In The Arms of an Angel

Warning: While there is not torture, there is some description of its after effects while being healed (see, I'm throwing you a bone here; now you know that they get better).

Chapter 9 Threats and Truths

When they arrived back in Hermione's living room, she stalked into the library, barely even giving Draco a side-long glance. At Draco's hurt and curious look, Remus explained what had happened at the meeting and the repercussions to Hermione and Draco.

After Remus left, Draco found his way into the library to see how Hermione was doing. She was sitting at a table with a piece of parchment off to the side and scribbling furiously into a muggle notebook. She didn't notice his arrival and jumped in her seat when he leaned over and wrapped his arms around her, his chin resting on her shoulder. "It'll be okay, cutie," he whispered in her ear.

"It had better be," she answered. "I just keep wondering if I should call Harry and Ron back. I mean, I know that the search they're on will turn out fruitless, I was just hoping to have the solution by the time they came back. But if Voldemort is going to go to such extremes ..." she let the sentence die off.

"So, what are you working on?" he asked, trying to take her mind away from the route it was going, ignorant to the fact that the two things were intricately entwined.

"I'm trying to create a counter-spell to this incantation," she responded, indicating to the piece of parchment.

"Would you like any help?"

She looked at him appraisingly. "How about tomorrow?" she sighed. "I don't really want to be up all night, and a good sleep will probably help."

"No problem," he responded, pulling her up from her chair. The two of them sat comfortably together, watching the television for a short while before they went to bed, snuggled in each others arms.

They woke up suddenly at four in the morning to a small commotion in the living room. Hermione flew out of bed, not noticing that she was only wearing a pair of lowrise boyshort-style knickers and a tank top, grabbing her wand off her nightstand on the way. When she landed at the bottom of the stairs, having jumped down them three at a time while somehow miraculously keeping her balance, she found an unconscious Severus Snape, clothed head to toe in Death Eater garb.

"Draco!" she called out as she conjured a stretcher and levitated the man onto it. Draco arrived at the bottom of the stairs, having had the presence of mind to put on a t-shirt so as to not only be clad in his boxers, as well as grabbing a longer shirt for Hermione, seeing that she didn't own any house robes.

"Holy shit," he muttered under his breath at the sight of his godfather. It wasn't possible to see much of him at the moment, but the blood seeping through the black robes was unmistakable.

Hermione levitated the stretcher into the makeshift infirmary and onto one of the beds. Using a cutting spell, she gingerly peeled the robes off the unconscious man until he was in naught but his blood-soaked boxer briefs. Draco was at first a bit put off at Hermione's ease to undress the man, but then he realized that to her, it was more clinical and out of necessity than anything else.

He felt helpless, as though there was nothing he could do. Hermione seemed to pick up on the emotion, though it may have just been good timing, when she asked him to collect some potions for her from the shelves on the wall.

With Severus' clothes off, she could see that he was not as badly hurt as she had at first anticipated. While he had more than a couple bruises, most cuts were shallow and had already stopped bleeding. There was only one gash that looked deep and needed immediate attending. After a couple more diagnostic charms, she came to the conclusion that he neither had any broken bones nor internal bleeding. When Draco arrived with the potions, she pulled out a violent purple one, dropping five drops into the wound, where they started to sizzle and caused Severus to moan in his unconscious state.

"What the hell was that?" Draco asked.

"A very strong antiseptic," was her response as she used her wand to slowly knit the skin together. Some of the skin had come apart, and so the remaining skin had to stretch, leaving an angry looking scar that Hermione did not hold much hope of getting better, but she applied the salve to try and diminish it nevertheless.

Once the worst was finished, she used a minor antiseptic to clean the small cuts and abrasions before healing them right up, most leaving no trace. After finishing up on him, she levitated him into the guest bedroom that was usually used by Ron, where she placed him under the covers.

A minute later, she was joined by Draco, who had filled a pitcher with ice water and brought it up with a cup for Severus. She pointed her wand at the man. "Enervate."

He groaned back to life, accepting the pain potion she held out to him. Taking a minute to regain his sense of being, he also accepted the water that was offered to him before he made eye contact with the two worried young adults in the room.

"Are you okay, Severus?" asked Hermione softly.

He snorted, leaving no doubt that he even if he wasn't great; he was most certainly going to live. "As well as can be expected," he responded.

"What happened?" she asked tentatively. Draco was still standing stock-still at the edge of the bed, in shock of seeing the man he had so admired brought down so low by the side he had grown up to be a part of, a side that believed the man in front of him to belong to.

"I was punished," he spat out, "because of my continuous reports that the Order does not know where Potter is."

"Did you tell them that he was back for the past week?"

"Yes, but the Dark Lord was not too pleased to learn that Potter had gone out again. I don't know what you three are up to, but I think he is starting to become suspicious."

Hermione stood up abruptly, the longer shirt, being the one that Draco had been wearing that day, landing at her mid thigh and catching the eye of both men in the room. "That's it, I'm calling them back. They are just in too much unnecessary danger out there." With that, she pulled out her wand and placed it to her neck. After a short incantation, it glowed red and she started her walk down the hallway to the living room, where she arrived just as Harry and Ron both apparated in.

"Hermione, are you okay?" they asked, their voices feverish with worry as Harry took a hold of her shoulders and held her out, looking her over to find anything wrong.

"Yes, I'm fine," she told them, spinning in a circle as if to prove her statement's validity. "But, Severus arrived a little over an hour ago. He was pretty badly beaten for not having any information on your whereabouts, and he said that he thinks that Voldemort is beginning to suspect something."

"That's nice, Hermione, he can suspect all he wants, but until we find the last horcrux, there's nothing we can do but keep our guards up."

"Yeah, we need to talk about that. But first, have you two heard about the attack this morning?" In response she received two confused heads shaking back and forth.

She then took Harry's hand and led the two to sit on the couch while she sat in a chair, her hand still entwined with that of her former lover. If Ron was beginning to get suspicious at the ease with which Harry held their friend's hand, all thoughts were dashed as she explained to them everything that had been said at the Order meeting the previous night. When she was done speaking, Harry practically had a vice grip on her hand as he leaned back into the couch.

A single tear found its way down his cheek, landing on his shirt. "They treated me horribly and I never liked then, but they didn't deserve that fate. No one does. Hermione, promise me that you won't go anywhere and make yourself a target, even under glamours," he pleaded.

"Harry, that's already been decided," she said petulantly.

"Hermione-" started Ron before he was interrupted by Hermione herself.

"Ron, I'm not even allowed to go to Order meetings," she told him plaintively, though it came out close to a whine. The two of them bickered for a couple minutes, following that same vein before noticing that Harry had slumped even further into the couch, his eyes closed.

Glancing over to their friend, "Well, I guess we should go to bed and then go out again after we wake up," commented Ron.

"Um, about that ..." started Hermione. "You don't have to go back out, actually, but I'll explain it all when we're all awake. Severus is in your room, Ron, so if you want, I can transfigure another bed into Harry's room."

"What about Malfoy?" came Harry's voice, exhausted both physically and emotionally, his eyes not opening.

"Um ... he's ... er ... staying in ... my room," she stuttered out, stumbling over her words, which caused Harry's grip, which had loosed substantially, to once again become death-like.

"Hermione, how could you? With the ferret!" exploded Ron.

"Ron, please don't overreact," she pleaded, "He's a good guy, if you would just get to know him."

Ron snorted, and was about to say something else when Harry's hand was raised in the air and he stopped. "Ron - let it go. Hermione - we'll talk tomorrow." Harry then dropped both of his hands to his side as he stood up, heading towards the staircase.

After transfiguring a chair into a bed for Ron, she headed to her own room, where she was immediately enveloped in Draco's arms. "So, I heard some yelling," he prompted.

"Yeah, I sort of had to tell them about us, because of the sleeping arrangements."

"How did Potter take the news? I only heard Weasley."

"He wants to talk tomorrow."

"Can I be there?" he asked, nuzzling her neck.

"No, you - ah!" she gasped as he started to suck on her collarbone; if he couldn't be with her, he would be sure to leave his mark. "Draco, it's half six in the morning, let's just go back to bed," she suggested when he pulled his shirt off her, leaving her once again in her tank top and knickers.

"Are you sure, cutie?" he whispered into her ear, his hot breath tickling the tendrils of hair that were falling from her ponytail. He slid his fingers under the top of her knickers, lightly running them along the skin under the band. When she whimpered from his touch, the fingers on one hand found their way even lower, dipping into her pussy that was starting to moisten.

"Yesss," she moaned softly, keeping her company in mind.

"Yes, you're sure, or yes, keep going," he smirked into her collarbone, which he was still working on. Before she had a chance to answer, he plunged two fingers all the way into her soft body.

She grabbed a hold of his arms, digging in her nails through his t-shirt. "Oh, fuck," she breathed in distress.

"If you want, I'm willing to oblige," he teased, arching his hips into her, effectively pressing his erection against her.

"Oh fuck it all," she said in a husky voice before silencing the room and putting down her wand. While she was doing that, he had pulled his shirt off, leaving him in just his tented boxers.

"You're wearing far too much clothing," he whispered into her ear from behind, slipping his hands under her shirt, slowly moving them up her sides, rubbing the sides of her breasts, and pulling the shirt off over her outstretched arms. When she started giggling, he leaned forward into her neck. "What's so funny?" he asked, licking the soft flesh under her earlobe before sucking it into his mouth.

"I was just reminded of a movie," she responded with a moan.

"Which movie?"

"Dirty Dancing."

"I could dance dirty with you," he told her, grabbing her waist with both of his hands and pulling her even closer.

"I can think of some other things that interest me more," she gasped as he reached down and moved her knickers to the side, his thumb strumming her clit, three fingers pumping into her.

"Such as ..."

She leaned back against his chest for support, and he started grinding his erection into her ass through their undergarments. "Such as.... aaangh.... your cock ramming into me until I can't see straieeee," she ended in a closed-mouthed scream as his empty hand started pinching her nipples in turn, in addition to the assault on her pussy. She could no longer form coherent sentences, and instead started to buck on Draco's hand, quickly finding her orgasm.

She slumped back against him, and he carried her over to the bed, where he took off her soaked knickers before removing his own boxers, damp with precum.

When he crawled above her, she took the first opportunity to wrap her hands around his cock, double fisting him as she pumped him rythmatically, causing him to be the one to moan now. "Cutie, if you keep this up, I won't be able to fuck you into oblivion."

"Well in that case," she responded breathlessly as she let go with one of her hands, using the other to guide him into her. Once his head was in her, he rammed all the way into her with one push. She screamed out in ecstasy, thankful for the silencing charm.

He looked down into her face to make sure she was okay only to find her head thrown back into the pillow, her eyes closed and her mouth slightly open, breathy moans escaping from it. He leaned down, his tongue entering her mouth as he pulled out and slammed back into her. She pulled out of the kiss, afraid of biting his tongue as she vocalized the pleasure his body was inflicting upon hers.

They came within a minute of each other, Draco finishing with a few more deep thrusts, his hands clamping her already bruised hipbones. They both fell asleep, exhausted, exactly as they were.

When Hermione woke up again, she found herself trapped between the mattress and the dead weight of a sleeping Draco on top of her, his half hard cock still sheathed inside her. Glancing over to her clock, she saw that it was almost one in the afternoon. Wanting to get up and take a shower, she started to squirm beneath him. She could feel him harden all the way within her the more she moved and figured, what the hell, it was already relatively late, it wouldn't hurt anyone to take a little longer to get up.

Summoning her strength, she flipped them over, surprised that he stayed asleep. She then leaned forward and put her weight on her hands, which were on the bed to either side of his arms and started to ride him in earnest. Draco started moaning in his sleep, thinking that he was having a great dream. He slowly started to wake up, opening his eyes to see his girlfriend, a Plain Jane Goddess, bouncing on his cock, stimulating her clit with her hand, the index finger of her other hand being sucked in and out of her mouth.

Practically upon sight, he came hard, shooting his seed up into her womb. Once she felt the heat of his release, she also came, crying out his name, not realizing that the silencing charms had long since fallen.

Another half hour passed, in which the two quickly showered, Hermione insisting that they shower separately. She left the room while he was still in the shower, dressed and ready for the day, moving down the hallway to check and see if Severus was still in his room. When she found that he wasn't, she continued down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she found the other three men that were in her house.

Upon her entrance into the room, all eyes moved to her. While Severus' face remained stoic as he glanced at her before going back to reading the Daily Prophet, Ron's and Harry's were full of emotions that while she could place, she didn't know why they were there. Ron looked at her with slight disgust and less respect than in the past, while Harry looked sad and dejected.

Her brain whirled, trying to understand why she was receiving these looks, and it clicked that she had forgotten the silencing charms that morning. Directly afterward, another thought hit her like a ton of bricks that were on the run from a freight train – she had now had sex with Draco four times, and only once had they remembered the contraceptive charm, while she had remembered every time with Harry.

She tried to hide how upset she was at this, but only succeeded a slight amount. Luckily for her, though, everyone else in the room thought it was solely because of her first realization. "Um, sorry?" she said, leaning her head back beyond the back of the chair she had sat down upon.

She was ignored as she stood up and pulled a box of cereal out of the cabinet, preparing her breakfast, not in the mood to cook anything substantial, never mind anything that resembled an actual meal. By the time she had finished eating, neither Harry nor Ron had spoken to her, though she had gotten a rather nasty look from Ron when Draco came into the room and kissed her as he passed by her chair.

"Oh, come on, you two!" she exclaimed when she was still being ignored after she had cleaned out her dish.

Harry stood up and looked at her, his face eerily blank. "We need to talk now," he said. Hermione nodded her head towards him, unconsciously chewing on the bottom of her lip. She moved towards the raven haired man, but froze when Ron got up to follow them. "Ron, mate, I need to talk to Hermione alone for a minute." The red head looked put out, but nodded his agreement and sat back down with a sigh, glaring daggers at Draco.

Harry led her into the library and sat on one end of the couch, his head resting in his hands. She sat on the far side of the couch, one leg on the floor, the other bent in front of her on the cushion, facing Harry, waiting for him to talk first.

When he finally did, never looking up at her, it took all of her effort not to go over to him and put her arm around him. "Why Malfoy? Why him over me?" he asked. Harry could see her twitch out of the corner of his eye, and he was grateful that she fought her urge to comfort him; he wasn't sure if he would be able to turn her away but he didn't really want her touching him right now.

"It's not like that, Harry. It's not him over you or you over him," she sighed. Leaning back against the armrest, her head lolling over the edge, looking up to the ceiling, she continued, "I love you, Harry. I love you as more than a friend, but not really that romantic love that would keep us together as a couple."

"Don't even try and tell me you feel that for him," he interrupted, spitting out the last word like it were venom and looking to her for the first time since they had entered the room.

"No, I don't. But I think I could. But, Harry, you have to understand, all the reasons that I stopped things with you still apply. And even after Voldemort is finally killed and we're all free to do what we like, I just don't see myself with you," she told him, a tear slipping down her face.

"But, Hermione, I do love you like that," he said, a strained expression on his face.

"I was hoping you didn't," she whispered. "Harry, he's changed. I'm not going to try and get you to like him, because you never will-"

"Damn straight," he interrupted.

"-but I hope that in time you'll accept him as my boyfriend," she continued, ignoring the bitter comment.

"But why, is it because you can be out with him, or is it because he's a link to your parents?"

"Harry, that's not fair. Though, I do suppose they both factor in, but neither are that big of factors. He's good to me. He's good for me. I just like being around him. Harry, he makes me feel safe, and that's something I really need right now."

"And I don't? Make you feel safe?" he asked with his head back in his hands.

"Harry, don't be that way. It's a different kind of safe, and I can't describe it to you, even if I wanted to."

"So there's nothing I can do to change your mind?"

"Nothing," she answered, more tears falling silently from her eyes.

"Then we should get back to Ron," he said, his voice sad.

"Are we still friends?" she asked worriedly.

He nodded his head once. "Yes, but it will never be the same," he told her as he stood up. She nodded her head forlornly as she, too, stood up, fighting every base instinct to try and comfort her best friend. When they reentered the kitchen, it was to find Ron, his face the deepest shade of red they had ever seen. They glanced at each other, both afraid for what was to come.


** So, as per usual, thanks go out to the beat, heather. wow. i tell you what, wow. if i knew that all i had to do to get reviews was ask, i may have done it sooner, lol. but seriously, though, thanks to everyone who reviewed...paigeey07, sheedy, linmo, avanell (x2 -- if you liked that, i think that you will greatly enjoy a pensieve scene that comes in one of these, chapters... i forget which, though), pickels87 (do you listen to mugglecast?), crescentmoon, and angelkitty(no prob, i usually dont notice patterns unless theyre obvious either).