Saving your life

She stepped into the Leaky Cauldron and looked around, trying to see if he was there already. Of course he was.

She wondered why he had asked her to meet in such a public place, and at night. Sneaking away from headquarters was getting more and more difficult. It felt like they were all watching her every move for some reason. This time Ginny had said out loud she was sorry she couldn’t meet ‘their’ friends that night, that she was just really tired, and after a fake yawn and a big, meaningful wink she had walked up to their bedroom, and thanks to that they had finally stopped the interrogation and let her leave.

As she walked to where he was sitting, she felt her heart beat faster. She had never before met anyone that could make her body instantly react that way.

“Tell me what the boy saw,” he said as soon as she sat down.

“Good evening to you, too,” she said cheekily as she looked at him.

“This is a business meeting, Miss Granger. I believe we can spare the niceties.”

She was just about to retort when a waiter walked to their table. A few minutes later, with the drinks on the table and the man out of earshot he asked the question again.

“I already told you that. He saw the place where one of the Horcruxes had been hidden,” she whispered, looking around warily.

“But you said he had been there before.”

“Yes,” she said simply.

“So how do you know it wasn’t just a memory?”

“He had seen the place twice before, but he said in the vision it looked different.”

“Different how?”

“I don’t know,” she sighed. “He just said it wasn’t the same.”

“And he knows for sure the Dark…”

“Are you sure this is the right place to talk about this?” she interrupted, noticing many people around hiding their faces like the two of them.

He seemed to think about it for a moment before finally sighing and getting up. He left a few coins next to the untouched drinks and walked with her to the exit. Looking around to make sure they were alone he grabbed her arm and Apparated them away.
The second she felt the floor under her feet again, he let go of her arm and took a step back, looking at her with that same strange look she had seen on his face the previous day.

“Where are we?” she asked, the first thing that crossed her mind, to break the uncomfortable silence.

“It’s just another safe house,” he said, and then sat on a sofa, motioning her to sit on the one in front of him.

“So?”

“So what?” she asked confused after a moment.

“Is Potter sure the Dark Lord used the place to hide a Horcrux?” he asked irritably.

“Yes, but it isn’t there anymore.”

“Has it been destroyed?”

“I don’t know,” she answered truthfully. Even if she trusted him and he already knew about the Horcruxes, she didn’t feel comfortable discussing the locket and what Harry had told her about the night he and Dumbledore had gone to the cave, the night the wizard had died. He must have sensed her discomfort, because he didn’t push the subject.

“Did he see anything else?”

“No, he said the vision lasted just a few minutes. He only saw the place.”

He looked away for a moment, apparently lost in thought, and then looked back at her.

“And he saw this the second time he took the potion?”

“Yes”

“What did he see the first time?”

“I don’t know,” she said, and felt herself blush lightly. She hadn’t asked Harry what he had seen, but by the way he had acted right after she had a good idea what the vision had been about.

“So the first time he takes it he sees nothing related to the subject, and the second time he just sees something useless, something that might very well had been a memory.”

“He can do it, his concentration has improved.”

She felt his eyes lock with hers, felt him pressing, as if he was trying to see through them, and she looked away.

“You truly believe in him,” he said after a few seconds.

“I do.”

“Fine, then you will be responsible for what happens. This is the last bottle he will get unless he sees something useful. I trust you will make sure he does.”

He stood up and took a small bottle from his pocket. She got up too and stretched her arm to take it, but he stopped mid motion, looked at her hand and then lowered his arm and left the bottle on the table between them and turned to a small window.

She was getting tired of this. It was the second time she had seen him act like that, like he was scared or avoiding her, reminding her more and more of the mean potions master she had once known. Now things were different. They had gone through a lot together, even if it had been just a few weeks, and the thought of him going back to that, of not being close to him again, was a painful one.

“Is everything alright?” she asked again, and she received the same curt answer.

“Yes.”

“Have I done anyth…?”

“I already told you, Miss Granger, that everything is fine,” he interrupted irritably. “Now take the potion to your friend and make sure it works. You can Apparate from outside the building,” he finished, without turning to look at her.

“So you are going to be like that?” she asked, her anger rising fast.

“Be like what?”

“Just…all business?” she said, unable to find a better word.

“This, you and me,” he said, finally turning to look at her, his face expressionless, “It is just business.”

“So that is what it is?”

“That is what it always has been,” he said, and then turned to the window once more.

She could think of nothing else to say, the cold look on his eyes making her feet take her to the door without her thinking.

As her hand reached the doorknob, as she was about to leave the place, she stopped. She could remember the way he had looked at her in the last few weeks, the way he had kissed her, the things he had said when he was lost in passion, and knew she didn’t want it to end. She wanted to feel that again, to feel her blood rush and her breath catch, to feel his body next to hers, to know maybe he cared about her, to believe everything that had happened between them had been real. She realized this as she decided she wouldn’t let him make the choice for her, she wouldn’t let him end something that had only just started without apparent reason, without any explanation.

Gathering all of her Gryffindor courage she let go of the knob and turned around, silently making her way back to the room he was in. She found him standing in the middle of the room, his back to her, his hands buried in his hair, his head lowered, and she wasn’t sure what to think of it.

She took another step forward and he finally noticed he wasn’t alone. He looked at her confused, and then at the table, thinking maybe, she had just forgotten the potion, but the bottle wasn’t there.

She started walking again, and as she slowly moved closer, he stepped back. He had to stop when the back of his knees hit the sofa, and as soon as she reached him she moved both hands to his chest and pushed him back, watching him fall on it.

“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice dangerous, but he didn’t scare her.

“I just remembered,” she said, as she slowly moved to straddle his thighs, “that I haven’t thanked you for helping my parents. Not properly at least,” she said playfully as she leaned closer to him.

She felt him tense, and for a moment, she wondered if she was making the right choice. She felt silly, trying to seduce this man, but then she looked into his eyes and saw the same hidden desire she had seen before, and it gave her the confidence she needed.
She leaned forward and licked the side of his neck, nibbling his earlobe as she reached it.

“They mean the world to me,” she said, in what she hoped was a sexy voice “so I guess you deserve a big reward.” She grinded her hips against him at the last word and saw him grit his teeth as he tried to control himself.

“Don’t, you have to stop,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“Don’t worry, it’s just business,” she whispered then, repeating the words he had used moments earlier.

Her lips were back on his neck, kissing and nibbling, as her hand moved between them, stroking his now obvious erection through the cloths. She smiled as she heard him curse, his head falling back, his eyes closed. She had never acted like this before, he had usually been the one to make the first move, but this made her feel daring and sexy.

“Stop,” he muttered again, and she noticed his fingers almost buried into the sofa. It was as if he didn’t want to touch her, as if he didn’t trust himself to even push her away.

“Why?” she asked against his lips, their mouths so close she could feel his breath on her lips.

“I can’t do this,” he mumbled, his eyes still closed.

“Sure you can,” she breathed as she grinded against him again and crashed her lips on his.

He groaned in defeat as her tongue traced his lips and soon he was responding to the kiss with incredible passion. She felt his hands on her waist and she slapped them away. She started unbuttoning his shirt then, running her hands through his chest as she pushed the shirt past his shoulders. She kissed his neck and then his collarbone, and noticed his hands back on her body.

She slapped them again, but this time she stopped kissing and looked at him, his swollen lips, and his ruffled hair. She bit her lower lip, moving her hips again, and when he grabbed her, trying to stop her, she threw him a warning look before leaning against him, her hands around his wrists, moving his arms to his side, her lips by her ear “Don’t make me bind them”

That seemed to do the trick, and with another groan, he stopped trying to take control. She wanted to tease him, but as the minutes passed, she realized she was teasing herself just as much. She wanted him, and couldn’t wait much longer.

With a wicked smile, she reached between them, opened his trousers and freed his erection. He sighed in relief and then moaned as she wrapped her fingers around it and began to stroke.

Her eyes fixed on his face, taking in every change in his expression, watching him finally surrender to the pleasure she was giving him. As much as she enjoyed the new feeling of control, her body ached for him, so she rolled up her dress, moved her knickers to the side and before he knew what was happening he was buried deep inside her.

They both moaned loudly, at the same time, and she stilled a few moments to let her body adjust.

Then it started. It didn’t take her long to find the right rhythm, moving up and down his length fast, enjoying the guttural sounds that came from him. The thrusts were long and deep and she hooked one arm around his neck before leaning back, her other arm on his knee, preventing her from falling as she changed the angle. She could feel his body tense as she rode him, his hips jerking up to meet her every move, and when his hands moved again, one to her hips and the other to her clit, she didn’t complain.

Soon she felt the tension inside her body build and then shatter, her head falling back as she found her release. A hand in her hair pulled her back to him and their lips met again in a breathtaking kiss as he came.

He kept moving for a few moments before finally stopping, both panting but looking sated. A few moments passed before he gently lifted her and moved her next to him. He buttoned his trousers then and got up, reaching for his cloak and then handing her a piece of parchment.

“I had forgotten to give you this,” he said.

Half annoyed and half amused at him remembering the parchment at that moment she got up too and took it. He always looked uneasy after they were done, changing the subject or finding an excuse to leave as soon as possible. As she walked to him, her eyes fell on his still open shirt, noticing the bruise on his ribcage.

“What’s happened to you?” she asked, her fingers tracing the darkened skin.

“It’s nothing,” he said as he stepped away and closed the shirt.

“Did he do it?” She didn’t need to say the name; they both knew what she was talking about.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Was it because of my parents, because of me?” she asked, afraid of the answer.

“There were many reasons. It’s just part of my life.”

They had had that conversation before, and she decided she wouldn’t push. She was too happy to see the awkwardness was gone to say something that could bring it back, so they just stayed in silence for a few moments.

“I will need a list of the Death Eaters imprisoned,” he said when he was finished buttoning his shirt. “Can you get it?”

“Yes.”

“You have to keep the parchment with you every moment. If I contact you I will need your answer fast.”

“What are you planning?”

“I’m not sure yet, but I have to do something. The Dark Lord isn’t pleased with my work.” She wanted to say many things, but knew it would be pointless, so she just nodded.

“Give the potion to Potter as soon as you see him. Make sure it works this time.”

“I will.”

“I have to go now,” he said as he grabbed his robes. “We will talk soon.”

They walked out the door in silence, and as they stepped out of the building, he looked at her and muttered, “Be careful.”

She barely had time to whisper “You too,” before he was gone.