The Storm

A/N located at bottom, as usual.


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Chapter Nine


The four men sat at the dinner table and ate in silence. From the looks on Harry and Ron’s faces, it was clear that the younger wizards weren’t happy about their dinner company. Even Lucius didn’t look happy, as Severus sat about eating heartily, spreading butter on his dinner roll. Lucius watched his old friend with a look of disgust and derision, part of his disgust aimed at himself. He had never seen Severus eat like this and he knew it was for his benefit, that Severus was putting on a show as he licked his lips and ate like a dying man.

Lucius hated him for it.

Lucius stabbed his potatoes with his fork, lazily moving the white lumps around his plate. He had eaten all of his meat off his plate and then found he couldn’t bear to touch anymore of his food. He thought of Hermione lying upstairs, crying on the carpet, naked, cold, and alone while they sat down here and ate. He looked around the table and realized that Potter was the only one here who hadn’t slept with Hermione.

He closed his eyes.

That poor girl. It must be horrible to be in a house full of men that she had, at one point, been intimate with, for surely Harry and herself had a level of friendship that went deeper then being ‘just friends’, even if there were no sexual connotations to their relationship at all. There was a bond there that was intense and deeply felt.

“Not hungry, Lucius? Surely you’ve worked up an appetite during the day. I know that I have.” Severus took a bite of his food, thoroughly savoring the taste of his food before swallowing. “This is exquisite. Send my regards to your mother, Weasely. She does know how to cook.” Harry and Ron looked over at him with shocked expressions on their faces, surprise to hear a complement come from his mouth.

There was a sound at the kitchen door and then Hermione entered, stopping dead when she saw the four wizards sitting around the table. She blinked slowly, taking in the faces of the wizards. Harry and Ron had looks of happiness and fondness on their faces, though Ron admittedly looked at her differently then Harry did. He looked at her like an old lover would, which was exactly what he was. He looked at her as a man who had known her well and truly missed and longed for the time they had spent together.

She looked at Lucius and her heart almost melted before she remembered the way he had stood there. The pain, guilt, and anger were clear on his face. She could tell he was trying to hide his feelings but his eyes told the whole story. Her heart almost went out to him and then Severus made a low coughing noise in his throat, causing her to look at him.

He was watching her with hungry, predatory eyes. She searched to find some kind of remorse in those black wells that he called eyes only to find nothing. There was nothing in his gaze, until a small, possessively snide smile broke across his face. She swallowed, gathering up her courage before walking into the room and sitting in between Ron and Harry.

Harry watched the whole exchange of looks. He was even more certain then he was before that something was going on between Hermione and the two older wizards. He could feel the tension radiating off of her as she sat next to him, her posture unnaturally straight and her jaw clenched tightly.

“Hungry, Miss Granger? Mr. Weasely’s mother made us an exquisite dinner,” Severus looked pointedly at her, before attempting to pass her the dish of potatoes. When she didn’t reach out for it, he set it down in front of her. “It seems you haven’t worked up an appetite today. Maybe you should get some more exercise, you look a bit peaky.”

Lucius seethed with anger. He couldn’t say anything outright in front of the boys, because if they found out, there would surely be hell to pay. Or at least more problems then he was willing to deal with.

Hermione shot Severus a look filled with anger before reaching out for the platter of meat, helping herself to a medium portion of roast.

“I should have remembered how much you like meat. How unthoughtful of me.” Hermione dropped her fork on her plate and stared at him.

“I wasn’t aware that you were so interested in my eating habits, Professor,” she said through clenched teeth, the anger she felt threatening to boil over.

Harry and Ron looked from their friend to their professor with confused looks on their faces. For the most part, Ron was just confused by the conversation, but Harry was trying to figure out the double meaning behind the words they were using. Harry was now positive, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that something certainly was going on with his friend and the two older wizards. It was just too strange of a conversation for there not to be some double meaning behind the words.

“You would be surprised to find the things I’m interested in,” Hermione could feel her cheeks begin to flush at his words, his eyes filling with the kind of possessive look that men sometimes get, before he abruptly rose from the table and turned, leaving his plate behind him as he exited. Hermione let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and then stared down at her fork, which was barely resting on the lip of her plate.

“Miss Granger?”

Hermione looked up at Lucius. His eyes were filled with so much self-loathing that she almost couldn’t stand to look in them. She could see how truly sorry he was, not just for himself but also for his lover. She saw all this and she still couldn’t bring herself to forgive him. That wound was still too fresh, to new for her to be able to sew it up and be okay with it.

She shook her head once and then looked down at her plate. She looked over at her friends and smiled, with only Ron returning the smile.

“It’s good to have you back. Now maybe things will feel normal again.”

Harry’s brow creased when she said that. Lucius for his part sat completely still, worried that she would say something. Ron looked at her adoringly before clasping her hand.

“I know what you mean. Hopefully things can return to normal very soon again.” He gave her hand a squeeze and then sighed, looking her over. “It’s great to see you again.”

“I know Ron.” She gave him a small smile before tucking into her dinner, chewing thoroughly so as to cut off conversation. Harry looked at Lucius and was surprised to see him watching her. Harry watched Lucius watching Hermione with a concerned look on his face. Something had changed while they were away and it wasn’t good.

*

Lucius was pacing in his room. He couldn’t get the image of Hermione, broken and naked on his lover’s floor, out of his head. He longed to go to her, but feared he was imposing far too much on her. He wanted to hold her and tell her it was okay, but was concerned about her reaction. He desperately wanted there to be something he could do, but there didn’t seem to be anything he could do that would not be taken the wrong way.

Whenever he and Narcissa had fought, he always went out and bought her something pretty. Something that sparkled or was just expensive in general. Then, whatever it was he had done would instantly be forgotten about. Hermione didn’t seem to be that kind of girl and so he didn’t know what the correct action was.

He wished he didn’t care so much about what this girl thought of him.

There was just something about her large brown eyes that cut him to his core. Her long hair, with its tumultuous waves and curls which cried out for it to be stroked. Her body was like a siren’s call to any man passing, with its soft curves and prominent features. She truly was a beauty, a sight to behold, even if she did not believe it.

Severus walked into his lover’s room to find him pacing. The Professor knew from experience that whenever his lover was restless like this, he had many things on his mind, and he was certain that he knew just what that was.

“Did you not find lunch satisfying, Malfoy?” Lucius looked up to Severus entering his room, closing the door and locking it. He watched as his lover started to slink towards him, the anger building in the pit of his stomach. “I found it just to be the thing I needed after such an eventful afternoon. Then again, you weren’t exactly exerting yourself this afternoon, now were you?” Severus had now drawn even with Lucius, their faces mere inches apart, when Severus raised his hand to run his fingers down Lucius’ cheek. Lucius quickly sidestepped his lover and walked over to his door, where he unlocked and opened it.

“I’m not in the mood Severus,” with that, he inclined his head, locking eyes with the darker wizard. Severus held still for a moment before walking over to where Lucius was, wresting the door from his hand, and shutting it resolutely, before drawing his wand and firing off a locking spell.

“I don’t care if you are in the mood or not. “ Severus grabbed onto Lucius’ shirt front, pulling the older man into him. “Now, you will strip for me so I can fuck you the way I want; like I own you, which, need I remind you, that I do.”

Lucius forcefully pushed the other man off him, using the height and strength he had over Severus to his advantage. “No. I already told you. I am not interested, unless you plan on raping me like you did Hermione.”

The words slipped out before Lucius could stop them and both men stood there shocked as the words rang through the air. Then, slowly, Severus began to chuckle.

“Rape? I don’t know if you were there or not, Malfoy, but she wanted it. You saw how she was salivating for it. You saw her come on my cock. She wanted it, wanted me, so badly that she could hardly stand it.”

Before he knew it, Lucius’ fist was colliding with the bridge of Severus’ nose. The punch was so unexpected that it staggered Severus back a few feet, his hands clutching his nose. When he pulled away his hands to look at them, they were smeared with blood. He just stared at the red liquid on his skin and then slowly looked up to see Lucius standing there, an emotion stronger then anger flashing in his cold, icy eyes.

Severus had seen hatred in Lucius Malfoy’s eyes before, and it was a terrifying thing to see. He never thought, however, that that look would ever be turned on him.

His nose stung and he used to the back of his hand to wipe away some of the blood, snorting back the thick viscose liquid as it tried to drip down his face. He never would have imagined Lucius would result to dirty, Muggle tricks like actual, physical fistfights. He smirked as he shook the blood off his hand, the tiny drops splattering on the floor of Lucius’ room.

“How terribly Muggle of you. One would think that a wizard of your caliber won’t need such dirty tricks.”

Lucius narrowed his eyes at his lover, drawing his wand up in a blur of speed. Suddenly, Severus found himself immersed in Lucius’ memories. He was back in his room, watching himself pound viciously into Hermione. He saw, through the pale eyes of Lucius, the tears that were flowing from the young witch's eyes and the fear that they held. He could feel the anger building in Lucius at the treatment Hermione was receiving, but he also felt the stubbornness and pride the blond wizard had as well. He watched himself finish, and a wave of self disgust washed over him. Had he really done that to her? To this bright, young witch that he had been making love to mere seconds before?

And for what, because Lucius had bothered them, had entered upon them and seen him in such a loving embrace with someone?

He then watched himself get dressed and leave, watching as Lucius walked over to their fallen witch.

He watched the interaction between his two lovers and shivered. He never wanted to see that look of hate, and anger, on Hermione’s face ever again. He wanted to erase the visage of hurt that he had put there. He wanted to go find her right now and hold her in his arms and tell him that he cared for her, truly cared for her, and if she would just forgive him, everything would be okay.

He had never felt this before but he would give up anything, do or be anything, to erase that look of fear from her eyes.

He was pushed suddenly from Lucius’ mind and from his memories, stumbling backwards as the weight of reality came back to him. He had done that to her. He was the one that put that anger into her eyes.

“Dear Merlin, what have I done?” His voice came out harsh and rasped, and he felt like his skin was on fire.

Lucius studied him from across the room. He knew that what Severus had just seen would affect him, but he was shocked by his lover. Severus had drawn his hands up to his eyes, pushing the heels of his palms into them, as if trying to black out what he had just seen. The only problem was the images were now forever ingrained into his head. He would never be able to get Hermione’s pain-stricken face out his head.

Severus’ body was bent over, as if wrecked by Crucios. It looked like the memories had taken a physical toll on him as well. He was breathing heavily and Lucius could see the sweat pouring down his face. Severus slowly dragged his fingers down his face and then down to his sides, opening his eyes and looking franticly at Lucius.

“I think the question is, what have we done?” Lucius said, walking over to his friend. “I stood there and let her get pummeled by you.” He clasped a hand on the other man’s shoulder, trying to physically support him. “I could have stopped you had I wanted to, but I was acting childish and stubborn.”

“I think that is an understatement.”

“So says that man that tried to work his cock out the other side of our witch.” Severus closed his eyes at Lucius’ harsh words. Gods, this was something he would never be able to right.

“She’s never going to forgive me.” Severus looked up, panic stricken, into his lover’s pale, icy glare. “I’ve lost her. Lucius, I have lost her.”

“We both may have lost her. We have to figure out how to apologize.”

“I don’t know if apologies -,”

Just then, both men doubled over and grabbed their left arms. After a few second, they were able to become accustomed to the burning in their arms, giving them enough time too look at each other.

“Fuck.” Severus swore emphatically. “He would call at a time like this.”

Both men stood up straight, Lucius walking over to his armoire and pulling out his Death Eater garb. He looked at Severus as he folded the material carefully over his arm.

“Let’s go.”

Severus nodded; walking over to the door and easing it open so that he could go to his room to collect his things as well. The two men had to arrive at different times.

Everything involving this damn war was so well planned. They couldn’t afford to make any mistakes and now this thing with Hermione had sprung up. He had been so foolish.
With Hermione, there was no way he could have planned things to happen the way they did. She took away his reasoning, his logic, his control, and made him act impulsively.

Everything with her was based off of an instinct, or an emotion. There was no rhyme, no reason behind any of the things they did.

Severus sighed as he walked to his room. Yes, he had been very foolish with her indeed.

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A/N: Two updates in one month? I must be out of my mind. Or maybe just bored at school.Or possibly an insomniac.

For those of you who are interested, I have not given up on The Education. . it's just merely plodding along for the time being. I think that it's gonna be a long one, like this one is shaping up to be. Yes sir indeed.

Please review. It cheers me to see my review number go up, because that means I have a message from you lovely readers!