Thanks to all my great reviewers, I love you all, and I'm glad that you like it so far!! Please keep your comments
coming, they really do mean alot to me.

I'm probably heading home on Thursday night. I'm getting my computer shipped home, so this means that I shall
still be able to write. Now, I don't know about the Internet - I am going to try and get it hooked up, I promise I
shall do my best. But I won't have it right away...so for awhile I may have to just save everything and then somehow
email them to a friend to be uploaded or something? I dunno..I hate to do this to you guys, but I promise to try and
get out another chapter before I leave. I WILL post this again if I am cut off from the internet for a great length of
time, so keep this story on your lists and watch to see if I add or if I post it again.

Thanks for reading and I hope you like this chapter!!! ^_^

**DISCLAIMER** I don't own them....'nuff said.

Hate's Sweet Seduction

by Kiara5542
 
 

Chapter 12
Secrets of the Past
 

Hermione stared at the man before her. Her mind was filled with complete and total surprise. She
honestly didn't think that she could have been more shocked. Never in a million years would she have
suspected that Filch, the caretaker of Hogwarts, was the one behind the blackmail letters.

She stared at him in distate. He was dressed in faded grey robes that looked as though they hadn't
been washed in quite awhile. His dark brown hair, which had streaks of grey in it, was greasy and
fell about his face in limp dark strands. His eyes were a faded, mottled brown colour, and his face
was sallow and yellowish. His thin lips were twisted into a cruel smile.

She had never liked him, ever since she had first seen him standing in the Great Hall the day she and
the other first years had been sorted. At home, at the public Muggle schools that she had attended,
she hadn't minded the custodial staff. They had been pleasant and actually great people, despite the
fact that they spent their time cleaning up after students all day. Hermione had actually come to admire
a few of them, for she knew that they put up with things that they shouldn't have to. That was part of
the reason why she had felt so much empathy towards the little house elves.

Argus Filch, however, was a different matter. To Hermione, he seemed to take far too much pleasure
in his duties of looking after the halls of Hogwarts and patrolling to catch any wayward students.
Everyone knew that it was only Dumbledore's presence that held him back from using the very brutal
forms of punishment that had once been the standard at Hogwarts. She, Ron and Harry had run into
trouble with him quite a few times over the past five years.

But although she knew that Filch had regarded them as troublemakers, and had appeared eager to
see them in detention as often as possible, she had never considered any of them to be a special target.
He seemed to have it out for all the students in general.

Why exactly would he be wanting to blackmail us, she wondered to herself. After all, he was there to
make sure that the rules of Hogwarts were followed, why would he be blackmailing the students? If that
wasn't breaking the rules, she didn't know what was. And not only that, she knew that he and Draco
had worked together in the past. In first year, Draco had led Harry to believe that they were going to
have a wizards duel, but in fact he had laid a trap for her friend by telling Filch they were going to be
out after dark.

She glanced over at Draco to see that he looked just as perplexed as she did. Evidently he had no idea
as to why he had been included in on this, either.

"What the hell are you playing at, Filch?"

Draco spoke up even as Hermione was looking over at him. "Trying to get your kicks by enjoying some
voyeurism?"

Hermione shuddered as the full meaning of Filch being the one behind those letters sank in. That meant
that it had been him lurking in the shelves the night before, watching she and Draco together...she blushed
as she realized just how much he must have seen. He had to have been there for quite awhile, judging by
the nature of the photographs. Disgust rippled through her at the thought of the greasy, disgusting man
seeing her body.

"I must admit, the sight of the two of you enjoying yourselves so...thoroughly," Filch replied, silky
mockery in his voice, "Was indeed quite a pleasure."

His eyes rested on Hermione, and she crossed her arms protectively in front of her as he leered at
her. He had that same hungry look in his eyes that she had gotten from Draco earlier. But unlike when
the reaction of liquid heat that she got from Draco's vivid blue stare, when Filch's eyes rested on her
like that she had an urge to go scrub herself in the hottest shower she could stand.

"Especially you, Miss Granger," he said with a coarse chuckle. "Who knew what you were hiding
behind that know it all exterior? I really must commend you, Mr Malfoy," the caretaker continued,
finally turning away from Hermione to look at the Slytherin student. "You seem to bring out
something in her that not many others can."

Hermione closed her eyes, anger building inside her. She didn't dare look at Malfoy, she was sure that
he was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Draco stared in disgust at Filch. He had known that the man was a slimy bastard, he had actually
worked with him in the past, trying to get back at Potter. But he had eventually stopped associating
with the man. There was just something about him...something disturbed...in fact, Draco had actually
wondered if he was quite mad.

"But while I thoroughly enjoyed watching the two of you together," Filch continued, "Your little tryst
will actually serve me quite well, other than pleasing my eyes. I shall finally be able to get my revenge
on Harry Potter."

For a moment Draco and Hermione both stared at Filch. Neither of them had expected him to be
the one blackmailing them, and they certainly hadn't expected anything like this.

"I see your surprise," Filch said. He chuckled after he spoke. "But of course, there are few here at
Hogwarts who care to remember me, or the things that happened in my past."

"I wonder why," Hermione said angrily, finally able to speak. She tossed her hair over her shoulder
as she glared at the man.

"Oh yes, Miss Granger," Filch continued, his voice filled with deep bitterness. "I have heard that tone
of voice from many others besides you. But none of them know my story - they just presume things.
So let me tell you a story that not many have heard, my dear little pawns. It is only fitting that the two
of you understand just why I was so delighted to discover you together."

Hermione saw Draco stiffen out of the corner of her eye, even as her own stomach clenched in anger
at the way Filch was talking to them. She knew that as a Malfoy, Draco wouldn't take kindly to being
referred to as a pawn. But it would do his ego some good, she thought maliciously to herself, before
her attention was drawn back to the caretaker.

"I doubt that either of you are aware of the fact that I attended school here with your parents. Well,
not yours, Miss Granger, obviously," Filch said, a smirk covering his face. "I guess they couldn't have
gone to Hogwarts, now could they have, being such delightful little Muggles as they were."

"I've heard it all before," Hermione said icily. "I feel no shame in being Muggle-born, so just tell us
your little story, Filch."

"Such a fiery temperment," Filch crooned. "Must be one of the things that you enjoy about her," he
said, directing his statement to Draco. "From what I saw last night, she's quite the wildcat in bed, too."

Hermione went pale with anger and embarassment at his words, and she was unable to think of
anything to say.

"Continue on," she heard Draco say, and Hermione thought she heard disgust and an icy anger in his
voice. She shook her head to herself, moving her arms lower to her stomach. She must be hearing
things, after all, he was probably quite enjoying this humiliation of her.

"As I was saying," Filch said, moving over to a nearby table and seating himself in one of the chairs.
"I attended Hogwarts at the same time as your father, Mr Malfoy, and also at the time of the Fabulous
Five - James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and of course, Lily Evans."

Filch's voice, which had been filled with bitterness, derision and anger as he spoke the names,
softened slightly as he spoke the name of Harry's mother.

"I doubt you are aware of my family origins, but my mother was a muggle, but my father had magic
in him. He was killed shortly after I was born by a rogue dragon, leaving my mother to raise me on
her own. She was so proud when she found out that I did have magic in me - even though she had
lost her husband, she felt that she still had something of him in me, her only son."

Filch paused, then continued on.

"And so, I came to Hogwarts, very eager indeed. After all, it was here," he gestured with a hand lined
with dirt at his surroundings. "That my father had learned all that he had known. I wanted to learn all
that I could, and prove myself as his son."

"How foolish I was," Filch said with a growl. "I got along alright, but it wasn't long before I could tell
that I was barely a magician at all. I don't even know how I scraped by in classes, but somehow I
made it until my last year. Then one day Dumbledore called me into his office. He told me that he was
quite aware of my struggles, and so he thought it would be best for me to have a tutor."

"He thought that one of my friends would be best," Filch said with a smirk. "So he was left to choose
between James Potter or Lily Evans."

Here he paused, obviously enjoying the looks of shock that spread across Hermione and Draco's faces.

"Ahh, yes," he murmered. "It has been well concealed, our friendship. Of course, I was much closer
to Remus and Sirius, but James and Lily knew me fairly well. Not that any of them would admit to
the fact today, of course."

"James and Lily were Head Boy and Girl that year, as I am sure you are both aware," Filch said,
continuing. "Both of them would be fairly busy, but James, as the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and
Seeker, did not have any time to spare. Lily, however, was an excellent student and Dumbledore
chose her to assist me."

"And so, I went to my tutoring session with some degree of enthusiasm. It was embarassing at first,
as it didn't take much to realize just how poor my magical skills were, but Lily was quite nice about it.
And I preferred that she know over anyone else."

"Then one day," Filch's voice grew softer. "My temper got the best of me. I was having troubles with
one of the spells, and Lily was doing her best to help me. But I was too frustrated, and ended up yelling
at her. She got mad and yelled right back at me, telling me that she cared about me and wanted to help,
but that she was beginning to wonder why she bothered. The she stormed out."

"I was in shock, but went after her. She was very angry at me. Oh was she ever," Filch had a smile on
his face as he said this. "She was quite beautiful when she was angry, Lily was. And also inclined to
say things that she ordinarily wouldn't say. Much to my surprise, in the middle of telling me what a jerk
I was and how she wished Dumbledore hadn't assigned her to me, she also said that she loved me."

"Oh yes, every word is true, Miss Granger," the caretaker said, noting the skeptical look on Hermione's
face. "Trust me, Dumbledore himself would be able to tell you."

"To continue, after I found out, I was on top of the world. Lily Evans loved me! Not James, the strong,
quick witted Quidditch Captain. Not Sirius Black, who was always making her laugh with his pranks.
No, she loved me."

The next few months," Filch continued in a soft voice, "Were the happiest in my life."

He stopped, and for a moment the Library was very quiet. Hermione could hear the rustling sounds
coming from the Restricted Section, but her attention was fixed on Filch. Obviously something had
happened, because Lily Evans had married James Potter, not Argus Filch.

"Of course, I should have known that it was too good to be true," Filch continued, bitterness once
again creeping into his voice. "Lily and I started fighting more after Christmas. She didn't seem to have
as much time for me, she was spending more and more time with James. Then one day he and I got
into a fight when he cracked a joke about a potion that I mixed wrong."

"I thought that Lily would be angry at him," Filch said. "But when I looked at her, she was actually
laughing. I was furious, and we didn't speak for two weeks after that. I was hurt, and I didn't listen
to her when she tried to talk to me about it."

Filch was now stroking the back of his cat, Mrs Norris, who had jumped up to sit on the smooth
polished wood of the table her master was sitting at.

"That was where I went wrong, wasn't it, my sweet," Filch said to his cat, his voice soft and
contemplative. "By the time I went to her, she was sad and angry. I tried to explain, but she wouldn't
listen to me. She said that if I had really loved her, I would have listened to her when she tried to
explain. She told me that she thought it would be better if we didn't see each other anymore."

"I thought that we still had a chance, but only a month later I found out I was wrong. I found Lily with
one of my friends - and of course, who else would it be but James?"

Filch's voice was now filled with angry bitterness, and Hermione nodded her head to herself. She
could see now, the pieces of the puzzle starting to come together.

"But thats not all, Miss Granger," Filch said to Hermione, startling her out of her thoughts. "Oh yes,
thats part of the reason why I dislike the Potter name. But I loved Lily, and I wanted her to be happy,
even if that meant she couldn't be with me."

Draco shook his head in disgust. It figures that Argus would be a weak man, he thought to himself.
Oh, when he was younger he had believed in the power of love, but as he grew older and saw how
his father treated his mother, he had slowly come to believe that love was actually one of two things.
Either the woman was a possession for the man, or vice versa, or all that held them together was sex.
The Weasley family was probably a good example of the second one, Draco had always thought.

"We graduated from Hogwarts a few months later," Filch said, breaking into Draco's train of thought.
"I was no longer accepted into their little group. Lily had been our darling, and with her mad at me,
the others distanced themselves from associating with me. James, of course, couldn't stand the sight
of me, nor I him.

"I didn't see Lily again for quite awhile, I heard that she and James got married a few years after we
left school. The next time I saw her was when You-Know-Who was making himself known. I was in
Diagon Alley, and I ran into her in one of the shops. I wasn't planning on talking to her, but I blurted
something out when I saw that she was pregnant."

"With Harry?" Hermione asked before she could stop herself.

Both Draco and Filch looked at her in surprise, and Filch laughed in derision.

"Of course with Harry, Granger," he said. "My, my, you really are proving your intelligence tonight,
aren't you."

Hermione blushed with anger, and Filch smirked.

"I wondered how she could be so foolish," the caretaker said. Anger was evident on his face.
"Everyone knew that James and Lily were two of the best wizards in years to come out of Hogwarts,
and any child of theirs could be considered a threat to the Dark Lord. I asked her how she could put
herself in such danger, but she said that she wanted a child, and the baby would be evidence of the
love that she and James had for each other."

"Then the little brat was born."

The words were spat in disgust.

"When I saw her again, she had him with her, and I had never seen her look more happy." Filch's
voice had a sad tinge to it. "I was glad that Lily was happy...but I had heard that You-Know-Who
wanted to wipe out all the strong wizards who were opposing him, and I was worried."

"By this time I was working at Hogwarts," Filch said by way of explanation, answering the unspoken
question both Hermione and Draco had as to just how he knew this.

"Dumbledore had hired me on as caretaker - he felt sorry for me."

Surprisingly, Filch's voice was not bitter as he spoke these words, merely calm.

"He's not bad," the caretaker said with a shrug. "He's never been anything but nice to me. One day
I heard him talking to McGonagall about some of the recent attacks, and when I saw Lily, I told her
all about it. I told her she should take Harry to Hogwarts and let him be looked after there, so that
she wouldn't be in danger."

"But of course," Filch's voice was sad as he spoke. "She didn't listen to me. She told me she was
happy with James, and that nobody was going to seperate her from her husband or from Harry."

"That was what killed her," Filch got up, and paced back and forth in anger, regarding Draco and
Hermione as he did so. "Her love of James and that little squalling brat. They're the ones that got her
killed! She didn't deserve to die - she was beautiful, funny and smart...she could have done so much
with her life. Instead, it all ended because she died trying to save that near sighted, stupid "Boy Who
Lived"."

"Everyone calls him that," Filch spat. "The Boy Who Lived. But he sure as hell wouldn't be here if it
hadn't been for Lily. It was just like her too, to sacrifice herself like that. I prayed that those stupid
Muggle relatives of his would somehow kill him off, but then he showed up here in first year. Looking
exactly like his father, too...except he has Lily's eyes..."

Filch's voice trailed off, and the Library plunged into silence. Draco and Hermione stood staring at
the caretaker as he gazed off into the darkness the blanketed the tall shelves of books, each filled
with their own thoughts.

Then he swung about to face them, greasy hair swinging limply against his face with the movement
of his body.

"I made a promise to myself that day, when I stood in the Great Hall and saw him go up to the
Sorting Hat, and get put into the very house that Lily herself had lived in," he spoke softly. "I swore
that somehow, someday, I would humiliate Harry Potter. I would make him suffer, because its all
his fault that my Lily is gone. She died to save HIM, when she should be here."

Filch paused once again, his brown eyes glowing feverishly as he stared at the two students in front
of him. Hermione was frozen in shock. Even as her mind scrambled wildly to absorb all that she had
just heard, she wondered what Draco thought of all this. He hadn't spoken in quite awhile.

"And I will not break that promise," Filch said in a voice that was deadly quiet. "I will see him fall
from his pedestal. And you two," he continued in a deadly croon. "Oh yes, you two shall help me."
 
 
 

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Chapter 13