Odd Man In

Chapter 3: Odd Man In

"Who's the damn genius responsible for this?"

"Didn't you ever want to play Wild Indians when you were young?"

"No."

"You could have been their Medicine Man."

Severus sent three arrows into the center of the target.

"You're witching them, old chap. Try aiming," said Lucius.

"Yes, like us lesser mortals," said Bellatrix.

"I don't appreciate taking up the slack for your damn husband, either," said Severus.

"You're getting part of the land as an investment in return," chimed in Narcissa.

"Visions of wealth are dancing in my head," said Severus.

"We were thinking of deeding you the peach orchard," said Bellatrix. "It fits, don't you think, you veritable peach of a man?"

"Don't rile him, sister dear," said Narcissa. She turned to Severus. "Should we get a crossbow for the cross?"

Severus notched an arrow.

"At least no one is asking you to be a spy this time," said Narcissa.

"Yeah, disguised as a Death Spider," said Bellatrix.

Severus let fly an arrow that split the one already in the center of the target.

"You're still witching them, old bean," said Lucius.

Hermione listened to all this while being appalled that they were teasing a professor and jealous that she couldn't join in. And she was adjusting to working with Bellatrix Lestrange. Draco had informed her that she could be become a member of the hunting party if she swore to keep its secrets, and for reasons she didn't yet understand, she had agreed.

Now, Draco winked at her as if to say, "They're only adults. Let them play."

They changed to moving targets.

"How intelligent are spiders, anyway?" asked Severus. "Do they use cover? Do they have tactics? Will they try to ambush us?"

"We should ask the centaurs," said Bellatrix.

Hermione was proud of her professor.

The next morning, Severus and Hermione joined the others at Barracks-Malfoy, and the group proceeded to the Forbidden Forest where the centaurs had laid out a three mile walk through rough terrain for conditioning. The trek had been followed by two hours of target practice. Afterwards, Severus and Lucius declared they deserved a spot of relaxation, showered and dressed, and left for lunch and an afternoon at The Club.

"Care for a hot tub?" Narcissa asked Hermione. "I know you're hungry, but we can have a glass of wine while we soak."

Hermione merely nodded. The aristocracy was proving more energetic than she had expected. She followed Narcissa to the kitchen, watched her open a bottle, accepted a glass, and took a sip. The sip was followed by a healthy quaff. Hermione grinned. "That was good."

Hermione thought Narcissa looked benign and motherly when Narcissa said, "It's quite a change from books to field sports, but you're young, and I suppose all those stairs at school keep you fit." Narcissa refreshed the girl's glass, took a sip herself, and said, "If your muscles are sore, I can give you a short massage before we climb in the tub."

Hermione flexed her shoulders. "My arms are getting stiff. I'm not used to the longbow."

By the time they reached the outdoor hot tub, Hermione had finished her wine and was feeling mellow. She stripped and stretched out on a pile of fluffy towels. Let look who may. The massage went from her neck to her shoulders, to her upper back, to her arms, and to her entire back. She had to be helped up and into the tub. The two girls soaped and scrubbed each other.

"The boys are talking about spears," said Narcissa when the two were finally ensconced by the lake – on a quilt, wearing silk robes, and with another bottle of wine and the lunch hamper.

"Spears?"

"As a last line of defense," said Narcissa.

"Boys just like to poke things," said Hermione, giggling. She shook her head. "What a way to go: under a horde of spiders with one of them impaled on my spear."

Hermione looked up to see Narcissa looking concerned.

"Promise me you won't be foolish," said Narcissa. "Coming with us is braver than you have to be."

Hermione reached up and stroked long blonde hair. "I won't be foolish."

Hermione raised herself and sealed the agreement with a kiss on thin aristocratic lips. "I promise."

Unknown to Hermione, her face was one of invitation as she lay back on the quilt, and she was only mildly surprised when Narcissa leaned down. Hermione resumed stroking the older woman's hair. Their breaths intermingled; their breasts touched; their legs nestled; their lips met. Hermione's body weaved as it cried out for contact. The nuzzling began softly, gained in intensity, and slowly subsided as their psyches found peace in their companionship. Hermione had not known, had not imagined, the pleasure to be found in holding someone special.

Meanwhile, back at the manor, Bellatrix greeted Draco as he stepped out of the shower and said, "Your mum and your friend took a lunch basket down to the lake."

He grabbed a towel and held it in front of him.

"I'll turn my back, okay?' she said. "Although you'd think you'd be proud enough to show off."

"I'm the very model of propriety, I am," he said as he tied his bathrobe. "What would you like for lunch?"

"Besides you?" she asked.

"What about leftover steak-and-kidney pie and fried tomatoes?" he asked.

"No wonder people complain about British cuisine," she said.

After lunch, Bellatrix said she would check on Draco's mum and his friend to make sure they weren't spelling each other's hair into twine ... or snakes. She decided there was no danger of that when she arrived in the middle of their intertwining. She departed unseen, found Draco on the couch in the reading room, and informed him that the two appeared to be getting along very well.

"That's great," he said, looking up from his book.

"What are you reading," she asked, sitting beside him.

"Hermione lent me some of her old favorites," he said. "I'm on the second volume. Care to look at the first?"

She picked up 'Nancy Drew and the Secret of the Old Clock' and began reading. She found it interesting enough but not as interesting as the person next to her. She moved closer and read some more. She moved again, and her thigh was against his. He looked at her, gave her a small smile, and put his arm across her shoulder. They went back to reading. Eventually, he was stroking her hair, and her head was on his shoulder. They continued to read. At the end of a chapter, he put his book down to rest his eyes.

"Did your mum ever show you how we used to dance when we were young?" she asked.

He shook his head no.

She showed him how to tap out the rhythm on the coffee table. She stood, pushed the rug aside, and was barefoot on the marble floor. Her left foot swept in front of her; her right foot swept in front of her. Her body did a left shimmy, then a right shimmy. Her hips began to sway. The dance slowly grew. Draco had a sudden image of Sirius banging out the rhythm as the three Black sisters did their enticing best. Now, his aunt's hands were over her head, and her dark tresses framed her face. She turned and swayed and weaved. He could barely picture his two aunts and his mum in full adolescent heat in the privacy of the old mansion twirling and swirling and provoking. Now his aunt was dancing for him, for him alone, showing how she would gladly move for him.

The dance was over.

"Very good, Auntie," he said.

She put the rug back in place, arranged herself on the sofa, embraced Draco in a quick smooch, and lay down with her head in his lap. She raised her leg and let her bathrobe slide up.

He watched the rise and fall of her breasts, admired her display of leg with glimpse of knickers, and decided Nancy Drew lived in a more innocent world.

Narcissa had seen Hermione off and had returned to the house to catch the last of her sister's dance and her arranging herself in Draco's lap.

Great, thought Narcissa. My sister is vamping my son, and I'm snogging my son's friend who happens to be a girl. She thought about Lucius and Severus going to The Club for lunch and the afternoon. It amused her to think that if they were after women of questionable virtue, then they would have done better to have stayed at the manor.