Erlking

*Justification* I know I've said I hate OC's a dozen times...but I was so damn bored of reading final fight fics that I decided I was going to detour in another direction. Fret not, I'm sure you'll like my erlking- blatently stolen from Angela Carter, I might add...


" I have demon for a wife.
He delights in your pretty face, and he hates my life.
Takes notes on how to provoke past griefs,
makes my teeth decay with the last of my self belief."
Faithless...Addictive.


Hermione's eyes darted left and right, checking the darkened corridor for signs of life. Seeing none, she hurried down it, stopping in front of a door that read 'Dept. of Mysteries-Cold Storage".
She dug in her pocket for the lock picks she had pinched from Fred and George. She knew the department of mysteries would have spells on the doors not even she could penetrate-security around here had tightened significantly since their little sojourn here in the fifth year- it had been difficult to find a place to apparate,but eventually she'd come across a weak spot near the House Elves Entrance on ground level- it had been easy enough after that. She'd come upon the idea of lock picks during one of Fred and George's many long-winded trips down memory lane about their time at Hogwarts it was so simple,so clean, so beautifully uncomplicated,so-
"Shit!"
The lock pick melted in her hand,and she dropped it with a stifled hiss,rubbing her blistered fingers on her jeans,before trying another. As she worked,her mind went back to the conversation she'd overheard at Grimmauld Place last week after an order meeting.
Hermione had been lurking around the Black's library-she'd spotted a few rare tomes she wanted to sneak back to her room, when she heard Harry,Ron and Tonks talking:
"...so I was saying to Kingsley-' This room's totally obsolete-nobody cares about the room of Cold Storage anymore'..." Tonks' voice had said.
"Cold Storage?" Harry parroted back to her, his voice puzzled. "What's that, like a morgue?". Hermione had heard Ron's derisive snort:
"A morgue? What does the ministry want with a bunch of dead bodies?"
Tonks had laughed
"It's where the ministry puts all the unsolved case files-Cold Storage-cold cases-get it? Except no one bloody uses it-it's like a bloody mausoleum in there."
"Oh." harry had said, sounding slightly abashed. "Sorry. Carry on."
"A bloody morgue I ask you..." Ron had mumbled, sounding rather amused....

Hermione's attention was dragged back to the present as she felt a tumbler turn in the lock- almost,almost...She twitched the pick again,and the rest of the tumblers clicked round and the door swung open with a resigned sigh.
Smiling smugly at her own genius, she made to step into the room, but came up short as an arm looped around her neck from behind and yanked her backwards- she hit a warm male body with a thud and tried to scream- but before she could do more than draw breath,a hand clapped over her mouth so that all that could be heard was a very muffled "Nnngh!"
She struggled, but the arm around her neck was like steel,holding her bucking body with ease, tightening inexorably until Hermione's head swam from lack of oxygen.

As she struggled to breathe through her nose she caught a breath of a familiar scent,something that smelled vaguely of Sage and Verbena. She froze, fear swamping her, and she knew:even before he spoke, she knew.

"Well,well,well. Whatever would Dumbledore say if he knew one of his Dream Team were wandering about the ministry at this time of night like a common thief. Hmm?"

That smooth,low voice stroked over her nerves like oil; slick and thick and dark. Snape. Oh god. Oh god, oh god.

She scrabbled at the hand over her mouth but it was no use,she couldn't move it.-finally she sunk her nails into his wrist as hard as she could,but he didn't even wince. She heard his low chuckle and felt her mind cloud over with rage- he was laughing at her! how dare he!

Propelled into action,quick as lightning she grabbed the arm around her neck and shifted her weight back. Then she heaved, as hard as she could, tucking her head into her body as he flew over it. She smirked with vicious satisfaction as she felt him go, but her joy was short lived- faster than thought he had twisted in mid air, and landed with on his feet,facing her. Before she could draw breath his wand was at her throat- she groped in her pocket for her own,and felt her stomach clench in fear as he raised his other hand- in which he held her wand. He twirled it around his fingers carelessly and smirked at her, raising an eyebrow she could barely see in the dim.
"Looking for this?" He drawled. Hermione let out a wordless snarl of anger and lunged for it, coming up short as his wand pressed into her jugular.
"Now,now. None of that," He sneered at her, looking more amused than ever. Hermione's rage bubbled up inside her, overwhelming her fear.
"You!" She spat. "How did you get in here?" Her eyes narrowed and her breath came heavy. Her blood was pounding and her palms itched with the urge to slap the smirk off his murdering face.
He rolled his eyes to the heavens and murmured "Merlin spare me the ignorance of children."
"I am not a child!" Hermione snapped.
"You would do well to keep your voice down, I think." He murmured placidly. " I got in here the same way you did, unless," His voice dropped and his eyes glittered menacingly "I am very much mistaken and you are here with permission?"
Hermione's face twisted with rage and disgust. She made to lunge at him again, and once again came up short on the tip of his wand,
"Be careful now, Miss Granger, I do not wish to harm you, but I will if I have to."
Hermione sneered at him, her expression unconsciously a mirror of his own
" Like you HAD to kill Dumbledore, I suppose?" She shot at him, and was suprised when his face twisted into an expression like rage,or overwhelming pain.
"do not presume to pass judgement on things that are beyond your comprehension little girl!" he hissed, his voice trembling with some unknown emotion.
"I trusted you!" she hissed back,her voice as vehement as his "I defended you to them! How could you! how dare you?" Their faces were inches apart,she could feel his breath hot on her face and his wand digging painfully into her neck, but she did not care. She was a gryffindor. She would not be cowed by this, this, killer! Her nostrils flared as she sneered at him, disgust written over every feature. Suddenly,he straightened up,his face blank and passive, the only hint of any deeper feeling in the harsh glitter in his black eyes.
"Get away from me." She whispered coldly, "Or I will scream. And you will be in Azkaban faster than you can say 'avada kedavra'." He smirked again, that evil smile he had used so often to make her feel insignificant and stupid. How she hated it!
" I rather think not." He said calmly " If I am sent to Azkaban, you will most assuredly follow me soon after. And that, " His voice lowered as he advanced on her. Fear returned,churning her stomach "would leave our dream team woefully bereft of intelligence. No. That will not do at all." He chuckled,and Hermione realised she was backing up,away from him,and that she was rapidly running out of room. She hit the wall across the corridor with a thud and felt panic rise up in her. He was less than two feet away from her now and closing, her eyes darted left and right, trying to think of a way to get past him, but all she could see on either side was darkness that stretched on forever,and she was loath to leave without her wand.
"You may run, if you like," He said,carelessly,suddenly removing his wand from her neck,and gesturing for her to leave " I will not stop you. However I will not give you back your wand unless you remain. It is your choice." Hermione froze, uncertain. She had come here with the intention of going through the cold storage room and did not want to leave empty handed. There was also the matter of her wand. She wanted it. On the other hand she was stood,defenceless in front of the second most dangerous man alive. She didn't know which was the lesser of the two evils.
"Lumos" he muttered,flicking his wand. He looked at her face illuminated in the wand light and frowned.
"What on earth have you done to your hair?" He muttered. Hermione,nonplussed, raised her hand to her hair self-consciously. It was straight and sleek, and tied close to her head in a braid that stretched nearly to her waist. She had grown tired,this summer, of continually pushing it out of her face and hexed it straight, and forever kept it tied up and out of the way. She supposed from the front it must look very short.
"It was irritating me." She said shortly. He moved closer to her and she tried to back up, but only hit the wall. He reached over her shoulder and pulled the thick chestnut plait over her shoulder. A look of inexplicable relief crossed his face.
"Ah. That is what I felt before. For a moment I thought you had cut it all off." He said, and his voice was almost pleasant. Hermione was completely bewildered
"Why do you care anyway?" She asked. His face closed down,suddenly blank and hard again.
"I don't." He snapped."listen, I know why you're here. You alone are capable of appreciating the full extent of the difficulty you will face in killing the dark lord. I knew you would see the biggest obstacle involved, and do your best to find a solution. I can help you." Hermione snorted in disbelief
"You mean, you can, but you won't? How very like you,Professor Snape." She drawled, her voice dripping with disdain. He scowled at her.
"Do not put words in my mouth,Miss Granger," He was almost nose to nose with her now, and his voice was low and urgent "Pay attention-"
"Why I should I believe you would help me? You'll probably send me on some wild goose chase-
"Miss Granger! It is of utmost importance that you find S-"
"No!" she snapped " I will not take the advice of a murderer!"
In her indignation she forgot to keep her voice down,and her words echoed down the corridor. Snape's hand once again clapped over her mouth and his other arm hooked around her back, dragging her into the Cold Storage room,using her to slam the door shut and pressing her body into the door to prevent her escape. Hernione's body trembled with rage. The hands that held her captive were hands capable of wielding the killing curse, they were vile,disgusting hands and she wanted nothing more than to be free of them.
He leant his forehead on the door, his breath hot on her neck as they both listened to feet rapidly approaching. Her breath stopped as they paused outside the door. The moment seemed interminable, dragging on and on as her heart pulsed relentlessly in her ears, She found she could feel his heart pounding against her chest, and his laboured breath hissing in and out as he fought to control it's volume. They were going to be caught. They were sure to be caught. She would be sent to Azkaban and then there would be no way to stop-
The footsteps resumed, fading slowly out of earshot, and both trespassers let out their breath in heavy gusts.
"Oh god" Hermione breathed as his hand fell from her mouth,forgetting for a moment that she hated Snape,and relaxing into his hold. " I thought we'd be caught for sure."
"As did I" Snape confessed,his head resting in the bend of her neck for a moment. Now she felt the sweat on his face,and remembered what he faced if he was caught. She stiffened,disgust sweeping through her.
"Get off me!" she hissed, pushing uselessly at his shoulders
"Listen to me" He hissed back,his lips brushing her ear as he spoke,his voice barely audible. "The file you need is Sandeman's. Understand? Sandeman. He alone can help you!"
"Why should I trust you?" She whispered back, disdain sharpening her enunciation.
"Because you have no choice!" was his harshly muttered return. He heaved a great breath and she did not see his eyes flutter closed for a second, or his lips hesitate over her neck. The next thing she knew was lancing pain that twisted from her neck down through her body and left a strange humming in it's wake. She felt like a tuning fork that had just been struck,and bit her lip to hold in a scream, her hands shoving him ineffectually.
He pulled away from her, gasping, and in the faint wand light she saw darkness around his mouth, he wiped it away with the hand that held his wand and she realised it was blood. The bastard had bitten her! She put her hand to her neck and felt wet warmth, looking at it she saw the same dark stain on her fingers.
"What the fuck was that for?" She gasped at him, pained disbelief etched over her face. He smirked.
" Watch your language,Miss Granger, or I shall have to deduct points from Gryffindor." She made a face at him,suddenly feeling the need to be childish. She realised she felt the absence of his body,was suddenly colder.
"Don't be facetious" She snapped,unnerved.
"Sandeman" He repeated "Get it and get out." He backed away from her, then with an ironic bow, tossed her wand back to her. She caught it,but even as she drew breath to berate him, he twirled, and vanished from sight, taking the light with him.
Hermione leant against the door for a long time, trembling. She didn't understand what had just happened- why hadn't he killed her? He must know she would tell the others about seeing him...
Wait, no. She couldn't tell them. They didn't know she was even here,let alone why. If they found out, if Harry found out...Christ. She couldn't decide what to do. She had no logical reason to trust Snape. And yet she had no other ideas as to how to even begin her search. She flicked her wand with a muttered "lumos" and saw rows and rows of cabinets that went on forever. She might die in this bloody place before she ever found a clue on her own.
Her head bowed for a moment. Then, resigned, she looked up and straightened away from the door, and went in search of the S cabinets.
* * *