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The Downfall of Greed	By : tcarlson Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Lucius/Hermione Views: 40824 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor do I make money off this fanfiction.

Chapter List
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Severus was waiting for us when we Apparated into the front foyer of Voldemort’s manor. He looked on edge.

“Do you know what’s going on?” I asked.

“The Dark Lord will not tell me anything. That’s what worries me. I’ve seen Bellatrix and Rodolphus. They don’t know what’s happening either. He’s waiting to talk to you before he calls the rest of us.”

“He’s in the dining room?”

“Yes. It’s set up for a full meeting. Even the peons will be called. Something big happened…” The girl had been hovering behind me. I pulled at her arm to have her follow me into the dining room. Severus stopped me. “He wants to see you alone. I am to watch the girl until you have finished speaking with him.”

“Behave yourself,” I ordered. She inclined her head.

I walked over to the closed doors to the dining room and knocked. They opened automatically and closed behind me when I stepped inside. The last view I got of the girl was her stepping behind Severus. I guess that since I wasn’t there to hide her, she latched on to the next best person. I didn’t blame her, especially since she had the knowledge that Bellatrix was running about somewhere near. At least the girl had the good sense to be wary. That would hopefully keep her alive tonight.

The room was long and dark, only illuminated by a scarce few candles lit on the walls. A huge maple table was set up in the middle. There were enough chairs around it to seat only the Death Eaters of the Inner Circle. The lower-ranking ones would have to stand around the outskirts of the room.

Voldemort was sitting at the head of the table in his large, red velvet chair. He seemed deep in thought. I couldn’t tell if he was in a good mood or a bad mood. Silently, I begged Merlin that it was a good mood. I really didn’t want to have to endure the Cruciatus Curse tonight. Or have him take his anger out on the girl…

“Lucius, how goes training the Mudblood?” he asked in his high whisper.

Was I called here to give her over? Was the whole Death Eater army going to be called here to witness some sort of ceremony of him taking possession of her? I swallowed the bit of panic I felt at having to part with her and cleared my throat. “It goes well, my Lord. Although, there is still work to be done.”

“Is she as disobedient as when you first started working with her?”

“No, my Lord, but she still retains her fiery spirit.”

“Good, good. I never doubted you, Lucius, even when Severus asked to have a try at her.”

“I was unaware that Severus questioned my competence.”

“He seemed to believe that you had gotten too lenient with her.”

Oh, really? Well, I was going to have to have a little chat with him about going behind my back with this… “Everything is going fine. I do admit that she may need a refresher in respecting her betters, but I promise that you will be pleased with her.”

“I assumed that she may need some sort of refresher, which is why I asked you to bring her along. I want her to witness what happens tonight. She will no doubt be reminded of whom she is dealing with.” He smiled. A good mood, then.

“May I ask what you have achieved, my Lord?”

“I had sent some of the newer recruits on some insane mission to get them out of my hair, never thinking that they would be successful. They proved me quite wrong and have broken in to a Blood-traitor’s home, even though it was heavily warded. The group of fifteen young men has captured the family members that were home and brought them here tonight. I intend to force the family to take the Mark so I can control them or kill them if they resist. What a blow it will be to the Order!” He laughed joyously.

“And what if they force you to kill them? Will you not torture them first for information?”

“I find your lack of faith in me insulting. We’ve already gotten all the information out of them that we can. And with Severus’s steady stream of information coming in from his spy work, what they were able to tell us is all old news to me.”

“I apologize. I should have known that you would have thought ahead, my Lord. Which family is it?” I asked, knowing there was only one Blood-traitor family important enough to the girl that her presence would be desired.

“The Weasley family, of course.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He had Severus and I sit in our customary seats on either side of him for the meeting. He positioned the girl to stand behind him. She had both a good view of where the night’s activity was going to occur and it made it obvious that she belonged to him.

She was terrified. Severus and I had to basically drag her to Voldemort before the meeting. She was shaking violently and nearly fainted when he whispered “I look forward to when your training with Lucius is complete” into her ear. Only my grip on her arm kept her upright. After that, I was surprised that she was able to stand behind Voldemort’s chair without falling to the ground.

Once the four of us were in position (I’m not the only one with a flair for the dramatic!), Voldemort lifted the sleeve of his robe and pressed on his own Dark Mark to call the rest of the troops. After a couple of seconds, the room was filled with people. The Inner Circle sat in the chairs around the table. Everyone else stood along the walls of the room. The room was buzzing with theories of why a full meeting was called. Besides Voldemort, I was the only one in the room privy to that information.

Draco caught my eye from the side of the room and raised a questioning eyebrow. I gave him a nod and a smirk to let him know that he was going to enjoy the reason for this meeting.

The Dark Lord stood up, pushing back his chair which caused the girl to stumble back several steps. The room immediately fell silent. “My loyal Death Eaters,” he began.

“My Lord,” we all replied as one voice.

“Tonight is a treat for you all. You get to watch the downfall of a Blood-traitor family.”

The excited buzzing started up again. Behind Voldemort, the girl paled and had to grip the chair to avoid collapsing to the ground. This caught the attention of Voldemort who turned to face her. He gave her an evil smile. “Miss. Granger has already correctly guessed which family,” he informed us after reading her mind. “Please, Hermione, enlighten the rest of the room who will be hauled through the doors.” She shook her head and gripped at the chair more tightly, her knees weak. “Bring them!” Voldemort shouted.

The doors opened and through them came several redheads at the ends of the wands of the new recruits who managed to capture them. They were all bloodied and haggard-looking. It seems that they all went through a nice, long torture session as Voldemort had indicated earlier. I only counted nine recruits. The Weasleys had managed to take some of them down.

The rest of the Order must not have been aware of their capture yet because even Severus looked surprised. His position as a spy for Voldemort in the Order usually made him aware of most news before any other Death Eater.

The Weasley family was lined up at the foot of the table, facing Voldemort and the rest of the people in the room. Their captors stayed at their backs, wands raised. Only six of the nine Weasleys were present. The youngest would be at Hogwarts. One of the middle ones apparently had a cushy job at the ministry and didn’t speak to his family anymore. And Ronald would be with Harry Potter. The rest had been home to help the Order.

“Blimey, Hermione!” one of the twins spoke up. “You’re alive!” The girl whimpered and made an unconscious step toward the family, but stopped at the look Voldemort gave her. The matriarch gave her a small, watery smile.

If it had been me running the meeting, she would have been begging for their lives. She would have been throwing a fit and crying. With Voldemort, it was like she was too scared to even move without permission.

“What have you done to her?!” the other twin yelled. “If you…” He was silenced by a hex thrown by one of his captors.

“I haven’t done anything to her… yet,” Voldemort answered. “Lucius has been so kind as to make sure that she’s being… taken care of.” The last part was definitely an innuendo to the nature of our relationship. Six pairs of angry eyes glared at me. I smiled back. “But before long she shall be released into my custody.” He stalked around the trembling girl, running his fingers along her collarbone and back. She closed her eyes in fear and humiliation. I ignored the jealousy growing in my chest. “Lucius has been training her to be such an eager whore and I fully plan on taking advantage that.”

Several of the Weasley men attempted to lurch forward to defend her honor but were quickly subdued. They ended up on the floor with gasps of pain. Molly Weasley started crying. “She’s only a child!” she sobbed, burying her face in her husband’s chest.

“It’s so heartwarming to see that you care so much for the Mudblood, even when your own lives hang in the balance.” He sat back down again, leaving the girl swaying where she stood. She staggered over to clutch at the back of his chair before she fell. “I give you Weasleys this choice as a family. You must all suffer the same fate. Either you all agree to take the Mark or you all die here tonight. Would you like a moment to come to a consensus?”

Every single one of their faces turned to Arthur Weasley. He looked at each member of his family and then looked Voldemort in the eye. His face hardened. “We had already decided that if it ever came to this, we’d rather die than be forced to join you.”

The girl fell to her knees behind the chair and buried her face into the carpet. Huge sobs wracked her body. “Oh, it seems that you’ve upset Miss. Granger,” Voldemort commented.

“It’s ok, Hermione,” one of the older boys softly said. “Be strong.”

Voldemort picked up the quivering mess of a girl and sat her on the edge of the table. He lingered over her. She blinked up at him with wide, puffy eyes, totally silenced by fear. “So you won’t join me with the threat of death. But I wonder, would you join to help her?” He slid his hands up the sides of her legs and under her robes, revealing white thighs. She stiffened. “Would you join to save her the humiliation of being raped?”

I gripped the sides of my chair to prevent myself from doing anything stupid. My possessive side was screaming “Don’t touch what’s mine!” in my head.

“You said you were going to rape her earlier! Whether we join you or not won’t change that, I expect,” the patriarch bellowed with a sympathetic look to the back of the petrified girl’s head.

“Too true.” Voldemort took out his wand and shoved it under her chin which caused a chorus of angry shouts from the Weasleys. “But would you allow her to die?”

I gripped the sides of my chair tighter. Some part of me knew that Voldemort wanted to keep her alive, but what actions would he take to get his point across? Severus shot me a questioning look from across the table. I forced myself to relax.

“No, she would welcome death. In fact, she wishes for it. She practically begs for it in her mind. Death is not a punishment for her. Crucio!”

The girl fell back on the table, writhing and screaming. She tossed back and forth, attempting to alleviate the pain of the curse. Her eyes sought mine and she ground out, “Please!”

I attempted to look disinterested, but it was hard when she had such trust in her eyes. I managed a sneer and looked away fast before I betrayed to my fellow Death Eaters how attached I had become to her.

Never had I held her under the curse for this long. The Weasleys were yelling at him to stop, that they would reconsider his offer. Only when Severus gently reminded him with a soft, “My Lord, her mind” did he lift the curse. She rolled onto her side in the fetal position, making little pathetic sounds of pain.

“I grow impatient, Arthur Weasley! What is it, yes or no?”

The Weasley patriarch hesitated and looked at his family to see whether they would be willing to change their minds. This little hesitation cost him his life. He was hit with a flash of green light and was no more.

The remaining family members shrieked in grief. The girl moaned, but I couldn’t tell whether it was from pain or that she realized what happened through her haze of agony.

“Arthur has chosen all of your fates,” Voldemort said coldly. “I can now see that all of you would be quite useless to me as Death Eaters, even though I would enjoy forcing you to do despicable things in my name. Now the only detail left is to decide what order I slaughter you in. Miss. Granger? Would you care to help me decide?”

She opened her eyes and looked up at him as if she understood that she was being asked something but didn’t know exactly what was wanted of her. “Name a Weasley,” he ordered. He laughed at what he read in her mind. “Of course, the first name she thinks when she hears the name Weasley is Ron. Try again.”

The Weasleys were huddled around their dead father. The matriarch was kissing each one of the boys and telling them that she loved them. They held on to each other and faced the table with their chins held high.

Suddenly, two shots of green light were emitted from his wand and hit the twins. They fell. Molly Weasley had tears streaking down her face at the loss of her sons. Her pain was short-lived as she was next.

“No, my dear, Ginny isn’t here,” Voldemort told the girl lying on the table, still reading her mind. “And neither is Percy… No, Arthur is already dead. There you go!” The eldest son fell. “One more left! Which Weasely are you leaving out?”

The last Weasley stood amongst the bodies of his family. He stood tall and still had his chin up, ready to meet death like a man. “Stay brave, Hermione,” he called to her. “Don’t give up hope.”

“Charlie,” she breathed at the sound of his voice. She sat up and turned around to look at him. He gave her a sad smile before his life ended. Her eyes followed his decent to the floor where she noticed the pile of bodies. Apparently, her mind had been too addled by the pain of the curse to comprehend what was going on, but with visual evidence strewn across the floor in front of her she realized what had happened. Her mind coped with this information the only way it knew how: she fainted.

Voldemort sat in his chair, pleased with himself. All the Death Eaters who had remained silent up to this point burst into excited and congratulatory shouts. He silenced everyone with a wave of his hand. “Severus,” he ordered, “I know you must go to the Order and report on what you’ve just witnessed. Go.” Severus stood up, bowed, and flew out the door. “Lucius, take the girl home and make sure she’s not too damaged.” I picked up the unconscious girl and made my way to the door. As I was walking down the hall, I heard his last announcement. “I am retiring for the night. You may all do to the bodies as you wish in celebration.” I distinctively heard Bellatrix’s excited squeal amongst the other happy commotion.

Draco caught up to me at the end of the hall. He looked a little green. “You aren’t staying?” I asked.

“I’d rather go home,” he answered.

“Death is a part of being in his ranks. You knew that when you joined. Toughen up, boy.”

“It’s not the death that bothers me. It’s what they’re doing to the bodies now.” He shuddered and looked sick.

I nodded in understanding and we exited the manor together.
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The Downfall of Greed