The Serpent and the Lioness

Chapter 8

The world was tilted. Everything inside her felt numb but strong. It had that feeling of traveling by portkey only that her heart was the center of the pull. She hadn't even needed to think of where she was going or say anything for it to work. She had merely thought of being someplace safe. She'd touched her wand to her heart when a small voice inside her head had told her to do so. When her feet finally pressed into something solid Hermione dared to open her eyes.

Black, all she could see was black. The air felt cold and thick with dust. She blinked a few times before slowly relaxing her body. Her new wand slipped down from her heart and she silently cast a Lumos spell.

Her eyes widened as she found herself standing inside of a sitting room. It was dank and dark as if nothing had been touched for years. Warped shelves covered every wall filled with old texts from top to bottom. There was a single chair pressed into the corner near a small fireplace and a stack of papers beside it. She felt light but she knew this wasn't a dream. The pain in her heart had vanished, as did the rest of her emotional spike. She felt calm, calmer than she had in months. She felt, vindicated somehow. She looked down at the wand in her hand.

When Draco had approached her she hadn't really known what to think, something inside of her had whispered to her, something had stilled her hand. She was now exceptionally grateful to have listened to the voice. The wand he'd given her was very powerful, almost as powerful as her own. She would have no issue with any charms or spells now. There was still a lingering question though, if Harry truly hadn't taken her wand, then who?

Her eyes widened as a soft creak upstairs echoed through the otherwise silent house. It was then her brain rounded on the only other person brave enough to have taken her wand. She could feel him. Her entire body could feel him. It was strange and comforting all at once.

Flashes of images gently pelted her senses. His hair, his eyes, his nose, the way his arm felt warm against her when he held her. Oh yes, he had held her. On multiple occasions, for which her brain happily supplied. She had even called him by first name! She tried to tell herself that she hadn't been in her right mind when she'd done so, and now that she was she couldn't get her tongue consciously form his name.

She swallowed thickly as her rational controlled side steadily took over. He was her professor and they had most definitely shared something way beyond what any normal teacher and student had shared. Her stomach started to turn warm and her cheeks red as she recalled the warmth of his skin. The way her fingertips fell against the ridges of scars when she had removed his shirt.

Hermione wrapped an arm around her stomach as a flock of butterflies decided to take up residence. She wanted him, wanted to be near him. Her life had just turned completely upside down, she'd dueled her best friend and all but told him to fuck off and was now seeking comfort from a man who had spent her childhood ridiculing her.

A man by definition who should never have been able to provide what her body was searching for. She was five years in the future with only reclusive memories of the current time period. She was alone, with no friends or family. There was no one she could turn to. Nowhere she could possibly go.

Yes, there she was, reeling over feelings long since passed over a professor who could very well not remember her. Who could very much kill her before taking a second glance. Despite all the harsh words, all the times he had treated her unfairly, even the fact that he was her teacher, she still wanted him.

A slow silent step, then another and another led Hermione to the narrow hallway. She immediately recognized its shape from a memory of his she had seen. That's right, her brain supplied, she had seen more of this man's life than probably anyone alive. Though, the information didn't ease the growing tension in her chest. It had been easy to force her presence on him when he was unconscious but it was a whole different game when he was awake and very possibly in possession of her wand.