Siege of the Sues

Hermione blinked. There seemed to be sunlight showing through some dusty window up above her. She was able to see now that she was in some sort of storage room. There were broomsticks and cauldrons as well as strange bottles, cages, and what she took for some sort of lawnmower, only Muggle lawnmowers had blades and not steel teeth.

"She's awake at last." Hermione glanced around to see where the voice was coming from, but found that even her head was bound with ropes and she could barely move it even a few inches.

A short figure's silhouette came into view--too short to be Lilac or Gary, Hermione realized. The silhouette knelt down beside her, and she now saw that it was a small girl of ethereal beauty, with long, pale hair. The girl smiled. "Don't worry, Hermione. We're not going to hurt you."

"Who are you?" Hermione demanded. "Where am I? What's going on?"

"Patience, my dear. Everything will be fine if you just calm down."

"I'm not going to calm down! Who are you?"

"My name is Serena." The girl stood up and began pacing around Hermione's bound form in a terribly unnerving way. "My sister and I have captured you. We are not Sues. We are not working with the Sues. We have our own agenda." She paused. "Though perhaps my sister should be here to tell you this. You know her rather better than you know me."

"I don't know your sister," Hermione spat. She had noticed that just above her head was a shelf filled with bottles. If she could manage to inch back, she might be able to bump the rickety-looking shelf.

"Oh, but you do," Serena purred. "You just know her better as Gary Stuart."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me."

"My sister and I are Metamorphmagi," Serena continued. "I don't think I have to tell a bright girl like you what that means. As for me, I've been posing under the guise of Lilac Livingston."

"Oh, so you're the one who made Snape all stupid." Just an inch more...she'd be able to slam into it with her shoulder...

"Don't talk about Severus that way!" Serena snapped. "The poor man needed a little joy in his life...and I wanted to be the one to bring it to him."

Hermione rolled slowly onto her side. She saw her chance now. "So you really were...you know...involved with Snape?"

Serena's eyes misted over. "I've only had to push him away to keep up the charade of working for Voldemort. But when Serenity and I rule, I'll never let him out of my sight."

CRASH! The shelf fell backwards, splattering potions and shards of glass across Hermione's face. She grimly willed herself not to think about what those potions could have been as she groped about for a big piece of glass.

"You clumsy idiot!" Serena cried. "Fine. You can lay there in that mess all day. I've got to go teach class. I hope you get cut to ribbons and fall asleep in a puddle of Wart-Gro!" She turned and stormed out.

Hermione started giggling in relief and not a little hysteria. What a stupid girl. Now doubly glad she'd never kissed Gary, she started sawing away at the ropes.