Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

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
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"What happened to you at the Battle of Hogwarts?" Harmony asked Snape.
Since all of the seats were taken, Snape remained standing beside Harry's chair while he spoke. He started his story with when he left with Voldemort and broke into the Ministry of Magic to use the Vanishing cabinet. All the while, he had been updated about the Order of the Phoenix's progression with getting rid of all Voldemort's Horcruxes.
"You remember the Dark Lord's pet, Nagini, don't you?" he asked Harmony.
"The snake?" Harmony asked, frowning. "I remember he had one, but I never saw it. He kept it away."
"Yes, he made sure she was put away for safety measures. Dumbledore had warned me earlier to keep a lookout for Nagini, and later we," he beckoned to the group, "found out she was one of his Horcruxes. The Dark Lord brought Nagini with us to Hogwarts, but he was…distracted, and she was lost amid the skirmish. Neville Longbottom took care of her."
"After that, Voldemort was mortal again," Harry continued. "Of course, that was after I died."
Harmony's eyes bulged at this information.
"A part of Voldemort's soul was within me and the only way to get rid of it was for me to die," Harry explained. "His soul had been in me all this time, ever since my mother died for me."
Snape's expression darkened at the mention of Lily.
Harmony shook her head in awe. "I never knew Horcruxes could reside within a human being." She absorbed this new information eagerly.
"But it makes perfect sense, doesn't it?" Harry told her, and for a moment it was as though they were back in past when the three of them shared every bit of research with each other. "The sudden change in emotions, the dreams he sent me…"
Harmony nodded and they lapsed into awkward silence. It became so unbearable that she finally straightened her back and looked every single person in the eye. "Look at me," she said. "Am I going around gathering Death Eaters that have escaped Hogwarts? Can you imagine me plotting some evil demise in place of Lord Voldemort? I am telling you I am the girl you knew a year ago."
"No. You've changed from that girl we knew, Hermione," Ron said. She turned and looked at him. His eyes looked sad beneath his red bangs. When their eyes met, he mustered a lopsided smile but it fell a second later.
"He's right," Tonks said. "You've grown wiser, I think. But who wouldn't after spending the time you did around that much evil."
"Yes, weren't you ever hurt?" Ginny asked. "Were you ever put under an Unforgivable curse? That would have frightened me the most."
Harmony shook her head and almost smiled to herself. "No," she said, "not once."
"Well, you're incredibly lucky," Lupin replied and there were murmurs of approval.
"Hm," Moody growled, "since you're not off collaborating with Death Eaters, then what do you plan on doing?"
Harmony looked around at everyone, "I was hoping maybe you all could help me."
"You mean hide you from the Ministry."
"I, well-"
"Actually, that was the reason why I came," Snape said, stepping forward.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"You don't possibly think you can stay here," he replied, looking down his hook nose at her. Most people frowned at Snape, but others—like Molly Weasley—nodded.
"Why not?" Harmony asked, feeling she was being treated like a naive child.
He sighed as though the reasons were too simple for explanation. "The entire Ministry is hunting for you and they think the Order of the Phoenix is trying to protect Harry from people like you. You're a liability to the Order if you stick around."
"She is hardly a liability, Snape," Bill Weasley said and Harmony was thankful for his defense. "We could protect her as well as Harry."
"But the Ministry is keeping an eye on you, yes? Once they discover you're protecting her, you endanger yourselves and the Ministry will find you and stop you."
Surprisingly, Ron stood up from his seat and shouted at Snape, "They think she's a Death Eater! Those crackbrains in control of our world have no idea what they're doing. If they take her…" he looked down at her and his freckled cheeks flushed. "I won't let them! It isn't fair!"
Snape shook his head at him. "One wizard's objection against the whole wizard court means nothing. They will brush you aside as though you're nothing more than a pixie."
"There won't be just one wizard," Harry said and he stood up next to Ron.
"Harry," Harmony whispered, tears welling in her eyes.
"I know Hermione isn't a Death Eater, and I would testify for her if I had to. The Ministry would have to listen to me, right?"
"Death Eater or not," Snape said, "hundreds of witnesses saw her with the Dark Lord. Any case involving him is never taken lightly."
Lupin slowly nodded. "I would be surprised if she'd be given a fair hearing. Severus is right. Where Voldemort is concerned, the Ministry want anyone involved done away with."
Harmony shook her head when she saw the argument was tilting away from her favor. "No, please," she looked up into Snape's eyes, "I want to stay here, with Ron and Harry, it's where I feel safe."
Snape looked away from her pleading eyes. "You would be safer with less people and on the run."
"I'm sick of running," Harmony exclaimed. "I've been running for the past two weeks since I've run away from—" she quickly shut her mouth before she spurted out she'd ran away from Voldemort at Shell cottage after obliterating his memory. When Snape frowned at her inquiringly, she shook her head faintly. She forgot she still hadn't told anyone what happened after she escaped Voldemort from Hogwarts.
Bill came to her rescue, "Perhaps she could stay with us for a while, get her life sorted, and when she's ready to move on—"
"Or flee the Ministry," Snape added.
"—she can set out on her own again," Bill said, ignoring his comment. "You have to remember she's still a kid."
Harmony inwardly scoffed at his last remark. She may still be young, but she had experienced more than most people do in their lifetime.
"Set her out on her own?" Snape asked, his eyes going wide. "I don't intend to send her off to fend for herself. I was going to bring her with me."
Ron's posture straightened and he looked at Snape squarely, "You mean you would protect her? Just you?" People looked over at Ron and he went red in the ears.
Harry spoke up, "Let Ron and I come with her."
"Definitely not," Molly Weasley barked, wagging a finger at Harry. "You are not going anywhere without your guard, Harry."
He looked like he was about to argue, but Bill quickly intervened by asking Harmony, "How does that sound to you? You may not be able to stay with us long, but I'm sure you could use the rest."
Harmony looked at Bill sadly and nodded in agreement. At least now she wasn't alone. That was what scared her the most: having to deal with everything by herself.
Snape left soon afterward to attend to some business, and Harmony was officially welcomed into Shell cottage. On the night she'd stayed with Voldemort, she had only seen the one room, so she was surprised to discover how much space there was in the small cottage. When Harmony was asked if there was anything she needed, she instantly replied, "A shower."
She was shown to the master bathroom where Fleur kept an ensemble of fragrance oils, shampoos, and soaps. Before stepping into the steaming shower, she peeled off her layers of dirty black clothes like she was peeling away layers of skin, revealing a more vulnerable self. When she moved under the hot water, she sighed with contentment and it brought life back into her limbs. The fragrances were unlike anything she had ever smelled in the past year. Feeling rejuvenated, she finished her shower and wrapped a towel around herself to dry off. Fleur took her black wool clothes to wash and Harmony was given jeans and a flannel shirt in the meantime. She dried her hair until it was silky smooth and back to its original shine.
It was nearly dinnertime when she left the bathroom. She was going down the main hallway when she ran into Harry coming out of the room he shared with Ron. Harry stopped to look at her, but said nothing. She was glad she wasn't wearing her dark clothes anymore, the normal ones she wore now made her seen much more approachable.
She gave her friend an encouraging half-smile. "So what was with the change of heart? You defended me even after everything you said."
He gave a curt laugh and thought a moment. "I know you're not a Death Eater," he began, "and you said you…did what you did to save me."
Partially.
"And I'm sorry I didn't listen to you at the time. It was selfish. But I'm grateful, in a way." Harry returned a small smile. "I guess what I'm trying to say is 'thanks.'"
Harmony nodded and changed the subject. "Since when did you get along with Professor Snape?"
Harry gave a small smile. "Ah, you noticed? Yeah, there's just a little more understanding between us, that's all. Actually there's a hell of a lot more understanding."
"What happened?" she asked.
"After you Apparated away from Hogwarts with Voldemort," he began, unable to suppress a look of disapproval, "he came and found me, saying he wanted to tell me something." He shook his head at the memory. "Something changed in him. It was like he was a different man."
"What do you mean?"
"First off, he began by saying he was glad I was alright."
"Whoa."
"Yeah, then he told me everything, all about Dumbledore, about Voldemort…about my mum."
"Your mother?" Harmony frowned.
Harry nodded. "They were childhood friends, Snape and my mum. They practically grew up together." He chuckled. "He really wanted her to be in Slytherin with him, so they could be together…because he was in love with her."
Harmony's eyes widened.
Harry smiled sadly. "He still is."
"But," Harmony said, her mind struggling to adjust to the news, "she was a Muggle-born, how could he?"
Harry shrugged, "I suppose it didn't matter to him."
Harmony soaked this new information in, all the while feeling like she had heard this story before. Then she realized she hadn't heard this, she lived it. Snape was a half-blood like Voldemort, and Lily was a Muggle-born like herself. Lord Voldemort had said so himself: it didn't matter she was Muggle-born, considering how well she was at magic…and being his chosen one. Snape loved Lily, how could Voldemort be any different?
She shook her thoughts away. It felt strange to be thinking about love and Voldemort at the same time with Harry standing so nearby.
"So Snape loved your mother, then why did he hate you, her son?" she asked.
"Oh, because of my dad, I think," Harry explained. "Never got along well, he and my dad. Snape was jealous when my mum and dad fell in love, and since I look so much like my dad, well, he couldn't help but hate me, could he? Yeah, but Snape never stopped loving her."
Suddenly Mrs. Weasley's voice boomed from the kitchen calling everyone to dinner.
Harry looked back at Harmony and said, "We'll talk after we eat, yeah?"
She nodded. "Yeah, sure," and they walked together to the kitchen.
A large table, which had not been there when she and Voldemort were at Shell cottage, now filled up the space between the kitchen and the living room. The room was alive with people gathering around the table stacked with warm delicious food. As Harmony found a seat between Ginny and Ron, her heart was filled with contentment. She felt like she was a part of a family again. Although there was still a little distance between her and the others, they had accepted her presence, and that was all that mattered right now.
Harmony looked around at the group from her seat; Bill sat at the end of the table with the beautiful Fleur by his side, followed by the rest of the Weasley's, and then Tonks and Lupin who exchanged love-filled gazes every now and then.
Last to sit down was Moody who came into the room with his crooked nose stuck in The Daily Prophet. Harmony spotted the familiar picture of Voldemort on the cover. Before sitting down at the table, he folded the newspaper away and stashed it in his large coat. His magical eye spun onto Harmony when he took the seat directly across from her. She sensed he had just finished reading the article about her in The Daily Prophetbefore putting it away. Though his normal eye looked on hungrily while he stacked food onto his plate, his magical blue eye was trained on her throughout dinner remaining unusually still.
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Serpentine Series