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
- 56
- 57
- 58
Harmony and Snape glided over the fields in the darkness as silent as shadows. The tall grass quivered in the sea wind at their knees, sounding as though a million small whispers were speaking to them. When the wind picked up, their whispers became louder and more urgent, and to Harmony it sounded as though they were trying to warn her.
Sssstop, turn back, don't go.
It was starting to frighten her and she eventually broke the silence by asking Snape, "Are you sure this dueling competition will be safe?"
Snape had longer legs than she, so he strode ahead of her a couple paces quicker. The strands of black hair which fell like fat rattails in front of his face now blew back as he walked. He replied without looking back at her, "Safe in what way?"
That wasn't the answer she had been anticipating. "Just safe. I'm not going to risk losing my life or anything of that sort."
She could almost hear the amusement in his voice when he replied, "No, not safe at all, I've heard rumors that lives are lost every competition. There is no fighting allowed beyond the dueling floor. But on the dueling floor, that is a completely different story. There are no rules there; all wand spells are allowed, which I'm sure include the Unforgivable Curses…But keep in mind they are only rumors."
"Of course," Harmony said quietly to herself with a twinge of sarcasm. She pumped her legs faster, her black boots pounding in the earth as she hurried to fall into step beside Snape. "So while I risk losing my life, you're just going to stand by and watch. I've never used an Unforgivable Curse. Did you know that? How do you expect me to compete with the kind of people who wouldn't hesitate to use the Killing curse?"
"You will do fine," he said. They passed a barrier of trees, leaving the light of the moon and entering into the shadows of the forest. Snape said while he raised his wand, "You need to have more faith in your abilities—Lumos—as well as who you are."
"What do you mean?" Harmony asked, looking over at Snape in the glow that emanated from the tip of his wand.
"You are the Dark Lord's heir, his chosen one. Any followers wouldn't dare kill you, and others would be too afraid to do it. It is the Ministry workers you need to be wary of. Any ally of Dumbledore and the Minister of Magic will be trying to kill you on the dueling floor."
Harmony gulped so loud Snape must have heard, because he quickly replied, "Trust your abilities. You are stronger than you know."
"I would feel flattered by that if it weren't for the fact you could be sending me to my death right now." She looked ahead, trying to make out the shadows of the trees in Snape's Lumos. "Not much farther I hope," she said, keeping her voice light.
He nodded, "Yes, we will Apparate the rest of the way soon enough."
"Ah," she bobbed her head and they walked in companionable silence for a few moments. She could only keep her mouth closed for just a minute before she felt compelled to say, "So say there is going to be a lot of Ministry workers there…"
Snape grumbled, "Yes?"
"With so many criminals at this competition, it would be like an Auror's buffet. They could just take over and arrest who they want, couldn't they?"
Now Snape looked over at her, his eyes meeting the corners and looking over her face. A sly grin played at the corners of his lips. "That's why they call it the Underground tournament."
His reply hadn't done anything to sooth her nerves as she had hoped.
"But," Snape continued quickly, "the minute you step off the Underground dueling competition grounds you no longer have immunity from the law. I'm sure there will be people waiting to take you."
He stopped, and with a look around Harmony noticed they were in a small meadow circled by trees. She looked to Snape and he was staring down at her.
"The second we leave we must be very quick, before anyone can give chase, understand? Even if that means leaving me behind, you must flee."
Harmony nodded in agreement. "But I might be a bit slow," she said with a small hopeful smile on her lips, "being weighed down by my prize bag of galleons."
One corner of his lips twitched upward, but he said nothing as he curled his fingers around her shoulders and closed his eyes.
They Apparated and their bodies snapped out of and into existence. Where they went was void of any wind and it was warmer compared to the forest next to the sea. Snape unclenched his fingers from her and they looked around their dark surroundings. They stood at the peak of a small grassy hill in the country side. Lights from farm houses sprinkled here and there across the landscape.
"Er," Harmony mumbled, "Are you sure this is right?"
"Yes," Snape said confidently. He stretched a cloaked arm out and pointed in the darkness.
Harmony followed his finger and spotted a large warehouse at the bottom of the hill. A dim yellow light spilled out from the cracks in the wide door. As she watched, the large door opened and a shaft of light illuminated the ground and a couple of long shadows. Harmony pulled back her focus and for the first time noticed the many dark forms coming in at all sides. Men and women in their long flowing cloaks appeared in the darkness, gathering towards the same central location. So many people, Harmony thought with trepidation. Just in the short time she watched the others enter the warehouse, she expected the large place to be packed wall-to-wall. Snape started his way down the hill and Harmony followed; her eyes were fixated on the ground so she didn't trip.
"Keep on the lookout around you," Snape said. "You never know when someone might—"
There was a snap in front of Snape and he collided, face first, into a wizard's back. The wizard called out in alarm, but straightened himself and walked away without a word when he saw he wasn't in danger.
"Apparate," Snape finished in a weary voice, he brought up a hand to rub his large nose which had taken most of the impact.
On their way to the warehouse, Harmony let Snape take the lead in case they ran intoanymore accidents. As they drew nearer, the yellow light from inside allowed her to catch a glimpse of those around them, and Harmony could make out the features of witches and wizards in the gloom. Some pristine looking wizards appeared to be Ministry material, but none met her eye. When she and Snape followed a group of witches past the large door inside, she expected the place to be completely full. But to her surprise they came upon a crowd that only looked to be thirty to forty strong. She looked up at Snape inquiringly, but he didn't seem fazed.
"Where is everyone?" she asked him, but he only shook his head, his dark eyes searching the crowd.
The large warehouse was dark except for a couple magically sustained balls of flame floating above the crowd, which were gathering at the far end. The atmosphere was abuzz with anxious and excited conversation and there was some kind of whirring sound, like metal machinery going on the other side of the crowd.
"We have to register first," Snape said beckoning her to follow and he stood at the end of one of the many lines waiting. As the people in front of them decreased and the number behind increased, Harmony noticed some people stood around with glowing bracelets on their wrists. Some emitted a deep blue color, while she spotted others that shone a yellowish gold.
As they drew closer to the front of the line and closer to the sound of the mechanic whirring, Harmony could feel eyes on the back of her head as strong as though they were physically poking her. Annoyed, she spun around to face the large crowd behind her and people quickly avoided her gaze. Did she detect fear in their eyes? Could they see who she was? A part of her wanted to wrap her arms around herself protectively and crawl into a corner. These people could harm her—kill her—right now if they wanted.
She already had a reputation to uphold. These people thought she was a Death Eater; they had no idea Voldemort's very soul resided within her. She straightened her shoulders, lifted her chin, and stared straight ahead; I must not present any sign of weakness, I must appear strong but passive, she thought. In her mind she could imagine Voldemort murmuring into her ear, "That's my girl," and a shiver ran up her spine.
Now only a couple witches and wizards stood before them in line and Harmony peered between their cloaked bodies. Against the far wall were two elevators whirring at full blast. The bars on the elevators were a polished gold, and they looked out of place compared to the old rusty machinery within the warehouse. She noted the elevators were being filled to their maximum with people.
Harmony observed the process: A couple wizards—with their bodies built like bodyguards—stood at the front of each line. Hung before them in the air was a parchment and quill. The men asked the name of each person and whether they were dueling or not. The quill scratched the names on the parchment, and then slowly faded away as though the ink was being sucked into the paper. When people were directed to an elevator, a blue or gold bracelet glowed on their wrist.
Harmony and Snape stepped up to a burly red-haired wizard. His eyes didn't leave the parchment when he asked in a deep bass voice, "Name?"
"Severus Snape."
The man blinked and nodded his head in recognition to the potions professor. He didn't question Snape on whether or not he was a Death Eater, and Harmony hoped she'd be treated the same.
"Dueler?"
"Trainer," Snape replied. Harmony raised an eyebrow up at him and she saw the corners of his lips curving upward.
The guard grunted as he pointed his wand at Snape's wrist and a strand of gold light came out, wrapping itself around like a bracelet. When complete, the guard flicked his wand away and asked again, "Name?"
Harmony stepped forward and she answered, "Harmony Hangleton."
Immediately the buzz of conversation throughout the warehouse ceased until the whirring of the elevators was all that could be heard. Harmony felt every pair of eyes turn to her.
Suddenly her chest exploded in pain, burning her as though she had been set on fire. She had never experienced anything like it, and for a moment she wondered if she had been struck by spells. But when she looked down at her chest, she looked same as usual, no gaping hole, no blood, and no fire. She realized then it was simply her Serpentine charm. Her charm was picking up every single person's desire to kill her in that moment. It was screaming at her she was in danger, and she nearly doubled over in the pain.
Snape frowned at her. He saw the agony in her eyes.
Harmony bit her tongue until she tasted the warm salty liquid of blood. She told herself over and over not to show any weakness, she had to stay strong.
The guard's face fell as he stared at her wide-eyed, gaping. "Leaping gargoyles," he muttered under his breath. Talking started up again around her, no doubt she being the new topic of conversation.
Harmony resisted the urge to glance about her; she didn't want to see the looks fear, anger, and surprise in everybody's faces. She swallowed a mouthful of blood and cocked an eyebrow at the guard as if to say, "Whatever is the matter?"
Snape looked around them warily.
The red-haired guard had to physically shake himself from his shock before he could utter another word. He said with a skeptical smile, "I've come across many Death Eaters in these competitions." He blew out a lungful of air, his cheeks puffing out. "But never one as wanted as You-Know-Who himself."
Harmony opened her mouth to speak, but froze. This was the first time she had ever witnessed the fear people had of her. It was an appropriate reaction, of course, but she wasn't accustomed to it. What could she say? "No, I'm not a Deatheater," but that would just be ridiculous. How about, "I'm not You-Know-Who"? Also a lie because of the horcrux, but it wasn't so terrible a lie as the first.
"I'm not Voldemort," she coughed out, making it almost sound like a question. She cringed when every person around her tittered angrily.
"Don't say his name!" the guard hissed and rubbed his temples, "Blimey." He looked over at another guard and asked, "What should we do, mate?"
The other guard shrugged and nodded. "Let her in."
Their guard sighed and said, "Yeah, alright." He stepped up to her, "You're dueling, I presume?"
She nodded.
"Thought so." He flicked his wand out and pointed it at her, mumbling under his breath. A glowing blue strand emit from the tip and wound around her wrist. As it completed, the guard ran his green eyes over her face. Harmony met his eyes, not looking away.
"Bloody hell," he mumbled, his lips hardly moving, "you're just a kid."
She looked away when the bracelet was done and the guard flicked his wand back, breaking the strand. He took a step away and motioned a hand to the elevators.
"On the right," he directed, not taking his eyes off Harmony.
Snape bobbed his head in thanks as they went to the elevator on the right side of the warehouse. He leaned over and spoke in her ear, "I started to doubt there for a minute."
Harmony sighed in relief, nodding.
But their relief was short lived when they looked over and saw who was joining them on the elevator ride down.
Harmony inwardly groaned. How did they not spot them in line while they were waiting?
"Fancy running into you, my Lady," Mag called as he strutted up to them with Marek gliding gracefully at his side. "And she's competing, too," he said when he glanced down at her blue bracelet. He elbowed Marek lightly in the ribs, "This should be interesting."
Harmony looked down at their own wrists and noticed both of them wore blue dueler bracelets.
- 56
- 57
- 58
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Serpentine Series