Come Into My Parlour

Hermione sat at her desk, fiddling anxiously with her quill. The goose feathers were soft to touch, the nib firm and perfectly chiselled, and it was a source of fascination as she studiously avoided Draco Malfoy's penetrating stare.

'Scared, Granger?' he drawled softly. She turned her head to him reluctantly and sat up straight in her chair.

'Not really. Are you?' She answered as coolly as she could and tried not to give away her nerves.

Draco Malfoy snorted and his eyes narrowed as he looked at her. Leaning towards her, he lowered his voice to a whisper.

'Don't think that pretty little flower between your legs will have any effect on Snape, Granger. Word has it, I'm more his type. This test.' He waved his hand about for effect. 'It's a mere formality for Dumbledore's benefit. Snape already told me I'm as good as in.'

'I'm sure Professor Dumbledore would be keen to view this memory when I give it to him later, then, Malfoy.' Hermione's eyes flared with anger as she hissed at him, her face flushing at his words

Malfoy withdrew his wand and pointed it at her. 'A small Obliviate will sort you out, Mudblood...'

***

Snape gathered up the parchments from his desk and walked through to the classroom, his robes swirling around him as if controlled by a life force of their own. The door slammed shut behind him just as Malfoy pulled his wand out.

'Expelliarmus!' Snape yelled, his feet moving quickly as he rushed to catch Draco's wand as it flew from his hand.

Snape glared at both students, obviously furious. 'What part of 'no wands' did you not understand, Mr. Malfoy? I made the rules perfectly clear, did I not?'

'I must have missed that part,' Draco muttered, his eyes not quite meeting Snape's.

'Granger, did he cast anything?' Snape asked.

'No, sir. You arrived just in time. Thank you.' Hermione smiled slightly, but her relief was cut short as Draco murmured 'no flowers' under his breath, and she turned to glare at him.

'Enough!' Snape shouted. 'You are both of age. I expect you to behave as adults, not ridiculously jealous first years!'

Hermione looked down at the surface of the desk in front of her. She wouldn't apologise. Draco was at fault, but she didn't hold out much hope of him owning up to anything. She was smart enough to know he was fighting for his place like a Slytherin, but the knot in her stomach wouldn't go away. What if his words were true and Snape really had already offered him the place? Her only hope was to excel at the test.

Snape pocketed Malfoy's wand, then methodically sorted through the papers before placing them on the desks face down in front of each of them.

'The test is straight-forward. Questions about potions, ingredients, nothing you haven't covered in your classes over the past year. In addition, and because I will have the dubious pleasure of working alongside one of you for the next three years,' Snape sneered slightly at this, 'there is a short set of personal questions at the end of the paper.' He walked quickly to his desk at the front of the classroom and sat with a flourish. Raising eyes to begin the test, he sighed loudly at the sight of Hermione Granger with her hand in the air.

'What is it, Granger?' he said quietly.

'Personal questions, sir? I don't understand why they're necessary. You know both of us already.' Hermione looked at him with wide, innocent eyes, clearly non-plussed.

'It is part of the test, Granger. All you need to do is answer the questions. I wish to determine which of my students will be best suited to me.' Snape cast his eyes to the hour glass beside him and was about to turn it over when a snigger from Malfoy stopped him.

'Alternatively, as one of you appears to be more immature than I had realised, I could dispense with the test and appoint you now, Miss Granger.'

'No, sir. I would prefer to gain an apprenticeship through my own efforts. I shouldn't have pried, sir.' Hermione fidgeted in her seat. The whole situation was becoming tense and uncomfortable, and she just wanted to get it over with.

'Then you may begin.'

With a deft movement, Snape turned over the hour glass, and Hermione watched mesmerised for a moment as the sand began to trickle slowly through the centre. The sound of quill on parchment shook her, and she realised that Malfoy had already started to answer the first set of questions. She turned over her paper, lifted her quill, and began to read.

***

Dumbledore tapped the silver instrument on his desk and watched as the lever bobbed on its axis. He sighed deeply, something he seemed to be doing a lot of recently, and then turned his attention to the list of names in front of him. He had hoped there would be someone amongst them who would suit Severus. Now, he knew it was a lost cause. The hunted was now the hunter, and his prey was Hermione Granger.

He had spent a significant amount of time researching the Strigoi, but the books in the Ministry library had been less than helpful. He had turned to his old friend Gabriel Thantos, who was a Strigoi scholar and an expert in his own culture and history. He knew facts that even those fully immersed in the lifestyle would be unaware of, and Albus feared that this was the case with Severus, who seemed oblivious to what was happening to him. He lifted the letter on his desk and read through it again, hoping that perhaps the prediction had changed between readings.

'Albus, old friend,

I fear my information will be unsettling, but it is fact that you requested, yes?

There are some Strigoi who will sense a mate without the accepted methods of matching. The term for this is The Calling, and it most often occurs if the Strigoi male is not mated until later in life, such as the case with your colleague. If he was already mated and had offspring, this phenomenon would not have manifested itself, but his body is telling him that a mate is now needed, and he will search out suitable females from those around him. Once a Strigoi senses a suitable mate, nothing will stop him from attaining her.

You would do well to inform the female of the situation, Albus. A willing mate is more preferable. An unwilling mate, well... let us just say that the Strigoi would stop at nothing to get what he desires, regardless of her wishes.

Not his fault, you understand. The Calling is in his blood, and one cannot argue with that which is innate.

My best,

Gabriel'

Dumbledore scowled and crushed the parchment in his hand in frustration. Now he needed to decide who to tell. Severus, or Miss Granger.

***

Smugness was not a state that Severus Snape experienced too often, but if there were a way to describe how he was feeling at this particularly moment, smug would be it. Not only had Granger beaten Draco Malfoy hands down in the potions test, she had answered his 'personality test' just as he had expected. Her answers were full to the point of drifting off the page, and all he needed to do now was compare them to his own and mark them accordingly. He had a very good feeling that they would be compatible in more areas than the Potions lab, and the thought of the witch lying prone and half-dressed on his bed caused a twitch in his nether regions.

In his imagination, however, she was older, with fuller breasts and firm, well-developed thighs. In other words, Snape did not lust over the witch as she was, but as she would be. It soothed his conscience, such as it was. And yet, the effect her scent was having on him was becoming more pronounced. He had been desperate to make a swift exit after her interview and had run to his quarters as soon as her back was turned. He had loosened his collar to aid his breathing, and loosened the buttons of his crotch even faster, releasing his heavy length and dealing with the problem in hand quicker than it had taken Dumbledore to return to his desk.

Shaking his head, he allowed himself a small chuckle at his own cleverness. Dumbledore, for once, had no idea what he had done, and it was a very good feeling indeed. Now all he had to do was give Granger the good news. He couldn't wait to see her smile aimed in his direction.