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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
- 72
- 73
- 74
Her feet wanted to move back and she felt as her shoulder blades pressed into his chest. But another part of her, the part that was irrevocably intertwined with her old master, wanted to run towards the hoard of witches and wizards like they were her long lost family. Voldemort's hand that was stroking her charm pressed harder into her back, as though he sensed her reluctance. He pushed her gently forward and Harmony felt no choice but to go on. She left the tent and stood at the very peak of the hill, looking out over the city of people. She felt Voldemort at her elbow and saw out of the corner of her eye as he lifted his wand to his throat.
"Sonorus," he muttered and when he opened his mouth again to speak, out came his voice as loud as thunder. "Witches and wizards…I have the highest pleasure to present to you…your Lady!"
The sound that followed completely drowned out Voldemort's thunderous voice. Hundreds of people cheered at once and cast bursts of light into the air above their heads like fireworks. The ground shook beneath their feet like an earthquake. Chills crawled over Harmony's body.
When he said he had been recruiting while undercover, she hadn't expected this. Not of this magnitude! This was nothing compared to when he set the attack on Hogwarts; all those months ago he had an army, strong in loyalty. Harmony remembered the night she watched from her bedroom window as the reasonably large group of followers left Riddle mansion to venture out to Hogwarts. But now?
Harmony shook her head in disbelief. She looked over at Voldemort and she could see the rapture gleaming in his eyes. She wanted to say to him, "What have you done?" But when she opened her mouth, out came, "What have I done?" in a whisper. She looked back at the city of people, cheering in jubilation, and she wondered: were all these people really here because ofme? Why was Voldemort successful in recruiting so many people now, of all times? The only difference between then and now was that now shewas involved. It seemed like the only plausible explanation.
And suddenly Harmony felt an unexpected sense of purpose.
She looked over at Voldemort again and wondered if she was just absorbing his emotions. It was so difficult now to tell the difference between her feelings and his. Being around him was like being around an alteration of herself; he wasn't her, but their minds were the same.
Their eyes met and she felt a sudden jolt in her middle.
"Go on," he said, tilting his head towards the people.
Her brown eyes widened in questioning.
He beckoned towards them more insistently. "These people think of you as their Lady. They already know you are second in command; now is the time you must prove it to them."
"What do you mean?" her voice quivered slightly.
"Go down there," he ordered, "and present yourself to them. They need to see you for themselves."
"Please," she hissed between her teeth. "Maybe we should talk about this first-"
In one motion, he was at her elbow, lips against her ear, hand pressed into the small of her back. "There is plenty of time to talk later. Trust me. We have much to discuss. Now go…mingle."
Harmony tilted her head to the side to look up into his eyes. She knew better than to disobey a command, particularly in front of everyone. So she swallowed back the knot tightening in her throat and turned to face the masses. A breeze lifted her hair and played with the hem of her green Slytherin dress, the dress that used to belong to Merope Riddle, descendant of Salazar Slytherin. When she began walking down the hill to greet them, the cheers reignited like a dry log thrown into a blazing fire. She heard Voldemort's steps some distance behind her and she felt relieved; he wasn't going to abandon her to handle them alone. They slowly approached her as well, interested but hesitant. Did they expect her to be a merciless tyrant like their master? She didn't blame them if they did, but she promised herself that she would do whatever she could to show these people that she was not a power-monger like Voldemort. She would show them that she was different, kinder, even if that was to their Dark Lord's dislike.
When she reached the bottom of the hill, the people spread out before her like an ocean, their heads moving up and around like waves in order to see their Lady clearer. Harmony's eyes scanned the hundreds of faces, almost hoping to see someone, just one person she recognized. There were people of all ages from the crotchety old wizards with long cotton white beards, to children, wide-eyed and curious about the witch before them. A small girl with curly dark hair unclasped her little hands from her mother's robes and stepped hesitantly closer to Harmony. Harmony looked over at the little girl and a smile instantaneously spread on her lips. She prepared to bend to a knee and greet the girl but the mother was quick to snatch her up into her arms, smiling apologetically at Harmony.
The silence had gone on for far too long. Harmony sniffed, raising her nose into the air as she took in the rustic smells that wafted over from the encampment. Wood fires, food, sweat, and damp grass. The people reeked of it, but despite the less-than-exquisite settings, the people all greeted her with inquisitive smiles. She admired them, but pitied them at the same time. How could they have so much faith in a tyrant and a teenage girl who had never cast a killing curse? It made Harmony feel over-important, and when she spoke all she wanted was their approval—and Voldemort's.
"My good people," she began; her voice cracked embarrassingly, so she swallowed and tried again. "My family, I'm sure most of you have travelled great distances to be here. And for that you have my undying gratitude." What next, oh god, what to say next? "And…if only Salazar Slytherin could see us now." There were cheers from the crowd, green sparks flying into the air. She nodded politely and held a hand up for silence. Suddenly, she felt that familiar thrill as Voldemort filled her with his emotions. His pride was giving her strength, and with a strong tone, she continued, "Never have I seen an army of this multitude. Before, there were followers, there have been believers. But now…" she opened her arms up brazenly to them as though to embrace the sea of people, "Now this changes everything. As your Dark Lord once told me, with enough people anything is possible." She bowed her head to them and cheers erupted twice as loud as before. When Harmony unfolded from her bow, she looked over her shoulder at Voldemort expectantly. His eyes were on her, taking in her every feature with a proudness Harmony had never seen before. He had on a pleased smile and nodded gently in agreement.
Good, she thought, he's happy. That's was all that mattered. Now what?
Harmony looked back at the mass of people. The little girl with dark hair had squirmed from her mother's arms and dodged between legs, breaking free from the line and running right up to Harmony. Harmony bent down to look at the girl eye to eye. The little girl stopped a foot from her, her large eyes looking deep into Harmony's. The little girl stared at her as though reading whether or not to be afraid. Harmony smiled and like magic a grin appeared on the little girl's tiny rose petal lips, and she wrapped her skinny arms around Harmony's neck. Harmony enveloped her and picked her up from the ground. There was something about the dark-haired girl that sucked Harmony's attention in like a black hole. Maybe it was because she desperately wanted these people to see how kind she was compared to Voldemort…or maybe the girl's dark hair and large eyes reminded her of another little dark-haired girl: the one she had seen in her dreams.
Now that she was secretly pregnant, Harmony had a new fascination towards children. She had never been around many at home in the Muggle world since she was an only child. But she had baby-sitted her neighbor's two little boys occasionally when she was home from Hogwarts during the summer. Timothy and Emmett were rowdy like most boys their age; Harmony believed she had handled them as well as any babysitter could. But motherhood had to be something entirely different. Would she be a good mother?
The little girl loosened her arms from Harmony's neck and looked at her full on in the face. She bowed her little head, making her black curls bounce, and she said in a sweet voice, "My Lady."
Harmony's heart melted at how adorable she was, and she laughed, turning around to Voldemort to see if he had heard. But when her eyes locked onto him, her laugh faded from her lips and she frowned. He was looking at her in the strangest way, as though a plethora of thoughts had invaded his mind, filling his brain with provoking ideas. Curious, Harmony keyed in to his emotions and felt utter bewilderment. His blue eyes drifted down and stared at the little black-haired girl as though she was a strange specimen, and then he looked back at Harmony, his eyes far away.
"My Lord," Harmony said hesitantly.
He blinked and raised his eyebrows at her questioningly.
"Are you alright?" she asked, not too loud for others to hear, but loud enough to be heard over the sound of the crowd.
A corner of his lips quirked upward as though she had told an amusing joke, "Of course I am alright." He waved her on. "Go mingle. I am right here."
She scrutinized him for a moment longer then strolled towards the sea of people with the little girl in her arms. As though on cue, the crowd split, creating a clear path before her. She nodded and smiled to the people in the front row, whom all returned their gratitude by falling to a bended knee.
"My Lady" echoed around her as she walked down the path made for her by the followers. Some bowed their heads, some smiled or looked over at her with curiosity, and some brave souls who were bent to a knee reached out and touched the hem of her Slytherin dress. She kept her chin parallel to the ground, trying to display some confidence. All she hoped was that they didn't see how completely petrified she was.
Of course she couldn't walk all the way to the other end of the campsite; that would have taken her an hour. Instead, when they neared the city of tents, Voldemort spoke in her ear to go towards the large tent closest to them. His voice was slightly irritated. Perhaps he was a little put off by the way everyone was ignoring him completely; Harmony couldn't remember hearing one "My Lord" during their trek through the sea of people. Or perhaps it was the way people stared at him, more specifically, at his new burn that splashed magenta along his jawline and down his neck. He wore his usual black robes, but the collar hardly concealed the damage. Harmony wondered if he was trying to take her words to heart when she said she admired scars, but the rare blush that crept into his pale cheeks told her that he was unused to this kind of attention. As they walked over to one of the large tents, she saw him prop his cloak up closer around his neck.
People backed away from the entrance to the tent, allowing the Lord and Lady to enter. Inside was a smaller group of people that bowed deeply when they arrived. Harmony set down the little dark-haired girl who, after glancing apprehensively up at Voldemort, hid behind Harmony's dress.
Voldemort glanced down at the little girl briefly then looked up at the people and beckoned for a group of three women to come closer. The youngest woman looked slightly younger than Harmony and the oldest she guessed to be in her thirties. Each wore identical dark emerald green robes with silver thread weaved into their hair. When Voldemort acknowledged them, they bowed to Harmony and introduced themselves.
"They were hired especially for you," he said, clasping his hands behind his back. "You are going to be busy from now on, so you are going to need all the help you can get with your feminine needs and so on." He nodded his head sharply to the three women who moved off to Harmony's side silently.
A larger group of people stepped closer; she guessed there to be fifteen to twenty in all.
"And these," Voldemort said, waving a hand over the group as he walked over to them, "are our most loyal followers. They are going to be working personally with both you and me in preparation for when we make our move on the Wizarding world."
Harmony saw Mag among the group of loyal followers, along with others she both did and didn't recognize. She spotted a familiar head of mangy dark hair standing tall in the back. When Barty caught her eye she meant to quickly look away, but when Voldemort was distracted by speaking to Mag, he winked and blew her a kiss. She scowled and he bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing aloud. When Voldemort leaned away from Mag, Barty's head snapped away from Harmony's direction.
"Since numbers matter more than anything," Voldemort said to her over his shoulder, "I wasn't choosy when it came to recruiting more followers. Therefore, we have witches and wizards that range from the adept to absolute beginners."
"That is a bit risky, isn't it?" she asked.
"Indeed," he replied, "and since we want everyone to be prepared when we finally act, we have decided it would be beneficial to create some sort of location where followers can come to practice spells, perhaps even learn new ones to use in battle."
Harmony raised her eyebrows in disbelief, pointing a finger to the massive crowd outside the tent. "How are you going to prepare all of those people? There are hundreds."
He beckoned to the loyal followers before them. "That is what they are for." He nodded to Mag.
The Death Eater held up a roll of paper and tapped it with his wand. It unraveled itself and levitated between them. Similar to the map Harmony saw in the tent on the hill, this map had moving figures representing the people and location of tents of the new Headquarters. Glancing at the key in the corner, Harmony measured the length of the campsite to be a couple miles wide. With another flick of his wand, Mag conjured several larger tents to turn a bright red, highlighting their locations scattered across the map.
"We are here," Mag said, pointing to one of the bright red tents off to the far side of the map. "We have positions around the site built specifically for recreational purposes like dueling, practice, lessons-"
"-parties," someone in the group muttered aloud. Everyone looked back at Barty who was grinning into his coat collar.
Mag chuckled at this. "Yes, we also thought it would be good for morale to allow people to host get-togethers in the evenings."
"That is permitted," Voldemort replied. "Just as long as they do not interrupt practice."
"Of course my Lord," Mag said then nodded to Harmony as he waved to the group. "Each of us are splitting into smaller groups to be instructors placed at the various tents; helping witches and wizards with questions and such, but most importantly hosting lessons scheduled throughout the week."
"I see," she replied, studying the map.
"I will be busy most of the time bringing new followers into the headquarters and keeping things in order," Voldemort said, looking down at her beside him. "How would you like to join them in teaching the followers? Your presence would keep people in line, I believe."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "Teach? Teach lessons to them?" She looked out the entrance of the tent to the raucous and rowdy crowd on the other side.
"You have been my pupil for nearly a year now," Voldemort remarked with a hint of pride in his voice. Leaning closer to her, he said, "You are more than capable compared to the rest of these magicians."
She pursed her lips in thought. It couldn't be too difficult. Mag said a couple people from the group were going to each tent, so she wouldn't be alone. It reminded her of when she helped Harry Potter form Dumbledore's Army in their fifth year to prepare students to battle the man standing at her side.
Harmony swallowed back the familiar knot of guilt in her throat. She was in so deep. There was a tug on her dress and a comforting pressure against her leg. She looked down and met the little girl's large blue eyes.
Harmony asked the girl, "What do you think…"
"Aislin," came the reply like a tinkle of bells.
"What do you think, Aislin?" Harmony asked gently.
She smiled shyly and nodded.
Harmony looked up at Voldemort with a confident grin. "There you have it."
He was staring at her and Harmony sensed the same bewilderment he had felt before. But he quickly recovered, smiling tightly. "Good," he looked at their group of loyal followers. "Which of you volunteer to join your Lady here with lessons?"
A serious looking witch with long brown hair bowed to them, "I would be honored, my Lord and Lady."
Voldemort grunted, nodding; Harmony could tell his mind had already wandered elsewhere.
"And I," came the second reply.
"Fine," Voldemort replied, nodding again absentmindedly. "You can begin scheduling lessons tomorrow. The sooner the better." He took a couple steps away, his eyes flickering down at the little dark-haired girl clutched at Harmony's dress, and with a swirl of his cloak he was gone from the tent.
"Excellent," Mag barked. He clapped his hands together and the map snapped closed. He tucked the roll of paper under his arm and smiled at Harmony mischievously. "I look forward to teaching these chums how to really duel."
"You mean using the Cruciatus curse on them until they croak," a witch mocked, nudging Mag in the ribs as the group followed Voldemort out of the tent.
"I've got to get my fun somehow," Mag pouted, and Harmony listened as their laughter faded away into the sounds of the crowd outside.
The brown-haired witch who volunteered to help Harmony conduct lessons approached and bowed deeply. "I look forward to joining my Lady tomorrow. I would be glad to create the schedule; I trust you will know what to teach."
"Leave it to me," Harmony replied and dismissed the witch.
When the witch left, Harmony noticed Barty and her face fell instantaneously into a scowl. With a glance around she noticed she was alone with him except for Aislin and her three hand maidens.
He sauntered up to her and bowed deeply. "And I look forward to working with my Lady tomorrow."
"You?" Harmony groaned.
"I."
"Not you."
"Yes, me."
"You are going to help me with lessons?"
"Among other things," he said, looking down at her between his dark bangs.
"Don't you have anything better to do than bother me?"
Barty glanced at the ground in an attempt to hide his smirk. He took a slow step towards her, making Harmony's muscles brace instinctually for protection. When he cast his black eyes back up to her, he whispered, "Well, like Mag said, I've got to get my fun somehow."
Harmony forced herself to stare him down despite the small whorl of anger that was curling in the pit of her stomach. When he had his laugh, Barty bowed dramatically and strutted out of the tent. Harmony blew out her breath, her heart beating against her ribcage. She looked down at Aislin, forcing herself to smile. She placed her hands around the girl and heaved her up into her arms.
"Do you agree, Aislin?" she asked the girl. "Do you think it'll be fun?"
Aislin scrunched her small button nose in disgust.
Harmony snorted, staring at the tent entrance where Barty disappeared. "I don't think so either."
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Serpentine Series