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
- 60
- 61
- 62
It was cold and someone was
shaking her shoulder.�

�Wake up Maia��

She cracked her eyes irritably.� Septimus was
leaning over her.� She startled and then
relaxed again as the events of the night replayed themselves in her mind.�

It was cold because she was lying
on the mattress alone.� The other three
were standing and were in various states of undress.�

Septimus was fully clothed, Tom was buttoning his
shirt and Abraxas was lounging in his trousers, shirtless.�

She felt suddenly extremely naked
and exposed.�

It must have shown on her face
because Septimus dropped to his knees beside her and
enfolded her in his arms.

He murmured in her ear low in that cross between Lucius
and Severus voice of his �Never..never feel inadequate
in my presence Maia.� You are a goddess.
To look upon you is a privilege.� Come
now.� It is time to return to your room.
Four thirty.� Soon the first students
will be rising.��

He pulled back, his black silk hair perfectly smooth and brushed � he looked
extremely unruffled.�

Helping her to her feet he
summoned her robe for her and helped her into it.� Abraxas sneered at
him.

�Fuss and fawn while you may Sep-� Amalthea
will castrate you if she sees you look twice at my girlfriend.�

The tone in his voice was extremely self-satisfied and entitled. It reminded
her of Draco in school.

Hermione�s eyes shot to those of the blonde boy. �What?!..
um.. �

She frowned in confusion and looked to Tom.�
He was wearing a studied blank expression.

�I�ve decided you are to be seen
to date Abraxas, Maia. �He will be pursuing you publicly now.�

Now you are ..together.. you
may return to sit with us.��

Her frown deepened. �But-..� she
began - he gave her a warning glare. She stilled and lowered her eyes.�

A moment later she startled when a bare-chested Abraxas
strutted over and wrapped his arms around her.

�Isn�t it wonderful Maia?!� he
gushed in a low tone into her ear �I will be the only one permitted to touch
you in public..

I wanted you on my arm when I first saw you.�
Now you will be.� It�s perfect!�

He released her and swanned away to finish dressing.

She tried to think about the
development rationally.�

Ok.. Tom wanted to neutralize Abraxas
� this was in a sense the kind of pandering that Lucius
would have loved although Lucius would never have consented..
or at least would probably
never have consented to anything more respectful than slavery...

..nevertheless to have the public illusion that she belonged to him was likely even more
important to a Malfoy than having the private
exclusiveness.�

And..she would get to return to them all instead of
sitting off by herself.� That was
good.�

She wasn�t disinclined to be with Abraxas, she supposed.�
He was much nicer than his son, even if he was a bit..um..
competitive.. when it came to
Septimus.�

She assumed it was probably because they were both competing for Tom�s respect
in a way.� Their descendents would be the
same.� If she ever got back she�d have to
see whether Tom had fostered that intentionally and try to learn a lot more
about what had happened back then.� �Back
then� was a ways in the future from her current perspective..
but the way he�d spoken of Abraxas
to Lucius.. The way Lucius
had spoken of his father... it was all very dissonant with the impression of
this boy.�

�Come.. I�ll
walk you back to the dorm� Abraxas said softly,
returning to her, now dressed.�

�That way, any suspicion will fall upon only we two.�

He offered her his arm and she placed her own upon it cautiously, her
fingertips brushing his wrist.� His eyes
glittered in delight at the gesture.�

Hermione turned and looked at Tom,
standing off to the side with Septimus.� Both faces were dispassionate and blank but Septimus was standing just a shade too stiffly and she
could feel Tom�s possessive
displeasure radiating off him.�

�Do not forget, Abraxas� he commanded quietly. �You are playing a role and
you are serving me in her protection.�
That is all.� Maia is mine and that will never change.. I warn you never to forget yourself.��

Hermione shivered, thinking of Lucius. �

Abraxas nodded stiffly and walked her to the wall,
exiting before her to be certain it was safe.�

The walk back to the dorm was
quiet. Abraxas seemed pensive. She slid her hand over and into his and pulled his arm down so
that they were walking along holding hands.�

It felt better.�

He looked at her in surprise and she swallowed and smiled softly.� Abruptly he turned and swirled her against
the wall of the corridor, leaning down and kissing her.�

It was a gentle teasing kiss like the first he�d given her and she responded
willingly, wrapping her arms around his neck.

When he released her he looked
more relaxed and seemed reassured. He took her hand in his again and led her
silently to the shield and then to the stairs down to the girls dorms.��

He stroked a fingertip down her cheek and whispered �I will see you in the
great hall..��

Nodding, bemused, she turned away
and returned to her room.� She felt
exhausted.� Literally � wiped out.� As if she�d run a marathon.�

Slipping between her closed curtains and tossing herself on the bed, it seemed
it had only been a few minutes since she had closed her eyes before she was
woken by the sounds of the other girls rising.�

�Maia!� Marta�s bright voice rang
out. �You better get up if you want to get to breakfast before class!��

Hermione mumbled something groggily back.�
She felt..really.. really..
tired.

It was some time after the noise
had died away that she dragged herself out of bed and down the hall into the
bathroom.�

By the time she got upstairs the Great Hall was empty and so were all the
corridors.�

She hurried as quickly as she
could to languages but when she opened the door tentatively the room was
empty.�

Oh hell.�

Casting a tempus and cursing
herself for not doing so earlier she learned that it was already third period.� Potions must have begun about a quarter of an
hour ago. She raced back down from the fourth floor to the dungeons.�

Damn it.. she�d started down
here.� if she�d
known at the time she would have been here only a few minutes late.

Knocking quietly
a cold voice from within commanded �Enter!�

She obeyed, feeling about two feet tall.�
At the front of the class Slughorn fixed her
with a beady disapproving sneer.

�Miss Schiller, I was led to
expect great things from you � this is a rather poor beginning� he frowned at
her.

She nodded ��I�m sorry sir. I-..� he cut her off

�No excuses. Five points from Slytherin and detention
with me this evening at five pm.� Find a
place and catch up.��

She nodded and looked around
hurriedly.�

Tom was working with Septimus and Abraxas with
Benjamin.� The class was Slythendor and joy of joys � Alexander bloody Potter was
looking at her quizzically.�

He shot her a little wave and turned back, nudging his partner, a ginger girl,
to move and go and work with the only boy working by himself � a boy with thin
glasses and dirty blonde hair.�

The girl didn�t look impressed and turned to inspect Hermione, shooting her a hmmph kind of look, but
complied.�

Hermione stood and thought oh
bloody buggering hell!.. I can�t work with him.�
I can�t get near him � he�s already touched me.� Tom will be furious if I end up his potions
partner for the whole year.� Turning to
the Slytherins she indeed saw Tom looking mildly
consternated at his cauldron � but it was Abraxas who seemed to be fuming.

There were an even number of Slytherins and everyone
was matched up.�

He turned to Benjamin Nott beside him who seemed to be studiously avoiding his
eye.� Words were exchanged between them
quietly and then Abraxas hand went into his robe for
his wand.�

Benjamin looked at him like he was insane, and shot a glance at Hermione � who
was still hovering beside the door.

�Miss Schiller!� Slughorn snapped making her jump, �is there some reason why
you have not yet taken your place?!�

She shook her head and started to move toward the Gryffindor side, but before
she could take a step, Benjamin stomped over to the place beside Alex Potter,
levitating his complete work set behind him and cursing silently under his
breath.�

He levelled a septic glare at her as he passed down the rows.

Alex potter looked equally
nonplussed at this development.

Immediately darting to Abraxas side, Hermione unpacked her potions equipment in
record time.�

�If we are all finished playing musical chairs � you should be up to
stage three by now.� Ensure your billywig stings are coated completely.�

Slughorn sounded unamused.� He was certain a lot nicer in her own time, even if he was still creepy.�

Hermione glanced at Abraxas� textbook.�
They were making a healing potion for muscle cramps.�

Well that would be convenient for the
knights, Hermione mused, rushing to the front to collect the ingredients she
needed.�

The potion wasn�t new to her �
she�d brewed it two years ago and the preparation she�d had recently in Severus
lab had been good.� The potions they�d
made were more advanced than this one.�

She cut, sliced, peeled and painted her ingredients as quickly as possible and
was able to quickly get to the brewing � although she was still at stage two
when the others were obviously already on four.�

Abraxas
watched her as he worked with a faint smile of approval. �You�re good in
potions, you know!� I think I may have
traded up in partners�

She smirked and concentrated on what she was doing.

Slughorn
appeared at her side, inspecting her progress and looked pleased.�

�Ah. You are quite capable, after all. Dumbledore was right to place you here.
I shall look forward to seeing your finished potion. Do not lose focus�

she beamed and responded with a polite �thank you sir� adding with an
expression of regret �I apologise sincerely for my lateness.� I will try to prevent it happening again�

He seemed to brighten further. �Very well.� See that it does not.� Carry on.��

She did and by the end of the
class her potion was nearly finished.� It
took another ten minutes to complete it, which she remained for � in order to
submit her finished brew to the professor and avoid a zero.�

He inspected it approvingly.

�Very good, Miss
Schiller.� Now run along.� I will see you tonight at five for your
detention.��

She smiled and thanked him,
packing her equipment at light speed and dashing off quickly. �

Outside the door she just about
collided with Abraxas who had been waiting for her
impatiently.� He gripped and righted her,
looking at her with a tight expression before turning quickly and leading her
toward the Great Hall.�

As they walked, he suddenly demanded with a peevish resentful tone �Where were
you?! You didn�t come to breakfast or languages!��

She looked at him, bewildered herself.�

�I don�t know what happened!� I never
oversleep � but I just couldn�t wake up this morning.�

Marta might have tried to wake me I think.. I don�t
really remember. I don�t..feel the greatest..��

His manner shifted immediately
from accusing to concerned.

�Do you want to go to the infirmary?� Are
you warm?� he put his hand on her forehead.

�You feel pasty.. perhaps you
caught a chill.��

She wanted to snort � a
chill.� Yes.. I
have a case of the vapours too.� Shall we
fetch some leeches?!�

�I�m fine, I think� she responded with confidence she didn�t really feel. �I
don�t want to go to the infirmary.�

He looked unsure and seemed to be debating hauling her there bodily.

�I just overslept Abraxas.� It�s nothing.�
It was obviously just a lot to process yesterday and..and
last night.� I�m fine now.��

He nodded, taking her explanation, it seemed.

They entered the great hall and
Hermione became distinctly aware of how a large number of conversations had
paused to watch them.�

They resumed almost as quickly and there was a louder susurration as the students
speculated upon seeing them together.

When Abraxas led them back to Tom�s end of the table
and seated her on his other side, between himself and Sorrenson,
Hermione saw a number of faces.. a
large number of faces turned in their
direction, both male and female.�

Nobody looked particularly happy.�

She glanced at Abraxas.� Wealthy, pure-blooded,
intelligent, a keeper for the Alytherin team, not to
mention, attractive, well spoken, elegant, chivalrous. �She supposed he was probably almost as much of
a catch as Tom was in the eyes of the student body..perhaps
even more, for some..�

She wondered how many girls right now wanted to beat her around the head with a
brick.�

Abraxas
poured her some pumpkin juice.� She
thanked him politely and he flashed her a dazzling
smile.�

Turning her eyes back to the group she was sitting with she scanned the
array.�

She was faced with a wall of cold expressions.�
Palmer then Benjamin followed by Antonia and Amalthea.

None of them seemed to be hungry.

Septimus was turned completely away from Amalthea having a conversation with Cygnus who stood at the
end of the table between him and Tom. The piratish
boy was laughing as usual about something and Septimus
too wore a little smile of true amusement.

Antonia was watching them both out of the corner of her eye while Benjamin was
watching her.�

Nothing changed there, Hermione noted. �

Tom sat at the end of the table
looking quite perturbed and pensive, not interacting with anyone.� He did not catch her eye.�

�Are you ok, Maia?� Sorrenson asked her quietly. �You look kind of pale��

She turned to him, smiling �I�m
fine�� She didn�t,
honestly, feel fine.� She felt..thin..not in the sense of being slim.. more
like in the sense of being translucent.�
She felt like she might blow away in a strong wind.

Talking to Sorry was nice though. He almost reminded her of Rodolphus.
She needed to see Rodolphus.

Seeing sorry was pleasant and unpleasant for that very reason. It calmed her
even as it aggravated her.

He was soothing in a way but it just made her more aware of the underlying
growing agitation.�

�Tell me something about yourself� she asked him, hopefully.�

He gave her a strange look and thought for a few moments. �Er.. ok.. I was born in Scotland only a few miles from Hogwarts.�

I like to sail when I go home for the breaks...

...I have a blackbird for a familiar but I wasn�t allowed to bring him � his
name is Isador.�

My younger brother Brynly is..there..�� He pointed across at the Gryffindor table to
a brown haired scruffy looking boy with a big grin.�

The boy looked over in that moment and saw his brother point at him and shot him
a confused look, then looked at Hermione and blushed..

She smiled at him and turned back to Sorry as he continued �My father works at
the ministry of magic.��

Hermione brightened and interrupted �Oh?�
What department is he in?� �

Sorry looked away

�um.. the auror
division� he said neutrally.�

�That must be
exciting� Hermione prodded.�

He shrugged. �I hardly ever see
him� he said quietly.�

She hesitated but then figured
what could it hurt �

�My father was a dentist.� It�s like a muggle healer for teeth.�
At least that�s what my mother said.�

He was killed in the war.��

There.� She congratulated herself � every
single statement there was absolutely true.�

Sorry was looking at her strangely

�You shouldn�t say things like that in public Maia..�
he said very quietly. �You never know who�s
listening.�

She frowned slightly. As far as
she was aware, the entire hall knew she was a..half-blood...
Did Sorrenson have a problem with her blood status?!�

She mumbled something in response and turned back to Abraxas
bemused.� He was grinning at whatever
Cygnus and Septimus were chatting about.�

She took an apple from the table
and ate it thoughtfully, her gaze wandering.�

At the head table she noticed Dumbledore watching them all balefully. Looking
away from him purposefully she glanced along the length of the table.� Dippet and the
horrid herbology woman were talking happily at the
centre.�

Slughorn was looking over at them all like
Dumbledore.�

She looked on past him quickly.� The
place where Professor Snape would have sat was taken
by Professor Merrythought.�

She reminded her of sports and brooms.�
The woman would probably make a good muggle gym
teacher or flying instructor.�

�Maia.. it�s time to go� Abraxas murmured,
leaning in toward her just a touch too familiarly.�

She caught not only the wide eyed appraising looks of a number of faces in the
student body turned their way but also the speculative expressions on Amalthea and Palmer�s faces and the comprehending
expression on Benjamin�s.

Antonia was entirely preoccupied elsewhere.

�Looking to get a leg over, Brax?� Palmer growled nastily, his eyes narrowed.

�You�d risk the infirmary for a half-blood slag?�

Hermione swallowed and resisted
the urge to lean closer to Abraxas in her shock.�

Abraxas
looked at him with an expression of disgust.

�Keep your vile comments to yourself, Avery!�
Or you�ll face the sharp end of my wand�

He rose and extended a hand to her to help her up

�Come Maia, let�s go to arithmancy.��

Amalthea
looked both incredulous and relieved at the display but Hermione noted that Septimus had broken off his conversation with Cygnus and
turned to look at them both and his expression was very faintly irritated. �

Tom wasn�t even looking in their direction, he was
scanning around the table looking at the reactions of everyone else.

Abraxas
released her hand when she had stepped over the bench and picked up her books,
carrying them for her.�

The rise in conversation in the room was noticeable.�

She blushed and thanked him,
following him somewhat uncomfortably from the hall.�

Outside of the Great Hall he
allowed himself a broad arrogant grin. �Did you see the look on their faces..��

She nodded, sighing but not
responding.

He frowned slightly and walked a
little closer till he could brush his arm against her shoulder.

�What�s wrong, Maia?� he asked �Are you..unhappy..to have the school see me
court you?��

She turned to him, surprised. �No.. that�s not it. It�s just.. something else.� Someone I used to know from where I was
before.� I was just reminded of them when
I was talking to Sorrenson, thats all.��

Abraxas
questioned her further but she made noncommittal replies.� There was no way to explain the situation to
him without explaining the whole situation and she couldn�t do that.�

They were ten minutes early to arithmancy and it appeared that Madam Le Gaut regarded undue earliness as almost as rude as
tardiness.� She made them wait outside
the classroom.�

Abraxas led her into a window alcove and they both
stood and leaned up against the glass.

�What do you think you�ll do after
NEWTs� she asked him, after a minute or so.�
He seemed surprised.�

�I suppose I�ll go and work in my father�s business.� It is expected of me.��

She nodded thoughtfully, knowing he wouldn�t.�

�What does he do?��

Abraxas
hedged.. �He is..a financeer. He..invests resources..
and interest.. in various
industries and areas.��

She wondered whether that was another name for trafficker, smuggler, pirate and
general scoundrel.�

She didn�t think so.�

�Are you two a couple now?� Does Tom approve?�

Sorrenson had materialised at their side.

�Don�t you have divination or
something now?� Abraxas responded peevishly.

Sorry raised an eyebrow. �It�s down the hall. Answer the question.�

Hermione looked at the sullen
expression on the familiar looking face.

�Tom said that it was ok� she responded softly.

Abraxas, in response, moved closer to her, taking her
hand and bringing her fingertips to his lips.�

Sorrenson
growled in irritation. �He said you were off limits.� He said we weren�t even to think about
it.� No misunderstandings.� This
isn�t fair.��

Hermione swallowed, looking at the
temper on the boy�s face.� She ignored the
disdainful schadenfreude on Abraxas
face and said very quietly to Sorrenson �It�s...
nothing�s changed, Sorry.� But now I can
sit with everyone again.��

Abraxas bristled.

�Oh that�s not exactly true..� he said �Some
things have changed.� I wouldn�t have
been allowed to do this before��

He leaned in close to her, trapping her against the alcove wall and kissed her,
his other hand stroking down her cheek.�

She blushed and pulled away, turning her head, but Sorrenson
had gone.

Instead, on the opposite side of
the corridor she saw two unknown girls standing, gaping.�

She pushed the smirking Abraxas away forcefully and the two girls burst into
giggles and hurried off with wide eyes, whispering.�

�Great..
Now the entire school will think I�m a slut too.��

Abraxas
snorted suggestively. �Thank goodness they didn�t see you last night then.. Is there a word strong enough to describe that?��

She narrowed her eyes at him. �Thanks
a lot you complete ass.��

He seemed to moue discontentedly at her anger and sidled closer to her again

�Oh don�t be like that..� he murmured in mollifying tones. �I happen to like it that you�re a slut.

Now.. if only you were an
exhibitionist also..� He leaned in and she pushed him away again. �Damn it. Stop!��

He snickered and acquiesced,
moving to lean on the other side of the alcove.

�What would your father say if he
knew you were..dating me?� she shot venomously at him.

He sniggered. �Nothing.. It�s hardly as if I�ve asked to marry you.. you aren�t producing any
bastards.�

He couldn�t care less who I ..spend my time
with.��

She looked daggers at him.

�You don�t need to worry about that, I
wouldn�t suffer offspring of yours to live!� she hissed back truthfully,
stalked up to him, snatched her books and marched off down the corridor.

He rushed after her, a startled
look on his face. �Hey.. Maia.. stop.. we were just having a bit of fun, weren�t we?!�

Where are you going?� We have class in a
few minutes!��

She turned and glared at him.

�Leave me alone, Abraxas.��

He stopped in the middle of the
corridor looking upset.

She kept going.�

She wasn�t sure where she was
headed.. just away from him.

He called after her. �I�ll save
you a seat...��

She flicked him a rude gesture over her shoulder and turned the corner into
another corridor running straight into Professor Dumbledore.�

Bouncing back off him, she looked up, stunned.

�Oh.. I�m
sorry professor, I wasn�t looking where I was going.
Pardon me.�

He looked down at her with a
solemn expression.

�Thats quite alright Miss Schiller.� I do believe you are walking in the wrong
direction, however � your arithmancy class is in the
other direction.��

She cursed inwardly.

�I know..professor..
sorry.. I just had an argument with someone I sit next
to in my class and I needed to leave and calm down for a bit.��

He looked at her with concern.. �Are you quite alright, my dear?� You look very pale. Is there something
bothering you?�

She shook her head.

�I�m not feeling very well today.� I
think I might have a bit of a cold. It�s nothing.� You�re right...� I�ll go to class now.� �

The familiar face gave away not a jot of Dumbledore�s internal thoughts.�

�If you are feeling ill, perhaps we might go to the infirmary? You left
astronomy yesterday, I�m told and Professor Paracelsior
reported your absence in languages this morning..��

Hermione flinched. �Yes.. I slept in.. I�m sorry.� I don�t need to go to the infirmary
though.� I was just tired and didn�t hear
my roommate wake me.� It�s a cold.� I�ll be fine. Thank you
professor Dumbledore. I�ll go to class now!��

She turned on her heel quickly and rushed away before Dumbledore could grab her
by the collar and drag her somewhere someone might perform some kind of test
that could reveal her nature, or the blood bond or simply expose her dark mark.

No.. the infirmary was not the place to be.�

There was nothing there that could
help her anyway.� She needed to go to the
room of requirement and work on doing something about this blood bond, before
it got worse.

But.. she had astronomy and
then that stupid detention with Slugworth.� Grrr.� After then.�

After that instead of going to the library she�d go to the RoR
and see about the blood bond.

There had to be something she
could do.� She didnt
want to kill Rodolphus.

In arithmancy,
Madame Le Gaut had a massive fit at her when she
walked in late.� She took it with
aplomb.�

It was almost to be expected that the woman who had sniped at her about her
imperfect handwriting was also incapable of tolerating lateness.�

When the rant was finally done she moved to the seat that Abraxas
had saved next to his own.� He and septimus
were smirking at her.

Steeling herself she ignored them for the entire lesson. ��

She realised, working next to him,
that Abraxas was really very good at arithmancy.� Better
than Draco had been and Draco was second in the year after her.�

She would have to work harder.� Septimus was already better than her in herbology.� She needed to pay more attention to her
studies if she wanted to be the best..

but then.. she couldn�t be
the best, could she?!� Tom was already
taking more classes than her � even if she managed to do better than him (which
she personally doubted she�d manage since he always did everything bloody perfectly on the first try) it would mean nothing
because he was doing more overall.�

And what did it really matter
anyway?!

Why bother learning how to
transfigure something when she could achieve the same or a superior effect with
raw magic.

Why produce a potion when she
could evoke the same effect without one?!

Class passed relatively
uneventfully.� She tried to write more
prettily on her sheet to hand to Madame Le Gaut and
was rewarded with no snitty little comment.�

That was more than she had expected.

Rushing out of class without waiting for the others she took a very circuituitous route to astronomy, wandering around the
entire ring of towers before finally going up.�

She was perfectly on time � the entire class was gathered and the little orange
haired woman was at the side of the room making adjustments to some device. �

Almost the entire group took
astronomy it seemed. She couldn�t see Mulciber or Carrow anywhere.. or Antonia either. �Abraxas and Septimus visibly relaxed
when she walked in and Tom frowned at her reprimandingly.�

She sidled into the crowd unobtrusively but did not move to join them.�

A ravenclaw
girl with chocolate brown hair curled to her mid back inspected her with
interest and then glanced at the group of boys shooting her �come here� looks.

�You�re Maia, Schiller, aren�t
you?� she said, making abundantly obvious that she knew that she was.

Hermione nodded warily.

�I�m Candice Collybobbin�
she informed her. �Beatrice told Jemima and me about your transfiguration
class.�

She said you weren�t very popular with the Slytherins.� Looks like something changed, huh?!��

Hermione grimaced. �I guess.��

The serious looking girl mustered her.

�Well.. if you don�t want to work with them, you can work with
Andrew and me.� she offered generously.�

Hermione brightened. �Thank
you!� I�d-�

She was interrupted when Abraxas appeared at her
elbow.

�Maia.. I thought you�d gotten lost again.� Come on.. everyone was waiting for you� �He urged her toward the others and she gave
up, defeated.

�-I�d have loved to work with you
Candice.� Maybe another
time?� Thank you for asking
me.��

She followed Abraxas
back to the others, where Septimus was looking at her
with concern and Amalthea was looking at him with concern.�

Tom was patently unamused with her behaviour and
situated himself near but not too near to her.

�You will work with Abraxas and myself�
he informed her curtly. �Do not be difficult.�

She nodded glumly.�

The orange haired teacher, who Abraxas informed her was Professor Wyrdle,
seemed to be finished fiddling with the contraption and triumphantly pressed a
button on top.

It began to whirr and ping faintly and she raised her wand, shielding and
darkening the tower.

At the press of another button, Hermione gasped, astounded, as the room seemed
to fall away and they were looking up at a vast starscape.

�This was the sky on the night of 15
May 1881��

Hermione gasped again and Abraxas nudged her

�What?!� he whispered.�

She shook her head.� It was the date of
birth of Grindelwald.

Professor Wyrdle informed them as much a minute later
and proceeded to list and point out the constellations present in the sky and
their relative position to one another�

Hermione inspected the skies
wondering what the centaurs would have said about it.�

She understood astronomical affects on potions and plants and a little of their
relevance in arithmancy, but divination had always
offended her logic.�

But.. Tom
took divination.

She glanced at him.�

It was difficult to make out his expression in the dark but he seemed very
interested.�

As a hand brushed her own she flinched.
Abraxas was on her left side � the wrong side.�

She turned slowly to peer out of
the corner of her eye, just making out in the dark the silhouette of Septimus on her right.�

His hand brushed hers again and this time it lingered, trailing a finger over
her knuckles and down her finger.

She felt..warm.. a little
coil of arousal in her twitched..

Septimus hand moved away and she followed it as
surreptitiously as she could manage, sliding her own into it.�

It was gripped gently and his thumb stroked over her wrist suggestively.�

When Abraxas
turned to her again and leaned close, Septimus released
her hand and turned away to Amalthea on his other
side.

�Maia..� Abraxas whispered,
sounding troubled. �I�m..sorry.. about
earlier.. I didn�t mean to..upset you.. you�re right.. I can be..a cad
sometimes. Please..forgive me.��

She considered it.� Abraxas was..no worse, she supposed, than Lucius
or Draco.� In fact both of them had been much nastier to her in the past.� He was just.. afflicted with that terrible malfoy
jerk-ness.

�Ok.� she said softly. �I forgive
you.��

He brightened and she could see
his smile even in the dark.

He claimed her hand and pulled it to him, lifting it and pressing a kiss to her
knuckles.�

�I�ll try to be better in future� he promised.�

Hermione didn�t hold much hope of it but she smiled anyway.

�Now.. make a sketch of this configuration, students and we�ll move
on to the next one� the professor instructed.�

Hermione paid attention and
started to sketch.

Two hours later she was walking
down the stairs next to Abraxas and Cygnus when she
suddenly felt dizzy.�

It happened entirely without warning - the world tilted aberrantly and her
knees actually fell out from under her.�

She would have crashed to the floor and probably fallen down the stairs if Abraxas hadn�t had amazing reflexes and caught her halfway
down.�

He gripped her and pulled her to
him with a horrified expression. �Maia.. what�s wrong?!��

She lifted her head up to answer
him but found she couldn�t - stars swamped her vision and her head lolled back
again.�

Panic shot through her.� Blind
unadulterated spikes of fear � he would take her to the infirmary and then.. somehow.. everything
would come out.�

She couldn�t go there.� And they couldn�t
help her anyway.

She dimly registered that she was being carried and tried ineffectually to
struggle.�

�Shh shhh, calm down� she heard Abraxas
saying. �You�ll be fine.� Everything will
be fine�

Finally she managed to get out
weakly �No..infirmary� She felt forward motion
interrupted.

�What?� he asked incredulous but
unsure.

She struggled and managed �-Tom.��

He hissed to someone at his side
that she couldn�t see � probably Cygnus she assumed � �Get him.� We�ll be.. we�ll be in the room of requirement, alright?� Knock once and I�ll let you in.��

She relaxed and let herself slip
away, relieved.

When she woke she immediately
panicked.� She was in the
infirmary!!� Crap!!....

Her eyes darted about looking for the mediwitch but
finding instead a worried Tom, Abraxas, Severus and
Cygnus standing by the wall talking quietly.

The latter looked a bit bemused at everything.�

And the door was wrong.�

It wasn�t the infirmary.. it was the room of requirement,
she realised, relieved.�

Tom, noticing her awake, darted
forward and sat on the edge of her bed, taking her hand.

�What is wrong with you?� What has
happened?!� You were fine yesterday!�

She swallowed uneasily and looked back at him. �I�ll be fine.� It�s just a cold.�

His eyes flared angrily and he
turned, commanding the others to leave immediately.�

Abraxas
and Septimus did so with extreme reluctance.

Septimus informed him as he went ��I will wait outside.� If perhaps..whatever
is wrong can be remedied with a potion...my Lord..�� Tom waved him off impatiently.�

As soon as the door was closed he
railed on her

�What is wrong?!� You don�t have a cold!
I did the diagnostic test myself � you�re severely weakened, both physically
and magically.� Have you eaten or drunk
anything since yesterday that might have been poisoned?�

When did it start?� Have you perhaps been
cursed?��

�You missed breakfast and Abraxas tells me your first class also � so I assume,
whatever happened had to have happened between four thirty and eight am this
morning.�

Perhaps Amalthea
� but she didn�t seem smug enough in astronomy ..Antonia
is not concerned about you anymore..

The fuzzy blond chubby one?� She seemed to be panting for me, perhaps she
might have thought to get you out of the way � although I don�t really think
she is the type to be that daring, or she�d have at least attempted to approach
me in the past, besides � you are useful to her.�

Someone might have entered.. perhaps
your bed was-��

She groaned

�Stop!� she interrupted him. �Look.. I know what it is,
alright.� I just didn�t want to tell you
about it.� I think I can fix it myself,
ok?!��

As she feared, this didn�t have the desired effect and he only advanced on her
more threateningly to get her to reveal the problem.�

After a half hour of pleading and
failed detraction and mixed threats and cajoling from him, she finally snapped.

�Look.. it�s a blood bond,
ok!?� The one of your servants I �chose� to give myself to � he was a
vampire. I was a wee bit affected by his �charm� and not thinking straight
because of other..things that had happened.. and I agreed without thinking about it..

Or maybe I did think about it.� He would
have done it even if I hadn�t given permission. He was angry..
he would have hurt me..I asked him to..make it nice.. and he did.. and so I�m bound to him.�

And.. one of the effects of
such a binding is that I now need to have regular contact with him to continue
living.�

Which wasn�t such a problem in my time.. but now he�s kind of far away.��

Tom was gaping at her, appalled.
As it turned out he was not appalled by what she thought he was.

�You have known the entire time
since you arrived here that you would die without contact to this vampire and
you said nothing?!.. WHY?!� Why would you do that?!� Do you want
to die?!�

Why Maia?!� I could have been searching
for a method to prolong your life for the past two weeks!

How long do you have?!� How fast will you weaken?!��

She pursed
her lips.� �Look..
I can handle it ok.� It�ll be fine.��

He leapt at her, his eyes wild and
only just stopped himself, fisting his shaking hands in fury.

�You are..not..rational..right now.� I must go to the library.� Remain here.�
Do not tell the others.� I..I need to.. I will be back.. Stay where you are.�

He darted away and then darted
back angrily and suddenly ripped a few strands of hair out with a snatched
hand.

�Someone will have to stand in at your detention.. and possibly.. your classes
tomorrow.� I will not allow you to make
things worse.��

She wanted to tell him to stop �
to calm down.� But she realised she
should have just made something up.�
There was no way he�d ever accept that she�d just healed of this
naturally or..�figured
something out�.�

She really wasn�t thinking rationally
evidently.�

He stormed out of the room in a
flash and a few minutes later both Septimus and Abraxas crept back in and hurried to her bedside.�

They looked considerably more worried than they had when they had left the
room.�

Abraxas turned
huge grey eyes on her�
�Maia.. what�s wrong with you?!� The way he was running..
its..you�re.. we need to summon real
healers!� This is serious, isn�t
it?!��

Septimus studied her face silently but he looked paler
than usual..almost ashen. He sat carefully on the edge
of her bed.

�Tell me what is wrong and I will
find a way to cure you� he promised quietly.�

She sighed. �I can�t tell
you.� He ordered me.�� She let her eyes
drift down to her left arm. �He ordered me directly.��

Septimus
tilted his head. �Is it contagious?�

she shook her head and he picked up her hand and brought her fingers to his
lips.

�Is it fatal?� he whispered.�

She didn�t answer and Abraxas, looking floored fell, weakly to sit on the other
side of the bed.

�You�re..going to die?!� You can�t.� I forbid it.�
You will not die. �I will have the finest healers summoned.�

But you have to tell us what is wrong.. Please,
Maia!��

Septimus
groaned. �She can�t you dolt.� She is prevented from doing so.�

�Look.. it�s nothing.. I�ll fix it, ok?!�

The room shifted abruptly and suddenly they were all inside Rodolphus
chamber.� Hermione lay in the mountain of
pillows and Septimus sat at her side.

Abraxas, on his feet, looked around, confused.�

The round doorless room was exposed to the bright
starry sky overhead.�

�Where are we?� What is this place?� Why are we here?� he demanded panicked.

Septimus
looked at her thoughtfully. �You have
brought us here.� The dolt over there
clearly didn�t and I don�t recognise this place.�

Why are we here? What relevance has this place to your condition.
There is nothing here..��

Hermione sighed. �No.. there�s nothing here.� it�s just a
room.� I didn�t mean to bring us
here.��

He looked around speculatively. �Is
it a kind of cell?� There are no doors.��

She shrugged.� �It�s a room one can
only apparate into and out of.��

Abraxas
dropped to his knees in the pillows beside her. When he spoke he sounded a lot
younger than his sixteen years�

�I don�t want you to die, Maia. I..I�m so sorry about what I said earlier.� I�d.. I..��

He crawled down to her, curling himself up against her and wrapping his arm
around her.�

After a moment or two, Septimus did the same thing on her other side.� She felt herself relaxing.�

To be between them both was not unpleasant.�
It felt..protected.�

She realised she actually liked
the feeling of having those she chose..um.. addicted.. to her. It felt like a
warmth.. like being valued �
even if it wasn�t real. It felt nice to be so wanted.�

She stroked Abraxas
hair absently and only noticed the faint shiver of presence in her mind when
images of Rodolphus suddenly surfaced out of the
blue.�

At first she thought it was just the blood bind steering her mind to him again,
particularly in this place, but she heard the faint intake of breath from Septimus.�

Bloody Snapes!� Princes!� Whatever.� Devious little snakes.�
He was digging around in her memories.�

She had a flash of Rodolphus leaning over her in this room, the bottom half of
his face dark with her blood.

�Promise?� he asked her.

She remembered being in lots of pain.. her head had hurt..and Rodolphus fucked her gently and sweetly and when she
whimpered at the pain he left and brought back..

Septimus
jerked away from her as if bitten by a cobra.

�what in Merlin�s name!� he said weakly.�

Abraxas,
who had been preoccupied with his own self pity stirred
and sat up, alarmed by Septimus alarm.

�What!? What is it?!� he demanded urgently, from zero
to one hundred in panic once more.

Septimus stunned him without even blinking and then
turned back to her, with wide eyes.

�Who was that?!� He looked like my father. And.. and the vampire.. looked like..��

She shook her head unsure whether
she was saying no � no � it didn�t look like anyone,
or whether she was saying no � don�t look!�
It didn�t matter because a bare second later he had petrified her and
cast legilimens once again and different memories of
Severus were flashing to the surface one after another.� The fact that they were strangely
intermingled with a boy who looked very much like himself only a few years
older seemed to confuse Septimus.

Severus leaning over her in Rodolphus room,
calming her and tipping some liquid from a vial between her lips..

Severus hovering over her in the potions lab as she brewed veritaserum, smirking approvingly as she employed his
alterations to the formula.� [she felt Septimus focus on this
with extreme fascination]� Draco in the background stirred his own
cauldron with a crystal rod.� [Septimus hovered over the memory image of the boy
indecisively but returned back to the potions master]

A young Severus on his knees before Lucius in an open cabana on a beach.� They
kissed sadly and then before she could react, Severus had pressed his wand
against Lucius head and a green flash dazzled
her.� She fell to her knees screaming [Septimus reacted with alarm. She could feel him straining
in her mind, pulling memory after memory, trying to make sense of things that
made no sense to him.]

Severus dying and her curling around him and then Tom..pale
with red serpent eyes curling behind her

Riding a young Severus, panting as Tom curled behind her back, playing
at her clit.� She begged him not to stop.. Severus pulling her down to his chest and Tom�s finger�s
gliding over her virgin ass �It will hurt, my dear, there must be blood�

Sitting upon Severus lap in a dark red flamed dungeon cell, afraid as
he smiled in a sinister way, suddenly flicking back to the memory of Lucius torturing her [she started to panic.� Not this memory!� She couldn�t face this memory.. she
pushed away forcefully, feeling Septimus resistence.]

Sitting on a blue and white striped mattress on a beach with a surly
young Severus and a squinting red eyed tom, gazing out at the waves.. She ran to take a swim.

Severus lap.. flames..
two figures dance. Everything is good and bright and
what are these buttons made of. Love you SZeverus. The Dark lord standing there.� His eyes are so shiny and red. I want to lick
them.

The abject panic in Septimus at seeing the serpentlike
form of the Dark Lord before she�d healed him was like a thrashing in her mind
and she was able to push him out finally.�

She strained within herself and pulled at the raw magic, dispelling her petrificus and flicking her wrist to summon her wand.�

Septimus
was still so stunned by what he�d seen in her mind that he hadn�t really
moved.�

As if he didn�t know what to do with the images he�d seen.

She almost felt sorry for him.

His eyes suddenly flashed up to
hers and he noted her wand was pointed at him.

�You�re going to obliviate me, aren�t you.��

It wasn�t really a question, the
way he�d spoken it.�

She scowled. �I have to.� You�ll upset the
timeline.�

He swallowed. �I could take..an unbreakable vow..�

She considered it.. it would be good to be able to
discuss things with someone.. but it wasn�t so much
that he�d tell anyone about things.. but that his knowing
would affect things.

He seemed to know it too.

�I see.� Yes..� Well.. before you do it � tell me about what I saw.� Who are you?�
Who was that � was it my son?!�

She shook her head.� �it was your
nephew.��

He nodded, processing this. �And.. his age?.. He was a potioneer �
did he discover some kind of youthening
potion?!��

She smirked and shook her head again.

�No.. it was something else.�

He frowned at her evasion. He
obviously hadn�t pieced together what she was.

�You are blood bound with a
vampire, are you not?��

She confirmed it. �You saw
yourself that I am.� He is..the son of either Sorrenson or
his little brother I guess.� I�m not sure
� I never really looked into the Lestrange genealogy��

Septimus
pursed his lips.. �How many days since you were last
with him?��

She did a quick calculation in her
head

�Maybe..19?��

He swallowed.

�That means you have little more
than ten days at the most left.� Possibly much less.�
How do you feel?��

She shook her head.� �No.. Look.. I just
need to-��

At that moment a door faded into
being on the wall.� She turned to look at
it and only just managed to let off the stupefy as Septimus was raising his wand to her.

As he collapsed she snorted. She
had asked for that.� He knew she was
going to obliviate him and kept her busy looking for
a chance to do just that.�

Heh.� Clever Septimus.� Your descendents will be just as wily,
although with possibly better reflexes.�

The door opened and Tom stormed in
and stopped, disorientated.�

She looked up at him and then
before he could react, cast an obliviate upon Septimus prone form.�

Her wand sailed out of her hand
and then sprang back into it almost immediately.�

Tom did a double take at the bizarre failure of his spell and then a moment
later she felt extremely strong bindings settle around her.

�I leave you alone for one hour, Maia
and look at this!.

Why are they both stupefied and what the hell did you just obliviate
from Septimus?!��

He sounded frazzled and she tried
to respond as calmly as she could.

�Septimus stupefied Abraxas
and then legilimised me.� He saw too much � I couldn�t leave him with
the memories.�

He saw his own relations.� He saw you.��

The curious hungry look in tom�s
eyes was unmistakeable.� He advanced on
her slowly and she recognised the extreme temptation in him.�

She cast a finite on the ropes which merely tightened.

�They cannot be dispelled by any but the caster� he informed her distractedly.�

She frowned and resisted the urge to vanish them with� raw magic.�

�What did you find out about the
blood binding� she asked, trying to lead him away from the idea of plumbing her
memory.

He looked conflicted.

�There�s a potion..perhaps.. which
might help..it would slow it anyway.� And then I could look for some other
solution.��

She forced herself to brighten. �Well
that�s good then, isn�t it?��

He didn�t answer and advanced on her till he was standing over her bound form.

�This is it�s room, isn�t it?!� The vampire.��

She hesitated and then
nodded.� He lowered himself carefully to
his knees.

�The potion..it..� he broke off.�

She furrowed her brows at him. �It what?� We don�t
have the ingredients we need?��

He looked conflicted again. �Well.. we do..technically..but..��

She felt a small tightening in the pit of her stomach. �This doesn�t sound like
I�m going to want to let you brew it� she said in a low anxious voice.

He stroked down her cheek with his
fingertips. �I won�t allow you to die, Maia..you�ll
stay with me here.�

He released the ropes around her with a wordless flick of his fingers and she
stretched her limbs slightly.

�What�s in the potion, Tom?� she
asked tiredly.� His lips thinned.�

�It�s a dark potion. It requires
the reduction of three litres of fresh human..virgin.. blood..along with..a number of other
things.��

She blinked at him.�

�Alright let�s explore this
logically. Can the blood be replenished blood or does it have to be unincreased magically?��

He snorted. �It has to be fresh,
unaffected by magic, of course � in other words drawn by a knife or some other
implement � from one donor.� The fact that it must be virgin would tend to
imply a child.

A Human body of 150 pounds will contain about 4-5 litres of blood.� A person of, say.. fourteen or fifteen.. perhaps
around three.��

Hermione swallowed and stated the
logic clearly.

�It requires the life of some student at the school to make this potion that
will not in fact cure me but will only hold me off a bit longer before I
die.��

Tom looked back at her
steadily.� �That is..about
the measure of it.. yes.� It requires in essence a human sacrifice,
although I would not recommend using a student...There is a truly unbelievable
degree of fuss when anything happens to one of the precious students here..trust me...�

It doesn�t stipulate that the blood must be from a witch or wizard therefore it
would be easier to simply go and abduct a muggle for
the purpose.� There are spells I could
use to determine whether the child is virginal.

We would not even need to leave the school grounds � we could open a door from
here and bring the child back here for the brewing.��

Hermione felt her jaw drop.� �You�re
serious?!� You�re concretely planning on
kidnapping and killing a child in order to buy me... how long?��

He frowned. �Two weeks...� We would need to repeat the potion then.� It cannot be stored.�

She snorted. �I see... So...you�re
not planning on killing one child.. more sort of... a series of children for as long as it
takes for you to figure out a way to defeat the binding.��

He took a deep breath.� �There is.. another way� he ventured. S

She raised a curious eyebrow

�Do tell.� I cannot wait to hear about the method that is so awful that the boy who was seriously contemplating the best way
to go about a child-killing spree might mention it only as a last resort.��

His eyes slid away from her.� �There are..unicorns..in the forbid-�

she interrupted him with her appalled cry. �There is NO way I�m prolonging my
existence with unicorn blood.

I am really.. thoroughly..aware of what happens
to people who do that.� Besides.� Its not necessary.� I�ll find a way!��

He looked furious and bore down
upon her, pressing her against the pillows with his hands on her shoulders.

�How exactly do you intend to do that?!� I assure you � I know the restricted section of the library..
�and my own library held no answers.�

I will certainly make Abraxas take me to his family
library and check there �It�s the most comprehensive dark arts collection in
the country � but I cannot get off school grounds right now and the next Hogsmeade weekend isn�t for two weeks � at which point you will be dead.�

Therefore � the potion to buy time seems like a good
idea!��

She mused..
as far as she could tell there were essentially two options..
do what he suggested then use her raw magic to
resurrect the child (not such a nice idea considering how draining it had been
to do so with Lucius) and hope he found something in Abraxas library.� Or-...�

She decided quickly that not killing and resurrecting children needlessly was
the preferable option.

She froze as the faint beginning
of the cruciatus danced at her nerve endings as she merely
thought about stunning him and obliviating him.�

Crap.. well that was a
problem..�

She tried to reach for her raw
magic to stupefy him and the same thing happened.� �

Fuckfuckfuck.. no wonder he wanted this bloody mark on me... .. what am I supposed to do now?!� she thought.�

She could send him off somewhere
and then heal herself and pretend not to know what happened. But then he�d just
legilimise her and he�d know everything.� He had already been suspicious that she�d
healed so fast after she�d arrived.��

And if he found out... he could order
her not to use it without his permission.�

Or he could order her to do terrible things with it.�

He couldn�t find out about it..�

�Ok.� she said, defeated.

She�d just have to resurrect the child.� Even if it was painful.

Perhaps Tom would find a cure.. or
perhaps she.. wait.. YES!!� She could do that..

�We can do that IF there isn�t
anything in the Malfoy library, ok?��

Tom looked at her like she was daft. �Hogsmeade
isn�t-� she nodded. �Yes.. but you were thinking of using this room to abduct someone �
we�ll just use it to sneak off grounds and go to Malfoy
manor instead. Someone will have to stay here and hold the door open.��

Tom looked like he was considering
the idea

�Yes.. that would work.� You
will remain here � I don�t want you overexerting yourself after this afternoon..

Besides.. Abraxas father has..views. For all the
idiot apparently said to you today - If his father found you there, he�d be
interrogating you within minutes about your blood status and connection to his
precious son.

He doesn�t even like me..and I am hardly going to pollute his bloodline with muddy
little children.��

He pointed his wand at the
sprawled Malfoy and silently cast an enervate.� Abraxas woke with a
start.

�What.. Septimus!..Tom?..��

Hermione smirked and leaned down,
gifting the confused defensive blonde boy with a soft kiss.�

He responded eagerly and pulled her down in his arms to snog
her properly.

�We don�t have time for that� Tom
muttered irritably.

Abraxas pulled away.

�Mmm.. I had a terrible
dream.� You were dying and Septimus hexed me��

She smiled at him
indulgently.� He was really terribly cute
right now.�

�I�m sorry Abraxas.. I�m potentially
dying and Septimus did hex you.� But look�

She pointed at the prone form on her other side, still regal even in
unconsciousness

�I hexed him back for you.��

Abraxas
didn�t look, his eyes had gotten stuck on her and
widened when she said she might be dying.�
He turned to Tom urgently. �My Lord.. we must summon
healers.� She can�t die!!��

Tom rolled his eyes. �Do you
imagine I intend to allow her to die,
Abraxas?��

He pointed his wand at Septimus and awakened the
other boy too.� He woke even more groggy than Abraxas had been.

�What happened?!� he muttered. �I ..��

Hermione fixed him with a hard
stare

�You rudely invaded my mind and stole my memories. I obliviated you of them. Don�t do it again.� Have I taken
any liberties with your mind or your person?! Show me the same courtesy.�

As it is � Tom would have told you
what the problem was � he is going to tell you now. �So there was no need
for that kind of behaviour��

Septimus,
to Hermione�s surprise and satisfaction looked thoroughly ashamed of himself.

She knew without a shadow of hesitation that Severus would never have reacted that way.�
He�d have gone on the offensive in order to defend his actions.��

�I..apologise..�
Septimus said gravely. �I was worried about you.. and you had said you were under
order not to tell us..

It seemed a means to find out without the need for words.�

Tom interrupted ��Enough
of this.� Abraxas
� you will take Septimus and myself
to your family library now.�

We need to find a spell or potion to counteract vampiric
blood bindings.��

Both boys heads spun to look at
her in shock and then in concern.

�How many days has it been?� Septimus asked hollowly,
in an echo of his earlier question.�

She answered unflinchingly �Nineteen� and he seemed to slump, his eyes looking
haunted.

�There is no time..� he moaned.�

She rolled her eyes. �I�m sure
you�ll find something to get rid of it.� Abraxas family has the largest dark arts collection in the
country, tom tells me.��

Septimus looked across at Tom. �My family library has
more dark potions texts than the Malfoy library.� We might try there also if we find
nothing.��

In response Tom glanced at Hermione and then back at Septimus.

�I have found a potion that will prolong her life.. extend the term by two weeks at each application.�

It requires..the sacrifice of a child..however and Maia is reluctant.�

...If we do not find anything tonight, we will proceed with the potion I have
found tomorrow and then continue our search.�

That way she will be stronger.� We cannot
replace her in classes indefinitely.� Any
more than a day or so and the professors will recognise it is not her.��

Both boys looked uneasy.�

�If we find nothing.. we
will.. be killing a child tomorrow night?� Septimus seemed only to seek clarification.

Abraxas glanced from face to face in mild panic.�

The dark haired boy however, narrowed his eyes and seemed to resolve himself.

�How is it to be done? What ingredient is needed?��

The nod of quiet approval on Tom�s
face as he looked back at Septimus seemed to jar Abraxas.�

Septimus had just won another point over him.

�Blood. Three litres of it.� Tom answered him and the response was a
thoughtful nod.

Abraxas
cut into the morbid topic with a tentative if practical question �How are we to
get to my family�s library tonight?�

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