you and I were any closer than a handshake shall we?” Lucius said as he walked back into the room to see Severus frowning out the window. “What is the matter?”







“It is well into the afternoon; we slept most of the day. Where is Hermione?” Severus turned abruptly and headed towards the door.







“She has a tendency to run when she’s confused, you don’t think she’s out on the island alone do you?” Lucius asked as he and Severus searched the house.









“She’s stubborn as all hell and she attracts trouble like roses attract bees.” Severus groused. “She needs a keeper.”













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Hermione stood on the rocky shore of the island staring up at the steep rock face of the mountains. It was an area she hadn’t toured before and the cliffs were riddled with caves. She wasn’t willing to go into them however, she suspected that it was where the people spent the hours when the sun was up. She needed the silence, the solitude to work through what she had allowed to happen the night before.







She had awoken between the two men she cared for, Severus behind her with one hand on her hip, her face nestled against Lucius’s chest. She had looked up into his face and her heartbeat stuttered as she realized that she loved him. When had that happened? She slipped from between them, dressing quickly and taken something for her headache before she left the castle.







What was she going to say to Severus? Would he be hurt? She sighed and turned her back on the rocks to stare out over the water. She wished her life could be simple, that she could be like other women who fell in love and lived normal lives. Instead she ends up with a gay fiancé, a best friend/lover who used to be her professor and a wealthy parolee who thought she was an ill mannered bitch. Normal was never a part of her life and likely never would be.









The sound of chiming had her lifting the leather flap covering her watch and glancing at the time. She looked up in alarm as the sun slid behind the cliffs. Like some sort of plug had been pulled the islands inhabitants began to slowly lumber from the mouths of the caves.







“Shit!” She pulled her wand and began to run, scrambling over the slippery rocks as she raced for the forest. She darted through the brush, cursing herself for being so stupid as she did. A ‘man’ stepped out from behind a tree, dressed in the tunic of a knight, half of his face missing. She screamed and changed direction only to realize that they were closing in on her from all sides, arms outstretched reaching for her.







She walked backwards until her back slammed into a tree. She turned and saw that there were branches low enough for her to reach. Without a second thought she began to climb, shimmying her way halfway up the tree and perching on a solid branch as she stared down at the mass of rotting corpses pooling at the base.









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“We have to go get her.” Lucius said as he looked out into the night. “There are just a few of them which means the rest are somewhere else, most likely wherever she is.”







“Damned stubborn girl.” Severus muttered, shoving some supplies into his satchel and draping it over his shoulder. “You would think that at some point she would outgrow her impulsiveness.”







“It isn’t her…it was us. She was running away from us.” Lucius said.









“No, she was running away from herself, from her own feelings. Trust me on this, Lucius. She can be very good at hiding her head in the sand and not facing up to her own truths. Though she will tell you time and again that she is just the opposite.” Severus put his hand on Lucius’s shoulder. “Alright, you know the drill.”







“Let’s go.” Lucius pulled the door open and he and Severus stepped out into the rancid night air. They pulled the castle door closed behind them and easily made their way across the fields towards the forest. There were only a couple of the creatures wandering about and they were easy to evade.







“Look…they thicken as we move closer to the rocky side!” Severus fired a spell, knocking one of the creatures into a deep ravine. At the sound of them approaching, the creatures began to turn and head in their direction.







“She has to be over there! Hermione!” Lucius called her name as they threw spell after spell.







“I’m up here!” She cried. “In the tree…go back to the castle, I’ll be fine until morning!”







“Not a chance, we go back when we have you with us!” Severus yelled. “Lucius, I’m going to lead them to the beach, you get Hermione and head back to the castle, I will meet you there!”







“You can’t fight that many of them on your own!” Lucius said, throwing a fire ball at a woman and watching her fall to her knees.







“I won’t need to, I’m fast, I just need them to follow me, give you a chance to get her and get back. Don’t worry about me, trust me.” Severus said.







“Just be careful, Sev.” Lucius said, putting his free hand on his friend’s shoulder, his wand hand busy casting spells.







“I swear if you try to kiss me again I’ll crucio you.” Severus said, grinning at Lucius.







“Go, before I curse you for the hell of it!” Lucius watched him head off into the trees, a large portion of the creatures heading after him. Lucius cleared his way through the ones who remained to get to the tree. “Come on, hurry up!” He yelled, curses and hexes flying from the end of his wand.







“Don’t you listen?” She griped as she climbed down. She hated to admit that she was glad to see them, she had been in the tree for hours and she was stiff and needed to pee.







“Not to ignorant witches who expect me to walk away and leave them stuck in a tree with creatures trying to get her and tear her to shreds! Hurry the hell up!” he yelled.







“I am!” She said, landing behind him with a thud. “Where is Severus?” She asked, looking around frantically.







“He led them towards the beach he’ll meet us at the castle.” Lucius said, grabbing her wrist and dragging her behind him as he began clearing the way back through the forest.







“NO! Lucius we can’t leave him out here!” She cried, trying to pull him back towards the direction of the beach.







“He will meet us back at the castle, damn it, come on!” He jerked her forward, but still she resisted. He couldn’t fight her and the creatures at the same time so he stopped and before she could protest he bent down and grabbed her, tossing her over his shoulder.







“Put me down!” She screamed, clutching at his shirt. She wasn’t exactly easy to carry wriggling the way she was, and it slowed him down tremendously as he moved through the forest, his eyes alert and his wand active the entire time. They burst through the castle door and he set her down.







She raced up the stairs, running through the castle screaming for Severus. Lucius could only stand there staring, stunned by the sheer terror in her eyes when she couldn’t find him.







“He isn’t here!” She cried, tears beginning to stream down her face. “Lucius, he isn’t here!” She said hysterically.







“He will be, just give him time…” Lucius said softly, stepping forward to try and calm her.







“You don’t understand he is all I have! You have Draco, your pureblood friends and family. We have no one but each other!” She said. “Please, Lucius.”







“Alright…stop crying, I’ll go search for him.” Lucius said, his heart aching at the sight of her so distraught over the other man. He wished someone had loved him even half as much as she so obviously loved Severus.







The door at the top of the stairs opened and Severus staggered in, breathless and sweaty as he leaned back against the door, his hands on his knees and his head bowed as he tried to catch his breath.







“Sev!” Hermione cried, running to him and throwing herself into his arms. “Don’t you ever, ever, ever do something so stupid again! You could have been killed!” She cried into his shoulder.







“Calm down, Minute, I’m alright. Hush now.” He soothed, his hands stroking over her back. “I could say the same thing about you. What were you thinking going off alone like that? Lucius and I were worried out of our minds.”







“I needed some time alone and I lost track of time.” She said, pulling back from Severus and looking at Lucius. “I’m sorry.”







“It’s alright, everyone is safe now. Tomorrow morning the wards will lift as the moon cycle begins again with a full moon. Come morning we will leave this horrible place behind us.” Severus said softly. “I’m going to go have a bath, I’m sweaty and dirty. Why don’t you fix us a bite to eat, Minute, neither of us has eaten all day and I’m sure Lucius is just as famished as I am.”







“You’re always hungry.” She said on a sniff, swiping at the tears on her cheeks.









“Well around you a man works up quite an appetite.” He winked. “I’m alright, Minute, go on and tend to our supper.”







On her way to the kitchen she laid her hand on Lucius’s arm lightly, smiling at him softly before she disappeared through the kitchen door. Severus was already halfway up the stairs leaving Lucius standing alone with nothing but his tangled thoughts for company.







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Update before work! Thanks again for all the concern and well wishes…it is nice to know that people who don’t really know me care enough to show their concern, their sympathy. Makes you realize that perhaps humanity isn’t a lost cause after all =)