Chapter 4

Lex nor Chloe spoke all through the time it took for them to board and for the plane to take off.  Lex knew that there was something going on between the two, but he chose not to comment on it, knowing how she got when someone questioned her about a sensitive topic.  He assumed that the Professor was a sensitive subject to speak to her about, but he wasn’t so sure.  Still, he said nothing and as he sat beside her in his spacious seat, he entertained the possibility that they were lovers – per se.

Chloe chose the silence to be a time to submerge herself in a meditative sort of state, moving between a fitful sleep and pensive thinking.  She realized that this wasn’t the type of company that Lex was expecting, but then again, she wasn’t expecting the whole scenario to happen either.  She had to hand it to him though.  He was being quite a gentleman about the situation they were under and, being fed up with sulking, finally turned to him.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” she apologized, touching his arm lightly.

Her hand seemed to jolt him slightly – as if it was something he wasn’t expecting from her – but once he got his bearings under control, his brow quirked over his guarded neutral eyes.  “Why should you apologize for something you didn’t do?”

“I did do something, though,” she said with a helpless gesture.  “To tell you the truth, I think I used you as well… God, I’m such an ass.”

“Well, it’s not like I haven’t been used before,” he pointed out with what seemed to be an amused voice.  “At least it’s not like you were after my money.”

She shot him a dour look.  “I’m not that shallow to go for the money.  I’m quite fine with my financial scheme, thank you very much.”  Chloe sighed and slumped in her seat, folding her arms on her lap as she did.  “The thing is… Se – I mean, Professor Snape – was being so spiteful to everyone – to the group, to Hermione –”

“You know Miss Granger?” he asked in genuine surprise.

The blonde beside him glanced at him and shrugged.  “He’s got a thing for her.  Of course I shouldn’t be telling you this, but hey, if you can blackmail him for me with the information I’m giving, I’ll forever be your slave in debt.”  She didn’t notice the flash of lust that passed through his shielded grey depths as her eyes were trained on a spot in front of her as she spoke.  “Anyway, when we were dating, he would –”

“You dated him?” he interrupted with a hint of horror on his voice as he narrowed his eyes on her.  “But he’s more than half your age.  It would be like you going out with my father.”

“Okay that’s just plain disgusting what you compared it to.  And would it kill you to just stop cutting in and just listen for a moment?”  When she didn’t hear a response she continued.  “As I was saying, when we had our private dinners, he would bring her name up countless times, saying she was this and she was that and pointing out little quirks about her that made him think her wonderful and why I wasn’t… it was like I was back in high school and I was fawning over someone who only had eyes for someone else…” she trailed off and added in a mutter under her breath, “Jesus, Severus, that just struck me right there where it hurts to do what you did.”

Chloe hadn’t anticipated for Lex to hear her, but he was able to detect the things she was saying, or maybe it was written on her face.  Whatever it was, it was brought to his attention and though it didn’t show, he didn’t like it.

“Then, today,” she went on, her voice heavy with weary cynicism, “when she came charging in, I saw that look that passed on his face – it may have been mere milliseconds but it was there.  And then he pushes me away when I try to at least help him out… so, I guess when I saw you, it was merely an act of revenge that actually gave me the nerve to talk to you at all… no offense of course,” she added.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think that he’s an idiot for thinking that Miss Granger was anything but an over-achiever and for making you think that you were anything but beautiful and smart.”  Her head turned sharply as she regarded him with wide stunned eyes.  The fact that she was taken back by his compliment gave him the urge to impulsively kiss her senseless just to prove his statement.  He prided himself as a man of great control and patience, however, stopping him from expressing the irritating wave of desire he felt and show only the amusement he was feeling at her reaction.

“You know, if I didn’t know you better, I would have actually believed what you’ve said.  But considering I do, I think I’ll just forget the last part.”

“You actually don’t believe me?” he asked, leaning closer to her and dropping his voice so only she could hear him; making it husky to appeal to her womanly senses.  “You don’t believe that I would actually want to run my hands through your hair to feel the soft silkiness of it?  Or that I want to expose your skin inch by inch to explore and taste every inch of your body?”  He noticed her breath hitch and the shudder that ran through her, basking in her wonderful response and continuing because of it.  “You’ve become quite a beautiful woman, Chloe… and you know how I am around beautiful women…”

Chloe could feel the waves of new emotions that coursed throughout her body as he spoke.  The things he said – the way he said it… it was so erotic to just hear them come out of his mouth, with his sexy drawling voice that circled her senses.  She, too, could almost picture them together – sliding her hands over the smooth curve of his head, urging him on as he slowly explored her with that wonderful mouth of his…  Her eyes snapped open.  Oh shit, this is Lex Luthor we’re talking about here!  Hello?  Major play boy flirt!  She jerked back when she realized she had been swaying towards him and widened her eyes.

Chloe let out a nervous laugh and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear while ducking her head to hide the flush that appeared on her cheeks.  He merely folded his arms and gave her his trademark smirk, showing her that what he did gained the effect he was looking for.  Her eyes bounced from him to the space in front of her then back to him again.  It was embarrassing to fall for such an obvious line, but she couldn’t help but feel… well, turned on by the voice and the person who was administering it to her.  Her shoulders were quite tense for a long time and nothing passed between them for a stretched, awkward moment.

He finally mumbled something beside her and she heard the click of his seat belt and the rustle of his clothes moving away.  Chloe bit her lip.  Boy, this is really strange…  Lex walked off to the bathroom with a cloaked look on his face.  If she could understand his moods, she would know that he there was also some irritation in the stormy depths of his eyes.  He hadn’t meant for that to happen.  What the hell had possessed him to do such a thing anyway? he asked himself angrily as he opened the lavatory door and closed it behind him once he was fully inside.  Now he had to stop the throbbing of his damned aroused cock for the impulsiveness he had just shown.  What had he hoped to achieve?  It was obvious she was enamored with the old Professor – for reasons that he didn’t know.  His mind and body were at war.  Chloe elicited a strange mixture of feelings in him; feelings that he had never really experienced with other women; feelings that scared him half to death.  He hated it.

He turned the knob of the faucet, allowing the cold water to spew out and, cupping his hands, splashed some on his face to calm himself.  In his mind, he chanted that all he was feeling was mere lust for the girl he invited to stay in first class with him.  However, somewhere in the untapped sections, there was the echo that what he was thinking wasn’t true.

When Lex got back to his seat, Chloe was upright once again, watching the news.  Knowing it was good that she was distracted he reached for his suitcase and placed it on his lap to take out the stats and figures that he would have to look over.  As he pulled out the first of many folders within the case, Chloe took notice of his actions.  Her curiosity overruled her resolve to keep a safe mental distance from the man and she cautiously removed her headphones and peeked over at what he was looking at.  Luthor Corp. figures, she thought in excitement.  If she was a news reporter, boy, she would have a kick at looking at those babies!

“I see that your habits are still the same, Miss Sullivan,” Lex said with a hint of amusement in his voice and evident in the slight curve of his lips.

Startled, she practically jumped away, a blush creeping onto her face.  “I’m – oh, I’m really sorry… I just couldn’t help myself.”

He gave her a side-long glance, as if he was measuring her reaction to what he was going to say next.  “Well, as much as I would like to satisfy you, I believe you will be quite disappointed at what you will see here.”  Having said that he turned the folder so that it was legible to the both of them.  Chloe blinked, dumbstruck at the fact that he would actually trust her enough to see information that could very well destroy his reputation, should word leak out.

When she looked down and took a look, however, she understood why he said that she would be unsatisfied by what she saw.  All the figures showed that the company was in good shape.  There were the usual unhappy workers, but every business had those.  Luthor Corp. was making a great amount, but donating a tenth of it to the needy while using the rest on the individuals working in the company.  A news reporter would have a hard time making Lex Luthor look bad with this information – something that was a must in the press.

Chloe gave him an impressed look.  “I see you’re holding your own well in the business world.  If your personal life was in equal standing, then I believe you are just about the most successful individuals I’ve ever met.”

“Well, I’m quite sorry to say that I won’t be on that list anytime soon considering my personal life isn’t quite as great as you are projecting,” he replied with an inaudible sigh.

“Oh?”  His companion cocked her head to the side in renewed inquisitiveness.  “Do you mind if I ask why you’d say that?  Could it be that you haven’t found a lucky lady to love?”

As much as I don’t want to admit it, she exists and she’s sitting beside me.  “Since when have you been interested in my personal affairs?  Are you sure you still don’t work for a newspaper… or a tabloid maybe?”  The scowl he earned gave him answer enough.  “Okay, then, I guess not.  To answer your question, no, there’s no one yet worth my while, unfortunately.”  He closed the folder and set it on his lap as he looked blankly ahead of him – his expression unfathomable to Chloe.

“Well, then that makes the two of us.  Why don’t we share a drink and toast to our wonderful lives?”

He cast a side-long glance her way then shrugged inwardly to himself.  Doesn’t hurt, now does it?  It did actually seem like she was trying to patch things up between the two of them, thus giving him the window of opportunity to get back on her less awkward side.  “Very well, then, Miss Sullivan,” he conceded motioning to the flight attendant for her services.

“It’s Chloe,” she said, causing him to pause in mid-action.

He turned to her with his little half smile on his face.  “If that’s the case, then it’s Lex.”  She returned a full upturn of her lips and nodded.  Still looking at her, he motioned for the flight attendant to come over and finally looked away when the woman came over and asked what it was that they desired.

Once they were with their individual drinks – Chloe ordered a Margherita on the rocks while Lex just had champagne - they held their drinks to one another and she did the honors of making the little prior-toast speech.  “To us; may this newly-discovered communal life-trait be the beginning of a good and long friendship.”  She laughed at that as she held her flute out for him to toast.

They had ordered more drinks after taking their lunch on board and as they drank and spoke to each other, Lex tilted his head idly and watched her.  Now this is genuine cheer, he thought with a little smile.  The first time she had caught his attention in the airport, he could see that the grin upon her face was slightly forced, but now, it was absolutely different.  Her body lacked the earlier tension she held in it and there was a carefree look to her.  He mentally patted himself on the back for his fine work and canny way of thinking.  The smile upon his face grew a bit more as she spoke, delighted more and more at the choice of having her on the ride there.

~~ o0o ~~

Severus was just as eager to get off the plane as Hermione was – both for the same reason: Chloe’s well-being.  Severus scowled as he stormed into the airport, searching for that blonde-haired idiot that he was saddled with for the trip while Hermione, a worried look planted on her face, did the same, hurrying along and searching with alert eyes for the girl.  Assuming that Lex would be with her, she searched the crowd for a familiar bald head amidst the sea of hair.

“Miss Granger,” someone greeted from behind the two, causing Hermione to start.

“Bloody hell, Luthor, you gave me a fright!” she admonished as she turned to glare at him.

“That’s Mister Luthor to you, by the way.  I am your employer.”  The bald man smirked at her.

“Right, I just have a habit of forgetting formalities when I’m scared out of my wits by someone I don’t exactly respect,” she muttered under her breath.

The comment was more to herself than to anyone else, but he caught it and snorted.  “I have a feeling that I’ll be firing more sooner than later.”

Hermione’s eyes widened.  “Oh, damn, please don’t do that, Mr. Luthor,” she urged in a panic.  “I need the job.”

“Then stay within the boundaries of the job.” His voice had turned slightly frosty and callous, mirroring his expression.

Severus had stiffened beside the frizzy-haired woman.  Chloe had been beside the young billionaire, a cheerful smile on her face as she leaned close to his frame for about the first few moments that he noted her there.  A look of plain discomfort and guilt replaced the easy expression on her face, however, when she caught his narrowed look on her.  Still, Severus couldn’t shake the image of her out of his head when he had caught sight of her just as he turned.  The scowl the older man had darkened as he noticed where Lex’s hand was placed – at the small of her back, denoting a claim on the young woman.  His obsidian eyes snapped back at Lex’s cool grey ones with a coldness that could freeze any man – but not a Luthor.  “What the hell did you do to the bloody girl?”

Glancing down at Chloe, the bald man replied in an almost endearing tone, “Nothing she didn’t want, that’s for sure.”  At the low growl that Severus emitted, the younger man looked back at the professor with an icy gaze.  “If you think I loosened her up to have sex with her, you’re a sick man.  We talked, drank a little and ate.  She’s not drunk.  You’re just not used to seeing her genuinely happy for the hell of being happy.  Shows just how much fun she had with you.”

“Lex, come on, you’re going too far with this,” Chloe said as sternly as she could, but with a blush on her face.  “Let’s just get our things and go.”  Glimpsing at Severus she murmured, “I’ll see you at the meeting later.”

She still hurt to see him after their harsh exchange as well as to see him posted right by the person he was fond of.  As she and Lex walked away, she could almost picture how it would look in a movie; she would be playing the ignorant innocent girl that was being escorted away from the scene by a hunk of a psychopath while the love of her life stood helplessly behind them.  But Lex was no psychopath out to murder her and Severus was definitely not the love of her life as they had merely shared an abnormal attraction to one another that was merely an illusion.  The illusion she was living in, however, was just taking longer to go away than his.

Hermione watched the two walk off down the wide corridor of the airport with a quirked eyebrow.  “That certainly went well, now didn’t it?”  Her voice held a dry sarcasm to it seemed to snap Severus out of whatever shock he was feeling.  The two turned to each other at the same time and, after a moment of silence both sighed and went to transit.

They both got on the same line and waited with their papers filled out and signed and their passports out.  Just when it was about their turn, the man in the seat was called off and another man – quite familiar in looks – sat down in his place.  Hermione’s eyes widened and she rushed over as she realized just who it was.  “Merlin, Professor Lupin!” she whispered.

“Hand me the passport – and remember it’s Remus to you, Hermione,” he reminded with a flashing grin.  “Good day to you, Snape.  Passport please…”

Remus Lupin was a member of the Order of the Phoenix – just as the many friends of Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and famous Harry Potter were.  As Voldemort’s control over the wizarding world grew, the Order had to grow with it, dispersing in different directions to gather small pockets of resistance to the Dark Lord and expanding the power of their group as well.  The specific whereabouts of each original member were unknown – even to each other.  The fact that Severus found Hermione was definitely a surprise, but more of a relief.  To see Lupin was even more of a shock.

“Okay,” the werewolf began as he pretended to stamp the page and type on the computer.  “I’ve had to monitor this area of the world – as you probably already deducted by the fact that I’m here.  The reason behind that was unknown to me for I was sent here on Dumbledore’s insistence.  After a while, I found out why he had wanted me to come here… the information I gained about this place is actually regarding your expedition.”

“How did you find out about us coming here?” Hermione demanded.

Glancing at her, he answered, “I have connections out there where the both of you were.  Anyway, the thing is, the Death Eaters have been alerted of something that would make their group even more powerful than before.  They’ll be searching around here soon for that certain item – I won’t mention the name just in case.  It’s a good thing that you guys got here when you did.”

“Okay so now not only do we have to find the stuff, we have to find it fast.  Merlin help us,” Severus muttered under his breath.

Handing the both of them their respective passports, Remus said, “To the Order has many followers here, but the Death Eaters are sneaky bastards.  Trust only yourselves…  Good luck.”  Right after he did, he noticed the other employee head back, with an astoundingly confused look on his face.  With a little mischievous grin on his face, he saluted the two and went out of the booth.