#8 ~ A Rather Catty Situation

Disclaimer: All characters belong to JKR (except Odessa Divine). All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 26 ~ A Confrontation with Miss Divine


Hermione had lit the candles that sat in the middle of the storeroom. The glow gave the room a sepulchral feel, almost like being in a church or shrine. Images of Severus covered every inch of wall space, even the ceiling, and a large poster of him kissing Odessa dominated the room. There were cups, plates, mugs, bobble-headed dolls, key chains, throw pillows, slippers and other objects, all with images of Severus on them. Hermione looked to the right and gasped in a mixture of horror and disbelief as her eyes fell on a dildo, on a piece of velvet, that had her husband’s head on it. She felt sick.

Severus walked into the room and froze. His black eyes were the only things that moved as he took in the images of himself, plastered everywhere, and the items with his likeness. Merlin’s tits, what the fuck was this? His eyes fell on the dildo, and his eyebrows rose, then fell in a black scowl. Then he looked up and saw the huge moving photo of himself kissing Odessa. Dear gods, the woman really was obsessed with him, beyond anything he or his wife could ever have imagined. How long did it take her to acquire all this junk? Severus was absolutely speechless, as was Hermione.

Together, they backed out of the room…Hermione extinguishing the candles before closing the door. Both were dazed as they walked from the office into the living room, Severus falling to the couch heavily, absently rubbing his forehead with his hand. This had to be some kind of nightmare. Hermione stood in the middle of the living room, her head spinning. She felt as if she were going to faint. Circe’s Great Transformations, Odessa was not just after her husband…the woman worshipped him, like a god.

Suddenly, Odessa appeared in the doorway.

“What the hell are you doing in my rooms!” she screeched, running in, her eyes shifting to her open office door. Hermione looked at her, unable to speak.

Odessa ran up to her.

“I asked you what you are doing in here? My rooms were locked and warded. You broke in!” she shrieked. Hermione shook herself.

“Where is your familiar, Odessa?” she asked the witch, her eyes narrowing.

Odessa frowned at her.

“I don’t have a familiar,” she replied, scowling at her. She noticed the Potions Master sitting on her couch, looking out of sorts, as if he didn’t know what was going on.

“You do have a familiar, a huge panther. And it attacked us tonight on the grounds. It tried to kill Marcus and me. I can smell it, Odessa, on you!” Hermione spat.

“I’m telling you, I don’t own a familiar. I never have,” she said. Then she took a deep breath. “The cat you smell is me. I’m an animagus.”

Hermione stared at her. Of course.

“Then it was you who attacked us!” she shouted at the witch.

“If I did, I couldn’t have done much damage,” Odessa spat back, and then transformed.

The black cat looked up at Hermione, who was speechless. The witch’s animagus form was too small to have attacked them or done that damage to Marcus. But the scent was the same. Hermione didn’t understand.

Odessa transformed back, a crooked smile on her face.

“But the scent is the same, I can smell Severus on you, and the panther was on him before it went for me. And I know you desire my husband, and the panther didn’t harm him,” Hermione said.

“I was out on the grounds tonight, and came across where you both must have been. I rolled there. That’s why you smell him on me,” Odessa countered.

Hermione was aware that the scent of Severus made her react the same way. She felt like snarling at the witch.

“Marcus smelled of you too,” Hermione accused, then halted. The wizard didn’t want anyone to know he had been attacked.

“There’s a reason for that, since Marcus and I shared some intimate time together,” Odessa said, hiding the revulsion she felt about fucking Marcus.

Hermione was at a loss. She saw Odessa’s form. She wasn’t large enough to have done the damage to Marcus, or to have attacked them outside on the grounds. But she admitted she had been outside. Then her thoughts turned to the room.

“Well, what about…” she began. Severus rose and interrupted her.

“Miss Divine,” he said smoothly, “as you can see, we have had a rather rough night tonight. My wife smelled your scent and naturally assumed you had something to do with the attack on us. The evidence you present us with says otherwise. I sincerely apologize for our uninvited entry into your domain, and ask that you forgive us for our accusations and make no mention of this terrible misunderstanding to the headmaster. I would be…quite grateful.” He arched an eyebrow meaningfully at Odessa.

Hermione was staring at him in shock.

Odessa, on the other hand, was close to melting into a big, soupy puddle of desire. This was the most the Potions Master had said to her since her arrival. His indication of being ‘quite grateful’ had a ring of promise in it that made her heart thud wildly in her breast. It was almost as if he were telling her that he would come to her if she didn’t say anything. Gods. She hoped she was right. She looked at him, her eyes hot.

“Well, Professor…I guess being attacked would make anyone act out of character. No harm done,” she said graciously. Then she looked at Hermione and added, “but in the future, I hope you can restrain your wife from further harassment. She has already made other wild accusations against me. She seems very insecure. She might need to see someone about that.”

Hermione swelled with rage. How dare this nutcase insinuate she needed help, when she had a shrine worshipping her husband hidden in her office? Severus swiftly walked over to Hermione, hooked her arm in his and quickly guided her to the door.

“Don’t worry Odessa. Hermione and I will have a nice, long talk. Thank you for being so understanding. I will see you another time,” he said, again arching his brow at her, then departed, half-dragging Hermione along with him. Odessa closed the door behind them.

Severus walked Hermione to the Potions door, and unwarded it, pushing her in, then closing it behind her. Hermione opened her mouth to yell at him, when he put his finger to his mouth to shush her. Then he opened the study door and let her walk in before him. Then he warded the door and placed a silencing charm on it.

“What the hell did you do that for, Severus!” she yelled at him.

“Because, wife, you did not have enough proof that Odessa was involved in this,” he said, “she had a reasonable answer for every accusation you made.”

“Enough proof? How do we know she isn’t hiding a panther in there?” she said stubbornly.

“We don’t. But a panther would be a hard beast to hide. It would have to eat. We can check with the kitchens to see if any large amounts of raw meat are being sent to her rooms. If not, we can safely assume there is no panther there,” he said reasonably.

“Why didn’t you let me say something about that…that shrine she has to you?” Hermione demanded.

“I didn’t know what her reaction would be at knowing it was discovered. She may have become violent, and we would’ve had to explain why we were having a wizard’s duel in her rooms. With our lack of evidence, we would have been shown to be at fault. It could have cost both our jobs,” Severus said. “and as disturbing as it is, Odessa having a shrine to me is not a reason for her to be dismissed.”

“It is a reason why she should be beaten into a pulp, though,” Hermione grimaced. “Did you see all that stuff? She has a dildo with your head on it, for gods’ sake! Severus…she is crazy. And dangerous. She has a fixation on you so strong that it’s altered her view of reality. Did you see the candles and the cushion she kneels on? She worships you.”

Severus walked around the chairs and took one, motioning to Hermione to join him.

“We’ll have to do something about that. Her worship of me. Obviously she has some ideal, deified image of me, and mistakenly thinks that I will leave you for her. I think I need to have a heart to heart talk with Miss Odessa Divine. Let her know I am a man like any other man, and am happily married. Convince her that there are others out here worthy of her,” he said thoughtfully.

“Severus, I don’t want you alone with that man-eater for one second!” Hermione said, “she might sic that thing on you if you turn her down.”

“I will open the mind connection, so you know what is going on at all times. You can monitor the situation, and rescue me if I need rescuing. Which I doubt I will. If I can convince her that there is no hope for anything between us, that will be one less problem to solve. Then we can work on the rest of this mystery,” he said. Hermione frowned.

“I don’t like it, Severus. I don’t trust her. She is really crazy,” Hermione said.

“I believe she is too, Hermione, but the only way she will be able to get help is if she is first broken of this obsession with me. I know this disturbs you, but she is sick, Hermione. Mentally ill. Something probably has happened in her life that made her create this fantasy relationship. Something terrible. She is looking for the perfect man, one who doesn’t exist. She just happened to set her sights on me. Probably because of my hero status. Surely, you can have some compassion.”

Hermione looked at her husband, and realized just how much he had changed over the years. The old Severus would not have had compassion or mercy on anyone. Particularly if he suspected they were involved in a murder attempt on his person or his wife’s. Hermione sighed. Maybe he was right. Maybe he could talk some sense into Odessa, since he was her focus. At least try to get her to a state where she would seek out help. This went way beyond her just being a man-stealer.

“You’ll keep the connection open?” she asked him furtively.

“The entire time,” he responded.

Hermione sighed. “Okay, we’ll try it your way first, but if it doesn’t work…”

Severus sighed. “Then we will have to bring it to the attention of the Headmaster,” he said, “a full investigation probably. In the meantime, we can ask Hagrid to keep an eye out for any unusual animals on the grounds and in the Forbidden Forest.”

Severus knew the half-giant wouldn’t find the animal. It wasn’t a normal creature. It was something dark and unnatural. But at least the idea that the panther was being searched for would calm Hermione somewhat.

Hermione sat in silence for a moment, then said, “Marcus knows what’s going on.”

Severus nodded. “I believe he does. It would probably take several doses of veritaserum to get it out of him. I believe he has some kind of agreement with Miss Divine.”

Hermione scowled. “Yes, that is somehow tied up with him getting a piece of her so quickly.”

Severus looked thoughtful. “Judging by his condition this morning, Miss Divine may have managed to get a couple of pieces of him too.”

Hermione snorted, then stood up.

“Severus, I’m exhausted. This has been some night. I want to go to bed.”

Severus shook his head, rose and helped her from the chair. He took her by the arm. “Not yet. I still have to treat those scratches on your cheek.”

Hermione had forgotten the claw marks she received from the panther. She allowed her husband to take her to the Potions lab. He sat her on a stool and went to his potion stores, and came back with some cleaning solution, a small black bottle, some gauze and a couple of swabs. He pulled up a stool next to hers and set the items on the table.

“Come closer,” he said.

Hermione leaned closer to him. Severus tilted her chin and applied a cleaning solution to her skin, and sterilized the wounds. He uncorked the small black bottle and carefully poured a bit of it on the swab, and applied it to the first scratch. It tingled, then burned slightly. Hermione gasped.

“I’m sorry love. It hurts a bit,” he said gently. The scratch filled in neatly, flush to her skin. No scar remained. Severus smiled.

“Success,” he said, and treated her other scratches. When he was finished, Hermione asked, “What is that, Severus? A new potion?”

“Not new exactly. It is an improved healing salve I’ve been working on. One that will keep scar tissue from forming. You are my first human subject,” he said, kissing her. As he pressed his lips against hers, the memory of just what the panther interrupted came back to him.

“Up until the appearance of the panther, we were having a wonderful night,” he said softly.

Hermione looked at him, her eyes softening as she remembered running the grounds with her husband in animagus form, and making love to him in the moonlight, beneath the stars.

“Yes, it was a beautiful night. It would have been perfect, if…” she replied. Severus cut her off.

“There will be other perfect nights, Hermione. I promise you,” he said, kissing her softly again.

Her eyes were darkening. There was something left unfinished between them.

“Let’s go to bed,” she said, taking his hand and leading him out of the lab.

They did. But sleep was the last thing on their minds.

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A/N: This was a tough chapter to write. I started to go for explosive reactions to the room, but the sheer gravity of Odessa’s madness had to be sobering. So intense shock was what I chose. Notice how Severus used Odessa’s obsession with him to get them out of the rooms without being reported? He is a Slytherin through and through. I’m not sure how his talk with her is going to go, but there are going to be some sparks, believe me. Please review.