BLACK OUT DAYS
Antonin x Hermione | M | Complete | 6.5k song inspo. asks, etc. Hermione has been waiting for her judgement after Harry died, and Voldemort decides to put her stolen magic to good use. Under the tutelage of Antonin Dolohov, will Hermione fight tooth and nail to keep herself, or will she wake up one day as an entirely different person?
FFN | AO3
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Hermione hated not being good at something. It was an issue that had plagued her even as a child, causing her to not even try new activities because she was afraid of failing. So when the Dark Arts didn't come naturally, it frustrated her.
Initially, she'd thought she'd just try to get along, scrape by and do the bare minimum, but then she'd found that her skills were abysmal. She ended up throwing herself into the Dark Arts, practicing for hours every day with Antonin, trying again and again and again, until she could say that she mastered the spell.
He was surprisingly patient with her. Her Russian teacher always seemed so serious and was difficult to please, but it didn't stop him from giving her quiet encouragement when she just wanted to give up. His indulgent smiles when she succeeded were heady and made all the frustration worth it.
She sometimes wondered when he'd stopped hating her. It was painfully clear the first day that he'd rather murder her then look at her, the same way that she'd rather claw out his eyes than submit to his tutelage. But soon, she noticed the way his eyes crinkled in delight at some quip she'd make or how warm his hand felt on hers when he showed her proper casting technique.
It was seductive.
