Payback is a Witch

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 2 ~ Meeting at the Three Broomsticks

Hermione arrived at the Three Broomsticks at five minutes to seven. She walked up to the bar where Rosmerta was flirting with a patron. He had to be one hundred and fifty years old. Rosmerta was wearing a low-cut blue dress with an apron over it, her large breasts looking like an inverted bottom as they fairly spilled out of her garb. She wore this dress for her male patrons, who were quite appreciative of her choice in garments. The old wizard's bleary eyes were fixed on the innkeeper's ample bosom, one gnarled hand was clenching and unclenching reflexively and he had a rather lascivious yet toothless grin on his face.

"Um, excuse me, Rosmerta," Hermione said tentatively.

Rosmerta turned to Hermione with a smile.

"Hello Hermione," she said reaching into her apron pocket and taking out a key. She handed it to the witch. "Professor Snape is waiting for you in room one eighteen."

Rosmerta's blue eyes flicked over Hermione consideringly. She didn't look like the kind of witch the Potions Master usually bedded down. She was too…wholesome. The witches Severus brought to the inn were tramps and looked like it. When they left, they looked decidedly worse for wear as well. If the little Potions Mistress was planning on tangling with the Professor, the gods help her. Rosmerta had seen witches almost twice her size limping away from the inn after a few hours with the wizard.

"I keep a stash of purple potion in the back if you need it, Hermione," Rosmerta said to her helpfully.

Hermione looked at her puzzled for a moment.

"Pain potion? Why would I need pa…" Hermione began, then she realized what Rosmerta thought her business with the Potions Master was.

"Oh…oh no, Rosmerta," Hermione said, holding up her briefcase and flushing, "I'm here on business. We got a suite for more privacy."

Rosmerta looked at the briefcase. Yes, that made sense. The conference room wasn't the most secure area, and again, Hermione didn't look like the Professor's type.

"Ah, my mistake then. The Professor usually books his rooms for pleasure, not business," the witch said, smiling at Hermione…who shuddered.

"Trust me, Rosmerta…this is strictly business," Hermione assured the innkeeper, then headed for the stairs. Rosmerta looked after her, wiping a glass idly. A gnarled hand slowly inched towards her cleavage. Rosmerta saw it and smacked it lightly, grinning at the old wizard who had tried to get a handful while she was distracted.

"Now Horace," she said, putting her hands on her hips and arching an eyebrow, "You can look, but no touching."

"Drat. I haven't touched a titty in twenty-five years," the old wizard complained, his long bushy eyebrows furrowing. "No one has any respect for the aged anymore."

Rosmerta looked at the wizard. In twenty-five years? Hell, he still would have been over one hundred and twenty. He was doing pretty damn good if you asked her.

"Have a butterbeer," Rosmerta said, filling a glass and sliding it toward him.

Horace took it and said sadly, "Thank you…but it's just not the same."

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Hermione walked down the hallway until she came to room one eighteen. She tried the knob. The door was open. Slowly she swung the door open and looked around the room. There was a large four-poster bed with bed bedding, two nightstands with flowers on them in vases, though she noticed several crushed rose blooms on the floor. There was also a small sitting area with three armchairs, a sofa, and a rather large table with four chairs around it. Sitting at the table was Severus Snape, reading a parchment. He looked up.

"Punctually as ever I see, Mistress Granger," he purred, rising as she entered the room. "Please sit down and we'll get right to it."

Hermione walked over to the table, pulled out a chair and sat opposite the Potions Master, who slid the papers in front of him over to her.

"These are the patent forms you need to fill out, and this is our business contract drawn up by my solicitor who will be handling the processing. When you read it, you will see all is above board. Now you have the research papers?" he asked her.

Well the wizard was certainly all business

Hermione nodded.

"Yes, here in my briefcase," she said, putting it on the table, opening it and taking out a number of parchments and notebooks. She slid them over to the wizard. She also set a muggle flashlight on the table. Muggle flashlights didn't work in the wizarding world. Severus looked at it as she slid the books and parchments over to him.

"Why do you have a flashlight?" he asked her curiously.

"Just to give you a little demonstration," she said pulling out her wand.

Severus reached over and picked up the flashlight. He screwed the head off of it to check for batteries, shaking them out, then putting them back in properly. He screwed the head back on, then clicked the button. Nothing happened.

"It doesn't work," he said shortly.

"No. It isn't supposed to, but watch," Hermione replied, making an intricate motion with her wand while muttering an incantation under her breath. Severus felt a subtle change of atmosphere.

"Try it now," Hermione said.

Severus clicked the switch and a strong beam shined from it. The Potions Master stared at the flashlight, then looked up at her…his eyes glinting.

"We're going to make a fortune," he said actually smiling at the witch.

Hermione was taken aback. Severus' teeth were crooked, but still he had a pretty nice smile. It did wonders for his looks. But it didn't last long as he clicked the flashlight off, put it down and opened the first notebook. His eyes shifted left to right and he didn't look up again, he was so absorbed in reading.

Hermione looked down at the paperwork in front of her, and picked up the business agreement, expecting it to be written in difficult to understand legal jargon, the kind of language used when someone was attempting to cheat the uninformed out of something. To her surprise it was written in clear, concise, easy to understand language, every duty and condition outlined and explained. It seemed the Professor wanted to keep everything on the level.

But he would. There was a lot of money to be made here and he didn't want any hedging on Hermione's part. He would provide the galleons and she would provide the spell and research. It was cold cut and dry.

Hermione started as Severus stood up, his nose firmly in the book and started pacing as he read, nodding as he did so, stopping every moment or so, muttering, his eyebrows quirking a bit before he continued pacing and reading as if oblivious to the witch's presence. Whenever Severus read something compelling, he would walk about as he absorbed it.

Hermione was amazed the wizard didn't stumble over anything, because he never took his face out of the notebook except to put it down and pick up the next. Then Severus began pacing again. Hermione finally got used to it and started filling out the patent forms, noticing Severus had already added his name in the proper places but hadn't filled out any information. That was her job.

There was a page for the precise wand movement diagrams to be drawn. Hell, Hermione had drawn the symbols so many times, she could probably do it in her sleep. The witch enjoyed diagramming, so picked up a muggle pencil out of her briefcase and began sketching. She would fill the diagram in with ink when she finished.

Severus sat back down again, now picking up the parchment, which contained a number of wand movements, from Hermione's initial spell to the completed working version of it. Meticulous notes were neatly written under each incarnation of her work and the Potions Master what quite impressed since she started designing the spell in her third year of university. Since the witch began this spell before being employed by the Ministry, that meant that even the Ministry would be required to pay for its use, which upped the ante quite a bit. The Potions Master was quite pleased. He had heard it said before, but now he truly believed it…

Hermione Granger really was the brightest witch of the age. He studied the witch as she concentrated on her diagramming. The tip of her tongue was peeking out from between her small, full lips as she focused, her brow was furrowed and it was plain to see that there was nothing on earth more important than Hermione getting each line just right. Severus began to wonder what she did in her spare time. What was her private life like? Did she have a steady wizard taking care of her needs or did she play the Quidditch pitch?

Severus noticed immediately when he talked to her at the convention that Hermione did not seem, well, man-starved. Most witches he'd been with got a definite heated look whenever he billowed up, no matter how much time had past. He was a rather unforgettable wizard. But Hermione evidenced nothing. Nothing at all. Of course, he hadn't really expected any show of desire…he had taken the witch under duress, but at least a touch of embarrassment or discomfort. The witch hadn't even given him that.

Maybe she did what many people did with unpleasant memories…forced it to the back of her mind and kept it there. But, she did show some aggression when he first spoke to her, so their past wasn't completely forgotten. Maybe the witch had simply landed on her feet, come to terms with what she did and decided to just get on with her life. That would be the best-case scenario. The Potions Master was glad she didn't appear to hold a grudge. That would make things difficult between them. They were partners now…or would be as soon as she signed the contract…which she was doing now.

"There. Finished," Hermione said, sliding the papers over to the dark wizard with a smile.

Severus studied the patent papers carefully, making sure every I was dotted and every T crossed. Satisfied, he folded the papers and put them in his pocket.

"I will take these to my solicitor on my lunch hour tomorrow," he said to Hermione.

"Who is the solicitor again?" Hermione asked him.

"Geoffrey Blout," Severus said, "Best solicitor in the wizarding world.

Hermione nodded. She had heard of Mr. Blout.

Severus sat back in the chair and studied her.

"So what have you been doing with yourself other than attending conventions and giving old established Potions Masters heart attacks?" Severus asked her.

"Just working at the Ministry and doing my own projects at home," Hermione replied.

"Yes, you work in the Department of Magical Research and Development," Severus said, "a very good and secure position. Very coveted too."

Hermione nodded, a little knot starting to form in her belly as she thought of the other reason she was here with the Professor.

"What type of other little spells and potions are you working on?" Severus asked her curiously. Maybe she had some other projects that were financially worthwhile. "I might be interested in financing your other projects as well."

"Oh, I have a couple of very promising projects on the burner," the witch said obliquely, "One or two of them I could use some hands on help with, actually."

Severus' eyes narrowed a bit. Hm. Since he had an assistant at Hogwarts, he could spend some time helping the witch…maybe he could get those knickers off of her again in the process as well.

"Well, Potions Mistress, I might be willing to lend a hand or two on a worthwhile project," he said.

"Really?" Hermione replied, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. He'd like to stick those hands right in her pockets, she was sure. Severus loved his art, but he liked making galleons too.

"Yes," he purred.

That was all Hermione was waiting to hear.

"Would you excuse me, Professor? I need to…powder my nose," the witch said demurely, rising from the chair and heading for the bathroom.

Severus watched her enter and close the door.

"This witch is going to make me filthy rich," the wizard thought idly as he waited for her.

In the bathroom, Hermione reached in her pocket and quickly took out a hypodermic needle with a little rubber stopper on the end of it and a small bottle. Quickly she pulled the rubber piece off the needle, rolled up her robes sleeve and plucked the crook of her elbow, making a vein rise. She stuck her arm, pulled out a small amount of blood into the needle, shook down her sleeve, then opened the bottle and drew in the elixir, filling the rest of the needle cavity completely. Then she shook the needle mixing the contents, peering at it.

"Yes," she said to herself, flushing the loo and putting the bottle back in her pocket. She turned on the faucet for a moment, slipped her hand with the hypodermic into her pocket, then exited the bathroom.

When she returned to the table, she made as if to pick up her books and papers as she passed Severus, then let them fall to the floor, scattering them.

"Oops," she said.

The Potions Master stood up immediately, drawing his chair out the way and bent to help her pick up the papers. The moment he bent over, Hermione quickly stuck the needle in his ass and injected him. The Potions Master roared.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" he yelled at the witch as she backed up.

"You said you wanted to help me with a project," she said with a wicked smile.

Severus was going to kill her. He walked toward the retreating witch, but everything was getting blurry.

"What did you do to me," he gasped, grasping the table to keep his balance.

"Made you a human test subject," she replied, "Don't worry…it's worked fine with nifflers and horned toads. I have the antidote at my house."

Suddenly, Hermione's legs buckled too.

"You little bitch," Severus hissed, trying to get at her and collapsing heavily on the floor.

Hermione managed to make it over to the bed before she too passed out.

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About an hour later, Severus descended the staircase in the Three Broomsticks and strode over to the bar where Rosmerta stood drying glasses. He was carrying Hermione's briefcase. He stopped and looked at the innkeeper.

"Miss Granger will be staying the night," the Professor said, "Be sure she gets an eight o'clock wake up call."

He placed both room keys on the bar.

Rosmerta nodded.

"Yes Professor, thank you for your business," the innkeeper said, smiling at the Potions Master. He looked a bit odd.

"You're welcome," he said, exiting the tavern quickly.

Rosmerta looked after him, then towards the stairs. She felt something wasn't quite right. The witch called her waitress over.

"Annadale, watch the bar for me. I'm going to check on a guest," Rosmerta said, removing her apron and picking up the key Severus left.

Annadale moved behind the bar as soon as Rosmerta left it. The blonde witch hurried up the stairs. There had been something about the Professor's eyes that didn't look quite...well, normal.. She walked up to room one-eighteen and tried the door. It was locked. The witch then listened at the door, but didn't hear anything. It was deathly quiet. She inserted the key and opened the door slowly. The torches were turned low.

Rosmerta pulled out her wand and raised the torches. She saw Hermione laying in the four-poster sound asleep. The witch was fully dressed and breathing easily. She looked fine. Rosmerta breathed a sigh of relief, lowered the torches and exited the room.

The witch had thought the worst for some reason. She was glad she was wrong. Rosmerta returned to the bar and taking care of her customers. She would make sure the witch was awakened at eight on the dot.

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A/N: What the hell happened? Why did Severus leave like that? What happened in the room after they passed out? Why does he have Hermione's briefcase? Why did he leave her there? Man…strange goings-ons at the Three Broomsticks. They're going to get a whole lot stranger next chapter. Please review.