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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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A dueling competition.
But not just any dueling competition. This one was considered the Underground competition where all able and willing witches and wizards around the world competed. Death Eaters and Ministry workers alike attended as though equals; the Underground competition was ground zero, all fighting happened on the dueling stage. The prize was big—a whole pouch the size of your stomach full of galleons. It was more than enough to get the Polyjuice potion ingredients. Any word of there being a competition was always exchanged by word of mouth for safety reasons. Snape had to travel around to confirm the rumors were true that it was really going to happen. He had recorded all the information he collected on the piece of parchment Harmony now held in her hands.
"A dueling competition?" she said. She gaped at Snape and then handed the paper back to him, "Well, good luck with that."
He raised an eyebrow at her.
Her arm dropped when he didn't take it from her. "You can't be serious. Me? I got an Exceeds Expectations in Defense Against the Darks, you know." She added quietly, "One of the only Outstanding's I didn't get in OWLs."
"You don't think you can do it," Snape said.
"No," she looked down in shame, "I couldn't. So many powerful witches and wizards will undoubtedly be there."
"Undoubtedly."
"Then why me?"
"Don't be so modest," he said. "I know you have been trained under the Dark Lord himself. You just don't know how well you are because you have not tested yourself properly against anyone else." Before she could reply, he turned around, and walked to the door. He looked back at her and beckoned a finger towards him for her to follow.
"Oh, I think I know what's coming," Harmony mumbled under her breath as she followed him out of the room.
She followed him outside. As they moved into the fields, Snape eventually held a hand up for her to stop, but he kept walking until he was about fifteen yards away. Then he spun on his heel to face her, his face void of emotion.
"Wand at the ready," he said holding his wand before him.
Harmony shifted from foot to foot, though she drew her wand. "Is this such a good idea?" she sighed.
Before the last syllable left her mouth Snape shot a fiery red spell at her, and if Harmony had not been quick enough she would have been flown off her feet.
"Sir!" she exclaimed, wide-eyed with surprise when she straightened herself.
"You want to know if you are capable," said Snape, "here is your chance." He cast another spell which Harmony deflected as though it were merely a fly. "Come now, fight back! It will get your mind off the horcrux."
"That's impossible," Harmony said through gritted teeth and she sent a curse at him, which he deflected with a snide smile. She knew she was only giving him what he wanted, but she felt a sudden urge to prove herself. A trait brought on by Voldemort's horcrux?
Snape would be on the offense, sending spells at her as slick and easy as breathing, leaving Harmony to defend herself at a steady pace. But eventually the tide would turn and she would be on the offense, attacking him with her large spell repertoire. Though his spells were somewhat powerful, he was slow to conjure them.
"You're holding back," Harmony said, feeling a twinge of annoyance. He doesn't think I can handle him, she thought bitterly. She heightened her performance and bombarded spell after spell at him. "Come on!" she shouted, "I thought you were trying to challenge me!" Every memory of Snape giving her trouble at Hogwarts now came pouring out in the form of her powerful spells. She gritted her teeth angrily and aimed a spell near his torso. Just before he deflected it, the light from the spell illuminated his face. His forehead was slick with sweat. Harmony immediately ceased fire and Snape doubled over hands on knees.
"Oh my god," said Harmony in awe. "You were actually trying."
Breathing hard, he looked up at her with narrow eyes. "At midnight we leave for the competition," he said. "We have a few hours until then, I suggest you work on your fighting technique—reacquaint yourself with spells."
Harmony nodded, watching him as he straightened up with difficulty and walked towards her.
As he passed by to head back to the inn he said, "You will win us that money, you understand?" He would have sound like he was giving encouragement if it weren't for his tone of voice. He wasn't being nice; he was simply demanding it from her.
Harmony didn't reply. She didn't like being told what to do; she wasn't used to it. If she didn't feel too heated she would have asked him what his plan of action was if she didn't win the money. She could imagine a snide "We will cross that bridge when we get there"coming from him.
For dinner, Harmony went downstairs and found the innkeeper in the kitchen, munching on his own meal of chicken pot pie and pumpkin juice. When she inquired to him about her and Snape's meal, he pointed to a tray of food off to the side on a counter.
When she returned to the room, Snape was sitting up in bed reading a newspaper. He quickly tossed the paper aside and out of view when she entered.
"What was that?" Harmony asked, setting the tray of food on the end of the bed.
"Oh." He looked down at the paper he tossed to the floor. "Nothing, just The Daily Prophet."
"Why did you try to hide it from me?"
He shrugged, but when Harmony didn't give up, he explained hesitantly, "I bought it in town today," he said. "I was going to show it to you when I returned…but then you shared your feelings you had for the Dark Lord, and I decided against it."
She walked over to the paper and stooped over to pick it up. "Well, if it's in The Daily Prophet, I'll likely find out about it eventually."
"Better later rather than sooner," she heard Snape mumble to himself as she straightened the paper to read the front page. The headline itself was enough to make her jaw drop.

You-Know-Who's Fate Soon to Be Decided
Harmony sat on the edge of the bed as she read. "Oh my," she whispered through fingers covering her mouth. "The Ministry is settling on a decision whether to execute him or not soon."
Snape nodded. "They expect to have a decision by this week's print."
She let the paper fall to her lap in dismay.
"This whole decision-making process was just ridiculous, in my opinion," Snape said. "Why he was even considered to be dropped from the execution is beyond me."
"It's because of people like me," she said to him fervently and glared at him over her shoulder. "We don't think it's right to kill someone who has no memory of their actions; it's murder, plain and simple. To execute him would be depriving him of a second chance."
Snape laughed sharply, mockingly. "Sounds like a pipe dream."
Harmony growled and she threw the newspaper at him. "I wouldn't expect a heartless ex-Death Eater to possibly understand!"
Forgetting her dinner, she left the room. She went downstairs to find the innkeeper and begged him to let her sleep in a separate room, hopefully free of charge. He took pity and gave her the keys to a room several doors down from Snape. When she was in her new room, she instantly lay down on the bed and cried. She had been holding back tears until now and it felt good to finally let them out.
She heard Snape's heavy foot falls approaching her room. He knocked, but she ignored him.
"I have your dinner here," he said. "You need to eat. You'll need the energy for the competition."
As if on cue her stomach grumbled. She sighed and said reluctantly, "Leave the tray by the door."
Harmony heard a clatter on the other side and she waited until she heard Snape's door close before retrieving her food. She ate what she could, but her mind was too befuddled with thoughts of execution. She imagined Dementors soaring in terrifyingly, surrounding Voldemort as they fed off his soul one by one until he was nothing but an empty shell. What sickened her most was she wasn't sure if she only felt guilty about his plight or if she was legitimately concerned about his wellbeing.
Did she ever care about him? Or did she just feel Voldemort's care for his heir?
Harmony set her food aside and closed her eyes, trying to focus her mind. She conjured an image of Voldemort, thinking of his stunning blue eyes, brows furrowed in intense concentration as they usually were. She tuned in to what exact emotion she felt when thinking of nothing but him. Instantly, she felt a need; a need to have him by her side and explain everything that was going on. How did he communicate with his Death Eaters so they knew where she was? If she was eventually caught by the Death Eaters, what would she do? How could she be a leader to them with him gone? Would she be able to go on with him dead?
With him executed, the world would be in jubilation, parading the streets in glee. She felt alone; she would be the only one who didn't wish him gone, save for his Death Eaters. I am the only one who may truly care about him, Harmony thought, feeling a heavy weight on her heart. Even his Death Eaters were frightened of him. She used to be, but not anymore; that made her unique compared to everyone else on the planet. Even Harry was frightened of Voldemort on some scale. Voldemort had no real family or friends, just frightened followers. And he had her.
Harmony tried to sleep. She needed to save up energy for the dueling competition. But she knew that wasn't the only reason she wanted sleep. Closing her eyes, she relaxed into the bed and her mind drifted. Slowly, her body grew heavy and numb, and then there was nothingness. Her world was quiet, then…
Quick, agitated raps on the door made her large brown eyes pop open.
"It's nearly time!" Snape's nasally voice shouted through the door. "We need to leave this instant!"
Harmony sat up in bed. Had a few hours flown by that quickly? She felt as though she had only just fallen asleep…She had fallen asleep, but there had been no appearance of Voldemort. What could that mean? He wasn't asleep in his Menkar cell, maybe. They both had to be asleep in order for them to meet in dreams.
It would have been nice to see him before she went off to fight in the competition; he could have given her a few pointers, like the mentor and student they used to be.
Harmony opened the door to her room, seeing Snape dressed in his heavy black cloak, wand in hand. She had a question ready for him the second she opened the door. It had popped into her mind the moment she woke. "Didn't you say everyone was going to this competition?"
"Yes."
"Including Death Eaters and Ministry workers," she clarified.
"Everyone," he repeated firmly.
"Okay." She nodded firmly. "Just give me a minute to get dressed."
"Hurry," Snape said impatiently.
She closed the door and began to untie the front of her shirt. She had made a decision; she was not going to hide her identity in any way at this competition. She was going to show the world just who she was, both Death Eater and Ministry worker alike. On her torso she wore a black corset over a black long-sleeved shirt. These were her clothes for as long as she had known Voldemort. She took off the shirt, leaving only her corset. Without her shirt, she bared much of her skin—from her arms to most of her chest.
Her Serpentine charm was plainly in view.
Am I going mad? she wondered as she quickly threw on her traveling cloak, covering her arms. She glanced at herself in the mirror, and she was momentarily paralyzed at what she saw. Her hair was a mess of waves hugging her heart-shaped face. A year ago this would have driven her mad, and she would've brushed it until it was as tidy as it would allow her. She was somewhat frightened by her eyes, dark and hard as they stared at her reflection. Didn't those same eyes used to be bright with excitement, not furrowed and guarded? She also noticed her skin had lost its color. She was pale, not as pale as Voldemort's pasty complexion, but she was getting there. She was wearing black, all black.
Death Eater instantly came to mind. It was like she was no longer pretending. She looked like a real Death Eater.
Harmony closed her eyes and took a deep breath, I am a good person, I am not a murderer, I am not Lord Voldemort…
More raps sounded on the door with triple the force and persistence as before.
"We leave now!" Snape shouted.
"Coming!" Harmony replied, unable to suppress the annoyance in her voice at his insistence. She left the room quickly. Snape guided her out of the inn and into the midnight hour.
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Serpentine Series