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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
- 75
- 76
- 77
Harmony woke the next morning with her stomach in knots. The weather was unusually warm for the season and her sweaty palms made it difficult to tie up the back of her dress. She stood in front of a full-length mirror that was perched against one of the tent poles. The reflection showed her in a close-fitted dress—given to her by her handmaidens—and her face creased from the nerves.
Today was to be her first day of teaching followers and she'd spent all morning finishing her lesson plan until it felt right. She didn't want it to be too difficult, like how Voldemort taught her, but she also wanted to challenge them. Most importantly, she wanted to teach something useful, something every witch and wizard would need to survive.
Behind her, Voldemort was pulling on a fresh pair of trousers. His bare back glowed pale yellow as sunlight spilt in through a slit from the door flap. The waistband hugged his hips when he fastened the top button. He brought hands up and ran them through his black hair. Harmony sighed and he looked over at her.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Fine," she muttered, struggling with the laces behind her back. "I'm just a little queasy. Probably had too much wine last night." A thought occurred to her and she spoke it out loud. "I think it would be best that I stopped drinking." She was coming along in her pregnancy—not enough to show yet, but any amount of alcohol couldn't be good for her.
"Why?" he asked idly as he sort through his shirts.
Harmony opened and closed her mouth. "Because it's bad for me."
He snorted at her lame remark. "Red wine is good for the heart."
She quickly added. "I would prefer to keep a clear head. I'd be no use to you or the Death Eaters if I was sloshed."
"So," he said slowly, "which is it? You are giving it up because you think it is bad for you or because you want a clear head?"
She hesitated, glancing at him over her shoulder in the mirror, and then replied, "Both." She failed to keep her voice from quivering slightly.
Voldemort was quiet a moment. He picked out a dress shirt and just held it. He stared down at the black fabric as she finished tying up her dress.
"You're nervous," he said.
"About teaching today? Yes. I am." She was relieved to jump at the change of subject.
"You've no reason to be. You're more than adequate to handle a simple teaching position."
"I suppose."
"And if anyone misbehaves, you know how to keep them in line."
"Hm?" She brushed her fingers through her hair; the ends straitened only to bounce back to their natural waves. "How?"
"Discipline, of course," he replied casually. "Cast a Cruciatus curse every now and then and they will figure out their place very quickly."
"Ah." She'd flinched at the mention of the Unforgivable curse. She flinched again when he suddenly appeared behind her before the mirror. He stood close enough for her to see the icy blue gleam in his eyes, but not enough to touch.
"You would do it, wouldn't you?" he asked with his voice low.
She swallowed hard before saying, "Yes, I think so, my Lord-"
"You know, you're not as good a liar as you think you are."
Harmony spun around to meet his eyes directly. He was staring down at her with a deep perceptiveness, as though he was looking not in her eyes but through her. Immediately, unwanted thoughts and assumptions invaded her mind.
"You mustn't be afraid to assert your authority over them," he said. "They are here in servitude."
"I'll keep them in line," she assured him. "I promise."
Harmony slipped out from under his penetrating gaze to grab her sac full of notes and books. She sat on the edge of the bed—a disheveled mess of wrinkled sheets—and slipped on her shoes. Last night, given the sudden rise in temperature, they shed the heavier blankets and slept bare on top with the sheets tangled between their legs. She hadn't had a chance to bathe that morning and looked forward to when she could return to the waterfalls later to wash the dried sweat from her body.
In a hurry, she was about to leave their tent when she stopped to look back at Voldemort. He was buttoning up his shirt with feverish concentration. His long fingers struggled with the black ivory clasps as he stared down at the rug. Harmony watched for a moment before dropping her sac and going over to him. Delicately, she took the clasps and he dropped his arms slowly. While she slipped the ivory pieces through the small holes, she looked up at him with concern. His emotions were unreadable but she could tell there were thoughts racing behind his eyes. When she tilted her head in question, he shook his head slightly. After she finished, Harmony ironed out the wrinkles on his shirt with her fingers, and then she pressed against him and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. His eyes were closed when she pulled away.
Despite it not being an official teaching position, Harmony still faced her new duties with fortitude. These followers may be a part of Voldemort's master plan to take over the Ministry—and ultimately the Wizarding World—but she still couldn't rid herself of the thought that some of these people were living their lives without having experienced the wonders of Hogwarts. She hoped she could somehow bring a little bit of that wonderment to them today. For inspiration, she thought of Harry and Dumbledore's Army. At the time, her friend had been very experienced magically and he'd made a natural teacher. Now being quite experienced herself, Harmony felt confident she could uphold a classroom as well as Professor McGonagall herself.
I can do this, she thought to herself as she ran as fast as her dress would allow towards the campsite. She wouldn't be alone. She'd have that other witch to help, whose name she discovered to be Ankaa. But then there was Barty; he'd volunteered to help teach as well. Harmony knew he was going to try to make her look silly somehow. She made a mental note to keep an eye on him once she'd arrived.
The Recreational tents, huge and round with red flags flapping at their peaks, stuck out from the box-like caravans surrounding them. Thankfully, the one Harmony was to teach in wasn't far from the forest where she and Voldemort slept. She swerved in between the masses of people going about their duties. Once her presence was known, shouts rang out for everyone to make way for her. The crowds parted and then bowed as she ran passed.
Sprinting through the entrance to the tent, she was met with a large group of people in ages ranging from ten to thirty. Good, she was given the younger followers. She imagined Mag and the other instructors would've handled the older witches and wizards. They all stood around chatting—the younger kids huddled together, staring at the older kids who pretended to cast Unforgivable curses at each other in mock duels. Harmony was also welcomed by her fellow instructor, Ankaa, as well as her handmaidens. When she rushed in, they tittered around her, asking if there was anything she needed. Harmony hadn't had the opportunity to eat anything that morning—she had been in a hurry to dress and arrive there on time—so the oldest of her handmaidens, Melantha, ordered the younger girls to fetch her some toast and marmalade jam. Melantha looked at Harmony closely while she dropped her sac on a bench and started rifling through its contents.
"If you'd like, my Lady, I can bring you something to help calm your nerves."
Harmony looked up from her sac with a pleading look and gave a nod. Her face grew warm knowing now her anxieties were obvious to see. Melantha regarded her sympathetically before she left.
Ankaa—although beautiful with dark skin and long brown hair—still had that perpetual look of austerity on her face when she came over and whispered to Harmony. "Barty Crouch Jr. still isn't here yet, my Lady."
"I'm not surprised."
"Would you like to start without him?"
"Yes, I most certainly would." Harmony handed the witch a piece of parchment that listed the charms and spells she wanted to go over. Ankaa scanned the list and looked impressed with the selection. Together, they faced the group of followers and called their attention. The older kids ceased their mock duels, and some bowed in respect. Harmony asked them all to stand in orderly lines with enough distance from each other so they had good wand-waving room. To her relief, they all obeyed without a fuss. Even with them all spaced throughout the tent, there was still a decent amount of space along the edge.
"You all may think you know why you're here," Harmony began, knowing it would be redundant if she simply introduced herself. "You think you're here because your Dark Lord needs disciplined witches and wizards to fight for him in his battles against the Aurors and countless others that want him executed. He's willing to take in those of all ages, because to him a larger army is a stronger army. To him you are soldiers, servants, and—therefore—replaceable. He has been fervent in his efforts to recruit more and more people and that number of followers grows every day. To the Dark Lord, you're one of many to do his bidding." She paused to look at each person before her in the eyes. "But I, your Lady, am telling you that that is not why you are here. As I understand it, many of you will live your lives without having been enrolled in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And I say what a terrible loss that is. Hogwarts teaches students like you the very basics of being a witch and wizard. Given you are having that opportunity taken from you, that is the reason why you're here now: You're here before me to learn how to survive in this increasingly dangerous world we live in; from the very basics and beyond. The Dark Lord and I had the immense pleasure of being taught at Hogwarts; he and I loved it equally. I want to give you an idea of what it would be like to attend school, as I believe every person of magical abilities should." Harmony pointed at the entrance to the tent where countless people passed by. "And if someone out there tries to tell you differently, then you can send them to me, and I'll deal with them myself. Alright?"
There was a chorus of "Yes, my Lady." And in that instant, Harmony could feel the tension dissolving from the air. They looked upon her with renewed respect and glowing veneration. She gave them a gentle smile and then stated, "Let's begin."
But before she could even announce the first spell they would learn, Harmony became distracted by what looked like a couple brown balls rolling from the entrance across to the group of students. The moment she realized what they were it was too late. There was only time for her to whisper a soft No before one of her students shouted "Dungbombs!" And with a loud pfft! clouds of putrid odor enveloped the entire group. Kids began coughing and waving frantically at the air. Harmony covered her mouth and nose with one hand, wishing briefly that she still wore her face scarf. She had a feeling this was only the beginning of her trouble, that there was still more to come. And she was proved right when Barty Crouch Jr. appeared at the center of the tent—a dirty cloth covering his nose—with one hand raised up, and Harmony saw it was full of what looked like black sand.
She raised her wand to expel the stuff from him but wasn't quick enough. An impenetrable darkness exploded forth from the blackness in his hand, and it expanded to shroud the entire inside of the tent. Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, Harmony thought to herself in boiling anger. She knew better than to try and cast a Lumos to find her way through the dark; the powder deterred any kind of light-casting spell.
It was like her eyes had been covered in a thick black cloth. She couldn't see an inch in front of her nose. But she could hear as everything inside the tent disintegrated into sheer chaos. There were shouts and screams, and she caught the sound of raucous laughter that must've belonged to Barty. There was the sound of people running about; she could feel the blow of air as they passed close by. Worst of all, she heard spells being cast and loud thumpsas bodies hit the ground.
Harmony imagined Barty would've stood still at the center of the tent to enjoy himself as chaos ensued all around him. Instinctively, she knew he had been standing south of her, and she drew out her wand and held it flat in her palm. "Point me," she muttered, and the tip of her wand flicked north. She followed it south and took baby steps to keep from tripping. Then someone—one of her younger students she guessed—violently collided into her as they had been sprinting manically trying to find the entrance to the tent. They both landed hard on the ground, and for a moment Harmony lost her wand. After a quick Accio, she cast the Four-Point spell again and continued to find her quarry.
Finally, she bumped into someone who felt too large to be one of her kids. She felt him lurching about as he cast spell after spell in random directions, contributing to the pandemonium. Harmony latched on to him, feeling his dirty trench coat and mangy hair. Definitely Barty. She dug her fingers into his clothes and shook him in anger. Maybe he knew it was her—maybe he didn't—but he grabbed her and pulled her to him into what could only be described as a hug but it felt much more violent to be so. His face was in her face and his boisterous chortling was loud in her ear.
"Now this is how you teach a class," he said.
"I. Am. Going. To. Kill. You," Harmony growled through gritted teeth.
"Goodie," he replied, clinching her tighter. "Sounds like fun."
They were bumped into from all sides. When she heard another scream, followed by the sounds of sobbing, Harmony had reached her breaking point. She screeched in exasperation, and with a flurry of emotion, she expelled aCascadia that bloomed from her core and soared away from her body in a blue flash. Barty was gone, and a moment later, the Instant Darkness powder followed.
She looked around at the results. There were people lying motionless on the ground and she quickly went over to each of them to make sure them weren't dead. She would hate to have to explain to the parents why their son or daughter was never coming home again. What a horrible thought. But thankfully, no one was wounded. There were a couple that had been Stupefied; Harmony blamed that on Barty. The infuriating wizard himself was lying on his back at the other side of the tent. The power behind her Cascadia must have flung him away. She was standing over him in an instant, pushing her flustered face close to his. He looked dizzy, having crashed into a couple of benches.
"Dungbombs?" she yelled in anger. "How childish can you be, Bartimus Crouch Jr.?"
"Oh, don't be so dull," he slurred, smiling—always smiling. "It was just a load of fun."
"You could've had one of them killed! There are children here!"
"You could hardly call them children," he said, sitting up with a cringe. "I was almost seventeen when I killed my first man."
"I am not teaching them to be murderers," she hissed.
He laughed again, but in a way that was curt and mocking. "All of these people were destined to become murderers the second they entered this campsite. This new headquarters is a murderer-making machine, if you haven't already noticed. We murder for the cause. We murder for the Dark Lord."
"My Lady," Ankaa said in a low voice behind Harmony's shoulder. "I have never seen such defiance from a Death Eater. Our Lord would be most displeased."
"Our Lord knows that I am one of his most faithful followers," Barty said.
"And you know full well that he would blame me for your troublemaking here today," Harmony said. "'True leaders know how to keep their people in line.' That's what he'd say."
Barty merely shrugged. He started to stand up from his knees, but Harmony forcefully jabbed her wand in his face and he fell back to the ground.
"I really ought to kill you," Harmony murmured. Everything in the tent became deathly quiet.
He stared at the tip of her wand, and then moved his dark eyes to hers. "But you won't. You wouldn't."
She pressed her lips together and became suddenly aware of everyone watching her with baited breath. There was a part of her—a tiny little twinge—that wanted to see if she could actually do it, actually kill another human being. But the thought of children being present immediately pushed all lethal thoughts aside. Harmony lowered her wand. A corner of Barty's lips twitched upward. She turned her back on him and forced herself to imagine that he wasn't even there.
With Ankaa's help, the students were sorted back into their orderly lines. She started them off with a simple Disarming charm. In time, she had everyone in pairs practicing on each other. She took this opportunity to take a short break where her handmaidens were waiting for her with food. She was starving and quickly scarfed everything down, even licking her fingers clean of marmalade jam when she was done.
Melantha was carrying a brown flask and handed it to Harmony. "For your nerves, my Lady."
Harmony thanked her with a sigh. "What is it?" she asked right before she took a gulp.
"Firewhiskey, my Lady."
Harmony choked on the flask and the whiskey came spraying out of her mouth. It drenched everyone standing nearby, and Barty burst out laughing at the sight of her handmaidens scrunching their faces in disgust.
Harmony wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and began apologizing profusely.
Melantha took the flask back, looking worried. "I'm so sorry, my Lady. When I said I could get something for the nerves, I thought you knew-"
"It doesn't matter," Harmony said between coughs. "It's alright. I'll be fine. I'm just—no longer a drinker is all."
"I can go see if the medical tent has any calming draughts made up."
"No," Harmony said quickly. "No, that's alright. I'm better now anyway, I think. Thank you, Melantha."
The older witch bowed and stepped away with deep shame riddled all over her face.
By the time lessons were over for the day, everyone—save the ten-year-old kids—was able to conjure a successful Disarming charm. As they filed out of the tent, Harmony felt both proud and anxious. She'd helped these people come one step closer to being a mature witch and wizard. But on the other hand, they were surely going to spread word on what happened with Barty's antics. Voldemort had told her to use discipline when need be, but she had failed that. Harmony had a horrible feeling she was going to be getting an earful from him soon enough.
Barty was one of the last to leave the tent. Ankaa saw this and, thankfully, stuck by Harmony's side.
"I have nothing to say to you," Harmony said to Barty as he strolled up to her.
"I just wanna say that I knew you weren't going to do it," he said. "Kill me, I mean."
"Perhaps I was feeling particularly generous today," she replied. "Even the Dark Lord has his good days."
"Bullocks. You don't have it in you and you know it."
"Have what?"
"The passion for killing. The lust for causing pain."
"How would you know? You don't know me-"
"Oh," he grinned, "I do know you. I may know you better than the Dark Lord himself." His grin dropped and he looked at her with a fathomless seriousness that she was unaccustomed to seeing from him. His dark eyes were black pits, drawing her in. "Every second you're nearby, I watch you. Every breath, every smile, every twinge of disgust and fear. I see it all. It's amazing what one catches when they're paying close enough attention." He paused, then tilted his head at her in a way that was almost pitying. "The truth is you're still that girl, that brightest witch of her age: Hermione Granger, clever girl but made of porcelain."
"I'm not," she whispered. "I've changed."
"I think you just wish you've changed. It makes the guilt of abandoning your friends so much easier to bear."
Harmony gaped, feeling like she'd just been punched in the stomach. After taking a moment to compose herself, she said in a threatening whisper, "You are the scum of the earth."
"I'm also honest. Are you honest with the Dark Lord? Do you two discuss your past? Everyone here knows about it from reading The Daily Prophet. I'm just curious as to whether the world's most unlikely star-crossed lovers share a little pillow talk."
"We don't discuss it, actually, and I absolutely refuse to talk about it with you, of all people."
"Hm," he grunted thoughtfully. "It sounds to me the Dark Lord is in denial. Well, so would I, knowing my woman was chums with my enemy."
"How dare you speak such things about your Lord!" Ankaa shouted.
Barty looked at her as though just remembering he wasn't alone with Harmony. His eyes drifted down to the wand clutched in the witch's fist. He blinked and smiled innocently.
"It's alright, now. I think I've made my point," he said before leaving.
Ankaa stayed to make sure she was alright, but Harmony dismissed her.
Standing alone in the enormous recreational tent, she felt the bitter sting of annoyance. Mostly towards Barty and everything he'd done to ruin her day. But what annoyed her most of all was what he'd just said, and how everything—every single word—had been the undeniable truth.
- 75
- 76
- 77
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Serpentine Series