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The Bittersweet Taste of Victory	By : Nerys Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Hermione/Voldemort Views: 37648 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Added Disclaimer: Don't own anything from 'Star Wars' or 'Labyrinth' or 'George Michael' either. Trust me, I checked my bank account. And I'm not making any money by posting this fic. *cries*

A/N: Hermione's POV.

The Bittersweet Taste of Victory

I do not count myself among you

I may be living in a dream

It's just there seem so many of you

Can't help but hope

There's a difference between…

…you and me.

George Michael, Star People

Chapter two

I remember it like it was yesterday. Only it has been around ten years now that Voldemort defeated Harry and took over the world. I still see myself standing in the Gryffindor Common Room with Ron Weasley. We are surrounded and there is no escape, since the amount of Floo Powder is not enough for us both. So Ron and I start to argue about who will use it. I want him to be safe and he wants me to go. We decide to stay together and go down fighting, like we know Harry has done. I cry when we kiss, knowing it will be the last time I will ever feel his lips on me again. At least we will die together.

That's when he does it. He pushes me into the fireplace and throws the powder at me. I see Lord Voldemort enter the Gryffindor Common Room when I Floo away. I have not specified a place to go to, since I do not want to be in the hearth to begin with, so the powder makes a choice on its own accord and I land in some old wizard's flat. I give him quite a scare. Apparently, it is not an everyday experience for him to have young witches land in his living room. I will never find out if the Death Eaters hurt him because of me. I Apparate out of there, immediately, knowing the Ministry tracks all Floo Activity, and land myself near the cottage in France, where I have been on vacation before.

After some time of pacing the cottage living room, and being furious with and dead worried for Ron, I think of my parents. Ron knows I send them to Australia and he knows the aliases I provided them with. So my next stop is Broken Hill. I find Monica and Wendell Wilkins very quickly. I stun them and transport them to The United States of America. It takes me a couple of days to magically take care of their newest background, but then I am ready to leave.

Ronald and Ginny Evans are now a very happily married couple in New York City, and they have no recollections of their previous lives in Australia or England for that matter. I hug my sleeping parents for the last time, knowing I'll never see them again, and I transport back to the cottage in France, where I Obliviate my own memory of where I've taken them and which identity I've provided them with. After that I cry for a week for the loss of my parents, Ronald, Harry, Ginny and all the others, who have died or are captured and, no doubt, tortured severely. I return to the UK briefly, having bold ideas on freeing my friends, staging a prison break or anything else that can bring an end to this misery.

But Voldemort makes his next move quickly and he conquers the European mainland in a heartbeat. Freeing my friends seems more and more an impossible feat. But I do not give up. I re-enter the Ministry and steal what I need to free them, but they are on to me, and I have to flee after several Death Eaters and even more so-called Aurors try to apprehend me. I take great satisfaction in the fact that a lot of them need intense medical attention after they had their encounter with me.

Gradually, Voldemort starts filling up the obituary's section in the Daily Prophet, and after Ron's name appears in there, I break down and leave. I travel the world in a daze, constantly hearing reports on Voldemort's conquests. He seems unstoppable, and I have to leave my newfound homes on many occasions due to his expansion-drift. I finally end up in Tibet, after I flee Argentina severely injured due to the Lestranges. I do not know how they have found me, but I am lucky to get out of that situation alive.

Yet again, I am on the move with nothing else than the clothes on my back and my wand in my pocket. I walk for days without food, still bleeding from several wounds I am unable to heal. Due to my weakened state, I cannot Apparate, and I walk for miles and miles without seeing anyone, until I finally pass out. I wake up inside a monastery of Tibetan Wizards. They have found me outside and have saved my life by bringing me indoors and healing me in their own peculiar, but powerful way of magic.

They are called the Knights of Silence for they do not speak often. Talking is considered spilling precious magical energy, as it leads the mind away from the Origin of Magic. It is an all male society, but they took me in, because it is their destiny to save the stray souls that dwell on their path. And I need rescuing from darkness as they so often tell me. I learn later on that they mean the darkness inside of me, not the darkness that is searching the globe in order to capture and kill me.

One of the Knights, a wizard who appears older than Dumbledore, is assigned to teach me their ways. Since they also do not use names, for one contains all and all is one being, I call him Yoda, because he is always telling me about the Force of Magic: let the Force guide you. He does not mind me calling him that. He says as long as you need to use names to identify others, you're allowed to do so.

I spend all my time at the monastery with him. He teaches me to meditate first, to clear my head of thoughts and emotions. At first I think it is some form of Occlumency they practise, and I feel it is a pointless exercise. Nobody is going to use Legilimency against me. They will torture and kill me for fun, not for information. And so I resist the lessons. I yell. I cry. I am angry with the world and everyone in it. I have nightmares every time I go to sleep, and during the day I think of everything I have lost.

But, eventually, I am able to let go. My demons go to sleep and I slowly start to be able to clear my mind and let all my feelings and emotions flow away from it. And I learn that closing one's mind is not the result they strive at. It is the opposite. Clearing the mind and letting go off the thoughts, feelings and emotions in there, means sharing them with the world, which in my case means every wizard monk in the monastery. I am somewhat embarrassed at first when I find out about this, but I am already seeing the benefits of the meditation, so I do not stop, knowing everyone knows everything there is to know about me. Besides, I think they already knew all before they took me in, anyway.

After two years of training Yoda is satisfied enough with my progress to teach me more. He teaches me to concentrate my magic, along with the difference between light and dark magic. It is a very painful process, but he saves me with his love every time I get lost and succumb to the darkness. Duelling is a part of the teachings, and I fight Yoda, though I am never able to actually hit him. He somehow always evades my spells, charms, hexes, jinxes and curses. It infuriates the hell out of me, and eventually, I do it. I am not proud of my behaviour that day, but Yoda calls it an important learning experience, and is happy it happened. It is like he has been expecting me to do it. He probably has.

On that dreadful day I get so lost in the Dark that at some point I cast the Killing Curse at Yoda. It hits him dead on, but he does not drop dead on the floor. An immense bright light flies around him and I hear chanting in the air, like Mother Earth herself is intervening. The chants seem to come from the trees, the plants, the air, earth, wind, water: everything. I notice several other monks standing quietly there. Their palms are raised in the air and a white light is emanating from them. I can feel the chants travel through me and I crash to the ground, shaking like a leaf and feeling terrified from the mere sound of the chants.

At some point, the feeling of dread and terror changes to sorrow and remorse, until, eventually, I feel happy. I feel happy for the first time after seeing Harry's dead body. Then, I cry. And the bright white light surrounds me and helps me up again; hugging me, loving me. Today I've learnt the true nature of love. Dumbledore once called it the most powerful form of magic and now I know that to be true. I now know why that door in the Ministry always remains closed. Love, truly and utterly is the Origin of Magic.

The Knights of Silence are an Order that practises Peace, Love, and Understanding, but they shall not be taken for granted. All of them are more powerful than any wizard that I have ever met before or will ever meet again after I leave here. Their chants stopped my Killing Curse from doing bodily harm to someone, and their love and forgiveness healed me. Although Yoda keeps insisting that I healed myself.

'You chose the light,' he says, 'and because of that we were able to help you heal.'

He will not tell me what would have happened to me had I not felt the sorrow and remorse for what I did, but I have a distinct feeling it would not have been something nice. After my complete fall to the Dark Arts and my resurrection to the Light Force, all the other monks are suddenly paying attention to me. I am hugged many times, and they beam at me whenever I pass. Even the elders are nodding approvingly to me. Yoda laughs, when I sarcastically say that I should have tried to kill him sooner because of this.

After I have overcome the Dark, Yoda starts to teach me to use the magic inside of me. He holds a little speech before we begin.

'Magic flows all around us. This is not about spells, charms, or anything like it. This magic is The Force of Nature and it can guide you on your path. It will help to ground you and keep your balance in times of despair. This is the most powerful way to use magic, and we do not normally teach this to outsiders, but you have proven worthy of this knowledge. I must, however, insist you stay with us, until you can fully understand and control this form of magic. If you leave prematurely, the results can end up being disastrous.'

I tell him I will stay for as long as he deems necessary, and slowly, I start to make steps towards controlling my own magic and the magic around me. At first the experience is similar to when I had to meditate. I am lousy at it. Yoda guides me through it and stands behind me every time I try controlling my magic, his hands on my shoulders and his soothing voice in my ear.

'Close your eyes; let go of all thoughts, feelings and emotions; clear your mind, and open it. Hear the others, feel their emotions, let them enter and feel the magic run through your body. Notice how its power is building up inside of you. Let the Force guide you. Now, open your eyes and release the Force.'

But whenever I release the Force, it means either nothing happens or everybody has to run for cover. One day, when I destroy nearly half the gardens, Yoda tries to cheer me up by telling me how he had once blown up the entire mountain. I am even more concerned about what can happen after that bit of delightful information, and I do not try my best for a long time.

Until one day when I, suddenly, hear someone say that he is in the mood for some pudding. I look around to see who is there, but I see nobody. It will be the first time I hear another without Yoda's assistance. He calls it a major breakthrough and says that I am a quick learner. In fact, he tells me that there has only been one other who has achieved this result faster. After that, I start to try for real again. I am, after all, Hermione Jean Granger, so second best is just not good enough.

Slowly but surely I am becoming somewhat able to control the Force. Only, the results still vary a lot. It is frustrating. Sometimes I am able to control the magic inside of me, enhance the power to a certain amount and then hold that magical power in my hand, not letting it slip through my fingers. Yoda is always jumping up and down excitedly at those moments, and seeing a man his age jump is quite a sight for sore eyes, I can tell you that. But at other occasions, I feel nothing or I cannot stop the build up and it sears out of my hands to impact at anything unlucky enough to be in its path. Worst of all, those very different results can happen just a few minutes apart. It feels like I am not learning a thing, like I am making no progress whatsoever.

It is on one of those disastrous days that I hear his voice. I am standing inside my chamber when I hear it. I will recognise it anywhere: the cold, smooth, and commandeering sound of Lord Voldemort. I have been isolated from the rest of the world for so long that I have almost forgotten what is out there. Somehow, I find myself unable to move. I just stand there, stupidly. And I watch him as he passes my chamber, walking through the corridor accompanied by one of the monks. I stand in plain view and if he turns his head slightly, he will see me, but he moves on without noticing my presence.

I am curious to why Voldemort is walking through the corridors of an Order that values a power he does not understand. So I, sort of, eavesdrop on his conversation with Jareth. I have baptised the wizard with that name, because he is the spitting image of David Bowie in the movie Labyrinth. I quickly clear my mind and try to focus on Jareth. Finding Jareth's magic amongst all the others, I let him enter.

And somehow, even though all my previous attempts that day have been unsuccessful, it works. I locate Jareth, tune in on the conversation, and find out that Voldemort is asking Jareth questions on how to heal the soul of a human being, and the Dark Lord is not happy with the answer he gets. He wants something else. Something he knows the wizard can provide him. His hatred and disgust for the monk in front of him is beginning to build. I can feel that very clearly. The Darkness, he emanates, is tremendously all-consuming and it takes all of my concentration not to get lost in it.

Jareth starts to tell Voldemort a story. I recognise the fairytale. I want to scream at him to stop, to leave, and to do anything but tell Lord Voldemort a tragic love story. I want to warn Jareth that he is going to be killed if he does not quit this kind of behaviour. You just don't go around telling evil menaces children's stories! But Jareth continues his story of an Evil Emperor who kills the parents of the Elf who loves him, and how the Emperor has ripped apart his soul after the act. I cannot believe what I am hearing. I close my eyes in despair and hit my head against the wall, because all I can think is why… why… why…? Why did Jareth not choose to tell Little Red Riding Hood, or Scheherazade's One Thousand and One Nights, or anything else for that matter; anything but this one.

I feel Voldemort's anger and I still hear Jareth continuing. How the Elf feels sorry for the Emperor, because he cannot feel anything, and how she creates an amulet that will heal the very soul. She knows the Emperor adores silver items and is always looking for new silvery trinkets. So she has made the amulet part of a very beautiful silver necklace and gives it to the Emperor on his birthday as a gift. The Emperor is very pleased with the gift, and he wears it twenty-four/seven. Since he does not know his wife is an Elf, he doesn't know the gift is magical and never suspects the necklace is the reason for the changes he feels inside of him.

Slowly, day after day, the amulet does its work and the Emperor begins to heal and to feel. The Elf is very happy with this, because soon she will be together with her love and he will be able to love too. But the Emperor has committed many terrible deeds, and when his soul is healed and he is able to feel love for the first time, he also feels the pain he has caused others. His wife holds him in her arms when he dies, and at the moment, he knows just how much he loves her, and he is happy for the first time in his life.

'Insert scary tune: dun...dun...dun… Goodbye. Farewell. The End; literally.'

That is the sarcastic thought that runs through my mind as I feel and see Voldemort's Magic, the Darkness and the Hatred, fly through the air, engulfing the walls, the building, its inhabitants, the animals outside and myself. I fall to the ground, wanting it to stop, needing it to stop. I am falling again. I can feel it, but I am not in control. He is pushing his Darkness inside of me. It is terrifying. The sheer force of it is enormous and the Power of the Dark Arts is beginning to consume me, when suddenly I hear the chanting again. The bright light fills me up and brings me back. I feel two hands on my shoulders and know without looking at him that it is Yoda. He saves me again.

I witness how the Dark Mist is beginning to vacate the rooms, and how slowly everything around me is turning back to normal. Lord Voldemort doesn't wait for the Light to reach him and he Disapparates from the scene. I feel sick and feeble for a week after that, and Yoda tells me to rest, to take it easy. But in the back of my mind, a little voice starts nagging.

'He is smart and powerful, one of the brightest wizards of this era. He'll find a way to do it, if nobody stops him. If he heals his soul, he can create new Horcruxes. You know that's why he's looking for answers. He wants to be immortal again.'

It is startling, to say the least, that it has been almost ten years already. Ten years since Ron died. I have trouble remembering him, his looks, his voice, his smell, his kiss. It is somehow all blurred around the edges and I am beginning to forget, but I want to remember. I have spent my time in isolation, while others died, but not anymore.

I speak to Yoda about my concerns, but that is only aggravating me more. He is informing me that I still have much to learn about controlling my magic, and that those other things are trivial. I know I have much to learn, but there is an entire world out there. A world I cannot ignore anymore. It is as if my eyes are open again. The Knights here may be happy living outside reality, but I sure am not. If I let Voldemort regain his immortality without doing something, I will betray Ron and Harry and everybody else who died trying to fight him. Yoda sees my thoughts and says that I will betray them, if I go before I am ready.

'That amulet,' I snap at him, 'is that real?'

He stares at me intently, but he nods his head in affirmation.

'So Voldemort can heal his soul with it?'

'Yes, but he has to find it first. You have time, Hermione. You need the time, you are not ready.'

'But when will I be ready? How much more time do I need to spend here? You said yourself it will take many years, if not decades, to master this fully. I have already been here for almost nine years. And I am nowhere nearer to achieving full control. I can't wait another decade or more. He will be long done by that time.'

'Hermione, you've reached results in the last nine years that were only surpassed by one other person before. You have a gift. You're the one. Do not make the same mistake he did by leaving prematurely. You can not go after Lord Voldemort in your current condition. Remember what happened a week ago.'

'If I can't go, then why doesn't the Order do it then? You guys are ready. You're the Knights of Silence. You can stop him! I saw you do it the other day! But you sit here, doing nothing, while he destroys all. And then, you gave him the information he needs on how to achieve his goal!'

'Miss Granger. You know full well that we do not fight. We are pacifists. We donate life. We do not take it. You need to finish your lessons. Do not make this mistake, I beg of you.'

'He who watches and stands by as atrocities occur is equally responsible,' I say quietly.

I am slightly disappointed at his naive worldview. So I do not listen to him. I am too concerned that Voldemort will become immortal again, which means he will hold the world under his control indefinitely. That thought alone is too appalling. I can no longer sit here and pretend it isn't a concern of mine. Sit here in my comfortable room, protected by the Knights, while others suffer and I do nothing. My time in isolation got punctured the moment I heardhis voice again. I know I have to make a stand. So I leave, while promising to return to finish my lessons after I've dealt with the issue at hand.

'You will not be coming back, not as you are now.' Yoda says softly. 'You will become him. You will fall and then all hope will have left this world. You will be his for eternity. Please stay and finish your teachings.'

'No, I have to go, I'm sorry.'

And as I leave the monastery, I hear a thought from one of the Knights. 'It's happening all over again. Just like sixty years ago.'

It is strange being on the outside and holding a wand again at first, but soon it is like I have not been secluded for ten years. I catch up with the events that happened during my time at the monastery quickly, and it is appalling to see how strong Voldemort's hold on the world has become. I have a couple of close calls with the authorities of several countries, ironically some Death Eater on vacation recognises me, pressing his dark mark immediately to call his master, and twice I am almost caught by Voldemort himself, but I manage to get away with only minor injuries on those occasions.

So I start varying my appearance. During my time in Tibet, I have become skilled in human transformations by using the Force of Nature. It is all too easy to change my hair, eyes, nose, bodily physique, and some other features. I once tried becoming male, but that turned out so disastrous, that I have vowed to myself to never try that again. It is when I start looking for a silvery necklace carrying a soul-healing amulet. My search leads me around the globe once more, and eventually, I end up here, in Gobierno, the capital of Kenia.

I am close. I can feel it. It is like the Amulet of Aine is calling out to me. I found out that is its name after I visited Everon. Known to most people as the Amazon Rainforest, the Great Elves Kingdom of Everon holds the largest concentration of elves in the known world. These elves are unlike the House-elves I have grown accustomed to in the human world. Though according to some stories, they were living together in the past, but now they differ more than resemble each other.

The Kingdom of Everon closed its borders to the outside world a long time ago, but on rare occasions, humans may entire. I happened to arrive at a rare occasion and was granted access. The elves of Everon are proud creatures that do not open up easily, but eventually one of them, Maglor Silimaurë, took pity on me and told me the powers of the Amulet of Aine.

I won't go into the details here, but let's just say it is not good news. The part of the Amulet that makes the person feel can be separated from the part that heals the soul. Lord Voldemort can use the Amulet without having to deal with the icky getting in touch with your feelings stuff. There is no doubt in my mind that is the way he is going to use it. I have to prevent him from getting his hands on that necklace.

So here I am, in Kenia, racing Lord Voldemort to the address the Amulet of Aine is last seen. Fortunately, he is unaware of the competition and takes his time. I have heard rumours that he is still camped out in Russia, so I know that I will get there first. I feel elated, excited. I feel the call of Aine's Amulet and I am certain it will be mine when I knock on the door of the flat. Muraty, the alleged new owner of the necklace, opens. Muraty is a kind man who is sorry he cannot comply to my request for the necklace, since he sold the Amulet only one hour ago and the buyer left for home immediately. I have never before been this close and still that far from obtaining the Amulet.

The new owner is a rich, old Englishman who goes by the name of Sir Reginald Murdoch. I have heard stories about the pureblood aristocrat and if they are correct, he will never hand over the necklace to me. It is a disaster. Not only does this mean I have to go back home, back to England, back to the country Lord Voldemort has the biggest hold on, but I also have to find a way to Sir Murdoch. Considering I am on the top of the most wanted list, getting to him will prove to be a problem; whereas Voldemort only has to overpower Murdoch to get the necklace. Hell, all he has to do is send the man a bloody owl.

Knowing that Voldemort will obtain all of this information in due time after I leave; I feel I have no choice and I partly Obliviate Muraty. I cannot remove all his memories, because that will arise suspicion. Rather, I remove my own visit, along with Murdoch's name and appearance, so he cannot be identified easily. That will still give Voldemort proof that someone else now has the Amulet in their possession, as well as leave him blissfully unaware of the fact that he is not the only one interested in it. I hope I have done a good of enough job of covering my tracks when I leave. Then, I go back home, back into the snake's pit.

I change my appearance again and Apparate to Knockturn Alley. I have done extensive research on Sir Murdoch since my arrival in England, and it turns out he is quite a collector of precious and rare items. He is also a regular costumer at Borgins and Burkes, and lucky for me, Burkes is looking for a new salesperson after his partner Borgins died several months ago. Burkes is not a pleasant man. The store is not well known. Nobody has wanted the job, so it is mine the minute I place one foot through the door. My name helps a lot too. Burkes is eyeing me with dilated pupils. I call myself Aine Alberon. Alberon is a well known pureblood name with links to the Kingdom of the Elves, and Burkes is practically drooling over the prospect that I may be a distant relative to them.

I have taken this identity for a specific reason. I am going to need to get the Amulet from Murdoch, and he is never going to give it to Mudblood Hermione Granger, but to a representative of the makers … that may be a different story entirely. Aine, Queen of the Elves. The Amulet of Aine. The last name Alberon. He can't pull up his spoilt nose on that. Let's see how Sir Reginald Murdoch holds up when I tell him we, The Elves, want our rightful property back.

After three days of working at the shop, I finally meet the man. He is even more arrogant than Lucius Malfoy, and that is saying something. Burkes is also in that day, and I have never seen anyone suck up to someone like that. Sir Reginald this, Sir Reginald that, Sir Reginald blah… blah… blah… I am dusting the shelves and do not engage myself in the conversation, because I see the moment of curiosity upon the man's face when he notices me. It is probably due to surprise that Burke has found an employee, and I think it is best to remain a bit of a mystery. Secrets always attract others, and it will give me the advantage if Murdoch comes to me. After all, I'm the proud pureblood Aine Alberon. People come to me, not vice versa.

Murdoch is said to be a primo snob and those reports are not false. He is utterly unpleasant and eyes me with great distaste, until he reads my name on the tag I am wearing on my shirt. I see the shock in his face at reading a name that is practically royal in another world, and has longer bloodlines than his own. The way he treats me changes immediately. It is as I have expected. When he leaves the shop, I know the foundation for a relationship has been laid. Now I have to wheel him in: hook, line and sinker.

Sir Reginald comes back to the shop on a daily basis after that. Apparently, he has an unwed cousin my age, and well, you can fill in the blanks. The shop's bell rings and I see the blunt features of Yaxley enter Borgins and Burkes, accompanied with a mousy-haired man. Yaxley immediately strides over to the counter, but the smaller man stays behind and looks much more interested in the items on the shelves. I ask the Death Eater how I can be of assistance, and he rudely dumps a document on the counter without saying anything. I raise my eyebrows at his impolite behaviour, but I pick it up and start reading. I am shocked to read it, not just because it is a record of Hermione Granger, but mostly because it is so bloody accurate. Someone has been able to track my movements. This is not good. I put down the document and look questionably at Yaxley.

'Have you seen this woman in Brazil?' he asks rudely.

Slightly relieved that my cover has not been broken, I deny ever meeting Hermione Granger, which technically is correct, unless you count looking in the mirror as meeting someone. He grabs the paper off the counter and plans to leave, when the man in the brown suit starts talking.

'You're very much tanned for an elf.' He says, eyeing me intently.

'I'm only distantly related.' I explain. 'You'd have to go back centuries to track some of the Elf's blood in my veins. The Alberon name has been a wizard's lineage for ages, as your records should show. So do not mistake me for an elf. I am a pureblood witch,' I say, making sure to match the words with the required arrogant tone.

I see the doubt in his eyes, but Yaxley begins to tug on his arm, and pulls him to a corner to talk quietly. It will be the first time, since I left the monastery that I try using my powers again, but I need to know what they are saying. I have the distinct feeling that man is dangerous. And I don't have to try hard, because they are close by and the only ones present in the vicinity. I realise fast that the plain man wants to bring me in for questioning, but Yaxley gets extremely nervous from this idea.

'Did you see her eyes, Sloan? They are elf-like. The Dark Lord will not be pleased if we arrest her and bring on the wrath of Everon. You know the kind of power the elves possess, and they always protect their own bloodlines, even if they flow in a human being.'

'The Dark lord ordered me to find Hermione Granger, and you will not stop me from doing my job, Yaxley. This woman comes from Brazil. My spies tell me Miss Granger has been to Brazil. I need to question her.'

'You most certainly will not. Not on my watch, Sloan, and I outrank you. So I suggest you get permission from the Dark Lord himself to arrest an Alberon, because I do not want to be on the receiving end of his Cruciatus Curse, thank you very much. Now, we are leaving.'

And on that note, Yaxley storms out of the shop. The other one stares at me for a moment, before bowing his head to me slightly and saying goodbye. I know from the look in that man's eyes that I will have to leave the country soon, if I don't want to be caught. It will be time to take Sir Reginald Murdoch up on his offer and not only visit his mansion, but ask for the Amulet as well. I have no more time to waste. I will do it tonight.

I am almost finished with the administration in the backroom, when I hear the doorbell again. I quickly finish my work, and make my way to the store to help the customer. Burkes doesn't want them unsupervised. He is afraid of thieves. I think someone will have to be nuts to try and steal something here considering the dangers involved. Even Lucius Malfoy told his son not to touch anything in this store, as Harry once informed me.

I push the curtain of beads aside and casually step back into the front room, when I freeze up. It's Him. I've waited too long. Lord Voldemort has found me.
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The Bittersweet Taste of Victory