This Subdued Fire

Dear Readers: Ah, the chapter where the shit begins to hit the fan, so to speak. Ah, to Campy: No, Hermione doesn\'t die either. So, we know that Draco and Hermione live...who\'s gonna get the chop??? hehe. Only I know :) As always, to my readers and reviewers. Love you much. To Gin, Jen, Mon and Paril. :)
*Evanesco Litigatio!* Don\'t sue me, I don\'t own these characters I only own the tune I make them dance to. :)
***********************************************************************

Order of the Rose

When the pair awoke, they shared sleepy gratified smiles. Each lay in the other\'s arms and they talked. Hermione told Draco of her misadventures back in the Muggle world. It moved him deeply that he could be the cause of so much hurt. He said nothing, only let her spill her story onto an open heart.

\"I missed you, though I didn\'t know that I was missing you. I did everything in the world I could\'ve to purge you.\" Hermione chuckled lightly. \"Fat lot of good that it did.\"

\"Oh, ho. Are you saying you would rather forget me?\" Draco raised a cornsilk pale eyebrow at her.

Hermione levered herself up onto an elbow, causing the sheet to slip a bit, exposing a breast. Draco reached over and began to tease the nipple. \"Mmm. No...I\'m not...good Lord, Draco. I just think that.Ooooh!\" He leaned over and flicked his tongue over the turgid nub. \"How am I supposed to think when you do that?\"

\"You\'re not, darling. That\'s the whole point.\" He smiled wolfishly at her and flicked the sheet down to her knees.

\"Draco, please, I\'m trying to have a serious - \" His lips latched onto a nipple and bit down gently. \"Mmm.\"

He\'d missed the little sounds she made: the moans, the sighs, the feminine giggles. Hermione grasped his hand, and gaining a tactical advantage, flipped Draco over onto his back. She climbed on top of Draco, settling lightly on his upper thighs. He began to reach for her but she grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the sheets. *\"Argent Restrictio.\"* She uttered and removing her hands, Draco saw that his wrists were shackled to the bedposts with silver cuffs and chains.

\"You naughty little bitch.\" He tugged and intoned *\"Finite Incantatem.\"* But to no avail. Hermione had made the bonds proof against his magic. \"How in Merlin\'s name did you do that?\"

She smiled enigmatically. \"I can\'t reveal all my secrets, now can I?\" And with that, Hermione set to work. She Summoned over a lit taper in a bronze holder.

Draco\'s eyes flared. \"You wouldn\'t.\"

Hermione dripped a bit of the wax on his bare chest. He hissed softly. \"Wouldn\'t I?\"

She repeated the gesture all along Draco\'s torso, grinning wickedly. Hermione hurriedly turned \'round so that she still straddled him, only he was presented with her back instead of her front. The sight of her hatreatreaming down the long line of her lightly freckled back lit a fire in Draco\'s blood. She had two adorable dimples that sat right above the twin cheeks of her bottom, just begging for someone to grab them. He pulled at his bonds, making Hermione smile as she heard the chains rattle.

She dripped a bit of the wax along his very lightly furred thighs and watched the flesh quiver slightly in response. Draco\'s head was spinning from the pleasure/pain of it all. Hermione reached to her side and placed the candle on a nightstand. She took the opportunity to flash him a saucy grin.

\"Evil, evil woman.\"

Hermione replied to his comment by dipping her head down and engulfing the head of his penis in her warm, moist mouth. The fact that he could not see her ministrations only heightened Draco\'s arousal and he grew even harder within her mouth. Hermione licked and nibbled her way around his erection. She tickled and teased with lips, tongue and fingers until Draco thought that he would run mad. He pulled harder against the chains. Hermione withdrew her mouth and blew gently across his wet skin. The cool breath on his fevered flesh was almost more than he could stand and she knew it. The Gryffindor scooted forward a bit and slid her body down torturously slow until he was fully encased in her throbbing body.

She kept her back to him as she began to ride. Hermione experimented a bit with the pace and angle until she found the one that produced the most sensation. Draco knew when she\'d hit her stride, her thrusts became harder and more intense. He could see her hands roaming over her own body and it fired him even more. She slipped her fingers down to toy with the bit of flesh hidden within those russet curls. Everytime she moved, he could feel her knuckles and fingertips brushing against him. Draco was having a devil of a time trying to hold off. Hermione reached further down and gave his sac a tiny tug and that was it. His hips jerked beneath her, almost bucking her off. The wild movements spurred Hermione onto her own orgasm and she came, clenching and shuddering around him.

Draco found that the silver shackles binding him were gone and he sat up, enfolding her in his arms. Hermione leaned back, resting her head on his shoulder. She moved away to sit beside him, feeling sweaty, sticky and very loved. As she looked over her lover, she noticed something that hadn\'t been there before.

\"Draco?\"

\"Hm?\"

\"Look at this.\" She lifted his left arm and examined it intently.

\"Hermione, I look at that damned mark everyday. I don\'t need to look at it now.\" His voice had gone a bit cold in the warm room.

\"No, I want you to look at it, really look at it.\" She raised inquisitive eyes to his. He impatiently pulled his arm from her grasp and looked at the place where he\'d been branded.

The Dark Mark was gone. Or rather, had been transfigured. In its place there was a perfect rose. The bloom was burned into his flesh as Voldemort\'s mark had been, but instead of cold, dead flesh, the skin there was pink, warm and alive. The petals had been exquisitely etched where the obscene skull and serpent had resided. A stem with delicate looking thorns curled around his arm to form a band, with the flower at its center. As they sat examining Draco\'s new mark, Hermione felt a corresponding tingle in her right arm. In the spot where there had previously been unblemished skin, a matching rose had been carved into her forearm. The same petals, the same thorny armband wound around and through the flower. In the center of her flower, however, a crown in minute detail rested. Their minds simultaneously flashed on the moment of their first reunion when they\'d unconsciously clasped arms. But the symbolism was lost on them entirely.

\"What do you think it means, Hermione?\"

She shook her head, utterly perplexed. \"I haven\'t the faintest. I\'ll have to look it up.\"

Draco gave a short laugh. \"With your extraordinary powers of looking through dusty books, I\'m sure we\'ll have the answer in less than twenty-four hours.\"

Hermione gave him a thump on the arm for that.
************

Monday morning brought about nothing new. Harry and Hermione did not let on to anyone their plans to thwart Voldemort\'s Beltaine ritual. Life continued on as it had for years, at least on the surface. On the nights when Hermione was not patrolling or in Astronomy lab, she brewed the Desmanteler Potion. The construction of the potion was easy enough, it was the many and varied ingredients that were hard to come by. Hermione and Draco were able to make out with all of them but one by doing well-timed raids on Snape\'s private stores. The last component, a bit of Voldemort himself, was going to take a little doing, especially since Draco hadn\'t been summoned because his mark had been converted.

As Harry, Hermione and Draco sat in the dungeon room one day, Hermione\'d decided to ask him about it and what it meant for his and his father\'s relationship that Draco was no longer a Death Eater.

\"Well, Hermione, mye wae was sealed, so to speak, the night you burned my house down. By the way, Mother informed me that they were able to repair most of the damage, but Father is understandably livid about the whole incident.\"

\"But you seem so...blase about it. So incredibly sang-froid.\"

\"I really could care less aboutfathfather\'s money. Unless you\'d forgotten, I\'m a Black, too. And they\'re really loaded. I\'ve got money coming to me from that side as well. Only Sirius and thonksonks girl were disinherited.m stm still in the will.\"

Harry shook his head. \"Well, isn\'t it just a barrel of monkeys that you\'ve got it coming from both sides? Must be nice being a trust-fund baby,\" the raven haired boy sneered at Draco.

\"A bit hypocritical of you, isn\'t it, Stinko?\" Draco replied. \"The Potters weren\'t exactly in dun territory, now were they? I seem to recall there being a plethora of monies being attached to your family.\" Draco raised his eyebrow at Harry, who\'d fallen silent in agreement.

\"I\'d give it all up to have Sirius back, or my parents.\"

\"Lord preserve me from self-pitying brats.\" Draco rolled his eyes. \"Look, they\'re dead. They\'re not coming back. I might as well be dead to my parents at this stage of the game. You\'re not the only one who\'s lost loved ones in this damnable war, Potter. So suck it up and move on.\"

\"You\'re a cold bastard, Malfoy, you know that?\"

The Slytherin smirked at the Gryffindor boy. \"Aye. It\'s one of my best traits.\"

Harry turned to Hermione. \"Are you going to let him talk to me like that?\"

\"For once I\'m keeping my mouth shut.\" Hone one turned back to her book, trying to make heads or tails of the mysterious brands that she and Draco sported.

Draco raised his glass in a salute to Hermione. \"Impeccable timing, love.\"

Hermione smiled, although neither of the men could see it. \"Thank you, dear.\"

\"So you see, Potter, that is how it is.\"

\"Bah. I don\'t know why I bother with the two of you.\"

Hermione looked up from her reading. \"Because we\'re witty, charming and wonderful hosts.\"

Harry laughed. \"You\'ve got me there. But I\'ve really got to be leaving. I know Gin\'s going insane wondering where I am.\"

\"Bring her along, Harry. I\'m know she can be trusted to keep a secret,\" Hermione said.

\"Alright, I will.\" The bespectacled male rose from his seat in one of the wing backed chairs. \"Until tomorrow.\" He left the dungeon room, closing the door softly behind him.

True to his word, Harry brought Ginny to the below-ground hideaway. The Weasley was suitably impressed with the large living space. The trio informed her of their plans and they began to shore up Ginny\'s knowledge of spell-casting and potion making, which was extensive.

There were only eight days until the night of the ritual. True to form, inspiration struck at the last minute.

\"Polyjuice!\"

Draco, Ginny and Harry turned to look at Hermione. Draco spoke. \"What are you babbling about now?\"

Hermione shot Draco a withering glance. \"Polyjuice.\"

\"Erm...what about it?\" Harry asked.

\"One of you can disguise yourself as a Death Eater and get a bit of Voldemort at the next meeting.\"

\"That\'s a splendid notion, but when would we know when the next meeting is?\" Draco queried her.

\"Damn. Someone\'s got to know somng. ng. Go cozy up Blaise or sommat, Draco. She\'ll know.\"

\"Oh no, she\'d be instantly suspicious. Then...disguise yourself as her. Wouldn\'t she get called more often than the other D.E.\'s?\"

Draco looked thoughtful. \"I suppose she would. Blaise always seems to be missing around eight or nine o\'clock...I would assume she\'s meeting the Dark - erm, Voldemort.\" He amended his phrasing, catching Harry\'s eye. \"But I\'m getting the hell out of there as soon as he tries to make a move on me.\" Draco shuddered in disgust. The other three laughed and grimaced.

\"Ew, Malfoy, splendid image you\'ve given me,\" Ginny piped up.

\"You? I\'m the one who has to be all seductive...urg. Let\'s not talk about it.\" Draco gave Hermione a calculating stare. \"I\'ll do it but you will owe me - big time.\"

She waggled her eyebrows suggestively. \"I\'ll make good on it,\" she replied, licking her lips in anticipation.

\"Hmmmm. I know you will.\"

\"Oh, gross. Could you two be anymore squishy?\" Ginny demanded.

\"Well...not in front of company...\" Hermione winked at the younger girl.

\"God, Harry. Let\'s get out of here before they decide to put on a show.\" Ginny got up from the chair she sat on and grabbed her boyfriend by the wrist and pulled him out of the room. Draco and Hermione laughed, highly amused.

\"Would you have put on a show for them, Malfoy?\" Hermione asked wickedly.

\"Only if they paid me.\"

\"Ew. I always knew you were kinky.\" She turned her attention back to her book.

\"Me? Kinky? Who was the one that played that little bondage game with me the other night?\" Draco could see Hermione\'s cheeks redden although she said nothing. \"And don\'t forget that night you had me all tied up in greenhouse nine. You\'ve got a dominating streak in you, Granger.\"

\"If you only knew.\" Hermione shot Draco a look over the edge of her book that warmed him from tip to toes and every place in between.

\"Care to educate me?\" He wagged his eyebrows mockingly.

\"Not at present. You\'ve a little job to attend to, remember?\" She tapped her watch for emphasis.

\"Bloody hell, I didn\'t think you meant tonight.\"

\"No time like the present. Now scoot.\" Draco made a face. \"Scoot!\"

\"Blah. The things I do for you, woman.\" He rose from his elegant sprawl in a charcoal velvet wingbd chd chair. \"Is there any Polyjuice on hand?\"

Hermione waved her hand absently and a phial of the stuff came floating over in Draco\'s general direction.

\"You had this planned all along, didn\'t you?\"

\"I knew you were going to have to impersonate *someone*, so I thought it best to be prepared.\"

Draco shook his head, marvelling at her Slytherin cunning. \"You\'re something else, entirely, luv.\"

\"You have no idea.\"
*************

Draco crept back up to the first-level dungeon to Slytherin House\'s entrance. He walked in and saw Blaise sitting on a couch, drowsing. Luckily for him, no one else was in the cold green and black room. The Head Boy quickly became invisible and tipped over to Blaise, noting the stress lines in her face that not even sleep could erase. Draco reached over and plucked a hair from her head.

\"Yeow!\" Blaise sat up with a jerk, rubbing her scalp absently. \"What in the -\"

*\"Stupefy!\"* Draco whisperedsmalsmall frisson of crimson electricity oozed from his fingertips to cage Blaise and pull her into a stupor. \"Nighty-night, little cobra.\" Draco petted Blaise on the crown of her head and left again. He went to his room and lit a fire in the grate. Draco added the hair to the bottled polyjuice. The mixture turned a strange shade of purple-green and Draco\'s nose turned up.

\"Gross.\" Pinching his nostrils shut, Draco drank a sip of the potion.

He could feel himself shrinking and getting slightly thinner, bonier. His clothes were engulfing his rapidly feminizing body. Draco pulled up the sleeve of his fine lawn shirt and saw the mark of the rose turn into a perfectly delineated Dark Mark. He transfigured his clothes into a girl\'s robes. Draco went to examine his appearance in the full length mirror that stood next to the fireplace. He looked exactly like Blaise, right down to the haughty tilt of her head. The boy unconsciously tossed his hair over his shoulder and then caught himself.

(Oi...What in the bloody blue blazes am I doing? Stop that!) Draco smacked his...er, Blaise\'s cheek.

The clock struck eight and Draco felt a dirty tingle go through his arm as Voldemort called Blaise. \"Ew. Disgusting.\" It was like scuzzy fingers walking up and down his synapses. Draco wondered how Blaise could stand it.

He made himself invisible again and left the dungeons and made his way to the gates and Apparated to where Voldemort was. With a shock, Draco realized that he was in a little used part of Malfoy House. There were old portraits of him and his antecedents on the walls as children, all of them bearing the same smug look that only children of privilege can have. Voldemort\'s voice, smooth and hard, came from the depths of a wingbacked chair before a dead fire.

\"Bon Nuit, ma chere.\"

\"Hello, my lord.\"

\"We shall start off slowly tonight. I waou tou to brush my hair.\"

\"As you wish.\" Draco spied the boar\'s bristle brush on a piecrust table and set to work. He surreptitiously stowed a few hairs in his pocket. Tom settled back in the chair, humming appreciatively. This had gotten to be a regular thing, that Blaise or Bella would brush his hair or pare his nails, now that he was back in his human form. Tom missed the little things about being a wizard and not some half-dead thing.

Draco continued to brush l hel he felt his arms get tired. The Dark Lord had been silent for awhile. Draco stopped brushing and peeked around the corner of the chair. Voldemort had actually fallen asleep. Draco became invisible and crept from the room and into the magically restored manor house. He could still feel small prickles of electricity here and there as he skulked about the corridors. There was a sliver of light coming from the library door. He eased into the vast room and listened as Lucius, Bella and Commodus Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov planning the upcoming ritual.

Draco learned that the ritual would take place along the Dover coast, right on the edge of the chalk cliffs. It would begin at two a.m. during the fullness of the moon. As Draco listened, he became vaguely ill at the details of what the sacrifice would consist of. He couldn\'t take anymore and exited his former home, Apparating quickly to Hogwarts.

As soon as he went *pop*, he saw Hermione\'s owl, Boolean, come flying from one of the towers. avi avian desposited a folded parchment in Draco\'s transparent hand. He cracked the seal and began walking through the grounds, a low light coming from the tip of his wand.