A Matter of Circumstance

Chapter 3 ~ A Bit of Assistance

The gods didn’t have that much power anymore, since they were no longer worshipped and relegated to the land of myth and magic, newer gods forming and gaining power. Without focused worship and strong belief from mortals, the old gods became powerful spiritual entities. They rarely interfered in muggle business. God, Jesus, Satan, Buddha and several other cosmic forces had taken over that realm, but they still had power in the magical world as long as they worked without the knowledge of the magical mortals. Non-belief stripped them of their powers to some extent.

Now, in the case of Eros and Aphrodite…their powers on earth manifested strongly for the most part because most people believed in the power of love even if they didn’t believe in the god or goddess themselves. So Eros’ arrows and meddling were still relatively effective. In the case of those who put little truck in love however, it took a lot of work to get even the slightest response. Such was the case of Severus. He believed love was for dreamers and fools. He had survived for years without it. A quite unnecessary emotion as far as the Potions Master was concerned. Eros was right. He was a hard case.

It took three arrows to get Severus interested in Hermione, and he only became so because of the collateral effects of Eros magic. An arrow of love was supposed to enhance the feelings of love or desire for companionship already in an individual. It also affected those who came in contact with that person, provided there was even the slightest attraction.

In Severus’ case, there was only one witch who had a minute attraction to him. Hermione. She had quashed it several years ago while she was still a student, calling it a stupid, senseless infatuation and using logic to force those feelings down.

“No one could care about that snarky bastard,” she told herself over and over…especially after waking up from several erotic dreams involving the dark wizard.

She and Ron became an item and in time, lovers, though Hermione’s feelings didn’t run as deep as the red-haired wizard’s did. When Hermione finally told him she loved him, it was after Ron accused her of not loving him and wanting to know why. She didn’t know why. She thought he was sweet and kind, and he really was good to her, toning down his rashness and treating her much like Arthur Weasley treated Molly, regulating himself to the background when Hermione spoke and only speaking when needed. Basically, she told him she loved him to shut him up.

This change in the wizard irritated Hermione a little. She liked a bit of challenge, but Ron was too afraid of driving her off if he acted like his usual self. He was always on his best behavior with her, even though he gave everyone else the usual treatment, being argumentive, jumping to conclusions and refusing to back down from any fight. But with Hermione he was a docile as a puppy. It nearly drove her crazy.

As a lover, Ron was always gentle and cautious with Hermione, as if he were afraid she would break. He kept sex straight missionary, and although he was tender and good, Hermione felt something was missing. She never felt the overwhelming desire for sex or had the earth shattering orgasms with Ron that she’d read about in books. Eventually, she believed it was just exaggeration on the part of romance authors and sex was highly over-rated.

Then Eros arrows got to her one evening when she passed in close proximity to Severus. A strong pulse hit her and she spun and looked after the wizard as he stalked down the dungeon corridor, his robes billowing.

“Professor Snape,” she called.

Severus stopped, spun and narrowed his eyes when he saw Hermione. Good gods. What the hell did she want?

”What is it, Miss Granger? I’m on my way to my rooms,” he snapped at her as she walked up, her eyes shining a bit.

Severus blinked at her glassy-eyed look.

”Are you on something, Miss Granger…your eyes are abnormally bright,” he observed.

There were quite a few recreational wizarding drugs floating about these days, and Hermione was young enough to indulge. But was she stupid enough? She might be. She was sleeping with Ron Weasley after all and despite her proven brilliance, that said nothing for her intelligence at all as far as the Potions Master could see.

“Ah, no…I’m not Professor…I was just wondering…” Hermione began.

”You’re always wondering,” Severus snarked, “One day your skull is going to burst the way you are continuously stuffing it with unnecessary knowledge.”

Hermione ignored the barb.

”I was wondering…if maybe you’d like to go to dinner with me one evening,” the witch said.

Severus’ eyes went wide as saucers.

”Is this…is this some kind of sick joke, Miss Granger?” the Potions Master asked her.

“No,” Hermione replied, Eros magic working on her hard, “It’s not.”

Severus scowled at her.

“What about your beloved Mr. Weasley? I doubt he would approve of you going out with anyone…particularly me. There’s no love lost between us,” Severus sneered.

“I’m only asking you out to dinner, not to bed,” Hermione said to him.

Severus gave her a half-smirk.

”Those two acts are one in the same to me, Miss Granger…I never go out to dinner with a witch I don’t intend to bed,” he purred at her.

Hermione blinked up at him.

”Will you go out to dinner with me, Professor?” she asked him again.

Severus looked at the young witch. He was twice her age and he didn’t even like her. Besides, she was tiny. He’d cleave her in half.

“Stop being ridiculous, Miss Granger…I’d no sooner bed you than fuck a mountain troll. Good evening,” Severus snarled at her, turning away and heading for his office in a temper.

Hermione watched him go, then came back to herself.

“Oh my gods. Why the hell did I ask him that?” she said, horrified.

Shuddering, she turned and hurried out of the dungeon corridor. She hoped Ron would drop by tonight. She needed to fuck him just to get the Potions Master out of her head.

But that night, and for many nights that followed, she dreamed about him. It didn’t help that Eros hit him with another arrow that weakened the wizard’s resolve and made Hermione even more forward when she came in contact with him.

The third arrow did the trick and after several more attempts at getting Hermione to back off, Severus was taken over by lust and ended up giving the witch a rather brutal high hard one in his Potions office. The witch had come in under the pretense of needing a potion. She was naked under her robes and opened them. The Potions Master was on her like a niffler on gold.

After that first heated encounter, both of them were hooked. And Ron…poor Ron, he never knew the dark wizard was twisting the witch he loved into pretzels and pounding her nearly into unconsciousness every chance he got.

That fact that Hermione was carrying Severus’ child was a given. As was said before, Hermione never felt the overwhelming desire for sex with Ron like she did with the Potions Master, and was always careful to cast a contraceptive spell or check her patch before engaging him.

This wasn’t always possible with Severus, who would damn near abduct her, and never asked for sex. He just took it…knowing anytime he touched her it was consensual. They fucked all over Hogwarts. It was a good thing for Hermione that Ron was gentle, because sometimes the Potions Master left her so sore that she felt like her pussy was swollen shut. Ron was much smaller than he was too. Luckily the belief that a woman’s vagina could become stretched by another wizard with a larger tool was just a myth, or Ron would have fallen in following Severus.

This illicit relationship had gone on for more than a year, with no one but Albus the wiser. Now Hermione was pregnant. The past year dealing with the Potions Master had Slytherinized her quite a bit, and to be honest…she became nearly as selfish as he was. Conscience didn’t matter anymore. Now she had to look out for herself and her child. Ron would be a good father. Severus would not. He didn’t even love her.

”I love your pussy,” he’d tell her as he took her hungrily. That was as good as it got with the addictive wizard.

Another thing Severus liked to ask her was if she had fucked Ron and when. Then he’d take her roughly, asking her as she shrieked if Ron gave it to her like he did. He was satisfied when she whimpered he didn’t, though he didn’t let up on her one bit. Severus was a bit of a sadist. Just a bit. There was just something about the witch that brought out the animal in him. He was completely unaware the gods were involved at all. He didn’t even believe in the gods. Not that it mattered.

Eros was the god of love, true…but he was still male and had the male sensibilities when it came to love. Fucking was the end all. Once he saw Snape was adequately laying wand to Hermione, he considered his foray a success. The wizard wasn’t going to start handing out candy and roses after all. Now his mother…a goddess with all the crazy romantic notions mortal women have concerning love came down on him hard, telling him he had either to fix this or serve as target practice for Zeus.

Shit.

The blonde god looked down on the scene, observing all the sodden mortals trying to escape the continuing storm.

“Now what the hell am I going to do with Snape?” Eros muttered, watching the soaked wizard stand up and stride toward the castle in the pouring rain, looking quite pleased despite his state.

The wedding had been postponed.

”Well, he might not love the witch…but he doesn’t want her to marry Weasley,” Eros observed.

Bedraggled guests were leaving Hogwarts in droves, walking across the grounds and out of the main gate, then disapparating. A sodden Albus Dumbledore twisted the hem of his muddy white robes, looking down at himself then up at the sky with a bemused expression on his face before he too began walking toward the castle.

Ron had Hermione’s arm and was leading her back as well, the witch’s hair plastered to her head, her garland lost, gown ruined and a look of bewilderment on her face. What the hell had happened? She’d suspect a spell, but there was no spell to control the weather in such a manner. The most any witch or wizard could do was make a small storm cloud. It was as if the wedding had been hit by a small tsunami.

Eros stroked his chin. He had to do something…put a stone in the gears and stop this marriage. He had to disrupt them…to cause some discord between Ron and Hermione. He didn’t even hope to make Snape fall in love…the best he could do was make sure that Hermione didn’t trap Ron into a false marriage. They could work it out from there.

Hm. Discord.

Eros perked up and clapped his hands together sharply.

A tiny god with winged shoes zoomed into the room and hovered in front of the wizard.

”You clapped, Eros?” Hermes asked him.

Hermes was the god of communications among other things.

”I need to get a message to Eris,” Eros said.

Hermes went pale.

”Eris? Eros, no one willingly contacts Eris. She causes trouble everywhere she goes just for the entertainment,” Hermes replied, frowning. He could count on something painful happening just when he went into the goddess’ presence.

Eris was the sister of Ares, the god of war. Her specialty was Strife and Discord. She was the real reason for the Trojan War. Eris had been snubbed and not invited to the wedding of King Peleus and his salty sea nymph Thetis. Pissed, she stole a golden apple from Gaia’s tree, labeled it “To the Fairest” and threw it into the center of the floor during the ceremony. Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all pounced on it, and a huge catfight occurred. After it was broken up and the wedding ruined, the goddesses demanded Zeus choose who was the fairest.

The god wasn’t about to do that. All three goddesses were powerful, and Hera was his wife. If Hell hath no wrath like a woman scorned, there was absolutely no comparison for a goddess scorned. Hell was nothing...nothing next to that.

Zeus wisely pawned the decision off on a mortal named Paris, who was the Prince of Troy and all three goddesses tried to bribe him to choose her. Aphrodite won by offering him Helen, the most beautiful mortal woman on earth if he chose her. Helen was, incidentally, married to the Greek king Menelaus who didn’t take the abduction of his wife well. Aphrodite didn’t care…she never promised Paris it would be easy to acquire her…just that he would. The resulting war lasted ten years. Eros was being kind when he told her thousands of mortals had died. Thousands and hundreds of thousands had passed on.

The god of love scowled at Hermes.

“Look, just go get her, all right?” Eros snapped at the reluctant little god who said a little curse under his breath.

This meant he’d have to go into the bowels of the earth. Eris wasn’t allowed to stay at Mount Olympus. The goddess just caused too much trouble.

“Fine,” Hermes huffed, passing through the bowl of grapes and snagging one before zooming straight down through the floor and towards earth.

“Sometimes I hate this job,” he muttered, biting into the grape.

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Bored, Eris sat on her throne in her small, stone domain, fires burning around her. The goddess was pale, with spiky black hair, an eyebrow pierced with three tiny silver skulls, her lashes lined with thick mascara and she wore black lipstick. She had black eyes and her face was pixieish with a slightly pointed chin. She wore a black spiked collar around her neck, and a number of black leather bracelets, also spiked, a rather short, sexy black dress that laced up in the front and had a slightly ragged fringe and soft black boots that stopped below her knees. She idly kicked one leg as her chin rested on her palm.

“I’m so fucking bored,” she sighed, flicking a finger at the mirror on the wall that showed her the life of mortals.

No particular one had caught her attention in years. She still did little things to cause strife and discord, but nothing that really captured her imagination. The mirror began to show different people. There was a woman carrying two full pails of milk into the house from the barn. Eris flicked a finger at the mirror and made her trip over the doorsill and chuckled for a moment as she fell face first, the milk flowing all over the floor as her family members ran to help her, scolding her at the same time.

”I’m reduced to this. Tripping milkmaids,” she griped, still watching the mirror. It focused on a shirtless muggle climbing a mountain without ropes. He was quite a ways up. She flicked her finger again.

“Whoops,” she said as the next outcrop the muggle grabbed crumbled beneath his fingers and he dangled by one arm in the air. Eris could have made the other rock crumble, but didn’t. She watched him desperately struggle to find another handhold and he eventually did, clinging to the mountainside in terror.

“Hope your palms don’t sweat,” she said to the image before it shifted again. This time it showed Hermes, zooming through the fissure that led to her abode. Eris sat up.

“Ah a visitor,” she smiled, flicking her finger again, then waiting expectantly for the tiny god.

As if on cue, Hermes zoomed through the stone ceiling and hovered in front of her, his face screwed up with distaste.

”Eris…” he began, then…

THWACK!

A huge golden flyswatter slammed him to the floor.

”Oops. So sorry Hermes,” Eris said with a nasty grin as the flyswatter disappeared and Hermes struggled to get up, “I get a lot of bugs down here.”

Hermes pushed himself up off the floor, adjusted his golden winged helmet, fixed his toga then glared at the goddess. He shook his finger at her.

“You did that on purpose, Eris. Last time I was here, I got caught in a web and almost eaten by a giant spider!” he said.

”That was unfortunate, Hermes. I killed it didn’t I?” Eris purred at him.

“Yes, but only after I was wrapped up in its web and it was about to sink its fangs into me,” the god said angrily.

”Oh grow up, Hermes. That happened centuries ago. Now why are you here?” Eris asked him.

”Eros wants to see you,” he muttered.

Eris looked excited.

”Eros? Where?” she asked the god.

“I guess in Mount Olympus,” Hermes responded.

Eris grinned wickedly. She could only enter Mount Olympus if another god invited her. Not one had for ages. She looked at Hermes, her eyes aglow now. The little god shuddered. Was Eros crazy inviting Eris to Olympus? Zeus was going to shoot lightning bolts out his ass in rage if he found out about this. Eros was asking to be fried.

“Tell him I’ll be there in half an hour,” the goddess said.

Hermes nodded and hightailed it out of her domain before something else happened to him.

Eris got up off her throne and did a little pirouette.

”I’m going to Olympus…I’m going to Olympus,” she sang as she readied herself for the journey.

What in the world did Eros want?

Whatever it was, she hoped it was interesting.

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A/N: Really mixing and matching in this one…throwing in a little HG/SS history, god history and whatnot. Eris sounds like a real card. This is fun. :) Thanks for reading.