Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I’m borrowing JKR’s characters for my story, and I’m not making money for it, but I hope you are entertained.

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“How did you do it?” asked Lavender, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.

“Sorry?” Hermione was confused and a bit irritated that the girl had interrupted her just as she’d got to a good part in the book she was reading.

“How did you get Snape to choose you over me?” She leaned forward. “I know he stayed the night in your room last night, and I heard the two of you!” She shook a finger in Hermione’s face. “You’ve cast some spell over him!”

“First of all, if you don’t get your finger out of my face, I’m going to break it. Second thing, I did nothing to him.” Here she smirked smugly. “It appears that the better woman has won; that’s all.”

Wrinkling her nose, Lavender pulled her hand back and scathingly said, “Well, Ron has good taste anyway. We both know who he chooses to return to time and again.”

Hermione was stung, but she didn’t let the bint know. “Yes, we know which of us he uses like a common whore and tosses aside.” She yawned as if bored. “And we both know that he would have married me, not you.”

“Would have?” Suddenly, panicked, Lavender lowered her voice to a whisper, asking, “Do you think we’ll never get out of here then?”

“I do think we will,” Hermione said gently, expression softening. “I only mean that whether it’s what he wants or not, I won’t have him. I deserve to be treated with respect, and this just all proves that maybe…” Her voice trailed away as surprise settled over her. “It proves that Ron and I aren’t meant to be together.”

“So I win then,” Lavender said proudly. “He’s mine.”

“No, Lavender,” Hermione said, flashing a toothy grin, “this means that I win. I’m the one that’s calling it quits, not him. It’s not like he’s leaving me for you, and you can be with him if you’d like. I don’t care anymore.” And she realized that she was speaking the truth. Something wonderful had happened between her and Snape. She never would have thought it possible, but it had happened, making her realize that there was so much more to him than she’d ever imagined.

“Ah, here you are,” Snape said from the doorway. “I’ve something for you, Miss Brown.”

“Is that right?” she asked, voice husky. She gave Hermione a knowing expression before sashaying over to Snape. “And just what would that be?”

He held out a long, silver chain. “This.”

“Oh, Severus, this is just lovely,” she gushed, lifting her hair and turning her back to him. “Put it on me!” As he placed the chain around her neck and fastened it, she smiled mockingly at Hermione and stuck her tongue out in a childish gesture. “Thank you so much.” She turned around to face him again and attempted to hug him, but he lifted a hand to stop her advance. “What did I do to win such a lovely gift?”

“Gift?” he asked with a sneer. “It’s a Portkey.” He flicked his wand to activate. “I do believe the Lestranges are expecting you.”

“What? Oh, but…”

An instant later, Lavender disappeared, leaving them alone. Hermione felt a little sorry for the girl, but part of her felt that it served her right, especially after the way she’d just acted.

“I heard what you said to her,” Snape said, moving closer. “And in the light of day after you’ve had time to think over what we’ve done last night, do you still choose to stay here to help me with what I’ve asked of you?”

“Yes, that’s not changed. I want to help in any way that I can.” She gave him a small smile. “I’ve thought about it most of the morning.”

He lifted a hand and traced the curve of her shoulder. “I’ve thought of last night, too.”

She licked her lips and took a step closer. “I… We’re alone now.”

“Indeed.” He arched an eyebrow. “Are you suggesting something?”

“Maybe.”

Their lips met for a tender kiss. He pulled back to gauge her reaction. Seeing her heavily lidded eyes and inviting lips, he kissed her again, more soundly, their hands frantically working to disrobe each other. He maneuvered them to where he was seated on the couch and pulled her onto his lap so that she could straddle him.

“Ride me,” he said, half command and half plea.

Hermione reached between them to guide his hard cock into her, sliding down slowly, enjoying the filling sensation. “Mmmm.” Testing her movement tentatively, she bit her lip and tossed her head back, sensation overwhelming her. Yes, she would stay with Snape for as long as he needed her help… for as long as he needed her. She’d never felt so womanly, so powerful, so needed.

“Just like that,” he murmured against the flesh of her breast.

Emboldened, she began sliding up and down faster, harder… and ground her pelvis against his when their bodies met, causing a delicious jolt of feeling to pulse through her veins. “Oh, good God…”

Much later, after taking much time to learn more about each other and after sharing a bath, they finally began reading over the notes Snape had made when attempting to create something to counter the potion’s hold on the person who wore clothes washed in it.

“How could you be fucking Malfoy?” Ron asked angrily when Harry made his way to the kitchen.

“What are you on about?”

“You broke things off with my sister, and now you’re throwing down your trousers to let Malfoy… I saw what happened last night,” Ron said. He’d planned on calmly talking things out with Harry, but the moment his friend entered the room, he couldn’t help blurting out everything.

“It’s not…” Harry’s face was red, and his expression was guilty.

“Don’t you have anything to say? How’d it come about? Why Malfoy?”

“It’s a long story,” he finally said.

“Well,” Ron began, sitting back down, “come on then. We’ve got the time.”

Once Harry sat down, he ran his fingers through his hair and poured himself a glass of juice from the pitcher Ron had put on the table. “It’s complicated.”

“Harry, I just didn’t know that you like blokes,” Ron said. “Never seen you looking at me in that sort of way.”

“I don’t like blokes,” he defended.

“Is that right? Seemed to like one last night.”

“All right, if you want to know, I’ll tell you everything,” Harry said in defeat.

Ron listened as Harry recounted what had happened in the castle, and he wondered what he would have done in the same situation. Likely he would have kicked Malfoy’s arse for even threatening anything, but then he remembered the way Harry looked as the blond git touched him. Would he turn down something offered? He supposed if nobody knew about it, then it wouldn’t be so bad. It wasn’t like he would be the one doing anything.

“So, where does that leave Ginny?” Ron asked once Harry was done.

“I love Ginny,” Harry said heatedly. “I just didn’t think it was right to carry on with what I’d done. I need time to deal with that and with Voldemort! And now… and now this happened.” He took a sip of his juice and pondered his next words. “I don’t know what to do, Ron. Really.”

“I won’t tell Ginny,” he said quietly. “Right now, we need to try to find Hermione and Lavender. Did the git say anything about where they might be?”

Harry smirked. “As a matter of fact, I think there’s a deal he’s willing to work out with us.”

Ron grinned. “Now you’re talking. Let’s hear it then.”

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A/N: Thanks for reading, everyone! Thank you, Madam Goodsnatch, for the help!