Viventibus Mortem

Before anyone starts reading, I should warn that Ayame Sohma might be vastly out of character. I needed to write him that way because Hermione needed it to be that way...I hope you come to understand that if you continue reading after this warning…Oh, and this is a Lucius and Hermione pairing (^.^) thought you ought to know…

I should also tell you that I don't own anything (^.^) I can only wish I did :p

Now onto the story...

Beginnings:

The room he was being held in was dark. The only light that entered was from the full moon hanging over the stars or the sun peeking out through the clouds during the day. He rested his restless body on the only bedding he was allowed…a straw mat. 'Hermione was right,' he thought to himself and sighed aloud to the empty room, no one to ask what he was sighing about or what was on his mind.

Family. That was what was currently on his mind. Not the family he was born into, the people who made up the family he could not help being a part of, but his surrogate family back in England. The Granger family. That was his true family. Then there was Yuki, his brother, the one that did not want him because of the mistakes he made toward him when they were younger.

He only allowed himself to shed a tear for that seemingly hopeless relationship. Thinking of his brother made him think again of Hermione, his sister in every way but blood, the one he would do anything for besides his brother, the one he should have listened to, whose advise he should have heeded and not come home to tell Akito-san that he was leaving the family. That was how he came to be in this room, filled with nothing but natural light, a straw mat, and the scarce daily meals they left by the barred windows. He could not leave the family it was forbidden. The 'God' had spoken.

He smiled to himself. After three months of unbearable heat, the weather was finally changing. The nights were becoming cold and soon he would change into his snake form. That meant he could escape soon. He could go home soon to be with the family who loved him. He silently wondered what they were doing at the moment. That was his last thought before his body finally succumbed to Morpheus's call.

HeArT*hEaRt

Hermione dreamed of that small dark room again, the one that reeked of loneliness and sometimes despair. This time there was hope and anticipation, but the feeling of loneliness was a constant. Then there was blood. Everywhere. On her hands, all over her clothes. She was awakened by the warmth of the loving arms that were wrapped around her, embracing her. That was when she realised her dream had changed from the lonely room to The Event, as she called it in her mind, that took place a month ago. That was the night she lost her parents.

"You're safe princess, no one is going to hurt you," the voice soothed. Hermione turned in her surrogate father's arms and silently cried. "I won't let anyone hurt you!" Kingsley whispered fiercely, unconsciously tightening his arms around Hermione.

"I heard screaming," Draco whispered from Hermione's bedroom door, Harry and Ginny coming up behind him. Kingsley looked up, giving them a sad smile, and carefully extracted himself from the now sleeping witch.

"Is she still not...?" Harry could not finish his question. He knew he would choke out the last word. Kingsley lightly squeezed his shoulder and shook his head.

"She did the most extraordinary thing today," Kingsley offered, closing the bedroom door behind him, but not letting it close fully. The three teenagers waited for him to continue. "She silently summoned a potion she had finished brewing earlier." They looked amazed, then sad.

"That means her magic is compensating," Draco said in a melancholy tone. Kingsley gave him a sad nod. "Is there not anything we can do?" He asked, hating how he almost sounded helpless.

"Maybe we can find her pet snake," Harry said after a few moments of silence. "They had an unusually close relationship," he commented. Draco did not bother to hide the fact that he was very interested in the Gryffindor Princess having a snake familiar.

"Granger has a snake?" He asked, silently laughing at the irony. "What's his name?" Harry blushed and cleared his throat.

"I just know what it looks like," he mumbled. Draco and Ginny rolled their eyes.

"Well if we know what the snake looks like we can ask Order members to keep an eye out during missions," Kingsley suggested.

"That's a great idea," Ginny smiled.

"He's all white and has golden eyes," Harry described his best friend's familiar.

I The Rescue (A few months later)

Severus Snape had just finished filling and labelling the last phial of the Wolfsbane potion when he felt his rune burn and flare. He hissed in pain and ran out of his chambers, rushing to the nearest apparition point. The rune was letting him know that his bonded brother was in danger. He quickly sent a patronus off to Albus Dumbledore before touching his wand to the rune and apparating into the crumbling foyer of Malfoy Manor. He quickly set up a shield over his Godson and brother before the whole structure came crumbling down upon their heads.

He stood over his unconscious Godson and looked over to his brother, using Legilimency on him, and then taking in their surroundings. The Dark Lord had destroyed everything. Malfoy Manor was now just a pile of rubble. He kneeled next to Lucius Malfoy as he yelled in pain from the Dark Lord's last 'gift' to him.

Lucius Malfoy was a very proud wizard with a rich family heritage. He knew the beliefs his father taught him were leading him astray but he had wanted to please the man so desperately. In doing so, he also lost out on the opportunity to make true friends. He learned to rule his territory with fear, he learned that to be a pureblood and Malfoy was something to be proud of and everyone else was just dirt under his shoes. Perhaps the only good things that came out of Lucius's life were his son Draco and his bonded brother Severus Snape.

As he lay there on the marble floors of what had once been the main drawing room of his Manor, writhing, yelling in excruciating pain, he thought it odd how he never saw how much he could be compared to a dog. A beast trained to follow its master with its tongue hanging out of its mouth waiting to be ordered what to do, how to do it, when to do it.

He thought it remiss of him to not ask why. Why should he follow his master's command? Why should he stand there like a dog wagging its tail waiting for its next treat? Then being told 'good job old boy', and receiving a most wanted scratch behind an ear. Why should he even subjugate himself to a master?

'Never again!' He yelled to himself and everything, everyone around him. Never again would he follow along like a dog. First, he was his father's dog, being trained to act the perfect pureblood heir, and then he was passed along to another 'master' to act on his training. 'Never again!' He continued to repeat over and over again in his head as he was lifted and portkeyed away, blissfully passing out from the agony.

Just to let everyone know, some chapters may be really short, some a good length, and most in between, but I will post another along with the short ones when it does happen…and there are sixteen chapters in all (^.^)

...and then there is the fact that I have not reread the Fruits Basket manga in a while so please do not judge too harshly! (^.^')