Becoming Familiar with a Man of Misery

Chapter 44 ~ The Reunion

The Great Hall was decorated in a mixture of house colors. Tables were arranged alongside the walls, leaving a great open area in the center. Food was set up for self-serving on long buffet tables and kept magically warm or cold depending on the item. A huge table of wine, beer and liquor was set up in the far corner and served by house elves, who had a surprising knowledge of mixed drinks. No golden arrow shooting cherubs were present this time. Possibly Hermione had talked Albus out of using them as he did at every function he threw.

Not everyone in attendance was part of Hermione’s graduating class. Fred and George Weasley had crashed the party. Merlin only knew what that pair would be up to this evening, but it was highly unlikely that the reunion would be unscathed. To the Weasley twins, a party wasn’t a party without some kind of joke or prank being pulled. Minerva McGonagall had a sharp eye on the pair, and would be watching for them to do anything untoward. Of course, the twins knew this and had a couple of dopplegangers ready to run interference when they made their move.

Harry and Ron were there with their girlfriends Hannah and Gretchen. They were sisters, blonde-haired, blue-eyed and quite curvaceous. They worked as secretaries in the Ministry where both wizards worked as Aurors. All had been dating seriously for over a year, and Molly Weasley was pressuring Ron to pop the question, hoping to be a grandmother soon. Bill, Charlie, Percy and the twins were still playing the field, and despite Molly Weasley’s harping, weren’t ready to settle down and increase the Weasley tribe as of yet. Ron was the only one in an established relationship so his mother targeted him with a vengeance.

Ginny Weasley was there also, looking delicious in a clinging green evening gown, with a daring split up the side. She was surrounded by young wizards vying for her attention and working it for all she was worth.

Those in attendance from Gryffindor House were, Lavender Brown, Seamus Finnigan, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Parvati Patil, Harry Potter, Dean Thomas, and Ronald Weasley.

Millicent Bulstrode, Tracey Davis, Daphne Greengrass, Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini represented Slytherin House.

In attendance from Ravenclaw were Terry Boot, Mandy Brocklehurst, Michael Corner, Stephen Cornfoot, Kevin Entwhistle, Anthony Goldstein, Su Li, Morag McDougal and Padma Patil.

And Hufflepuff House was represented by Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Wayne Hopkins, Megan Jones and Ernie Macmillan.

All of Hogwarts staff was in attendance as well, and Albus Dumbledore couldn’t be happier.

Draco Malfoy walked through the Great Hall, eyeing his classmates, smiling and greeting everyone, pureblood and muggle-borns alike. His father was grooming him for the political arena, and had managed to keep him from taking the Dark Mark by telling Voldemort the boy would be a great asset in the Ministry, but his chances would be marred if he had the mark. So the Dark Lord had taken his fealty but not marked him. Since he was not marked, he could not be summoned and had escaped Voldemort’s last hurrah because he was not in attendance. The loss of his mother had affected him greatly however, and he despaired that his family ever became wrapped up in following the despot.

Draco was a natural. He was handsome, rich, had a dazzling smile and could command attention just by appearing in a room. He learned to hide his dislike for muggle-borns admirably and even went as far to say they could contribute to the betterment of the wizarding world as well as purebloods. What he didn’t say was that contribution could be best served in lesser more menial capacities as blue-collar wizards and witches.

Pansy Parkinson saw the blonde wizard and zeroed in on him immediate. In her sixth and seventh year, Pansy had been Draco’s main sex partner. Actually she indulged herself with several Slytherin wizards, but after graduation she had lost contact with him, basically because Draco had no desire to continue with her. Pansy wasn’t a pretty woman…she had a hard face, and looked a bit like a pug. As far as Draco was concerned she was a whore, fine for fucking but not for a girlfriend. She was too ugly. And now that he was moving into politics, he needed to find a trophy wife. Pansy did not fit the bill.

Pansy sidled up to Draco as he received a firewhiskey from a house elf.

“Hello Draco, long time no orgasm,” she said in a low, sexy voice.

Draco smiled as he turned, then his face became decidedly sober as he saw who it was who addressed him.

“Hello Pansy,” he said, looking past her to see if there was anyone who he could excuse himself to go speak too.

“What have you been up to?” the witch asked him, moving into his personal space, making the wizard uncomfortable. He stepped back and leveled a cool gaze at the young woman.

“Pursuing a political career, and working in the Ministry,” he responded politely, “And you?”

“Oh I have a private business. Magical Massage Therapy,” she replied, “You should stop by sometime. I’ll give you the ‘Special'”

Draco could imagine what the focus of that massage would be. It figured Pansy would be in that line of business. No doubt she provided extra services rivaled only by the brothels of Knockturn Alley. He wouldn’t touch the witch with a fifty-foot broomstick now.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Pansy,” Draco replied, “Now if you’ll excuse me…”

Pansy caught him by the arm.

“Draco, how about a quick shag for old times sakes?” she whispered to him. “We could go to our old spot, behind the hunchbacked witch statue.”

Draco looked at the witch coldly. He removed her hand from his arm.

“No, Pansy. I’ve moved on. I have no desire to fuck you. That was the past. I don’t wish to relive it, thank you,” he said.

Pansy frowned at him.

“Oh…now that you’re into kissing political ass you’re too good for me,” she seethed.

Draco let his ice blue eyes sweep over the witch distastefully.

“Pansy, I was always too good for you,” he said coldly, “you were always a bit of fluff to me. Ugly fluff at that. My eyes weren’t closed in pleasure when I fucked you, they were closed because I couldn’t stand to look at that doggish face of yours. Now, I wouldn’t even let you suck my cock.”

He stepped around her. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said, walking off in the direction of the buffet table.

Pansy looked after the blonde wizard red-faced, her hands clenched at her sides. She felt like going for her wand and hexing the bastard, but instead she turned to the house elf behind the table.

“A firewhiskey. Make it a double,” she said.

Severus was sitting alone at a side table, scowling at everyone as he usually did. He had a healthy glass of firewhiskey in front of him. A few ex-students had stopped by his table to speak. He kept it short and sour. He wasn’t the least interested in what they had been up to. If it weren’t for Hermione’s presence, he would have ditched out by now. His black eyes focused on the table where she was sitting with Ron, Harry and their girlfriends, talking animatedly. He noticed Ron kept looking over at him, and the Potions Master fixed him with a beautiful sneer.

“Look at that greasy git,” Ron said to Hermione, who turned and looked at Severus, who arched an eyebrow at her, and smirked.

She quickly turned back around, hoping Ron didn’t notice, but the redheaded wizard had.

“What’s he looking at you like that for, Hermione? He almost smiled,” Ron said, his brow furrowing.

“Well, I work with him as an assistant, Ron. He isn’t as near unpleasant to me as he used to be,” she responded.

“Plus he’s shagging me regularly,” she thought.

“That must be loads of fun, working with Snape,” Harry said to the witch as he scowled at Severus, who scowled right back.

“It’s not bad,” Hermione said.

Both wizards looked at her incredulously.

“Oh come on Hermione, even I can see he hasn’t changed. He probably has you doing all kinds of horrible things, like digging in dragon dung or gutting live nifflers,” Ron said.

Hermione wondered if Ron had some kind of spying spell on her.

“Well, that goes with being an assistant,” Hermione said lamely.

Harry’s eyes widened.

“Don’t look now, but he’s coming over here,” he hissed at his classmates.

Hermione’s heart dropped like a stone to the pit of her stomach.

Severus certainly was on his way to their table. He had decided to liven things up a bit. He glided across the Great Hall like a wraith, his expression set, stopping directly behind Hermione, his eyes shifting as he looked at the wizards.

“Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley. How nice of you to shirk your Auror duties to attend this little function,” he said silkily. He then nodded to their girlfriends, who stared at him as if he had just materialized out of thin air.

Both wizards scowled at him. Hermione felt like hiding her face in her hands. Severus stepped around her, lifted her hand and kissed it, lingering over it a bit longer than necessary.

“You look absolutely edible, Hermione. Quite delicious,” he said with a purr, giving her an exaggeratedly heated look.

“Um, thank you, Severus,” she replied, her voice squeaking a bit.

“I am expecting to have a dance with you later on. A nice, slow, close one,” he said in a low, sexy voice, “You will dance with me, won’t you Hermione?” he asked, being sure to use her given name.

“Yes, Severus, I will dance with you,” she replied, her heart pounding as both Ron and Harry looked at her with horrified expressions on their faces.

“I look forward to it, my sweet,” Severus purred, kissing her hand again, and looking over at the wizards.

“Enjoy yourselves, Mr. Potter. Mr. Weasley. Ladies,” he said, bowing slightly, then gliding back across the room to his table with a smirk. Let Hermione explain that.

Ron looked at Hermione.

“That was bloody frightening,” he said, frowning at the witch.

“He seemed awfully familiar with you Hermione,” Harry said, leveling his green eyes at her.

“Very familiar,” Ron added, a dark scowl on his face, “Too familiar in fact. What’s going on Hermione? Are you shagging him?”

Trust Ron to just dive right in with no regard for her feelings or her privacy. It made her mad.

“And what if I am?” she retorted.

“You are!” Ron gasped, pointing an accusing finger at her, and turning a bright shade of red.

Hannah and Gretchen excused themselves from the table. They were well aware Hermione was good friends with their boyfriends, like a sister to them in fact. And when brothers got upset about whom their sister was shagging, spells might start to fly. They didn’t want to be caught in the crossfire.

“We’ll be back,” Gretchen said, catching her sister by the arm and disappearing across the Great Hall.

“You’re shagging Snape, Hermione? Please say it isn’t so,” Harry pleaded with her, looking over at the dark wizard, who was leering at him now.

Obviously the pussy was out of the bag…and in his bed. Heh, heh.

“Harry, I’ve been in love with Severus since my seventh year. There was no other wizard I wanted but him. So yes, I’m involved with him,” she said.

Ron turned green.

“But Hermione, he’s Snape…Snape! The snarky, sarcastic, sadistic git of the dungeons. How could you let him fuck you? Or even touch you?” he asked her, imaging all kinds of terrible acts the wizard performed on the witch. He really wasn’t that far off the mark.

“He’s a hero and a good man, Ron! Or have you forgotten all he did for the wizarding world when he spied for the Order and served Voldemort. How much he suffered for everyone, including you? And no one appreciated what he did for us. No one. Well, I did. And I appreciate him now. He’s brilliant and he knows how to treat me. I’m very happy with him, Ron,” she said, slapping the table.

Severus watched his lover slap the table as she addressed Ron. She was heating up nicely.

Harry looked at her.

“All right, Hermione. You love him. Does he love you?” the green-eyed wizard asked, watching her intently.

“He has affection for me,” she replied, “Love is a big step for a man like him.”

“So he gets to fuck you because you love him. Gods, Hermione. What’s happened to you?” Ron asked her. “You used to be so good…so pure. You wouldn’t let anyone touch you.”

“I grew up, Ron. Do you think you’re the only one who has sexual feelings? I have them too, you know. I was just waiting to let the Professor know how I felt about him. I wanted him to touch me,” she replied, exasperated, “you make me sound as if I’m ‘spoiled’ now.”

“You are,” he said sullenly, “fucking him.”

“Ronald Weasley! “I’m sure you’re sticking your wand in Gretchen. You don’t consider her ‘spoiled’ do you?” she seethed, “why am I any different?”

“Because I have feelings for Gretchen. She’s not just something to stick my cock in, like you are for Snape. He’s using you, Hermione. Can’t you see that?” Ron shot back at her. “He’s ruining you for any decent wizard.”

“He is a decent wizard, Ron, and he does have feelings for me. I am happy with him. Can’t you just be happy for me?” she said, her eyes narrowed at her friend.

“No, I can’t,” Ron said, his eyes hard, “He has you under some kind of spell or something.”

Harry watched the exchange. He wasn’t thrilled at Hermione sleeping with Snape. But he had to admit that he probably met her needs on a number of levels. Hermione had always been more mature than the rest of them, and her parents had a large age difference between them and were happy. Snape was dark, but he was intelligent, strong and courageous. If Harry put aside all the hard times the wizard gave him while he was a student, Snape wasn’t that bad a choice for the witch. He would keep her challenged, and probably focused as well.

Hermione stood up and put her hands on her hips.

“He does not have me under any spell, Ron Weasley. I approached him and he turned me down flat. He wanted nothing to do with me, nothing. He went out of his way to make me hate him, but it didn’t work. Finally I convinced him to accept me. He wasn’t the pursuer in this relationship, I was. It took a lot of convincing to make him accept me in his bed. And you aren’t going to take me out of it, Ronald. You are such an asshole!” she said, stalking off from the table and heading to where Severus sat. If she stayed with Ron a moment longer, she was going to hex the wizard.

“Look at her. Going over to the enemy,” Ron seethed, watching as Hermione took a seat next to the wizard.

“Ron, Hermione is a grown witch. She knows what she wants. All you’re going to do is mess up your friendship with her. You can’t tell her who to love,” Harry said to him.

“But Harry, she’s making the biggest mistake of her life being with him,” Ron said sincerely. “He’s not capable of loving her. He’s going to use her then throw her aside.”

Harry looked over at the witch.

“Well Ron, if that happens, she’s going to have to deal with it. But predicting doom for her when she is obviously happy will only drive a wedge between you two. You need to accept her decision. I do,” Harry said to his friend.

“You do?” Ron asked him, incredulous.

“Yes, I do. We hate Snape because of how he was when we were students. But we need to look at him as a wizard. He really did sacrifice a lot for the wizarding world. Anyone who did that can’t be all bad, Ron. As for his attitude, that’s just the way he is. He has a right to be that way. If Hermione can deal with it, we have to let her do just that. She says she loves him, Ron. If she does, nothing you can do or say will change her mind or her heart. You need to realize that and just be there for her if something does go wrong. Otherwise, you won’t be there at all. Love will make her choose him over you, and you will force her to make that decision. Do you want to lose Hermione’s friendship Ron?” Harry asked him.

“No,” Ron said quietly.

“Then I suggest you apologize to her before this reunion is over,” Harry said earnestly. “You’ve done a lot of damage.”

Ron looked over at Hermione. She really had grown up. He noticed Snape leaning toward her a bit protectively, although the wizard appeared to just be taking in the scene around him. As an Auror he was trained to read body language. Hermione was leaning slightly in his direction too. When one shifted, the other did as well. That was a sign of a deeper connection.

“Yeah, you’re right, Harry,” he said, still looking at the couple. “I’ll catch up to her later.”

Gretchen and Hannah approached the table.

“Is everything settled?” Hannah asked.

She looked over toward the table where the dark wizard sat, and saw Hermione sitting beside him. Obviously everything had been settled, but not in a good way.

“Everything’s all right, Hannah,” Harry said, standing and pulling out the witch’s chair. Hannah smiled and sat down. Ron didn’t move, and Gretchen settled in beside him. She was used to it.

Suddenly music started and people began to move on to the dance floor, gyrating wildly.

Harry looked at Hannah.

“Feel like dancing?” he asked her.

“I certainly do,” she replied.

Harry stood up and pulled the witch’s chair out for her and took her hand, leading her to the dance floor. Gretchen looked at Ron, who was still looking over at Hermione.

“It really bothers you she’s with him, doesn’t it Ron?” she asked him softly.

Ron nodded.

“Sometimes people are drawn to people that no one else understands, and it seems strange and wrong. But everyone deserves a chance at love, Ron. Everyone,” Gretchen said softly, placing her hand on the wizard’s arm.

He looked at her, and she gave him a small smile. He smiled back at her.

“Let’s dance,” he said, rising and pulling her out of the chair a bit roughly. She giggled. Ron was rough around the edges, but she liked him like that. He was all wizard.

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Severus looked at Hermione with an amused look on his face as she dropped into the chair next to him looking furious.

“Something wrong in Gryffindor paradise?” he asked her, a small grin playing across his pale face.

“Ron is just…insufferable,” she seethed.

“Yes. I’ve known that since he was a student,” Severus agreed, his black eyes sweeping over her.

He hadn’t exaggerated when he said she looked delicious. She was dressed in a form-fitting blue sequined gown, and blue three-inch heels that made his mouth water. He never had a foot fetish, but felt as if he could suck on her toes for days. Her hair was piled on her head, held in place by two sparkling blue combs, two tendrils hanging down on each side of her face, and she wore sapphire earrings set in silver. Her neck was exposed, and Severus longed to run his lips over the pulsing artery. She wore just a touch of makeup. He looked at her lipstick and had a very erotic vision of it being smeared on his cock as she pleasured him. He hissed, willing it away.

Hermione looked at him sharply.

“Are you all right?” she asked him.

“Yesss,” he replied a bit hoarsely.

Hermione’s eyes narrowed.

“Severus, you caused that scene by coming over there and drawing attention to our relationship. I wasn’t ready to tell them yet,” she said, scowling at him.

“I did you a favor, Hermione,” he replied silkily, “You would have let the night pass without telling them at all, then felt guilty about hiding the truth from them. Now it is out in the open. It will all work out, though I could see they were less than thrilled with your sleeping with ‘the bastard from below’.”

“No, especially Ron. He has this image of me as a perpetual virgin,” she said.

“That’s definitely an image that needs updating,” Severus purred at her, his black eyes sparkling.

Hermione scowled at him.

“I think he would raise hell no matter who I slept with,” she mused.

“Not as much as with me,” Severus said, looking over at the wizard dancing with his girlfriend. “He knows that I probably have you tied up in sexual knots. The very idea drives him crazy. I believe that he holds a torch for you still.”

Hermione looked thoughtful.

“He used to, but he’s moved on. Gretchen seems very nice, very attuned to him,” she responded.

“Some people never get over their first love,” Severus replied. He knew his first love haunted him, but not for good reasons.

“So that means I may never get over you if something happens between us,” she said softly looking at him intensely.

Suddenly a slow song began to play. Severus was relieved. He didn’t want to respond to her. He stood up and pulled her chair out, offering his hand.

“May I have this dance?” he asked her, looking at her imperiously. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Certainly,” Hermione replied, almost shyly. She had never danced with him before and was a bit nervous as she placed her hand in his.

He escorted her to the dance floor and pulled her against him firmly, one large hand on the small of her back, the other entwined in her small fingers. He began to move with her, in perfect time to the music, gliding with her around the floor before stopping and swaying against her body sensuously. Hermione could feel eyes on them, but if Severus didn’t care, she didn’t either.

The Potions Master suddenly dipped her, leaning his long body over hers and looking down at her hungrily before he brought her up again, pulling her close. She could feel a slight erection pressing against her, and gasped as he smirked down at her.

Suddenly a smooth voice asked, “May I cut in?”

Hermione looked in the direction of the voice and into the ice-blue eyes of Draco Malfoy.

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A/N: Ah, interesting reunion. Draco certainly cut Pansy off, and Ron had his usual reaction when faced with Hermione and Severus. Though the Potions Master really pushed the parchment by coming over to their table and rubbing their noses in it. Ah, well. We’ll find out what Draco’s up to in the next chapter. Please review.

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The Burning Pen

Becoming Familiar with a Man of Misery
by Ruth Solomon

 

The story content is adult in nature and can contain graphic sex and violence. Those under the age of 18 are asked to leave this site immediately. You are not welcome here. The author is not responsible for those under-aged who view these works.

CHAPTER 45

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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