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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
- 6
- 7
- 8
Harmony lay on her bed and waited, not certain what she was waiting for. She could be waiting for Claudia to come back, Snape to come and get her, or anyone who might come to take away her lunch tray.
I just want someone to talk to, she sulked. I want to know more about my new mysterious life. Then her thoughts strayed back to when she had met Barty Crouch Jr. in the hallway. Well, maybe not him, she thought with a shiver of revulsion. She hated the way his cold, dark eyes roved over her body like she was a piece of meat.
After she took a nap to rest off some of the soreness from her lessons, Harmony made a decision. If no one would come here to tell her about her new life, then she would just have to go exploring and find out more herself.
After she checked her face scarf to be sure it was in place, and with her wand firmly in hand, Harmony left her little chamber before she could change her mind. The hallway was pitch black as she continued down, so she had to cast a Lumous spell to see her way.
The tip of her wand glowed a bright golden light over a hallway covered in cobwebs. She passed lots of other doors that possibly led to other guest rooms. Her black boots left impressions in the dust on the floor, and she deducted that no one else had been down this way for years.
Occassional pictures lined the walls, but they all seemed empty of people; it was so quiet down there, as though she were deep beneath the earth. Sconces lined these walls as well, but no candles lit up as she passed. She rounded corner after dark corner in her search to find anything that might tell her more about her new Master or his home.
Every door she passed had a small portrait on it, similar to her own, but the further she went the older the photographs became. Nineteeth to eighteenth century clothes adorned the men and women she saw.
I wonder if these are all relatives who once lived here together, she thought. She tried to imagine these hallways radiant and beautiful, like the people in the portraits.
Could they be relatives of Lord Voldemort himself? Harmony tried to imagine the Dark Lord as a family man who visited his family every now and then for tea and crumpets. She actually grinned at the ridiculousness of the thought.
He's a solitary man, she decided. There could be no question about that. He had no wife or children, not even any real friends, just the same fearful followers. She wondered if he was lonely sometimes, and then she wondered if that was why he had sent for her. Perhaps he was tired of being alone.
Harmony stopped short and shook the pitying thoughts from her head. Then she looked around, and spun in circles several times as she stared down one hallway and then another.
"Oh no," she groaned, then paced down several more corners. "Oh, no no no."
With a shuddering sigh she realized she'd become completely and utterly lost. All halls looked identical. She started to run, knowing she would have to come upon something eventually, even if it was just a dead end.
She cast the light of her wand on every door she passed, looking for the familiar portrait of the young woman who adorned her own chamber door, but never saw her. Either she had grossly underestimated the size of this mansion, or she had stumbled onto some sort of a spell.
Okay, if it's just magic, I can defeat it, she thought. Her eyes closed in concentration as she tried to determine what she was up against. A somewhat dark spell, cast to defend the place against intruders. They would wander endlessly through this labyrinth until they decided to rest in one of the rooms, and then they would become a prisoner.
But I am not a prisoner, Harmony told herself firmly. I chose to come here. She closed her eyes and walked down the endless hallways guided by her magic alone. Then she heard a peculiar sound that stopped her in her tracks. It was a rushing sound, like air being blown through a tube.
When she opened her eyes she spotted a candle emitting a bright green light. It was the only candle out of the hundreds of sconces she had passed, and Harmony walked up to the door beside it in a daze. This door, unlike the others, had no portrait at all.
What made this room so important that it had a candle lit next to it? Her curiosity climaxed, and she grabbed the brass doorknob and turned. It opened far easier than she had expected, almost as if the door had been newly made instead of lying abandoned for so many years.
Inside the dark room she saw a bed, and a faint silver light coming through the window opposite her. The moon outside must be full, she thought, and walked over to the window to look. A deep sigh made Harmony jump, and she gripped her wand tighter as she turned.
Harmony gasped when she saw a woman standing right next to her, staring up at the moon. She was wearing long, black robes that had made her invisible in the darkness. The hood of her cloak concealed her face, but her meloncholic sigh sounded as though it belonged to a young woman.
"H—hello?" she said softly.
The young woman didn't reply, but ran her hands over her belly, and Harmony noticed that she was very pregnant.
"Harmony!" called a familiar voice outside the room. She reluctantly left the woman's side and stole a glance out in the hall. A picture frame that hung a few yards away, which had been empty before, now contained the little witch from Harmony's chamber.
"Claudia?" she called out, happy to see a familiar face. "Claudia, who is this? Why is she all alone?"
Claudia waved her words away. "You must follow me right away. I will show you back to your room," she said, and jumped out of the picture frame and into one a little farther down the hall.
"But what about the woman?" Harmony protested. Suddenly, the door slammed shut, and try as she might the doorknob refused to turn again.
"I need to get you back," Claudia shouted with worry. "You've been exposed to the dark magic much too long."
Harmony stole one last glance at the door and imagined the woman standing sadly by the window. With a reluctant groan she ran after the little purple witch, her mind reeling with questions about the woman. But she was too out of breath from running to ask.
They rounded a total of four corners and Claudia stopped and said, "Here you are!"
"What?" Harmony exclaimed, "Was it really that close?" She looked at Claudia who was now standing inside a painting of an ocean with a lighthouse in the background.
"It's magic, Missy," Claudia chastised her. "A dark magic cast on the mansion to protect it."
"Yeah, I figured that out," Harmony replied.
"So, do you have any more plans to go out on your clever explorations?" Claudia jeered.
"Maybe," Harmony replied. Getting lost wouldn't stop her. That problem could be easily solved.
"Maybe?" Claudia gasped, her cheeks flushed with exasperation. "Oh no, you don't. If you get lost again and the Master finds out he'll burn my frame without hesitation. Mark my words."
"Don't worry," Harmony replied as she went into her room. "No one will find out."
Claudia grumbled as she popped from the ocean back into the sunset painting in Harmony's chamber. Harmony ignored her then, because she found that her lunch tray was gone and her dinner tray was waiting in its place. She hadn't realized how hungry she had grown during her little excursion.
"Are you going to tell me why that woman was all alone? She was pregnant—really pregnant. She'll be needing someone around to help her soon," said Harmony as she took several bites of her kidney pie.
With a sigh Claudia answered, "I told you, Missy, it's magic. And those paintings you made me walk through to look for you were filthy!" Claudia used her wand to clean off.
"You mean she wasn't real?"
"Oh, she was real all right, as real as you are now," Claudia explained. "But she was magically conjured. The room she was in is a special room, for anyone who might have the unfortunate chance of coming upon it."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"People who come upon that room are usually completely lost without reckoning, and if it weren't for me finding you there you would have never left the room, and been lost forever."
Harmony chewed her food in silence for a few moments, the said, "So I guess I should thank you, then."
"Well, of course you should thank me!" She scoffed, "I just saved your life. Ha! And he told me you were clever."
Harmony looked up at that. "Master said that?"
"He did indeed."
She felt the familiar glow in her stomach whenever her intelligence was complimented. Her cheeks burned. How could he ever think that after she'd put on such a ridiculous display at their lessons earlier? I made a fool of myself. She forgot that her scarf was off so she could eat, and her red face was plainly visible to the little witch.
Claudia smirked. "Yes. Master seems to think that you will learn quickly. Personally, I get the feeling he is very happy about that Severus Snape creature's choice."
She wanted to ask the witch what else Master had said, but when she looked up again Claudia was gone.
Sleep came soon after dinner, and she drifted off without even bothering to cover up. She dreamed of the young, pregnant woman she had found out in the labyrinth. She wished there was some way she could help, but found that her feet were stuck to the wooden floor, preventing her from coming any closer. All she could do was watch the woman stare out into the night with her sad little sighs.
It was nearly dawn when Harmony woke again, and all she could think about was returning to that room. She had to find the woman and help her. Harmony left the warmth of her bed and trudged into the bathroom, but cast the excuse-for-a-shower only a glance before she decided to use her wand to clean herself. Of course, it wasn't as good as a real bath, but it would have to do for now.
Harmony straightened out her clothes then straightened out the covers of the bed. She tied the black face scarf firmly in place and left to go to lessons.
The sun was peeking over the horizon and lit up the stain-glass windows when she entered. Master was sitting at one end of the large table. When she came in, he hardly even glanced at her.
"You're early," was all he said in greeting.
Good morning to you, too, my Lord, Harmony thought, but tamped down her sarcasm and opted to say nothing at all.
"Claudia Nymphaea told me of your adventure last night," he said as he twiddled his wand between his long, pale fingers. "Do you wish to tell me why you left your chamber when I specifically told you not to?"
He's talking to me like I am a child, Harmony complained internally. Did he speak to all of his followers that way? His eyes seemed to be issuing a warning she did not wish to heed, so instead her gaze fixed on his twiddling wand.
A thought occurred to her that made her panic: she was told to obey him if she wished to avoid any danger, and she had disobeyed him almost immediately. She didn't know what else to tell him except the truth. If she did not lie, perhaps he would be more merciful when he punished her.
"I couldn't stand it," she admitted simply, and his dark eyebrows rose in question. "My room feels like a cage, just waiting and waiting for something to happen. I wanted to take a look around, maybe find out more about where I am." She took in a deep, shuddering breath when she had finished. Surely there's no harm in wanting answers, she added in her mind. She wanted to say it aloud, but the Dark Lord continued for her.
"It was for your own protection that I told you not to wander," he said in a hard voice. "There are spells all over this abominable hovel. They are dangerous spells not meant for you, but they are there nonetheless, and they will kill you."
She nodded curtly and tried to keep the resentment out of her voice as she mumbled, "Yes, my Lord."
Master sat there for a few moments, looking her over in silence. Harmony could feel his piercing blue gaze as it penetrated her body.
Then, without a word, he jumped up from the table and glided over to her with his wand clutched in one fist.
She almost stumbled backward and prepared to run away from him, but he was there before she could do anything to protect herself. He had walked right up to her. Too close for comfort, she thought.
When he looked into her eyes, Harmony realized why she had found his appearance familiar on day one. It was his eyes—the very same hypnotic eyes as the woman in the portrait she had seen when she first walked into the mansion with Snape. There could be no doubt the young woman in the portrait and her Master was somehow related. Eyes like that were rare, and they shared exactly the same kind.
Too stunned to move, she watched as he grabbed her left hand in his. He had to have felt her trembling. He used his other hand to pinch her glove at the tip of the middle finger and gently slipped it off. Harmony gazed, transfixed, at her glove as he held it in his hand. His hand slid up her arm until it reached her elbow, and he grasped the smooth flesh there as he watched her face.
Before then, she had thought that since he was so pale his skin would be cold to the touch, but his hand actually felt warm against her.
So he is human after all, she thought and gulped when he brought his wand up and waved it over her arm. He muttered a spell under his breath, and a sudden surge of his power bolted up her arm and filled her entire being.
Harmony closed her eyes, half expecting it to hurt, but she could feel how gentle he was trying to be. His wand tapped her left arm, and she opened her eyes and looked into his face. His own eyes were closed, too.
She felt a disconcerting warmth coil its way up her arm and around her body. When she looked down at her arm she instantly wished she hadn't. A black snake was slithering out of Voldemort's wand and winding around the appendage as though it were a tree branch.
Master slid the other hand slowly back down her arm and over the snake as it finished coming out of the wand. The snake did not stop moving, but continued to slither up her arm and around her shoulders. It felt like a real snake would, and made her tense in anticipation that it would try to strangle her as it moved across her neck.
"Is it the Dark Mark?" she asked with a slight quiver in her voice as she ran her gloved hand over the long black tattoo in wonder. Her skin seemed to be just as smooth as ever even though the creature was clearly there.
"The Dark Mark? No, it's not the Dark Mark," he answered with a frown as he let go of her. "Don't you know what this is?"
Harmony gazed into his eyes and shook her head.
Voldemort raised his eyebrows in disbelief. He considered her for a moment before he spoke he explained in a rush, "It is for your protection. This charm was created by me; it is connected to me. So if you are ever lost or in harm's way, I will know."
"Know?" she whispered.
He nodded as he stepped away, and Harmony blanched. The charm is no better than a leash, she thought. He really is punishing me. She looked down at the entrapment in despair.
When they dueled this time, Harmony fought with determined frivolity. Because of her new bonds, she felt the need to show Voldemort that he could not weaken her resolve with a mere charm. She would keep trying to master whatever spell he threw at her, no matter how much more competent he was.
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Serpentine Series