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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
- 10
- 11
- 12
Harmony slammed her door and leaned on it in frustration, wishing she could curse Barty to hell and back. The charm eased up a bit as she stood there. She was still upset with Voldemort, and she worried that he would come and check on her to ask what was wrong. But he never did. She imagined that he must have thought she was still just upset over their recent talk and left her to cool down.
She looked around her room for something to console herself—or at least to help get her mind off. She forced open the doors of a dusty old wardrobe in one of the corners. The clothes inside were timeworn and moth-eaten, and Harmony crinkled her nose at the musty smell.
A couple of white moths took flight as she moved several jackets out of the way. In the back of the wardrobe Harmony found a large box, and she pulled it out into the light. Although it was as tall as her hip, it wasn't much wider than the width of her hand. About a centimeter of dust covered it, but it crumbled away as she opened the lid and pulled out a large painting. She pulled it free and gasped in surprise.
The painting seemed to be of Master. He was wearing a well-fitted navy suit, his hair parted to the side, and on one hand he wore a ring with what she assumed to be the Riddle family arms on it. But then it occurred to her that the Voldemort she knew would never wear something like this, especially the Riddle family ring. She remembered he had told her he'd had all the paintings of his father taken down.
But as she looked at the father, she couldn't help but see him as some sort of alternate Lord Voldemort. He was handsome, charming, and very wealthy. It was no wonder his mother had been smitten. Several more paintings of the man were also in the box, and she looked at them all.
When she felt calm enough, she went over to the bed and ate her dinner. Once finished, she set the tray outside her door for Barty. Perhaps if she gave him no reason to enter her room he would stay out of it.
She noticed with a heavy sigh that Master's door was still closed. She decided to take a shower, going into the bathroom—the room conjoining hers and Master's—and made double sure to lock the door on his side.
Although it was still nothing like a modern bathroom, this one at least offered a little more privacy than the bathroom her old chamber had. This one had a shallow reservoir to catch the water, and the drain wasn't just a hole but the usual smooth circle with the small holes in it. The shower area itself was surrounded by a fancy curtain with large rings hung from a metal circle that encased the occupant inside and kept the water in.
Harmony shivered from cold when the water first turned on, and stood away from it for a moment until it heated up. She found a large bar of soap sitting in the ornate dish to the back and decided to smell it. It smelled of spices and the ocean—the smell on Master that she had noticed earlier.
She finished cleaning off and returned to her room in time to watch the sunset from her window. Another day gone, she thought, and another day of pretending to be someone I'm not. She went over to her bed, sliding under the covers, and sleep came to her in a wave of exhaustion.
She came to with a start when she heard footsteps in her room. It had grown dark, and her eyes went to the window as she saw Barty step out into the moonlight.
"You look so peaceful when you sleep," he told her. "You're usually all tense and into yourself. I hate it when women are like that."
"Only when they're around you," Harmony informed him crossly as she sat up in bed.
"Oh, you're witty," he said with a grin. "I like that." He plopped down on the end of her bed and rested his back against one of the posts.
"I want you to leave," Harmony said as she tried to find her wand. "Now."
"Looking for this?" he asked as he held her wand out to her. She tried to take it but Barty held it just out of her reach. "I wanted to be sure we weren't disrupted while we talk."
Harmony's heart began to race. She jumped out of the bedcovers and tried to reach the door, but Barty caught her around her waist and held her.
"Come on, now, you're a big girl. Let's settle down and talk like a couple of adults." His hand groped at her face as he tried to take off her scarf. "But I want to be face-to-face. There's nothing you need to hide from yours truly."
"Let go of me!" Harmony screeched as the scarf tore free and she felt a rush of cool air surge into her mouth.
"There we are," Barty said with satisfaction. "Let's see that pretty face." He grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around, but Harmony already had a knee ready for him. She thrust it between his legs, and he let go as he let out a wail of pain.
Harmony was quick to tie the scarf securely over her nose and mouth again, and then she snatched her wand out of Barty's hand and pointed it at him threateningly. He rolled out of the fetal position he'd taken on the floor and held up his hands in defense.
"I'm sorry, kid, I'm sorry," he whined. "I was only playing around. I wouldn't mess with the girl who belongs to the Dark Lord."
"I don't belong to anyone," Harmony snapped as she jabbed the wand at his face.
Barty smirked up at her. "Tell that to your Serpentine charm," he said. "You may not know enough about it to appreciate its significance, but that doesn't mean it's unknown to the rest of his followers. But what really confuses me is why he gave it to you, some unknown girl."
"And you think I know why?" she asked incredulously. "Why wouldn't he have just given me a Dark Mark like everyone else?"
"He must really think you're worth something."
Both of them heard Master's door creak open down the hall, and then he called, "Barty? Barty? Get up here!"
"Damn!" Barty grumbled as he rushed to his feet. "Duty calls." To Voldemort he said as he headed up the hallway, "I was just retrieving her tray, my Lord."
"It doesn't take ten minutes to retrieve a tray," Master said, but anything else the two may have said was muffled as she closed her heavy bedroom door. She slid back into her bed, but the restless serpent charm made it difficult to get back to sleep.
"Good morning, Master," said Harmony stiffly as she met him by his chambers the next day. She was still feeling cold towards him. His expression gave no clue of his own thoughts, and she was certain he was going to act as if nothing had happened between them.
"Harmony," he said as they fell into step together and headed for the lesson hall. "I wanted to tell you about the Slytherin celebration yesterday, but it seemed to have slipped my mind. Have you ever heard of it?"
"Yes, my Lord," she said, scanning her memory. "I've heard it's attended by hundreds of pure witches and wizards each year. It's a celebration of Purebloods and the doctrines Salazar Slytherin taught in regards to Wizarding World education."
"Yes. Usually I do not attend such festivals, but since I am a descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself I feel I must be a representative for him. Your presence will be required there as well."
"Me?" she asked in surprise. "Why would I need to go?"
"Because I have asked you to," Master said harshly. "There is no other reason beyond that."
Harmony withheld her scorn. The thought of attending festivities that celebrated in murdering people like her—Muggleborn—made her sick with anger. But she knew she had to concede. He was the Master and she was the servant whether she liked it or not.
Among their other defensive lessons, he taught her a few counter-curses and counter-jinxes; some of which she had been familiar with, but while going against Lord Voldemort himself, they seemed as difficult as ever. They practiced far into the day, leaving her continuously exhausted by the end.
But despite the difficulties, Harmony found a strange satisfaction in the freedom of casting curse after curse at the dreaded Lord Voldemort, as much as she wished. She had never been more exhausted and invigorated at once.
Within an hour or two, they changed gears and he taught her the Absorbeo spell.
"Absorbeo?" she asked before they began their duel. "I'll admit I've never heard of that one."
"It is used to engulf and absorb the power of the opponent's spell rather than simply deflecting it," Voldemort explained as he stepped closer to her. He put his wand hand over hers to show her a slight adjustment she must make at the wrist movement. He touched her, and she let him without thinking twice about it.
He backed away once she had it right, returning to his spot. "When the spell reaches you, pretend like your wand is a straw and draw it in."
When he cast an Expelliarmus at her, she sucked the whole blast of red light in on the first try. Her body tingled all over with his power as it coursed through her body. On instinct, she used it to send the same spell back at him.
Master had not been expecting her to fire back. He landed on his backside with a jolt. She waited, twiddling her wand innocently, as he jumped back up to his feet. She could see the hurt pride in his face, but he didn't admonish her.
"Well done," he told her simply, but then added, "for a beginner."
Harmony looked at him.
He cleared his throat. "It's dinner time. We'll stop for today. And Harmony," he added when she turned to leave, "from now on you eat with me."
She bowed and suddenly felt shy as she went and followed him back to his bed chambers. As they walked, she wondered why he demanded that she be with him for meals. She remembered a dinner she had eaten with her parents and thought about how families were supposed to dine together.
Is that how he thinks of me, she wondered. Am I supposed to be some poor substitute for his family since he hasn't got one of his own? She felt something stir within her as she thought about being the only person alive who would be expected to share meals with the most hated wizard in the world.
- 10
- 11
- 12
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Serpentine Series