Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Confinement	By : Lucreace Category: Harry Potter AU/AR > Het - Male/Female Views: 14059 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, I dont make money from this.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
“Lara! How many times do I have to tell you to stop talking to Sasha and to get on with your own work, now is not the time to talk about your social life.” Hermione barked. The way the girls nattered on and on incessantly was driving her to distraction, how they managed to get any work done whatsoever was beyond her. “Jack! For the love of Merlin! How many flicks of the wand is it?” The boy flicked his eyes to his wand before having the decency to look sheepish.
“Two,” he muttered
“So why do you feel the need to do three? There’s no way the spell will work if you add a flourish in the wrong place,” she replied. She rolled her eyes as the class went back to their transfiguration. There was no way they would be ready for any of their end of term exams at this rate and she resisted the urge to bury her head in her hands. Some days, they seemed to be learning what she was trying to teach them but others, like today, they seemed hell bent on driving her insane with their useless babbling and inadequate listening skills. She looked up at Harrison. He was gazing out of the window, for once, the sun was shining and it looked pleasant out there.
She threw her quill onto the desk and shook her head, “I can see we’re not going to get much done in here this morning. Why don’t you all go outside and burn off some energy,” she said. There was a general murmuring throughout the room and the children placed their things down on their desks. They began to file out of the room, leaving her in peace for a moment.
It had been four days since she’d seen Severus, four days since they’d kissed and four long, gruelling days since she had spoken to another adult. The lack of conversation was killing her. Aside from the brief letters from Minerva and the owls delivering new work, she had felt completely alone. There had been no further incidents of screaming, which was a good thing, but the scratching at the windows at night had begun to drive her a little mad. Perhaps that was why she was so irritable, the lack of sleep certainly had a lot to do with her current mood, that much was certain.
Looking up, she saw that Clarice was still sat there, her eyes down on her book. She sat with her feet tucked under her, the picture of comfort and learning. Slowly, Hermione shook her head, “Not going outside?” she asked.
“No Professor,” the girl answered without looking up. Her soft golden hair fell about her face as she traced her place with her finger.
“Why not?”
“It’s still cold, the wind is freezing even though the sun is out and I want to learn how to do this charm,” Clarice replied. At her words, Hermione was reminded sharply of herself and she smiled.
“Alright, I’m going to make a cup of tea,” Hermione said. The girl didn’t even acknowledge her as she walked out of the study and into the kitchen. Hermione had to force herself not to make two cups as she set the kettle on to boil. When it was made, she returned to the study and forced herself to relax into her chair. Clarice had gone. This time, she did bury her hands in her hair and let out a deep sigh.
“Maybe teaching isn’t the career you should put in for.” Her head jerked up and she let a huge smile spread onto her face before she could stop it. She hid it by sipping her tea, she shouldn’t react in that way, especially when one of the children could walk in at any time and spot her moon eyes. Blinking, she placed her mug slowly back on her desk and nodded.
“I’m beginning to think that myself,” she replied as she turned to face him. “Are you well?” He didn’t look it. Although he was normally pale, his face was nearly translucent, with a slight green tinge and was he swaying on his feet? He leaned against the doorframe to cover for it and waved a dismissive hand. His dark eyes looked darker than she’d ever seen them but he met her gaze all the same.
“Don’t fuss Hermione, I’m just tired,” he said. She narrowed her eyes a little but left it there.
“Did you learn anything?” she asked. He glanced over his shoulder, his black hair flicking around his face. She swallowed a little at that, knowing how soft it was to touch was not helping the matter at all. All she could think about doing was getting up and pressing his soft mouth to hers. It occurred to her that they’d not embraced as yet and she wondered what he would feel like in her arms… Dismissing the thoughts, storing them for later, she blinked and forced herself to focus on the matter at hand.
“I have more information,” he said as he turned back to look at her. “Fetch me a cup of tea and I’ll tell you what you need to know.”
She rose and did as he asked. So much for not needing a house keeper! It didn’t take long and soon, they were sat back in the study. He was leaning against one of the children’s desks, she behind the one she had claimed as hers. “You know those dunderheads won’t learn anything if you keep sending them outside all the time,” he said as she placed the cup in front of him.
“Nor will they if I can’t concentrate enough to teach them. I did my best when I was at school but I’m not nearly expert enough in all the subjects,” she said with a shrug. His eyebrows shot up at that statement but he kept his thoughts to himself. “So, what do you know?”
He tilted his head to the side a little, “Straight to the point Hermione?”
“You don’t come across as the type to create meaningless small talk and I’m rather eager to know what you’ve learned,” she took another sip of tea, not apologising for her frank attitude. He nodded in approval before picking up his own mug. His leisurely sip of tea was almost infuriating until she realised that he was doing it on purpose. She folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair, waiting for him to speak.
“The revenant is active at night,” he said. That explained the scratching at the windows. “It is a being that dwells around a place and deals with the protection of such. It has no real concept of ownership beyond that of the building it resides in.”
She twisted a lock of curly hair around her finger, her expression thoughtful, “Is it a threat to us?” she asked.
“Not if we leave the house in peace. If we try to dismantle or damage the house, it will become malevolent,” he said. She nodded.
“How do we get rid of it?”
“I don’t think we need to concern ourselves with getting rid of it Hermione,” he said softly, “It is a part of my family home and as long as we do not do anything to harm the building, we should be safe.” His explanation did nothing to answer the questions she had, in fact, it made her want to ask many more.
“How did it get here?”
“I have no idea,” he replied.
“So how did it let you modify the house when we arrived? And why is it only showing itself now?” she asked, unable to keep her questions to herself. He drained his mug and pushed his hand through his black hair.
“The only thing I did was move enough beds into those rooms for the children to use, I didn’t redecorate or anything else. As for your second question, I have no idea why. I suspect it has something to do with the changes in our world but cannot be sure.” His heavy sigh when she opened her mouth once more made her close it again. She may be burning with questions and the desire for adult conversation but it was clear he was tired and needed to rest. Instead of speaking, she nodded slowly.
“Thank you,” she said. Her mind was already working at a hundred miles an hour. Surely there must be a book with some more information on it somewhere, especially in this house. He pushed off the desk and walked over to hers, his empty mug in hand. She looked over his long, lean form and a half smile tugged at her cheek. He placed the mug on her desk before running his hand over hers. A shock rocketed through her at the contact and her eyes flicked up to meet his. They held them for a long moment, her gaze finally twitching to his lips before back to his eyes. His head inclined to her and for a second, she thought he was going to kiss her right there in the study.
“I missed you,” she whispered. The words fell flat and she looked away, a bright flush on her face. He gave an awkward cough before straightening but kept his hand on hers.
“I know,” he replied. It was a mere breath. Her eyes crept back to him but he was already whirling away. The moment he was out the room, she let out a breath she had no idea that she had been holding. It took a long while for her heart to stop its thunderous beating in her chest. How ridiculous had that been? She missed him? To her ears it sounded so lame, no wonder he had left. She flicked her hair back from her head and pushed the memory aside. The moment she looked up, Harrison and Corby came bundling into the room.
“Back so soon boys?”
“Yeah, it’s cold out there and well… we could use the practice.” Corby said looking down at the carpet. Hermione nodded, maybe not all hope was lost just yet.
“Oh! Well, be my guest…” she gestured to the desks as she trailed off and the boys set themselves down on their seats. Hermione let them continue with their practice as she walked over to the large bookshelf and began looking over the titles once more. By the time she’d found something that may be of use to her, all the children were back in their seats and had resumed their practice. She returned to her desk and flicked open the volume entitled Entities from the Afterlife. It was a heavy, ancient volume that had seen better days. The brown cover was peeling and the binding was coming loose. Still, she set in on the desk and opened the page, hoping to find something that would tell them more about the creature known as a revenant.
By the time she looked up, Jack and Ryan had left the room and the delicious smell of cooking something floated out of the kitchen. A glance at the clock told her she’d read way passed the time she’d normally be working at the stove. With a whispered curse, she crossed to the kitchen. What she found when she got there made her smile. The boys had everything under control and although it was a bit more of a mess than she liked, she couldn’t fault them. Maybe, just maybe, they would be able to get through their exams after all. If not, they’d have learned some valuable life skills at the very least.
- 12
- 13
- 14
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Confinement