Chapter Text
“Granger, I will let you go if you promise not to scream or punch me in the nose again. I’m not going to hurt you, I swear.” The unmistakable voice of Draco Malfoy issued in her ear. Her heart was pounding in her chest and the effort of breathing against his hand was making her face moist with spit.
“I don’t want to use Potrificus Totalus, I don’t know how that would work with Polyjuice.” He whispered and she relaxed a little in his grasp. There was no malice in his voice, which had disarmed her momentarily. In all the time they had known each other, Malfoy had never spoken so softly to her.
“Okay, I’m going to let you go now, but remember I have your wand. I will give it back to you, once I know you’re not going to blast my balls off.” He said, and a moment later she felt his grip on her face loosen.
She turned around abruptly and pushed his towering frame away from her. The alleyway was still deserted, but she had miscalculated the strength of her muggle form, and her shove caused him to fall to the ground.
“Fucking hell, Granger.” He said as he examined his scuffed hand whilst still holding firmly onto her wand.
“How do you know it's me?” She asked, enjoying being able to look down on him for a change.
“I’d recognise your bushy hair anywhere.” He answered, and his derisive tone sounded much more familiar.
“I miscalculated my dose. I only have about ten minutes left before I change back, so you need to make this quick.”
“Are you still with Snape?” He asked and it was the first opportunity she had taken to properly look at him. He was thinner than she remembered, and it looked as if he hadn’t slept in months.
“How do you know I’m living with Severus?” She questioned, and his responding brow arch due to her use of their former professor’s first name, pissed her off.
“I was there when he saved you. My father was punished for giving him apparition rights to the manor.”
“Why aren’t you with your father now?” She asked as memories of that night assaulted her mind. She remembered the silky texture of the dress in particular and it made her feel sick.
“He smuggled me out of the manor. I’m as dead as you are if I'm captured, trust me. I was just about to apparate to 12 Grimmauld Place when I saw you.” He answered and her mind scrambled with too many thoughts all at once.
“What? How do you know about Grimmauld Place?” She pressed, feeling a panicky sensation prickling the back of her head.
“Dumbledore gave my father the location. It’s so weird talking to you when you look like that.” He said after getting to his feet and brushing the dirt from his trousers.
“Why on earth would Dumbledore do that?” She quizzed, ignoring his reference to her current male form.
“In exchange for my father killing him. I should have probably led with that. Dumbledore is dead. It's all over the Prophet this morning, haven’t you seen?” He went on, and she suddenly felt faint. Her hatred of her former headmaster was still very real, but hearing that he was now dead was still a gut punch.
“When?”
“Last night. In front of Riddle at the manor. They arranged it between themselves on the condition that I was given protection by the Order until the end of the war. I wouldn’t have let my father do it for my sake, but he didn’t let me in on the plan until this morning.” He explained, and she was just about to ask further questions when she felt the Polyjuice potion finally wear off.
After a few moments she stood before Malfoy in clothes that were far too big for her.
“I’d say you look better, Granger, but I don’t want to lie.” He quipped and she felt like punching him in the nose all over again.
“If you gave me back my wand I could transfigure my clothes.” She said irritably and he looked at her, hesitating.
“You won’t curse me if I do?” He asked as he fiddled with the handle of her wand.
“Considering Dumbledore died to get you into the Order headquarters, I think it would be a little peevish of me to undo his efforts. Even if I’m not his number one fan at the moment.”
“He was dying anyway apparently, but this way the Order have their spy back on the inside, now that Snape decided to play hero for you.”
“How do you know so much?” She asked, feeling more inclined to trust him.
“My father gave me a very quick run down of the truth before he snuck me out of the manor this morning.” Malfoy explained and he suddenly looked so changed from her memory. Gone was the school bully who thought his blood status gave him the right to insult her daily. In his place stood a shadow of the boy she had known. The aristocratic demeanour was still there, but it was buried beneath the weight of war; of having seen too much, too young.
“We can’t linger here much longer. Like you say, we’re both dead if we’re caught.” Hermione said as she scanned the alleyway for any shoppers.
“Here, I’m trusting you.” Malfoy stated as he handed back her wand. She took it hurriedly and then transformed her clothes back to normal in an instant.
“Can you tell Snape what’s happened and get him to contact me at Grimmauld Place?”
“Okay, but don’t tell anyone at Grimmauld Place that you have seen me.”
“I think my presence there is going to be as welcome as a dose of dragon pox, I don’t think casual conversation will be on the menu, do you?” He sneered, but she was certain that he wasn’t going to be welcomed by them with open arms either.
“Perhaps not, but Dumbledore will have thought of every eventuality, don’t worry.” She said acerbically and Malfoy’s refined but depleted features curled into a smirk.
“Wow, you’re really not his fan are you, Granger?”
“Let's get to the apparition point.” She said, ignoring his question and casting a strong disillusion charm on the both of them.
“Bossy as ever, I see.” He whispered as they hurried towards the nearest apparition point.
“Go, Malfoy, before we are seen.” She told him once they had reached their destination, and after giving her one last glance he turned on the spot and vanished. Without delaying a moment longer, Hermione turned determinedly concentrating with all her might on Spinner’s end.
***
The scent of her jasmine shampoo still lingered in his nostrils as he tried to ignore the clock on the wall of his lab. He was carefully decanting the finished Polyjuice potion into fresh vials ready for new muggle hairs whenever he got around to retrieving them. It probably wasn’t the best time to be doing such finicky work when he was so worked up, but he needed a distraction from her absence.
The two hour mark was fast approaching and he was no closer to bringing his heart rate under control. The look in her eyes when he had pinned her up against the bookcase refused to leave his mind. Her openness and willingness was a torturous temptation he had almost given into. He wanted her, and for some unfathomable reason she seemed to want him too. He had wanted to take her there and then. To claim her and give into his desires, but she had no idea of the sort of man he really was.
She was taken with the heroic concept of a man who had rescued her from Malfoy Manor. Not the real him. The jealous, possessive and snarky him, who would consume her and never let her go.
He heard her only the night before, touching herself and the knowledge that it was him that she had thought of when she climaxed was tormenting his mind and body. For so many years he had suppressed the part of him that wanted to dominate and worship a woman’s body and now she had awoken that within him. The fact that she was almost twenty years his junior and his former pupil made the realisation that he desired her all the more troubling, but he couldn’t deny it any longer.
Now she was putting herself at risk again because he didn’t have the courage to take what he wanted for once in his life. He wanted her. That truth hit him like a punch to the stomach. Why he had not kissed her earlier that morning he could only put down to his years of conditioning as double agent and spy. He was not supposed to want anything for himself. He was supposed to be focused solely on the mission to rid the world of Voldemort, but ever since he had taken her from Malfoy Manor, she had been all he could think of.
The two hour mark came and went and he gave up on trying to decant the potion. His hands were beginning to shake. Where was she? Had she decided to leave him altogether? The idea assaulted him like a demon and he felt the air leave his lungs. She was a capable witch; he knew that. She had kept her hapless friends alive this long, but every time he imagined her out in the world alone, he saw the look on Antonin Dolohov’s face. What they had wanted to put her through.
She was strong and fierce, but she had no idea of how dark the world really was. Now, she was putting herself in danger because he couldn’t get out of his own way. Admitting his feelings was one thing, but accepting that he deserved a woman like her was an entirely different thing altogether. His previous experiences with the opposite sex had been tragic at best. Physical encounters that meant nothing to him, other than scratching an itch. Hermione was worth so much more than that.
The only other woman he had ever felt anything for had been dead for almost eighteen years. Their friendship was long over before her demise, and the reason she had cast him aside had been his own foolish fault. Lashing out when he was scared had been all he had ever known; surely if he let Granger into his heart, he would only hurt her in the long run.
It was Hermione’s amber eyes that he thought of as he picked up one of the last pre-prepared vials of Polyjuice and made his way back up to the living area. He needed to search for her; to at least attempt to find her in the chaos. By now the potion she had taken would have run its course, so other than a decent disillusionment charm she was out there completely exposed. Would she return to Grimmauld Place? He dismissed that idea quickly at the remembrance of her desperation to leave the place when she was half dead. He would start in Diagon Alley.
Unstopping the vial, he was prevented from throwing it back by the sudden crack of apparition. The vial, along with his body, was thrown to the floor as a small figure collided with his. The smell of jasmine and orange blossom filled his senses, and then a pair of whiskey coloured eyes bore into his, in shock and gratefulness, as if the chance to be so entwined with him was the happiest of accidents. She was suddenly there; everywhere, and the relief of having her back, hit him straight in the heart.
His hand instinctively clutched her waist and his other, he buried in her wild hair, gripping it firmly and making her breath catch. Their faces were only centimetres apart and there was a question in her eyes as she looked down at his mouth, and for the briefest of moments he hesitated, feeling his heart and mind warring against each other one final time. When she leaned forward fractionally and touched her lips to his, there was no more restraint left in him.
He cupped her jaw with both hands and crashed his mouth against hers, devouring her sweet taste as if it was the drink of life. Her answering moan ignited a fire within his chest that made the possessive side of his personality roar with victory. He would have her, and he would never let her go, consequences be damned. For her, he would burn the whole fucking world down.
She begged for admittance to his mouth and he opened gladly, tasting her tongue and feasting on the sweetest lips he had ever kissed. It was like taking a lungful of fresh air after being suffocated for so long, and he wished for the moment to never end. When her hands pulled at his shirt and she curled one hand into the hair at the nape of his neck, he knew she would be able to feel exactly how much he wanted her in that moment.
Slowing the kiss down he stroked her cheekbone as they both knelt together on the floor by the extinguished fireplace.
“You’re late.” He breathed onto her lips as they both panted together. Her tiny fist was still grasping his shirt and he could feel her pulse fluttering in her neck. He imagined his own would feel exactly the same. She chuckled and kissed the side of his mouth and he knew he was lost.
“I can explain.” She whispered and her smile threatened to completely undo him.
“Not yet.” Severus uttered as his lips took possession of hers once more. Now that he had opened the floodgates he wanted to drown in her. He wandlessly ignited the fire and laid her down on the rug kissing as much of her flesh as her clothes would allow. He needed to show restraint, but her whimpers and movements beneath him were making it very hard, literally.
When her hands reached for his belt he was forced to pull back to stop her. The look of needy petulance on her face at his hesitance made him swear under his breath. The desire to tear her clothes off and fuck her right there and then was almost too strong to resist, but he knew she was a virgin; his own animalistic urges would have to wait.
“Severus, please.” She moaned against his ear as she kissed his jaw and throat, all the while pressing her body against his. Temptress!
“You’re going to lie there while I undress you.” He commanded and her pupils blew wide.
He got to pushing her jacket off her shoulders and then lifted the material of her jumper over her head, revealing a flimsy lace bra underneath. Her breasts were perfect, round and pert and with rosy nipples that were already erect. He wasted no time in covering them with his mouth, soaking the material and biting down slightly on the raised buds, which made her release a sound that went straight to his cock.
“Stay still.” He chuckled as she writhed beneath him. Reaching behind her he unclasped her bra and pulled away the garment, setting her incredible breasts free.
“Severus, you’re driving me crazy.” She whined as he took a moment to admire her naked flesh.
“Hermione, behave.” He chided in his most authoritative tones and her answering moan made him smile before he took possession of her freed nipple, sucking on one and rolling the other between his fingers.
She desperately assisted him in lowering her trousers and knickers, and when she was completely bare to him he could feel his turgid erection rubbing achingly against the seam of his own pants. He trailed his hand all over her receptive body, noting the scar that went from her chest to her hip, worshipping it with kisses as she threaded her fingers into his hair.
He cupped her sex and could see that she was already dripping wet and ready for him. The scent of her arousal was heady but he didn’t want to push her too far too fast, so instead of feasting on her core as he wanted to, he instead raked his hand down her stomach taking his fingers and sliding them into her slick heat with ease.
“You’re drenched, Miss Granger.” He breathed as he lowered himself next to her and watched her fall apart under his touch. She leaned up and kissed his mouth, taking his bottom lip between her teeth and nipping it as his fingers pressed gently onto her clit, rubbing in slow circles that seemed to be driving her insane.
“Ah, fuck. I can’t..”
“Was this what you were imagining last night, Hermione? When you were touching yourself? Touching what is now mine.” He growled into her ear, and she whimpered as her warm slick folds slid against his fingers.
“Yes!” She confirmed, and as he took complete control of her pleasure he slowly and carefully pushed one finger inside her hot entrance, marvelling at how tightly she gripped just one digit. He was right to take things slowly.
“Fuck, I’m getting close.”
“Such a filthy mouth, Hermione. I would never have thought you capable of such words. You’re so beautiful. You’re going to come so nicely for me aren’t you?” He praised and her frantic nodding, along with the fluttering of her pelvic muscles told him she was already on the brink. He slowed down slightly and pulled her back from the edge and then started to pump his finger inside her, loosening her walls before adding another alongside the first, curling them against her front wall.
He used the pad of his thumb to continue stimulating her clit and this time when she got close he would allow her to plunge over. His own release he could deal with later. This moment was all about her. He kissed and sucked on her neck as her pussy began to wind up, rising from the floor as his relentless movements brought her closer and closer to the edge.
“Please, don’t stop. Please, fuck…” She wailed and a moment later as he took possession of her mouth with his own, she came, bucking and spasming around his fingers, as he saw her through wave after wave of her orgasm.
He kissed her tenderly, before wrapping his arms around her body and focusing on his bedroom. They landed swiftly on the cool sheets of his bed and as his lips left hers he noticed that she was shaking from head to toe.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just need a minute.” She answered as she buried her face against his neck and the grip on his shirt relaxed. He pulled her into his body and stroked the soft skin of her back as she came down from her high. When her trembling stopped, her hand began to travel down towards his belt and the large bulge concealed by his pants.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you think?” She said as her hand continued its descent towards his cock.
“There is no need.” He whispered and he took her hand, halting its progress.
“You don’t want to…”
“Very much so yes, but there is plenty of time for that.” He went on as he kissed her neck and drank in her scent.
“You’re going to kill me, Severus.”
“Where would the fun in that be? Now lie back and relax.”
She giggled as she complied and he took the opportunity to admire her perfect body. The hair on her pussy was shaved into a thin neat rectangle and it made holding back impossible. Kissing and marking her breasts he tasted her skin until he caressed the juncture between her hip and pubic bone.
“I want to taste you, Hermione.” He breathed as he settled between her thighs, kissing the soft flesh and looking up towards her blissed out face for her consent. Her eyes met his and she nodded slowly before collapsing back against his pillows. He wasted no time in burying his tongue inside her drenched folds, thrilling in her sweet and salty taste as it enveloped his tongue.
“I’ve never done this before.” She panted out breathily, but her voice was soon lost when he latched into her swollen clit and began to suck.
From the way she gyrated beneath him, he knew it wouldn’t be long until she came again, but he wanted to savour her pleasure and wring it out for as long as possible. He had discarded his outer robes and was thankfully just in his dress shirt as he leisurely mapped out the territory of cunt with his tongue.
“It's too much, Severus, I’m gonna come again. Oh my fucking god.” She called out and he smiled as he took his tongue off her clit and thrust it inside her dripping channel. He couldn't get enough of her, and the obscene noises she was making only fuelled his enthusiasm.
When he slipped two fingers inside her, curling them, he flattened his tongue against her erect clit and she seemed to lose the power of all speech. Her hands grasped onto his head and she almost pushed him further into her heat as her body began to cant and rise off the mattress in its search of release. He hooked his hands around her buttocks and pushed her back into the bed as he increased the speed of his tongue, sliding it up and down in quick succession until she exploded against him. His erect cock was almost painfully hard against the mattress as he lapped up her nectar and saw her through the release, but he would show restraint.
He joined her a few moments later at the top of the bed and she kissed him soundly, tasting herself on his lips. Once her body had stopped twitching she snuggled into his chest covering them both with his sheets before slipping into a peaceful sleep.
***
Hermione awoke in an unfamiliar bed. She was naked and her body felt amazing. Stretching out her arms she reached to the opposite side of the bed and found a cold empty space. Fuck!
“I’d say good morning, but it's only early evening.” Snape’s voice issued from the dressing table at the side of the room, making her jump. She sat up and gathered the sheets around her exposed chest and then started laughing as the shock settled.
“Can you come here, so I don’t feel like you regret kissing me?” Hermione said shyly, reaching out her hand to him whilst still holding up the sheet. She didn’t necessarily feel awkward but the kiss and what had happened after had taken her by surprise, so she was starting to feel a little vulnerable. Thankfully, he didn’t hesitate and instead came over, getting onto the bed over the covers and bringing her into his arms.
“Are you okay?” He asked as she buried her face into his chest and breathed in the scent on his shirt.
“Yeah, I just can’t look at you and not smile, but I can’t tell you what happened on the supply run with a stupid happy look on my face.” She admitted and she felt a blush rise on her cheeks.
“Take a moment.”
“Before I tell you this, you have to promise that you won’t retreat back in yourself now that we’ve kissed.”
“I can assure you that I won’t. I would not have allowed things to go further if that was the case.”
“So you’re admitting that you like me?”
“You’re being impossible, Hermione.” He said gruffly into the top of her head and she held him tighter.
“At least you’ve stopped calling me Miss Granger.”
“I can go back to calling you that, if you don’t hurry up and tell me what happened while you were gone.” He chided and the deep sound of his voice against her ear made her body tingle.
“Maybe I would feel better about talking if I had a top on.” She said and in a hurry Severus got up and pulled a black t-shirt from his dresser and handed it to her. She put it on and it swamped her frame, but it smelled of him and his scent did amazing things for her.
“Better?”
“Maybe if I kiss you, I’ll calm down and it won’t be such a thing.” She said and he grumbled before cupping her face and bringing his lips to hers. As soon as they connected the restless feeling in her body began to settle down. It was real. It hadn’t just been a freak one off lapse in his control that he now regretted – there was potential for it to continue. Or at least it seemed that way.
When she had left the house that morning the possibility of him kissing her had been as far from her mind as possible. She just didn’t think he had the ability to allow himself to have something he wanted.
Unfortunately she had underestimated her own need and ability to show restraint, so after a few moments, what had started out as a tender kiss, turned into her getting over excited and licking his lower lip. It was a new experience for her to feel this level of desire. Her previous experiences of kissing had never made her feel this way, and the intensity of her hunger was something of a revelation.
“If you carry on in this manner, I fear little conversation will occur.” Severus said against her lips and she finally relented and moved back slightly.
“Okay, serious time.” Hermione said, more to herself than to Severus, who was an expert in austerity.
“I ran into Draco Malfoy whilst on the supply run.” She began and the statement managed to break the spell of their kiss.
“How on earth was he able to recognise you?” Snape asked, and he didn’t miss how her cheeks had coloured slightly.
“In my agitation this morning, I may have failed to take the full dose of Polyjuice potion. He must have seen me mid-transformation.”
“Fucking hell, Hermione.”
“I rectified it pretty fast, but he dragged me down an alley and took my wand.” She went on and then cursed herself for being so honest.
“This doesn’t reassure me that you should go on supply runs.”
“Okay okay, I get it. It was just an unlucky mistake.”
“What did he want with you?” Snape asked, and she could swear he looked a little jealous. That idea made her heart flutter in spite of her principles.
“Dumbledore is dead. Lucius killed him last night.” Hermione explained and the weight of the revelation finally burst the bubble she was in.
“They struck up some sort of deal to ensure Draco is given shelter at Grimmauld Place until the end of the war.” She continued, and Severus’s quiet contemplation worried her.
“He was a stubborn old fool.” He finally said and she could see that despite his effort, the news had shaken him.
“Knowing it was eventually going to happen doesn’t make it any easier to accept when it finally does.” She said and she was surprised when he pulled her against his chest, smelling her hair.
“Draco wants you to contact him at Grimmauld Place.”
“I’m his Godfather. Lucius and I have been friends for many years, despite his less than wise world views.”
“Less than wise? Really?” Hermione asked, failing to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. Lucius was an active Death Eater, and just because he had turned spy overnight didn’t mean he had gone back on his pure blood beliefs entirely.
“Fair enough. Revolting views.” He relented.
“Do you think he knew you were acting as a double agent for the Order at any point?”
“Possibly, but it's been hard to judge in the hecticness of war. I have gotten the impression that he wanted to find a way out of Riddle’s clutches for a long time now. More so than ever when Narcissa was taken from him. His decision to take my place as spy is not so surprising if he believes it will give Draco a chance to get away.” He clarified and she could see that Draco’s fate did mean something to him. Just because he had been her childhood bully didn’t mean Severus hadn’t been close to him over the years.
She was just about to ask him further questions when her rumbling stomach interrupted her.
“Let me make dinner before you die of starvation. I presume the new supplies are in that magically extended bag of yours?” Severus asked and she could barely meet his eyes.
“Yes. It will be in the pocket of my jacket which is probably crumpled somewhere downstairs.” She answered sitting up and he seemed to find her reddening cheeks amusing as the memory of what they had done in front of the fireplace flashed before her eyes. She was a goner.