Undercover

Chapter 3: Undercover

It was two days after meeting Padma when he looked up from his ham and cheese on rye to see another vision – this one more hard-faced and determined and possibly less flexible, but still well-crafted – well-crafted even though disguised.

"Can I buy you lunch," he asked when she arrived at his table.

"They told me you were here," said Pansy Parkinson.

She was looking for a refuge. Life with her parents had become impossible, but not everyone would take in a Parkinson. She was desperate, even if it meant sharing his home with whatever female he was currently hiding.

"You've been spying on me."

"You can call it that if you want – if you want to be unappreciative of someone looking out for you," she said.

"Ah, yes, my welfare, your hope for the next Dark Lord."

"My hope for a champion, for someone who can fight for our rights. I don't want another Dark Lord," she said. "Besides, didn't you ever think my interest might be personal. Can't you ever get out of that self-centered head of yours. I did save you."

He acknowledged that she had a point. Pansy had found him abandoned after being attacked by Nagini and whisked him to hospital. He had already drunk his vial of all-purpose potion, but her effort had saved more of his functions. She and her parents had hidden him in their house until the commotion died down, but he had left when her parents discovered he had no interest in being the next Tom Riddle.

She was telling him that things had changed. Her parents had gradually become aware of the extent of the carnage, and they wanted no more of the struggle while Pansy was more determined than ever to set things right. She had sensed power in him, and she was certain she could bring it out.

For now, however, she needed a place to stay. If he didn't take her in, she would reveal that he was cohabiting. Since it was secret, it meant that reputations would be ruined if it were known. She wanted to move in this evening.

That evening, he approached his house with Pansy in tow hoping Hermione had received the emergency signal. They had located and prepared several abandoned places along the northern coast. His house seemed empty when he entered, but Pansy scoured the place and returned with her hands behind her back.

"So, taking up with that slag that left you to die," said Pansy.

"Not really."

Pansy's hands came out from behind her back, waving a pair of knickers with the initials HG. "Busted."

"If there's a woman in the house, those things are going to be lying about," he said.

She was still holding them up, a lacy version of a captured banner.

"They get into everything," he said.

"Oh, now we're getting into them, are we," she said.

"You may as well be waving a tube of lipstick. Let's think like adults."

"I am," said Pansy. "I'm thinking about all the adult things you've been up to with a heartless slag."

"If you've quite finished, you can remove your disguise and unpack. I assume you brought the necessities with you. Otherwise, you could scrounge for more lingerie. Maybe you and the heartless slag are the same size."

Pansy told him that had to be the cruelest thing he could say. She tossed the garment into the air, vaporized it with a wave of her wand, and announced she was hungry. He went out and returned with fish and chips. They were on the sofa in front of the fireplace, and as they were eating, she edged closer and closer. By the time he levitated a brandy and two glasses for them, she had her feet under her and her head on her shoulder. He inhaled her scent.

"I'm on holiday," she said.

Gentle fingers stroked her hair. Glossy raven hair. So soft. Gentle tendrils stroked her psyche. Glossy raven psyche. Not so soft.

"I'm tired," she said, "so tired."

"Keeping everything together, all by yourself, is too much," he said.

Eyes flashed at him. "You know," she said.

She became erect and her face hardened and she reached for her wand. He grabbed her wrist. Her other hand went for his eyes. They toppled over. She was trying to knee him in the groin. She was trying to bite his nose. She was trying to head butt him. She was trying to twist free as he wrestled her to the floor. He was fighting to hold the struggling girl down as she tossed him about the room. She was finally exhausted. She was bruised. Her lip was bleeding. She was asking if he was going to kill her and collect the reward or if he was going to kill her and take over.

Or maybe, since her skirt was around her waist and her blouse was torn and one breast was out of her bra and she was already sweaty, he would be a beast first. Wouldn't he like to watch her face as he slid inexorably into her? Wouldn't he like to be the first to get in her pants?

He caught his breath enough to say, "That's a definite yes to both, Miss Pansy, but I want it to be with you clambering over me in unbridled passion."

"What a wuss," she said.

"Quite," he said.

"Wasted foreplay," he said as he helped her to her feet.

"You're not even going to help tuck my breast back into my bra, are you," she said as she ambled to the bathroom to freshen up, but she reappeared five minutes later looking like a schoolgirl on her first date.

"Did I hurt you?" she asked as she stretched out beside him on the rug in front of the fireplace, "and what were you thinking of doing?"

She raised herself to look into his eyes. "You weren't planning to take the money back, were you? The Ministry has been confiscating our property, taking family heirlooms that honored our ancestors, denying us a chance to make a decent living."

He agreed that the dragon gang had not harmed any couriers. They had arrived in overwhelming force, but the rich and powerful would prod the government into providing suitable escorts, and then, people would get hurt. They needed a new strategy.

She protested that her dragon riders couldn't remain idle. They would get into trouble. There was already grumbling that she was too restrained, that a witch wasn't bold enough.

Her eyes sparkled. She had an idea. Why didn't he appear as a Dark Lord, ready to take them to new heights? He could fly in. That and perhaps blasting a few of them would impress them and gain their allegiance. He could appear disguised, and he need only appear once. Afterwards, she would be his close lieutenant and deliver his commands. He remarked that she was as clever as she was lovely, and they would see what kind of plans they could come up with.

Severus was all too aware of the lady snuggling into him. It wasn't the shapely legs or the firm breasts. It was the whole girl, intelligent and vibrant, her warm breath. He wanted to consume her. Her wanted to make her ache for him.

He was staring at the ceiling and thinking the Nagini venom was winning.

"Spending an evening with you was fun," she said, "even though you were something of a disappointment at times."

This lady, too, was asleep before he could form a suitable reply.

He stroked her hair as he fell into a deep sleep. Later, he blearily opened his eyes as Pansy rose. He assumed she was headed to the bedroom to sleep, but she returned with a quilt and thoughtfully placed it over both of them. Near dawn, he was startled awake as Pansy suddenly sat up.

She was looking around wildly. "Where? Where?"

"You're here," he said. "It's okay."

She returned to snuggling.

He woke feeling more rested than he had in ages. He admired the aristocratic lines of Pansy's face, which now seemed angelic.

Nagini nudged him. A fighting angel. You need her. Avenging angel to guardian angel. Challenge her to improve the lot of all and capture her. Can't you tell that's what she wants?

He extricated himself from the sleeping lady and hurried to the lab. As he was selecting his breakfast, however, the cafeteria ladies begin tittering.

"Look, he has a long strand of raven hair on his shirt," said one to another.

"He looks refreshed this morning," said a third.

"He's late. I wonder what kept him in bed," chirped another.

"Does her family know," the first added. "They believe in traditional values."

"Our auditor only met him three days ago," said the first.

"My, doesn't he work fast," said the second.

He paid and was sipping his coffee when a message arrived accompanied by the knowing looks of the cafeteria ladies: Young lovers cannot bear to be separated. He opened the note. It was from Hermione. It was cold on the northern coast. The landscape was barren. She was going to run out of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Severus raged. Hermione was supposed to keep a low profile, not write to him the next day with a message that could be traced. Perhaps he was fortunate that the cafeteria ladies and any of the world who wanted to listen had their own ideas about who would send him private mail.

Nagini stirred. She's lonely and misses you.

Severus ignored the percolating venom. Fresh fruits and vegetables, for sooth.