Potions,Poisons and Antidotes

Disclaimer: It all belongs to JKR I just play with them.

A/N: Thank you so much for taking the time to review this little fantasy of mine. I couldn’t resist the idea of Snape and a Harley. I have another one shot over in the general category if you have the time give it a look see. It’s called Against the Wind.

Chapter 3

Hermione was tired and discouraged and her feet hurt. She walked thru the door at HQ just in time to get ready for her lunch with Draco. She had looked at every apartment that was for rent in Diagon Alley and every one of them was way too small. And most of the landlords did not want her to have a small lab in the building. They said it was too dangerous. Who did they think she was Neville Longbottom? She plodded up the stairs to her room and took a long hot shower.

Draco woke up early that morning and decided to stack the odds in his favor. He sent two house elves out to the guest house and had them start getting it ready for Hermione. He went to a room at the back of the first floor and with a swish of his wand he emptied the room. Walking around the room slowly he chose the right placement for all of the potions equipment he planned to fill the room with. With a flick of his wand the smaller potions lab in the main house emptied and reformed in the room. Smirking to himself he moved on to another room.

The guest house had a small library off the sitting room. He looked at all the book lining the walls and magically removed about half the texts. He replaced them with rare and ancient books from his formal library. He made sure there were plenty of potions texts and a scattering of other subjects. Deciding that his job was almost complete he moved on to the master suite upstairs.


This room had a more male influence so he called on the house elf that had attended his mother when she was alive. He explained to Ivy that he wanted it decorated to suit a more feminine personality. Smiling she changed all the colors from dark jewel tones to lighter pastel shades. Now the thick carpet was a dusky grey and the walls were a pale silvery green. The huge four poster bed now had a thick comforter in the same green. The riot of pillows on the bed was grey, green and deep purple. Nodding his approval Draco headed back to his rooms in the main house to get ready.

When Hermione came down later Harry was waiting for her. He suggested they go into the study to wait for Malfoy and have some tea while she told him about her morning.

“Nothing was large enough or allowed a small lab.” She told her best friend. “I’ll just have to keep looking.”

“What’s so bad about staying here? Ginny and I would love to have you. I even have a lab already in place.” Harry asked.

“You already have a very full house and eventually you and Ginny are going to want more time and space to yourselves. I know someday you want to start a family. You know my job is going to force me to come and go at all hours. I really think it would be better if I had my own place.” the witch explained.

“I’ve already been told that you can’t discuss your job much. But how does experimental potions have you coming and going at all hours? I know you work for the ministry but which department?” he said looking at her thoughtfully.

“I work in the Dept. of Mysteries. Snape will be my direct supervisor.” She hedged. There maybe that was vague enough to throw him off.

Harry gave her a knowing look. “Does he still work for the same department he did during the war?”

Hermione was shocked. She was too well trained to show it. Her face never changed as she looked him the eye, “Yes.” How long had Harry known? Was he going to go all protective and have a fit about her career choice? She hoped not.

“You do know there will be field work as well as research? It’s a very demanding field.” Harry knew Snape was an Unspeakable. It had been explained to him during the war when he had pushed Dumbledore about why he trusted the spy so much. That bit of information had explained a lot about his Professor.

Hermione snorted, “I’m aware of my job description.” Here it comes he’s going to blow his top.

“I’m sorry. I’m sure you are. I guess you are right I would worry every time you came and went.” he said.

“Thank you for understanding. I don’t have to tell you to keep this between us. You of all people can keep a secret.” She smiled at him over her teacup.

The floo chose that moment to turn green. “Ok to come through?” came Draco’s voice from the fireplace.

“Sure” came the reply from both of the room occupants. They immediately burst into giggles. The tension was broken and they were back to being best buddies much to Hermione’s relief.

Draco stepped into the room to the sound of laughter. Looking around he saw Harry sitting in one of the matching armchairs in front of the fire and his date in the other. Her hair was down and flowing around her shoulders in a soft cloud of curls. She had on a pale blue scoop neck cotton top and a pair of muggle blue jeans with trainers. Her eyes were bright with laughter and she was smiling. He thought maybe his heart melted a little. She looked very different from the Snape clone he picked up the day before at the airport. She was less scary and much more approachable.

Hermione saw him step into the room and her breath caught. Had he been this handsome in school? No. He hadn’t looked so relaxed and happy before. He was all scowls and sharp remarks until the war ended. He had on a silver button down shirt tucked into a black pair of muggle jeans and black loafers. His friendship with the Gryffindor’s had definitely had an influence on his wardrobe, a decidedly muggle influence.

“Good afternoon Harry” he said as he turned again to his one time rival and held out his hand for a shake. Unlike that fateful day so long ago Harry took his hand in a hearty shake.

“Good afternoon. Great party last night, thank you for inviting us.” The dark haired wizard replied.

“My pleasure” Draco said. He turned to the witch. “Are you ready? I thought a light lunch and walk might be nice.”

Hermione decided she was going to get her workout today just from all the walking. “Lunch would be lovely”, she replied.

They stepped out the front doors and Draco put his arm around her and apparated the two of them away. Harry stood at the door for a moment and thought ‘Look out Malfoy she can take care of herself.’ before turning back inside.

The bistro was a small one with tables outside in the sunshine overlooking a large park. The couple chose a table off to one side and out of the way. “How did the apartment search go?” Draco asked as they waited for their waiter.

“Not so well I’m afraid. Most of the places were too small. Maybe tomorrow I’ll try a few closer to the ministry.” She said as she looked over the menu.

Draco changed the topic of conversation and they had an enjoyable lunch. Neither could remember exactly what they talked about for the two hours they sat there but it didn’t really matter. They crossed the street hand in hand to stroll through the park and passed a stand with a booklet of apartment for rent. He got one and they sat under a tree close together to look it over. The sneaky wizard was getting a good idea of how much she wanted to spend and how much space she wanted. After looking from cover to cover he said, “Why not just stay with Potter?”

“Because I want to come and go as I please without disturbing other people. Harry and Ginny will eventually want the house to themselves in any event.” Hermione was sick of apartment hunting.

“I think I know of a space available that might just be what you are looking for. Shall we see about it?” he said as he held out his hand.

“Ok last one for today. I have several days until I have to be at work and I want to enjoy them. Something tells me your Godfather will be a slave driver.” She said with a smile while taking his hand.

Draco looked around and made sure no one was watching and apparated them away. They landed in the sitting room of the guest house. It was spacious without being huge. There was large fireplace with a pair of chairs on both sides and a couch facing it.
The room had double glass doors that led to a courtyard with a wrought iron bistro table and two chairs. It was very tasteful without being over- done and had lots of light coming in from the many windows.

Hermione looked around “Where are we?” She loved this room, it was perfect. She headed toward a door that looked like it would go into the rest of the apartment. Draco just followed her without answering.

It was the entry way. The front door was to the left with a place to hang cloaks and large mirror with a small table and one chair. A staircase led to another floor. To the right was short hall with 4 doors. The first door opened to a dinning room large enough to seat 8 people. It was done in burgundy and deep green. The table had a fresh flower centerpiece and two crystal candlesticks. Closing that door they moved on to the next.

Draco followed behind to hide the smirk on his face. The next two rooms would cinch the deal. This room made the witch catch her breath, a library and study. She walked to the nearest book case and scanned the titles she could see with out climbing the rolling ladder. She was in heaven there were some very rare books mixed in here, potions, spells, transfiguration just to name a few topics. She turned to her companion “This is fantastic.”

“I thought so. Wait till you see the rest.” He said as he turned to go into the hall again. He led her to the last door at the end and opened it with a flourish. She stepped past him into a room that ran the whole back of the house with windows all along the back wall.
But what go her attention was that it was a potions lab, a fully equipped potions lab.

Turning to Draco she said,” OK what gives? Where are we and who owns this?” this was too good to be true, he was up to something.

With his trademark smirk he crossed the room and stopped right in front of her. “We are on the Malfoy estate and I own this. Now, before you say anything please see the rest of the cottage.” He took her hand and led her out of the room. They returned down the hall and took the stairs to the second floor. There was a small bedroom and a small bath across the hall.

The last door opened to reveal the master suite. Hermione let go of Draco’s hand and walked in looking like a kid in a candy store. “It’s heavenly.” she breathed. Turning to look at the wizard she raised one eyebrow in a questioning sort of way.

“It’s a business arrangement. The guest house is going to waste and you need a place to rent. It’s separate from the main house so you and guests can come and go as you please. I’m going to charge the same price as several of the ones you looked at today. It does come with a house elf, her name is Ivy.” he explained. He held his breath waiting for her answer.

She didn’t know what to say, he had obviously thought this through. It was perfect. It would mean they were close together, was that so bad? No it wasn’t. She would be paying her own way and not sponging. Why not?

“I’ll take it. Thank you Draco.” She replied as she crossed small space between them to lean up and kiss his cheek.

Draco let out the breath he had been holding as she crossed the room. Only to lose all air again as she leaned in to kiss him. He felt her hand on his shoulder for balance and the brush of her breast against his chest. But it was her soft lips on his cheek that made him feel as if there were no air in the room.

A/N I will try to update tomorrow. RL will be busy this week with all the family comming for Thanksgiving. Thank you for reviewing.