Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Precious Mudblood	By : magentasouth Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 79307 -:- 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
- 65
- 66
- 67
The weekend
passed very quickly.

Tom didn�t pick up a book the
entire time although he did ask her
to explain her atomic method of transfiguration.�

After a number of diagrams and explanation he was able to operate it to some
extent, with varying results.� He found
it much easier to solidify things than to liquefy them for some reason � even
when he wasn�t trying to form objects of liquid.�

Most of the time they spent
sitting together talking about everything and nothing, eating, sleeping tangled
close together and of course having sex.�
Lots and lots of sex.�

In some strange way it felt like he was trying to possess some part of her he
couldn�t quite reach.�

Monday morning swung around far
too soon.�

They had intended to go back to
the �real world� on Sunday night but it hadn�t happened.� Tom had pulled her back into bed when she�d
gotten up to dress and then one thing led to another and they were waking to the sunlight streaming in the window wherever it
was in Europe while the Hogwarts clock read 4.45am.�

Dressing felt like preparing for the gallows and they trudged through the
secret passageways disillusioned to the Slytherin common room, where Tom left
her with a kiss.�

Still disillusioned she crept down
to her dormroom and found her bed, naturally, warded
and silenced.��

She couldn�t exactly speak � it would alert the others to what had been going
on, so she used a little magic to dissolve the ward and crept between the
curtains as quietly as she could into the silenced area, re-warding behind
herself.�

Sorry was lying in her bed, his hair arrayed on the pillow and one arm tucked
underneath.�

He looked lovely and she crept into bed next to him.�

He only opened his eyes a crack,
recognising her and pulling her close, falling back asleep.�

�You have to go back to your bed, Sorry!� she whispered against his cheek and
gave him a kiss.�

He grumbled and pulled her closer.

�I�ll go back when they�re at breakfast�.�

Relatively content with that
solution she wrapped her arm around him, curled up and went to sleep too.��

She was woken by the feeling of
fingertips stroking over her cheekbone lightly.

Opening her eyes she saw Sorrenson was lying on his
side, watching her contentedly.

�Sorry..
I shouldn�t have woken you� he whispered.�

She shook her head slightly. �It�s ok.� Gotta get up
soon anyway.� How was your
weekend?��

He smirked faintly. �busy.. �

She poked him and he jumped and
grabbed her finger, pulling it away from his ribs and kissing it lightly.

�Thank you..� he said earnestly, looking into her
eyes. �for..Abraxas.. you know?��

She shook her head �No.. don�t..� But tell me � what happened when Sep came
down?��

Sorry grinned as if reliving the
memory.�

�We thought he was you..polyjuiced
again.. and he didn�t say anything.. just kissed us..

Abraxas nearly jumped out of his skin when he spoke after he�d sucked his cock,
thinking it was you. It took ages to calm him down again and get it through his
head that nothing had changed and it was still ok.

...Sep is better in bed, isn�t he?�

Hermione smiled a little smile. �Well.. let�s just say they�re different in bed and leave it at
that.�

Abraxas seems to only have two gears.. soft and loving and really vicious.� Septimus seems to
be more in the middle of the two extremes.��

Sorry nodded enthusiastically.� �Yeah!� That�s it
exactly.. ..I don�t know which I like better.. I like to look at Abraxas.. think of him..think that its him touching me.. you
know... but Sep was definitely hot to fuck.�

Neither of them would let me top them and neither would do more than suck each
other.. but.. it was good anyway.�

Hermione pecked him on the lips
and stroked his hair.. �Get me Abraxas hair and I�ll
let you top me in his body if you
like..�

The boy�s eyes widened. �Really?� When?� I can have it ..well..
fuck � I can go and get some now if you-�

She laughed.

�Not before breakfast on a Monday morning maybe, Sorry.��

He scowled but there was no real vitriol behind it. �Another
time then.� Later!.. tonight.. or
tomorrow!� �She nodded.

�I better get up now.. Stay here and wait till everyone�s gone, ok!��

He nodded and she slipped out of bed to get ready for the day.

Abraxas
and Septimus were in bright spirits at breakfast,
which almost made up for Tom�s pensive restrained mood.

Amalthea looked a little less suspicious and frosty
too.�

Antonia seemed to be sitting down the end of the table with Palmer and Cygnus
was two seats away with Dolohov and Clemens in
between!� Something had certainly changed
there.�

She wondered whether Palmer might be redeemable if he had a girlfriend � he
seemed to be angling for one, the way he was talking to Antonia and hardly ever
wearing that creepy little smile when he looked at her.�

Abraxas
took her hand and brought her knuckles to his lips. She just caught the dark
little narrowing of Tom�s eyes and wondered why he was suddenly possessive
after everything.

�Thank you for a wonderful weekend, beautiful!� he whispered with a secretive
little smile.�

She reflected it back at him.�

�I�m
surprised you can walk after the amount of time you spent in the boys dorms� Amalthea tossed at them both nastily, a snide little smile
on her face.�

Tom
looked at her with a cool even eye, sizing her up and finding her wanting.�

Hermione
blushed slightly, hoping others hadn�t heard that.

�Yes well.. life is too
short, you know and virgins are for dragons.��

Abraxas grinned. �Virgins are for dragons.. I like it..�� he stroked her knuckles again and looked at her adoringly.

�Perhaps, but whores are for Knockturn Alley� the redhead sniffed.�

Tom
narrowed his eyes, then turned to Septimus and
informed him. �You have my permission.��
He pushed his plate back untouched and, rising, stalked out of the great
hall.

Septimus looked overjoyed and helped himself to
another roll, cutting it open and drizzling it
liberally in melted butter and honey.�

Hermione
watched Amalthea with something akin to fascinated
pity.� She was like a man who�d just had
his head severed by a very sharp sword and hadn�t twigged that he was dead yet.
The girl picked at her fruit salad looking very self-satisfied.�

Just as
they were getting ready to go to herbology, Sorrenson came in, bright and shiny.� She handed him a piece of toast with melted butter
under a stasis charm and he smiled gratefully.�

The day
was off to a promising start!� There were
no parrots on the way to herbology or on the way
back, however this might have been due to the way Tom held his wand at the
ready and scanned the surroundings with a carnivorous expression.�

On the way up to Runes, Septimus smiled at her in the
same manner that Abraxas and Sorry had already smiled at her this morning. They
walked in silence for most of the way but just before they reached the
classroom he said, almost too quiet to hear �Thank you�, ducking his head as if
embarrassed and hurrying into the class.�

He didn�t look at her for the rest of the lesson.�

After class she told him. �You�re very welcome� and no more was said of
it.�

Sorrenson was waiting outside the door for them by the DADA
room and he looked like a puppy pricking its ears up and wagging his tail when
he saw them both.�

�Sep.� Maia.� He
acknowledged and opened the door for her. �

They
walked into the bright sunny room together and everyone seemed quite content, Gryffindors
and Slytherins alike.�

With the exception of Tom.�

He was leaning back on the bench in his effortless king of this domain pose and
a dark cloud hung around him, rendering the blond locks dull.�

Hermione
sighed.� She was really over the hair.�

She�d asked him to change it back on the weekend but he�d smirked and made it
longer.�

She wanted him to look like himself again.. Translation � like her
Tom again.� His black perfect hair
had always been so attractive.� She�d
never really had a thing for blondes.�

Course.. She�d always have a thing for him. It wouldn�t matter if his hair was
green and orange with spiders in it.�

Ok.. maybe not so much if there were
spiders in it.�

She
walked over and he looked at her with a pensive expression. �Sit with me� he
commanded.� She sat next to him.�

Septimus, Abraxas and Sorry seemed quite content to
stand together to the side although they exchanged a look at Tom�s
behaviour.�

�What�s
wrong?� she whispered at Tom, rather expecting that he wouldn�t respond to
it.�

He didn�t.� He did stare across the room and narrow his eyes however.�

She followed his gaze.�

Alex Potter
and his little group were chatting.� Alex
was looking serenely over at them as he talked.�� The redhead from potions was hanging on his
words and laughing.� A tall boy with
short straight black hair smiled at his right side and the Brown ancestor she�d
cursed last week was standing facing him, her back to the Slytherin side.�

Two other boys, one blond and one red headed walked over from another group and
joined Alex Potter�s little conversation.�

It was
obvious they were talking about someone over here, from the way that even the LavLav girl looked around every so often and smirked.�

Hermione felt a sense of antipathy for Alex Potter suddenly. Tom was in a bad
mood and Harry�s ancestor was making it worse.�

She
scowled at him and folded her arms.�

The smile
on Alex Potter�s face faded somewhat and he looked slightly pained.� He must have changed the subject or something
because the giggles and looks stopped right then and there.

�Jerk� she muttered.�

Tom turned and looked to her with something like satisfaction. She was pleased
to see the first smile of the day on his face.�

At that
moment Professor Merrythought bustled in and started
booming at them like a drill instructor.�

�Right then!�
Come on � We�re starting late so get yourself into pairs and warm up
with a quick duel and we�ll get to learning these new
defensive spells in ten minutes.� What
are you waiting for?!� HOP TO IT!��

Hermione
sighed, looking around vaguely.� �What
does that mean?� Pairs
with anyone? �Or pairs with the Gryffindors?!��

Tom
decided the matter by informing her she�d pair with him.�

She frowned slightly.� It didn�t escape
her notice that none of the other Slytherins had been
particularly eager to pair with either of them.�

It was obvious why nobody wanted to pair with Tom.. the reasons for not wanting to pair with her were rather
more speculative.�

She mused
on it as she drifted after Tom toward the open space near the back wall.�

It was more shaded over here.� And it was
one of the last areas that Merrythought circulated
around.�

She moved into place where Tom had set her up.�
He took the position with his back to the wall.� She would have preferred that place but what
could you do?!� It hardly mattered, she
supposed.��

She just didn�t like the feeling of having spells moving behind her back.�

Tom
raised his wand to his shoulder and cut a small bow and she did the same,
smiling.�

Real
duels were never polite, she thought idly.�

They
raised their wands and then Tom had fired off a tickling hex. She repelled it
with a wave and returned a leglocker.

He flicked it away with the same ease and then, smirking, sent three spells in
quick succession.� Something
red, purple and orange.� The red
could be a stunner, the purple was something along the
lines of a diffindo.

She
flicked up a strong shield and sidestepped the orange, not knowing what it
was.�� But he was already casting
again.�

She smiled and recognised the next three, casting them away with a flick and
allowing the third to bounce off her shield while she sent her own midrange
offensive spells back.�

He cast something but no spell seemed to be emitted and he simply caught and absorbed
her spells with his wandtip, flinging them back at
her at speed. The second one seemed to be augmented somehow.� She felt her shield shiver at it.�

His superior smirk irritated her and she strengthened her shield further,
making it self-sustaining and started to cast in earnest.

Tom
grinned and seemed to come alive at her challenge, whirling and defending,
casting even as he was defending.�

Not all of his spells were visible! �She saw only one, but there were three crashes
against her shield.� She made a mental
note to figure out how he had learned to cast more than one spell at once.� It was very difficult to deal with.

She
tossed a shield corroding hex at him and he sidestepped it, sending a spell at
the stone floor below her rendering its consistency that of quicksand.� Attending to that problem, she was distracted
while he sent off another two hexes at her, a black sticky morass that she
remembered he had used on Grindelwald and a small
fleet of scorpions that swarmed over, searching for holes in her shield.

She managed to rectify the melting stone situation and dispelled the black
slime with some effort, the scorpions, no longer useful, faded away by
themselves.�

His
duelling, she thought, was almost preternaturally graceful � as if he were
dancing.� The way he held his wand so delicately
and the swirls out of the way of her more complex hexes.� It was very distracting. �She wanted to stop and drool..
resented the spells for forcing her to divide her
attention between his beauty and her own safety.�

As
neither had breached the barriers of the other, neither particularly noticed
that the spells they were using were becoming more dangerous. Tom was getting
into the play with enthusiasm and suddenly flicked off a sizzling black jet
that moved at least twice as fast as everything else he�d been casting.�

She gasped and tried to leap aside but it was too quick and her shield shattered.�

She was too busy being stunned that it had happened � it shouldn�t have even
been possible to break her shield �
to react with enough presence of mind to the three spells moving at her now,
one on either side, preventing her from dodging sideways. �

In the last moment, realising, she tried to drop and get under them, but the
centre one hit her in the side of the throat as she ducked too slowly.�

She felt a terrible painful coldness rush through her and looked up at Tom
fearfully.� His gleeful triumph had
shifted into shock and he flicked a countercurse at
her immediately, rushing over.�

She
couldn�t breathe.� When she brought her
stiffening hands up to scratch at her throat it felt bizarrely smooth and cold,
like glass.�

�What the
fuck!!� a voice cried from behind her
furiously and then spat�
�What in Merlin�s name did you think you were doing using a dark spell on her, Riddle?!� I saw you duelling.� Were you trying
to put her in the infirmary?!�

Hermione
scratched more urgently at her throat.�
Her lungs felt like they were exploding.�

Tom was white

�I didn�t imagine it would actually hit
her.� And certainly not there..��

Alex Potter,
the owner of the furious voice, dropped to his knees beside them both. �She can�t
breathe!� Take it off!��

Tom growled at him angrily �I have..� It takes a minute or two to melt away.��

Hermione�s eyes widened.� A couple of minutes?!�
She needed to breathe NOW..�

It seemed
the rest of the class were gathering round now and Professor Merrythought was pushing through them.�

Hermione
panicked.� If Merrythought
saw this hex then Tom would be in deep trouble probably.�

She flexed inside and melted the horrible blocked cold feeling in her throat,
gasping desperately.

�Now.. What has happened. Let me
through please.��

The energetic little woman emerged and looked down on the three students on the
floor.

�Miss Schiller!� Mr Riddle � what was she
struck with?��

Alex
opened his mouth to speak but Tom got in faster � �A minor blasting hex, Professor.� She is a little winded.��

Alex turned and glared at Tom poisonously.�
He whirled to correct the lie and Hermione reached gingerly and grabbed
his hand.� When he turned in surprise,
she looked at him meaningfully and shook her head slightly.�

He seemed to become even angrier and she squeezed his hand, letting it go.�

The boy
who looked so much like harry folded his arms and gave the impression of being
extremely put upon.�

�Perhaps
miss Schiller should go to the infirmary � she may have broken something.. or sustained internal
bruising.��

Hermione
shook her head more definitely and pushed herself up into a sitting position.

�I�m fine, Professor.� I�m sorry that
everyone got worried.� I just slipped but
I feel fine now.� I�d like to stay �
please?��

Professor
Merrythought looked at her pensively and then
nodded.� �Alright miss Schiller.� But if you feel light headed or if there is
any further pain.. You will tell me immediately, is
that clear?��

Hermione
nodded gratefully, letting Tom help her to her feet.�

�Right then class � everyone back into your pairs.� We�re going to work on detection
spells.��

The woman bustled off again.�

Tom had
moved closer and was proprietorially checking her
over when Alex Potter yanked her away from him by the upper arm.�

�Ow!� Hey!� she
yelped softly.

�Stay
away from her Riddle.� You almost killed
her.� I�m not going to lie for you
again.� Maia � work with me for the rest
of the lesson.��

She
raised her eyebrows in dismay and looked to Tom for guidance on how to
react.� He looked like he wanted to cruciate Alex but he nodded at her almost imperceptibly,
turning away.�

�It was an accident Potter.� I�m sure you know how easily one�s wand can slip
in the heat of a duel.��

The boy dragging her away didn�t respond and she bobbled after him, almost
stumbling at one point.�

He
dragged her all the way over to the farthest point in the room away from Tom
and then turned to her looking distraught.�
�Are you ok?� he hushed out when they stopped.�

She noticed peripherally that his little group of friends had positioned
themselves strategically between her and Alex and the rest of the room.�

It reminded her weirdly of Tom�s knights.�

The ginger haired girl from potions frowned at her slightly but another tall
boy who looked very familiar smiled in a shy friendly manner.�

�I�m
fine� she reassured him.� He didn�t seem
to calm much.

�You
aren�t even bothered by the fact that he hexed you!� That you might have died.� Merlin � what has he done to you that that doesn�t even
trouble you?!��

Hermione
put her hands on her hips indignantly �Hey!�
It was an accident.� If you were watching � you�d have noticed
that I wasn�t exactly duelling with tickle and leglocker
curses either � and neither were you
when I saw you two duelling last week, I might add!�

He didn�t mean to hit me with it � I should have reacted more quickly � and he
really wouldn�t have used it if he�d thought it would hit me there.�
He said so himself � you heard him!�

There�s no need for a fuss over it � it was just a bloody accident.��

Alex Potter�s
face shifted like storm clouds. �...Maybe.��
But he had no call using that kind of curse on you anyway � even if he thought he wouldn�t hit you � and I don�t
believe he did.� Tom Riddle never does anything expecting to fail.��

Hermione� huffed.
�Well.� I�m fine so just stop please.�

The other
boy pouted in an overly familiar way, folding his arms again.�

Harryharryharry.. her mind whispered.�

She wondered idly whether Tom had killed him over what had happened.� It seemed plausible.� Nothing stopping him now except the soul
fragment.. and now that his
soul was mostly healed, possibly Tom wouldn�t even care about destroying that
fragment.��

Their
attention was dragged away by Merrythought drawing
them all back in to teach them the detection spells they�d be working on.�

She walked them through them one by one and then, with a slight glance in Hermione�s
direction (making her blush in shame) she projected the incantations onto the
wall and left them there.��

As they
walked back to work on the spells, Alex touched her shoulder and she jumped and
flinched away, making him look at her suspiciously again.� �Sorry� he said defensively.�

She waved it away. �In case you were wondering � that reaction isn�t Tom Riddle�s fault either�

He took a
deep breath and let it out again slowly, then, with effort, cleared his face of
the petulant worried expression and smiled brightly.�

�Could we perhaps start over?� I�m Alex Potter�� he held out his
hand.�

Hermione took it without thinking and then let go as if burned, her eyes
flicked of their own volition to the other side of the room where Tom stood
watching them both like a hawk even as he, absent thought, cast the detection
spells they had been shown at Abraxas.�

Alex followed her line of vision to its end.�
�So the rumours are true then?� he said.�

Hermione realised he thought she was looking at Abraxas.� She turned her eyes back to him and stepped
back a half step. �Depends what they are.� She answered.�

The brown
eyes of the boy narrowed slightly and he tilted his head, offering a half
smile.�

�That you�re being courted by Abraxas Malfoy��

Hermione
nodded warily. �I am.�

Alex
smirked �-And you�re also dallying with Septimus
Prince, or so the rumour goes.��

Hermione
folded her arms and looked back angrily, cold fingers of fear scratching up her
spine. �That�s not true!��

Alex
nodded absently and glanced at the incantations �We should practice these�

Hermione
unfolded her arms reluctantly and drew her wand, performing the first
spell.� It worked first time and she rattled
through the other four quickly, without looking at the board, as if to prove
that she wasn�t incapable of
remembering a spell taught to the class.�

Alex watched her with an unreadable expression.�

�Are you
in trouble, Maia?� he asked softly. �Do you need help?� ..I�ve been watching you and.. I think you might not be telling the truth.� And I don�t think it�s just Prince
either.�

Tom Riddle�s group are a bad lot.�
I...don�t know how much you�ve learned about them yet but I really wish
you�d take my advice and steer clear of them.�
If you�re not already in up to your neck, I�m sure you will be soon �
and then it might be too late. ��

Hermione
rolled her eyes. �I take it you and Tom have some kind
of grudge against each other� she diverted.�

Alex
seemed to think for a moment and then nodded. �You might say that� he agreed.

She sighed
wearily and then looked the Harry lookalike in the eye and spoke clearly, wanting him to believe her

�I�m not in trouble.� I don�t need
help.� I appreciate you taking off the petrificus last time but I already told you � the ones who
hexed me were Gryffindors.� Thank you for
not making a fuss with the accident before but everything is fine.�
You don�t need to concern yourself any more.� I�d rather you didn�t in fact.��

Alex�s
face hardened� �And
Slughorn?� Is that fine too? You didn�t
seem fine in class. You seemed terrified.�

If you�re prepared to lie about that
then how am I supposed to believe Riddle and Malfoy and the rest of his little
gang aren�t-..��
he broke off and swallowed, his face
insinuating clearly what he suspected.�

It probably wasn�t that far off from what was actually happening, she mused �
with the exception that he obviously presumed it wasn�t voluntary.�

Hermione
looked over at Tom in frustration.

�It�s under control� she ground out between her teeth.�

Alex
threw an exasperated expression at her �Just what is that supposed to
mean?!� I was IN potions you know.� If I
hadn�t distracted him..��

Hermione looked up at the vaulted ceiling in fury and wrapped her arms around
herself.

�YES.� Fine.� Ok.� Thank
you for that too.� She gritted at him.

He reddened and countered angrily �I don�t want thanks! Merlin!� I want you
to be safe. You�ve only been here five minutes and you�re in the worst possible
state already.

From what I heard you shouldn�t even be
in Slytherin � Witherstead said you should have been
a Gryffindor or a Ravenclaw.� Maybe you can be resorted..
If you were in Gryffindor I..we.. could protect you from
them.��

Hermione facepalmed, wiping her hand down
her face in irritation.�

�That�s enough now� she growled. �I�m fine.�
If you feel like exercising your protective instincts � exercise them on
someone else.� I�m in Slytherin because I
asked to be there � yes.� I like it
there.� I am lucky that Tom offered me
his friendship and if I weren�t there � I wouldn�t have met Abraxas, who I like
very much.�

Septimus is a decent guy but his girlfriend is
totally paranoid.� Don�t believe every
bit of gossip you hear-��

She
flinched as Alex stalked very close suddenly and whispered angrily �I�m not
only in Potions and DADA with you.. I�m also in your
astronomy class you know.� I don�t expect
you�d have noticed me � since it�s a Slythenclaw class � but I had a clash in my courses and so
I take it then.� I saw both of you.��

She felt
the blood drain out of her face.�

Well. That was..just..unfortunate.� Damn.�

Recovering slightly she hissed back �Mind your own damn business!�

�You�ve been watching me?� well stop!�
I already told you politely to leave me alone.� Since you apparently didn�t understand the
first time � I�ll make it clear � Leave. Me. Alone!��

She turned on her heel and stalked quickly past the tall Gryffindor boy who
looked a wee bit like Cedric Diggory and seemed to
want to reach out and stop her, a perturbed look on his face.�

She flinched away and kept going till she was back beside Tom, folding her arms
and making clear her irritation.�

He
smirked and brushed her hair to the side in an overly familiar manner, glancing
over her shoulder at Alex and his friends and broadening his smile for their
benefit.

�I heard everything� he murmured.� �Lip reading charm.� I
don�t want you speaking to him again.� He
is already affected.��

She
nodded �I know.��

Abraxas
moved close and growled �I saw him shake your hand - I don�t want you touching
him.� You�re with me�

She
exchanged a look with Tom. They were both thinking - there was already
suspicion and when Septimus broke up with amalthea it would be for most of
the school pretty much confirmation that something was odd.�

�I will speak with him.� Tom said
low. �I cannot stand the girl either but it would be best not to allow this to
devolve.� I do not want you to be seen
talking to him or even standing near him.�
Steer clear Maia.� That goes for Sorrenson too.��

Hermione
glanced to the side and saw the boy in question ten metres away watching them
talk and looking disappointed. She wondered whether he also knew the lip
reading charm.�

�I would
encourage you to make friendships among the other houses but I suspect those who
would want to befriend you at present would only be seeking to squeeze information
from you.� No.� Continue as you are.� It will settle when no new incidents with Septimus occur. We will have to restrict our night time
activities for a while, perhaps.��

She
nodded glumly.� Bloody Harry ruining
everything all over again, she sniped.�

�By your
socialising � I take it that everyone is finished with these detection
spells?�� Professor Merrythought
called over the buzz of conversations.� The
class reluctantly turned and focused on her.

�Good.. because we are going
to practice them now.�

The small energetic woman bustled over to the door in the back of the room. �Shortly,
we will engage in a very different
kind of duel.�

In most duels you are likely to face, your opponent will be standing before you
with honour and you will obey the rules of wizarding etiquette � In battle this
will not be the case � however even off
the battlefield, if ever a dark wizard determines to kill you.. you
may not see him coming.� And that is the
duel we will practice now.��

�You will
in groups step inside, take an invisibility draught and then as pairs enter one
of the duelling rooms.�

You will use only level one and two spells � and no stunners please.� The winner will be the one able to land three
hits on their opponent. �The winners will
then take on one another. Are we all clear?��
She didn�t wait. �Good.� I�d like
two lines now.� Quickly
quickly!�

The
students drifted in toward the centre hurriedly and the bunched crowds became
two lines � Slytherin�s and Gryffindors.

Abraxas
had placed himself in front of her in the line and Tom behind. Hermione looked
to the side at a Gryffindor boy she�d never even seen before. He smiled
nervously.�

Internally she rolled her eyes.�

The line
moved swiftly forward by five pairs.� Surprised,
she walked forward.� Then nothing
happened for a while.�

The boy
standing at her side kept stealing looks at her and Abraxas growled out low
�Eyes forward Peakes.��

�Peakes� scowled and looked away.

She could feel Tom close behind her
paying attention to events.� The boy in
front of Peakes half turned at Abraxas voice and
glanced at them all.�

The line
moved forward again as five disembodied white powder coated faces emerged from
the door complaining.�

It looked like the Professor was not having invisible students run about willy nilly.
�

Hermione tried to collect herself.� There
were four Slytherins in front of her.� The next time the line moved, she�d be duelling this Peakes
guy.�

Leaning
forward she whispered in Abraxas ear �good luck�.� He smiled and turned around.� His expression reminded her of Draco more
than Lucius right now.� Focused and pleased with a hint of proud.

�I don�t need luck.� I�ll see you in the final rounds, beautiful��

She smirked at the way Peakes in her peripheral
vision seemed to start slightly and look at her again more warily.�

The door
opened and Hermione recognised Roan and the ginger-haired girl from Gryffindor
among the floating white masks coming out.�
Roan seemed disappointed and avoided all their eyes.�

Shaking his head slightly Abraxas tsked as he turned
to follow the others through the door.

She
glanced back at Tom, who was looking at her with a knowing expression of
anticipation.� He expected to duel her
again.� She could feel it.��

She
smiled and followed after Abraxas.�

Inside,
the antechamber was a curved room with a door on the left.� A corridor extended away on the right.�

Professor Merrythought smiled at her kindly and told
her �Just do your best Miss Schiller�, handing her the
invisibility draught in a tiny silver cup. �Mr Peakes
will keep in mind your earlier mishap, I�m sure.� If you decide you do not feel well enough to
continue, you may go to the infirmary at any time you wish.��

Hermione thanked her and knocked the salty tasting liquid back feeling a very
strange sensation seep up out of her insides until it tingled over her
skin.� It was like a disillusionment
spell, but from the inside out.� A cold strangely slick smooth sensation in her nerves.�

�The
fourth door, both of you��

Hermione
nodded, remembered that this would be of absolutely no use and thanked the Professor
again, walking down the wide corridor.�

Halfway down, something brushed against her arm and she stopped dead, turning
to look at the wall suspiciously.

�It�s
just me� Sorrenson�s voice came out of empty space
near the wall. �When you win you have to wait out here for the second round.
See you in a minute then.��

She didn�t
respond because she could see the fourth door opening.� It would have been better to go in first.�

She cast thick silencing spells over herself, layered a couple of shields and
hurried to the door.� She would be the
last to enter the duelling rooms it seemed.�

Coming up
to the door the size of the room surprised her.�
It was very large and had a sand covered floor.�

She had no sooner placed a toe on the sand than a spell bounced off her
shields.� Shit!�

She ducked back away from the door again.�

Peakes wasn�t even going to let her get into the
room.� What a prick.�

She cast the detection spell and registered the presence of ten students
standing against the opposite wall of the corridor, many of which she assumed
were currently monitoring her just as she was monitoring them.� She also detected the moving point of Peakes as he tried to get into a position to cast on her
again as soon as she appeared in the doorway.�

She scowled and held the detection spell in place till he stopped moving and
then prepared a leg locker.�

Dropping to her haunches quickly and slipping the bare tip of her wand past the
door she shot him and was satisfied to hear the soft bang of it bouncing off
his shield.�

When she
recast the detection spell she could see him moving away rapidly and took that
chance to dash into the room, moving quickly to the left wall and then doubling
back slightly.� He would have to drop the
detection spell to fire at her and so continuing in any trajectory would be a
bad idea.

Indeed spells flashed off the walls ahead of her when she doubled back.� She could see him trying to do the same
thing, moving quickly.�

Dropping
the spell she fired off a mild stinging hex at where she thought he would be
and missed.�

This was
irritating.� The detection spell should
be constant. This entire activity would be much easier if it was.�

Tom, she knew, would be able to keep it up and fire too.�

Well.. If he could do that, then no one could argue
and say she couldn�t too, she reasoned and fed the
spell with a little raw magic to hold it in place.�

Now it was like having a strange blind vision of the room. Nothing had any
definition but the vague form was clear.�

She could clearly register Peakes draw down on her
and ducked away just as the spell he fired would have hit her.�

It was a
simple matter to run and crouch, flicking a stinging hex at him and then
another at his new position.�

She heard him swear under his breath in irritation.�

�Good
duel, Schiller� he said quietly.� She
thanked him and told him he was good too, even though she wanted to say he was a colossal prick for not even letting her into
the room before he began, but it didn�t really matter.�

He stamped off down the corridor to get his face painted white by Professor Merrythought.�

She
turned her gaze to the shadow outlines of the other fifteen students against
the walls.�

Turning,
she could see Tom�s shadow coming down
the corridor toward her with those going in for the next round.�

It was the way he walked.� So graceful and somehow centred,
strong.� Regal.� The shadow of the boy trailing after him
looked harried and aversive by contrast.�

An arm
sliding around her waist made her jump and she turned recognising the faint
pleasant crisp scent of his aftershave a moment before the silhouette of Abraxas
appeared.�

�You weren�t in there long��
he said approvingly �that is.. when you
finally got in there��

The smirk was audible.�

Sighing, she leaned against him and wished he were Tom.�

The next
round was over in record time and Tom emerged first, strolling over to them
easily and standing close.

�I am disappointed that not everyone made it through� he said quietly.�

Hermione looked around, trying to make out the silhouettes of his knights from
the others.� Seeing her
looking around he informed her �Roan, Clemens and Benjamin.� No real surprises � but they should have made
it through the first round at least.�
They will have to work on their deficiencies.�

Professor
Merrythought called out to them down the corridor
�Right.. two in each
room.� I don�t care about the
pairings.� Hurry now.��

Hermione suddenly found herself abandoned as the others moved rapidly to find
some unknown shadow to duel.�

�Um.. hello again� a voice she didn�t
recognise said beside her.

�Hello?�
she answered uncertainly.

�Lawrence
Diggory� the tall silhouette offered and her mind
flicked back onto that familiar boy who had been part of Alex Potters group.

�Oh.� She managed eloquently.

�You can
call me Law if you like.� My friends
do.��

She
mulled that over.� Another one
potentially affected.� She would have to
tell Tom after DADA.�

�Ok Lawrence..� let�s go� she said sternly, marching down to the second
duelling room where the door was still leaning open and getting there a second
before another shadow.

�Ours!� she growled and the other form muttered, revealing itself
to be Sorry, and stamped down to the first door.�

She
hurried inside and positioned herself in the shadow of the door.� She did not attack �Law� as soon as he entered,
though she was tempted to � but waited till he had crept silently to the far
wall before flicking the door closed with a spell and setting off at an erratic
run, watching the boy raise his wand and try to follow her movement.

She could
almost see the moment when he dropped the detection spell because the shadow of
his wand flickered as he moved it to cast the offensive spell.� Doubling back she fired off a tickling hex,
hitting him.�

The rest of the duel was equally simple and they walked out of the room less
than a minute later.�

Law
seemed mortified.

�Wow.. you�re really..good..� he
mumbled.

She
grinned invisibly and thanked him, politely returning the compliment emptily
and turning away.�

Tom, she
saw was already waiting there his posture smug.�

�Who�s left?� she asked curiously.�

Tom angled his head at her in recognition of her maintained detection
spell.�

�Antonin and Abraxas are both still in their duels.� Sorry beat Wood. Septimus,
Palmer and Cygnus are here.� As are Pettigrew and Frobisher.��

At that
moment the door at the end opened and Russian expletives emerged.

�Ah.� And that would be Antonin
and Potter, I suppose� Tom said with a half sigh.�

Hermione
felt Dolohov�s shadow brush past her hurriedly and
had the strange feeling the boy was ashamed.�

Alex Potter�s
shadow sauntered over and stood by them. He said with surprise �You made it
through?� Who were you duelling?��

She turned to him and answered shortly �Diggory� then
looked up at Tom�s silhouette. �Which one is Pettigrew?� she asked idly and Tom�s
shadow hand gestured to a boy standing behind her against the wall.

She nodded and left them both.

�Maia..� Alex said questioningly after her.�

Ignoring
it she approached the small shadow of Pettigrew�s ancestor.�

�Hello � I�m Maia Schiller.� Will you
duel with me in the next round?� she asked softly.�

The
shimmery black form seemed to pull itself up and answered eagerly �Sure!� You�re the new girl aren�t you!�� I saw you talking to Alex.� You must be pretty good to have gotten this
far.��

Hermione
smirked invisibly.� �I could wipe you out
of existence entirely� she thought nastily.�

The next
round went even more smoothly than the last and she stepped out of the duelling
room, seeing Tom emerging at the same time from the next one.�

It was difficult to persuade herself that she didn�t need to go and fold herself into his arms. �They were the first to finish duelling and it
seemed as if nobody would really notice if..�

The next
door down opened and Palmer came out in a snit. �That�s cheating, Potter!� he
threw back. �

The second silhouette came out with quiet confidence. �That�s the voice of a
sore loser Avery!� came the response.�

Septimus was the next to come out, Frobisher stalking off
down toward Professor Merrythought and then finally Abraxas
came out with Cygnus.� The later laughed
and didn�t seem at all bothered to have lost.�
�I�ll get you next time, Brax� he promised and
sauntered off.�

Professor
Merrythought joined them soon after, beaming.� �Well then! �My best duellers! Well done all of you.�

I think.. perhaps you might
wait for the moment, Tom.� I�ll have Mr
Prince against Mr Malfoy and Miss Schiller � you are a surprise.� After the
last two lessons... oh well � You will duel with Mr Potter next, in any case.�

She could
feel.. she could almost scent Tom�s amusement at this. �I would
like to see you in the final round, Maia� he said quietly. �

Professor
Merrythought looked at the wall where he stood with
an unreadable expression on her face that held components of scepticism and
turned back to them.

�Yes.. well just do your best
everyone.� I think we might raise the bar
slightly.�� Five
strikes.� An immediate win if you
can land the hex.� Keep in mind as you duel that if this were a
real attack � the hex speeding toward you would not be a harmless one � this is
very much the kind of duel that is likely to be life or death.� Right.� Off you go.��

Hermione
walked amiably into the second duelling room again, following the black shadow
of Alex Potter warily with her gaze as she did.�

�Perhaps
I might have been wrong about you..� he said softly as
he entered. �You seemed.. nice.� I didn�t tip you as one of
Riddle�s snakes.. I thought they were forcing you to..�� he trailed off
suggestively and shook his silhouetted head.�

His wand had come up in half a second and he shot off a hex toward her.� She gasped and darted to the side, barely
missing it.� He was already firing
another.�

This was
a very, very, different pace than she�d had to deal with from her last
partners. �She ran and fired off stinging
hexes toward him.�

He avoided them easily.�

Crap.� He seemed to make almost no
visible sign when he had a hex ready and he was herding her.� She could feel
it. Half the time he wasn�t even trying
to hit her, he was just forcing her to change her path
and moving her toward the back of the room. �

He was a very good dueller.� At this point it wasn�t even as if they were
invisible.. It was like a regular duel in which for
some inexplicable reason neither party could allow a hex to meet their
shields.�

And he was running less than she was.�

She fired
off three hexes in quick succession, which he dodged.� Crapcrapcrap. �She hadn�t even hit him yet and he was having to switch between seeing and shooting while she could
do both at once.�

He was a better dueller than she
was.�

She
dropped as she ran and fired off a hex that was just on the upper border of
level two.� It had a wide spray and she
caught him at knee height, hearing the bang of his shield.�

He snorted and then fired down at the ground in front of her, which reared up
and tried to grab her.�

That wasn�t
bloody level two, whatever it was.� She
retreated backward, firing a reducto at the sandy
tentacle.�

And then she was up against the wall a second later.�

Alex�s hands were around her wrists and had her pressed against the stone in
milliseconds.�

She
gasped and struggled, trying to turn her hand to point her wand at him. He
prevented it but he didn�t try to take her wand and he didn�t use a spell to
fix her to the wall.�

She realised it was because if he did
then the duel would be over.� She had
lost, technically, by allowing herself to be pinned like this, but apparently
he didn�t want the duel to be
over.�

�Of
course.. if they�re not forcing you..� the black shadow in
front of her said very quietly. �Then maybe you don�t deserve help.� Maybe that kind of treatment is what you want. �Maybe you�re just gagging for it from anyone
and everyone.�

She
struggled again and tried to kick at the boy holding her.� The memories of Harry were rising up and
threatening to swamp her.�

He pressed close against her, preventing her from getting leverage to kick or
knee him.� She could feel his growing
arousal against her thigh

�Stop
fighting Maia.. I�m not going to hurt you� he said
very quietly. �I-...��

Recovering
from her panic at the situation she decided if he was going to cheat with
higher level spells and.. and
touch her like this then she had
every right to kick the crap out of him.�

Twisting
the magic she flung him off hard.� He hit the ground almost six metres away and
skidded with an oof.�

Pointing
her wand at him and tweaking the spell she sent a powerful stinging hex at him.�
It struck home with perfect aim directly on his groin and he screeched
in pain.�

Already having won the duel by
landing the hex she sent off another one before anyone could come and pull them
out of the room.�

This one was her own invention.. an older hex but it had made a
big impression on Marietta Edgecomb.� She was sure that it would take hours for Alex to even realise it was
there since the invisibility potion would have to wear off first.�

That
done, she turned on her heel and stalked out of the room, leaving Alex crumpled
and clutching himself in a foetal position on the floor.�

Tom was
waiting outside and his posture changed when she stalked out. �You didn�t lose?!� he asked shocked and concerned
that she might have.�

She shook her head curtly. �Potter might have to go to the infirmary
though.��

She could envision his expression.� He
reached as if to pull her to him happily and stopped himself.

�Well done.� I take it that he ..upset.. you then.� Another
curt nod was the only answer.�

Professor
Merrythought bustled down, probably wondering why Alex
hadn�t come to her for a spray of facepaint yet and
heard the groan as she passed the door.

�Oh.. Goodness!�
Mr Potter!� Miss Schiller � what
happened?��

Hermione
turned to her and answered simply �I hit him with a level two stinging hex Professor.� I might have hit him..um..
somewhere a bit unfortunate.� He was moving around a lot.� I was just coming to get you!��

The woman
shot a dubious expression at her, probably using the detection spell herself,
Hermione imagined.�

�Well from the sound of him, I think Mr Potter will have to go to the
infirmary.� The rest of the duels will be
cancelled.�

The next
door opened and two shadows emerged, one extraordinarily pissed off and the
other triumphant.� She could tell by the
silhouettes that Septimus had won the duel.

�Mr
Prince � There will be no further duels. �I�m afraid Mr Potter has been hurt.� I�ll have to take him to the infirmary.� Mr Riddle � if you could spray the others
with the marking powder and dismiss the class � I think Mr Potter might prefer
not to have an audience detect the source of his pain at present.��

At that she hurried into the room to help the invisible groaning boy.�

Tom had
grabbed her hand and was dragging her quickly down the corridor in half a
second.�

�Come on. Hurry up� he instructed the others.�

He let
her go before opening the door and called to the others.� �Class is dismissed.�� There were a couple of half-hearted calls of
�who won?!� from the Gryffindor side.

He responded �The duels were cancelled.� Alex
is going to the infirmary.� Everyone � Dismissed!��

He reached for the old fashioned perfume bottle and pumped the little round
pillow on the tube once, watching the powder spray into the air.

�Abraxas, Septimus.�
Here.��

When Professor
Merrythought hurried down the corridor, with a
levitated Alex Potter still curled into a foetal position, Tom sprayed Abraxas
and then Septimus carefully.�

The Professor didn�t look twice at them but bustled past and out of the
antechamber.�

�Well
done, Septimus� Tom said quietly.� �Abraxas � you will seek to improve yourself
for next time.� Leave us.� Maia will be with me for the next few hours.
Make her excuses should anyone enquire.��

The two
boy�s faces twisted disappointedly but they nodded and left.�

The door had barely started to close when the black silhouette that was Tom
grabbed her and spun her up against the wall, pressing her there in a way that
was entirely different to the threatening gentle restraint of Alex Potter.�

Tom was not gentle and he felt like anything other than a threat even when the
prospect of being painfully hexed was ever present.

�What happened?� he demanded softly.�

She wriggled her hands and he released them, allowing her to wind her arms
around his neck and lean into him.�

�He
cheated� she said simply. �He used a level four spell on the sand to distract
me and then he pinned me against the wall with his body and said something
insulting.

I..he reminded me of.. something
else.. I didn�t react quick enough but when I did I
tossed him away and hexed his balls off.�

� no not literally��
She added the last at the delighted little gasp Tom emitted.�

He sighed.
�Perhaps next time..��
then leaned down and gently, teasingly,
captured her lips, prodding with his tongue and then surging forward and
devouring her with tangible satisfaction. �

She felt his hands wander down her body.�
There was something possessive in the gesture.�

When he broke away he returned immediately and took her mouth again as if
unwilling to stop when he had decided to.�

Finally
he pulled away again, dragging his head to the side and moving away
quickly.� She was dragged out of the
antechamber and across the large empty DADA room to the corridor which was
bustling with students.� The effect of
the detection spell on these made them painfully bright to look at.�

He hesitated at the door and then leaned back, murmuring that she should meet
him in the knights room.� She felt her heart twinge briefly in
pleasure.�

Then he was gone.�

She spotted his black shadow picking its way through the painfully bright
stream of light and switched off the detection spell to navigate the corridor
better.

Author note.

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