Strategem

~ Strategem ~

"Are you Miss Granger?" a voice asked from the doorway to the flat Harry, Ron and Hermione had Apparated in front of.

Hermione turned toward the voice and grinned from ear to ear, relieved that her prayers had been answered...at least in part. While she would have preferred to see Severus standing in the doorway, wand drawn, waiting to hex Harry and Ron into oblivion, she was quite content to find two yet-unnamed Aurors. It was the next best thing, anyway.

"We've been sent by a..." The male Auror looked down at a notepad, obviously not from this area to be familiar enough with its residents. "...a Mister Snape, who has claimed that Miss Granger was abducted from Hogsmeade this afternoon."

"Severus? Where is he?" Hermione looked around, expecting to see him nearby, wondering why he hadn't come forward yet.

"He should be arriving soon. We've already sent notice that you've arrived safely. He is checking various establishments in and around Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, thinking that you might have been taken there. He had gotten a little ... impatient ... waiting around here with us. He didn't think we were doing enough, but we can only follow the orders we've been given by the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," the Auror apologized.

"Hermione was with us." Harry snaked an arm protectively around Hermione's waist while reaching around her body with the other, extending a hand toward the male Auror. "Harry Potter. And you are?"

It was obvious that neither Auror had been told who had abducted her. At the mention of the name Harry Potter, the Aurors looked at each other in shock and, to Hermione's distress, awe.

"Richard Weisgard," answered the Auror, who took Harry's hand promptly and began pumping it up and down vigorously. "I am so pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Eugenie Platt." The female Auror reached to take Harry's hand as well, almost pushing Auror Weisgard out of the way. "Might I say, Mister Potter, that we all owe you an enormous debt of gratitude for saving wizarding kind...and Muggle kind as well...from You-Know-Who, I mean."

"Most definitely." Auror Weisgard quickly intercepted the conversation, hoping to get a word in edgewise. "Eugenie and I became Aurors because of your fine example," he added, head bobbing up and down in a vaguely familiar way.

Auror Platt regarded Hermione and Ron carefully. "Well, if you are Hermione Granger, then you must be Ronald Weasley." She seemed pleased with herself for figuring out the identities of Harry's third companion correctly. Turning back to Harry, words continued to tumble out of her mouth. "Our apologies for not recognizing you, Mister Potter. My parents sent me to a lesser-known wizarding school in Germany because of You-Know-Who...they thought I would be safer in a more reclusive area. Anyway, I met Richard there, and I talked him into coming back to Great Britain with me after graduation and working for the Ministry. We only started a week ago; still in training, we are. Can't go against our orders, as we told Mister Snape, or we would have gladly gone with him to search Hogsmeade at the very least. But then we would have missed you, Mister Potter! We learned all about your efforts during the war, as well as yours, Mister Weasley and Miss Granger. I'm afraid we attended a very strict school. They didn't allow us to receive The Daily Prophet, so we saw only the occasional article or photograph while on holiday."

"I cannot believe our luck, Eugenie," Auror Weisgard interrupted. "Not even a week in Great Britain, and we have already met Harry Potter. This is a dream come true!" Richard gushed, and Hermione finally realized who he reminded her of...Colin Creevey. This did not bode well. Harry and Ron were supposed to be arrested. Her plan was unraveling quickly, and she had absolutely no control over it.

"On the contrary," a voice drawled, accompanied by sure, sharp footsteps, "it will be a dream come true the day one of you Aurors is competent enough to do his job."

Hermione could not be more happy to hear that voice. Wrenching herself out of Harry's grasp, she catapulted herself toward the mass of black robes that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"Severus! Oh, I can't tell you how happy I am to see you. I..."

"Mister Snape, sir." Auror Weisgard snapped to attention, verbally pushing Hermione to the side. It seemed that the male Auror had a habit of interrupting. While she had found it somewhat of a relief when he interrupted Auror Platt, she did not appreciate it when she had something of great importance to say. "It seems that Misters Potter and Weasley have delivered Miss Granger from the hands of her abductors. Now that she is safely at home, we can be on our way."

Hermione blanched. "But what about my statement? Don't you want to know what happened? Harry and Ron..."

Harry spoke up quickly. "No need. We took care of her abductors. Believe me, they have learned their lesson and won't be foolish enough to try anything remotely like that again. Thank you for all of your hard work. I'm sure you have better things to do than to hang around and talk all day." He reached out to shake hands once again with an ingratiating smile.

"Right. We should be getting back to the Ministry and write up our report," Auror Weisgard answered, shaking Harry's hand happily. "Not that there is much to tell, of course! If you should need anything...anything at all...don't hesitate to call us."

When Severus laid his hand upon Hermione's shoulder, she realized her mouth was still hanging open, aborted words still on her tongue. Snapping her jaw shut, she fumed. This was just so unfair! Harry and Ron were going to get away with kidnapping her. They were going to get away with purchasing an illegal potion...and forcing her to drink it. This was unbelievable!

"I'm sure Mister Potter won't forget either of you," she heard Severus say through the blood roaring in her ears.

The Aurors Disapparated before Hermione came to her senses enough to realize that Severus was just letting the Aurors go. He wasn't doing anything to stop them. They should be arresting Harry and Ron. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

Harry's hand wrapping itself painfully around her wrist cleared her head in an instant.

"Let go of her, Snape. She doesn't belong to you anymore," Harry growled in Severus' face.

"Oh? And she belongs to you, I gather?" Severus' voice was dangerously low, but he refused to be baited.

"That's right. She belongs to Ron and I. She agreed that we were going to give it another go, the three of us. Tell him, Hermione."

"I didn't agree to anything. Everything I said, I said under duress ... or under the influence of that potion you forced me to drink," she spat, twisting her wrist out of Harry's grasp.

"It was for your own good. I knew we should have waited longer, given the potion more time to work."

The look on Harry's face was venomous. His eyes shone pure hate, like they had every time he had fought with her in the last five years. She could hear the unspoken words as if he had said them aloud: He was right, and he wasn't even about to entertain the idea that someone else might be right or that there was a difference of opinion.

"What potion are you talking about?" Severus turned Hermione to face him, examining her eyes intently, ready to exact swift revenge if he found she was harmed by anything these two bumbling idiots had given her.

"They forced me to drink something. Harry said it was used on brainwashing victims." Now her eyes were spitting fire, much like Harry's were. "I told them I wasn't brainwashed ... Well, no, that's not entirely correct. I let them think that the potion had worked and told them you had brainwashed me and that I would go home with them. But I didn't know where they had taken me. Harry took my wand ... There were wards ... It was the only way I could think of to get away."

Severus glared at the two boys, who had taken up offensive stances only a couple paces away; as though there would be a chance to grab Hermione and save her once again from the evil clutches of the Potions master.

"Whatever you gave her, you were misled. If indeed you had given her a potion that did what you were told...and a potion like that is a highly illegal substance, monitored under strict conditions by the Ministry...she would be violently ill right now. I suppose whoever sold it to you didn't tell you of that unfortunate side effect? Never mind that when administered to subjects who haven't been brainwashed, there would be no physiological...or psychological...results whatsoever."

"You're nutters, Snape," Ron finally spoke up. "Hermione would never have gone with you otherwise."

"How dare you!" Hermione yelled and whipped out her wand, aiming it at the both of them.

Only then did Harry and Ron back down, and only then did they have the decency to wipe the vindictive snarls from their faces, in exchange for something a little more fearful and respectful of the power Hermione wielded. They knew her abilities better than anyone, and it was a little scary being on the receiving end of her wand.

"Do you know what I should do to the both of you? No. Let's start with what I should have done back at that rat hole of a flat you took me to. I should have Petrified you, bound you and left you on the Ministry's doorstep with a note. That's what I should have done. But I underestimated your charm, Harry Potter," she said, her words dripping with sarcasm.

"Let's see." She slowly advanced on the two men, grinning ferally when they began backing away. "I could strip you both naked, force you into an obscenely compromising position, and leave you in front of The Three Broomsticks for all to see. I wonder how many people would have a good laugh at the boy who lived and his sidekick, mouths stuffed with each other's cocks ... Oh, but I imagine that would make bad business for poor Rosmerta, since so many people would undoubtedly lose their appetites.

"No. I think what I will do is hex the both of you...perhaps permanently...with a corkscrew hex ... on your bollocks. I've read how it makes them twist up and tighten every time you try to have sex. Undoubtedly, it's quite painful. Lavender used it on her cheating son-of-a-hag husband a couple years back. He ended up in St. Mungo's for a month. Yes. That sounds just about right. Intorqueo..."

Severus trapped her wand hand at the last second, before the last word of the spell left her lips, and whispered in her ear through gritted teeth. "They are not worth it. We will have our revenge ... with careful planning and in due time."

Letting her wand fall at her side, she stared at the two men...who looked more at the moment like two frightened little boys at having their manhoods so threatened...and turned away.

"Can we go home now? The company leaves something to be desired." Hermione spat, fed-up with everything that had happened...or rather what had not happened.

"Best idea I've heard all day," Severus answered and took her hand, Disapparating them both.

~~~o o~~~

Still angry after Apparating in front of the gates to Hogwarts, Hermione turned on Severus, needing to take her frustrations out on someone.

"Why didn't you let me hex them? They deserved it. You have no idea what they put me through, that horrid potion they made me drink. Harry even tried forcing himself on me." There, she thought. That should at least make an impression.

"Hexes are temporary fixes," Severus said calmly, unmoved by what she had said. "What they did to you is unforgivable. I agree, you most certainly deserve to have your revenge, but it should be well thought out ... and something they should never forget."

Her anger abated somewhat, and she backed down. What he said made sense. She was so lucky to have Severus around with his infinitely cooler head. Perhaps that was what made Slytherins different from Gryffindors. They had the patience to plot out their revenge. She usually went for the more immediately satisfying approach like hexing ... or slapping someone in the face.

"But I don't understand. Who were those Aurors ... and why didn't you insist that they arrest Harry and Ron? I just can't believe how unfair this is!"

Severus grabbed her two hands in his, and his eyes pleaded with her to understand. "I agree that it's unfair. I went to Kingsley first, not through the usual Ministry channels. I told him exactly who had taken you and briefly what had transpired. He told me that there was no way I could walk into the Ministry saying that Harry Potter abducted someone...certainly not you...and be taken seriously. So I did the next best thing and said I hadn't seen who had taken you. And your case was assigned to the two newest members of the team, who were just waiting to get their feet wet."

Hermione sighed. There would never be any public retribution where Harry Potter was concerned. He was held in too high regard with the Ministry. If she wanted to see justice done...if she wanted to feel confident that something like this would never happen again...she would have to take matters in her own hands. They would have to take matters into their own hands. She had Severus at her side, and that brought a smile to her face.

Taking the vial of mostly used-up potion out of her pocket, she held it out for Severus to take.

"I think this might be helpful. I took it when they weren't paying attention."

The pride that was so ... Gryffindor-ishly apparent in Severus' eyes made her heart swell painfully in her chest. Suddenly, it became easy to push aside the tribulations of the day and focus on the man who had fought through all the "right" channels on her behalf; the man who searched for her through the not-so-right channels; the man who had spent so much time worrying about her today.

Severus took the vial, tilting it up to the last rays of the sunset. "There's still a few drops in here. Well done. With this, perhaps we can make them pay for what they've done to you."

"What would I do without you, Severus?" Hermione whispered and pulled him down to tenderly kiss his lips.

He bent readily to accept her kiss and returned it softly. Then a second ... and a third. Kisses that turned slightly more urgent and not-so-tender. Kisses that deepened and brought their bodies flush against each other. After a while, she remembered that they were still standing at the gates and broke the connection.

Severus cleared his throat. "I don't know about you, but as much as I'd like to continue this, I would very much like to know what is in this bottle."

"Oh, you have no idea how much I want to know," she replied, taking his hand and pulling him toward the castle.

~~~o o~~~

Hermione wiped the perspiration from her forehead. They had been working for an hour, trying to coax the few drops left in the bottle into giving up its individual ingredients. Severus made a few more quick notations on a notepad next to his worktable and looked up at her with a triumphant grin.

"Now I know it must be something good for you to smile like that," she commented, leaning over him to read what he had written. "Asphodel? Peppermint? Sopohorous beans? Hellebore? Bubotuber pus? Well, at least I won't break out in spots this month. What in the world was this potion they bought anyway? This is nothing I've ever heard of."

"I can tell you what it's not. But more importantly, I can tell you what it was before someone decided to...very dangerously, I might add...alter its ingredients; though to what end, I'm not sure."

Severus paused for dramatic effect. And paused a little too long.

"Well, what do you want me to do? Get on my knees and beg?"

An eyebrow shot up in amusement, and Severus answered, "Sounds like a good idea to me."

"Impertinent Slytherin." She tried to look vexed, but ended up grinning instead. "Well? What do I have to do to get you to tell me...don't you answer that, Severus Snape!"

He laughed. "All right. No need to get your knickers in a bunch." He winked at her when she actually succeeded in looking annoyed. "Now, now. I think what I have to tell you will be worth all the teasing, my dear."

"It better be," she grouched, although rather unconvincingly.

"This, although altered from its original state, was once an impotence potion, usually administered by wives who no longer found sexual intercourse with their husbands very ... interesting." He waited for the full effect of his words to sink in. As the implications of this relatively small discovery dawned on her face, he continued. "I have no idea why someone tried to alter it. It looks as though someone...definitely not a Potions mater by a long shot...tried to make the effects more lasting. Although why someone would sell this to Harry Potter, I don't know. Of course, there could be a hundred different reasons...."

"I'd say." Her voice had a faraway quality to it that Severus definitely appreciated at the moment.

"It should be noted that an impotence potion is in no way illegal, which should appeal to your Gryffindor sensibilities."

"Indeed." A small smile wormed its way to the corners of her mouth. "And how long would it take to brew something like this?"

"Oh, no more than a week," he answered and smiled, quite happy that her train of thought seemed to be mimicking his own. "But to adjust the properties so that the effects would be more ... permanent, let's say, it might take another week, slightly more."

"Oh, I don't know ... permanent? Do we dare to go that far? I mean, that's a little harsh, even for all that Harry's done to me."

"Where's that Gryffindor courage your house is always touting?" Severus baited her, hoping to get a rise.

Hermione looked Severus square in the eyes. "Maybe not permanent, but how about we make him suffer for every day he let me suffer? Starting from when I started dating him, that would be five years, two months and six days ... Take into account the amount of time it will take to brew the potion, five years, two months, and three weeks."

"Deal." And Severus held out his hand to make the decision binding.

A/N: I have to thank my glorious admins for offering a couple suggestions, which lubricated my imagination. Especially to phoenix, who suggested that perhaps revenge should come in the form of a potion. (It might seem a bit obvious, but like I said, my creative juices had dried up.) Thank the girls, for without them this chapter would definitely have been some time in coming.

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