Deja Voodoo

Lucius growled at his long time friend when he spotted his reflection behind him in the mirror. It didn’t matter that he was only there in spirit, no one else in the known Universe had the power to make him feel quite so annoyed yet relieved to have someone to talk to at the same time. It didn’t help that Severus was laughing. Not his usual faintly amused, sinister chuckle but flat out, shoulders shaking laughing.



“Would you kindly stop doing an imitation of a braying mule, Severus,” Lucius said, sounding annoyed through the handkerchief he was currently holding to his bleeding lip.



One last chortle before Severus asked, “What happened? Did she hex you?”



“I think that would have possibly been kinder.”



“Well?”



“You are incredibly curious in your decomposing state.”



“It’s impossible for me to be decomposing, Lucius, considering I was cremated. Just tell me what she did so I don’t have to go poking round in that muck filled grey matter you call a brain.”



Lucius growled again and glared at his friend. “If you must know, she bit me.”



Snape stared at him for a full minute in disbelief. His prim and proper, know it all former student had actually sank her teeth into one of the wizarding world’s finest men. The man whom no woman had turned down, ever. It was outrageous. Completely ridiculous. Totally, unimaginably, fully, thoroughly, and absolutely hysterical. He started to chuckle, then outright laugh due to the expression on Lucius’ face. Gods, it had been ages since he’d laughed so hard.



The look Lucius gave him could have withered plants. “I’m so happy my suffering brings you amusement, Severus. Gods above and below, that woman has sharp teeth.”



“You’ll recall I did try to warn you.”



“You most certainly did not. You merely stood back and made disparaging comments about my methods.”



Snape did a glide around the room before coming back to Lucius again. “Really, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. Why not a spell or charm? Even a potion would have done to win her. It isn’t as though you can’t mix something like that properly with all the tutoring I gave you in school.”



Lucius sighed and rolled his eyes. “Severus, you’ve had her in classes. Do you think for one moment she wouldn’t recognize the effects of something like that? I’m also quite certain she’d know the counter for whatever spell from the wizarding world I could come up with. Add to it she’d be bound to tell someone at the ministry and I’d find myself back in Azkaban for removing someone’s free will. Definitely do not want.”



“You do realize how ridiculous that sounds coming from a mature man, right?” Snape said. “It’s rather like answering a flu summons with “where you at?” Exactly what did you do to her that elicited her response? Ah, you kissed her, didn’t you.”



“It was required.”



“Why was it required?”



“There was mistletoe.”



***



Hermione had calmly and coolly walked out of the library, shut the door on Lucius’ cursing and made her way to the Potters. She informed them she was going home before striding out the door and apparating back home to her flat.



Ginny and Harry had stared at one another for a minute before Harry started off to find Lucius Malfoy and get to the bottom of whatever he’d done to upset Hermione. He’d beat it out of him if necessary.



“Oh, no you don’t, Harry James Potter,” Ginny said. “We’re finished with the niceties here. You are going home and I am going to talk to our friend.”



“But . . .”



“No.”



“Ginny . . .”



“Harry . . .” she growled.



“Sweetheart . . .”



“No way. Move it, Potter,” she said, grabbing him by the arm and all but dragging him out of the ballroom.



***



Hermione leaned out of her window, needing the cold night air to help cool the hot flush she got every time she thought about what had happened at the party. It seemed she could still feel the press of his mouth against hers, could still taste him on her lips. That may have been literally considering she’d bitten him. Dear gods, she’d bitten Lucius Malfoy. She had just gotten hold of her urge to bang her head onto the windowsill when she felt Ginny materialize behind her.



“Okay, what happened?” the other woman demanded.



“What makes you think something happened?” Hermione said, going for nonchalance.



“Oh, how silly of me, you always pull a Cinderella without leaving a shoe behind at parties. Of course, how could have I forgotten. Now spill!”



Hermione knew there was absolutely no way to get out of this. Not with Ginny digging for information. She sighed heavily and looked at her friend.



“Do you remember the night Ron and I broke up?”



“Half of the wizarding world does. What does that have to do with whatever happened tonight?”



“I would never have known about Ron and that woman if Lucius Malfoy hadn’t told me.”



Ginny’s eyebrows lifted. “Really? How interesting. What happened with him that night you aren’t telling me?”



Hermione looked anywhere but at her friend and blushed hotly. “He kissed me.”



“Okay. I’m guessing he kissed you again tonight as well.”



Hermione nodded.



“Weird that he waited five years to make another move but okay. We’ll figure that one out later. It doesn’t explain why you went bailing out of the party like a bat out of hell, Hermione.”



“I bit him,” she mumbled into her nightshirt.



“I beg your pardon?”



“I said I bit Lucius Malfoy.”



Ginny started to laugh and found she couldn’t stop until tears were streaming down her face and she was holding her stomach.



“It isn’t that funny, Ginny!”



“Oh, yes, but it is.”