9. That Darn Prophecy

Chapter Nine: That Darn Prophecy

"Lower."

Gasps punctuated the otherwise silent room.

"I said lower!" It was most certainly a command now.

Hermione giggled as she lazily traced her tongue around his navel, dipping into its shallow depth and sucking. Her hands rested resolutely on his hips, fingers splaying and kneading the muscles but not venturing any further. She was trying to drive him mad.

Severus grabbed fistfuls of her hair and tried to drag her head down the last remaining couple of centimetres to the place he most desperately wanted it to be. Hermione pulled back and stared up at the possessed man looming over her. His cock, glistening red in its prolonged arousal, stood straight up in front of her face.

"If you insist on teasing me, wench, I shall have to take matters into my own hands."

"Teasing?" she flirted mercilessly, trying to push him just that tiny bit farther. "I have no idea what you are talking about, Professor, but by all means, if you think you would be better served by taking matters into your own hands."

It was a good thing she saw the spark in his eye before he let out a low growl, picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder; otherwise, she would have thought she had overstepped her bounds. As it was, she had the most beautiful view of his arse. The way the muscles moved when he stalked across a room, even with her weight on his shoulders, was indescribable. She reached down to grab hold of that which she fancied.

A resounding smack echoed throughout the room, and her bum burned smartly.

"Ouch!" Hermione screamed. "Bloody hell, Severus! That hurt!"

"Keep your hands to yourself then, woman," he snarled as he threw her upon the bed. She bounced and her head snapped back to meet his feral glare. Her body buzzed with excitement. Yet, there was still that slight twinge of fear that pulled in her stomach and, strangely enough, heightened her lust for the perverse Potions professor.

He crept languorously and menacingly onto the bed, coming toward her. The tiny thread of fear caused her to involuntarily back toward the headboard, resisting his advances. Severus was having none of that, however; with lightning speed, his fist closed tightly around her ankle.

"Just where do you think you are going, Miss Granger?" his voice dropped dangerously to its familiar black-bat-of-the-dungeons level.

The only thing that belied the foreboding timbre in his voice was what lie in her line of vision. His face, darkened as it was by being pushed to the limits of his patience and control, was framed by his strong, narrow shoulders and sexy, sinewy chest and was punctuated by his most well-endowed and proudly self-proclaiming manhood. It was as if two minds had become one in their quest for fulfillment.

His fingers bit into her small bones. She resisted answering. This side of Severus was new to her, and she wanted to see where this was going. She made a halfhearted attempt to pull her ankle free.

"Tut, tut, my dear. You are not going to get away from me that easily." Severus lifted his palm in her direction and muttered, "Constringo."

Black silk ropes snaked out from the sides of the beds and wound their way around her wrists, gently securing her to the headboard. She was on display.

His hands ran up the inside of her thighs and pushed them apart, exposing her sex. Leaning forward, he inhaled loudly, making her stir with anticipation. Being tied and at his mercy was different, but extraordinarily good. She felt the moistness gather between her legs and squirmed a little, wanting him to lean in that little bit farther, to put that generous nose to good use.

Instead, he diverted his attention to the right and nipped the sensitive skin of her thigh. Hermione yelped in surprise, silently vowing to return the favor when she was able.

Severus proceeded to plant light, almost nonexistent kisses upon every square centimeter of skin, yet painfully avoided her center. She could almost feel him between her legs, his tongue stroking, his nose prodding. Her legs spread further apart as her heart pounded, engorging the whole area with blood, tempting him to delve just that bit further, to taste all that she offered. Still, he refused to relent.

It was nearly unbearable, the weight of her need. Her hips left the bed, attempting to complete the contact, but Severus merely drew back.

"Must I restrain your legs as well?" he murmured into her thigh, the vibrations chasing around in her belly.

"Perhaps, Professor, if you would so kindly put that giant proboscis where it should be, you would not have to resort to such measures." It was difficult to sound snotty when one could not breathe properly.

"Impertinence was always one of your stronger traits," he growled. Expecting her legs to be tied, she was unprepared for the next spell that escaped his lips, "Corpus Verto."

She was instantly flipped onto her stomach, arms still somehow frustratingly bound. Severus pulled her hips up until she was on her knees and ran his long digits lovingly across her cheeks. Then, without warning, he struck.

"Fuck!" Hermione screamed more out of self-chastisement for not having seen that one coming more than anything else.

"Watch your language, Miss Granger," he warned and slapped her again. This time, she kept her mouth shut and concentrated instead on the warmth that was spreading through her lower regions.

"Again, Professor," she moaned, deciding that if perhaps she played his little game, she would get what she wanted faster.

"Ah, the minx wants more, does she?" He paused for a moment, as if condescending to consider her request, before striking her again. Smoothing the sting with a few strokes of his palm, he reached lower and snaked one of his fingers inside of her, caressing her inner walls, twisting and drawing the desire out of her.

"Yesss," she hissed as he pushed against the barrier of her womb, increasing the moistness around his finger. He wanted to groan, to give in, to take her right then and there, but he was not through with his cruel temptress ... and he was not going to let up on his little game until he had what he wanted.

With a single finger he coaxed her passion a little higher and then withdrew, eliciting an indignant shriek from the woman tied to the bed.

Severus chuckled wickedly, "Do not fret. You will get what you deserve in short order."

Oh so gently, for he was afraid of frightening her, he pushed his lubricated finger into her other entrance. He paused only when he heard the sharp intake of breath from her lips. Surprisingly, she did not raise any objection; thus, he slid it in even further.

Then, knowing that this was indeed a new experience for Hermione and wanting to show her how much pleasure she could derive from it, he wrapped his other arm around her waist and ran his hand down over her curls, finding the bundle of nerves nestled within. Her breathing faltered, and she whimpered something unintelligible.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" he whispered, nuzzling his face into the wild curls covering her face.

"Mmmmm," was the only answer she was capable of giving as he gently opened and prepared the way for greater things to come.

"I cannot tell you how happy that makes me, little student of mine." Oh, yes. It made him happy, indeed, to be able to partake in one of his guilty little pleasures. He was truly blessed to find a woman like Hermione who was so willing to explore new territory.

He made sure she heard the next spell so she would understand exactly what was going to happen next. "Lubricus," he murmured as he slid a hand over his long shaft. Then he took mercy on her and released her binds.

Hermione grasped the pillows in front of her, hugging them to her body, waiting for the inevitable penetration. Her breathing came in short bursts as Severus continued to tease her swollen clitoris, allowing the pleasure to distract her, to prepare her.

Then the fullness of his cock rested at her entrance, and he slowly pushed forward. His fingers worked feverishly at the fore to make the passage smoother and less painful. To his immense pleasure, but not to his surprise, Hermione quickly discovered the need to relax, and she actually pushed back into him as he sheathed himself to the hilt.

Her virginal hole was so tight, and her muscles held him snugly inside her body, unwilling to let him move. It was an incredible feeling, sort of like having a snake coiled and constricting, writhing and pulsing around him. It was overwhelming his senses, threatening to eliminate every ounce of resolve he had left.

Oh, but he had one last trick up his proverbial sleeve, and so he concentrated and muttered, "Prolato." The finger of his right hand lengthened and thickened, growing to a size not nearly that of that which he had buried inside but quite close. Slowly, he slid it into her vagina, feeling the pressure through the thin barrier as it slid up alongside his cock.

This was what he had been waiting for. Oh, yes. His little seductress moaned beneath him, verbalizing what he was feeling but would not allow himself to express for fear of losing his self-control.

At first, he moved only the enlarged finger-phallus, enjoying the sensation as it slid against his buried cock...in, out, and then in again...over and over, stroking his length while simultaneously bringing her pleasure. He almost did not realise when her moans became declarations of pleasure, urging him to move within her.

"Severus, please," she begged.

Anxious to show him what she wanted, Hermione pulled forward slightly, unsheathing him partway; then she pushed backwards, encouraging him to give her more. Unable to contain himself any longer, his mind completely besotted with pleasure, the combined sensations threw him into a frenzy and he set a rhythm.

"Oh gods Severus yes oh fuck please don't stop bloody fucking hell that feels so good." A litany of strung-together words barely constituting sentences poured from Hermione's mouth.

The thrusting of both members, of being caressed from all angles at once, of having all points of pleasure manipulated simultaneously was more than she could take. Thought was no longer an option. Instead she gave in to the spiraling eddy that began somewhere in her belly and grew to encompass her heart and her entire being.

The storm began to brew somewhere deep in his belly. Hermione's whimpers and addled murmurings mixed with her constricting flesh and combined with the increased fullness and pressure all brought the storm to a head. The wildness of their passion whipped through the room.

Hermione felt the magic spin around their bodies as they spun toward the crux of the storm. She let herself go where it took her, not fighting it in the least, not wanting the feeling to end as the intensity of the physical sensations wound tighter and tighter about her core.

Severus grew tense behind her, thrusting now with great difficulty as he brought them both to the edge. Thunder and lightening crackled in the air around them as they drew upon the magical energy of their union, and light burst forth as their bodies exploded in and around each other, their screams lost in the violence of their passion.

They both collapsed, Severus on top of Hermione, too weak to do much else. Severus performed the counter spell to shrink his hand but could not find the energy to remove anything else. Their breathing was laboured; their hearts beat wildly, almost stumbling in determination to catch up with the ebbing passion.

In the long minutes that followed, when their breathing finally relaxed, their bodies finally felt the strenuous exercise that they had been put through. Severus slowly withdrew from her body and turned her in his arms so he could keep her as close as possible.

"Wow," she whispered. "That was amazing ... I mean ... oh, I don't know what I mean. It was more than amazing. It was utterly ... oh, bugger all!"

Severus laughed, his whole body shaking around her. "I believe I win our little game," he said in between chuckles.

"What game was that?" She tried to retain some of the innocence in her voice that she no longer felt.

"Well, aside from the one where we brutally tempt each other's endurance and patience," he said good-humoredly, "I believe the one I am speaking of is where your wits become so addled that you cannot speak. Since we are fairly even on the first score, then I would have to say that I have won."

Hermione mumbled something inaudible into his shoulder.

"What was that, love?" Severus asked in a sickeningly sweet, mocking voice.

"I said, Severus, that you must have been mistakenly under the impression that you were trying my patience. In actuality, I had you right where I wanted you."

"Is that right?" he quipped back. "So you are telling me that you expected everything that happened here tonight?"

"Well..." Her voice and body trembled slightly with the fresh memories.

Severus grabbed her arse and pulled her tightly against his body, which was already recovering quite nicely from its ordeal. "I did not think so."

She looked up into his eyes. "Can we do that again sometime?"

The eagerness so blatantly displayed in her eyes reminded him of her youth, of her incessant hand-waving and perpetual question-asking. Odd, how it was no longer disturbing to him to be reminded of such things. He let out a long, low chuckle.

"We can do that again as often as you like."

"Thank you, Professor," she chided sleepily as she yawned, tucking her head against his shoulder.

Severus muttered, "Nox," and they fell asleep.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The next morning, Hermione found her muscles exceptionally achy in all the right places. All right, everything bloody well hurt! She hypothesized that with use and lots of practise, perhaps she would not feel so out of it after a night of acrobatics such as they had.

Severus had the audacity to laugh at her as she got stiffly out of bed and made her way to the loo.

"What are you laughing at, old man?" she snapped. She needed a hot shower and a pot of strong tea, for sure.

"You are moving slower than Albus this morning," he shot back as he sat up and stretched limberly. "Strangely enough, I feel just fine."

The door to the bathroom shut with a resounding slam, which only served to make Severus laugh louder. He summoned his lounge robe and fastened it around his body, noticing that he, in fact, was feeling a little achy this morning as well. Ah, but what that little minx did not know would certainly work to his advantage or at least keep him in good humour.

He ordered tea and scones from the kitchens and fetched The Daily Prophet from the table where the owl always conveniently left it. The date at the top read March 7th . He sighed. Two weeks until the Spring Equinox. They were meeting with Albus this morning after breakfast.

The tea and scones were hot and waiting when Hermione emerged from the bathroom.

"Ah, the picture of youth returns," he mouthed into his tea, glancing up from his paper.

She gave him a good swat on his shoulder as she passed. "Evil bat."

"Wanton wench."

Knowing that she would not win a battle of words with Severus Snape, she settled for sticking her tongue out at him.

"Careful, little girl, or I will come over there and bite that thing off."

"I suppose that would eliminate any chances of you winning your silly little game, then, wouldn't it?" Oh, pain did wonderful things for the wit.

"Would you care for a muscle relaxing potion perhaps?" he asked, taking pity on her.

"That would be oh-so-kind of you, Severus. You took yours already then, I gather?" she smirked and took a long sip of hot tea, grabbing the potion from his fist.

"That and then some." He glanced up sharply at her. "Have I become that transparent to you?"

"I may be a Gryffindor, but I can still charm my way through your Slytherin wiles."

"Hmm." He would have to ponder all the angles of that little dilemma later, he supposed.

The fireplace sprang to life, and Albus' head popped through. "Severus. Hermione," he spoke, looking at each one respectively. "Are you ready to come through?"

"I suppose the sooner the better," Severus muttered nonchalantly, standing up and brushing an errant crumb from his robe. He took his wand, and with a flick his lounge robe transformed into his much more constricting and conservative teaching robes. Hermione did the same. They held hands and went through the Floo to the Headmaster's office.

"Come in, my children," Albus effervesced. "I figured that you had not finished your breakfast yet, so I had the house-elves bring up something of a treat."

Oh dear, Hermione thought as she viewed the small spread on the sideboard, the old codger is buttering us up. One glance at Severus and she knew he was thinking the same thing. Nevertheless, they dug in.

"We are going to have one more for breakfast this morning. He should be here any minute." As soon as Albus stopped talking, there was a slight knock and Harry popped his head through the door.

"Hey, Hermione! Where have you been lately?" In three strides Harry was dragging Hermione out of her chair and grabbing her up in a bear hug, trying for all the world to tune out the tall dark presence at her side.

"Kindly unhand my woman, Potter," Severus drawled. Harry turned a slight shade of green before placing Hermione back on the floor, which made Severus almost smile.

"Sorry, Professor," Harry intoned out of sheer politeness, returning to a more palatable color. "I hope you have been well."

Severus smirked. "I certainly have no complaints," he answered as he placed his hand in the small of Hermione's back, setting her back in her chair and bending to place a light kiss upon her lips. "No. None at all."

Hermione's eyes sparkled back at him. She loved Harry...really she did...but his discomfort was irritatingly irrational, and she fully supported having a little fun at his expense.

"Breakfast is on the sideboard, Potter. The sooner we finish eating, the sooner we can get on with this blasted meeting." Severus directed the boy, who looked like he had lost his appetite, over to the spread.

Appetite or not, Harry was happy for the reprieve. He filled his plate and sat on Hermione's opposite side, glad to have something else to occupy his attention. Albus flashed a rather amused smile in his direction, eyes dancing merrily. He knew too well the benefits of a good solid meal in the stomachs of those about to embark upon serious ventures.

After they all had their fill, and Harry was reclining back in his seat massaging his slightly distended stomach, Albus waved his wand to clear the table and began the meeting.

"First things first, I believe Harry needs to be told what is going on."

Harry looked back and forth between the headmaster and Hermione, who met his gaze with a sympathetic smile. "What is going on?" he asked tentatively.

"How much do you know, Harry?" Albus enquired, not wanting to waste more time than was necessary.

"Do you mean about Hermione figuring out how to remove the professor's Dark Mark?"

"Yes, that," Albus said. "Anything else?"

Harry looked at the other three in the room, suddenly feeling very left out. "No. Should there be something else?"

"No, Harry. I am simply ascertaining how much you know before I go into an unnecessarily lengthy explanation. I thought, perhaps, that Hermione had spoken with you of matters, but it appears she has not." The headmaster glanced up at Hermione who only quirked an eyebrow back at him. "Hermione, maybe you should be the one to explain things. He may take it better from you."

"Wait," Harry interrupted. "What is this? What do you mean I will take it better from Hermione?"

"Harry, the headmaster is just surprised that I had not confided in you." She shot a guarded glare in Albus' direction. "I was under the impression, Headmaster, that we were supposed to keep it amongst ourselves."

"You did well, Hermione. But I think perhaps Harry could have been the exception to the rule if you had seen fit to tell him. After all, we do require his help."

"What kind of help are you talking about?" Harry was beginning to sound positively panicked.

Hermione turned in her chair to face her best friend. "The kind of help we are talking about, Harry, is the kind that will get rid of Voldemort forever."

Harry choked back a laugh. She was serious. He knew she was serious, but his emotions had a tendency to rule his mouth nonetheless.

"Forever? Hermione, you have got to be joking. That monster did not disappear the first time, nor the second time, and the third time he only succeeded in getting stronger. If anything, I would say we could put him out of commission for a while and regroup, but eliminate him completely? It's impossible."

"Do not be so quick to dismiss the possibility, Potter," Severus spat. "I think you of all people should know by now that if Hermione sets her mind to something, she will undoubtedly accomplish it."

Harry had nothing to say to that. He knew the professor was right; he just hated to admit it.

"Remember how I told you I could get rid of Severus' Dark Mark?" Hermione took Harry's hand in hers. She smiled to herself as Severus shifted in his chair and pressed the length of his leg against her own.

"I remember," Harry answered, oblivious to the mild display of jealousy going on beneath the table skirts. "But I don't understand why you need my help."

She took a deep breath. "Well, long story short, we discovered a spy at Hogwarts. Severus has infiltrated her quarters and found some valuable information."

"Hold on a second," Harry broke in, eyes wide. "There is a spy, and it's a woman?"

"Yes, Penelope Clearwater," she bit out curtly, without heeding the incredulous look on Harry's face. "Voldemort is planning something for the Spring Equinox. Something major. Severus is going to return to his side when summoned next, but he will be going as Penelope with a little help from the Polyjuice Potion."

Harry was stunned. He was still dwelling on the fact that Percy Weasley's ex-girlfriend was a Death Eater and a spy for the opposite side. And she seemed like such a nice girl, as far as he could remember. Of course, he had been, what, twelve or thirteen at the time; most girls seemed nice to him at that age. Still, she had seemed normal to him. Well, unless, of course, you wanted to take into account that she had dated Percy.

"Harry?" Hermione drew him out of his reverie.

"Erm, yeah." He shook the cobwebs out of his brain. "So what exactly is it I have to do?"

"Well, you won't be helping until the very end. The prophecy, you know."

"You will be performing the final curse, of course, Potter," Severus drawled from his sprawled position on the other side of Hermione. "You should have a much easier time of it, however. Once the Dark Marks are obliterated, he should be in a severely weakened state. I, myself, am quite looking forward to the show. My only regret is that I will not be the one casting the killing curse."

Hermione patted Severus' knee beneath the table in mock comfort. She knew it did not bother him that much or he would have never admitted it to Harry.

"Anyway, Harry, I have it nearly planned out. There are just a few kinks I have to smooth over. Really, all you will have to do is follow my lead when the time comes."

Severus snorted, "Yes, Potter. As if you do not have enough practise doing that already."

The hand on his knee stopped being comforting and instead became quite painful. He reached out to loosen her vise grip.

"What I meant to say," he cleared his throat as the pressure released, "was all you should have to worry about is the Dark Lord. Leave the details to us."

"Fine." Harry slumped into his seat. "So, we are really going to do it, then? In about two weeks?" The pitch in his voice grew higher with each word.

Harry stared off into space for a few moments while the other three exchanged anxious glances. Two weeks. Two weeks suddenly did not seem enough time to accomplish everything he wanted to get done. Not that he didn't trust Hermione's plan, but just in case he didn't make it out of the final battle alive, there were certain things he wanted to experience. He never even...Harry stood up abruptly, knocking his chair to the side.

"Right. Well, then, I need to be off. I have some, er, things to do, people to see and all that. Hermione, you will let me know when and where and all the details later, right? I really should go. Erm, thank you, Headmaster, for having me to breakfast. I...erm, I should really be off now." He murmured and stumbled all the way out the door.

"And that is the savior of the wizarding world," Severus grouched plaintively.

A/N: Sorry for the slam on Percy. Erm...sort of. Okay, not really. *evil laughter*