Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Precious Mudblood	By : magentasouth Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 79302 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 6
Disclaimer: I neither own nor profit from any part of the Harry Potter universe

Chapter List
- 1-Precious Mudblood
- 2-Ch 2
- 3-Ch 3
- 4-Ch 4
- 5-Ch 5
- 6-Ch 6
- 7-Ch 7
- 8-ch 8
- 9-Ch 9
- 10-Ch 10
- 11-Ch 11
- 12-Ch 12
- 13-Ch 13
- 14-Ch 14
- 15-Ch 15
- 16-Ch 16
- 17-Ch 17
- 18-Ch 18
- 19-Ch 19
- 20-Ch 20
- 21-Ch 21
- 22-Ch 22
- 23-Ch 23
- 24-Ch 24
- 25-Ch 25
- 26-Ch 26
- 27-Ch 27
- 28-Ch 28
- 29-Ch 29
- 30-Ch 30
- 31-Ch 31
- 32-Ch 32
- 33-Ch 33
- 34-Ch 34
- 35-Ch 35
- 36-Ch 36
- 37-Ch 37
- 38-Ch 38
- 39-Ch 39
- 40-Ch 40
- 41-Ch 41
- 42-Ch 42 (edited. longer)
- 43-Ch 43
- 44-Ch 44
- 45-Ch 45
- 46-Ch 46
- 47-Ch 47
- 48-Ch 48
- 49-Ch 49
- 50-Ch 50
- 51-Ch 51
- 52-Ch 52
- 53-Ch 53
- 54-Ch 54
- 55-Ch 55
- 56-Ch 56
- 57-Ch 57
- 58-Ch 58
- 59-Ch 59
- 60-Ch 60
- 61-Ch 61
- 62-Ch 62
- 63-Ch 63
- 64-Ch 64
- 65-Ch 65
- 66-Ch 67
- 67-Ch 67
- 68-Ch 68
- 69-Ch 69
- 70-Ch 70
- 71-Ch 71
- 72-Ch 72
- 73-Ch 73
- 74-Ch 74
- 75-Ch 75
- 76-Chapter 76
- 77-Ch 77
- 78-Ch 78
- 79-Ch 79
- 80-Ch 80
- 40
- 41
- 42
Everything ached.

...

Everything ached and she felt
terribly thirsty.

...

.....

Something hot pressed against her ,� she tried to
move away.� Everything ached.

...

�Drink� a voice said. She
responded to the glass phial at her lips and swallowed the foul tasting mixture
automatically.�� Whoever it was moved
away again.� She slept.

.......

Voices woke her.� She started to turn her head toward them but
stopped immediately because it hurt.�

�I don�t care.� You�re a fool if you think it matters.��

�Severus, you try my
patience��

�If you wanted her dead, why the
hell did you save her?� Why bring her
back here.� You are being irrational�

�That�s exactly the point.�
She is a danger.� She makes me.. she makes everyone, yourself
included, behave irrationally.� I don�t
know why I brought her back in.� I..��

�I happen to like the irrationality.� I
really don�t see the problem.� If she
breathed and sweated pure amortensia, wonderful, keep her safe and happy so
that we can continue to thoroughly enjoy being fascinated with her.�

You know why you saved her.��

�That is too bold!� I know no such thing. However I can rectify my error.� Stand aside!��

She groaned.�

There was a shift in the air as if she could feel the two men shift their attention to her.�

Her eyelids felt like they were gummed together.� It took a supreme effort to crack the crusted
seal on them and squint up at the yellowish ceiling.�

Footsteps on the stone floor
neared and then in her peripheral� vision she could see Severus, his long
hair tied back and greasy, a stricken expression on his exhausted face. His
eyes were red and puffy with deep black shadows beneath them. ��

�Hermione..�
he said. �Don�t try to move.� Just let yourself rest.�
Everything is fine.� You will be
fine.��

She tried to speak but her voice
was an ugly croak.� �no.� let ..him.�� you..have to��

Severus� breath caught.�� I have to do
no such thing.� You are not thinking
correctly.� You need to rest so that you
can heal.��

She heard clinking and he came
close, leaning over and pressing a potion to her lips.� She tried to press them together and turn her
face away, but again pain blossomed.� A
tear squeezed itself from the corner of her eye.�

She heard Tom stomp over.�� He said distractedly. �Oh you really are a
ridiculous inconvenience, child!� �and he stepped forward taking the potion impatiently from Severus.�

His hair was a mess and his face
looked pinched and tense.� She felt his
cool hand brush her temple and the potion bottle was pressed against her lips
again.�

He murmured �drink it� and she relented.�

If he asked, she would do anything.� She
looked up at him sadly.

�you have
to do it� she thought as clearly as she could before sleep rose up like a great
warm wave and collected her again.�

...

She felt something touch her face
and jerked slightly, her eyes clenching behind closed lids.� It happened again.�

A hand stroked feather light down
her cheek.�

She clenched her eyes and then forced them open a crack.�

Tom sat on the side of the bed
looking down at her.�

She frowned slightly,
confused.�

Experimentally she tried to move.� It
didn�t feel fantastic to move but it wasn�t horribly painful either.

�Welcome back� Tom said,
sighing.� She looked at him uneasily.�

�Why am I back?��

His face became shuttered.�

�You know it would be better if I wasn�t� What are you doing?!�
You should have left me!� she berated him.�

He reached out again and stroked
her face gently.� �Yes.� Well.. It seems you
are here anyway. It is no doubt further evidence of your influence upon
me.��

She looked at him even more
worriedly.� �How did you even know to
come look for me ?!�
I doubt I would have survived on the rocks much longer than a few
minutes.� Some kind of
ward on the perimeter maybe?��

He shook his head.� �Responding to a ward alert would take longer
than that.�

No.� I was with Harry and he fell down
mid-taunt and started bleating and then I felt Rodolphus
calling me through the mark and realised it was you.� I very nearly wasn�t in time. �

If i had stood for a minute I could have watched you
vanish forever.��

�Why didn�t you?!� she
accused.�

He leaned down and kissed her
gently on the forehead �I didn�t want you to vanish
forever�� he
said quietly.�

She frowned and opened her mouth to try to convince him to see reason.� He stilled her with fingertips on her lips.

�There is no point in citing logical arguments.�
I realise how foolish I am being.�
I am in no doubt that this is a bad idea and that the alternative would
bring many advantages.� However...

...Severus will never forgive me if I kill you.�� He stood and started to walk away.�

She called after him. �Is that the
only reason?��

He stiffened and paused for a second, then continued walking and left the
room.�

She lay there for a while, staring
up at the ceiling and then she had enough and gingerly tried to sit herself
up.�

It felt like she hadn�t moved in a while.�
Everything was weak and stiff.�
She propped herself up in a vertical position and swung her legs out of
the bed.�

She was in Tom�s room.�

She pushed herself upright.� After a
hefty struggle she managed to free the sheet from the bed and wrapped it around
herself.� She shuffled slowly to the door
and slipped out to the corridor.�

Turning to the left she found the
blue sitting room empty and closed the door again, taking the path to the
right.��

She opened the door to her room and let herself in.�

It was also empty. �

The light from the window suggested it was late afternoon. �She felt strangely forlorn that no one was
here.� When she had left the room last it
had been so full of people she adored.�

The only one missing was Rodolphus.. but
then everyone else there disliked or feared Rodolphus
she supposed.�

She wished for a moment that she�d
never spoken a word when Draco mentioned Harry.�
She�d have stayed there and Tom would have soon had them all playing a
new game with the polyjuice.� She wouldn�t have seen Harry like that,
wouldn�t have had to know.� Rodolphus wouldn�t have flipped out and Tom might not have
realised for a while longer what Draco had already noticed on some level.�

She went to the bathroom and took
a shower.� She didn�t stay in there
long.� The hot steam made her feel a bit
dizzy.��

Wrapped in a towel she went back out to her room and poked around in the
wardrobe, pulling out a pale peach robe with a silvery shimmer to it when the
light hit it.� She selected undergarments
and dressed and then trudged over to her bed and crawled onto it. letting herself fall down onto her side and resting.�

When she next opened her eyes it
was dark.� The fire was lit at the other
end of the room.� She was still
alone.�

She called for the house elf dippy but there was naturally no response.�

She trudged over to the chairs by
the fire and sat, staring at the books apathetically.�

All the people she cared for.. the people she loved... she realised, horribly, that she
would never know whether any of them had ever truly cared about her or whether
she had somehow influenced them in some way.�

Tom didn�t want to be around her now, she could feel it.��

She thought..
perhaps Harry had cared for her as a friend at some
point.. but that almost didn�t matter at all now since
she had no doubt that if given half a chance he�d grab her and run.� Lock her up somewhere and ward her with
everything he had.. just like
Tom had before he�d realised.�

Except.. she suspected that Harry
would still want to possess her even if he knew that she was somehow
subconsciously brainwashing him to desire her.�

Harry was stubborn about things he wanted and not always the most reasonable
when it came to self destructive behaviour.�

..She fingered the bead of the
necklace she was wearing absently.� If
she could take it off..� then what?��

Change everything?�

She couldn�t even think of a way to reconcile all the different pieces of messed
up surrounding her.� �

The sound of a knock on the door
shocked her.�

It wasn�t that it jolted her from her troubling circular thoughts, that was a
given � it was that it occurred at all in a place where every person in her
world apparated in and out of this room.�

She waited.�

Nothing happened.�

After a minute there was another
polite knock.�

She frowned, getting up from the
chair.�

On the other side of the door,
when she opened it stood Draco in a dark green robe.� He looked at her with something between
relief and fear.�

�..Granger� he acknowledged nervously.�
She opened the door for him to enter.�
He hesitated and then stepped past her quickly.�

�So you know then?� she said
dully.� �

His eyes widened slightly.

�that you tried to kill yourself?.. that�s
what Severus told me.� He wasn�t in his
right mind though..�

You�ve been locked away for weeks.� Severus
almost fell apart, brewing nonstop.� He
contradicted the Dark Lord yesterday and stormed out during a meeting.�

I..� ...he didn�t
say what had happened.� Something that involved a lot of physical damage to judge by what
he was brewing most of the time.�

You look..alright..� he frowned at her sceptically��

She pursed
her lips slightly.� �that..
wasn�t what I meant..� she said distractedly.�

�When .. how long ago did it
happen?� How long have I been quote
unquote �resting�?��

Draco tightened his jaw and looked
away.� �A bit more than three weeks� he
gritted out.�

�The Dark Lord had a ..long chat.. with
me about my time with the order.� He
wouldn�t let me see you.�� He..

I don�t know if he knows I�m here.� I
just needed to see you were ok. ��

His expression shifted through anger and guilt to reserved fear once again.

�..I�m sorry, Granger. ��
Draco�s eyes darted to her face and pierced hers.� They were like the surface of the silvery
lake outside and narrowed in emotion

�I shouldn�t have..�
I shouldn�t have gotten you drunk and..done
those things.� I didn�t know you�d.. ...I didn�t want to hurt you.� I�m sorry, ok?!��

Hermione blinked at him.�

After a few moment she snorted,
unsure whether to feel amused or touched. What happened to Malfoys
never apologise?!

�Thanks..
Draco..I guess..� but you do realise
that not everything that happens is about you, right?��

He looked hopeful.�

�you didn�t do anything to yourself because of what we
all did?��

�No!� she snorted, the balance
tipping in favour of amused.

�In fact if I�d just shut my stupid mouth and let Harry go hang, everything
would have been great.� But I guess it�s
a bit late for regrets.��

Draco�s eyebrows rose. �Then why?� Cause of Potter?!� You can�t possibly be serious?!� After ..everything?!��

He looked incredulous and disgusted.�

She hesitated.�

�Not in the way you mean.� And no. that had nothing..
or very little.. to do with
anything.��

She made a face �Although it was terrible to see him like that.� Your father was there with Rodolphus.� Harry was
just-..�� She shut the thought off
quickly, clenching her eyes and putting her arms around herself.�

She could.. hear that wet gurgly sound he made.. and the
gristly snapping of tendons when Tom straightened him out in the air.

Draco stepped closer, his hand
raised as if to comfort her.� He drew it
back uncertain.�

Hermione swallowed and continued
in an unsteady voice.� �Harry was
unrecognisable.� It was
...senseless.��

Draco seemed to waver but said in
a hard voice.� �You can�t have it both
ways Granger.

Either the order and Potter or the Death Eaters and the Dark
Lord.� And for Merlin�s sake it
better be the Dark Lord since I�ve burned my bridges with the order for you
now.��

She felt a massive stab of
guilt.� �No.. I don�t
want to leave here.� I just meant.. I wish they would stop torturing him. ..he was my friend for a much longer time than he�s been a
psychopath and.. to see him like that.. it was terrible.�

And pointless.�
He didn�t break anyway.�

I can�t even begin to imagine the pain he�s been through.� And it�s been three weeks?!��

She put her hand on her forehead, trying to rub away the thought of Harry�s
gurgle.�

�What did you do to yourself?� Draco
asked suddenly.� �

She turned away, looking at the bed, looking to the chairs by the fire and
finally walked to the window seat slowly.�

Draco followed her, a few paces behind.�
She sat down and looked out at the darkening sky.�

He hovered uncomfortably and
gestured at the other side of the window seat and she nodded absently.�

�I fell.� Down there� she nodded out at the
window.�

�There was a hole in the wall and I fell a long way.��

Draco clenched his jaw for a
second.� �Fell..
or jumped?� ��

Hermione rolled her eyes toward
the lake.� �I fell..intentionally��

�WHY?!� Draco
demanded.� �Why would
you DO that?!� I was waiting for
you to return and Severus was summoned.�
He didn�t come back for two days and then it was only to drag me into
the lab and set me at ingredient prep. �

What the fuck happened?!��

She shrugged.� �I thought that everyone would be better off
if I weren�t around.��

Draco gaped at her looking appalled. �He
appeared speechless.�

Finally he blurted �Why?!� WHY Granger?!�

�She stared out the window pensively again and
sighed.�

Draco, frustrated, reached out and pushed her shoulder back, turning her face
with his other palm.� He glared at her
furiously.�

�Don�t ignore me!� How did I give you the impression that my
life would be better without you in it?�
When?!�

Was it when I was staring at you like a daft moon calf or when I didn�t even
mind dying for a chance to touch you?��

His eyes were narrowed and his hand tightened on her shoulder and then released
her, disgusted at her lack of reaction.�

She took a deep breath, knowing
that if Draco didn�t know then he probably wasn�t supposed to.�

�It�s not that..�
well.. it is.. sort of but not how you�d think.�

I�m sorry Draco.� I�m..happy.. you
like me.�� I like you too!��

Its just... complicated and it might even be taking
advantage of you.� I don�t know.� I can�t help it.. this isn�t something I planned.�

Draco shook his head
confused.� �What are you talking
about?!� I want to understand but you�re
making no sense. Why would you be taking advantage of me?�

Not that I mind.� Take advantage of
me!� I don�t care!� Better you than everyone else.� I�d give you whatever you wanted if you
asked.� So ask!..��

She swallowed.� She was about to speak when Draco suddenly
leaned in, grazing his lips lightly over hers, his eyes closed.�

She blinked, unsure how to respond.�

She wanted to embrace him and kiss him and let him comfort her but.. it would be selfish, wouldn�t
it?� He didn�t know he was only reacting
to some pheromone or something.��

Draco retreated, only a few inches, his head bowed slightly and eyes clenched
shut.�

He gritted out through clenched teeth �Just.. Don�t die, Granger.� Ok?!� Whatever
you want, I�ll try and give it to you.. but don�t leave me here alone again..�

He opened his eyes, watery and grey, and studied her expression.�

She shook her head mutely. �You don�t
understand� she murmured.

�Explain it to me!� he urged emotionally.

�I can�t-� She grimaced.� �-if you haven�t been told..��

He looked pained.�

�please.� He said in a low desperate voice.� It managed to sound more like a demand than a
plea.�

She smirked internally.� Only a Malfoy
could do that.��

After a minute of internal debate,
she nodded.�

He looked both relieved and slightly afraid.�

�You�ll hate me when I�ve told
you.� She muttered unhappily.� The
warning only deepened the worry on his face.�

�I couldn�t hate you now if I tried� he said weakly.�

Turning away from him, she leaned her forehead against the cold glass of the
window.�

�As a pureblood, you�ve probably
heard stories.. fairy tales
or legends.. stories..
about wizards or witches who could manipulate raw
magic.�� His face looked slightly alarmed
but he nodded.�

�well.. that�s what I am� she
said simply.�

�That�s why Tom bound my magic.� He was
afraid I might use it against him after I realised what I could do.�

As soon as I discovered I could consciously do it he bound me.��

Draco was frowning, shaking his
head. �They�re just stories, granger.� It
isn�t real.� Nobody can use raw
magic.� Did the Dark Lord tell you that
was why he did it?��

She rolled her eyes at him.� �No.� I
know I did it.�

I made him young again.� I healed his
soul.�

Just by wanting it.

I used it on your father too. Its why his brand won�t
heal.� Trust me.� They aren�t just
stories..��

Draco leaned back, uneasily.� �But.. I�ve been in
school with you for years.� You�re good
at magic.. gifted even.. but you never did anything like that.��

She sighed.� �It�s.. hidden.. when you�re young.�

Tom said he thought it was a survival adaptation to stop anyone from trying to
kill the witch or wizard before they�re strong enough to defend
themselves.� The ability doesn�t manifest
till sexual maturity.�

Tom had been watching me for years before he got his hands on me.�

I�ve been under the effects of some kind of potion to prevent me from
developing.. desires.. shall we say.. for the last couple of years.� I didn�t know it, obviously.��

Maybe it�s why I found it so easy to throw myself into studying when everyone
around me was just shagging like nifflers.��

Draco stood up and paced away
uncomfortably, obviously still trying to reconcile this information
internally.� He put his hands in his hair
as he paced tensely.��

�This is why everyone is after you, isn�t it� he said finally.� She nodded.�
She had known that he would
make the connection more quickly than Tom had, since he�d already found it
strange before he had this puzzle piece.�

He went on-� �It�s something about you that makes
everyone want you.� Even without your
magic.� Another protection.�

In the stories the wizards and witches were killed as soon as they were found
out.�

It�s hard to kill something you want though..something
you love..��

�You think I�m drugged or imperiused or whatever, don�t
you?!��

it wasn�t
really a question.� She looked away,
staring bleakly out of the window.�

�I�ve just found out that everything I thought I had is an illusion, Draco.� And my existence is dangerous for the people
that I love.� Tom can�t kill Harry because he doesn�t want
to kill me and Harry is only the way he is because
of what I did to Tom.�

Rodolphus went mad for a bit before this all happened
� he didn�t even react to the cruciatus.�

You threw away safety and freedom
with the order for someone you�d spent years hating � you put yourself in Tom�s
and Rodolphus� way.�
You pretty much shagged your guardian all because of me.��

Severus has been obsessed with me for years apparently � he poisoned himself because of me, did you
know that?� Because he thought he�d lost
me.� I healed him but it doesn�t change
the fact that he almost died!��

�I�ve created a second Lord Voldemort
in Harry and I killed Ginny and Ron
is marked too now.. all of
this is MY FAULT!�� She looked at him
exasperated.� �Things aren�t going to get
better with my continued existence � they�ll get worse.�� And.. and eventually Tom will convince himself he feels safe and
he�ll take off this bloody necklace and then.. I don�t even know what I�ll
do.�

Nothing good.�
He should never take it off me.� Severus
was right in putting it back on.�

It doesn�t matter what way Tom finds to bind me to him or prevent me from
acting upon him directly � I�m a threat beyond calculation.� The stories had the right idea.��

Draco was looking at her, shellshocked, his head tilted.��

�...ok.. � he said unsteadily.� He sat down on the floor abruptly, in a messy
pile of limbs.

After a minute or so, staring down
at his feet he said, in a broken voice �So...so.. what I feel is just a ..hallucination..� or something?.. wait?� Ginny? You mean Ginevra Weasley? You killed her?!� Why?� Wasn�t she one of your friends?�

And how did..why would you turn Harry into that?!� Did you miss the Dark Lord after I rescued
you or something? � no!� wait. You couldn�t
have � you didn�t even have any magic then.��

He looked up at her like a confused lost child.�

She sighed.� �I didn�t mean to do anything to Harry.� He was a horcrux.� When I healed Tom, the soul fragments blended
and changed him.� It was an
accident.� I didn�t even know he was
still alive at the time..��

she looked out the window again pensively.� �and Ginny was a
lying traitor.� She was a death eater
spying on Harry and on me.� She tricked
me.� I ..overreacted.�

I was a bit.. stressed at the
time.. and I�d just used my ability for the first time
ever the night before and then Severus had ...done something unexpected.. and I was very confused about my feelings toward Tom and.. and it seemed like a good idea..� �

She swallowed and restrained herself from looking over at the perfectly
innocent area of floor near the centre of the room.��

�I�m sorry, Draco.� She said quietly.� �I
should have stayed away from you��

The boy�s face contorted in an expression of pain.�

�No.� Stop it granger.� Don�t.� You don�t get it.�� He looked up at her with feverish desperate
eyes.�

�It doesn�t matter.� Or it�s too
late.� Either way.� I..I need you.�� He scrambled over to her and knelt, putting
his hands on her knees and looking up at her, something desperate and empty and
frightening in his eyes.�

�I need you, ok?� I don�t care why.� It doesn�t change anything.� If you don�t want me, I�ll..
I-I can�t ..�

He growled a plea at her pitifully.�

�Just let me stay around you.. please!� Don�t send me away.� I�ll .. I�ll be your
pet.. if you want.�

You liked it when I was a ferret, right?�

I�ll never ask anything of you.� Just let
me be close to you?� �

The boy shrank and became a white
ferret.� He bounced up onto his hind legs
and spun in circles amusingly.

Hopping away he lowered himself, chased his own tail for a while and then
braced himself and did an actual backflip.�

Hermione was impressed.. saddened that the proud boy
would reduce himself to performing to try to persuade her to accept him as
little more than a familiar.. but nevertheless on some
level impressed that he could do that.�

�oh Draco..�
she said quietly, sorrowfully.�

Sliding herself onto the floor to lean against the
window seat she held her arms out and the animal bounced into them eagerly,
climbing up her and burrowing under her hair to lay himself on her
shoulders.�

His small damp nose prodded her cheek and she felt a tiny hot rough tongue lick
her softly.�

Hermione raised a hand absently
and stroked his head.� He hung himself
limply, giving over to the sensation.�

She sighed.� Draco�s reaction reminded her of what Severus
had said to Tom when she�d woken while she was still injured.� It seemed like.. knowing what was happening to them was not enough to make
her paramours think rationally enough to want to stay away.�

�except for Tom� �she corrected herself.� He really was an amazing wizard, she mused
again.� He was without a doubt, the strongest
wizard of the age.� It wasn�t just
arrogance.�

She braced herself on the windowseat and stood up.�

Draco didn�t even try to clutch onto her, his legs falling on one side of her
neck and his front paws and head on the other.�

He raised his head again briefly
and licked her jaw, before returning to doing an amazing impression of a self
heating mink stole.

She walked carefully to the other
end of the room and perused the bookcases, finally selecting a text on potions
of enhancement.� Draco perked
slightly.�

She sat down in the chair by the fire and opened the book, noting how the small
animal twisted his body till he could rest his head on his paws and see the
pages in her lap.�

She smiled and reached up, tickling him behind his ears and causing him to emit
a soft squeak.�

�tell me when you�re done with the page� she said
softly and started to read.�

Draco tapped her with a paw when
she was perhaps two lines away from the end and she acknowledged with a
nod.� They progressed that way for
another ten pages.� It was quite
relaxing, she realised.� Like being with Crookshanks except that Draco would actually respond when
she spoke to him.�

And he was gentler.. and, not
to insult poor Crookshanks memory, but Draco was
really incredibly cute like this. �

Not that he
wasn�t also quite cute in his human form when he wasn�t wearing a sneer or a
snarl. �

She laid aside the book gently and
he looked up at her with a squeak that probably meant �hey!� I was reading that!��

She bowed her head and very gently retrieved him while he limply allowed her to
drag him around.�

Conveying him to the crook of her arm she stroked his stomach and throat like
she had when they had been in his room, except now she felt confident enough to
inspect his tiny clawed paws and stroke him under his chin.�

He tolerated her exploration with
lazy delight.� She lifted him, cuddling
him to her and blew breath into his fur on his tiny tubular chest.�

He squeaked softly and paddled with one paw.�
�tickles?� she guessed.� The small head nodded.�

�Bed?� she asked.� He shook his
head.�

Carefully he twisted till he could
extract himself from her grip and pounced off the arm of the chair to the
floor.�

Growing back into his human form he crouched by the chair�s arm and looked up
at her with concern.�

�You couldn�t summon an elf last
time.� Have you eaten today?� She shook
her head.�

He looked angry.. but it
wasn�t directed at her. ��

�What do you like?� he wanted to
know.�� She thought for a minute.�

�Maybe.. Tomato soup with some buttered bread?� And pumpkin juice?��

Draco�s face quirked but he bit off the comment he probably wanted to make
about her plebeian tastes.�

After the elf had left again and
she sat, dipping her bread into the soup and devouring it with relish, Draco
transformed back into his animagus form and clambered
up in the seat to lay his long body down into the gap between her thigh and the
arm of the chair.�

She offered him a small piece of bread soaked in soup and he took it hesitantly,� then perked,
practically inhaling it and crawling out to beg more
from her.�

It was darling the way he�d hold it in his little paws and munch through it
like a wood chipper.�

She wished that she was amoral
enough to allow Draco to throw himself away being her pet for the rest of his
life.�� He would be such a delightful
familiar. �

Finishing the soup she deposited
the bowl on the table and returned her attention to the ferret, now climbing
out to lay himself across her lap in optimal stroking position.� She complied without thinking and he
stretched his tiny paws and yawned contentedly.�

The pop of apparition startled
her, some time later as she�d been staring into the
fire and gliding her hand gently over Draco�s back as she used to with Crookshanks.�

Draco startled too.�

He twisted like liquid and shot up her body to curl around the back of her neck
again, standing on her shoulder with his front paws, alert.�

�Tom?� she mouthed at him silently.� He
shook his head.�

�Hermione?�
Severus voice called out slightly panicked.�

They both relaxed.� She peered around the side of the chair and Draco
leaned out past her.�

Severus spotted them both and strode over quickly, visibly relieved.� He was not wearing his glamour and he looked
a lot healthier than he had when she had last seen him.�

�I... thought for a moment.. when you were not in the Dark
Lord�s bedchamber where I left you..� he shook his head, the stricken
expression fading slightly.�

�I apologise� I was unable to come to you before now. �Are you ..?��
he took in the bowl on the table.�

�At least someone had the sense to
think of your needs..��

He scowled but it seemed to her that it was not directed at anyone present in
the room. �His eye settled on the ferret
around her neck. �

�Draco, what are you doing?� he
asked tiredly. �Get down.��

The ferret pressed� himself against her defensively,
lowering his head to his paws as if to say �shan�t.�

Severus hand darted out
adder-quick and gripped the creature by the skin of the back of his neck,
dragging him off her and holding him dangling, strampling,
in the air. He frowned at him and then dropped him without care to the floor,
where he bounced slightly.�

Turning his wand upon him he muttered a charm and then Draco was reverting back
to human form.�

�What is your problem?!� �Draco snarled at
his godfather immediately he was able.��

Severus looked down his nose at
him.� The effect was significantly
lessened in his younger body.�

�You are an adult wizard, not a feather boa.��

�Well I�d rather be a familiar�
the boy muttered.� �being
an adult wizard hasn�t done me any
favours.��

Hermione looked at Severus, biting
her lip.� �I told him� she said, looking
down.�

Severus rolled his eyes in annoyance,
sniping sarcastically- �wonderful.� One
more thing he�s going to be pleased about.�
Potter is still being
frustratingly difficult most of the time and our Lord is already paranoid that
the knowledge will get out, since the boy apparently knows all about you and since
numerous death eaters, male and female, have been with him in private,
attempting to convince him to be more forthcoming.�

He�ll probably obliviate Draco when he learns of
this.��

Draco balked.� �Why?!.. thats ridiculous.� I�d never put her at risk that way!� Why can�t you just let me stay here.�

Granger said I could stay and be her familiar, right Granger?!�� he turned to her
expectantly.�

She swallowed.� �That�s not.. I didn�t
say that.� I just ..��

Dracos
face fell in alarm and he dropped to his knees.�
�please! Please...Hermione..� please let me stay
here!!� he pled hopelessly.

Severus looked shocked.� He lowered
himself into the other armchair weakly.�

�Draco...� he muttered.� �you�re not ..yourself..� perhaps it would be better if you��

Draco�s head bowed and he slumped
down on his heels looking at her desperately.�
�...please?� he begged despairingly.�

She looked at Severus.�

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose between finger and thumb
in aggravation.�

�I�ll ask him� he said finally,
grimly.��

Draco brightened tentatively,
turning to his godfather.� �And in the
meantime you�ll let me stay with her?��

Severus looked at Hermione
uncertainly.� She shrugged back
ambivalently.�

He frowned slightly.�

It looked, she observed, somewhat petulant.�
She furrowed her brow uncertainly.�
�Do you also want to stay, Severus?� she asked; the question
tentative.�

Severus looked away guiltily, a
faint look of wistfulness on his face.�

�It is better if I do not� he responded grudgingly.� �He is ..very
unpredictable at present.� It is better I
remain with him.��

She nodded slowly.� �is he.. �� she petered
out.� Severus raised a questioning
eyebrow.� �Does he still want to kill
me?��

Draco spun and fixed his godfather
with a look of horror.� �what?� he asked panicked.�
�He�s going to kill her?!� What for?!�
We have to stop him!��

Severus groaned.�

�Thank you so much Draco.� You just
demonstrated in a nutshell exactly why the Dark Lord is so concerned about the
situation.�

You leapt immediately to mutiny at the mere thought
of your Master � the man you have twice sworn
an oath to serve till your last breath - harming her.�

Rodolphus apparently did something..similar.�

Our lord is quite perturbed now that many of his closest and most trusted Death
Eaters have been in her proximity and may have been.. affected.. by whatever it is that
makes one urgently desire to possess
her and, resultingly, protect her.�

It is difficult to reason with him since I am quite capable of thinking
rationally and observing the veracity in his logical reasoning.

He is right.

Nevertheless.. I cannot but try to persuade him to
spare her as I love her.�

I find myself allowing you to remain
when my reason tells me to remove you, for the simple reason that I wish that I could remain here myself.� This is a dangerous situation.��

Hermione nodded unhappily.� �I�m sorry � when I understood.. I did try..� she explained. �

Severus looked at her, pain in his
eyes.� �Yes.�� His voice was leaden.� �I understand..�� but..��

he swallowed uneasily, looking conflicted.� �It...it�s not the-
..� it�s-..� Don�t
do anything like that again!..�

I thought I�d lost you again.. after I�d only just been holding
you..caressing you.. after
I�d begun to hope..� �

Hermione wanted to get up and go
over and embrace him.. but
after what he had been saying she thought it probably would be for the best if
she didn�t.��

Severus looked at her longingly and sighed. He stood abruptly and went to her,
holding out his hand as if to help her out of the chair.�

She placed her hand in his, but instead of helping her to rise,
he simply raised it and pressed a soft lingering kiss to her inner wrist.�

He released her hand and wished
them both a hushed goodnight, leaving by the door this time.��

She looked at Draco, who watched
her from his knees nervously.� It was
almost comical how different he looked to his former snide insulting self.�

She smirked.� �Oh get up.� I�m not going to ask you to leave.� And you don�t have to be a ferret to
stay.��

He looked as if she�d placed the
sun inside his skull.� His eyes glowed in
relief.�

He climbed to his feet, looking down at her�

�I like it..� he said quietly, blushing�
�I like it when you stroke my fur.�
It feels..safe.� warm...

I�ve never felt anything like it.�

I wasn�t kidding.� I�d rather be your pet than be...whatever I am now.� Death eater.. Malfoy heir.� Adult wizard��

he spat the last bitterly. �

She sighed. �You can be a ferret
if you want.� I like it too.� You�re adorable.. and it felt nice to sit by the fire and stroke you and read
like that..

but it�s not all
that you are, Draco.�� She stood.�

�Besides.� There
are disadvantages.��

Draco frowned. �Maybe but..its..easier and.. It feels
good.��

Hermione quirked
her lips at him.� �Ok.� suit yourself.� I won�t argue.� You can spend the rest of the night as a
ferret if you really want to��

Draco didn�t bother to respond, he was already shrinking down and spun in a
happy little circle on the floor, rearing up on his paws then and swaying
dizzily.�

She smiled and reached down, lifting him gently and raising him up, cuddling
him against her breast so that his head rested on her shoulder.� He squeaked softly and she stroked him.�

�Right then.� Let�s go get ready for bed, my dear ferret�
she said, grinning and carried him into the bathroom.�

She placed him on the slippery
long vanity and he skittered for a second before he found balance, looking up
at her unsteadily while she flicked on the shower.�

She didn�t need one, she�d showered only a few hours ago but she felt Draco was
being unreasonable and needed to get his perspective back a little.

Undressing in front of the small
animal felt very slightly perverse, but she pretended that he was Crookshanks and had no interest in human anatomy.�

The ferret lay with its head on its front paws and
watched her with great interest.��

Any second now, she thought.� Any second now he�ll change back and then
there�ll be no more of this �I�ll be your familiar� business.�

Draco just lay patiently while she disrobed.�

Then she walked back and picked him up, putting him back against her chest as
she�d carried him before.�

�watch the claws� she muttered, opening the shower
door and stepping inside.�

She didn�t think ferrets could look aghast but this one did.�

She stepped under the shower and� turned, letting
it hit her back and sheltering Draco with her body from the worst of the hot
spray.�

She wet her hair and then, half turning, put Draco�s
back under the spray.� Wet, his fur
became translucent and he turned into something akin to a drowned rat.�

It didn�t seem to bother him at all.� He
squeaked repeatedly and she shook her head.�
�I have no idea what you want� she smiled.� He shook his head.�

She turned again, warming her own back and stroked down the slick animal in her
arms.�

He snorted and shook his head, licking his whiskers.�

�Shall I wash your hair?� she
enquired with a raised eyebrow.�

Apparently yes.� He licked her cheek
excitedly.�

She laughed, unable to believe how stubborn the git was.� She would have thought he�d be chomping at
the bit to become human again, but it seemed that he was just pleased as punch
to be coddled like some kind of child with a hair problem.

�Ok� she snickered and lifted him
carefully to stand on the inbuilt slate shelf.�

Unlike the bench, there was a lot more grip here and Draco could stand
stably.� He shivered in the chill out of
the water.�

She gave him a sympathetic pout
and opened the shampoo, dumping it into her hands and then spreading it all
over him, lathering him up till he looked like a frothy white pygmy puff,
leaving his head free.�

He seemed overjoyed and arched into her hands when she massaged the shampoo
in.�

When she had finished she very carefully massaged the lather around the top of
his head and under his chin.�

He looked at her expectantly.� She picked him up carefully and cradled him
against her again with his head on her shoulder, turning and putting him under
the spray.� She supported him with one
hand and stroked away the lather with the other,�

After this she maneuvered him into the crook of her
arm and rinsed his underside.� His head
fell back over her arm as he enjoyed the warm water and her attention.�

She picked him up again and held him to her, turning off the water and shaking
a little to drip.�

�you really
are impossible, do you know that?� she sighed.��

He lay his head against her shoulder, his face turned
toward her and squeaked softly.�

�oh well good then.�
So long as you�re aware of it� she sniggered.�

She got out and wrapped the black
towel around them both, returning to the other room and, rather than going to
the bed or the wardrobe, turning and returning to the fire, sitting down on the
hearth and bending her knees, folding them up in front of her , her whole body
cocooned in the enormous black towel.�

The wet ferret who
was pressed between her bent legs and her chest hunkered down still
further.�

This close to the fire it was
lovely and warm.

She lowered her legs and dried the rest of herself cursorally,
then turned the towel on the ferret at her shoulder.

�He seemed to like being towelled too and she
pulled him gently off her and put him down on the hearth in order to wrap the
towel around him properly and give him a good rub.�

After she was finished he had spiked hair all over his body and gave himself a
shake, inspecting his body and looking at her with a decidedly Malfoy
expression.� It seemed to scream �what do
you call this?!��

She stroked him all over, on top
of the towel on the hearth until his fur lay flat and silky and dry.�

Her own hair was slightly damp still but, without magic, it was going to have
to remain that way.�

When Draco�s fur was dry, she lifted the small animal and draped him around her
neck, taking the towel and tossing it into the bathroom on the way past.� It would be replaced automatically anyway. ��Removing the ferret she tossed him lightly on
the bed and slipped between the covers.�

Draco slunk up and then burrowed
underneath the sheets too, a small rounded bump made its way around the surface
of the bed as he crawled about.�

When she had settled she felt him crawl back and curl against her stomach as
she lay on her side.

She stroked him absently and drifted off to sleep.�

She had no idea how long she�d
been asleep when the door slammed open, hitting the wall.�

She shot upright in bed, squinting, adrenalin electrifying her.��

Tom.�

He stalked at high speed over to
the bed, black robed and looking like a beautiful boy possessed by a pissed off
demon.�

She thought for a second he�d come
to kill her but he stopped, glaring at her furiously.�

�YOU ARE STILL MINE!!� he hissed
venomously.�

She furrowed her brows in
confusion and nodded.�

�Why then, do I find you here when I look for you, when I left
you lying in my bed?!��

He folded his arms and looked at her disapprovingly, as if she were a dog that
had made a mess on the carpet.��

She shrugged.�

�You said I was only alive for Severus sake.�
I didn;t think you�d
care.

There was nobody else around.� I wanted a
shower.� My clothes are here.� This is my room.� The list goes on.�

Does it really matter?� I�ll come back to
your room if you like.��

A small white furry head popped
out of the blankets.� Tom�s expression
went from volcanic to nuclear meltdown.�

�MALFOY?!!!� he yelled, incensed.�
�You returned here to bed the boy?!�

She felt insulted at this, despite
the fact that she realised she probably might have, had Draco not been so taken
with being a ferret.�

�Actually no.� she responded coldly.� �Apparently
Draco wants to be my pet.� He�s been a ferret all night, except briefly
while Severus was here and even then he spent most of the time asking to be
allowed to be my familiar.��

She folded her arms, irritated that he would be so distant to her this morning
and now turn around and act like she�d ignored some,
obviously silent, command to stay in his bed all day and wait for his
return.�

Tom looked about five nanometres
worth of mollified.�

He narrowed his eyes and then
leaned down and ripped all the blankets back.�

One hand clamped onto her upper arm and the other grabbed the squealing and
struggling ferret around the waist and he dragged them both off the bed
roughly.�

She tried to move where he wanted
her to move and not fight and, although he was still squeaking pitifully she
could see that Draco didn�t dare turn around and bite the hand that was
obviously hurting him either.�

He dragged them out of the room
and down the hall to his own door, open wide.� She could see Severus sitting up in bed anxious
and afraid.�

Tom shoved her toward the bed and then pointed at a shirt on the floor,
transfiguring it into a cat basket.� He
dropped Draco on it unkindly, sneering at him.�

�Very well, Malfoy.� Am I not
generous?� I will grant you your wish. �You may be a pet.�

This is your bed.� If I find you in mine I will make a hat from your pelt and give it to your father
for Christmas.��

Hermione stood uncertainly by the
bed, her arms wrapped around herself.�

Tom rounded on her

�What are you waiting for?� An engraved invitation?�
Get in the bed!�

She complied hurriedly, sliding
herself against Severus.� He looked at
her with concern. �

Tom pulled his robe off angrily,
sending it floating to drape over the back of the chair, and slid in beside
her.�

He reached for her suddenly and she flinched at his rough abrupt movements.

He grabbed her by the hips and pulled her down in the bed till she lay flat on
her back.� Then he scooted down under the
covers himself, turning on his side toward her and closing his eyes with an air
of finality in his movements.�

This was Going To
Sleep Tom.�

Hermione darted a glance up at Severus
who was uneasily lowering himself in the bed to lie down too.� His look spoke volumes.�

�Unpredictable�� he�d
called Tom earlier.�

Toms arm came up and draped over
her possessively, pulling her against him slightly.�

�You are mine.� He said again
quietly, as if explaining to a difficult child after a spanking.�

�You belong to me.� And me alone.� I
decide where you will go and what you should do.� I am
in control, not you mudblood.� You will
obey me.�� The last words were muttered
tiredly.�

His entire tirade was at odds with
the way his hand stroked her skin as he spoke, too, and the way he now edged
closer till his hard body lay stretched the length of her own and his chin rested
lightly on her shoulder, his head on the pillow only a bare couple of inches
from her own.

�Always, Tom� she whispered
affectionately and put her own hand on his arm over her.�

He smiled slightly with closed eyes and soon enough his breathing slowed and he
seemed to be asleep.

She turned her head slightly to
look at Severus who lay on her other side, raising an
eyebrow.�

He whispered so softly she could barely hear him.

�While you were recovering,
sometimes he would sleep next to you in your room.� Then he became very upset about his own
�weakness� and started threatening to kill you again.�

When he returned to sleeping here and left you there he didn�t sleep well and
grew angry again. �

You have been sleeping in here for the last week.

I should have said something earlier.� I
thought.. now you were awake
he would try to keep you at arm�s length again.��

�Go to sleep, both of you� Tom
grouched.� �Severus, your babbling is
keeping me awake.��

He shifted slightly, his arm squeezing her and stroking down her side in a
similar way, she realised, to the way that she�d stroked Draco�s fur
earlier.�

He kissed her shoulder lightly and less than a minute later, he was breathing
deeply again.�

She turned to Severus and smiled
excitedly.� He looked somewhat hopeful
too.� He folded his arm under the pillow,
as he was won�t to do when he slept and she felt his calf press against her
own, his hand sliding to lay on top of her hip.��

Oh hell no, she thought.�� I can�t sleep
on my back and I�m not going to lay here all night on tenterhooks while the
pair of them dream.�

She swallowed and turned her head, kissing Tom lightly on the lips to wake
him.�

He jolted slightly and cracked an eye to peer at her irritatedly.�

She smiled and then eased her body
onto her side, turning her back to him and pulling his arm around her like a
blanket.�

There was a sound of grumbling and
he extracted his arm and gestured.� Her
hair became dry and then swept itself back and braided itself.�

He put his arm back around her, cupping a breast loosely and putting his face
against the back of her neck.�

Severus seized the opportunity and
turned over too, switching sides and edging himself
against her till he could feel her skin against his back.

�She put her arm over him, pulling him
back against her and resting her hand on his abdomen.�

He covered it and interlaced his fingers in hers, sighing happily.�

�I missed you� she thought she
heard him whisper.� Tom kissed the back
of her neck as if in agreement.� She closed
her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep.

Author note.

Review replies can be found at
http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/18725-review-replies/
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Precious Mudblood