Unforgettable

Chapter Four –

Lost in thought, Hermione walked along the cobblestone pavement of Diagon Alley. Her dreams over the past few weeks had bordered on pornographic, most of them revolving around a dark-haired stranger and their mad, headlong rush of heated lust. She really did need to acquire a lover, she thought wistfully.

Thankfully it was Saturday and she didn’t have to work. She’d gotten to lie in and take care of the ache that resulted from the dreams. Weaving her way between the morning rush of witches and wizards, and clutching the books she hoped to trade in, Hermione stumbled.

A firm hand grasped her upper arm and stopped her from falling.

“All right, Hermione?” Harry asked amusedly, laughter in his bright green eyes.

“Harry!” she replied excitedly. “How long has it been? A few weeks?”

“You must be on your way to Flourish and Blotts,” he stated, ignoring the teasing sarcasm in her voice. “You always tend to be a bit dreamy when you’re thinking about books.”

Hermione blushed. If he only knew what she was really thinking about. “Guilty as charged. Are you going to arrest me and take me in front of the Wizengamot personally?” With magical bindings and whips, she wanted to add.

“That would make Rita Skeeter’s day, wouldn’t it?” Harry chuckled mirthlessly, the laughter leaving his eyes. “For me to arrest one of my best friends?”

Slipping her arm through his, Hermione smiled in sympathy. “So how is work?”

“Ever since the Collins incident, they’ve got me shuffling paperwork,” Harry muttered. “Tonks swears it’s just temporary, but I’m seriously considering a career change.”

She could hear the hurt in his voice. He’d always wanted to be an Auror. Unfortunately, his celebrity status prevented him from performing his job. Although she didn’t doubt his skills, it was as though Harry was finally realizing that the Ministry hired him because of who he was.

“Maybe you should try politics,” Hermione said teasingly.

Harry gave her a look that told her to stop joking around.

“Oh, right. Sorry,” she murmured.

He ran a hand through his dark, unruly hair in frustration. “I was thinking of transferring, but…”

Staring at his hair, Hermione blushed. Dark hair. Hmm. Absolutely not! She couldn’t have bedded Harry. Certainly she’d have more sense than that. “Where would you transfer to?” she asked, stopping in the middle of the lane, oblivious to the witches and wizards brushing past them.

“No where,” he grumbled. “I could never leave…her.”

Harry kicked the toe of his boot into the bricks. Something was definitely bothering him. Casting a Disillusionment Charm around them, Hermione pulled him into the nearest alley. “Who?”

“Ginny, of course,” Harry blurted out. “She drives me barmy, Hermione! The night of the ball, we…er…we kind of got back together, if you know what I mean. We woke up the next morning and she started shouting her head off about big mistakes and not playing the fiddle.”

Hermione put her hand over her mouth to keep from giggling. Even though she and Harry had both been raised by Muggles, Harry seemed to enjoy forgetting that fact. No one would blame him. “I think that’s playing second fiddle. Was Luna upset when you left her at the ball?”

“Are you nuts? She and Ron went after one another like they…well…like me and Ginny.” Harry’s blush crept into his cheeks. “Trust me. Luna did not miss me.”

Hermione nibbled her bottom lip and frowned. Luna was fickle but she doubted Luna was fickle enough to forgive Ron’s womanizing ways.

“To make matters worse,” Harry continued, “Ginny won’t answer the Floo.”

Giving a long-suffering sigh, she realized the conversation was going to take longer than a casual one and was getting ready to take off the Disillusionment Charm when she happened to look down the alleyway.

A familiar black wavy robe caught her eye and her stomach gave that all-too-common lurch on the rare occasions she found herself faced with Severus Snape. The lurch was more like a tug and she momentarily forgot Harry was standing next to her and bemoaning his misfortunes in love. Hermione swallowed reflexively as Snape stopped mid-stride and peered down the alleyway.

Her breath hitched in her throat for it seemed as though he was staring right at her. Get a grip on the schoolgirl crush, Granger!

Her eyes darted to Harry and she nodded her head as if she were listening to every droning word he was whining on with. Lonely? Ha! You don’t even have a clue, Harry Potter, she mused quietly. She hadn’t had a good shag since the Leaving Ceremony, and even that was debatable. After all, it was with Ron. Hermione looked down the alley and her shoulders slumped in disappointment.

Snape was gone.

“Why don’t we go to the Leaky Cauldron for a butterbeer?” she offered quickly. Perhaps an Ogden\'s Old Firewhisky for Harry.

--

It was futile and he knew it. Severus could have spent the last few weeks picking through the minds of blast-ended skrewts, rather than the Weasley twins. Undoubtedly skrewts were more intelligent than those imbeciles were. They had obviously cheated in his class. How they had made passing marks in his class was truly a mystery. There was no fathomable way they could have passed without cheating. While he was delving into their minds, he would need to find out how they had cheated. But he had other things he needed to take care of first.

Weeks wasted! He was no closer to formulating an antidote for the Weasleys’ experiment then he was finding a cure for lycanthropy.

Standing outside Gringotts, Severus paced. It would take decades to find out the exact formulas those two dunderheads had combined by using Legilimency. Hopefully the potion would wear off soon and he could forgo feeling the urge to strip himself and Miss Granger bare and copulate with her like some wild animal in heat. In the meantime, he would settle for just being near her.

But how to be near her without arousing her ever-questioning curiosity? A scheme. A practical scheme for a practical witch.

Severus had soon found a way to be in need of her professional services. After all, he’d cursed the locket himself. He’d spent the entire morning heaping curses on the locket so that it would take her some time to undo them all.

The plan was simple. He’d retain her services as a curse-breaker and feed her some absurd story that the locket was very dear to him and he couldn’t possibly let it out of his sight. He\'d say it was a family heirloom. She needn’t know he’d just bought the stupid trinket from a Muggle jeweler.

Pocketing the locket, Severus strode into Gringotts and got in line. He tapped his foot impatiently, wanting nothing more than to bypass the goblins to get to her. It never failed. Saturday was always a big day at the bank. If he owned a watch, he would have pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at it. His impatience grew as the drive to be with Hermione gnawed at him.

The plan was flawless. He’d get her alone and woo her.

“Woo her?” he scoffed softly, earning an odd look from an elderly witch in front of him. He gave the witch his trademark scowl as she continued to glare at him. “I’d rather seduce her,” he purred.

The old witch turned around with a “humpf.” Seeing a waiting goblin, she hurried to the next window.

“Next!” a goblin shouted from the end of the row.

Once Severus stood before the Gringotts’ employee, he pulled several precious stones out of his pocket and placed them on the counter. “I need to make a deposit,” he stated.

The goblin started inspecting the stones with greedy interest.

“And I would like to speak with Miss Hermione Granger,” Severus stated simply, as if it were a passing thought and not at all important.

“About what?” the goblin asked over his long, pointed nose.

“I wish to retain her services.” He set the locket on the counter and looked pointedly at the banker. “I need the curses lifted off this locket so that I may present it to my…intended. Naturally I would pay the commission fee and a generous resolution fee once she removed the curses from this delicate heirloom.”

The goblin scraped his fingers over the unassuming jewelry. “Leave it here. We’ll send word once the curses have been broken.”

Darting his hand out, Severus snatched the locket away from the goblin. “I’m afraid I can not let this out of my sight. It…means too much to me,” he lied.

“I could get our senior curse-breaker to look at it for you and give you an estimate.” The goblin reached for the object.

Severus pocketed the necklace. “I would prefer if Miss Granger looked at it.”

“She’s unavailable.”

“I must insist on seeing her,” Severus murmured softly, his obsidian eyes glaring into the goblin’s beady ones. “Miss Granger is an ex-student and I would prefer if only she handled it. I…trust her abilities.”

The goblin seemingly became disinterested in the conversation for he looked over Severus’ shoulder and peered at the line that was becoming longer. “Miss Granger isn’t here.”

Severus slammed his fist down on the counter. “Then why didn’t you just tell me that to begin with?” he growled.

\"You didn\'t ask if she was here,\" the goblin said, shooing Severus away. \"Next!\"

--

Severus stormed out of Gringotts and made his way toward the Leaky Cauldron. He was furious and frustrated. Why had he Obliviated her? Why had he eased her of the persistent ache that strummed through his every thought? Her! It was all he was able to think about. Even his plan for revenge on the Weasley twins was secondary now.

Revenge was too good for them. Killing them would be easier, although less satisfying. He needed to compose himself before he arrived at Hermione’s flat. It wasn’t as though he could use the Imperius Curse on her and have his way with her. He needed her willing. He wanted her willing. He wanted her writhing beneath him, calling out his name as he brought her orgasm after crushing orgasm.

“Bloody hell!” he muttered under his breath, thankful for his robe. He could feel his desire stir for the clueless witch, a desire he knew she was fully capable of reciprocating. So he kept on walking and soon found himself entering the back door to the Leaky Cauldron.

Severus paid little attention to the patrons in the smoky tavern as he made his way toward the front door. But a soft feminine laugh caught his attention and he stopped in mid-stride. Hermione!

She chuckled again, this time her laughter accompanied by male laughter. His Hermione! Severus clenched and unclenched his fist and reached for his wand. He was going to hex the bollocks off the wizard who was with her.

--

Hermione laughed at Harry’s joke and ignored the flutter of nerves in her stomach. Thankfully her friend had opted for the gentlemanly route and not gone into any further detail about the ball’s events. But that didn’t exclude him from discussing Ron and Luna’s adventure.

“They didn’t even have the common sense to erect a Disillusionment Charm,” Harry stated jovially. “There they were on the dancing floor, snogging like two wild teenagers. The Minister kept clearing his throat rather loudly. McGonagall looked as though she was going to be ill. Finally, Dumbledore conjured the charm and no one could see them. But everybody knew they were still there. So, nobody would go near that part of the dance floor.”

“Please stop,” Hermione gasped, almost doubled over with laughter. She grabbed Harry’s forearm in a silent plea for him to stop. A dark shadow loomed over them. With a startled gasp, Hermione pulled her hand away and looked up.

Snape stood there, arms crossed over his chest, his trademark scowl firmly in place. Feeling as though she’d been caught not paying attention in class, or worse, cheating, Hermione scooted her seat away from Harry.

“Hello, Professor Snape,” Harry stated slowly, a note of curiosity in his inflection.

“Potter,” Severus growled in reply.

Heat suffused her cheeks and nether regions, mockingly reminding her that her lusty school girl crush was still unyieldingly in force. Merlins Beard! Why couldn’t she feel this way about somebody else? Why did it have to be him?

Counseling! She needed counseling. How was it that the mere sight of him could still elicit such a response?

“Miss Granger,” Severus said her name with a sensual severity that immediately brought visions of his classroom and the multitude of desks that could be wiped clean of cauldrons and potion ingredients. Only in her wickedest dreams did she envision him shagging her on said desks in every imaginable way possible.

“Yes,” she whispered shakily, clutching her mug of butterbeer tightly.

“I need to speak with you,” Severus announced forcefully. “Alone.”

His tone was barely civil and her temper flared. “As you can see, I am not alone. If you wish to speak with me you will need to owl me to arrange a meeting. I am no longer your student.”

Holding her breath, she stared down at her butterbeer and wished her former Potions Master would disappear. This was humiliating. Harry wasn’t stupid. He would guess how she felt about Snape as soon as the giant bat went away and never let her hear the end of it.

His sleeve brushed her shoulder as he reached between her and Harry, and she jumped. She glanced at his well-manicured hands, and a vivid mental image of sucking on those fingers suddenly popped into her mind. The imagined sound of his low groan almost made her moan out loud. Merlin, he smelled great!

He withdrew his hand slowly, leaving in its wake a small golden locket. “Do not put this around your neck, Miss Granger, for surely it will strangle you before you can utter a spell of protection.”

Harry cleared his throat. “Would you two like to be alone?” he asked in a teasing fashion.

“Yes!” Severus barked.

“No,” Hermione shouted over her ex-professor’s declaration.

“The locket is cursed,” Severus explained. “I find myself in need of your services so that I may award…my…lover with this token.”

His lover! Jealousy stirred within her and she pushed the locket away. “I’m under contract with Gringotts. You’ll need to speak to Eglerns. He’s in charge of the curse breaking department and he can make sure you’re matched with the proper curse-breaker.”

Severus sighed. “This locket is a family heirloom and very dear to me. I could not suffer the absence of it for long. Therefore, I would require the work be done as quickly as possible, but under my close supervision. I will, of course, pay double the contractual fees, if you agree to work on this in your spare time.”

Still seething with jealousy, Hermione opened her mouth to refuse. Even bringing in double fees didn’t appeal to her. “Any curse-breaker at Gringotts would be more than happy to assist you,” she stated, except me.

“I do not want any curse-breaker,” Severus murmured, his voice silky. “I want you.”

Feeling her blush heighten, Hermione scoffed, “Really.”

“And I will pay ten thousand Galleons upon unlocking my treasure.”

Hermione gaped and Harry whistled.

His final fee would be half of her annual salary. It was a tempting carrot, indeed. “I –”

“I would need for you to start work on it immediately. Today, if possible,” Severus stated assuredly.

Feeling the lure of his offer lull her into submission, Hermione nibbled on her lower lip.

“Perhaps we could adjourn to your flat so that you could start working right away?”

Hermione picked the locket up and turned it over in her hand.

“You’d be a fool not to take the offer, ‘Mione,” Harry stated. “Don’t worry about me. I need to go see if I can get a hold of Ginny.”

Closing her hand over the necklace, Hermione scrapped her chair back and stood up. “I accept,” she uttered half-heartedly, and extended her hand out to her former nemesis hesitantly.

Severus grabbed her hand firmly in his. But instead of shaking it, he kissed it gently, letting his lips linger against her skin longer than necessary.

Feeling a shiver run up her arm, Hermione snatched her hand back and turn quickly on her heel. “Follow me.”

*****

A/N – Thanks to Kathy Rose for grammar and spelling checks and the Lexicon for canon. I’d also like to thank everybody who has reviewed. I’m a tad overwhelmed. I’ve answered as many as I could, but I wanted to get the next chapter up.