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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
- 15
- 16
- 17
Thank you Ozzy for all the hard work betaing <3 You are awesome! Sorry for the delay in updating, I had a plan on updating every two weeks, but health is bad atm. So please forgive me for not being up to date with the review replies, I really do appreciate the ones who take their time to review <3 But I figured you'd like it more if I updated at a reasonable time!
Enjoy!

Chapter 16
When Hermione saw Riddle, she did her best to push away her fear. Gabriel had prepared her; he would have a hard time torturing her now. At least with magic. She knew there were many other ways to torture someone that didn't require magic at all, but she hoped Riddle would feel like he was above using Muggle techniques. In fact, that was all she could hope for. That, and talking him out of it. He couldn't kill her, he still needed her.
"Let's go," he just said, grabbing her arm and Apparating away.
Once they landed, Hermione stumbled away, but the curses she had expected to rain on her never came. She looked around and discovered that they were at Odin's burial mound again.
Riddle grabbed her arm again and dragged her into the grave and over to the casket.
"Pick up the wand," he ordered.
That was when she noticed that the casket was open. Looking inside, she made a grimace at the skeleton. She had seen skeletons before, at museums, but there was still something about them that unnerved her. They weren't sickening, like a decomposing body, but still … creepy.
"Is there some sort of trap around it?" she asked.
"That's what we are going to find out. Pick it up," he ordered, his voice cold.
She sighed, withdrawing her wand. It wasn't like she would just dive into this blindly. But Riddle had other plans. He summoned her wand out of her hand and broke it in two, throwing it aside.
Hermione's mouth fell open in shock. Had he just— No. He couldn't have. She needed that wand. It felt as if he had broken her arm.
"You have a new wand there. Pick it up."
It felt like she was seeing him for the first time. He looked as collected as he always did, but he wasn't. She could see it in his eyes and the hardness of his features. He was beyond furious. He wanted to hurt her, but he wouldn't do it right away. No, he wanted to test her first.
Should she refuse?
It wasn't as if she would get off easier if she did what he wanted. He would torture her regardless. However, if she did it, then they would get down to the real business. If she refused, he would only care about the wand and forcing her to pick it up. With that already taken care of, he would have to focus on what he was really angry about.
Sighing, she stretched into the casket, and grasped the tip of the wand with her thumb and index finger, slowly pulling it away from the grasp of the skeleton's hand.
She screamed when the skeleton's right hand came up and grabbed her wrist. The skull turned towards her, staring at her with its empty sockets.
She stared back, too scared to move. It felt like something was scratching at her brain, trying to get in. It took her a moment to recognise it as Legilimency. What was going on? Was the skeleton trying to see into her mind? What for?
No, it couldn't be Legilimency, it must be some sort of spell. Legilimency required a living will. Magic could be cast over corpses in many different ways, but they usually only had one mission. She remembered the illusion of Dumbledore's body at Grimmauld Place and how it was guarding the house to stop Professor Snape from entering. Perhaps this skeleton was making sure she didn't have any ill intentions towards the objects?
If the skeleton was meant to kill anyone for trying to steal the objects, than it would have done so already.
She decided to let the shield around her mind fall. It wasn't like the skeleton could tell anyone about her plans.
Whatever the skeleton saw, she must have passed, because the grip of her hand disappeared and she found herself able to move again. She stepped away from the casket, wand in hand. A strange warm feeling was creeping up her arm, travelling from the wand.
"Now give it to me," Riddle ordered, holding out his hand.
Hermione took a firmer grip of the wand. "No. You broke mine. I'm keeping this."
When she said it, she knew it was right. The wand had accepted her.
Riddle tried to summon the wand from her, but she was ready, and easily deflected it.
His eyes narrowed.
"I'm keeping the wand, Riddle," she said sharply. "I can take out the other things for you, but this wand is mine."
Riddle studied her, and then nodded once. She didn't let it fool her, however. If he wanted the wand, he would try to get it later, when she wasn't on her guard.
She reached down into the casket and grabbed the spear. This time, the skeleton didn't react at all. Neither did it move when she collected the rune stones. Riddle accepted them, putting the runes stones in a black purse and taking the spear in his hand. He studied it for a moment, then turned to her.
"I take it you have heard that we have some talking to do," he said coldly.
She sighed, nodding.
"We will be able to talk undisturbed at home," he said. "For your own sake, don't try to run away."
"I wasn't planning to," she said, stepping up to him and holding out her arm for him to take.
He grabbed it and Apparated them again.
They landed in their flat (although, it was more his than hers, since she had never slept there). Riddle put away the spear and the purse in his bedroom and closed the door, coming over to sit in the armchair.
"Sit," he ordered her.
She sat down in the other armchair.
"You disappoint me, Hermione," he said, his voice dangerously soft. "You fight me because you think you are better than me, but then you fall for the first Dark Wizard that fucks you. You do realise he is using you even more than I have been?"
She crossed her arms. "He never tortures me."
"He hasn't had a reason to, yet. You have followed his every whim so far."
"I know what he is."
"You just don't mind, because he is good in bed, you mean?"
"Of course not! But unlike you, I haven't seen him do anything that I would stop," she argued.
"Ah, so you like it when people lie to you and hide things from you?"
She pressed her fingers against her forehead, taking a deep breath. For some reason, he was trying to provoke her, but she wouldn't let him. "I like him better than you, that's for sure. But until I actually see him doing something illegal, I can't exactly blame him."
"No, because breeding dragons is a perfectly innocent and legit hobby," he remarked dryly.
"It beats torturing and killing," she bit back.
"He tortured me."
"You had it coming."
That seemed to be the last straw. She didn't see him draw his wand, but she saw the flash coming at her, and she didn't have time to even duck. She closed her eyes and focused on what Gabriel had taught her. It was a method that was supposed to redirect the magic. It did work, however, it redirected the magic to the armchair she was sitting on, which caught fire. She flew up, drawing her wand to put out the flames.
"I see he taught you a few tricks," Riddle remarked.
She spun around to face him. "Yes, I thought you would try this and it's completely unreasonable. I realise you are angry with me, but this is your fault to begin with. If you'd just dedicated your time to helping me save the world, then I would've been out of your way in no time. But no, you had to make this into something more and use me in any way you could think of. Of course I was going to rebel at the first possible opportunity! What did you expect?"
Riddle rose from the armchair and stalked up to her. "You are an ungrateful little twat with naïve expectations. I don't even care if the world is saved from the Serpent of Midgard or not. I can work with either scenario, but yet, I agreed to help you."
"Who is lying now? If you didn't care about the Serpent, then you wouldn't have gone through all this trouble. I haven't been that big of help to you."
He gripped her shoulder, pressing her back against the wall. "At last, something we agree on. So why don't I put us both out of our misery and just kill you on the spot?"
She grew cold. "You can't."
"Actually, the more I think about it, the more the idea appeals to me."
She thought fast. "It will break your agreement with Gabriel."
"He can have your body for as long as he likes. I'll even wrap it up for him."
She flicked her wand, and he was hit with a red flash. However, it only made him grunt in pain and he quickly took her hand with his free one, smashing it against the wall behind her. She groaned in pain and dropped the wand, which he kicked aside.
He growled and leaned closer towards her, their noses almost touching. She met his gaze, angrily. For several seconds, they just stared at each other, willing the other to make the first move which would no doubt unleash chaos.
Then a flicker went through his eyes. Like he had realised something. As if she had burned him, he let go of her, stepping back. She stared at him, not sure of what she should do. What was he up to?
Just as quickly as he had let go of her, he grabbed her again. "Legilimens!"
Her mirror wall was already up, and just as it had worked the last time, instead of seeing her thoughts, she saw his.
He is tricking us both. He wants us to fight, but why? What will he gain from it? He knew I would confront her, and he made sure she could protect herself, but does he want her to live, or to die by physical means? What is he planning? He has known everything that will happen so far, he knew I would find the grave, need his knowledge and take her with me. What's so important— Oh.
He withdrew from her mind after just a second, but it was enough for her. She stared at him in disbelief. There had been an overwhelming sense of fear in Riddle's thoughts. Did he really think Gabriel was tricking them?
"So he has taught you even more tricks," Riddle remarked, appearing a lot calmer than he had been in her mind.
"Why do you think Gabriel is tricking us?"
"You truly are naïve if you think he isn't, Granger," Riddle hissed.
She wanted to argue, but a part of her agreed with him. There was nothing about Gabriel that was selfless. Even though he hadn't hurt her, he hadn't exactly done things out of the goodness of his heart either. He made deals.
Riddle read her expression and nodded. "Not so stupid then."
"Of course I know he is not a good wizard, but that still doesn't change that he hasn't hurt me like you have," she pointed out. "If I have to work with a Dark Wizard, I rather work with someone who doesn't torture me."
"So you would rather I fuck you too? Turned on by incest?"
"No!" she exclaimed, horrified.
"Torture it is then."
She put her hands on her hips. "You can't do that either, so I guess you'll have to make deals with me as well."
Riddle sighed and came closer to her again. "Your lack of faith in my abilities is depressing, Granger."
Without any movement from his wand, she felt the familiar blood-curse sweep through her body. She screamed in pain, but as quickly as it had started, it disappeared, and she found herself in Riddle's arms.
"Now when that has been demonstrated…," he muttered, trailing off as he carried her over to the sofa. He dropped her there, which made her land awkwardly on her left hand. The hand he had slammed against the wall earlier.
She bit back a scream of pain.
"What?" he asked, as he sat down next to her on the sofa, apparently having forgotten his own earlier rough treatment.
She hissed and lifted her hand, nursing it with her other.
"Oh. Right." He pointed his wand at her wrist and healed it. "However, as you can see there are two ways I can torture you, if I want to. Through blood and physical violence."
She glared at him. "Is that supported to make me submit to you? Because I feel much more like putting that new spear of yours up your arse."
"My, such imagination. Putting a spear up ones arse, no one has ever considered doing that before." Riddle shook his head, smiling condescendingly. "It seems like your lover still has a thing or two to teach you."
"We have just started," she growled. Never before had she wanted to hurt someone as much as she wanted to hurt him right now.
Well, okay, maybe Umbridge. But then again, she had hurt her too. For a moment, she entertained the thought of luring Riddle into the arms of the centaurs. She was sure they could give him the same treatment as they had to Umbridge. Alas, Riddle was not as stupid as Umbridge had been.
Riddle studied her curiously. "Now what are you considering that can make you look so ruthless, I wonder?"
She smiled coldly, but didn't answer. He would no doubt laugh if he heard of what she had done to Umbridge, and she wasn't here to amuse him.
Riddle shrugged. "Well then, on to business. I can't have you here when you are spying on me."
"And how did you plan to stop me?"
"By not having you here. At all. You are not welcome here anymore."
She snorted, but then she saw how serious he looked.
"You can't be serious," she said. "What about my training?"
"You should have thought of that before you started spying on me," he stated and rose from her side. "You have five minutes to gather your belongings and leave, or I'll throw you out."
"But we have to—" He interrupted her by waving his wand, creating a countdown in the air. It was counting down from 300 seconds.
She decided that she didn't want to see what he would do when the countdown ended. No, it was better to retreat and fight another day. She could go and talk to Gabriel and they could figure this out.
Gathering her things didn't take more than a couple of minutes, and when she came back out to the living room, 100 seconds remained. She looked at Riddle, but he just stared at her coldly. Why was he doing this? If he wanted her gone, why allow her to take her things? Not that she had left that much here; most of her things she carried with her all the time. He had changed his mind about killing her, but why? Just because he thought Gabriel was tricking them? But why would he let her go? He must realise she would go to him for help.
"Bye," she said, one minute remaining.
He didn't acknowledge her, just kept staring at her.
She sighed and Disapparated.
xxx
When she was gone, Tom made the countdown disappear. He fell back in the armchair sighing. He had hoped this would work. But forcing her to go to Gabriel and stay with him was the only way she would see that he was no better than Tom.
There were always a risk Gabriel would kill her now that she was useless to him. But he would have to take that risk. This was the only way he could think of that could make her see what was going on. That Gabriel was using her just as much as Tom was. Then she would come back and he could…
He trailed off. What was he supposed to do with her?
He had had plans, but the way she was now, she would spoil each and every one of them. She wasn't like his Death Eaters. He couldn't scare her into obedience, nor seduce her with power or gold. She was too stubborn. He didn't have the patience for that.
Everything about her had been one giant miscalculation. He would have to start again. Beginning with showing her who her lover really was, so she would come crawling back to him. Then he would have to find his patience.
xxx
Hermione hesitated when she reached Gabriel's front door. Should she knock? He wouldn't be expecting her until the night. Was it rude to just go in? She decided to take the safest route and knocked.
Just a moment later, he opened it and surprise was evident on his face.
"Hermione? What are you doing here so early?"
Her shoulders fell. "Riddle threw me out. He didn't want to risk me spying on him, so he said I was no longer welcome."
For a few seconds, he said nothing. Then he sighed and opened the door wider for her. "Did he hurt you?"
"Yes, but not much. Well, not much by his standard. He only showed that he still could. Then he threw me out."
Gabriel led her to the living room and made her sit.
"And he broke my wand," Hermione added, once again struck by the grief of losing her wand. It didn't matter that she had a new one; her old wand had been with her for so long. She hadn't even been able to pick up the pieces. It felt wrong that she hadn't.
"We should get you a new one then, right away," Gabriel said.
"Oh, I got one, already," she said, withdrawing the one she had picked up from Odin's grave.
Surprise was definitely evident on his face now. That, and something else. Dislike? He schooled his features before she could say for sure.
"I thought Tom wanted that wand."
"He owed me one. When I touched the wand, I knew it was mine," she explained. "And he let me, for some reason. I gave him the other things in the grave, though."
"What happened in the grave?" Gabriel asked. "And what happened afterwards? You had better start from the beginning."
Taking a deep breath, Hermione started to explain what had happened, all from the skeleton to the fight with Riddle. Once she was finished, he seemed thoughtful.
"He is testing you," he finally said.
"Yes, I think so too," Hermione said. As she had described the event, she had come to the same realisation. If he was truly that angry with her, he would have killed her, not kicked her out. But what was he testing her for? Did he think she would come crawling back, begging him to continue teaching her again? He did have the Basilisk Egg she would need.
Or was he testing her to see how long she could stay with Gabriel? Was he expecting Gabriel to harm her? He had said she was a fool for thinking Gabriel would never do anything to her. Perhaps this was his way of proving her wrong.
"Maybe he is testing you too," Hermione remarked.
"How?"
She shrugged. "Well, he thinks I was there to spy on him. Maybe he wants to see what you'll do now when you can't spy through me."
Gabriel sat quietly, looking thoughtful. She wondered if she should mention what she had seen in Tom's mind, that Gabriel was tricking them both, but decided against it. Gabriel had said that she no longer broke their oath by not spying on him, because he had already found out what he needed to.
"Do you think Tom will come here for his lessons?" Gabriel finally asked.
She hesitated. "I don't know. He is suspicious of you now, but I think he was earlier as well. Will it screw up your plans if he doesn't come?"
"Yes. But I think we can give it a few days. He is curious, so he may show up by himself."
"And if he doesn't?" she asked.
He watched her, amused. "Do you want me to hurt him?"
She thought about it. When he suggested it, she did feel a thrill of something dark inside her. Did she want to see Riddle hurt? Yes. After everything he had done, she wanted him to suffer. However, she didn't feel like using someone else to hurt him. This was personal.
"I want to hurt him myself," she replied hotly.
"Is that so? Does it mean you want to learn the Dark Arts?"
She flinched. Did she? A part of her, a small part, wouldn't mind. She knew that. But at the same time, she didn't want to stoop to his level. She didn't want to become a Dark witch. She was better than that. "No. Not the Dark Arts. I want to find some other way."
"He was angry when you chose me over him," Gabriel remarked.
"Yes, but that's just because he feels like he owns me. I want to show him that he doesn't. I want to punish him for thinking that he does."
She was surprised when Gabriel took her hand, he stroked the back of it with his thumb, and then leaned in to kiss it. "You are very sexy right now, love."
She could feel her cheeks heat up, but she snorted. "I just wish I could figure out a way to do it."
"Stand your ground, and then … maybe I have some other magical tricks up my sleeve that you can use. Come on." Still holding her hand, he pulled her up from the sofa and to the black wardrobe she had noticed, but never been able to open. Though, she had only tried the door once, and then it had been locked. She hadn't wanted to test the lock, respecting his privacy.
Gabriel opened it, revealing an endless corridor. He led her inside. She couldn't keep her eyes off of the things on all the shelves. Countless different objects lay there, but then, she guessed you picked up a souvenir or two when you were a thousand years old. She saw books and scrolls, potion bottles, wands, boxes, weapons, and even stuffed animals.
After several minutes of walking, he stopped in front of a shelf. He took down a potion bottle with a dark lilac-coloured content. It was dusty, but he wiped it off with his sleeve.
"Here you go," he said, handing it to her.
"What is it?" she asked, inspecting the bottle closely. There was a rune on the seal of the bottle, but without any context, she didn't know what it meant.
"It will help you stand your ground. Physically. It's a type of invincibility potion. We will train more so you can learn of how to protect yourself from him magically, and then when you feel like it, you can take this and beat the crap out of him without any lasting effects on you."
She frowned. "But invincibility potions are banned."
"True, but this is not Dark Arts, and they are only dangerous if you become addicted to them.
One dosage will last an hour, and the only thing you'll feel afterwards is a slight numbness in your mouth. It passes, though."
Well, she doubted it would hurt to have the opportunity if she couldn't think of something herself. She thanked him and he led her back towards the exit. However, halfway down the corridor, she stopped as she saw a painting lying on a shelf.
"Who is that? She looks familiar," she asked, coming to a halt in front of the painting. She leaned in and looked at it more closely.
It was the dark eyes of the woman that had made her stop. The artist had captured a certain glint that made her look alive, and very familiar. However, as Hermione studied the rest of the painting, she doubted she had ever met the woman. The dress she wore was that of a wealthy noble woman in Europe during the early 1700's. Her wig was white and added a good three feet to her height. She was smiling, but not in a soft way, like Hermione was used to seeing in paintings of this time, but a smile filled with mischief.
Gabriel looked at the painting, frowning. "Huh. I don't even remember I had that. I should probably try to sort through this sometime."
"You seem to have it quite organised here, though," Hermione remarked, seeing numbers and letters on all the shelves. He had found the potion without problem, after all.
"Yes, I try, but I do forget things too," Gabriel said, shrugging.
Hermione stretched out a hand to pull the painting out, and was surprised when Gabriel swatted her hand away.
"Probably not wise. If I don't remember what it is, I can't guarantee that it isn't dangerous. I have a lot of very powerful Dark objects down here," he explained, his voice serious.
"But shouldn't you remember if this was one of those very dangerous objects?" Hermione questioned. "And why would someone put a curse on a painting?"
He sighed, and pushed her onwards. "You are insufferable sometimes, love. Don't touch my things."
She was surprised by his behaviour, and a bit hurt by the comment. She hadn't been called insufferable in years. However, she guessed that it wasn't strange if he didn't want to discuss some of the things down here. Maybe the woman on the painting was someone who had hurt him? He was very old, after all, and it was likely he had had some broken hearts along the way. So she guessed she couldn't blame him for not wanting to talk about everything (even though he could have just told her it was private). But why did she feel like she knew the woman in the painting from somewhere?
They came back out to the living room and he closed and locked the wardrobe behind them.
"I have somewhere I need to be soon," he said, as he turned around. "I didn't know that you would come so early."
"Oh. Right. Of course," Hermione said. "I didn't mean to intrude. If you have to leave, then leave. And if you need me to leave, just say so. I mean, I just assumed … since I sleep here…"
She trailed off, feeling foolish. Just because she hadn't seen Gabriel do anything while she had been here didn't mean he couldn't have plans.
"No, I want you to stay, and you are welcome to stay for as long as you like," he said, with a smile. "I'm just letting you know. Do whatever you like here, eat, sleep, watch some telly or help yourself to a book. I'll be back later tonight."
He leaned in and kissed her forehead and then pulled back with a wink. Hermione smiled, unsure of what the kiss meant. She guessed that now that she was staying with him, she would have to think again about their relationship. He clearly saw them as intimate, even though he hadn't asked for sex again. But then, it had only been two days since she had said she needed to think. Maybe he assumed that, since she had come here, she saw him as something more?
Why had she come here? Sure, it had been logical since she still had to be there every night, but she could have gone someplace else. Maybe she could even have skipped the nights and just gone back to Hogwarts. It was Riddle's deal, not hers.
Thinking of Hogwarts reminded her of the letter Ginny had sent. She may as well answer it at once. Who knew when she would next have some time alone?
Remembering there was an office next to the guestroom she had been staying in, she went there. Of all the rooms in the house, this was the least messy, but more dusty. She guessed Gabriel didn't use it often. There were mostly bookshelves with books in no particular order, and a desk standing by the window. She found paper and a pen in the top drawer and sat down on the office chair, beginning to write.
Dear Ginny,
Once again, I'm sorry for my fast departure. I still can't really explain why I did it, but that night I just had a feeling that I couldn't stay at Hogwarts. Everything felt so suffocating I just had to leave. Tom had just found out he needed to go back to Sweden (as to why, that's his story to tell) so we talked. He offered that I could join him for a while. The change of scenery has been good, I think. I've met some interesting people and I'm no longer staying with Tom. (And no, there was never anything romantic between us, and I do hope Luna doesn't think I stole her boyfriend.)
I've met a man here and right now, I'm staying with him. His name is Gabriel and he is a teacher
As she wrote the last sentence, Hermione realised what Ginny would think when she read it. That Hermione had got a boyfriend. Once again, she was reminded of her relationship with Gabriel. The only reason she didn't want to be in a relationship with him, she realised, was because he was a Dark wizard. She could imagine the horror on Ginny's face if she heard that. Ginny knew precisely how seductive and manipulative Dark wizards could be and she would be terribly worried if she thought Hermione was in such a relationship.
Was she?
Or was she a victim if she knew that she was probably being manipulated? Then again, she wanted to use Gabriel as well. But then, that didn't make things better. No, whatever this thing with Gabriel was, it was not a long-term thing. Thus, it would be unnecessary to write anything about the intimacy to Ginny.
We have become friends and he has agreed to give me some private lessons. So yeah, even though I ran away from school, I seem to have still ended up learning things!
Tell everyone that I miss them and I hope I'll see you soon. I'll have to get back to you on what to do for Christmas. I don't plan so much for the future right now, I just want to relax and not think too much (yes, I know you are probably laughing right now, but at least I'm trying not to think too much). If you need me, send an owl to Gabriel's house. I'm renting a room here for now.
She finished the letter by including Gabriel's address and signing it. Putting the letter in an envelope, she put it aside and looked out through the window. What was she supposed to do now?
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Serpent of the World