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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
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Later that day, Harmony couldn't contain herself a minute longer and told Snape how hungry she was. It was near dinner time and he agreed they both could use something to eat. Harmony had been in too much of a hurry to put any food in her sac before leaving Shell cottage, and their run into trouble at Spinner's End left them no chance to pack essentials. Snape sent her to look for a road and find a traveler who may be interested in a trade. Before leaving, Harmony cast a glimmer spell on her face giving herself the appearance of a middle-aged woman with fiery red hair and green eyes. With Snape's money purse in hand, she set off on her own between the trees.
The glimmer spell would only work for half an hour or less, so Harmony walked at a quick pace, hoping to come across someone soon. Having traveled these woods before, she found one of the main roads quickly. It wasn't long before she spotted someone ahead of her going in the opposite direction away from town. As they approached each other, Harmony noticed it was a trader with a heavy sac piled high on his back. He was a young man who looked to be about in his twenties with a round face and bright eyes. He waved to her cheerfully as she drew closer and she smiled back.
"Evening, miss," he said. "Interested in a trade?"
"Yes, actually, I am," Harmony said, making her voice deeper to match her new womanly appearance. "Do you have any food?"
"Yes ma'am, I do."
"What do you have?"
"Um," his face scrunched up, but he broke out into a dazzling smile, "I forgot, just a moment." He dropped his large back pack to the ground and untied it to rummage through. "I'm a bit new to the trading business." He unpacked a couple parcels, "The trader, Zeth, is the regular for this road, but he's off leave. Rumor is he's working with the Ministry. Good for him, I say. That certainly has better pay than this."
Harmony's ears perked up. "Excuse me, did you say Zeth?"
"That's the man," he looked up at her from his sac. "Why? You know him?" When she nodded he went on, "Well, I'm not surprised. Zeth was always one for the ladies." He smiled up at her, "Especially the pretty ones."
She returned a smile, but her thoughts were on the man, Zeth. So he wasn't a Death eater, he wasn't a Ministry official. He was just some small-town trader.
The trader handed her a couple parcels of dried meat and cheese. "Have you heard anything about him lately?" he asked, "His friends in town are all interested."
"Last I heard he was on the hunt for Harmony Hangleton," Harmony said, suppressing the coldness from her voice. "I believe he intends to turn her in to the Ministry for the reward money."
The trader laughed. "Ah, that persistent little bugger. He always thought he was meant for something bigger. Well, I wouldn't be surprised if his persistence did pay off and he caught that woman."
"Don't count on it," Harmony said through gritted teeth, slapping a galleon in his open palm. She turned away from the trader and strode away. Her mind was on why a small town trader would suddenly leave their regular life behind to do something so large a task as hunting down the world's most wanted criminal. He undoubtedly wanted the reward money, but what made him so different from all the others that wanted to catch her?
Harmony looked ahead of her down the road. In her mind, she thought about where it led to. If she kept walking she would eventually meet a fork in the road, one of which would eventually lead to Shell cottage. The trader had said Zeth was the regular trader for this road. Harmony's mind suddenly connected the dots and she understood. Zeth had to have been around Shell cottage the day she ran away from Voldemort. He must've seen her and realized his chance to hunt her down. That was what gave him the advantage over all the others; he knew where she was. And now he had the Ministry on his side to help him bring her down.
Harmony felt a tingling sensation all over her face and she knew the glimmer spell was wearing off. She moved off to the side of the dirt road and found the path back to Snape. A little ways away from the circle of trees where she knew their campsite was, she saw nothing at all: no Snape, no fire, not even any foot prints in the leaves. But as she walked closer, she felt herself pass the barrier like walking through a light waterfall and Snape appeared, sitting by the fire. When he looked at her she held up the parcels of food.
"Dinner," she said, and she prepared their meal, splitting it up into portions so to save some for later.
"Did you run into any trouble?" Snape asked before he took a bite of meat.
Harmony shook her head and swallowed before saying, "No, but I did find out the man that's been hunting me, Zeth, used to work around here."
"Who is he?"
"Zeth used to work as a trader on the main roads over there. Like I said, I spent much of my time hiding in these parts, and I suppose he spotted me one day and quit his job to hunt me down." She mumbled, "Good luck with that."
"I wouldn't take it too lightly."
"I escaped him once," Harmony explained. "He tracked me to one of the inns nearby and I fought him off. I can do it again."
Snape sat back and looked up at the moon rising over the trees. "Perhaps it isn't such a good idea to stay at any inns."
"No," Harmony said quickly. "Please, I just stayed at that one inn for too long. It was my fault. I'd really like it if we could have a roof over our heads for once."
Snape pursed his beige lips. "I'll consider it tomorrow morning." He had taken off his cloak and spread it on a bed of leaves. He lay down, closing his eyes. "We should get our rest. Who knows how far we'll have to travel tomorrow?"
Harmony finished her dinner and doused the fire to a smolder with her wand. She set her sac at the head of her cloak to serve as a pillow; it wasn't too uncomfortable with her Slytherin dress inside. She lay back with a sigh and gazed up at the stars which were increasing by the millions as dusk turned to night. Back home she hardly saw any stars in the sky because of light pollution from the cities nearby. It was a comfort to believe the stars were the same wherever she was no matter how lost she felt or eccentric everything became; it was nice to know at least something never changed. Her eyes drooped with the heaviness of sleep and she watched the stars twinkle between her eyelashes. She wondered if wherever Menkar—the wizard asylum—was Voldemort could look out his window and see the same stars and moon, and although he must not remember her, hopefully he wondered whether somewhere out there somebody was thinking about him.
A twig snapped off to Harmony's left, making her gasp and sit up. When she looked around she saw nothing but the shadows of the trees. Perhaps the evening darkness was playing tricks on her mind, but it looked like one of the shadows weaved between the trees…as though it were made out of a cloak drifting in the breeze.
"Who's there?" she said. A part of her already knew who it was and she inched forward anxiously, her eyes searching the darkness unflinching.
The shadow approached where Harmony guessed the barrier was. Sure enough it was a black cloak draped over a head and broad shoulders. Both arms lifted and pushed back the hood of the cloak, revealing their face. Voldemort's pale completion shone in the moon as though giving off its own celestial light. Harmony's mind spun and she realized she hadn't taken a breath since she spotted him in the shadows. She forced herself to calm and take a deep breath. She sat forward on her cloak, crossing her legs before her. Voldemort took a step closer, his blue eyes never leaving her. His feet hardly made noise over the leaves. He loomed over Harmony, the moon shining behind his head like a halo. He bent to his knees, sitting on his haunches. He took a moment to look her over. Extending an arm, he reached a long pale finger out and traced her jawline softly. Harmony pressed her head into his touch so his hand caressed her cheek.
Harmony dared not to blink in fear he might disappear the moment her eyes were closed. "You're just a dream," she said. Voldemort's piercing eyes flickered to her lips when she spoke.
"I am real," he said, making Harmony's heart jump to her throat.
"You couldn't be," she said, shaking her head. Voldemort's hand fell from her face. "I know I was asleep when you came to me last night," she said, "and if you were really here and escaped from Menkar then I would have surely heard about it—" She stopped when he placed a finger on her lips.
"I am not here in body, but in mind." He moved and sat on her cloak next to her. She leaned into him and felt his warmth.
"But this is my dream, no matter how real it feels," Harmony said, looking up at him. "Dreams come from deep within the subconscious. I'm only seeing what I want to see; if you were really here you'd probably be trying to kill me."
Voldemort laughed, a sound rich within his chest. "Kill you," he mumbled, "how amusing."
She was annoyed by his mocking, but she couldn't help but crack a smile. "Am I wrong?" she asked. "The last time we saw each other in person your intentions were quite obvious."
"I was angry, inconsolable. I don't take being lied to easily, no matter how important you are to me."
"I never lied to you," Harmony said and after a pause finished, "I just didn't tell you the whole truth. There's a difference."
"You are difficult," Voldemort said with an edge to his voice. "A difficult woman indeed, full of false intentions and hidden agendas."
Harmony snorted, "You make me sound like a villain." She looked him straight in the eyes. "Those days are over. I'm done lying."
He nodded and watched her silently.
Harmony stared back and a moment of silence passed between them. "This is usually the part where you say 'I won't lie to you anymore either.'"
Voldemort narrowed his eyes, thinking. After a moment he shook his head, "No," he said, "No, my lying days are not yet over."
Harmony restrained giving him a dirty look and she said, "That's not what my subconscious wanted you to say, that's for sure. If I didn't dream that up then how and why are you here?"
He didn't reply right away, but looked around their surroundings, "Where are you?"
Harmony frowned, "What?"
He faced her again, setting his blue eyes on her. "Where are you right now?"
"Er-"
"It is not a difficult question," he added with his voice harsher than before. "Don't you know where you are? Just answer the question."
Harmony was taken aback by his sudden earnestness. "Er," she glanced around, "I'm in a forest, of course."
He scowled, "You know that is not what I meant. Give me a name, where is this forest?"
"I don't understand," Harmony said falteringly. "I'm near Shell cottage, so?"
Suddenly he grasped her shoulders and shook her, "Harmony, wake up, Harmony."
"W-what are you doing? Stop."
"Wake up!"
The forest, along with Voldemort, began to fade away, but the pressure on her shoulders didn't cease. She was given a sudden jolt and she opened her eyes to see Snape's face above her.
"Wake up!" he said. His face was frantic as he gave her another shake, jarring her head.
"M-what," she mumbled, placing her hands on his chest to push him away and stop his shaking. All he had to say was one word and it woke Harmony up in an instant.
"Aurors."
Harmony quickly sat up and both she and Snape began to pack their things. While she was throwing on her cloak, she looked out into the forest and saw countless wand lights like fireflies floating between the trees.
"What do we do?" Harmony asked in a hushed tone.
"It does not matter," Snape said while putting on his own cloak. "We just need to leave."
"Hold it right there!" a voice called out from the mass of wand lights. Dozens of stunning spells illuminated the forest, flying straight for Harmony and Snape. At the last millisecond Snape grasped Harmony's cloak pulling her down and out of the line of fire.
"Get us out of here!" Snape shouted in her ear.
He didn't need to tell her twice. The moment countless more spells went flying through the air, she Apparated them away with a snap!
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Serpentine Series