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
- 64
- 65
- 66
She lay back on the bed and Voldemort draped himself on top of her. He wedged himself between her legs and kissed her hard, weaving their fingers together. It became obvious he was much more hesitant to move things along. He kissed her skin slowly and deliberately as though they had all the time in the world. Harmony recalled that he had been very different the first time they were together at Shell cottage. He was hurried and frantic to become one with her. Maybe now he wanted to memorize every part of her as though afraid he would lose traces of her existence. Harmony tried to relax and let him savor her, but she couldn't suppress her greediness. She knew they didn't have all the time in the world. They only had hours or less, and after that they may never see each other again. What if the next time she fell asleep, waiting for his touch, he never came because he was dead? Harmony swallowed back a cry of sorrow.
Voldemort was running his lips over her collarbone when Harmony wrapped her legs around his hips. His mouth paused over her neck when she did this, and she knew she had succeeded in sending the message that she wanted to go further. With satisfaction, he brought a hand back to grasp her thigh, but he continued to only kiss her. Harmony suppressed a sigh of impatience.
"What's the rush?" he asked, his lips brushing like butterflies over her throat.
"You're going to be dead within days or sooner. We're never going to see each other again."
At the word "dead" Voldemort froze and then he lifted his lips from her throat to hitch up on his elbows, looking down at her.
"Right," he mumbled. "I forgot."
"You forgot?" Harmony exclaimed in disbelief. "How can you forget that you're going to be executed?"
He smiled down at her with hooded eyes. "Perhaps I only wanted to think about being with my heir. Can you blame me?"
She bit her lip and shrugged.
"No," he whispered, bringing a hand up to brush her bangs away from her eyes. He trailed his thumb down her jaw line and over her lips which were swollen from kissing. His mouth curved upward in a smile as he stared down at her. His blue eyes shone bright even though the only source of light came from the moon outside the window. Long, black lashes adorned his eyes and Harmony brushed away a stray lash on his cheek. He brought his lips to her hand and kissed her palm. He tilted his head thoughtfully. "You're sad."
Harmony sighed deeply and her chest pressed against his. "What am I going to do after you die? I can't keep running forever. The Ministry is bound to catch me eventually. I'm afraid I'll be alone to handle everything that's about to come."
Voldemort relaxed against her and spoke into her ear. "You don't have to be afraid."
Harmony closed her eyes, focusing on the feel of his heart beating against her chest. She wished she could believe him. It would be so easy to pretend.
"If there was some way for me to see you again before you die, I'd do it," Harmony murmured.
"I'm glad to hear it," he said with a satisfied lilt in his voice.
"But you wouldn't recognize me."
He grunted.
"I wonder if it'll hurt," she whispered as though reluctant to speak the words allowed.
"Hm?"
"When you die, will I feel anything?"
He didn't reply, only stared down at her with an unreadable expression. His fingers on one hand methodically twirled around a lock of her hair. Unwind, twirl, unwind, and again. Then he uttered the words Harmony least wanted to hear.
"You need to wake up."
Her brown eyes went wide at his sudden change of mind.
"No," she said, gritting her teeth in order to keep the pain from her voice.
He nodded slowly and said more quietly, "You need to wake."
"No." She tightly shut her eyes and the corners stung as tears threatened to fall. "I'll never see you again."
He closed his blue eyes like stars snuffing out their light. He brought his lips to hers, and kissed her for a long time before he whispered, "Wake up, my dear."
Every existence of the dream dripped away like a painting destroyed in rain. The weight of his body and the beating of his heart faded away. The moonlight brightened into the penetrating sunlight, searing her eyes behind her lids. Her body felt heavier as the clothes and blankets appeared. Her eyes popped open and she sat up. She tore at the blankets, hating the way they tangled around her body like a snake. Jumping to her feet, she gave a cry of exasperation and kicked the coffee table in front her. Tears of pain filled her eyes as she hopped up and down, holding her foot.
Then she saw Narcissa standing in the entryway to the living room. The witch was holding a tray of steaming food and blinked at Harmony with a blank expression.
"Bad dream?" Narcissa finally asked.
Harmony blew her bangs out of her face and said briskly, "It was quite pleasant actually." She turned around to throw her pillow and blanket back on the couch.
"Well, I wouldn't blame you," Narcissa said, walking in to set the food on the table Harmony had banged her toe on. "Any moment of sleep must be a sweet release compared to what you've been through."
Harmony sat on the couch and thanked Narcissa for the meal. The swirl of Narcissa's dress wafted the scent of the food towards her. When she sniffed heavily, she expected her mouth to water, but instead her stomach rolled and she felt acidic bile rise in her chest. Her hands shots over her mouth and nose, and she turned away from Narcissa.
"Um, I actually don't think I'm all that hungry."
"No?" Narcissa asked, placing her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow down at the young witch. "Well, when you do get hungry you'll have this here to eat." She shook her finger at her. "I'm not going to cook a whole new meal for one person."
"Yes, ma'am," Harmony replied meekly behind her hand. She sat on the couch and waited for the nausea to pass.
Before she dressed, Narcissa assisted in applying her burn salve. Already her burns were starting to heal, but they still stung when anything rubbed against them. She followed Narcissa into the kitchen. Snape and Lucius were seated at the heads of the dining table. Harmony took the empty seat beside Draco. She remained quiet so as to go unnoticed. Her stomach still quivered as though any moment she'd be horribly sick. Narcissa went straight to the stove and stirred some boiling substance in a pot. Everyone listened to Draco while he rambled on.
"We should buy tickets as soon as possible. They're going to be gone faster than you can say 'You-Know-Who?'" he chuckled in his boyish, immature way.
"Tickets?" Harmony asked.
Draco seemed to ignore her, but his voice rose as though hoping she'd hear more clearly. "Dad, you have lots of enormously rich contacts, I'm sure you could somehow get us good seats. I wore my best clothes today, just in case." He ran a hand over his black suit and green tie. "I want to look good for the cameras; there will no doubt be cameras. You think they'll get pictures of the crowd?" he asked seemingly no one in particular. "I know, we'll get a seat near the Minister, then we'll be more likely to end up in a picture-"
"What tickets?" Harmony asked more fervently, leaning forward in her seat.
Draco didn't look at her, but a corner of his lips twitched. Without a word he picked something up off his lap, and Harmony realized he had been waiting for that precise moment he could show just her. He had the Daily Prophetin his hands and he held up the front page for Harmony to see in all its unspeakable glory.
Everything in her mind stopped, and she felt as though her heart had been crushed underfoot by a troll, picked up by a sharp-fingered pixie and tossed into the waiting jaws of a Hungarian Horntail.
"You-Know-Who to be EXECUTED at Midnight!"read the front page. Beneath was a picture of Menkar asylum, an island in the center of a cold, empty ocean.
As Harmony struggled to find her breath, Draco spoke, no doubt reveling in her reaction, "Rumor has it the Daily Prophetmade history with this print. They've never sold this many copies until today."
"Tickets?" Harmony asked when she found her voice, which came out lower and more threatening than usual. "They're selling ticketsto his execution like…like some kind of show?"
"And serving popcorn and pumpkin juice for the audience, just like the good old days," Draco replied, smirking at his father who only closed his eyes and shook his head.
"It's…it is positively monstrous," Harmony hissed, digging her nails into her palms.
"A monstrous execution fit for a monster. Don't you think so?" Draco asked, looking over at her with a snide smile on his pale lips.
Before she could reply, Harmony had to hold her hand over her mouth. There it was again: that detestable sensation of acidic bile running up from her stomach, into her chest, and then her throat. She gagged, turned towards Draco, and threw up in his lap.
Draco shouted in outrage and jumped up from his seat. Harmony gripped onto the table's edge with white knuckles. Draco ran out of the room to change his clothes, angrily muttering under his breath. While Lucius only desired to be as far away from the sick young witch as possible, Narcissa quickly came to her side, holding her hair out of her face. Harmony doubled over, her knees hitting the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Snape flee the room. Narcissa wrapped one of Harmony's arms around her neck and picked her up off the ground. As the witch carried the sick girl to a bedroom, Harmony relieved her stomach three more times. Her face was burning from the humiliation.
Snape appeared again when Harmony was writhing on the bed in the spare room. He encouraged her to drink from a bottle he brought, but the potion tasted as bad as her sick and she choked it back.
"She doesn't have a fever," Narcissa said as she tried to console the sobbing girl.
"Something she ate, perhaps," Snape suggested.
"Draco said they ate sandwiches last night, but he's fine."
"Then maybe it is grief," Snape said, twirling the empty potion bottle between his long fingers thoughtfully.
Narcissa chirped a laugh, "For the death of the Dark Lord? Not even Bella would have become this physically ill in grief. No, this must be something else." She thought a moment then looked hard at Snape. "Please leave us for a moment, Severus."
He bowed out, closing the door behind him.
Harmony was seated on the bed with her knees huddled up to her chin.
"Now, girl," Narcissa began in a demanding tone. She sat calmly and gracefully at the edge of the bed. She leaned forward, her white blonde hair falling over her shoulder and Harmony met her eyes. Narcissa continued, saying each word precisely, "I want you to be absolutely honest with me." She paused to raise a pencil thin eyebrow at the young witch. "Can you do that?"
A single tear quietly fell, and she slowly nodded.
Meanwhile, the three men sat in the living room. Lucius had grown tired of his son's talk about seeing the execution in all its glory, so he served them wine to give Draco something to occupy his mouth. Snape paced while he sipped his, but after polite pressings from Lucius, he sat down in a green armchair between the Malfoy's. Snape made small talk about how Lucius' new work was going, but his mind was on the witch upstairs. He'd done what he could with the potion he gave her, now he could only wait.
Why did he care at all? Dumbledore had asked him all those years ago to protect Harry Potter and he agreed…because he was Lily's son. But he agreed to protect Granger because, in a way, he considered himself to be making up for when he didn't protect Lily. He still had his moments where he could kill savagely in vengeance for his murdered beloved, and protecting this Muggle-born witch was his salvation from his harrowing guilt.
Snape nodded absent-mindedly as Lucius droned on. But they were both interrupted when a door slammed upstairs, making the shards in the chandelier chink together. The two Malfoy's and the potions professor listened as heavy footsteps stomped down the stairs. Then Narcissa appeared, looking furious. She held her arms stiffly at her sides, hands in fists, and her cold eyes now boiled. She strode into the living room and went straight up to Snape.
"You should be ashamed of yourself!" she screeched.
Snape quirked an eyebrow at her tone.
"That poor girl," Narcissa went on, "relied on you to protect her and you had to take advantage of her vulnerability! I would have never expected this from you Severus Snape. I know you have a soft spot for Muggle-borns, but this is outrageous!"
"What are you raving about, Narcissa?" Snape asked, taking a drink of his wine. "Make yourself clear-"
"She's pregnant."
Snape lurched forward, spewing out his wine. He stared up at Narcissa like he was waiting for the punchline of a joke. But it never came.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" she snapped, glaring down at him.
"What are you implying?'"
"You know very well," she replied. "She has been with you all this time, has she not?"
"A while now, yes, but-"
"Knowing this, I asked her if you two shared a bed, and she confirmed it."
"That is true, but-"
The Malfoy men's eyes grew large in shock.
"How could you?" Narcissa said angrily. "She is just a child! No older than Draco!"
Snape shot up from his seat so he loomed over the witch and he thundered, "I am not the father, Narcissa!"
"How are you so sure?"
He made sharp motions with his hands, imploring her to listen. "I would never dream—from the deepest recesses in my conscious—of having an intimate relation with that young witch."
Narcissa frowned at his reply. "But she said you shared-"
"To save money," he explained carefully, "we rented a single room at the inns to save galleons and that required us to share. There's nothing more to it."
The awkward silence hung heavily in the air as everyone avoided one another's gaze.
"Oh," Narcissa whispered almost inaudibly. Her cheeks flushed and she shrugged one shoulder. "Then who is the father?"
"I am not completely sure," Snape admitted, and added darkly, "But I may have an idea."
They exchanged curious glances.
Narcissa said slowly, "You couldn't possibly mean it's-"
"This is ridiculous," Lucius added. "Of course it couldn't be-"
Draco finished their thoughts by swearing loudly in a way that made Narcissa go, "Draco!"
She sighed, rubbing her temples. Then she held up her hands for the men to calm down. "We mustn't assume," she said. "I will go and ask her myself, yes?" Without a reply she turned on her heel and flew from the room.
"I don't believe this," Lucius hissed under his breath, collapsing on the couch. He swiveled his white blonde head up to Snape. "Do you really think it's possible?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Snape said. "The Dark Lord had been very keen on receiving a new follower, and he had been desperate on giving this person everything. What's unbelievable is he gave everything to her."
"The Death Eaters will feel a renewed sense of power once they find this out," Lucius said. "They will do anything now to possess her and keep her safe."
They ceased all conversation when they heard quick footsteps. Narcissa appeared and her face was creased with worry.
"She's gone!"
"What do you mean, Narcissa?" Snape asked, going up to the witch. "Where is she?"
"I checked the bedroom, she wasn't there. I checked the bathroom, she wasn't there either. Then I saw the back door was wide open. I rushed to look out and see if I could spot her, but she was already gone!"
Snape took a moment to sink this news in, and then he strode out of the living room. They all followed him as he rushed upstairs and entered the spare room. He opened the drawer of the writing desk, but when he found it was empty, he slammed it shut and rested his hands on top.
His back was to them when he said as calmly as possible, "The tournament prize money is gone." He barked a laughed and shook his head. "She took all the money we were going to use for Polyjuice potion ingredients."
"She's going to run," Lucius said.
"No," Snape said, turning around to face them. His voice was surprisingly light with amusement. "No, she's tired of running. I think she's going to do the complete opposite. She's going to take the bull by the horns and head straight into trouble."
He stared at the Malfoy's, his obsidian eyes hard and unwavering.
"She's going to save him."
- 64
- 65
- 66
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