The Sempra Deck 05 - The Hierophant
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mimimanderly has just released the next card of The Sempra Deck, a set of Major Arcana cards forming the Tarot. Each time Mimi posts a new card, I will post another edition of the story, so you can see how the story and the cards meshed together. Here is the next card - 05 The Hierophant, and here is the next chapter of the story.
This Chapter is rated R for content and language. Happy Reading!
The Sempra Deck is dedicated to the real mystic goddess Mimi Manderly; to her beloved SeverusMuse, and to my precious Dahlra. All characters with the exception of Mimi Manderley, Peter and Dahlra belong to JK Rowling. I make no money from this publication.
Chapter 3 – Applying The Stain part 2
Snape was running down the hall, in the general direction of the commotion. He had heard an angry shout, recognized it as one of his own Slytherins, and sprinted the last few steps down to the dungeons.
“You saw her, Draco!” Pansy Parkinson was saying, “It passed right through her!” A small crowd of Slytherins had gathered around, and he pushed through them to get to the heart of the disruption.
“What is going on, Miss Parkinson-” Snape stuttered to a halt as he saw the recipient of Miss Parkinson’s wrath. “Miss Manderly, may I ask what is going on?”
Mimi looked at the Head of Slytherin, and sighed. He could tell she was upset, but in a strange, exhilarated sort of way. “Professor Snape, might I have a word in private?”
“Something’s not right with her!” Pansy said, and she turned to Draco. “Tell him what happened, Draco!”
“I am fully capable of explaining what happened to your Head of House,” Mimi said, firmly, looking a Severus in a way that left no doubt in his mind that something strange had indeed happened. “If you will be so kind –“
“Certainly.” Severus turned back to the small knot of his Slytherins gathered in the dungeon hallway. He nodded at Draco. “Mr. Malfoy, as Prefect, I suggest you remind your fellow Housemates that discretion is always an admirable trait, in light of any circumstance.”
“Yes, sir,” Draco said, and turned to his Housemates. “You heard the Professor. Scram. Shoo.” Draco’s cool grey eyes flicked back to his Head of House, and Severus felt his stomach clench at the troubled look in the boy’s eyes. Draco was already walking on a tightrope, having been charged by the Dark Lord to murder Dumbledore and thus turn the tide of the war.
He had stopped confiding in Severus, and this told him that he was no longer trusted within the Dark Lord’s circle; further, Draco was desperate to return his family’s name to Pureblood glory, and did not want Snape to take any credit for it.
Thinking of this, he turned to the tiny American woman. “Perhaps we can discuss this in my study, Miss Manderly?”
She nodded tersely. “After you, Professor.”
Once again, Mimi found herself running after Severus like an overly-enthusiastic puppy, as his long legs strode away from her. “Severus, short person here,” she hissed through gritted teeth, and he slowed down infinitesimally to allow her to catch up with him.
Finally, when they arrived at his study, Mimi ducked under his arm as he held open the door for her. “I think you’d better ward your door, Severus. This isn’t for all and sundry to see or hear.”
Frowning, Severus obeyed her nevertheless. Silently casting ward after ward over his study, Severus turned and faced Mimi, his arms crossed over his chest defiantly. “And what, Miss Manderly, have you done now to get my House in such an uproar?”
Mimi stepped away from Severus, and said, with barely concealed excitement, “Hex me.”
Severus looked at her blankly. “Excuse me?”
Mimi grinned, nodding her head. “Go ahead, Severus – hex me. Go on!”
“What reason on earth could you possibly have to – “
“Severus!” Mimi said, exasperated, “I wouldn’t ask you to do something this radical without good reason, would I? Now, go ahead, big, bad, wizard,” she added, challengingly. “Hex me, if you’re man enough - ”
“Petrificus Totalus!” Severus’ aim was perfect, but nothing happened. He looked at the tiny woman, who was smiling back at him.
She winked. “Try again.”
“Rictusempra!” Mimi merely stood, smiling at him, her hands on her hips. “I don’t understand. You should be laughing uncontrollably.”
Mimi looked genuinely interested. “Why, was that a spell to tickle me?”
“No, it was – it doesn’t matter. Accio Mimi!” Nothing. “Stupefy!” Mimi shrugged. Severus threw a Jelly-legs Jinx; he attempted to bind her in magical ropes; they fell away from her. He tried several other small spells and minor jinxes; nothing affected Mimi. Finally, out of desperation, he cried, “Imperio!”
Nothing, Mimi covered her mouth in an exaggerated, pretend yawn. “You’ll have to do a lot more than that if you want me to do your bidding, Professor Snape.” She laughed at his stunned expression. “Do you see? I can’t be touched here!”
Baffled, Severus finally said, “Was this what happened with Mr. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson?” When Mimi nodded, Severus frowned again “Why did she attempt to hex you in the first place?”
For the first time since she had asked him to hex her, Mimi looked uncomfortable. “I was walking to my room, and I passed Draco and Pansy in the hall. As I walked by, Pansy said something – “ Mimi hesitated, and bit the inside of her cheek. “She said something a tad inappropriate, and I called her on it.”
Frowning, Severus looked at Mimi with a fierce scowl. “What did Miss Parkinson say, Miss Manderly?”
For a moment, he thought she wasn’t going to answer. Finally, her face coloring, Mimi said, “She said something rather disrespectful, and I told her that unless she truly knew what she was talking about, she should keep her prissy little mouth shut.”
Snape’s mouth was pressed into a thin, impatient line. “What. Did. She. Say, Miss Manderly?”
Mimi sighed. “She said, in a rather loud voice, that – “ she felt her face grow warm, “Professor Snape must be pretty damn desperate indeed to be fucking a Mudblood American.”
Severus’ eyes snapped in fury. “Why, that little jumped up – she had no – I’m sorry, Miss Manderly.” He looked profoundly embarrassed. “She had no right to say something like that.”
Mimi dismissed it with a wave of her hand. “I wasn’t offended, really! Sticks and stones. But the thing was that I turned around and confronted her, and she got very angry and tried to hex me and the hex went right through me –”
“Miss Manderly, are you telling me that one of my House actually tried to hex you?”
Mimi continued, “Yes, but when it went through me, I thought she was going to have kittens!” She grinned at the memory of the snotty little girl looking at the tip of her own wand like she half expected flowers to shoot out of it.
Severus stared at her in shock. Tumbling through his head were the warring ideas of the audacity of the Parkinson chit, coupled with the stunning realization that, in this universe, Mimi was impervious to magic. That, and the dreams he’d had since the night they’d come together in the Astronomy Tower…
The dream started out the same way as the actual event. He had stumbled, hurting and humiliated, up to the tower to be alone and lick his wounds, and found her there. After bullying him to allow her to help him, she had unbuttoned his shirt and gently applied the bruise paste to the worst of his injuries.
Then the dream and reality went their separate ways. In the dream, she had stopped rubbing the salve onto his chest and simply rested her palms flat against his skin. He could feel his heart pounding against her hand and he held his breath when she looked deeply into his eyes.
She had lovely, unusual eyes; not the bright blue of, say, Madame Rosemerta’s, or the deep emerald green of his own Lily’s eyes, but a startling combination of both. Eyes the colour of the sea. Remarkable eyes, remarkable woman….
The dream Mimi then leaned forward and touched his lips with hers, and they felt as warm and soft as he knew they would be, and tasted as sweet as wine. She made a soft little sound of surrender, and then he was pulling her into his lap and kissing her madly, doing all the things he always dreamed of doing with a woman; feeling her pressing against an erection so hard and needy he -
Mimi, watching his face, misread his emotions entirely, and for a moment, felt her hackles rising. “Look, if I did wrong here, I’m sorry, but this little Madam of yours started it. I was just minding my own business – “
Startled from his reverie, Severus flushed, then felt humiliation stir. “Hush, Mimi!” he said, holding up his hand, grimacing. “I’m trying to think this through!”
She returned his grimace. “What’s to think through? I can’t be touched here! Do you know what this means, Severus?”
Looking at her blazing eyes, feverish with excitement, meant something to him that he fancied would not be the answer she was preparing to give him. “I have a feeling you’re going to tell me,” he replied, rather sourly.
She shot him an exasperated look. “Well, you could have taken one lousy guess.” She gave him a ‘pay attention’ stare. “Severus, I can protect you. The next time you are summoned, take me with you, and I can prevent him from hurting you!”
She was pretty sure he was going to faint. The blood drained from his face and he stared at her, stunned at her pronouncement. It would have been comical had she not been so deadly serious.
Finally, in a voice so deathly quiet it sounded like it was being channeled through an exorcist, he said, “Have you lost your mind, woman? Have you any idea how ludicrous this sounds?” He shook his head. “How could you possibly protect me from the Dark Lord?”
She smiled, refusing to allow him to quench her excitement. Her voice was also soft, but trembled with expectation. “Any minute now, Draco Malfoy’s family will be receiving an owl telling them what he saw, a strange, mysterious woman, a woman Professor Snape is sleeping with, having the living shit hexed out of her to no effect.
“I’ll wager by the end of the day, Bella Lestrange will have already told your Dark Lord that Hogwarts, and you in particular, are hosting a very special individual. One that cannot be touched by even the darkest magic.
“I’ll bet further that he’ll be summoning you very soon to ask you about it, perhaps to arrange a meeting. And when he does, you’ll take me there, and I’ll make a bargain with him. My beneficence to his cause, in exchange for leaving my newly favourite pet alone. You.” She ended her explanation with a little flourish in his direction. At his gobsmacked expression, she laughed.
“I have come to watch this tawdry little conflict between so-called good and evil because I am bored and I’m up for a bit of sport, but I’ve decided to amuse myself with you while I’m here, and I won’t take it kindly to have my new toy returned to me beaten all to fuck just because your Master is having a little temper tantrum. I will sit back and watch, and favour the winning side.” She paused to deliver the coup de grace.
“Because that’s what goddesses do.” She stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest in an eerie imitation of Severus, smirking at her own cleverness.
Severus could literally feel his blood pressure rising. The stupidity of the woman! And he’d thought her intelligent, caring, and compassionate. She was making a sport of this! He was going to rip her to pieces. He was going to wipe the floor with her and when he was through, future or no future, impervious to magic or not, she would crawl from here with her tail tucked between her legs and he’d never have to suffer her presence again. She would rue the day she tried to ridicule him.
He opened his mouth, readying to launch into his tirade, when he cried out in pain, and clutched his arm. Merlin’s hairy ballbag! He was being summoned.
mimimanderly has just released the next card of The Sempra Deck, a set of Major Arcana cards forming the Tarot. Each time Mimi posts a new card, I will post another edition of the story, so you can see how the story and the cards meshed together. Here is the next card - 05 The Hierophant, and here is the next chapter of the story.
This Chapter is rated R for content and language. Happy Reading!
The Sempra Deck is dedicated to the real mystic goddess Mimi Manderly; to her beloved SeverusMuse, and to my precious Dahlra. All characters with the exception of Mimi Manderley, Peter and Dahlra belong to JK Rowling. I make no money from this publication.
Chapter 3 – Applying The Stain part 2
Snape was running down the hall, in the general direction of the commotion. He had heard an angry shout, recognized it as one of his own Slytherins, and sprinted the last few steps down to the dungeons.
“You saw her, Draco!” Pansy Parkinson was saying, “It passed right through her!” A small crowd of Slytherins had gathered around, and he pushed through them to get to the heart of the disruption.
“What is going on, Miss Parkinson-” Snape stuttered to a halt as he saw the recipient of Miss Parkinson’s wrath. “Miss Manderly, may I ask what is going on?”
Mimi looked at the Head of Slytherin, and sighed. He could tell she was upset, but in a strange, exhilarated sort of way. “Professor Snape, might I have a word in private?”
“Something’s not right with her!” Pansy said, and she turned to Draco. “Tell him what happened, Draco!”
“I am fully capable of explaining what happened to your Head of House,” Mimi said, firmly, looking a Severus in a way that left no doubt in his mind that something strange had indeed happened. “If you will be so kind –“
“Certainly.” Severus turned back to the small knot of his Slytherins gathered in the dungeon hallway. He nodded at Draco. “Mr. Malfoy, as Prefect, I suggest you remind your fellow Housemates that discretion is always an admirable trait, in light of any circumstance.”
“Yes, sir,” Draco said, and turned to his Housemates. “You heard the Professor. Scram. Shoo.” Draco’s cool grey eyes flicked back to his Head of House, and Severus felt his stomach clench at the troubled look in the boy’s eyes. Draco was already walking on a tightrope, having been charged by the Dark Lord to murder Dumbledore and thus turn the tide of the war.
He had stopped confiding in Severus, and this told him that he was no longer trusted within the Dark Lord’s circle; further, Draco was desperate to return his family’s name to Pureblood glory, and did not want Snape to take any credit for it.
Thinking of this, he turned to the tiny American woman. “Perhaps we can discuss this in my study, Miss Manderly?”
She nodded tersely. “After you, Professor.”
Once again, Mimi found herself running after Severus like an overly-enthusiastic puppy, as his long legs strode away from her. “Severus, short person here,” she hissed through gritted teeth, and he slowed down infinitesimally to allow her to catch up with him.
Finally, when they arrived at his study, Mimi ducked under his arm as he held open the door for her. “I think you’d better ward your door, Severus. This isn’t for all and sundry to see or hear.”
Frowning, Severus obeyed her nevertheless. Silently casting ward after ward over his study, Severus turned and faced Mimi, his arms crossed over his chest defiantly. “And what, Miss Manderly, have you done now to get my House in such an uproar?”
Mimi stepped away from Severus, and said, with barely concealed excitement, “Hex me.”
Severus looked at her blankly. “Excuse me?”
Mimi grinned, nodding her head. “Go ahead, Severus – hex me. Go on!”
“What reason on earth could you possibly have to – “
“Severus!” Mimi said, exasperated, “I wouldn’t ask you to do something this radical without good reason, would I? Now, go ahead, big, bad, wizard,” she added, challengingly. “Hex me, if you’re man enough - ”
“Petrificus Totalus!” Severus’ aim was perfect, but nothing happened. He looked at the tiny woman, who was smiling back at him.
She winked. “Try again.”
“Rictusempra!” Mimi merely stood, smiling at him, her hands on her hips. “I don’t understand. You should be laughing uncontrollably.”
Mimi looked genuinely interested. “Why, was that a spell to tickle me?”
“No, it was – it doesn’t matter. Accio Mimi!” Nothing. “Stupefy!” Mimi shrugged. Severus threw a Jelly-legs Jinx; he attempted to bind her in magical ropes; they fell away from her. He tried several other small spells and minor jinxes; nothing affected Mimi. Finally, out of desperation, he cried, “Imperio!”
Nothing, Mimi covered her mouth in an exaggerated, pretend yawn. “You’ll have to do a lot more than that if you want me to do your bidding, Professor Snape.” She laughed at his stunned expression. “Do you see? I can’t be touched here!”
Baffled, Severus finally said, “Was this what happened with Mr. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson?” When Mimi nodded, Severus frowned again “Why did she attempt to hex you in the first place?”
For the first time since she had asked him to hex her, Mimi looked uncomfortable. “I was walking to my room, and I passed Draco and Pansy in the hall. As I walked by, Pansy said something – “ Mimi hesitated, and bit the inside of her cheek. “She said something a tad inappropriate, and I called her on it.”
Frowning, Severus looked at Mimi with a fierce scowl. “What did Miss Parkinson say, Miss Manderly?”
For a moment, he thought she wasn’t going to answer. Finally, her face coloring, Mimi said, “She said something rather disrespectful, and I told her that unless she truly knew what she was talking about, she should keep her prissy little mouth shut.”
Snape’s mouth was pressed into a thin, impatient line. “What. Did. She. Say, Miss Manderly?”
Mimi sighed. “She said, in a rather loud voice, that – “ she felt her face grow warm, “Professor Snape must be pretty damn desperate indeed to be fucking a Mudblood American.”
Severus’ eyes snapped in fury. “Why, that little jumped up – she had no – I’m sorry, Miss Manderly.” He looked profoundly embarrassed. “She had no right to say something like that.”
Mimi dismissed it with a wave of her hand. “I wasn’t offended, really! Sticks and stones. But the thing was that I turned around and confronted her, and she got very angry and tried to hex me and the hex went right through me –”
“Miss Manderly, are you telling me that one of my House actually tried to hex you?”
Mimi continued, “Yes, but when it went through me, I thought she was going to have kittens!” She grinned at the memory of the snotty little girl looking at the tip of her own wand like she half expected flowers to shoot out of it.
Severus stared at her in shock. Tumbling through his head were the warring ideas of the audacity of the Parkinson chit, coupled with the stunning realization that, in this universe, Mimi was impervious to magic. That, and the dreams he’d had since the night they’d come together in the Astronomy Tower…
The dream started out the same way as the actual event. He had stumbled, hurting and humiliated, up to the tower to be alone and lick his wounds, and found her there. After bullying him to allow her to help him, she had unbuttoned his shirt and gently applied the bruise paste to the worst of his injuries.
Then the dream and reality went their separate ways. In the dream, she had stopped rubbing the salve onto his chest and simply rested her palms flat against his skin. He could feel his heart pounding against her hand and he held his breath when she looked deeply into his eyes.
She had lovely, unusual eyes; not the bright blue of, say, Madame Rosemerta’s, or the deep emerald green of his own Lily’s eyes, but a startling combination of both. Eyes the colour of the sea. Remarkable eyes, remarkable woman….
The dream Mimi then leaned forward and touched his lips with hers, and they felt as warm and soft as he knew they would be, and tasted as sweet as wine. She made a soft little sound of surrender, and then he was pulling her into his lap and kissing her madly, doing all the things he always dreamed of doing with a woman; feeling her pressing against an erection so hard and needy he -
Mimi, watching his face, misread his emotions entirely, and for a moment, felt her hackles rising. “Look, if I did wrong here, I’m sorry, but this little Madam of yours started it. I was just minding my own business – “
Startled from his reverie, Severus flushed, then felt humiliation stir. “Hush, Mimi!” he said, holding up his hand, grimacing. “I’m trying to think this through!”
She returned his grimace. “What’s to think through? I can’t be touched here! Do you know what this means, Severus?”
Looking at her blazing eyes, feverish with excitement, meant something to him that he fancied would not be the answer she was preparing to give him. “I have a feeling you’re going to tell me,” he replied, rather sourly.
She shot him an exasperated look. “Well, you could have taken one lousy guess.” She gave him a ‘pay attention’ stare. “Severus, I can protect you. The next time you are summoned, take me with you, and I can prevent him from hurting you!”
She was pretty sure he was going to faint. The blood drained from his face and he stared at her, stunned at her pronouncement. It would have been comical had she not been so deadly serious.
Finally, in a voice so deathly quiet it sounded like it was being channeled through an exorcist, he said, “Have you lost your mind, woman? Have you any idea how ludicrous this sounds?” He shook his head. “How could you possibly protect me from the Dark Lord?”
She smiled, refusing to allow him to quench her excitement. Her voice was also soft, but trembled with expectation. “Any minute now, Draco Malfoy’s family will be receiving an owl telling them what he saw, a strange, mysterious woman, a woman Professor Snape is sleeping with, having the living shit hexed out of her to no effect.
“I’ll wager by the end of the day, Bella Lestrange will have already told your Dark Lord that Hogwarts, and you in particular, are hosting a very special individual. One that cannot be touched by even the darkest magic.
“I’ll bet further that he’ll be summoning you very soon to ask you about it, perhaps to arrange a meeting. And when he does, you’ll take me there, and I’ll make a bargain with him. My beneficence to his cause, in exchange for leaving my newly favourite pet alone. You.” She ended her explanation with a little flourish in his direction. At his gobsmacked expression, she laughed.
“I have come to watch this tawdry little conflict between so-called good and evil because I am bored and I’m up for a bit of sport, but I’ve decided to amuse myself with you while I’m here, and I won’t take it kindly to have my new toy returned to me beaten all to fuck just because your Master is having a little temper tantrum. I will sit back and watch, and favour the winning side.” She paused to deliver the coup de grace.
“Because that’s what goddesses do.” She stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest in an eerie imitation of Severus, smirking at her own cleverness.
Severus could literally feel his blood pressure rising. The stupidity of the woman! And he’d thought her intelligent, caring, and compassionate. She was making a sport of this! He was going to rip her to pieces. He was going to wipe the floor with her and when he was through, future or no future, impervious to magic or not, she would crawl from here with her tail tucked between her legs and he’d never have to suffer her presence again. She would rue the day she tried to ridicule him.
He opened his mouth, readying to launch into his tirade, when he cried out in pain, and clutched his arm. Merlin’s hairy ballbag! He was being summoned.
