The Unfortunates

Back again, finally... You\'re going to hate me for this chapter too, but I promise another chapter will soon follow!



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CHAPTER FOUR: GRANGER MEETS GRANGER





It was rather a big risk to take, really.



The more he thought about it, the more sceptical he became. But now wasn’t the time to back out. He still needed the information – any information, really, that could be useful – and by now he was willing to take a risk.



There was nothing else for it.



He was just going to have to meet this prostitute and see if she was of any use at all.



For almost two decades now, he’d been feeling rather at unease whenever he was around a whore. Perhaps it was because of the thought of a woman selling her body was just too appalling, or perhaps it was because of his past, the time spent in bad company before those two decades...



It probably fell on the latter, but either way, he felt there was something unnerving about having to lure information out of this prostitute, this Mira Gideon.



He didn’t even know if she was trustworthy.



True, Tom at The Cauldron wouldn’t have told him about her if she had been working for the Dark Lord. The innkeeper was very reliable when it came to that sort of thing. But... Well, he knew practically nothing about this girl, other than that many of her clients were important Death Eaters. What if she was a weak, cowering soul, who’d go blabbering to Malfoy or whoever the second after he’d gotten what he wanted from her?



He really couldn’t risk that.



So he’d decided quite early on to avoid her discovering his real identity. Even if Tom had given the distinct impression that this girl was a real supporter of the light, the risk of her learning who he really was just too great.



A slightly hoarse voice to his left interrupted his thoughts.



“Are you going to do it, then?” asked Lupin.



He sighed. Of course he was; everyone knew he was. Why did they keep asking him?



“Yes,” he replied wearily. “Yes, you know I am.”



“Just thought I’d check,” said Lupin, shrugging. “You don’t have to, you know. I could have done it, or possibly Bill...”



“Don’t be ridiculous,” he snapped, “either of you two would have messed it up completely. Besides, it is I who know what information to look for.”



“Sure it is,” Lupin agreed. “I was just offering in case you’d changed your mind.”



“I have not.”



“Yes, I realized that.”



There was an awkward silence. Lupin’s fingers were trailing a pattern across the table.



Of course he wasn’t going to back out now – what, he couldn’t face a common whore? Albeit he felt uncomfortable at the thought, it wasn’t as though he was too weak or too scared to do it... No one would ever get to accuse him of that.



“I am going back there this evening,” he stated at last and felt several eyes upon him. He ignored them. “Hopefully she will be there. If not, I shall have to arrange a meeting of some sort.”



“With Tom?” asked Lupin.



“Yes.”



“I’ve been thinking,” said the young man at the far end of the table. Oh, typical. Of course he’d been thinking... \"How can you be so sure she\'s trustworthy, this girl?\"



\"Tom trusts her. As it is, that is a good reference.\"



\"Good enough?\" asked the man.



\"Let us hope so.\"



\"I don\'t see why we\'re fussing so much about this,\" said a purple-haired witch to his left. \"This may be the first real progress we\'ve had in weeks! We\'re on the brink of discovering something here, for a change! Shouldn\'t we all be happy about that?\"



\"Happy?\" he snapped. \"Don\'t be a fool, Tonks; don\'t be so blinded by your joy over this turn of events that you forget to maintain your scepticism. I thought a part of Auror training was learning to suspect anyone unless given reason not to, at least in circumstances such as this one?\"



\"Well, sure,\" Tonks replied, ruffling up her hair with one hand, \"but we shouldn\'t get carried away with scepticism, either, you know? Don\'t get so suspicious you decide not to do anything at all – that\'s really the wrong way of approaching it, isn\'t it?\"



\"Point taken, Tonks,\" said Lupin, thus quickly avoiding an approaching argument. He got to his feet. \"Well – Bill, we\'re on food duty tonight, and it\'s going to be a bit of a challenge, so I say we should get a move on. Severus, good luck tonight,\" he added.



Severus nodded in acknowledgement.



\"I am going to need it,\" he muttered as the room was emptied.



---



Hermione was actually bored.



Strangely enough, she actually sort of envied Mandy for getting to serve drinks \'round the pub. Okay, so it wouldn\'t be exactly fun to have disgusting, half-drunken men pinching the gods-knew-what as you passed them, but at least you\'d get to do something.



Hermione was just sitting at the bar, as though she wasn\'t one of Lilly\'s girls at all, but merely any ordinary woman dropping by for a drink.



This, too, apparently had something to do with the class difference. A girl who worked the floor was cheaper and lower ranking than a girl who sat by the bar. Hermione couldn\'t quite wrap her head around it, but she\'d discovered early on during \"orientation\" that she\'d do best to just keep her mouth shut and accept things as they were.



It seemed Mandy was a bit more unhappy with the situation.



Hermione couldn\'t blame her, really. Being labelled as \"low class\" even in a place like this was degrading. It wasn\'t enough that Mandy was a prostitute – she was even the lowest ranking prostitute.



Hermione had tried to argue with Barrette about this earlier that day, claiming that Mandy was sure to get just as many important clients as Hermione, and that her own past experiences with Malfoy really didn\'t mean anything – but for no use.



Lilly Barrette was not a woman easily crossed. There was no arguing with her.



So Hermione was left sitting at the bar, being bored. She knew it was wrong to complain – this had to be better than selling your body to horny men, right? But it was still boring... So very boring... And whenever Hermione was bored, she had too much time to think – think about Harry, Ron, and the others.



No one knew what had happened to Ron. No one had heard anything about his body being located, yet he wasn\'t on the Death Eaters\' \"Most wanted\"-list either. So where was he?



Hermione had long ago settled with believing he was dead. There was little hope of something else – he was just another casualty of war, and like in so many other cases of casualty, the Death Eaters simply hadn\'t bothered to properly dispose of his body. Perhaps he\'d been fed to Nagini, like so many others before him...



Hermione shivered at the thought of that horrid snake. It\'d become an icon amongst supporters of Voldemort now, and meeting her, or watching her feast, was considered a real privilege. Gods, how disgusting.



A man to Hermione\'s left was discreetly edging his bar stool closer to hers. She sighed. Oh, well. Back to work.



She turned to face him, offering a dazzling smile. He smiled sheepishly back.



\"You... you free?\" he stuttered in a quiet voice, flashing a half tooth-less mouth.



Hermione tried not to smirk. This guy was new to it, obviously.



\"That depends,\" she smiled, stroking his right thigh gently with one hand.



\"On – er – on what?\" he said.



She leaned in and whispered in his ear, \"The size of your purse, Sir.\"



\"Er,\" he stuttered again, fumbling through his pockets, apparently on a desperate hunt for money. Finally he looked up at her again, muttering, \"I\'ve got about a dozen Sickles – er – is... is that –\"



\"Sorry,\" smiled Hermione apologetically, and immediately turned her attention away from the man, staring straight ahead of her again. \"Try the floor,\" she finished, before completely ignoring his existence.



It was kind of sad, really, but Hermione had gotten clear instructions: The very first thing she had to check – main priority, really – was the money. Not enough money, no chance in hell they\'d get to her room. It was that simple. According to Barrette, Hermione was luxury. And it was all thanks to Malfoy and his warm recommendations.



Who would have thought, indeed?



The evening slowly moved on, and by the time it was half past eleven Hermione realized she probably would get this night off – there were no one rich enough for her at Lilly Barrette\'s tonight.



Now she suddenly realized why there was only one top-floor girl working at each evening. They probably never had any use for more than one, seeing as how the prize on the girls from the top was so high. That\'s why Hermione was all on her own tonight – would she get tomorrow off, then? She\'d have to ask Barrette about that.



Just as she asked a fellow \"Lilly\'s girl\" (what a term) in the bar for another glass of Firewhiskey, a dark voice to her left spoke.



\"Allow me to buy you that drink.\"



Startled, Hermione turned to face the man who\'d spoken.



He had his face hidden in shadow, the hood of his cloak up, but she could still see he was a tall and lean man. He was practically radiating confidence and intimidation, and it was apparent at once that this was an entirely different sort of man than the half tooth-less fool who\'d spoken to her earlier.



This was a real man. And a scary one, at that.



\"Thank you,\" smiled Hermione as he paid for her drink. She watched him as he ordered and paid for one of his own, but his face was never revealed.



\"I take it you are Mira Gideon?\" he said in a low, silky voice.



\"Er,\" said Hermione, taken by surprise, \"yes – yes, that I am. Do I know you?\"



\"No,\" he simply replied, and turned his attention to his firewhiskey.



\"You wouldn\'t,\" began Hermione, fighting to keep her voice steady, \"you wouldn\'t by any chance be Tiberius Granger, would you?\"



\"What makes you believe that?\" asked the cloaked stranger.



\"Well, a man by that name was asking for me at The Leaky Cauldron,\" explained Hermione. \"And apparently, he looked a lot like you.\"



The man turned his face to her then, but still she couldn\'t see him. All she thought she could make out was a pair of dark, glittering eyes beneath the hood.



\"And do you think you have any idea how I look?\" he said in a low voice.



\"No,\" said Hermione hastily, \"no, I meant the way you are dressed... Face hidden beneath a hood and so on, you know.\"



Hermione felt she could almost hear the man\'s smirk as he replied: \"Ah, well, these days there are more men hidden in cloaks than not, aren\'t there?\"



Hermione frowned. What a strange thing to say... At least if this man really was the supposed Tiberius Granger, someone she suspected knew her real identity and was out to get her...



\"You still haven\'t answered my question,\" said Hermione after a short silence.



\"Which was?\"



\"Are you Tiberius Granger?\"



The stranger hesitated. Then, emptying his firewhiskey and placing the glass back on the table, he said, \"I am.\"



\"And what could you possibly want with me?\" said Hermione, a lot more suspicious now as her theory had been confirmed. Should she run for it? Or wait to hear what he was really after?



The man who claimed to be Tiberius Granger then leaned in close to her, so close it felt as though his lips – though still hidden beneath the hood – was touching her ear as he whispered: \"I think you could easily guess that, couldn\'t you, Miss Gideon?\"



That silky voice... There was something rather familiar about it, but Hermione couldn\'t place it.



The man\'s hot breath on her skin was unnerving, yet somehow a lot less appalling than that of the other clients she\'d had... This man, despite his intimidating appearance, seemed to have a totally different air about him than the likes of Malfoy and the others. Somehow, the thought was comforting.



\"But perhaps it would be convenient to go somewhere a bit less... crowded?\" finished the stranger.



Gods, that voice... It was working magic, really. Hermione couldn\'t see why – what was so special about a voice? It had to be something, though, because she felt this strangle tingle at the pit of her stomach that she\'d never felt before... For some reason, she felt so much more willing to bring this man to her rooms than any other man she\'d ever been with... despite his disguised appearance, his false name and his frightening manner.



\"You kind of need to prove to me you\'re worth it,\" whispered Hermione, her voice strangely husky. Hm... That had never really happened before – at least not unless she\'d done it deliberately to cause a wanted effect.



The clinking sound of what had to be a bag heavy with Galleons from the man\'s pocket soon answered Hermione\'s question, and she discovered to her great surprise that she was actually quite relieved to discover he could afford her.



---



At first, Severus had considered simply demanding the information necessary from this Mira Gideon girl. But as he came face to face with her, he changed tactics.



Firstly, she was rather pretty – too pretty, at least, to have her face ruined in the course of his desire for information. Besides, he wasn\'t a man who revelled in doing such a thing. Secondly, she appeared so... well... so misplaced to him. As though she didn\'t really belong at Lilly Barrette\'s, nor, for that matter, in the profession altogether. And strangely enough, her appearance – with long, reddish blond hair and icy blue eyes – somehow didn\'t really fit her.



She really made Severus wonder...



A third point that had made him change his mind about tactics was her reactions to him. She seemed, although intimidated, to actually be slightly interested. Certainly not attracted, as she didn\'t know his face and wouldn\'t have been any more so had she known it, but there was a definite interest there which made Severus unable to resist the urge to tease her ever so slightly...



The last thing, and perhaps the most disturbing one, about this girl, was that Severus didn\'t feel uncomfortable in her presence. She was a whore, and as such she should have made him feel at unease.



But she didn\'t.



Which was stranger still, and Severus couldn\'t help but decide to get the wanted information from her in a different way than he\'d originally planned.



He followed her up several flights of stairs, higher in fact than he at first would have believed the building to be, until at last they reached the top floor, which consisted of a short corridor with only four doors.



Mira led him through the first one on the left, closing the door carefully behind her.



Severus dared a look around. It was a very nice room – clearly he\'d just nailed the one of the most luxurious girls Barrette could offer. Convenient, that, seeing as how only a day or so before she would have cost him practically nothing, whereas now he had to pay up a whole sack of Galleons just for a bit of information.



That was just typical, really.



\"So,\" said Mira then, interrupting his thoughts. \"What did you have in mind?\"



She kept a fair distance, lingering by the bed, as if awaiting his instructions. Severus couldn\'t blame her, really – he must have looked rather intimidating, face hidden and clad in completely black robes.



\"Well,\" said Severus, carefully planning his tactics, \"firstly, I suggest you put out the light.\"



\"W-why?\" she blurted.



\"Because, as you may have realized by now, there is a reason as to why I have yet to reveal my face to you, Miss Gideon.\"



\"I won\'t tell on you,\" she smirked.



He couldn\'t help but smirking back - she couldn\'t see it, so no harm done anyway.



\"Nevertheless,\" he said silkily, \"I set the demands here, don\'t I?\"



\"Of course, Sir,\" she said at once, reaching inside her robes for a wand which she flicked, whispering, \"Nox\". The lights went out, leaving them in nothing but the silvery moonlight from outside the window, which was dancing lightly across the lower half of the bed.



For a small second, Severus almost felt he\'d seen that wand of hers somewhere before... But he quickly discarded the thought. How could he possibly have? Besides, wands looked very similar, the chances of actually recognizing one that wasn\'t your own were very remote.



\"So what happens now?\" whispered Mira from somewhere in the shadows. She clearly couldn\'t hide the slight nervousness that had overtaken her.



\"I give you a few instructions,\" said Severus coolly, slowly removing his hood and travelling cloak now, \"and you follow them.\"



He thought he heard a sharp intake of breath, and couldn\'t help but enjoying it.



\"Lie down on the bed,\" he instructed.



The sound of Mira Gideon moving to place herself on the bed was heard, and soon he could see her legs glide into view in the moonlight. The rest of her was hidden in shadow higher up on the bed.



\"Now,\" said Severus, approaching the bed from the right hand side, making sure he remained in the shadows himself, \"this is quite simple, Miss Gideon. All I ask is that you remain on that bed, and do as you are told. It will be I who will be doing the most,\" he added as an afterthought.



Another intake of breath. He smirked.



In truth, he\'d promised his fellow rebels not to do anything immoral to the girl. But he was a man, still – despite what the world had made of him – and he couldn\'t help but wanting to enjoy the situation... just a little bit... they\'d never know... And he was under instructions to get whatever information he could obtain, so why not? If asked, he would explain that this had been the only way.



He\'d given up a nice sack of Galleons, and in return he now had a beautiful, young woman lying in a bed awaiting his nstructions. He didn\'t know her, so he felt no real guilt – she was just a whore – and she didn\'t even make him feel uncomfortable or unnerved, which was a miracle, really... Why not enjoy it?



All the arguments swept through his mind, and Severus easily convinced himself. But there was one thing he wouldn\'t do: He wasn\'t about to actually penetrate this woman. He wouldn\'t lower himself to that. Besides, he could still have his fun and obtain the wanted information... If there was one thing he had learned from years as a Death Eater, it was how to make a wanton woman talk.



\"Now,\" he said silkily, taking a seat on the shadowed half of the bed and pulling one of his legs up onto the mattress, \"I should like for you to close your eyes.\"



\"Why?\" muttered Mira.



\"Because I say so,\" he stated simply.



He heard her sigh in defeat. Then, slowly, he leaned close to her, his well adapted eyes seeing her frame clearly on the bed in spite of the darkness of the room, and lightly placed a hand at her jaw line, his fingers caressing her neck.



He heard her give a small gasp of surprise.



Watching her chest rise and fall in close-to-black greyscales, he leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on her lips, his mouth lingering there. Slowly, almost painfully slowly, he began to intensify the kiss, cupping her face with the one hand, licking at her lips and begging entrance. She opened her mouth without hesitation, and he let his tongue meet hers, explored her mouth, her taste...



Gods, it had really been a while, hadn\'t it?



He was brought back down to earth as she actually moaned – quickly he pulled away. She\'d really enjoyed his kiss, hadn\'t she...?



\"Now,\" he said slowly, moving his head to whisper at her ear, \"here are my rules... I ask you a question. Every time you answer it – truthfully – I will give you a token of my gratitude. Every time you pointedly refuse to answer, I will pull away. Do you understand?\"



\"Yes,\" she whispered.



He had nothing to rely on but his own confidence and abilities now. She was paid, so she\'d do whatever he asked of her – but he still needed her wanton enough to answer his questions. If he played his cards right, he would make her so desperate for his touch she\'d answer anything, dreading that if she didn\'t he would stop his ministrations...



This was something Severus had done before. He was confident he would be successful this time, too.



His left hand, which was still at her jaw line, slowly felt her skin down to her throat, his touches feathery light, making the small hairs on her skin stand up. His face remained by her ear, his breath just underneath her lobe.



She gasped again. Severus had to smirk... Well, he still had it in him, didn\'t he?



He kissed her then, beneath her ear, finding her most sensitive spots according to her breath\'s responses, while his left hand made its way across her throat, feeling her (incredibly, he admitted) soft skin down to the edge of her dress, gliding across the material down to her stomach, exploring her body through the outfit.



\"Mmm...\" she murmured; almost, it seemed, to her own surprise.



\"To your liking then, I assume?\" he whispered into her ear, biting her earlobe gently.



\"Mmm...\" she confirmed, clearly not daring herself to speak.



\"Good.\"



He captured her lips, this time demanding and possessively, leaving her breathless and panting as he pulled away to kiss along her jaw line and onto her shoulder, occasionally licking, sometimes letting his teeth graze across her skin.



Both his hands moved to her breasts, taking in their shape and size, rubbing gently at her nipples through the dress, which received an eager moan from Mira.



\"Brilliant...\" he heard her whisper breathlessly.



He smirked in the darkness. She hadn\'t even seen his face, yet she gave herself to him so willingly... Okay, so she was a prostitute and was paid to do this, but Severus couldn\'t help but feeling there really was something more here – surely she didn\'t respond this eagerly to all her clients?



The moans and the writhing seemed – well – sincere. She wasn\'t just faking it for the benefit of her clients, she was really enjoying herself, which told Severus two things:



One, he hadn\'t lost his touch.



And two – a woman actually enjoyed it.



It was definitely the latter that made him restrain himself not to abandon the promise of treating her with a small amount of respect. The thought of being inside this woman, this incredibly beautiful, young girl who moaned with want...



No.



He forced the thoughts away firmly, focusing on the task at hand. He wasn\'t there to bring the dead parts of himself back to life; he was there to gain information.



Abruptly, he pulled away from her, both mouth and hands, leaving her rather cold and abandoned on the bed. He sat up straight on the bed, observing what little he could see of her in the darkness.



She gave a sound of disappointment as he pulled away, but quickly restrained herself. Apparently the idea that the client was all in charge was rather strong in her mind – if he pulled away, she clearly wasn\'t to object.



But as the moments ticked by in silence, she started squirming slightly on the bed. Severus smirked. He wasn\'t about to do a thing now until she spoke. This was all part of his plan.



\"Er...\" Ah, she started talking. \"Mr. – er – Mr. Granger?\"



\"Yes?\" he said easily, smirking.



She sat up on the bed, her face turned in his general direction, although she couldn\'t really see him. \"Is there... anything wrong?\"



\"Nothing at all,\" he replied. \"Are you ready to answer your first question?\"



\"Oh – yes,\" she said; he thought he could almost make out a faint smile. \"Yes, go ahead and ask...\"



Severus thought for a moment. He couldn\'t start off by asking about Malfoy or the Death Eaters – she wasn\'t ready to answer to that yet. He had to start off easy.



\"What sort of – ah – clients do you usually get, Miss Gideon?\"



\"Oh, that varies,\" she said simply. \"From night to night.\"



Severus gave a small smile, his hand reaching up to stroke her hair.



\"Now that wasn\'t a very satisfying answer, was it?\"



She gave a small laugh. \"Sorry, I – sorry.\" She paused for a moment, as though considering the question. \"Well, I only accept clients who can pay a certain price... Barrette\'s system, you see.\"



He smirked at that. Class separation, was it?



\"But I get approached by all sorts of types... Some of them don\'t know how things work here, so they tend to just go up to a girl and, well, you know... But those who know the system usually approach a girl they know they can afford.\"



\"So in other words, you only bring the wealthiest up to this little room of yours, then?\"



She nodded; her head\'s movements just visible against the faint moonlight from outside.



\"Yes.\"



Severus gave a slight sigh.



\"Well,\" he said silkily, \"I would say that answer was more than satisfactory. I take it you understand what I want when I ask a question now, then?\"



\"Yes,\" she replied, anticipation poorly hidden in her voice.



His hand, which was still in her hair, pulled her close to him, his mouth almost touching hers as he whispered, \"Let me show you how I give thanks to a satisfying answer.\"



He kissed her again, eagerly and passionately, one hand playing at her neck while the other caressed her hip. He leaned her back down on the bed and continued his actions, knowing he was just as pleased as she was with the night\'s proceedings...





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A/N: Thanks so much to my beta JessiokaFroka and of course, all my reviewers! :)



Now, I know you all probably hate me for ending it here - if this isn\'t a cliffhanger, then what is? - but don\'t worry, the scene will continue in the next chapter! I had to devide it in two for several reasons (time, frequently updates, etc.), but I promise you\'ll get the rest of it soon! Hopefully the wait won\'t be too painful... :)