Chapter Two
Remus was no more clothed or cleaned than he was in the cell. The stench of excrement still clung to him and dirt streaked across his skin. He hunched over as he trailed behind Hermione, keeping so close that the leash constantly dragged on the ground. The approaching full moon was already conflicting his system, robbing him of more complex thoughts. The bright sun hurt his pale skin almost as much as a moonrise. He was slowly degenerating into his primal instincts, hardly coherent enough to recognise he had been bought. He hadn't noticed the black and red collar around his supposed Mistress's throat. His legs were weak and constantly stumbled as he walked a long distance for the first time in years. As he hunched over, he kept trying to catch glimpses of his Mistress's beautiful young face, so captivated he had been since his raised his gaze as he knelt beside her.
The streets were fairly crowded as they walked through the throng of people. They were mostly slaves, the Masters themselves preferring to apparate. Slaves weren't allowed to use magic, even if they had magical blood in their veins, let alone the fact that none had the required training. Remus stuck very close, glaring or even growling at anyone that dared to touch her as they walked.
Remus hoped they reached a public floo fireplace soon. Despite the thrill of an event in his usually monotonous life, Remus was beginning to feel distressed and tired in the new environment. Instability caused by the potion only a few days before the full moon kept him on edge. As a creature of habit, Remus craved a cell or a dungeon, somewhere he could curl on the floor and look forward to his Mistress's next visit.
Above all, Remus missed his mind over the years since the cycle-extending potion was developed. He wanted to be able to speak and thank his new Mistress with the eloquent words he used to posses and that she deserved.
A firm tug on his chain brought him back in to line, alerting Remus to the public fireplace they were approaching. The line was considerable, full of lower class slaves who were permanently bowed over and flinched at anyone with a strong presence. With a cold glare at the skinny wimp at the front, Hermione confidently strode ahead of the line. The level of power displayed by his new Mistress sent a twinge through Remus' gut.
Instinctual fear of magic made Remus's breath catch as Hermione lead him into the cramped fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder. He resisted the urge to clutch at his Mistress, but did clench his neck in order to more firmly feel his collar.
Hermione raised her clenched fist and spoke in a clear voice "The Burrow".
Remus' vision exploded into light and fire and when the flames receded, they were standing in an open field, miles upon miles of growing crops spreading in every direction. Hermione firmly led him and, now that he focused, he realised there was a large structure standing before him. The magic surrounding this place kept the Weasley house hidden from notice until either attention was drawn to it or someone informed you of its whereabouts. Now that he noticed it, Remus found it rather hard to look away. The house was… bright, each window a different colour than the last and the wood was built from, though mostly a deep red, seemed to slightly change with the wind and setting sun. It wasn't short and sprawling like Malfoy Manor, rather tall and stretched, haphazardly designed but beautiful in construction. The house also seemed to be bustling with life. Shadows chased each other past every window and garden gnomes were being hurled over the high hedge by a couple of laughing slaves. They sobered quickly as they saw Hermione approaching.
'Good afternoon, miss Hermione.' They dutifully acknowledged.
In return, Hermione gave the slaves a curt nod and continued around the base of the tall house. They passed a house elf on a tall ladder desperately trying to scrub a scorch mark from a now-yellow wall.
'Nippy.' Hermione addressed the small creature, who yelped in surprise. He peered down at the two and his large round eyes widened at the sight of Remus. 'Come down. I need your assistance with the new stock.'
'Yes, miss.' Nippy squeaked, and clambered down the ladder.
Behind the Weasley house, heavy wooden doors on the floor led to the family's small dungeon. Hermione waited impatiently at the trap door until Remus scrambled forward to open for her. Nippy snapped his fingers and a small ball of light zoomed off to light the lanterns. It illuminated a storage room-turned-dungeon. A wrought iron clasp of a lion baring its teeth was secured to the wall at shoulder height in a cleared out area that was larger by half that the cell he'd been kept in before.
Hermione unwound the leash and gave it to the small house elf who jumped forward and hovered up to the lion, hooking the leash over its teeth and snapping his bone-thin fingers. The clasp snapped closed and Remus was tugged slightly forward.
The magical clasp reeled him in, shortening the leash until Remus had just enough length to kneel and then lie down on the floor against the stone wall.
'Thank you, Nippy.' Hermione dismissed. The house elf bowed and scurried back up the stairs. Hermione turned to the curled up form of Remus. 'Food will be brought to you two times a day. I do not have time to deal with you this month, so your transformation will take place here.'
With that, Hermione turned on her heel to leave. Desperation gurgled through Remus, and he made a pathetic noise somewhere between begging and a whimper, reaching out for her. Hermione gave him a cold glare over her shoulder, but continued on.
As soon as Hermione closed the dungeon, there was the sharp pop of someone aparating and the long line of someone's body pressed against her back.
'Did you get me my present?' he breathed into her neck.
Another crack and a face grinned at her, identical to the one curving a smile into the shell of her ear.
'I did, Lord Master Fred.' Hermione answered curtly. She raised her eyes to the twin standing in front of her and greeted him with a bowed head. 'Lord Master George.'
Fred sighed dramatically and stepped away from touching her. 'How is it she can always tell?' he asked his counterpart.
'George is prettier.' Hermione said.
The breach of regulation by simply speaking without being spoken to would have had her beaten in the Black household. Her cheekiness would result in starvation for days on end until she would lick at her Masters shoes for forgiveness and the hope of some scraps.
'This House is ruining me.' Hermione thought, and for not the first time, as the twins laughed at her remark. 'I'm a good slave, a good pleasure slave, and I'm wasting my best years as a Head Slave when I should retire to this position.'
Hermione's sharp mind had deduced early in her ownership to the Weasley Household that the only way she could remain was to make herself unreplaceable. She wasn't a vain woman, but she knew full well that she was expensive. She was a valuable slave with pleasure training and still in the prime of her youth.
The Weasley family had no use for a pleasure slave. The parents were happily married with no desire to look elsewhere. The eldest, Bill, was married, Percy engaged and Charlie was slaughtered. The twins, though they often flirted and sometimes touched her, they were content in finding their own partners, and only occasionally used her services to break a dry spell.
That only left Ginny, who had no inclination, and Ronald. Ron, whom Hermione belonged to in name only, had only employed her services a handful of times since she'd come into his possession. Hermione wasn't sure what made the young Lord disinterested, but she wasn't complaining.
Noticing all this, Hermione sought out other ways to make herself unreplaceable. She knew the next time the financial squeeze became too tight, the pricy and unneeded pleasure slave would be the first to go. Being sold back to the Ministry would mean Market, where a slave's fate was at the mercy of the rabble.
Hermione rose to the position of Head Slave in under six months, proving her worth with dedicated effort to ensure the entire House ran smoothly. She tracked finances, managed lesser slaves and even had a significant hand in the Weasley twins business.
It was the Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes that necessitated the purchase of the werewolf chained in the dungeon.
Fred rubbed his hands together gleefully and turned his attention to the dungeon doors. 'What did you get me?'
The doors flew open by magic and Hermione obediently followed her Masters into the darkness.
'A werewolf.' She answered.
'Ooh, exciting.' George waggled his eyebrows. The lanterns burst alight by whispered command and illuminated the curled up form of Remus Lupin.
'Good afternoon, slave.' Fred greeted loudly.
Remus lifted his head and blinked owlishly. His sluggish gaze settled on Hermione and his entire demeanour brightened in hope. He scrambled to his knees, presenting himself the best way he knew how in an attempt to impress her.
'I'm George, that's Fred, and welcome to the Burrow.'
A small crease formed between Remus' eyebrows as he tried to understand and process the new information. The long delay in his response caused Fred sigh dramatically.
'You got me a defective slave?' Fred grumbled, moving to stand behind Hermione and wrap a hand around her waist. 'Is that all you think about me?'
'Mind you.' George said, taking Remus' chin in hand and angling the slave's head, his nose wrinkling in distaste. 'He's a bit pretty.'
'He has been fed a potion containing wolfsbane. It keeps him feral and his bite poisonous.' Hermione reported.
George's eyes widened with intrigue and his hand snapped back. 'A potion to give a human-form its werewolf mind.'
Fred rested his chin on Hermione's head and stared at his brother. 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?'
'What if there's the reverse?' George continued, nodding along. 'A derivative of the original potion-'
'That can give a werewolf their human mind.' Fred finished excitedly. His hand slid to Hermione's hip and tapped his fingers absentmindedly while he thought.
Remus' eyes narrowed as he focused on the touch, a low growl rumbling through his body. Attuned to the werewolf's delicate emotions, Hermione managed to leap forward and pull George back.
Remus launched towards the twins, jaws snapping violently as he tried to seek revenge for his Mistress. He strained at his chain, teeth scaping dangerously close. Hermione pulled the Master out of the way and positioned herself in front of him.
She was knocked aside by the brutal force of the feral werewolf, her head connecting heavily against the stone floor. Fred yelled a charm and the leash recoiled, pulling Remus back until he was facing the wall, unable to move. George dropped down beside Hermione, cradling her skull gently.
His fingers came away slicked with blood. Still conscious, Hermione mumbled something incoherent, blinking sluggishly to clear her vision.
'Hermione, can you hear me?' George said, angling her head to face him.
''m okay.' Hermione answered quietly. She tried to sit up and winced in pain. She looked to where Remus was pulled tight against the wall, half his face pressed onto the stone. He stared at her with sorrow and fear in his eyes, whimpering quietly.
'We can't keep him, he's dangerous.' Fred growled, his wanted pointed at the nape of the werewolf's neck.
'No!' Hermione protested weakly. 'It's just the potion. He's… it makes him feral.'
Remus dug ragged fingernails into his face, tracing the diagonal scars, making them rise with red welts.
'Let him detox.' George said. 'Once the lunar cycle is complete, we can start working on the new potion.'
'By "we", you mean me.' Hermione said in a daze.
'Not until you can walk in a straight line.' George wagged a finger at her. Fred viciously stabbed Remus in the back of the neck with his wand before yelling for the gnome-throwing slaves. The two young boys carried Hermione out of the dungeon and took her into her quarters. Fred and George re-checked the charms on the werewolf's collar and leash, tossed a few pieces of meat and bowls of water nearby and locked the dungeon doors.
They wouldn't open again for seven days.
Damn it's been a long time since I did this. Please review, tell me what you think!