Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Serpent of the World	By : TheLadyMiya Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 9486 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I make no money writing this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
There we go, new chapter, before the end of 2014! (At least here in Sweden, you in Australia and part of Asia are already in 2015. How is it there?) And coincidentally, Tom and Hermione are going to Sweden as well in this chapter.
As always, I'd like to thank Ozzy for being a wonderful beta! And then I want to thank everyone who have read, reviewed, and rated this story! I really appreciate it!
Enjoy and happy new year!
Chapter 10
“We are moving,” Riddle said, the moment he came through the door.
Hermione looked up from where she was sitting, with the snake in her lap. “Why? Where to?”
“Because I said so, and to Sweden. Pack your bags,” Riddle said, stalking across the living room towards his room.
“But I’ve just started to learn how to control snakes!” Hermione complained.
“They have snakes in Sweden,” Riddle called back, before his door swung shut.
Hermione stared after him, but then sighed. There was not much that could be done when he was in that mood. Maybe this would be for the best; some change in scenery?
She thanked the snake for its help and then let it out into the forest again. Once she was back inside her room, it only took her a few minutes to pack. It wasn’t as if she had unpacked upon arrival; she had just taken the things she needed out of her bag and then put them back again. She wanted to be able to leave at a moment’s notice.
When she came out into the living room again, Riddle was already there. It seemed he had been ready to leave quickly as well.
“Done?” he asked.
“Yes.”
He took her arm and without another word, he Apparated them. They didn’t get all the way to Sweden, since that would have required multiple Apparations, but they landed at a site which had brooms at the ready. Despite her dislike for brooms, she mounted it without a word and set off after Tom. She really did wish she could have been able to Apparate longer distances, but it was dangerous. The only option was to Apparate many times in a row, but the Ministry didn’t recommend that. The more times you did it consecutively, the more disoriented you became and the risk of Splinching increased greatly.
It took over an hour to fly, and when they landed, Hermione was stiff and felt sick. She was not a good flyer at all, but she would be damned if she let Riddle know that. Taking a deep breath, she managed to keep the contents of her stomach inside. Then she took the opportunity to look around. On the whole way down, she had just focused on following Riddle.
They were in yet another forest, but this one contained more pine and fir trees. They were standing on a small muddy road which seemed to have been recently used by cars. Despite it being the end of summer, it was really hot, and Hermione was glad she hadn’t bothered to put her robes on. Riddle must be sweating in his.
“Why are we here?” she asked.
“Remember the dragon trainer Hans talked about?” Riddle asked.
“Vaguely,” Hermione replied dryly. Nothing would make her forget that night.
“I found out where he lived, and we’re going to go and pay him a visit,” Riddle said, and started to walk up the road.
Hermione followed him. “Why do you want to meet him?”
“Because I do,” Riddle replied calmly.
Hermione sighed, but didn’t ask him to elaborate. If she kept close, she would no doubt find out his reasons soon enough.
They rounded a corner and came to a farm. Hermione glanced at it, noting cows and horses in different pens, around a red painted house, but nothing special.
She was just about to walk past the road leading down to the house when Riddle grabbed her arm and forced her down the road. Hermione had a strong feeling of dislike and tried to pull back.
“It’s a repellent charm, Granger,” Riddle said, with a sigh. “Fight it.”
Hermione suddenly became aware of the ward. Of course. There were car tracks here, so Muggles probably drove by all the time. A wizard would have to keep hidden. However, why was it affecting her? Wards to keep Muggles out usually didn’t affect wizards and witches.
Unless it was a ward against magical people too? But why—
Her answer came the moment they were through the ward. The horses and cows she had seen were gone, and instead, two dragons were resting, one in each pen, chained to some sort of metallic pole. Both of them were young, one of them was the same height as her. It was chained in the pen right next to the house. When they came closer, it lifted its head and blew out some smoke from its nostrils.
Riddle went up to it and the dragon slowly rose. Riddle mumbled something Hermione couldn’t hear and stretched out a hand for the dragon.
“Riddle, are you sure you want to—” Hermione started, but was interrupted by the door to the house bursting open.
“Vad i helvete håller ni på med ungar?” A man came running out of the house, yelling.
As he reached Riddle, he grabbed him by his collar and pulled him back, away from the dragon.
The man opened his mouth to yell some more, but Riddle had withdrawn his wand and was aiming it the man.
“Let go of me,” Riddle said, coldly.
The man’s eyes narrowed. “If you are a wizard, you should know how dangerous dragons are.”
“I have experience with dragons,” Riddle said. “She wasn’t going to hurt me. Or were you, Clarabella?”
The dragon snorted out some smoke again.
The man slowly let go of Riddle, a smile spreading over his lips. “A fellow dragon trainer! Why didn’t you say so? Come in!”
Now when the situation didn’t seem so threatening, Hermione had the opportunity to take in the other man. He was tall, just as tall as Riddle, and with similar jet black hair. But his eyes were green, and warmer than Riddle’s had ever been. However, it was his attire due to which Hermione was taken aback. He was wearing a short green dressing gown, reaching halfway down his thighs, and rain boots which came halfway up to his knees. What surprised her the most was that his legs were completely hairless.
He opened the door for them and they entered into a big, bright foyer with large windows.
“Remove your shoes,” the man ordered, as he kicked off his own rain boots and walked into a hallway. “Mads, Ess, I’m afraid we have company.”
Two disappointed groans came from another room. A moment later, two blond women appeared in the hallway, both dressed in long dressing gowns. Hermione suddenly realised what must have been going on, and she blushed and looked down, focused on untying her shoes.
“I thought we were going to have a full weekend, Gabriel,” one of the women said, disappointed.
“Sorry, love, I have to take this. But why don’t you and Mads drive down to town. I’ll try to call you later.”
Hermione looked up just in time to see the man – Gabriel – kiss both of the women. She glanced up at Riddle and saw him watching the scene with polite interest. Well, of course he wouldn’t feel embarrassed by something like this.
The two women disappeared into the room again and Gabriel made a gesture for them to follow him in the other direction. They came into a big kitchen, with a wooden kitchen table at the centre.
“Sit down, I feel like we have a lot to talk about,” Gabriel said. “I’m Gabriel, if you didn’t get that already.”
“So we heard,” Riddle replied.
“And I recognise you now,” Gabriel continued, not even looking at Riddle. “At first, I thought you were a pair of Goth kids. So hard to tell the difference between wizards and all those Muggle Goths running around these days. But you are Hermione Granger, the war heroine from the United Kingdom.”
Hermione was taken aback. She glanced at Riddle who just shrugged.
“Well, yes, I am,” Hermione admitted. “I didn’t think anyone would recognise me, though.”
“Why wouldn’t I? You, Potter and that red-haired kid were on the front page of every newspaper in the wizarding world, back in May. I always remember a pretty face,” Gabriel said, winking.
Hermione smiled uncertainly. Was he flirting with her? He was still not dressed after whatever he had been doing with two other women!
“Okay, Gabriel, we’re leaving. You had better call,” one of the women called from the foyer.
“I will! Drive carefully!” Gabriel called back.
The door slammed shut.
Riddle cleared his throat. “As I was saying—”
Gabriel, however, held up his hand and stood up, looking out of the kitchen window. Hermione frowned and looked at Riddle who seemed very frustrated. What was going on? Should she warn Gabriel? She could see Riddle’s wand hand twitching.
The sound of a car engine turning on was heard from the yard, and the next moment, the car drove off. The sound died away in the distance.
Gabriel smiled and then sat down again. “Now then. I recognise you too, which is why I wanted my Muggle friends to get away from here.”
Hermione could see Riddle tense and his hand moved to his wand.
“I find it quite surprising, to tell you the truth,” Gabriel continued carelessly, leaning back into the wooden chair. “If I’m not mistaken, she became a heroine because of your death. Or did you two pull some sort of scam? She gets the glory and you get to… what? Change appearance? But why would you change back to your old one, I wonder?”
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Riddle said, his voice natural.
“Please, Tom. We are all friends here,” Gabriel said cheerfully. “I don’t care if you are alive or not, and it’s not like I have anyone to tell.”
Riddle drew his wand quicker than Hermione did, but Gabriel was even faster, and he summoned both their wands. Riddle looked completely baffled.
“Who are you?” Hermione asked, amazed.
Gabriel shrugged. “Just someone who wants to live in peace and have fun. Not that you kids would understand that, from what I can tell, you are both ridiculous overachievers.”
“I’m not!” Hermione disagreed, not wanting anyone to ever put her and Tom Riddle in the same category.
Gabriel looked at her, skeptically. “Oh yes, I imagine you get those grades by sleeping in a lot? And all kids try to take down Dark Lords on the weekends, I take it?”
Hermione blushed. Okay, so maybe she could be seen as an overachiever. At least she wasn’t trying to rule the world!
“How do you know who I am, then?” Riddle asked. “You don’t seem a day older than thirty, so you can’t possibly have seen me when I was young.”
“Funny, because you appear young right now. It’s almost as if looks can be deceiving,” Gabriel remarked.
“But you aren’t wearing a glamour,” Riddle said, slowly. “A potion, then?”
“Eternal youth,” Gabriel said, with a smile. “Found it in the Middle East some years ago and haven’t aged a day since. Now I’m living life to the fullest. You should try that sometime, Tom.”
“I am.”
Gabriel appeared to doubt that very much. His eyes fell down to the two wands which were still in his left hand. He frowned.
“Well, hello, what do we have here,” he muttered to himself, and picked up Riddle’s wand. He studied it closely, then he looked up at Riddle again. “This isn’t your wand.”
“Yes, it is,” Riddle said and quickly made a gesture with his hand. The wand flew out from Gabriel’s hand and back into Riddle’s. “Avada Kedavra.”
Hermione was shocked that Riddle would pull something like that so quickly. But she was even more shocked when the spell hit an invisible barrier and disappeared.
That wasn’t possible. Nothing could stop the Killing Curse. You could only try to avoid getting hit by it, but it would hit something else, and destroy it. It couldn’t just disappear once it had been released.
Riddle, however, didn’t seem to think much about it. When he saw that the spell had failed, he cast another. And another. And another. But all of them disappeared, just an inch in front of Gabriel.
“How long will you keep that up?” Gabriel asked after the fifth spell. He seemed rather bored.
Riddle paused, his expression guarded. “How do you do that?”
“Ah, yes, let me draw you a picture so you can find a way around it and kill me.” Gabriel rolled his eyes and rose. “I invited you into my house because I thought we might have some things to talk about. But if you are going to be this rude, then maybe I’ll revoke that invitation.”
“Oh, it’s nothing personal. I just can’t have anyone knowing who I am,” Riddle said, also rising from his chair.
“I see. Well, as I said, I won’t tell anyone.”
“I can’t trust you.”
“You’ll have to. You won’t be able to hurt me, but believe me when I say, I can hurt you.” Something dark flashed through Gabriel’s eyes and he made a quick gesture with his wand.
The only flash of magic, though, came from the shield Riddle had instantly thrown up. However, the next moment, Riddle fell down on the floor, groaning in pain. Hermione’s eyes widened in shock, and she looked from Riddle to Gabriel.
His eyes were no longer warm and filled with joy. He stared down at Riddle with a cold darkness in his eyes. It was a darkness Hermione recognised. She had seen it in Riddle’s eyes every time he had tortured her.
Whoever this man was, he was just as adept at the Dark Arts as Riddle was. Perhaps even more so, if he could break through Riddle’s defences. Who the hell was he? How come she had never heard of him before?
And, most importantly, should she cheer him on for cursing Riddle, or run as far away as she could before he turned on her?
Before she could make up her mind, Gabriel ended the curse, and Riddle stopped screaming. He lay on the floor, shivering, blood running from his nose and ears.
Gabriel sighed, went to a closet and picked out a kitchen towel. He threw it at Riddle.
“I told you so,” he said, but he didn’t sound smug at all. Instead, Hermione detected a hint of bitterness in his voice.
“Will you try to kill me too?” Gabriel asked, turning to her.
Hermione snapped out of the shock and stared at him. “No, clearly, I would fail.”
“Yes you would,” he confirmed, and handed her back her wand. “I’m going to take a shower and get dressed. You can leave if you want to, I won’t blame you. But if you stay, we do have a lot to talk about.”
He walked out of the kitchen, leaving Hermione quite confused. It seemed like Gabriel wasn’t like the other Dark Arts users she had encountered. In fact, he didn’t seem to be like anyone she had ever encountered, period. There was something mesmerising about him. In retrospect, she wondered why she hadn’t tried to do something to stop him. She still needed Riddle, after all, and for all she had known, Gabriel could have killed him. Why hadn’t she done anything?
“Granger,” Riddle rasped, breaking her train of thoughts.
She turned and saw that he had managed to make it into a sitting position.
“Heal me,” he ordered with a weak voice. Clearly, being tortured did nothing to humble him.
She sighed, but obliged. If they were to leave, she didn’t want to have to carry him out.
Not that she wanted to leave, she realised. There was something inside of her that wanted to stay. Maybe it was her curiosity, maybe it was something else. She just knew she should stay.
Riddle grunted as he rose. “Let’s go.”
“No,” she said. “We should find out what he wants to talk to us about.”
Riddle glared darkly at her. “I don’t care. We will come back when we have found a way to kill him.”
Hermione put her hands on her hips and glared back at him. “You don’t have to solve everything by killing. It doesn’t seem like he wants to hurt us, you forced him to. He seems to know a lot. Aren’t you curious?”
“No.”
“Liar.”
“Granger.”
“Riddle. It’s just talking. Or are you afraid?” she challenged him.
Riddle snorted, but Hermione knew she had got to him.
“I will find a way to kill him.”
Hermione rolled her eyes. “I don’t doubt it. In the meantime, though, can’t we see if he is useful for something else?”
Riddle’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you so interested in him? Are you hoping he will teach you what he just did to me?”
Hermione rolled her eyes. “Of course not, because you have never given me any reason to want to torture you.”
“It’s not like you would succeed, even if you tried.”
Hermione didn’t think she would either, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. “Let’s just talk with him for a while. We have our wands back, and we can leave whenever we wish.”
He stared at her, with a calculating expression, for several seconds. “You really want this. Are you hoping to join him in his Muggle sandwich?”
She snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not, but you, however, seem to have forgotten what your mission is. Or do you think that this man can help you control snakes? Or get a basilisk for you to practice on?”
“No, of course not. But he seems to be a very powerful, knowledgeable wizard who doesn’t want to hurt me, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to him,” Hermione argued.
“And what if I do mind?” Riddle said, stepping closer to her.
“What do you mean?”
“What if I told you that you have to choose? Either you stay here and talk to your new friend, or you leave with me. Now. What would you pick?” He came close to her and put two fingers under her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.
Hermione stared at him. “It’s not even a choice. I’d have to go with you, you know that.”
Riddle nodded and let go of her. “I just wanted to make sure you still remembered that. Well, then, I wonder if there is any coffee here.”
He went towards the cupboards and started to open them at random.
Hermione stared at him. “So we’re staying?”
“Of course,” Riddle said cheerfully. “He is a very powerful and knowledgeable wizard, after all. You don’t say no to those.”
Hermione snorted, but didn’t say anything else. Instead, she was growing suspicions. Why did Riddle want to stay? Gabriel had managed to kick him around like he was nothing! And Riddle was nothing if not self-preserving. He must think he had something to gain from this exchange, but what? Or did he just want to wait around until an opportunity to kill Gabriel arose?
What would she do then? What did she want to do? Hermione felt like this whole meeting had been very strange. She didn’t feel like herself. In fact, when she thought about Gabriel, she got a small flutter in her belly, something she hadn’t felt since… Lockhart.
She could feel her cheeks heat up and was glad Riddle was facing the other way. He had found the coffee, and for some reason, he seemed to know how to operate a Muggle coffee maker. Merlin, could he be right? Did she just want to stay here because she had got the hots for Gabriel?
Who would have known that all it took to gain her interest were shaved legs and the ability to torture Riddle for a bit?
She snorted again and went to sit down at the table. But for some reason, she couldn’t let go of that nagging feeling at the back of her mind that told her she was missing something.
- 9
- 10
- 11
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Serpent of the World