The Seduction Game

Disclaimer: All of the Harry Potter characters and the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling/Warnerbros. I am making no money.

Right, here we are again! :) As always, sorry it\'s been so long... I guess I\'m just lazy, period. Thanks to everyone who\'s reviews, I really appreciate it!!

golsnikthewikked: I considered giving \"seid\" a bigger part in this story, but then I decided as it\'s not going to be a very long and angsty story I decided to leave it out. However, I\'m working on another fic now (also Hermione/Severus) where I intend to make seid play an important part... It\'ll also be a longer and more serious fic, so there\'s more room for it. :)

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN: IN THE WAKE

Hermione sat on Severus\'s bed when he returned. He didn\'t look at all as furious as he had when she\'d fallen asleep, he looked more... well, satisfied. Content, almost.

He closed the door and froze when he saw her. \"You\'re awake?\" he said, stating the obvious.

\"I couldn\'t sleep for long,\" smiled Hermione. \"Where have you been?\"

\"I went to see Lucius,\" he said simply and went over to her. \"How are you feeling?\"

\"You saw Lucius?\" she asked, ignoring his question. \"Why? What - what did you do?\"

He sighed and took a deep breath. \"Do not believe for an instant that what Lucius did to you was a one-time-only, Hermione. He has done much worse - you cannot even begin to imagine it.\" He paused for a moment before continuing. \"I guess you could say I finally did what I have wanted to do for the last twenty years.\"

\"What did you do?\" demanded Hermione, eyeing him.

\"I did not kill him, if that is what\'s troubling you,\" said Severus. \"Nor did I cast any Dark Magic... I find myself beyond that stage, thank you. No, I simply treated him with what he deserved - and what he dreaded the most. Lets leave it at that.\"

\"No, lets NOT leave it at that!\" said Hermione, standing from the bed to face him. Although he was still considerably taller than her, she felt more confident now than when she was sitting down. \"Whatever you did to him, you did it because of me! I want to know what you did.\"

He stared at her, seemingly slightly irritable, but didn\'t say anything for a moment. Then, at last, he spoke:

\"I Obliviated him. Entirely and permanently.\"

Hermione frowned and thought for a second... Entirely? Did he mean what she thought he meant?

\"You mean... everything?\" she whispered.

He simply nodded.

She\'d heard about this sort of thing before. Back in the early 1990s there\'d been a scandale at St Mungo\'s because of something similar - a Healer had pitied his abused patient to such an extent that he\'d actually removed every feeling of SELF the patient had, depriving her of herselbelibelieving he was doing her a favour. It\'d lost im his job and license, and the Daily Prophet had been all over it for months following.

And Severus had done this to Lucius Malfoy?

And this meant - by exact words - that there was no more Lucius Malfoy. The man everyone knew as Mr Lucius Malfoy was gone, vanished... His face and body still remained, his common knowledge - but the rest of him, his person...

All gone.

Hermione felt herself being slightly torn. The thought of Lucius no longer being the sadistic bastard he was made her feel relieved despite herself. But still... It wasn\'t fair, was it? Severus had no right to do that to a person, no matter how bad the crime was...

\"He shoulve bve been in Azkaban, Hermione.\" Severus\'s voice interrupted her thoughts. \"Or at the receiving end of a Dementor\'s Kiss.\"

Hermione nodded slightly - that, at least, were true. But then it would\'ve been the Wizengamot\'s decision, the LAW\'s... Not one man\'s decision. Not Severus\'s. And either way, Obliviating Lucius Malfoy from everything that was his self couldn\'t be right either way, could it? It wasn\'t a humane way of doing this, it was... barbaric, wasn\'t it?

No. Hermione shook her head.

Don\'t forget, this is Lucius Malfoy, she told herself. The worst Death Eater there ever was - and he\'d walked free, despite his crimes. He deserved this, and not even Hermione\'s basic moral instincts could argue with that.

Glancing up she saw Severus looking at her, eyesbrows slightly raised.

\"I\'m - I thought I was angry with you for doing it,\" she said at last, sitting down on the bed again. \"But I\'m not. It\'s just... Well, it\'s a big risk, isn\'t it? He\'s bound to be found, Professor, and there\'ll be an investigation -\"

\"I actually brought him back to his rooms, so we have nothing to worry about regarding that,\" interrupted Sev, \"a, \"and honestly, aside from Cornelius Fudge, very few magicians give a damn about what happens to Lucius Malfoy. Yes, there will probably be an investigation - but not much of one. Most will be happy he\'s gone.\" He sighed. \"Besides, I am not a suspect, nor you. No one but me knows of what Lucius did to you, and they all believe I am a friend of his.\"

Hermione nodded, and felt the bed sink slightly as Severus took a seat next to her. \"He deserved it,\" he said simply.

\"I know,\" said Hermione quietly. \"I know he did.\"

Severus nodded, and they fell quiet again.

In a way, just sitting there on the bed with Severus felt good to Hermione. Unlike when she\'d been with Lucius, she felt SAFE around Severus. Just his presence was making her feel like no one could cause her any harm, because he wouldn\'t let them... Stupid, really - she\'d proven over and over again that she could look after herself, and that she didn\'t need a guardian. Still... The feeling was nice, nevertheless.

And even though Hermione didn\'t even know if Severus WANTED to protect her when all came down to it, it felt nice. It felt right.

He broke the silence. \"What are you thinking?\"

\"I\'m thinking... I don\'t know,\" she said with a smile, not willing to admit she was thinking about him. \"About Lucius, I guess. Or rather, what used to be Lucius.\"

Severus smirked slightly. \"Yes, there isn\'t much left of him.\"

Though that sounded kind of brutal to Hermione\'s ears, she couldn\'t help but laughing - laughing with relief.

Severus smirked. \"I\'m glad you find it amusing, rather than tragic.\"

\"Yes, I do.\" She paused for a moment, then gathered her courage. \"Do you - if you want to know what he really did...\"

She felt Severus draw a deep breath next to her. \"It\'s up to you,\" he said at last. \"I will not force you to tell me - though I\'d like to think you have enough confidence in me to do so. I believe it would help.\"

She nodded. Running a hand through her hair, she brought her mind back to what had happened with Lucius - and told it all.

As she finished, she could feel Severus\'s arm snake its way around her shoulders, comforting. He didn\'t speak - he didn\'t have to - he just held her, gently caressing her shoulder. After a few minutes of silence, he reached out his other hand and turned her face to look at him.

\"You were right,\" he said with a slight grin, \"you did act as a true Slytherin. To be honest I wouldn\'t have believed such cunning to be possible, coming from a Gryffindor.\"

Hermione smiled. \"I suppose that\'s a kind of compliment.\"

\"As close as it gets,\" he replied. Then he leane to to give a friendly embrace, whispering into her hair as he did so, \"It was very brave, you know. Masterly done, in fact.\"

She laughed a bit. \"Thanks,\" she whispered back, leaning slightly towards him.

The hand on her shoulder moved to her bare neck, Severus\'s fingers caressing her skin lightly. He didn\'t move his other hand from her jawline, and she could feel his intense gaze upon her. Slowly, she looked up into his eyes.

His face was emotionless, but his black eyes were deeper and more revealing than ever before.

This time, it was Hermione who leaned in first, eager to show that she was more than welcoming his contact. She reached out a hand to his shoulder and pulled him to her, closing her eyes and covering his lips with hers.

His response was immediate, and his hand on her neck took a slightly firmer grip on her, the other hand snaking around her waist and pulling her fully into his embrace as his tongue slid out, eagerly entering her mouth. She met him willingly, her arms around his shoulders, their kiss growing more passionate.

This was nothing like it had been with Lucius. Now, Hermione knew for a fact that the man kissing her would never dream of causing her harm. Severus was no sadist - even if he may have been one once, he definitely wasn\'t any more - and he would never hurt her. Judging by his actions, he was more interested in pleasing her than harming her, and Hermione had to moan slightly as his hand slid down her entire right side, eagerly feeling her hip and leg.

Slowly, Severus leaned Hermione back on the bed, never letting her mouth go as he did so. She pulled at his robes - how was it possible that a man like Severus Snape could arouse such feelings in her? - and ran her hands across his back.

Severus\'s lips left hers and made their way to her jawline, kissing where his hand had been only minutes earlier. He reached her neck and sucked it gently, licking and toying at her skin as she felt the heat from the sensations build within her... Gods - how was it she\'d never felt this before? Not with anyone, ever...

A moan escaped her lips again, and then he pulled away to look at her, a somewhat triumphant smirk on his face.

\"What are you smirking about?\" she asked, fully aware that she was blushing and that her voice had grown a bit shaky from the sensations.

\"Nothing,\" he said innocently.

\"Yes, there\'s something,\" she said, smiling. \"Tell me.\"

He shrugged and grinned back. \"I never imagined being the one to make the know-it-all Hermione Granger moan with want, is all.\"

She laughed and gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder. \"It\'s not my fault,\" she said earnestly, \"I can\'t help it if what you\'re doing feels good.\"

\"I suppose you can\'t,\" he smirked and kissed her again.

\"Er - listen...\" she began, gathering all her courage and deciding that now was the time to tell him.

\"Yes?\"

\"There\'s something... Look, if we\'re to continue this, I need to tell you something.\" She looked away, slightly embarrassed - but Severus didn\'t seem bothered.

\"What is it?\" he asked, frowning slightly.

\"Alright - you won\'t laugh?\" she asked nervously, looking hesitant.

\"Of course I won\'t, don\'t be ridiculous.\"

\"Well - I suppose I should tell you - I\'m a virgin,\" said Hermione, quickly looking away from his intense gaze to focus on one of the pillows on his bed. Gods, why was it so had to admit?

Because soon to be twenty-year-olds aren\'t virgins, Hermione, she reminded herself. It\'s just not natural, is it...?

\"Somehow,\" said Severus slowly, \"that does not surprise me.\"

At that, she looked back to him, frowning. \"What\'s that supposed to mean?\" she demanded.

\"Don\'t be offended,\" he smirked, \"I meant nothing by it. But to be honest, I would have been surprised if you had even managed to look away from your studies and research long enough - and then only to let someone like Weasley or Potter ruin your first experience for you.\"

At that, she laughed slightly. He really had some nerve, didn\'t he?

\"Well, I\'m just friends with them,\" she said simply. \"Anything else would just have felt weird.\"

He nodded. \"However,\" he said then, \"I would not have believed ME to be your first, either. Are you sure that\'s something you want?\"

Hermione nodded, determined. \"I\'m sure. I trust you, and - and I like you. I mean, I REALLY like you. You\'re the one who made the know-it-all Hermione Granger moan with want, for gods\' sake!\" she said with a laugh.

He smirked. \"Yes, that I am,\" he nodded in agreement.

She turned sober again. \"Look, I think it\'s about time I got my nose out of the books, and - and I\'ve decided, I want it to be with you. If,\" she added nervously, \"if you want to, of course.\"

He smiled - a kind, caring smile, not at all common for him.

\"Yes, I want to,\" he said, and leaned in to kiss her again. \"Join me here after dinner tonight,\" he whispered seductively, his gaze fixed upon her, \"and I will give you a very good reason to keep your nose out of your books.\"

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Right... One or two chapters more I think - or perhaps one chappie and some sort of epilogue, who knows - this isn\'t a very long fic, after all... And I\'m currently working on another one (yes, Hermione/Severus again), so we\'ll see... Well - reviews? :)