Chapter 3

Grinding the sleep from her eyes, Hermione looked around in confusion. “Oh,” she said glumly as the memories from the night before came back to her. The last thing she remembered was Snape and Lavender going down the hall to do Merlin knows what. She frowned in distaste as she thought of the smug smile Lavender had flashed at her when Snape had chosen her.

“Does she hate me so much that she’ll try to beat me in everything – even in who gets raped first?” she mused aloud. It was then that she heard the humming coming from the kitchen. Someone seemed happy. She made her way to the room, expecting to find a sexually sated Snape. Instead, the sight of Lavender, clad in a sheer, purple nightgown and matching robe, met her eyes. Her hair was swept up from her face in an untidy arrangement at the top of her head that made her look admittedly alluring.

“Oh, Hermione, sleep well, did you?” Lavender asked, tossing a towel onto the counter beside her.

“No, but apparently, you did,” Hermione said, wrinkling her nose.

The other girl opened her see-through robes even more to show off her jutting cleavage. She ran a hand over the beaded decoration just near her bosom and slid it down to rest on her stomach. “Lovely, isn’t it? Severus gave it to me.”

Hermione’s eyes widened. “You’re calling him by his given name? He’s giving you clothing?” Her voice held an accusatory tone, though she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Instead of being offended, Lavender’s nasty smile widened, and she leaned closer to whisper, “I see you’re still wearing the same thing that you wore last night… and that you slept in the sitting room—cold and alone.” She straightened and brought a hand up as if to check her manicured fingernails. “Oh, don’t look so surprised.” Her voice suddenly hardened. “I’m going to come through this unscathed. I won’t fight anything, and I’ll simply go with the flow to make certain that they have no reason to harm me.” She began buttering some toast that she’d made. “I think Ron would appreciate having me back in one piece and would admire my strength of enduring the situation, even if I had to do a few distasteful things—or actually, not so distasteful.”

She winked, picked up the plate of toast, and brushed by Hermione, whose mouth was gaping open in shock. After a few moments, Hermione came to her senses. Lavender might be content to play Snape’s paramour or to let the Lestranges play with her, but she certainly wouldn’t do the same. She quickly went to the door and tried to open it, getting a jolt of magic that shocked her and knocked her on her arse for her trouble.

“There has to be a way out of here,” she said softly.

“Actually, the only way you can leave is if I allow you to,” Snape said from behind.

Turning to find him leaning against the counter, she boldly asked, “Will you allow me to?”

“That remains to be seen,” he said, moving forward to extend a hand to her.

She didn’t take it, standing on her own merit instead. “What are you going to do with me?”

“What, Miss Granger, would you like me to do with you?” he asked, stepping closer to her. “Do you want me to give you clothing such as those your friend is wearing? Do you wish to share my bed?” At this, his hand came up to rest on her shoulder before using one finger to slide down to her bosom. “What are you willing to do to live, to be free?”

Hermione swallowed thickly and moved back, not wanting to be taken in by the spell he was trying to weave. “I just want…”

“Yes, Miss Granger?” he asked, moving to close in the gap her step had given them.

“I want to live, to be free, to make my own choices, and to go back to Ron and—”

“Weasley, who beds other girls the moment you turn your back?” he asked, eyes glinting.

“That’s not… I don’t…” She frowned. “I just want to be away from here.”

His head lowered slowly, and his obsidian eyes flashed as they bore into hers. ‘He’s going to kiss me,’ she thought in panic. However, she didn’t move back any further, wanting to stand her ground. Her lips parted to tell him to not do it, but she found that the words wouldn’t come to her. She closed her eyes then, ready to accept his invasion.

It never came.

She opened her eyes and saw the amused expression on his face, which was now not close to her, as he’d taken a few steps back. “Legilimency, Miss Granger, tells me much.” He nodded behind him. “You may use the lav and find some clothing in the closet in the last room on the left, which will be where you can sleep while you stay here.”

With that, he turned on his heel and left her alone, chest heaving and heart beating quickly. There was a sense of confusion that came over her. Was she disappointed that he hadn’t kissed her? No. Surely that was just a horrid part of her that wanted to kiss someone—anyone—to pay Ronald back for what he’d done.

Quickly, she went to the room he’d indicated, passing a closed door on her way that had to be the room Lavender was in, as she could hear her laughter. The room was quite small and plain. Within the closet, she found very old, out of fashion, matronly clothes. The frown still on her mouth deepened. She didn’t want to truly be here, of course, but if she had to be here, why couldn’t she be treated as an equal?

Thoughts of Ron flashed through her mind, and she sank to the floor and gave in to tears. He’d betrayed her. This was all his fault. Even someone like Snape had noticed that Ron’s actions weren’t honorable. She sniffed and wiped her eyes. Determination replaced her anguish. Lavender had said that she was going to take things in stride. “Well, I can bloody well do the same thing,” Hermione growled aloud, snatching one of the many black dresses from the closet. “Won’t give me any sheer, silky clothing, eh? I’ll show him how a Granger takes things in stride.” Decisions made, she stalked out the room towards the lav.

A/N: Sorry for the delay but my beta was busy. Thank you, Madam Goodsnatch, for your help, but also, a thank you goes to CocoaChristy for being nice enough to look this over.