It Starts With A Dance

Chapter 19: The Trap Is Laid


Phantasma dropped the note off to Severus Snape and assumed that it was some sort of excuse for Hermione not being around to warm his bed for a while. The entire thing disgusted her; had the woman no self-respect? To turn down one Slytherin for the likes of Snape? A traitor and . . . ugh. Phantasma would never allow herself to be the toy of some wizard. That's why she worked so hard to please Blaise, to prove herself to him. So he would treasure her, not treat her like some slave.


During the couple's falling out, Hermione had been a ghost of herself, rarely showing at meals, not visiting her friend at the Ministry, and now that they were back together, she was at the man's beck and call. Phantasma couldn't believe that the woman who'd help bring down Voldemort would subject herself to a relationship where she wasn't in control. Delivering her to Blaise would be rescuing her from Severus Snape.


Phantasma ran back to Hermione's classroom, and a note was tacked on the door: Come to the entrance, and we'll leave from there. ~HG


She ran to the doors and found Hermione waiting for her. The older woman was wearing one cloak and holding another. She held the cloak out to Phantasma and helped the girl into it, murmuring softly to her. Phantasma felt a spark in her heart, but pushed it away when the nausea hit her; she assumed it was a part of her. . . monthly problem. Hermione whispered a charm and the doors opened. Instructor and student walked through the doors, which closed behind them, and made their way to Hogsmead. Phantasma was completely unaware of the fact that rest of Hermione's motley crew had already made their way to Hogsmead, and was waiting to spring the trap.

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"Phantasma, are there any other questions you have, or do you just need me to show you where to look for these things?" Hermione inquired kindly, and Phantasma almost felt guilty. A wave of nausea hit her, and she shook her head. "Alright, then I have a question for you. I assume this is your first menstrual period?"


Phantasma nodded. It was a bit strange that she was young, and rather coincidental, but she forced herself to see it as felicitous. She looked from Hermione to the town popping up around them. She stayed silent and let Hermione speak instead.


"Why don't you have more questions, then? Is this important to you?"


Phantasma nodded, and looked away. "I am betrothed. This event makes it binding. For a pure-blooded witch, everything hinges on this event. From now on, I can bear children, barring infertility and miscarriages, and that makes me marketable. For that reason I was betrothed at birth, to make sure I would only breed pure-blooded children. Not that that always breeds true, though. The dalliances of my ancestors have been legendary, and Tom Riddle himself was the get of a pure-blood bedding a muggle."


Hermione understood immediately. The old families had strange spells and laws regarding marriage and marriageable age, and for a moment, Hermione wondered if Phantasma was a pawn rather than a player. The child was so mature, so resigned, that she reminded Hermione of herself.


"Did your mother ever speak to you about this?"


"Ma'am, think about how young I was when my mother died. Trust me, the issue never came up. Perhaps I should have asked Tonks. At least she's in some way a relation," Phantasma said dryly, distracted as she looked around the town, searching for her betrothed.


Hermione felt a pang of sorrow for the girl. She'd lost her own parents at the end of the war, but at least she'd had her mum and Molly Weasley when she'd needed advice, and her parents hadn't auctioned her off at birth, the way the pure families did. The circumstances only made Hermione feel a deeper kinship with the girl. Looking up, she smiled.


"Here we are," Hermione said, leading Phantasma into a small shop, Lady Ana's Apothecary and Dispensary. "This is the best place to come in a town like this, and as soon as you make the regular Hogsmead trips, you can do your shopping here. Let's go inside and get you settled."


Hermione smiled and the nausea hit Phantasma again as she felt true remorse for the trick. She retched, but nothing came up. Hermione threw her arms around the girl and dragged her into the store as Blaise Zabini apparated in front of them. Phantasma retched harder as she looked up and saw the fury in her betrothed's eyes, the anger and fearful lust distorting his typically aristocratic features.


"Phantasma, you've done very well. Perhaps you deserve a treat later," Zabini said, his mouth curving into a sneer. "And Miss Mudblood herself. Time for that dance he cheated me out of. Shame you won't survive to tell the tale."


Zabini reached out and was preparing to apparate the three of them away when~--


"Expelliarmus!" Severus Snape's voice came from inside the shop. Tonks and Lupin appeared from other store fronts, and suddenly Zabini was trapped. Wandless, Zabini couldn't even keep Phantasma from spilling her guts.


As nausea wracked her poor body, Phantasma let loose with everything she knew about Zabini and his plans for Hermione, which were so awful that Tonks found herself retching. Phantasma admitted that she'd been helping her fiancée, not because she hated the instructor ~-- in fact, she held Hermione in high regard~-- but because she was wracked with nausea when she so much as thought of not doing as Zabini ordered.


"In the name of the Ministry of Magic, the department of Magical Law Enforcement, and the department of Aurors, I am placing you under arrest. And you won't even be going to trial. Three wizards and witches have witnessed the incriminating evidence. You will be deposed, and then sent directly to Azkaban. As of this moment, you have no rights. You have used unforgivable means in a conspiracy to kidnap and murder a witch. And I want to be there when the Dementors give you a welcome home kiss," Tonks said, manacles shooting out of her wand and landing around Zabini's wrists and ankles.


"Augh!" Phantasma screamed as she finally vomited. Hermione snatched the poor girl out of the vomit, as it burned a hole in the ground. She turned horrified eyes to Severus, who was just as surprised. "What is that? What did he do to me?!"


"He used black water on a child?!" Hermione was screaming. Villagers came running, and Remus advanced on Zabini. The younger wizard just sneered at the werewolf, looking for all the world as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. Remus roared, and fear finally crept into Zabini's eyes.


"You are the most despicable thing I have ever laid eyes on," the werewolf said, clenching his hands at his sides. "I could snap you in two."


"But he won't," Tonks said, dragging Zabini to her side. "We're taking you to Azkaban straight away. Hermione, Severus, take Phantasma back to school. She needs rest, and I think Wally will have a fit if he doesn't see for a fact that she's alright. She needs to go to Infirmary; she's been under control of the black water for who knows how long."


With that, Remus and Tonks apparated away, landing at the Ministry to deal with Zabini. Phantasma had passed out once her body ridded itself of the black water, and Severus picked her up in his arms and carried her back to the school with Hermione by his side.


"Anti-climactic, hm?" Hermione said as they made the trek back to Hogwart's. She put a hand on Phantasma's cheek as she looked up into Severus's face, smiling.


"I think I prefer things that way," Severus said, lifting a hand to brush away a stray lock of hair that had fallen across Phantasma's mouth. "This poor child. No parents, and now not even a fiancée."


Hermione turned to look up the hill leading to the entrance of the school. Severus stopped to take a breath before the last leg of the trek, and his line of vision followed Hermione's. Wally was pacing in front of the doors, and Hermione laughed.


"As for the latter, I wouldn't bet on it for long."