Disclaimer:- I neither earn nor own anything from this story except my plot. Harry Potter and his world are the intellectual property of JK Rowling and her associates.

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A/N:- Thank you to Golden Asp, for her beta work on this chapter, and to everyone for their reviews and alerts, I hope you enjoy this next chapter, and that where ever you are in the world that you're staying safe and healthy.

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Chapter Twenty-one – The Creation of the Countess

Since no one in the Maple Lane project was planning to Hogwarts after Christmas, the planned fact-finding tour of Europe's premier burlesque houses during the holidays had been cancelled. They were now only going to Germany on New Year's Eve to see Hermione perform, and the Maple Lane project—which needed extensive building work completed on it—sank somewhat into the background. After all, there was little that could be done until the basic remodelling was complete.

Their original New Year's Eve plans were still going ahead, and Hermione was meeting with Marta for a final run-through with her once she was in Germany. In between now and then she was using the raised duelling platform at Flintlock to go through her routine daily, but every time they'd gone there since she'd first used the space with Marta, Severus had spent his time being her body guard rather than her audience. Flint had obviously opened his mouth to the others and they were all trying to see what she was up to. This was problem number one.

Then there was the party of people coming to the actual event on New Year's Eve, which had also increased from the original five. Harry now wanted Ollie and Sirius to come, and Marta had invited Marcus Flint. Then Blaise and Draco wanted their collection of fangirls to come as well, so with Hermione and Severus the party had effectively more than doubled in size.

Sirius had made a spectacular return to wizarding society once Severus had confirmed for Harry that he was indeed who he said he was. An interesting development on that front was his return to the Weasley family. They had accepted him with open arms and he now seemed to be making it his mission to heal the rift between them, Harry and Hermione.

The biggest problem there was that he did not have all the facts, and Hermione was currently urging Harry to confide in Sirius the real problems between them and the Weasleys before he found himself in the midst of an armed stand-off.

However, Harry was just unwilling to admit his inclination to Sirius yet, and Hermione was fairly certain that if Ron knew anything about it, he wasn't going to tell. It would be just too confronting for him. However, that was not mentioning Ginny's part in their disagreements.

Then last night she'd received a panicked owl from Harry saying that Sirius wanted to invite the younger Weasleys to New Year's Eve, and Hermione had paled, and that was when Severus had replied on her behalf.

Mr Potter,

Make Black understand what is going on.

I am not going to tolerate imbecilic Weasleys ruining something that Hermione has worked very hard on.

S. Snape

xox

As to this moment however, neither Hermine nor Severus had received a reply from Harry. They were having breakfast in their bedroom by the fire and Severus was reading more about the proposed prisoner release program to Hermione. However, he was having a hard time keeping his eyes to himself as his witch sat opposite him demurely in her red silk dressing gown. He knew that she was naked under it—as he was under his—and his imagination was running away with him as he watched her nipples pebbling under the caress of the silk.

He finished reading and she sat back in her chair further, making her ample breasts more visible as the material of her gown parted when she moved. He felt his cock twitching in interest and he watched her lovely cleavage as he listened to her comment.

"I wonder how much of this The Prophet is making up?" she said thoughtfully, as she took a sip of her coffee and noticed where his eyes were looking.

Severus placed his coffee back down and his eyes moved up at her face. "I would imagine that a good portion of it is hearsay. However, the core of it is true. I spoke with Shacklebolt about it last night at the meeting I went to."

"Well, that's good news," Hermione commented. "Mind you, I suppose they'll have all kinds of strict stipulations for inmates to qualify," she added, sounding more than a little displeased.

"No doubt," Severus replied, turning the page and forcing his eyes to the paper, but his expression turned sly and he pursed his lips and smiled smugly as he started reading again.

Hermione pinned him with astute eyes. "You know more than you're telling me, don't you?"

Severus chuckled, his sly expression turning into a smile as he looked over the paper. "Shacklebolt also admitted that they were willing to work with wealthy inmates."

"That's blackmail!" she declared.

"Nevertheless," Severus replied, setting the paper down altogether and taking the last mouthful of his coffee. "I do believe that it is blackmail that Lucius would be open to," he continued after swallowing.

"And what about your other friend, the Lestrange man?"

"His appeal is almost complete. I am confident that he will be released into Draco's custody within the next week."

"And Lucius would be released into yours?"

"Yes. Does that trouble you?"

"No," Hermione replied evenly.

"Excellent. Now, there is something else I've been meaning to mention to you."

"Yes?" she questioned.

"With talk of idiots being included in our party on New Year's Eve, and all the trouble we've been having with prying eyes while you rehearse, I believe it might be fortuitous for you to have a public alter-ego for your stage character here in England. You know, throw nosey parkers off the scent so to speak."

She looked at him thoughtfully. "I've never considered that, but you're correct. If I wish to remain anonymous, adding another layer to the deception would make it harder to draw the correct conclusions. That would be wise," she agreed. "Do you have something in mind?" she asked, knowing full well that he probably did.

"Yes, something regal," he pursed his lips. "Contessa Balfour… Contessa Hortence Balfour," he told her smugly.

"You have given it some thought then," Hermione replied, meeting his smug smile with one of her own. "And who, is Contessa Balfour, Severus?"

"An aristocratic you, my dear. I want you to allow your imagination to play," he suggested with a raised eyebrow, as he studied her over the paper he'd just picked up again.

Severus had been giving Hermione tuition in the art of Legilimency and it had given him the opportunity to see into her mind on several occasions. In her mind, not only had he seen her utter devotion to him, and also her attraction to Lucius, but also many bits of herself that she had not yet recognised.

As she thought on what he'd just told her, Severus considered Hermione's devotion to him. Lucius was the only other person that Severus trusted completely. Their friendship had been tempered through fire and it was unbreakable, and he was certain that adding this little witch to it would complete things.

He had realised some time ago that there had been things about their own relationship that Lucius had not told him, yet he understood why. He'd recognised that they'd bonded the first time they'd slept together, but he'd only pickup up on who their third was to be from teaching Hermione Legilimency.

Severus had been surprised when he'd found that Hermione had been capable of Legilimency, that she'd only had to unlock that part of her brain which facilitated it just as he had when he'd started learning the art. Sometimes gifts we are born with go dormant after a time if they're not used, and they just need the correct trigger to make them spring into life.

Her early life with two strict parents had stifled her creative side, and that's really what Legilimency was, a creative use of the mind. Her parents had been strictly people of science, and their reinforcing that answers to everything were to be found in books had been a serious mistake in Hermione's case. This was something that he was pleased to see now that she'd seemed to have overcome to a greater extent.

He then became aware that while he'd been thinking she'd finished her breakfast and was about to leave the table. "Where are you going?" he questioned.

"I was just going to shower and get ready for our walk."

"You seem very eager," Severus replied.

"Yes," and she smiled. "I have something to show you."

"Indeed. Should I accompany you to the shower?"

"I'd like that, but it's after the shower I'm more interested in."

"I'm certain I can make your shower worthwhile as well, Hermione," he said, leering at her.

Hermione snickered and started walking towards the bathroom, slipping out of her dressing gown on the way and turning to him. "Promise?" she said over her shoulder.

"Promise," he told her, rising to follow her.

It was as he was stalking towards her that Severus realised something. In a very short time they fallen into a perfect routine, and he was running the risk of becoming lost in this witch, but he couldn't bring himself to care. This then led him to consider what he'd been thinking about her completing things. Perhaps he should bind himself to her; he'd never found another person—apart from Lucius—whose company he accepted like Hermione's.

It was something to consider. However, then he thought of Lucius and he realised that they both needed to bond with Hermione so she could enter into their relationship equally between them.

He caught Hermione just as she turned the shower on and grabbed her around the waist, spinning her around and pulling her to him. His mouth descended onto her hers as he backed her into the water.

You only needed to turn the water on in his shower and it was the perfect temperature. It would never burn you or freeze you; it was always perfect.

They came to a stop against the cold tiles of the side of the shower and Hermione gasped a breath in as her back connected with the wall. This made Severus chuckle darkly as his mouth took a path over her jaw and onto her neck.

Her gasp of surprise soon turned to moans of want as he licked and sucked at her pulse point and flexed his hips to slide his member back and forth at the apex of her thighs, teasing her, grazing her flesh with each pass. This had her gasping and wanting more as the water cascaded down over them.

"Oh Severus," she groaned, and wound one leg up around his hip. "Please," she gasped.

He lifted his head from adoring her neck, and looked at her, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Please what, dear one?"

"In," she replied.

"No, tell me exactly," he commanded.

"Please, fuck me," she replied in a heated whisper.

His mouth found hers again and he slipped his cock into her already grasping sex. She moaned and he chuckled into her mouth as he started thrusting. She was simply perfect, and he suddenly found himself shocked that he thought that, but he didn't miss a beat, and he happily lost himself in her.

xox

They finally made it outside for their walk, and somewhere on the way through the frozen wonderland that made up the gardens and the forest beyond, Severus had decided that he did indeed need to wait for Lucius to be free to secure this witch, but that he would have to take her entirely into his confidence before Lucius was freed.

It was a fact that they had only been together as a couple for a short time but in that time he had come to trust her completely, and this surprised him too. However, he'd had the added security of being in her lovely mind to reinforce his resolve that he was doing the correct thing.

He glanced at her now, and he reflected that she was indeed the wonder. She was his Hermione again now, but after their shower she'd amazed him at how quickly she'd come up with an alter-ego.

She'd dressed in the many petticoats and frills she'd come to prefer since they'd been together and she'd charmed her mane of hair into sleek glossy raven locks and arranged it in a curly chignon, then she'd changed her eye colour to violet and dressed herself in a matching violet coloured corset, black lace top stocking and stylish kitten heel ankle boots.

She was still wearing those undergarments, but now she also wore a warm woollen cloak over her violet silk blouse, black skirt and jacket, and the cloak was fur lined around its edge.

"You approve?" was all she'd said, a salacious smile curving her painted lips as his eyes drank in the changes to her hair and eyes while his gaze panned over her lovely body in the decadent underwear.

"Most definitely," he'd murmured, pulling her against him and dancing them around the bedroom. He loved dancing with her, and realised that they hadn't danced since the tango in Potter's bar. He needed to rectify that, and he thought to New Years; they definitely should celebrate together.

"What are you thinking about?" Hermione asked, pulling them to a stop amidst the snow covered landscape.

Turning her, Severus pulled her into his arms. "Perhaps we've walked enough today, Hermione. I have some things I wish to tell you. Would you allow me to apparate us back to the house?"

She nodded, and in a blink of an eye they were back in the cosy study with her still in his arms. He gently pushed her back and undid her cloak.

Once he had both of them free of their outdoor clothing, he walked to the sideboard and poured two tumblers of whisky. "Here, this will warm you," and he handed her one tumbler. However, his choice of words as he continued seemed like a change of subject. "There may be the need on occasion for the countess and you to be in the same room," and he watched Hermione's face turn puzzled, and this made him wait for the inevitable.

"Is that what you were thinking while we were walking? How would that be possible?" she asked.

He chuckled, and again he didn't answer her how she expected. "Perhaps it's time for me to tell you how I survived the day of the battle."

She blinked at this next abrupt change of subject and gave him her full attention. "Umm… okay." Severus often explained things like this, so while she registered that they were speaking about two entirely different things, she knew that he would make it clear by the end of his explanation.

"At first I meant to show you my memory of that day, but then I considered that I did not wish you to relive that horror, therefore I will give you a practical demonstration. Make yourself comfortable."

Hermione took a sip of the amber liquid in her tumbler, and sat on the lounge as he sat beside her.

"You wish to know why you never assisted me when I appeared in such dire need of assistance." He took in her sweet face watching him, and he saw the familiar guilt she wore like a mantle cloud her face. Perhaps he should have addressed this earlier. Well, no matter he was dealing with it now. "I sent you away, Hermione," he stated, watching her.

She gasped. "You what? How?" Her face contorted in confusion. "You did? No!" She brought her eyes back up to his and shook her head. "No! You were dying. How c-could you send me away? I didn't see you do that… Severus?"

"Shh," he said, placing a long finger on her lips, urging her to wait while he explained. "You did not see me because you were not looking at me."

However, his explanation only confused her further. "Sorry?"

"When you and the others entered the room that day, I was standing behind you. What you saw in front of you was only part of me." He took her hands, she looked like she was about to explode from confusion and he could see the questions bubbling up in her mind. "Settle, dear one, and watch." He went to his wall safe behind the landscape picture and opened the blood lock. He healed the small prick mark on his thumb and then pulled two items from the safe. A phial that glittered gold, which he placed in his pocket, and something in a deep burgundy velvet bag.

He closed the safe and walked back to her. "This is believed to have been destroyed," he said, handing her the small bag.

Hermione gasped as she opened it, and glanced at him for permission to empty it into her hand and inspect the contents. "The Philosopher's Stone," she whispered reverently, her eyes taking in the beauty of the stone that seemed to have a fire of its own in its depths that crackled and burnt as you moved it in the light.

Fire had always been Hermione's one weakness. She loved her bluebell flame; she could now conjure creatures in it and wield them to do her bidding. "It's so beautiful," she murmured.

Severus watched her eyes glazing over as she looked at the stone, and he knew he'd found the next alchemist. He covered the stone with his hand before pulling her chin around so she was looking into his eyes. "Tell me your thought before they dispel," he commanded.

"The fire," she replied, gazing directly into his eyes in invitation. "Look," she sighed, melting against him.

Severus eagerly dove into her mind to capture her feelings on the subject. He understood that sometimes words did not do feelings justice. In one of his earlier excursions into her mind he had seen a glimmer of what he'd just discovered, but now, well her passion was beautiful. He saw pathways to innate knowledge connecting, that like other part of her mind had been dormant, unused, and he saw how it changed and enhanced her.

He pulled from her mind and drew her to him, holding her as she processed what had just been revealed to her. Finally she pulled back slightly and looked at him.

"The stone is an organic entity. It has so many uses, but most wizards have only ever been concerned with its ability to prolong life."

"This is true, but I had to read many dusty tomes to find that out, and I still do not have the knowledge to brew more than a handful of the potions. I am a clumsy wielder of its power, but I suspect that you can commune with it." He stroked her face with the back of his hand. "I am very pleased that Albus did not know what we have just discovered."

"Why?"

"Because he was every bit as dangerous as Riddle. He would have used and burnt your mind to get the secrets of the stone."

Hermione gasped. "But I thought…"

"And you—like everyone—thought incorrectly, dear one. Albus Dumbledore was a wizard who had everyone's trust, but he was as cruel and callus as his opposite number. The cagey old bugger never destroyed this stone. He simply hid it again and that night on the Astronomy Tower he placed the knowledge of where to find it in my mind before my curse hit him."

"My goodness," was all Hermione could manage to say.

"You are now the only other living person apart from Lucius who knows of the stone's existence," he told her. "In some ways this binds us together in more ways than a simple marriage bonds ever could." His eyes connected with hers. "Do you understand what I'm saying to you, Hermione?"

She smiled at him. "Yes," she replied, and she watched him replacing the stone into the pouch. "When can I start working with the stone?"

Severus chuckled. "There is much control you must learn first, Hermione. Many control issues, because the stone would have devoured you had I not covered it. We will continue with our lessons and I will tell you when you're ready."

She nodded. "Very well." Then she remembered the other thing he had taken from the safe. "What did you put in your pocket?"

"Ah, yes," and he pulled the phial of glittering liquid from his pocket. "This the reason you didn't see me the day of the battle. I stumbled across this little gem in one of the books Albus bequeathed to me." He uncapped the potion and drank a small portion, he didn't want to waste a whole dose. "It is like the liquid form of a Gemino spell, but it doesn't produce a useless copy, it temporarily splits a being."

Hermione gasped as without warning another Severus was suddenly standing beside the one holding the empty phial.

"Oh my," she said, standing and approaching them. "How long does it last?"

"Under normal circumstances approximately an hour, but today it will only be a few minutes," he said. "I took the potion before I went in to see Tom Riddle that day and I followed my copy in under a disillusionment, so I was behind you when you, Potter and Weasley entered the room." Here he took her by the shoulders and said, "And I sent you away, dear one, because you told Potter and Weasley that you were going to help me."

Hermione gasped. "Yes, suddenly I followed them," she cut in, understanding finally dawning. "That was the bit I couldn't understand," but then her words trailed off.

"The time was not right for you to know which side I was on, and I had the situation in hand. Potter needed you more. I apparated my second self here after I'd managed to staunch the flow of blood, and the elves tended us. When we reconnected it took me almost two weeks to be able to move from my bed, but I was alive and thankfully the war was over."

"Oh, Severus," Hermione whispered, and she stepped into his arms. To her surprise his second-self stepped up and enclosed her from behind.

They stood together for some time, but then Hermione said, "And the stone allows this transformation to happen without harm to the person or their soul?"

"Yes, as long as neither the person nor their copy is killed in the time they are apart," and he caressed her cheek. "That is why I needed to get my copy away so urgently."

"But I still could have assisted you," Hermione declared defiantly.

"Hermione, I only just stopped the bleeding in time, if I'd had to explain what I was doing to you as well it would have taken time I did not have. You have my sincere apologies for the pain I've obviously caused you in delaying my explanation, and I hope you'll forgive me."

She looked at him and nodded. It still felt strange that she'd left him seemingly alone, but now she knew why. "Yes, now I understand, and you're right, back then I would have cost you too much time. Thank you for explaining this to me," and she leant up and kissed him.

Of course, their kiss didn't take long to turn heated. Hermione was used to Severus being a very passionate person under all his control, but she was a little shocked when his second-self brushed the hair away from her neck and started kissing the column of her throat.

She'd never been with two men at the same time before, and the idea of doing so now really excited her. Apart from anything there were two Severus' with that sinful deep-throated rumbling chuckle that made her knees weak and her knickers wet, and that was enough to have her breathing hard as two sets of hands caressed her. "I can't help but wonder what it would be like having two of you," she stated, her voice airy as she spoke.

Severus chuckled. "Unfortunately, today isn't that day," and he was suddenly one person again. "There is something else that this potion will be able to assist us with."

Hermione could not help but be disappointed, but she smiled at him. She just knew by his words that this wasn't the only time she would see this potion. "What else could it help with?" she asked genially.

"If you and the Countess have to be in the same room at the same time for example. I do not like where this New Year's Eve fiasco is developing," Severus told her, "it's all very worrying."

"Oh yes, I see your point," she replied. "Mmm, it has gotten out of hand."

"It certainly has, Black and Potter can be menaces sometimes," Severus stated.

"They mean well."

"That's debatable," Severus muttered.

Hermione slipped her arms around his waist, and resting her chin on his chest, she looked up at him with warmth in her gaze. "Why don't we curl up and read by the fire for the remainder of the afternoon?" she said, giving him a warm smile.

The weather had suddenly closed in again, and rain was coming down in torrents outside, so the fire side seemed like a wonderful place to be.

Severus nodded. "That could be easily arranged," he said smirking, and he leant down and gave her a kiss before leading her to the fireplace. He had no intention of reading, and was now wishing that he'd indeed taken the full dose of the potion, but it was a tedious potion to brew at best and they might need the remainder of that dose.