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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
- 30
- 31
- 32
When Harmony woke, the sun was setting outside the bedroom window. She sat up and clutched her sore head. I must have been out for a couple of hours, she thought.
She padded over to the window to look outside. Her improved vision and hearing had neutralized some, but she still felt like she could duel a hundred Death Eaters. As she looked over the grounds of Riddle mansion, Harmony spied a small group of cloaked figures striding towards the front door.
As they came inside, Harmony realized that she could hear quite a few voices already downstairs. She fastened her scarf tighter around her face and went to peer out the bedroom door. Looking beyond the staircase bannister, Harmony saw that the mansion was full of people. She would have thought it was a party if everyone wasn't rushing to and fro with anxious voices.
She recognized a few people who passed, like Barty, Goyle, Bellatrix and Darius. Most of the others she'd never seen before.
She didn't see Voldemort until he came bounding up the stairs to her. Several of the Death Eaters watched him, and caught sight of Harmony. They pointed her out to fellow followers, speaking in curious whispers.
"Good, you're awake," Master said as he reached the door.
Harmony backed up to let him into the room, and when he closed the door behind him he took her by surprise by wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace.
"Tonight's the night, Harmony," Voldemort told her with his usually somber voice tinged in excitement. "Lucius has sent word, and my followers have been pouring in by the minute."
Harmony found his excitement contagious, and with her head fitted right under Master's chin, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest.
"Tonight we make history," he said as he pulled away slightly to look at her with bright blue eyes. "Tonight, everything is going to change."
"So suddenly?" Harmony asked quietly.
"Our trip to the Ministry has to be quick and clean. The less who know we are up to something, the better. We'll have more time to act once we arrive."
"Arrive where?" asked Harmony earnestly.
Master smiled slowly down at her.
She tilted her head. "Don't you trust me?"
"You have my Serpentine charm, the only one ever created," he reminded her. "Of course I trust you."
Harmony gazed up at him expectantly.
Master regarded her for a moment before he said, "You have changed so much since you first came here."
"So have you," Harmony pointed out.
Voldemort's smile fell, and he released her from his arms. He went over to the window and rested his hands on the sill. Harmony saw a few twinkles in the sky from the first stars of the night. Master remained silent for quite some time, and Harmony wasn't sure if she had angered him.
"I suppose the best place to start is always at the beginning," he said as he stared out into the night. "Seventeen years ago, I went to recruit a magically gifted couple. The woman was Muggle-born, but I was willing to look past that because of her especially powerful abilities. James and Lily were their names—and they had a son."
"Harry Potter," Harmony said softly. The sound of her best friend's name was strange coming from her mouth, because she had refrained from saying it ever since coming to the mansion.
"I have never been so confounded as to how a small boy could have ruined me. It made no sense," said Master as he curled his hands into angry fists. "You have no idea how terrible death is until it is staring you in the face. But I've been able to come back to life again and again to finish him, yet the boy is too damned lucky for his own good. He was always able to escape somehow. He has always been in the way of me becoming greater and more powerful. Potter is merely an obstacle that needs to be eliminated." Voldemort turned around to look at her as he said, "This all started seventeen years ago, and tonight I intend to finish what I have started."
She frowned. "You plan to kill Harry Potter tonight?"
"I will kill him," he said with a nod.
Harmony's heart thudded in her chest. "The Vanishing cabinet," she surmised. "You're going to use it to get inside Hogwarts."
"Precisely," Master replied with a wicked smile.
Harmony's throat felt suddenly dry. She kept swallowing as she thought about her current situation. She was about to witness, first hand, what may just end up being a massacre. Some forty—likely more—Death Eaters, along with one of the most powerful wizards alive, were going to break into the most prestigious Wizarding School in the world.
This was not going to end well, she knew for sure. Harmony had never felt so at a loss for what to do. She didn't want to see anyone die tonight, and yet the Dark Lord's followers had to be stopped.
But as Harmony looked at her Master, she could still feel the ghost of his arms around her. He was sure to be the first one the Aurors would look for; not just to hurt, but to kill. She knew she couldn't just stand by and watch anyone die, especially her best friend Harry. She needed to do something. Her quick mind thought of something for her Master to consider.
"But what about Albus Dumbledore?" she asked. "Do you think he's just going to stand by and watch you take your victory?"
Master's smile sent a chill down her spine as he said, "Old man Dumbledore is dead."
Harmony felt her insides go cold. She shook her head, unable to believe that what he said was true. The thought of Dumbledore, dead, seemed so impossible. Instantly she wanted some kind of explanation, but when she opened her mouth all she could manage to muster was a "what?"
Voldemort chuckled at her shocked expression. "Yes, can you just imagine my surprise when I received the news? You see, almost a year ago Lucius Malfoy asked me to allow his son, Draco, to join me. I was willing, but I wanted the boy to prove himself, so I set a couple of tasks in front of him that would greatly help my cause. One was to repair the Vanishing cabinet that resided within Hogwarts' school walls, which would guarantee my access into the school when I wished. The other task was far more dangerous, but if he succeeded I would know he was truly loyal to me."
Harmony clutched the bedpost to steady herself when she realized what Voldemort was telling her.
"Draco Malfoy's task was to assassinate Dumbledore," Master said with a simple shrug. "And now the man is dead, which guarantees my access to Harry Potter."
"Oh my," Harmony whispered with closed eyes. He chuckled softly to himself as he took a couple slow steps toward her.
"I know it is incredible—beyond belief, but it is the truth," he said. "I invited Draco to come up when he arrives so I can congratulate him personally for his spectacular success."
Harmony couldn't believe it. She was aware of a pending attack—which she had no idea how to stop, Dumbledore was dead, and the one who had killed him was a fellow classmate she had only just begun to stop hating. Was this even real?
She dug her fingers into the wood of the bedpost as she tried to concentrate on her labored breathing. Master came up to her, and she looked up into his eyes.
"Any questions?" he asked.
Harmony nodded and touched her Serpentine charm where she knew it was on her chest. "You know what I want to know. What exactly makes the Serpentine charm so important?"
Voldemort smirked as he looked away from her begging eyes. He sat down on the edge of the bed as he said, "Yes, I did promise to tell you, didn't I?" He looked up at her searchingly, and as though satisfied by what he saw, he nodded. "I believe you are ready. Ever since I was a boy, I have always had a fascination with immortality. To live forever means I have years and years to gain as much power as I want," he said. "I have tried everything I could to get my hands on, from Horcruxes to unicorn blood, and even the Sorcerer's stone."
"But none of them worked?" Harmony asked in amazement. She had never heard of anyone going to such lengths—it was very wrong to kill a unicorn, and they were insanely hard to catch.
"Well, I don't know about the Sorcerer's stone; Potter stopped me from obtaining it," Master said irritably. Harmony swallowed nervously, knowing that without her help Harry never would have stopped him. "But unicorn blood can only prolong life for so long, and it is a very painful process. And although Horcruxes have come quite in handy for me—since it was thanks to them I was able to come back to life more than once—you have to be very cunning about hiding them, so they can't be destroyed. Unfortunately, almost all of my Horcruxes have been destroyed, and I had seven of them."
Harmony frowned. "But why can't you just make more Horcruxes?"
Master looked her in the eye and shook his head. "There are only so many times a man can split his soul." Then he added quietly, "Already, I can feel myself piecing away, as though parts of me have already died. It's utterly exhausting, but in order to live forever I suppose you must be willing to give up parts of yourself."
What is the point in living if you can't live as a whole man? Harmony wanted to ask, but she knew he would not take the question well, so she held her tongue.
"I have tried again and over again to come to terms with myself. I…will not live forever. It is becoming more and more apparent to me that my death is ultimately unavoidable. No matter how much I wish to avoid taking my last breath, no matter how much I want to keep searching for the answer—"
"You're afraid," Harmony whispered, her voice cracking with emotion.
Master bit the inside of his cheek, but when he looked up at her she saw the confession in his eyes. Harmony couldn't believe it. The Dark Lord really did have his fears. He was human after all.
The fact that she had tapped in to one of the Dark Lord's most personal thoughts and feelings brought unexpected tears to her eyes. She wanted to tell him that he wasn't alone; so many others shared that fear of the unknown. But this was Lord Voldemort; he didn't want consolation or pity, so she blinked back the hot tears and waited for him to continue.
"Along with these thoughts of when I would no longer live came the responsibility of figuring out how my reign would continue. Who would take my place? Who could I trust as well as I do myself to lead my followers?" He paused to let that question sink in. "Of course, I thought about which follower could take my place. Lucius would be a logical choice since he is loyal and intelligent, and he comes from a strong family of purebloods. But that man is too wrapped up in his family. I worry that given the choice between my cause and his wife and son, he would choose the latter. Barty or Bellatrix are strong when it comes to loyalty and power, but they are not level-headed. Any leadership choices would most likely be made with irrationality if either of them were in charge."
He counted off on his fingers, and now extended the fourth one. "Severus Snape is an obvious choice as well, but how serious would he be about being a leader? He had been trustworthy, yes, but he has spent much of his time around Dumbledore up until now. How can I know for sure whether or not the old man has found a way to use Snape against me?"
Master paused then, as if he thought she might answer, but Harmony did not. "But I didn't trust any of them as much as I trusted myself. So…I thought of an idea."
He gave her a smug smile now. "I decided to bring in a new follower, someone young and eager to learn. I would teach them everything I knew—build them up to be the leader I wanted them to be. But this person would have to be different from any of the other followers I have ever had. They would not be used for going off and doing trivial tasks, but would stay with me every waking moment to learn how I think, how I act and decide. In a sense, I would teach them how to become like me. And—to show the world who this person was—they would be given a special mark, unlike the Dark Mark. This mark would place a protective charm over my follower—the Serpentine charm."
Master stood up and caught Harmony by her shoulders before she toppled over. Harmony's knees weakened once she understood what her Master was saying. She gripped the front of his robes tightly, and with his hands still on her shoulders he brought Harmony closer to him and shook her lightly.
"From the moment I first saw you, I was aware that your whole life was about to change," he said. "Of course I had my doubts, but the first time we met—when you told me you knew every spell in that book, and when I found we shared the same passion for knowledge and power—I knew you were the right choice."
Master brushed Harmony's hair out of her eyes as he looked at her. "But it wasn't just your knowledge, Harmony. It was the fire within you, how you had lost your fear of death and no longer heeded the criticism of others. These are attributes I want in a leader. Only you could have endured the responsibilities of the Serpentine charm."
Harmony felt the air leave the room. Her, leader to Lord Voldemort's followers? A bunch of Muggle-hating criminals? The thought of it was insane, completely delusional. Lord Voldemort trusted her, a Muggle-born, with his life. This wasn't real! It couldn't be. This was not what she was meant to do. She wondered if Dumbledore could have seen this coming even in his wildest imagination.
Then she remembered, Dumbledore was dead.
She let out a small cry, and her lungs were hardly able to take in one more gulp of air. Master smiled, thinking her cry was of overwhelmed gratitude, and he ran a tender hand over her face scarf.
Harmony said what she could with the little air she had, "I can't, I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility. Please!"
"I have taught you well so far, my dear, and there are years to come for you to learn. After tonight, when Potter is dead, he will no longer cause any trouble and you'll be able to grow properly into a true leader. Undeniably, Harmony, you are my heir."
Oh god, Harry! Harmony despaired. If she took the place of Lord Voldemort's leadership, she and Harry would only become one thing: enemies. That thought was impossible to bear.
"Couldn't you—what if something happened to me, and I died? Couldn't you create another Serpentine charm? One to give to someone else?" she asked.
Master shook his head. "That would be too difficult. If it were even possible for me to find all the correct elements needed to create another one, it would take me a lifetime or more to gather them, and time is one thing I do not have."
"But what if you discovered there was something about me that displeased you? What would you do then?" Harmony asked desperately, She knew that she couldn't possibly do this.
Master chuckled and gave her another smug little grin. He moved so his lips were against her ear.
"You are perfect, Harmony."
She was paralyzed with shock. So stunned, she failed to notice when Master undid her hair so it fell down her shoulders in long, unkempt curls. She opened her mouth to protest, but Voldemort spoke again before she could, his lips still grazing her ear.
"I will be giving you everything I have," he whispered. "All my books, the Riddle mansion, my knowledge—all of it will be yours."
Harmony's heart pounded uncontrollably against her ribcage. She felt trapped, and every thought that came into her head she was unsure of. What should she do? She started by placing her hands, which were still gripping the front of his robes, flat on his chest and pushing him away slightly. He hardly budged; he was so distracted with touching her hair and inhaling it as though it were the Elixir of Life.
"This was always your destiny, Harmony," he continued. "You were always meant to come to me. You have always belonged to me."
Master's words flipped a switch in her. Belonged to him? So, that's why he thought he could do with her as he wished. He must think she actually craved his attention, because he thought she was his. Her thoughts raced back to when she'd had her first run-in with Barty. What had he said exactly? I wouldn't mess with the girl who belongs to the Dark Lord. That encounter seemed so long ago, but it irritated her nonetheless.
Master pulled Harmony closer to him while one hand curled up to pull away the part of face scarf that covered her mouth. He tilted his head down closer to hers, as though to kiss her.
Using her anger as incentive, Harmony pushed him away from her again, only harder this time. The expression on his face turned from lustful to aggressive in an instant. His mouth curved down in a snarl as he said, "You should show more respect to your Lord, especially after all I will be giving you. Are you not grateful at all?"
"I—" Harmony began, unable to answer him. She was grateful for him on some level, because he wanted to give her everything she'd ever need, but she was completely the wrong person that he should be giving it to. "Yes," she answered curtly. "But every other person here—all of your Death Eaters—were given a choice before you branded them, yet you did not offer me that same courtesy even though mine was the biggest brand of all. You need my respect before you can just—"
"Your respect?" Master interrupted in a raised voice. He shook his head as if chastising an ignorant child. "As I have told you before, Harmony, I am a greedy man." Then he said plainly, as if he never had said anything more true, "I always get what I want."
Harmony took in his words as if inhaling a bitter odor—she crinkled her nose in distaste. It was that he was so completely sure of himself that angered her the most. He truly believed he got everything he wanted.
She came close to scoffing and sending him a snide comment, but she held her anger in check. She bent her face up close to his and said what she was feeling with a poisonous venom in her tone:
"Not everything."
Harmony paused just long enough to let the harsh words sink in. Then, unsure what to say next, she snatched back her face scarf from his hand, turned on her heel, and stormed out of the room.
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Serpentine Series