The Seduction Game

Disclaimer: All of the Harry Potter characters and the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling/Warnerbros. I am making no money.

Here we are at last with another chapter...

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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: AFTERMATHS


“Hermione?”

A voice was talking from far away, but Hermione wasn’t paying attention to it. Honestly, what did it matter what the voice said? The only thing that mattered was the soothing commands in her head...

Tell him not to touch you ever again... Tell him you are going to leave, and that you wouldn’t wish his company upon anyone...

“Hermione, listen to me. I know you can hear me. I need you to focus!”

I’m focusing... I’m trying...

Tell him not to touch you again...

“Don’t you ever touch me again, Severus!”

Push his hands away...

No, I like his hands; I don’t want them to go away... Don’t make me...

Leave him, Hermione.

I won’t! I don’t want to leave him!

LEAVE HIM.

“No!” she screamed in frustration, and she didn’t even realize she’d screamed it aloud and not just to the horrible voice in her head.

Someone was grasping her firmer, trying to make eye-contact with her, but the voice wouldn’t let her... She fought it, desperate to be able to look into Severus’ eyes and tell him the truth; desperate to somehow explain to him that she wasn’t herself...

“I’m –” she forced out, but the voice was so strong...

Leave him. Leave him. Leave him.

“I won’t, I won’t, I won’t,” she replied, and the voice tried to make her tear herself loose from Severus’ grip, but she simply would not allow it.

“Hermione,” he said again, and she fought desperately to make sure she could hear him, “I know what is happening. I know. Just calm down!”

“I will not be calm!” she replied angrily, pushing him away. “How dare you even touch me after what you’ve done! Don’t ever come near me, ever again!”

He stepped closer to her, grasping her upper arms and staring into her eyes.

“I know, Hermione,” he said firmly. “And you are going to have to forgive me for what I am about to do.”

Do whatever it takes, Severus, just don’t let the voice push you away from me –

He pulled out his wand.

“Petrificus totalus!”

Her body went rigid, and she was vaguely aware of strong hands grasping her just before she hit the stone floor.

--

Severus gently placed Hermione on the couch and stopped for a moment, thinking.

“Okay, Severus,” he said to himself. “Relax for just a second.”

Fighting a losing battle against his fury, he ravaged his brain for the sensible thing to do...

Ah, yes – seek out Albus. He’d know the right way to approach this. He’d have it all taken care of.

But hadn’t Severus said goodbye to Albus’ constant interference in his life the day the Dark Lord had fallen? Couldn’t he handle his own problems now?

Well, actually – no, he thought to himself; Albus would argue with that. He’d say Severus’ anger was too great. His lust for revenge would prevent him from doing the right thing.

Hmm.

Well, fuck the right thing.

He made sure Hermione’s body-bind would last for a while, and then grabbed his travelling cloak before rushing out the doors to his quarters.

He realized then, as he moved out the castle and down towards the gates of Hogwarts, how fortunate he’d been. Had Igor managed to cast his rather pathetic memory charm, Severus wouldn’t have known the first thing about where to look for the man who had done this to Hermione.

Luckily, Igor hadn’t managed to wipe the mention of his being Lucius’ guardian from Severus’ mind, and so he had a clue. A very important clue.

The first place Severus went for was the Post Office. Because he didn’t know what name Igor went under there, he couldn’t ask for him – but he could look for him. And yet again, fortune smiled at him, for he spotted the horrid man tending to one of the tiny Scops, unaware of what was awaiting him.

Severus approached the man quietly, and spoke softly into his ear.

“Hello, Igor.”

Igor jumped half a meter into the air at the mention of his real name, and wheeled around to see a most furious-looking Severus. He instantly backed away, causing the shelves with the many owls to shake as he crashed into them.

“S-Severus!” he stuttered.

“Obviously the thought that I would follow had never occurred to you?” Severus snarled. He took a few steps closer to Igor, but couldn’t attack the man because of the witnesses surrounding them in the Post Office. He was just going to have to be subtle.

“Listen, you Bulgarian fool,” he snarled, “I do not have much time nor patience. I will in fact leave you – for now – if you tell me where I can find him.”

“Honestly, Severus, I don’t know what you –”

“Where?” snarled Severus furiously, his fingers curling around his wand.

“I – I have rented a small flat in Howth,” stuttered Igor desperately, “just don’t hurt me, please, I was bound by the curse, I couldn’t –”

“The address?” demanded Severus; he wasn’t in the mood for Igor’s paranoid blabbering. There was no time. He wanted revenge, and he wanted it now.

Scribbling frantically on a piece of parchment, Igor handed over the address in Howth, and seconds later Severus had Apparated to the small village just outside of Dublin.

He easily found the flat – Howth was not at all large – and didn’t bother knocking as he reached the door.

--

Lucius would admit it; he was surprised to see the door fly open and reveal an even angrier looking (if possible) Severus Snape than had been seen back at the IMG conference. And also, he was quite surprised to realize he actually recognized the man. Well, so much for that Complete Obliviation...

“Severus?” he said in mere shock.

Honestly, that man wasn’t supposed to be here! He wasn’t supposed to know!

“The very same,” snarled Severus, stepping into the room. His wand was out and pointing straight at Lucius. “Surprised to see me?”

“A little, yes, I must admit,” said Lucius easily, taking a few steps back in the room.

Why on earth was the man here?!

Igor.

Damn that worthless Bulgarian! Couldn’t he do anything right? Clearly he’d let some information slip, and thanks to him Lucius was likely to be dead within the hour. One could tell just by the mere look of fury on Severus’ face.

Severus stepped right up to Lucius (damn the formalities, apparently) and raised his wand centimetres away from his old friend’s face.

“Going to kill me, Severus?” said Lucius easily, a lot calmer than he felt. Honestly, he was quite a bit concerned – what if he was indeed to be killed? He didn’t relish the idea. Not now; not when his life was just about to be returned to him.

“What did you do to her?” snarled Severus.

“Wasn’t that obvious?”

“Some of it, yes,” he whispered, his black eyes flashing. “Like the Imperius. How you managed it in your state, I have no idea, but –”

“With enough willpower, anything’s possible,” interrupted Lucius smugly. “I’ve always been able to do that curse, after all. It’s been in my blood for years. Do you think a simple Obliviation will take care of that, when I’ve been casting it most of my life?”

“Lift it,” snarled Severus.

“Or you’ll what? Obliviate me?” laughed Lucius.

“I can be more inventive, you know,” said Severus, waving his wand threateningly. “There is no one here to stop me. No one except Igor even knows you are here, so who is going to punish me? I dare you, Lucius, to let me do as I please. Or, of course, you can lift the curse and see if my revenge won’t be as harsh.”

Lucius actually contemplated it for a second, but after a moment he realized the odds weren’t exactly in his favour. A man who hated him was currently playing ball with his life, whereas his own wand lay a room away and was quite useless for the time being.

What to do?

“Get me my wand, then,” he muttered at last.

“Petrificus totalus,” said Severus lazily, causing Lucius to go stiff and fall straight to the floor while he went to fetch the older man’s wand. When he returned, he was muttering things underneath his breath to it, his own wand held close.

“Ennervate,” he said then, and Lucius got to his feet again, taking his wand from Severus.

Without hesitating, Lucius raised his hand and shouted, “Imperio!”

Nothing happened. His glared furiously at Severus, and the man was actually smirking. The smirk made Lucius calm down, as though in defeat.

“Don’t trust me, Severus?” he asked silkily.

“Never,” replied Severus, and then he raised his wand again. “Now. Lift the curse.”

Sighing in defeat, Lucius muttered the counter-curse with much concentration – seeing as how Hermione was so far away – and then lowered his wand again.

“I take it you still are in control of my wand?”

“Indeed.”

Lucius threw it to a table, irritated. He realized there was simply nothing he could do... He was defeated. Once again, he was defeated. Sighing, he slowly looked up at the man he’d once called friend.

“What did you do to her?” asked Severus again then, his wand still pointing at Lucius. “You’d better tell me. It will be easier for me then to plot my revenge.”

“Ice cold and calculating as ever, aren’t you?” snarled Lucius. “Well, seeing as how you asked... What do you think a man like me usually does to girls like Hermione?”

In seconds, Severus’ wand hand went up, and his mouth was opened, ready to cast what was undoubtedly some horrid spell or another when –

“Severus!”

Three pairs of feet had rushed into the room at that very moment, and the desperate voice of a girl was what had caused Severus to hesitate. Both he and Lucius turned to see Hermione and what was unmistakably two Aurors in the doorway.

“Mr. Malfoy,” said the youngest Auror, a female, stepping forwards to grasp his arm. “I’m so happy to announce that you are under arrest for your assault on Miss Hermione Granger.”

The other Auror, a male, grabbed his other arm.

“Miss Tonks?” said Severus to the female Auror, baffled.

“You,” snarled Lucius; he’d suddenly realized how they had found him, and his gazed wasn’t fixed upon the Auror; it was fixed upon Hermione.

She’d brought the Aurors there. How she had managed to do so within seconds was beyond him, but it was still a fact. And now the young Auror girl named Tonks was talking to Severus, telling him that he and Hermione would have to show up in court to testify, and then she and the other Auror both took a better hold on Lucius’ arms and the world begin whirling as they Apparated away.

--

“How – what –?” muttered Severus, at a loss for words.

Hermione smiled wearily and took a few steps closer to him. Her eyes were blank and glassy, and for the first time Severus found he couldn’t detect what feelings was going through the otherwise open and emotional Gryffindor’s mind.

“It didn’t take me long to realize,” she replied. “I remembered that Igor had visited you, and of course I knew what Lucius had done... Besides, he’d cast an Unforgivable, so Tonks and her partner were already out searching for him. He really hadn’t thought his plan properly through.”

“Possessed with revenge,” muttered Severus, stepping forwards to grasp her upper arms. “Are you alright?”

She sighed. “No.”

He looked down, not sure whether or not he should embrace her. Their encounter when she’d been under the curse had placed an uneasy air about them.

“Be right back,” said Hermione, then began wondering through the house. Seconds later she returned again. This time, an unconscious Ginny Weasley was floating in front of her.

“You were right in suspecting, Severus,” said Hermione, her face grave.

--

In a way, she felt she should have asked for Severus’ company that night.

But she found she just couldn’t handle it.

Hermione so wanted to just be alone and wallow in her shame and self pity; she wasn’t in the mood for having Severus around, or anyone else for that matter. So she stayed alone in her apartment, her mind running over treacherous thoughts on the day’s events and what had happened to her.

From the second she’d awakened in Severus’ chambers, she’d completely blocked out what Lucius had actually done to her back at The Three Broomsticks. More important matters had had to be dealt with back then.

But now... Now it all came flowing back to her.

How would she ever be able to be with Severus again after something like that? What would he possibly think, when he learned the whole truth? He wouldn’t even stand the sight of her... And she just wasn’t ready to tell him, and thus lose him, just yet.

So she stayed on her own, although she really should have had some company, and wept herself to sleep and slept uneasy, her awful dreams betraying her mental health and damaging her further.

And soon she would have to face both Severus and Lucius again, because they would all have to testify.


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