Temptation Pour Deux 09

“Not hungry, Mione?” Ron asked, eyeing her still full plate of steaming venison. The house elves went all out for the
last meal of the term, preparing whatever exotic dishes they could get their hands on (in large quantities). The clinking
of silverware was a telltale sign that the students appreciated it- the majority of them, anyway.

“Not really. I don’t know what’s wrong with me-”

“Maybe you’re a vegetarian, Mione!” Ginny said brightly. She’d gotten a salad, as she did almost every night,

though the house elves had managed to make even that elaborate. In her fourth year she’d declared herself a

vegetarian- ‘animals are people too’, she admonish, to anyone who’d listen. Which was usually only Harry, and

ever-so-occasionally Ron. She reminded Hermione of herself with the SPEW campaign- thinking she could

change the world on her own.

But really, wasn’t that what she was doing now? She assumed that once she’d passed through this summer with
Malfoy, she’d have a chance to show him the right side. And he’d cross, and then perhaps others would cross. And
Harry would be safe, and Ron, and Ginny, her parents- everyone.

It was pretentious of her. But just by saving Harry a good few times, she reckoned she’d altered the course of

history- at least in the wizarding world. And who was to say she couldn’t do it by herself, without Harry’s help?

“I don’t think so, Ginny.” Harry laughed. “I remember our soon-to-be Head Girl taking an astonishingly large steak

on by herself last night.”

“Well I was hungry!” she said, blushing, and failing to mention that Snape had instructed her to eat as much red meat

as possible. A few of the potions he’d been giving her were so old they worked better with animal blood, and she’d

flatly refused to drink what he’d had in stock in the dungeon, despite his insistence that it was fresh. That’d only made

What was she doing? She couldn’t even stand the sight of animal blood, never mind that of a human. And she’d be

steeped in it this summer, shedding some herself most likely. And Draco- well, whatever she’d be forced to do, he’d

be a hundred times worse off. She’d gathered that the rest of the death eaters, and even Voldemort expected a lot

out of Lucius Malfoy’s son.

And she expected a lot of him as well. He needed to protect her that summer- teach her, while watching out for her.

Cover for her. Make sure his parents loved her, and make sure they believed that she was who she said she was. It

was partly her responsibility, of course- but the brunt of the work would fall on Draco.

As her friends stood, she made up her mind to make things as easy for him as possible. She wasn’t sure what their

relationship was- friends or otherwise, yet- but she was going to support him as best she could.

She was distracted by a round of cheers down the hallway, and she turned to find a cluster of seventh year

Gryffindors, raising a banner towards their end of the hallway. ‘Gryffindor Forever!’ it read, shouting it at the same

time. Ron, Harry and Ginny chanted along with it, and after a moment, she halfheartedly joined in.

Hermione blindly felt her way through the poorly lit corridor, careful to stick close to the stone wall. She was feeling

lightheaded- had a bit too much butterbeer at the party, probably. Gryffindor had won the cup this year, after all,

and Ron had filled it with butterbeer and chugged it all himself. Thankfully, Harry and Seamus were able to carry him

back up to the boy’s dormitory, but no one wanted to try and top him after that. The other girls had quickly fallen

asleep- funny, the butterbeer seemed to keep her awake. She did feel just a bit shaky, though-

“Hermione?” a sharp voice cut through the darkness, and she blinked, struggling to stand up straight.

“Ish- is that you, Draco?” she asked, quickly cutting the slur out of her voice. It simply wouldn’t do to have Draco

see her this way, never mind Professor Snape.

“Who else would it be, this time of night?” he asked dryly, taking her hand and leading her towards the dungeon

door. It was ice cold.

“Not so fast. I need to- collect myself.” She said, stopping in front of the door. He sighed, annoyed, and turned to

face her, putting one of his ice-cold hands to her forehead. She flinched, and he raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t flatter yourself.” She said harshly. “Your hand is cold. In fact, you’re always cold. It’s a bit unnerving.”

He stepped closer to her, his handsome, chiseled featured outlined in the torchlight. His azure eyes seemed to burn,

almost twinkle in pleasure. She felt her heart skip.

“Cold, am I?” he asked her, wrapping an arm around her waist as honey-colored eyes met blue. He leaned down

to kiss her, his tongue gently (for once) exploring every crevice of her mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck

as her ran his hands through her hair, no longer wild and bushy, thanks to Snape’s spells. He was gentle with her…

gentle, and almost affectionate. His mouth felt warm against hers, dispelling almost all of her reservations. After what

seemed like an eternity, he stepped back, looking into her eyes.

“From tonight on, Hermione, you’ve got to be Hermia LeFay. I don’t want to place you in any danger, and if you

cannot convince yourself, you’ve no chance.”

She sighed, burying her face in his chest. She wanted this- wanted him, and wanted the knowledge. She needed to

“Come then, dear.” She said, trying to imitate his conceited smirk. By the look in his eyes, she’d been successful.

“We’ve got a few last-minute adjustments to make.”

“Ah, there you two are.” Snape said, greeting them from behind his desk. It was strangely neat, the usual clutter

of paper and ingredients having been wiped clean. He walked around to their side of the desk, and if Draco didn’t

know better, he’d have said he had been fretfully wringing his hands.

“So this is it.” He said, looking at the two. “Tomorrow morning, Miss Granger begins her new life as Miss LeFay.

Are you sure that you’re ready?”

“I have taught you all that I can, Miss Granger, about how you should act when staying with the Malfoys. I mean no

offense, Mr. Malfoy, but your family is cruel, and would not welcome a girl with Miss Granger’s particular-

“You must defer to Draco at all times, Miss Granger. Do not even consider trying to match Lucius Malfoy- the

thought should not even cross your mind during the time you stay in the manor. It is unthinkable for Malfoy women

to stand up to the men, and Lucius has chosen to stand by that particular family tradition.”

“Do try and be kind to Mrs. Malfoy. It may be difficult- again, Mr. Malfoy, this is no offense to you- the woman is

quite simple. She was, at one time, a great woman- but years under Lucius has beaten all independent thought out

of her. If you befriend her, Lucius will know, and it shall bode well for you

You will have to stay with Draco at all times as well, Miss Granger. You are there for him, and no other reason. It

is only natural to have a curiosity about things- this they will expect, and tolerate. I daresay Lucius will enjoy having

something new and intelligent to control. But, all in all, your purpose there as Hermia LeFay is to make a good

impression. Your purpose there as Hermione Granger, I assume, is to observe.”

His eyes softened, the older man easily reading the anxiety clearly written across Hermione’s face. He looked to

Draco, who seemed almost, if not more nervous.

“That’s all I can give you in the form of words, then. I hope you will heed my advice. Drink this, Hermione.” he said,

handing her a very angry-looking bottle of black liquid. Draco eyed it suspiciously, looking up to Snape.

“A distilled form of the Polyjuice Potion, Draco. It’ll make her look a bit like me… or, more precisely, the women

in my family. It’ll only make her more credible, especially to your parents.”

Hermione picked up the bottle, willing her hands not to shake. So this was it. She truly would become Hermia

LeFay- a girl training to become a death eater. More aptly, Draco Malfoy’s girl training to become a death eater.

Draco’s eyes darkened at her hesitation- and something sparked inside of her. He didn’t think she would do it.