Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Fooling Fate sequel to Bound	By : goldhorse Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 44179 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. That lucky duck JK Rowling does. I don't make any money from this fanfic. I just play with her toys and put them back in relatively good condition.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
“What the fuck?” Melody hissed as she stormed into Severus’s private chambers.

Severus looked up from his tumbler of whiskey, a passive expression on his face. He’d been expecting her to burst through the doors at any moment.

Melody sighed as she plopped down beside him and rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. “How many have you had?”

“I haven’t had the one yet,” Severus answered glumly as he stared into the amber liquid.

“It isn’t about to get up and do the hokey pokey Sev. Look at me.”

Severus looked up reluctantly, his eyes haunted and strangely wet.

“Oh Sev,” Melody exhaled. “You’ve become attached already, haven’t you?”

Severus snorted at the accusation.

Melody folded her arms and glared at him. “Don’t give me that Sev. I know you like the back of my hand. It was the same with Hermione and each of the children.” She shook her head at his reproachful look and grabbed the tumbler out of his hand, knocking it back before vanishing the glass. “Sev, love is not a weakness.”

It was his turn to sigh heavily. “It is if it is used against me.”

Melody bit her lip and thought for a while. He was right, in a way. It was the reason they had never told anyone of their powers. There were too many things to hold hostage and use for leverage. “Love killed Moldy you know. Even though he took Lily away, your love…and hers…finally brought him down.”

“If-“

“If nothing,” Melody cut him off abruptly. “He would have offed the Potters without a second thought regardless of your feelings for Lily. They would have died even if you had never met them. Some things will never change no matter what.”

Severus nodded in acknowledgement after considering her words. Deep down, he knew they were true. It was still hard to stomach them, the guilt weighing heavily on him all these years later.

“Celeste is worried about you,” Melody said abruptly. “Says you haven’t slept in weeks.”

“Have you?” Severus asked morosely.

“Touché.”

“Every night I-“ Severus stopped to clear his throat. It was still hard for him to talk about it. He summoned the fire whiskey and took a drink straight from the bottle. “Every night is the same. I see you there on that X, bound, broken, and bleeding. I see myself…violating you.”

“Sev-“ Melody cut in only to be silenced by a dark look from her best friend.

“I violated you by every rule in every book. There were no safe words, no physical cues, nothing to stop me. I know we had no choice. I can accept that. I can…but I still violated you…and I can’t bring myself to regret it beyond the momentary physical pain it caused you and that sickens me.”

Melody started laughing, a chuckle at first and then outright howling before tears poured down her cheeks. Severus could only stare dumbfounded as his friend looked to be going barmy. He debated on whether or not to call Alex. Had he finally broken her?

“Finally,” Melody croaked after she managed to calm down somewhat. A burst of giggles still colored her words. “You know how I feel.”

“What?” Severus asked in shock.

Melody smiled. “I meant what I said to the boys Sev. I don’t regret it, not even the pain. Sometimes I catch myself looking at the scars on my back and I can’t help but smile at the memory. Don’t give me that look. I do. I remember just how thoroughly we had that despot fooled. I remember the night before, how wonderful it was…everything I’d ever wanted really. Then I remember what I got out of the deal…two beautiful boys. I always wanted children Sev and I would have never had them. You gave me the one gift that no one else could.”

Severus closed his eyes at the tender words. It was too much.

“The boys are everything I hoped they would be,” Melody said, not caring if her friend was overwhelmed. “They are intelligent, funny, a little mischievous, but loyal to a fault. They are supremely powerful and they have that snarky attitude of yours with a bit of my craziness thrown in. Sev…they’re perfect.”

Severus smiled despite himself. He was more proud of his twins than he could say. He was proud of all his children and there wasn’t a day that passed that he didn’t wonder what he did to deserve them. He wished he and Celeste could have had more but life had dictated that they stop when they did. It brought a thought to mind. “Did you ever want more?”

Melody sat still for a moment before giving him a watery smile. “As many as I could get but that is impossible.”

“Is it?”

Melody grinned. “Craving me are you?”

Severus smirked and shook his head in amusement. “I merely wanted to know. I- I would not have been adverse to…to-“

Melody laughed. “Well, well, the mighty Severus Snape has been brought to his knees by a silly question of sex and sperm.”

Severus glared at her for a moment before rubbing his eyes in frustration. “I merely wanted to give you what you desire.”

Melody sighed. “I would have gladly accepted but I am afraid it is quite impossible. Moldy’s spell…sterilized me. It’s why I had so many complications carrying the boys. But thank you Sev. You have no idea what that means to me.”

Severus’s eyes widened in horror. “Why did you never say anything?”

“What was the point? There is no changing it. I’m just glad I didn’t lose the boys. It was more than I could have hoped for.”

“I am…so sorry,” Severus whispered.

Melody brushed a stray tear from her face. “It isn’t your fault Moldy was a bastard. Besides, think about all the grandchildren we’re going to have.”

Severus blanched. “I’d rather not.”

“The twins, Aiden and Serena are going to grow up and get married and have lots of sex and babies whether you like it or not. You can’t just lock them away forever.”

“But their mates!”

“I know! Werewolf hybrids, and part-creatures. We’ll figure it out. What are we going to do right now, or have you forgotten that you are having a slumber party?”

Severus frowned at the thought. “I have her heavily warded. If she snores, I shall know about it. I was able to sneak down to her brother and place the same wards around him. They will break in the morning with him none the wiser.”

“It’s a start Sev, but we can’t keep an eye on them all the time. Eventually, these damn wards of Whorple’s will sense them and alert her. We need more eyes.”

“What of the others, the twins’ mates?”

“It’s a thought. They seem to be abnormally compliant when it comes to us but none of them are fourth years. Mary Alice could spirit her away in the middle of the night.”

“She’d hear it coming,” Severus argued.

“But could she react in time? How long does it take to stun someone?”

“The only fourth years I know are…NO. You are not risking my grandchildren!”

Melody crossed her arms. “Look Sev, our granddaughter is in a coma right now with Mary Alice Gregory’s little half-brother due to a deliberate experiment and sheer dumb luck. What do you think they’ll do to Emily? She’ll be your granddaughter too.”

“Rose and Jacob have never been separated. Ever.”

“I think it’s time,” Melody said softly. “We should move all the children to Salem. Demitri and Remus can protect Hogwarts but Salem is up to us. You know why we’re teaching here.”

Severus nodded. He remembered Harmony’s vision vividly, a school in flames with several children screaming in agony and reaching out to someone beyond sight. “The curriculum is horrible.”

Melody chuckled. “Sev, our kids surpassed Hogwarts a few years ago. I doubt a stint at Salem will harm them. Besides, I think I know of a few teachers who would be more than willing to tutor should they require it.”

Severus growled at being outmaneuvered and threw down one last card. “Hugo Weasley.”

“Nice one,” Melody allowed with a smirk. “I’ll write Luna in a moment. Hugo would be over the moon if he could study abroad.”

“Thought of everything, have you?”

Melody smiled and shook her head. “I’m exhausted. I’ll crash here with Emily. Take my rooms.”

“I will be fine on the couch.”

Melody’s eyes flashed indigo. “I said. Take. My. Rooms.”

Severus quirked an eyebrow at her outburst and stood up before helping his friend off the couch. “Good night then.”

Melody smirked and thought of the gift wrapped Celeste she’d left on her bed for him. “Oh, I’m sure it will be.”

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“Salem? Are you mental?” Aiden yelled over everyone in the living room.

“You will watch your tone of voice,” Severus snapped.

“But Salem’s a shit school!” Aiden protested, a bit softer this time.

“Language!” Celeste growled.

“It is!” Aiden pushed. “It’s the worst school ever!”

Melody crossed her arms and gave him a cool look. “I went to Salem. Am I uneducated?”

“You’re different,” Aiden said weakly but wisely kept his mouth shut.

Melody nodded in approval at the decision. “I did drop out at sixteen but I studied independently, which is what y’all will do. Salem lets its students leave on weekends with parental permission. We can arrange for Hagrid to take you on outings to the forbidden forest if you wish to study real Magical Creatures. Demitri would be happy to help with History. The rest can be taught by us. Bottom line though, this isn’t up for discussion. It needs to happen. There is far too much at stake.”

“Like what?” Jacob asked glumly.

“That gang you all fought in the alley,” Melody said. “The leader has a sister at Salem and she is after a set of twins to add to the Master’s collection.”

Gasps went up around the room.

“There are other sympathizers as well,” Severus said. “Most of that gang has siblings here in Salem.”

“And it gets worse,” Harry said as he marched through the door. “They are deporting most of the gang back to America.”

“Well that’s just fucking fantastic!” Aiden screamed and marched up the stairs.

“You should tell him,” Hermione muttered under her breath. She and Draco were allowed to come down to the living room for the family discussion on the condition they stayed put.

“That will be remedied soon,” Severus said softly and looked at his watch.

“Are you sure that’s wise dad?” Serena asked. She was concerned for her brother. He rarely expressed his feelings but she’d caught him blasting berry bushes in the back pasture over the summer and pressured him. He’d broken down, ranting about hating his role as peace keeper of the family, the enormous amount of pressure he felt to ace his NEWTS, and one other thing…Zandra Carter.

“What would he do?” Severus asked candidly.

Serena closed her eyes. She knew his actions like the back of her hand. If Aiden knew Zandra was coming to their house, he’d either run and hide or blow up, possibly both. If he knew about her when Draco and Hermione first found her, they’d have no hope of stopping him from trying to take revenge. If he saw her now though, he’d most likely refuse to leave her. She nodded her head in acceptance.

“Serena,” Celeste said softly. “We’ve already thought long and hard about this. It isn’t a decision we came to lightly.”

“He’s miserable,” Serena whispered.

“He isn’t the only one,” James murmured from the corner.

“No he isn’t,” Melody cut in. “I hate to say it, but playtime is over. We can’t handle it by ourselves guys. We need your help now.”

“But what do we know?” Jacob asked timidly.

Melody smiled. “More than you think you do sweetheart. The lessons we’ve been giving you your whole lives have been preparing you for this. It wasn’t actually intentional but I’m glad we did. Your parents hadn’t learned most of what you all already know until they were in sixth year, fifth for Ginny.”

“So what do we know?” Rose piped up.

Melody grinned. “Who wants to go find out?”

“ME!” a dozen voices rang out.

“Someone go fetch Aiden,” Melody ordered. “We’ll meet in the back forty.”

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James knocked on Aiden’s door and waited for the click of the lock before he entered cautiously. Aiden wasn’t above laying someone out if they disturbed him. “Hey A, how’s it hanging?”

Aiden sighed. “Short, shriveled, and always to the left.”

James sniggered. It was a greeting they’d overheard Alex say and they loved it; got in trouble with it more than once, too. “Melody wants us outside. We’re fixing to find out what we know.”

Aiden snorted. “I already know what I know.”

James rolled his eyes in annoyance. Aiden was a bit of a prick sometimes, a trait from his father no doubt. “You know what I mean.”

“I’m not feeling it right now.”

“Me either but aren’t you the least bit curious?”

Aiden shrugged. “I can already hear for miles, smell dust mites, run faster than the Hogwarts Express, hell I can lift the bleeding train. What more could I possibly learn?”

“Um,” James spluttered. It was hard not to get jealous at everyone else’s gifts. He and his siblings were utterly normal in every way. Well, not Lily, not anymore, but he was. He was just James and he always would be. It was kind of depressing actually.

Aiden stole a glance at a struggling James. “You know, I think being normal would be a blessing. Do you have any idea how bad it sucks to be able to hear what everyone mutters about you, your father, your whole family? I can smell them, their fear, their disgust, their…infatuations. I have to be careful not to hurt anyone when I wrestle or even pat them on the back. Don’t even get me started on the concentration it takes to walk slowly.”

James plopped down on the bed beside his best friend. “Yeah A, sometimes it sucks but think about it from my perspective. I’m not good at anything! I’m half blind and everyone always paws at me because I’m the son of the bloody Chosen One. The only reason people leave me alone is because all of you guard me like…like I’m some type of fucking damsel in distress.”

“You’re good at quidditch.”

“So are you.”

Aiden shook his head sadly. “I can’t play it for fear of hurting someone…or them finding out what I am.”

James nodded emphatically. “You know I’d obliviate everyone in a ten kilometer radius if I had to, right?”

“Of course,” Aiden smirked. “And if you didn’t, there would be others standing in line for the chance.”

“CYA,” they spoke at the same time. It was one of Melody’s rules to live by: above all, cover your ass.

“Come on then,” James said as he popped Aiden on the back. “Let’s go see how utterly normal I am.”

“We won’t see them again,” Aiden whispered.

James nodded sadly. “I know but…how many times have our parents said they couldn’t handle things?”

“None.”

“Exactly. Something really bad is coming Aiden. Can’t you feel it?”

Aiden nodded.

“If my dad had to die to save the world, then I think the least we could do is postpone dating.”

“Well now I sound selfish!”

James chuckled. “To quote Melody, ‘we don’t always get what we want.’”

Aiden sighed. “I hate that phrase.”

“Me too A, me too. Come on then. No use letting them have all the fun.”

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“This is cruel,” Hermione said, a lone tear slipping down her face. She’d been listening to the boys’ conversation.

Draco sighed and wrapped his arm around his wife. They were stuck here on the couch until someone remembered to come carry them outside. “What choice do we have?”

“We’re the fucking protectors!” Hermione spat indignantly. Just the thought of her babies putting themselves in danger set her teeth on edge.

“We’re spread thin enough as it is love. What happens if we’re down like this again?”

“We should be more powerful.”

Draco chuckled at the irony of her statement and kissed the top of her head. “I’m quite certain that is impossible. Perhaps you should wish for a twin. That, at least, would be more helpful. More power is a waste. All the power in the world won’t allow us to be all places at all times.”

“Maybe there’s a spell for that,” Hermione grumbled but she knew he was right. A doppelganger was just that, a glorified toothpick that looked like a person and obeyed like a muggle robot.

“Hey sis, bro,” Aiden said softly as he reached the bottom of the stairs. He’d heard their conversation as well. “Why’d they leave you here?”

“Probably forgotten about us in their haste to learn cool things,” Draco said with a tired smile.

“Come on then,” Aiden said and lifted them both off the couch with no effort. “Let’s get you outside and then James can help me levitate you. Right James?”

“Sure thing,” James said as he came bounding down the stairs.

Once they were situated on a pair of transfigured chairs, they watched as Melody and Severus ran through the spells for each year of the Hogwarts curriculum and fighting techniques appropriate for each year. Advanced martial arts, hand-to-hand combat, and weapons training were on the docket as well. Melody had insisted and everyone agreed.

When it came to magic, the children seemed floored by how much they knew compared to a basic overall of their year levels. Draco and Hermione were shocked to realize just how much more the children knew than they did when they were in school. Then Melody took the phenoms aside and did a demonstration of their powers. The most shocking display of the day was their own twins though. Melody had insisted they take off the dampeners. They watched in awe as their children performed magic more advanced than most seasoned wizards. How could they be so perfectly balanced and yet so powerful?

“We were counting on it.”

Draco and Hermione almost fell off their chairs they turned so fast. Nemesis was standing not two feet from them. Her eyes were on the children though.

“What are you doing here?” Draco asked snippily and put up a privacy spell devised to muffle hearing and obscure the Goddess standing before them.

“Checking in,” Nemesis said shortly, her eyes still fixed on the children. “The Gods aren’t as ignorant as you think we are. We learn from our mistakes. A pure couple, as you well know, is a volatile thing, easily broken by such small stones.”

Hermione thought about that for a moment. Why would she admit to such a thing? A dreadful thought crept in her mind. “You want to destroy us.”

“Hardy,” Nemesis scoffed. “We merely wish to not have to interfere so often.”

“There were couples you didn’t want to kill,” Draco supplied.

Nemesis pursed her lips. “The answer lies somewhere in the middle.”

“You wanted one half of the other couples to live,” Hermione said softly.

Nemesis nodded. “They found each other…incorrectly.”

Draco snorted. “There is no guarantee that different partners wouldn’t have the same result.”

“We considered that as well.”

“Which is why our children are so strong,” Hermione said flatly.

Draco barely held his anger in check. “They don’t depend on another to live so you can kill one without repercussions to the other.”

Nemesis was silent for a very long time, watching the children ooh and aah over each other’s powers and run through basic defense with partners. “There were several reasons for the decision, the first being how easy it is for the pure couple to harm themselves. You have access to so much power that you can literally tear yourselves apart, like now. The balanced ones do not have this problem, yet they are almost as powerful as the strongest phenom.”

“But they are balanced,” Draco argued. “Meaning they can’t combine power.”

“They cannot?” Nemesis asked, a demure smile tugging at her lips.

“Melody said balance doesn’t attract,” Draco said.

“It can if it tries to.”

“Wait,” Hermione said incredulously. “You mean they have the ability to lend?”

Nemesis was silent for another long stretch before she nodded at some unseen action. “As Melody has said, most wizards and witches are balanced but it is not a specific harmonic balance like the offspring of a pure couple. Your children are…for lack of a better word…perfect. Their power is perfect, under their command no matter what.”

“They need dampeners to function properly,” Hermione said stiffly. “Their emotions render them too unstable.”

“So do yours,” Nemesis reminded her. “Mastery takes practice.”

“What of their mates?” Draco asked.

“Unforgivable magic takes the power of two to thwart. The only one a completely balanced individual can share with is another from the same pairing.”

“You’re experimenting,” Draco growled.

“It causes them no ill. In fact, it should protect them, just as you protect others.”

“You mean they’re to become the next protectors?” Hermione asked in horror.

Nemesis shook her head. “Their purpose is to help aid you in your quest. All of the children serve the same purpose.”

“They do not just serve a purpose,” Draco seethed.

“You are deliberately putting words in my mouth,” Nemesis growled, the wind whipping through her honey blonde locks as her anger increased. “I am merely informing you of their fate. Do not take my passiveness for weakness.”

“I don’t like my children being used as pawns!” Draco shouted, uncaring that he was provoking the Goddess of destiny.

“Everyone is a pawn to the Gods,” Nemesis said softly, her anger suddenly deflating. “Even Gods themselves are pawns to other Gods. It is the way of things. There is no reason you cannot love and enjoy the fruits of your loins. You need only to recognize that they have a destiny they have to fulfill as well. Be well pure couple…and it would behoove you to move quickly on your last assignment.”

Nemesis popped out of existence with a large clap of thunder, startling the occupants of the field, all except Melody and Harmony of course. They could always feel when Nemesis made an appearance. The children, now thoroughly distracted, started dueling each other for fun. This gave the adults the time to check in with the pure couple.

“What’s the news?” Melody asked as she plopped down right in the dirt. She lazily flicked her fingers and evoked a privacy bubble.

“Our children can lend magic,” Draco said softly. “But only to Colton and Lizzy.”

Melody bit her lip and then nodded. “It makes sense. They don’t have the risks you do if you are separated.”

Hermione nodded. “But it makes them just as unstable as us…power wise anyway.”

“Then we’ll focus on control,” Severus said softly before he hissed. He yanked a coin out of his pocket and stared at it for a moment. “The wards are cracked. Zandra is being put into stasis and they will port key in ten minutes.”

“I’ll run along then,” Alex said. “Best get her stabilized before we bring her the rest of the way.” He disappeared with a loud pop.

Melody chanced a glance at the children to make sure they were occupied. “I’m going to start them on finding their next animagus forms. Whorple has no wards against those…yet. Tell me again why I don’t just blast that old bitch to kingdom come?”

“You need the job,” Harmony said reproachfully. “When do we start the children?”

“As soon as possible,” Melody sighed. “I say give them the weekend and start Monday.”

“That’s still the weekend for Mary Alice to snatch the Creeveys,” Severus said with a frown.

“Wait, who’s keeping an eye on them right now?” Philippe asked.

“Deven during the day, Violetta at night,” Severus said.

“I thought that she was in another year,” Philippe said in confusion.

“She is,” Melody said. “But Deven still has the stealth of a vampire and can tail the twins during the day. Violetta is a very sweet bunny rabbit, one that cuddles close at night. They were both happy to do it when I let it slip that she could be in danger.”

“Ah,” Philippe said. “I assume Rose will take over that position on Monday.”

Melody nodded. “And Jacob will keep an eye on Martin. Should give him an in with Emily too.”

“They’re too young for this,” Severus growled.

“Not our choice sweetheart,” Celeste said softly. She’d long ago resigned herself to her fate and those of the children.

“No use wallowing Sev,” Melody said softly and then shook her head. “Back to it then. Harmony, Philippe, take Draco and Hermione back to the house and make sure everything is ready for Zandra. We’ll keep the kids occupied until then.”

“Sir, yes sir,” Harmony said with a mock salute before she levitated Hermione into the air.

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“Did Aiden see you?” Melody asked, walking behind as Alex carried the still form of Zandra Carter into the room with Hermione and Draco. Since their stay was only temporary, it made the most sense. They could also keep an eye on her.

“I think he might have,” Alex said softly and laid the girl down. “He’s got the eyes of a vampire you know. He could easily see me move at my fastest.”

“Well, let’s get her settled in. I had Sev alter the wards on this room so we can cast magic on her. How bad was she?” Melody asked as she started manually changing the girl out of her hospital robes.

“She’s surprisingly well for someone who endured that type of torture. It seems she’s got the healing speed of a werewolf.”

“That can only help her at this point,” Draco said and shifted to get out of bed.

“Stay put ,” Alex growled.

“I’m her bloody healer,” Draco hissed.

“Heal yourself first, damn it!” Alex snapped. “You’re of no use if you can’t even stand.”

“He’s right,” Hermione said and placed a gentle hand on her husband’s shoulder to stay him.

Draco lowered his head into his hands. He hated this.

‘I know you do, Draco, but we can’t do anything until we get better,’ Hermione whispered in his mind.

‘I feel useless. Even when we heal, we’ll be back in England.’

Hermione chewed over that point. He was right. They’d be at St. Mungo’s, out of pocket if something happened at Salem. They couldn’t protect anyone there without having to be informed and then skipping out. Even if they went back to America, all the action would be at the school, a largely unprotected and not sentient school.

“Son of a bitch!” Draco roared.

“Well that was random,” Melody said dryly. “Care to tell me why you’re insulting my husband?”

“Huh?” Draco asked dazedly and looked up to see an amused Alex smirking at him. “Oh, not you. Hermione was just thinking about how we’re going to be out of the picture, even if we came back to America.”

Melody hummed and nodded her head. She finished getting Zandra dressed in a comfy muggle night gown and came to sit on their bed while Alex took her vitals again. He worked for a minute before zipping off to get a few potions to finish her healing.

“How good are you at charms?” Melody asked suddenly.

“What?” Hermione and Draco asked at the same time.

Melody’s eyes took on a strange gleam. “How good are you two at charms?”

Draco snorted. “You should know. You tutored us both.”

Melody scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I mean now you block heads.”

Draco sighed. “I’m fair, much better at healing charms than others, obviously.”

“Hermione?” Melody asked expectantly.

“It was always my best class,” Hermione said slowly. “But why do you care to know?”

Melody took a deep breath. “Hear me out. The current charms teacher, Michael MacNeely, is a worthless prick. He’s one of few who are still into pureblood supremacy and he’s not scared to tell you about it either. Worthless bastard tried to corner me in a classroom the other day.”

“What?” Draco barked.

“Yes,” Melody hissed in anger. “He heard that I was a Death Eater. Son of a bitch tried to get into my pants with pretty words worthy of Moldy Shorts himself.”

“What did you do to him?” Hermione asked softly.

Melody smirked. “Told him I was married to a vampire who was very selective in whom he shared me with.”

“Severus being that rare person,” Draco said knowingly.

Melody shrugged. “Of course. He wasn’t buying it though.”

“What happened?” Draco asked warily.

Melody sighed. “Severus heard me yelling at him and barged in before I got a chance to break both his legs. He’s currently working through a very serious case of boils on his ass...and other places.”

Draco chuckled. “Sounds like he got off easy.”

Melody’s eyes turned indigo. “If I didn’t need this fucking job so bad, he’d be in a dozen tiny pieces all over the floor. I almost had to stun Severus to get him out of that room before he did something that made us lose our jobs.”

“So he’s a dick,” Draco said. “What’s that have to do with us?”

“I was hoping you could steal his job.”

Hermione gasped. “I wouldn’t know the first thing about teaching charms. Besides, how on earth would we steal his job?”

“Their jobs,” Melody said. “His sister Moira, the evil little wench, is the school nurse…and I do mean nurse. She’s a squib.”

“You mean they have a-a muggle at the school?” Draco asked in outrage.

“What’s wrong with a muggle?” Hermione asked tightly.

“Nothing!” Draco said with a bit more heat than he meant to. “But when you have kids coming in that have been hexed to hell and back or need something a bit more advanced than a potion, it’s just asking for it!”

Hermione nodded. “I guess I didn’t think of it that way.”

Draco sighed. “Sweetheart, you should know by now that I have nothing against muggles. I just find it ludicrous that one is at a magical school. Please tell me she has a healer or someone who can perform charms.”

Melody shook her head. “That’s the rub. If someone needs more than a potion, they have to ship them off to Circe’s Hospital.”

“And the parents are okay with this?” Hermione asked.

Melody shrugged. “I’ve only been there for a couple of weeks. From what I’ve found out though, she’s been there for a while….supposedly ran the old mediwitch off. I loved that woman, always patched me up without question when I’d inevitably blow myself up.”

“Maybe that’s why she’s there?” Hermione asked.

“Probably,” Melody snorted. “She’s practically crawled up Whorple’s ass. I bet old Headmistress Conolly would roll around in her grave if she saw what that pompous old bitch had done with her precious school.”

“You said it’s always been sterile,” Hermione said softly.

“It was,” Melody said softly. “But there was warmth and echoes for fucks sake. We had portraits and ghosts…just no sentient magic...and horrid white walls. Lorna Smith, the transfiguration teacher and a damned good one, has been here forever. She said that Whorple came here as a history teacher shortly after I dropped out. No one liked her but she kissed ass to get to the top. When Conolly died, Whorple had been her underling, the two faced hag. Anyway, she immediately got rid of the portraits and had the entire castle exorcised. EXORCISED!”

“Goodness!” Hermione gasped. “What happened to the ghosts?”

“Torture for eternity,” Melody whispered sadly before she angrily blinked her tears back and cleared her throat. “Anyway, the mediwitch was run off by Moira shortly after. Salem has been going downhill ever since. It’s almost like Whorple wants a school full of ignorant children…or…sheep.”

“Oh Merlin,” Hermione choked and went pale. “Those visions, the children reaching out…you don’t think…”

Melody’s eyes widened in shock, tears falling down her cheeks at the thought. “Why didn’t we see it before? Americans are usually more jaded than the Brits, more brash…just more. She’s got them on some watered down diet. Unfortunately, America only has one official magical school, a throwback from the original Salem trials. They couldn’t afford to be noticed with more and others were crushed by the competition when they tried to start up.”

Hermione furrowed her brows in thought. “Do you think that’s why the children were so willing to go along with us?”

Melody nodded angrily. “They have no reason not to trust us. Whorple’s kept them so sheltered they couldn’t possibly think that a teacher could betray them. Merlin’s sweaty nut sack, how long as this been going on? Complacency like that doesn’t just happen overnight.”

“When did Whorple take over?” Draco asked, a horrifying thought surfacing in his mind.

“I…well, she started teaching shortly after I dropped out, so what, 35 years or so? She took over 20 years ago, I think.”

“Twenty years?” Hermione strangled out.

Melody’s mouth dropped open as she came to the same conclusion. That was around the same time that Voldemort returned. “No, no, it can’t be.”

“It could be,” Hermione said gently.

“She doesn’t have the Mark. I looked! She’s completely prejudiced against it!”

Draco hummed. “Or she’s prejudiced against the fact that you and Severus got off scot free…as traitors to the Dark Lord.”

Melody paled. “Fuck.”

“So what are we going to do?” Severus asked, startling the occupants at his sudden entrance.

“Infiltrate the fucking school, of course,” Alex said. No one had noticed him slipping back in. “It’s the only way, right? You two are old pros at that.”

Severus sniffed. “The headmaster at the time was very much on the light side.”

“Whorple sounds selfish enough to flip,” Alex mused.

“It’s possible,” Severus allowed. “Perhaps I should just let my hand slip over her morning coffee.”

“Not a bad idea,” Melody mused. “Alright, so we’ll pick her brain and go from there.”

“There’s still the problem of running off the competition,” Draco said.

Alex’s deep laugh broke them out of their thoughts. “How many mediwitches have our kids forced into early retirement?”

Melody giggled. “He’s right you know. One week with our little hellions and she’ll be ready to hike off into the wilderness barefoot.”

“Not necessarily,” Severus interrupted. “She’ll just try to ship them off to Circe’s.”

“You know that won’t fly,” Alex countered. “She’d have a full scale war if she tried to separate any of the twins.”

“True,” Draco mused. “What about the charms teacher?”

“Let Ara and Serena take care of it. A couple of devious femme fatals should change his tune.”

Draco growled. “I don’t want my daughter anywhere near him!”

Melody snorted. “Like Scorp would let him…or Aiden for that matter.” She shivered.

“Best keep Aiden out of it,” Alex said softly. “He’s coming by the way. Just threw off the boys.”

“How long?” Severus asked. He had barely moved out from in front of the door before it flew open and slammed against the wall.

AN: Ut oh. Aiden has Sevvy's temper. This should be good, huh? Geez, is it Thursday already? Would you guys believe I only have one week of internship left? On we go. To those looking for the next chappy of Beyond the Pale, it'll be out Saturday at the latest. As always, thank you to everyone who reviewed. I can't belive everyone loves this so much. You make my day each time you review. Keep them coming and let me know how I'm doing and if you find any errors. Until next time...Love you guys!
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Fooling Fate *sequel to Bound*

Fooling Fate sequel to Bound