The After Effect

EDITED!! Please reread or at least re-skim. I added some stuff that I should have, elaborations mostly.

Author’s Note: This is a short chapter. I know I am sorry. I am really upset and not at all myself. But this has been running in my head and I am sorta stuck at right here. Figured I might as well put this up and try to fight my way through the rest. You will probably have a couple of questions because of this chapter there is also a little bit of foreshadowing. Again sorry about the shortness, I know it isn’t impressing whatsoever. Lol.

Lia Star: Thank you so much, you have no idea how many times you cross my thoughts. I am so sorry.

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Two weeks earlier.

Hermione walked through the floo into Severus Snape private home, Spinners End. Pulling her messenger bag further up her shoulder she looked around the living area. She was always surprised at the chocolate and cream scheme that ran throughout the room. It was warm and inviting nothing at all like the man’s personality. The main piece of the room had to be the mid 17-century Elven chocolate table in the middle of the room. It sat on a cream carpet and had a matching cream love seat and armchair surrounding it. The only other furniture in the room was a floor to ceiling bookshelf that was filled to the brim with books.

She toed off her shoes by the fireplace and fallowed the sound of light techno music. Her thoughts turned to Blaise knowing at this exact moment he was in the garden reading. It made her stomach tight and the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She always loved watching him naked in their garden. Trying to clear her thoughts she walked into the study she leaned against the doorjamb watching as Severus leaned over a small metallic box on his desk that was emitting the techno music. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail and there was a crease in his forehead showing that he was in deep concentration. The sleeves of his dark red shirt were rolled up to his elbows and in his hand was his wand. A slow stream of words made it’s way out of his mouth none of which Hermione could really hear.

“So that is?”

His head moved up slowly as a look of slight annoyance came over his face. Only his close friends knew the signs of annoyance; the slight movement of his eyes and the tilt of his lips were the only signs that gave it away. The techno music stopped abruptly with a frustrated wave of Severus's wand. “This would be the infamous Desire Box.” He leaned back in his chair throwing a hand in a mock display of showing it off.

Moving into the room she sat down at the chair across from his desk placing her messenger bag on the floor next to her chair. Pulling a ponytail off her wrist she pulled her hair back and up in a messy bun. Reaching across the table she gently picked it up and pulled it to her. “I have heard of it before, they are supposed to be really rare.” She continued to move it around in her hands gently, her eyes taking in every line and etching on the smooth metallic box. Around each of the corners were two small symbols. “Any ideas what these are? I don’t know this language.”

"Didn't your mother ever teach you it is rude to grab?"

Hermione didn't even bother looking up at him but he could feel her eye roll, "She may have, don't quite right remember."

He rose an eyebrow purposefully a small curve coming to the corner of his mouth. “I got it from an olde Russian friend that I went to Uni with. The symbols are a made-up language that the designer did I am assuming on the spot. He was so full of himself that he wanted nobody else to be able to make them. Selfish twit.”

A soft laugh escaped Hermione “This coming from the man who writes all of his potions in code?”

“That is an entirely different matter.” He glared down his nose at her.

She stopped herself from making a comment, “So what are you trying to do to it?”

“I am trying, none to successfully might I add, to change the parameters of the spell. When it plays it’s music it causes those who are in a true bdsm relationship to experience greater pleasure in their roles, but only if they are true soul mates. I don’t want anyone at Ambush to suddenly realize their best friends' beau is actually their soul mate and try to 'steal' them away. I don’t want scenes.” He glared at the infuriating block. “But I can’t figure it out and the longer I work on it the harder it becomes.”

"How can it make a person find their soul mate?" Hermione looked closer at the cube turning it in her hands.

"What music do you hear?"

Hermione looked at him quizzically "Some type of techno."

He chuckled slightly "It fits," At Hermione's confused expression he elaborated, "each person hears a specific type of music or sometimes even a certain song. Something happens to a person when they hear that certain song or type of music. When you heard it what was your first thought?"

"Blaise."

"Exactly, it draws the two people who's songs match. It does it to people who have never even met but if they are together and hear it they are draw together almost like a physical pull." He tapped a long elegant finger on the desk. "Same thing would happen if you heard the song out of the cube, the cube just enhances the pull, creates a greater feeling of euphoria and allows you to pick up or more subtle hints your partner gives out."

Hermione placed the cube down on the table and looked at it thoughtfully "So basically you just want to take out the part of pulling it to your soul mate."

"That is what I have been frustratingly trying to do." He shot the cube a look of utter contempt.

The young witch smiled "You love the fact that this is hard." She was met with a glare, of course Severus would never admit it but she knew better. Leaning back in her chair she tapped a finger to her lips, “Draco has always been good at these sort of things. Thought about giving him a whack at it?”

He nodded thoughtfully and picked up a never-ending-ink pen jotted down a quick note to himself. “Did you bring the papers?”

Moving with the quick change of topic Hermione leaned over and pulled out a stack of manila folders out of her messenger bag. Taking the first three off she placed them on the desk in front of Severus. “These would be the three that we threw out of Ambush last month. The first is Allison Smith. She was a suspected Death Eater and was convicted of abuse of her husband. The official charges were dropped when he went back to her but I managed to find the file, which is in there for you to read. The other two were brothers Frank and James Wats while neither of them were tied to the Death Eaters and haven’t had any charges brought against them formally they were suspects in a woman’s disappearance. Those paper were added in their files as well.”

He flipped through the files stopping to read a few things before moving on to the next. “What about that Seymour fellow?”

“Nathan Seymour,” Hermione pulled another folder out of the stack and handed it to him. “His file was clean as far as I could tell but something about him just rubs me the wrong way.”

He stared down at the file and said nothing for a long moment. “Don’t blacklist him but put him on the watch list. It is better to be safe then sorry. You have to be extra careful in this lifestyle sadly.”

“I already did. I also set up the next date for August fifteenth.”

Severus nodded in approval. “A month from now? I should have the cube working by then hopefully. Have you sent out a letter to all the regulars?”

"Of course." Ambush was a prominent BDSM club but every few weeks to a month they set up a date and closed down the club for only the exclusive members. It was only thirty or so people all that had the utmost trust of everyone there. It allowed people to act out fantasies that they normally wouldn't be able to or simply just talk in a more personal setting. While Severus and Hermione kept excellent security anything could go wrong with two-hundred plus people packed into a club.

Hermione placed the last folder she was holding in her lap and steeled herself for what was about to come next. “Severus?”

He raised a neatly manicured eyebrow at her.

“Do you trust me?”

The words were spoken softer than a whisper “Yes.”

“Then please remember that with what I am about to do.”

Severus braced himself he knew this would come. He had never had a friendship that lasted. Of course she had just been waiting to use the Life Debt. He was surprised it had taken her so many years to do. He should have known not to let his guard down. It had been so easy. She had come to him when her feelings started to become stronger. Looking for guidance, looking to be told she wasn't a bad person for wanting to be a Dom. They had started a club together and a joint website where those who were interested in BDSM could go and experience it in a safe and controlled manner. They set up support groups for the abused and joint owned everything. She could take that all away with just one word and he would have no choice but to give that to her. He had been able to quit teaching with the money he made from the club and interfloo site and if she asked for it all he would have no choice but to go back to it. Inside he steeled himself to sign everything over to her.

“You know you both get that same look in your eyes. The look that says I am not worth loyalty.” She shook her head slightly. “I will never betray you Severus. Trust me. The only reason I do this is because you wouldn’t accept it any other way.”

The look of weariness and fear of the impending betrayal started to lesson in his eyes.

Hermione pulled out her wand and aimed it straight at Severus’s chest. “Severus Snape I am calling in a Life Debt. On July 31 1998 I saved your life. For this Life Debt to be fulfilled you will answer two questions with honestly and straightforwardness then you will fallow my instructions to the 'T' on the matter which these questions revolve around. Is this clear?”

A look of utter shock crossed Severus’s face. One of the biggest debts in his life was to be answered with a question? There had to be something wrong here some underhandedness that he was missing. But she had spoken the words and the spell was cast. “Crystal.”

Lowering her wand Hermione smiled at Severus” Severus first question. Who is the person that you think about more times then you should? That when you go to bed at night fills your dreams?”

His jaw tightened shut. This had to be cruelty like he never new before. He should have known it wouldn't be an innocent question. It would be one that tore him apart. He could still remember the exact shade of his eyes, they way he smelt and the exact pattern of his footsteps. He couldn’t stop the flash of pain that ran through him. How long had it been since he heard that man speak? After of minutes of strained silence Severus finally opened his mouth and spoke the name Hermione was anxiously waiting for. “Harry Potter.”

A sigh of relief washed through Hermione like a proverbial tidal wave. “Second question. If he asked you would you leave the BDSM community for him?”

Severus gave Hermione a look that could have frozen hell. “If Blaise came to you today and said Hermione I don’t think I can live like this anymore. I want to be completely vanilla would you do it? Of course you would in a heartbeat because you love him. So don’t insult me with such a mockery of a question.”

She leaned back against the chair with suck a look of success on her face that he stopped and looked at her. He waited till she spoke and what she said shocked the hell out of him. “I knew that already. I just had to make sure. Harry means more to me then my life. You have no idea what he has given just so we can breath in freedom.

Last night when the newcomer logged on I traced its IAN. It was blocked. Now there are only a few people who have their blocked. By process of elimination I found out who it is.”

Severus had stopped breathing. Waiting for her to say the name instead she looked at the liquor cabinet and accioed some of his best Scotch. She continued to talk while she poured him a glass. “What I am going to have you do will be the hardest thing you ever done. As you know that man is Harry. Have a drink Severus.”

“I don’t want any bloody Scotch.” He spoke even as he grabbed the glass and took a drink.

She almost smiled but thought better of it. “You have two weeks. Two weeks in which you can talk to him do whatever you wish. The conditions are he cannot know who you are and you cannot let him know you know who he is. After two weeks you stop talking to him. I will go and tell him everything and then in two weeks he will meet you at Ambush and we will figure everything out from there.”

“So you will train Harry?” He twirled the cup in his hand.

“To the best of my ability, yes.” She nodded.

“You will teach him everything?”

Tilting her head to the side she reached across the desk and touched his arm. “I will take good care of him. Trust me.”

He looked at her locked eyes and spoke softly to her. “You must not tell him who I am.”

A look crossed over her face. “You want me to lie to him?”

“No. I want you to make sure he chooses me. When he goes to Ambush he will seek me out or not. He will not associate SirAlexander with me. I want him to have this choice. Let him have that. Promise me Hermione. Promise me.” He held her eyes until she nodded.

“I promise.”

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I edited the chapter for smoothness.
>.>
And then I edited it again to add more information please reread to get the added info.
Also note that the next chapter is in progress, between work and school I am moving slowly.