Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Serpentine Series	By : HarmonyB Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 12060 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING IN REGARDS TO THE HARRY POTTER FANDOM NOR DO I MAKE MONEY OFF OF THIS STORY.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
A short, slender man with dirty blond hair and a sunken face folded out of his bow and stepped forward. His hands shook, but his voice was strong.
"We've found a way in, my Lord, but first our transportation will need to be repaired," he said. He glanced over at a man in long, elaborate robes whose face was shadowed. "Our insider will be able to fix it in a few months' time, to a year, and then we will be ready."
"Excellent," Master replied. Harmony knew he was pleased by the news when his fingers began to twiddle with his wand. The timbre in his voice made her think of the way he had sounded when he'd spoken to Snape before, and she realized he sounded different when he spoke to his followers than he did when the two of them were alone. The voice he used now brought back the familiar flicker of fear she'd had the first time she'd heard it. It was a voice that commanded the attention of every presence in the room.
"Four of you take shifts at the borders, and the rest of you resume your posts," he directed, then turned and left the group without another word. Harmony followed at his side, but stole a glance back at the Death Eaters.
The man in the elaborate robes stepped out of the shadows, and she immediately recognized Lucius Malfoy. He was one of Voldemort's most loyal followers, and father of Harry Potter's worst enemy, Draco Malfoy. His cold grey eyes rested on her as she turned and followed her Master down the hallway.
It wasn't until she was right behind Master that she heard footsteps behind her. She and Voldemort looked to see Lucius striding up to them, his platinum blond hair blowing back from his face.
Harmony's stomach clenched at the sight of the familiar man. If he were to see her face, or even hear her voice, he would recognize her immediately. The last time she had seen him face to face he had insulted her for being Muggle-born. She had wanted to curse him to oblivion.
"My Lord," Lucius said with a low bow.
"Lucius," Voldemort answered with a nod.
Lucius gave him an admiring glance and said, "I am honored with the task you have given my son. I assure you he will succeed within the year."
"See to it that he does, and he will be greatly rewarded," said their Master.
Lucius smiled for a moment, but then his sharp features fell and he asked, "But my Lord, I must know, when will you decorate him with the Dark Mark?"
Voldemort gave it some thought, and then said, "Bring him to the Slytherin Celebration next month. I will decorate him then."
He bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, my Lord." When he stood up again he gave Harmony a cold stare.
"This is Harmony Hangleton," Voldemort told him in a daring tone. "She has joined us recently."
"And has she been decorated with the Dark Mark?" asked Lucius with a sneer as he continued to look at her.
"No, she has not," Master replied firmly. "I have given Harmony my Serpentine charm, Lucius. I am sure you understand."
"The Ser—the Serpentine charm, my Lord?" he stammered as his gaze turned from the woman to the Dark Lord in astonishment. "Are you sure that is wise?"
"Do not question my motives, Lucius. I have never been more certain," Voldemort said with a colder stare than the one Lucius had previously worn. "Now leave us, and return to your duties."
Lucius gave a quick bow and hurried away.
Harmony and Voldemort continued to walk silently together. After a while she said, "I didn't know Lucius Malfoy would be here."
Voldemort looked down at Harmony for a moment as he continued to walk. "Are you acquainted with him?"
"No, not precisely," she hedged. "I know his son Draco, and have seen the two together upon occasion."
"Draco has the potential to be a loyal follower like his father," he said. "But, much like his mother Narcissa, he is too soft hearted. I am vexed that he may not succeed in his task."
Harmony wanted to know what the task was, but she did not ask. Instead she said, "But you must have some sort of faith in him, my Lord, if you intend to decorate him with the Dark Mark."
"To ensure the loyalty of the father, it seems I must trust the son as well, don't you think?" he answered. "What do you know of Draco? Do you think he will make an efficient Death Eater?"
Harmony was taken aback by the Dark Lord actually asking for her opinion on the matter, and gave the question her honest consideration. She remembered how often Harry and Draco had fought each other and how boastful he was that his father was one of Voldemort's most loyal followers.
"Yes, my Lord," she answered with a hint of malice. "He'll be plenty efficient at that."
They walked the rest of the way in silence. She kept watch on where they were going, still trying to memorize her way around. When she spotted the painting of the beautiful woman with the dark hair and green dress on a wall, she took another look at it to compare the two. He definitely had the same eyes as she did, and the same nose, too.
Voldemort stopped when he noticed her staring at it.
"You two must be related," she commented.
Master looked up at the painting. His voice filled with pride as he replied, "Yes, we were family. She was my mother."
Harmony gazed up into the bright blue eyes of the woman with curiosity, then back at her Master. "You look like her."
Master's face turned sullen as he looked at the painting again, and then he scowled. "Not entirely," he said coldly. "Come, I'll show you."
They stopped outside the door to his bedroom, and he pointed to the painting of the wealthy couple that she had passed earlier.
Harmony stepped forward and took a closer look now. She could see familiar features in both of their faces; the woman shared her nose and eyes and paleness, while the man had everything else: the same dark brown hair and severe face. If she had bothered to look before, she would have easily seen that the two were his parents.
"Your father," she whispered softly as she looked back up at him and saw the utter loathing on his face.
"Yes, that is Thomas Riddle, Sr.," he said. "This is the only portrait I have of him. I removed the others long ago."
"You disliked your father?" she asked with gentle hesitation.
Voldemort bent close to her face so that his was only a couple centimeters away. Utter detestation dripped from his words when he said, "Dislike is a very large understatement. I never knew him in any case—I'm sure you must have heard the story."
He stalked into his room and flung himself into his favorite chair, then sat clenching the armrests as he gazed into the fire. Harmony went to sit on the couch nearby, and then said quietly, "You can tell me."
Master turned to look at her. She saw him tremble slightly, and she knew that this was a test of trust between them.
He eventually cleared his throat as he looked back into the flickering flames of the fire and took a deep breath before he spoke. "My father was a Muggle," he told her in a harsh tone. "My mother was a descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself. So you can imagine the outrage when her family discovered her infatuation. But she didn't care. She introduced herself to that wealthy, self-righteous man anyway.
"He didn't love her, of course, since she was beneath his station, but she had to have him anyway. She made a very powerful love potion and gave it to him, and the two were married despite the protests of both families.
"For a time they lived together, and unbeknownst to my father she fed him the love potions periodically. They were shunned by both families. Then my mother found out she was pregnant, and by this time she had grown sick of giving her husband potions. She convinced herself that the love he had for her was real and that if it wasn't then the mere fact that she was pregnant with his baby would keep him from leaving. It didn't," he said, and she could hear the pain in his voice. "She stopped giving him the potions and he left without even saying good-bye. He left, and took everything with him, leaving my mother homeless and alone. She was so certain that giving me life was going to kill her that she went to an orphanage to have me."
Harmony swallowed hard and tried to keep the tears from forming in her eyes. She knew that she was witnessing a side of Voldemort she had never expected to see, and her heart beat faster in her chest when his charm tightened across her shoulders in an echo of his emotions.
"When my mother told them to name me Tom Riddle after my father, it was like she had cursed me. And now I look exactly like him. Every time I look in a mirror it is only a reminder of my father's betrayal."
The silence that hung around after his words had faded away electrified the air. She felt she must say something that could ease the strain.
"Surely not a curse," she said with an encouraging smile. Voldemort's eyes widened; he was surprised that she would say anything at all, and now he watched her soft brown eyes in wonder as she continued. "It sounds to me like your mother loved your father very much—enough to stop giving him those potions and put all her hopes in him. Perhaps even though he left she still wanted you to find each other someday. She must have wanted father and son to form a bond that she herself was unable to obtain."
Voldemort watched her she spoke. He found it difficult to believe someone with so much optimism for a situation like that one could even exist. "Father and son did meet one day. I took that pathetic Muggle's life, along with every other Riddle I came upon that day. That's why this hovel has a grudge against me, you see. I destroyed its masters. Only ghosts and dark magic haunt these old halls."
She suppressed her look of horror and swallowed. Looking away, she muttered, "The past is dead. Ghosts only haunt you if you let them."
He stared at her as though she were some sort of puzzle he couldn't seem to get. "I have never discussed my family with anyone before." He shrugged and looked away, unable to fight his sorrow any longer. "But you hardly know me. You know nothing at all."
Harmony felt the sting of his rejection and was surprised at how much it hurt. She had only wanted to say something that might help, and instead he had pushed her away and thrown her words aside.
"You're right my Lord, I hardly know you," she said angrily as she stood and gave him a deep bow. "I won't bother you any longer."
She knew that leaving would be foolhardy without his permission, but she could not stay there a moment more. She stalked off toward the door, intending to dine in her own room, and she had made it all the way out to the hall before she heard his chair squeak as he rose and took several hurried steps after her.
"Stop," he demanded, and Harmony's boots froze to the floor as if she had just stepped in quick-drying cement. She couldn't take another step. When she looked back at her Master she knew he would have his wand pointed at her. He was using the Imperious curse, the curse that made someone do whatever the caster wanted.
Her insides seethed with fury. To her it was as if he had just placed another leash on her, had found just another way to have complete control. The miniscule amount of trust they'd shared as he told his story vanished into oblivion.
The anger melted from Voldemort's face, and his shoulders slumped as he became aware of what he had just done. He dropped his wand, releasing her, and turned his face away.
Harmony couldn't tell whether he had turned from her in shame or because of his selfish pride, but he returned to his dark room, to his favorite chair, and the door magically closed behind him.
Harmony was barely able to close her bedroom door before Barty arrived with her food. She offered to take the tray, but he ignored her and brought it in anyway. After tossing it carelessly onto the bedside table he spun around with a huge grin on his face.
"We all heard the news from Lucius Malfoy," he announced, and Harmony was unable to avoid him as one of his arms snaked around her waist while his free hand grabbed her at the back of the neck and forced her to face him. He bent so that his face was close to her ear. "I have to admit I'm a little jealous, though. I wanted to have you all for myself."
The Serpentine charm constricted around her chest, but Barty let go of her and headed for the door, easing her growing panic somewhat. He glanced down the hallway to make certain Master's door was still closed before he added, "You look confused, love. I'll come back later for your tray and explain a bit more then."
Harmony had no idea what he was talking about. But whatever it was, she had no desire to have him come back later to explain. She shook her head and watched as he headed for Master's door with the dinner they had been meant to share.
- 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

Serpentine Series