Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Harry Potter. It all goes to it's respective owners.
Introduction: It's six months after the war and most of the Death Eaters have been captured. Unable to decide a suitable punishment for Voldemort's followers the Ministry have decided that the Death Eaters must learn from their mistakes. The public agrees and so begins the Death Eater Retribution of crimes against humanity. When this occurs Harry realizes this he is desperate to save both of the Malfoys because of a debt he owes Lucius. While begging Hermione to also help, they both go and collect the last two Malfoys before someone else does. The prices are high and it's going to be a sweat-breaking auction off, that's for sure.
Warning: Will include strong language, violence, and sexual scenes. I will warn the reader (YOU) when the sexual scenes happen so you may skip if want to.
There is a slight change to the story. Instead of Naricssa coming to check on Harry for Voldemort in the forest it was Lucius. Naricssa was killed by Voldemort when everyone escaped Malfoy Manner as a punishment to the Malfoys, and mostly Bellatrix, for disobedience.
Chapter IV: Art
"You need to explain some more, Shacklebolt." Harry, Hermione and Shacklebolt had found themselves in Shacklebolt's office about a half an hour later. Hermione felt unsure of how she could allow herself to be a part of this but remembered that Harry had asked for her help. No matter what Harry could say or do, she could never leave his side.
Shacklebolt nodded his head and leaned back in his chair. "Those bands were used back in the day for the same reason. Richer and more famous wizards and witches would use those bands to claim a slave of their own. If that slave didn't survive the bonding then they would leave the body and find someone stronger." Shacklebolt summoned three glasses and a crystal bottle of Firewhisky. "Those who had successfully claimed a slave were known as powerful families with powerful slaves."
Harry rubbed his chin and accepted the glass. "What exactly were expected of the slaves back then?"
"Mostly hard labor. The masters wanted someone who could help carry their burdens while they pushed to succeed more. Among other things too." Shacklebolt answered.
Hermione, passing on the glass that was offered, asked, "And those slaves would just accept this?"
The older man chuckled and took a sip of his drink. "Understand, Hermione, that back then it was considered an honor to be bound to a powerful wizard or witch. Even if the risk was death, they would do anything to get out of the poverty they lived in."
Harry crossed his leg over his knee and placed his drink on the table. "What about the red chains we saw Percy use? What were they?"
"Those chains was Percy's own magic shaping itself into what the spell wanted, binds." He paused and continued. "Like I said before, it's different for everybody. The color, binds, and effect nobody is quite the same. Some thing goes for the ground rules."
"Wouldn't all of the Death Eaters be the same? Have the same rules, I mean." Hermione remarked.
Shacklebolt shook his head again. "You would think that. The Ministry understands that there are a few, like the Malfoys, who had little choice in the war. So there is adjustments. Some will be completely restricted to the person at all times, including their day job. And those who are able to have some space. It all depends."
"I guess that's the best we can hope for, for now. Until I can get the Ministry to have a fair trial like everyone deserves." Harry knocked back the rest of his drink and stood up. "So what's going to happen to Percy and Bellatrix?" He paused. "And who was that man? I've never seen him before." Hermione nodded, very interested in the powerful man.
Shacklebolt scratched his brow and bit his lip. "All I know of him is that his name is Jonathan Fiddle. The only background I have of him is that his parents were muggle but he was also adopted by them. He has dark brown hair with blue eyes." Harry and Hermione stared at him, expect more. "That's it."
Hermione frowned. "That's it? You have a man who's using his magic to bind people together and you don't even know who he is?!" Hermione swiftly stood up and tugged on her hair. "That's completely irresponsible Minister!"
Shacklebolt raised his hands in defense. "I know I understand where you come from but understand that I had very little to say in the matter. Half of the counsel knows the man personally and had voted him in. There was only a few of us who were suspicious of this new man but we were out numbered."
Harry shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "Looks like we still have some more fixing to do here."
"I agree." Shacklebolt said solemnly.
Harry and Hermione decided that they wanted to go out for dinner that night and found a nice, simple Italian restaurant. They stayed, ate and relaxed for almost two hours before heading back home. Hermione and Harry were discussing the room arrangements and decided that they were probably going to have to repaint both room. "If their even given that much space of course." Hermione mumbled.
"I'm sure that with your large brain and my charms we can convince them otherwise." Harry smirked at her and dodged the hand that was heading for his head. "Damn, sister. You're getting violent."
Hermione laughed. They stood in the room next to hers and looked around. The colors were mostly dark with blacks, greys, and dark green. "I'm thinking something more vibrant, lively."
"Blues and whites?" Harry asked.
"Yes, and maybe a light brown too. We could even paint a landscape too!" Hermione excitingly suggested.
Harry chuckled at her, glad that the projects would keep her entertained. "Do you think we can do it in time?"
Hermione pulled out her wand and shrunk the existing furniture and had Harry help her move them out of the way. "What we'll do is get a base coat of white, two layers, to cover up this dark wallpaper. Then we can paint a soft blue and go on from there, a forest would be lovely."
Harry raised a eyebrow. "That sounds like a good idea. What about the other room?"
"Mountains, and a lake. What do you think?" Harry nodded.
"Sounds like a plan." And they went to work. Harry transfigured the already aged carpet into a large plastic tarp and lay it on the floor. Hermione went ahead and began to coat the walls and ceiling with white paint that sprayed from the tip of her wand, the smell of the chemical mixture quickly assaulting their noses. Harry wondered where she learn that spell but decided that it probably came from one of the thousands of books she's read. The two waited a few minutes before adding a second coat to make sure the dark colors were well hidden.
While they waited for the paint to dry again Harry and Hermione went to the second room and proceeded to do the same thing. The furniture was shrunken and taken out before the tarp was placed and the white paint began to cover the walls. It took a few hours all together and it was well past ten at night so they decided to head off for be and continue in the morning.
Everything was foggy around him. A thick mist seemed to completely encase him in the vast endlessness. Even though he still had his glasses on he had trouble seeing. The coldness wrapped around his farm loosely and made it uncomfortable for him. But who was he?
"Hello!" He screamed into the darkness but got no answer. "Hello! Is anybody there?!" He tried again. Even his voice didn't echo like it should've, almost like the mist swallowed his cries. "Where am I?..."
"In my domain." He swiveled around and expected to see a face but found nothing. His eyes scanned the area but saw nothing that could have spoke.
"Who's there?" His voice shook with the fear and confusion filling his mind.
A colder presence leaned into his back and he stiffened up. "I've been waiting such a long time for you..." Two forms of black mist stretched out from behind him and took form of solid arms. The arms slowly wrapped around him and tightly brought his body to a hard, cold body. "Oh, how I've waited for you...now...I can have you."
He tried to struggle but as if a spell was placed on his body that kept it from moving. He could feel his heart frantically beating within his chest. Fear and adrenaline rushing through his veins. "Let me go!" He managed to ground out.
The solid figure laughed lightly. "Never, my little soul..." He felt the coldness seep into his skin making his body quiver. A retched smell of sulfur clouded his nose and was forced to cough. "Now that I have touched your...lively skin..." A icy cold that nearly made his skin around his neck and ear turn to frostbite when the figure spoke. "I won't let go." Before he could comprehend a single thought he was thrown to the ground. His arms and legs were spread wide and stuck to the ground.
No matter how much he struggled against the invisible force, he couldn't a muscle but only arch his back. The figured wasted no time pouncing him. The arms that had kept a tight hold of him only seconds ago now was planted firmly on each side of his head. He moved his eyes to the trail of pale skin that led up to a shadowed body. The shadow above him was obviously much taller than him with long limbs and torso. The head lowered closer to his face and opened his eyes. Two, dark and deadly ruby eyes stared at his with such emotion that it made his shiver. Then it hit him. Red eyes? Red eyes...red eyes!
"...Voldemort."
The shadow figure laughed and shook it's head. "No, my little soul. Call me Mort." Before he could respond, the figure, or Mort, slammed it's face to his and clashed their lips together. It was as if he was sucking on two thin strips of ice. He tried to shake his head but couldn't move. Then the smell of sulfur hit him again. His eyes watered and his lungs dried out. Oh it hurt but he didn't give up on fighting him. He won't let this happen.
A few more seconds went by and after endless struggles Mort finally lifted himself up. "Make no mistake, Harry James Potter, I have a firm hold of you now. And I will not let you go!"
Harry threw himself up and out of the bed. His whole body broke into a cold sweat while he savagely sucked in as much air as he possibly could. Harry took a second to blink and survey his surroundings. He was relieved to find himself in his room. It had just been a dream...a very strange dream. He picked himself up and looked at the clock on the far wall. It was just after one in the morning so Harry decided to go back to bed.
He rubbed his tired eyes and glanced down at the side table next to him. The Elder wand still rested there, having not moved a single hair since Harry had placed it there. It didn't bring him any comfort to see it so Harry grabbed the wand and went to the dresser drawer to shove it in the very back. Once it was done he threw himself back in bed and burrowed under the sheets feeling strangely cold.
Harry never mentioned the wand or his dream to Hermione the next morning. He figured it was nothing to worry about and continued on with his life. Hermione had left to go and get some smaller paint brushes for the details of the landscapes while Harry made some adjustments to the rooms. He decided since that each room would be right next to his and Hermione's that they might as well be connected. So he had Kreacher help him figure out where to put a door and finally install them.
It wasn't more than a hour later when Hermione came back with two large cans of paint and a handful of paint brushes. Harry helped her open the paint and frowned when he saw the color was white. "I thought we were done with the base paint."
Hermione smiled. "We are." She handed him a brush. "These are charmed. You just dip them into the paint and picture the image in your head and the paint brush will do the work for you. The paint goes with the brushes and will change color when you have the image in your head. But you still need to keep using the paint."
Harry was impressed and grateful for the little things magic could do, since he didn't think he could even draw flower without it looking like a four-year old did it. "Did you want to do one room and I'll do the other?"
"That's a good idea. Wouldn't want to accidentally mix up the images." They chuckled. "I'll do the mountains, that sounds a bit more like me."
He nodded. "Sounds good to me." Hermione smiled and took her brushes and can of point before heading off towards the other room. Harry blinked and looked around the decent sized room. He wasn't sure where to start and decided to go small. He closed his eyes and imagined looking up at the sky while standing in the middle of the forest. Birds flying through the blue sky and a few small, white puffs of clouds with the very tips of the trees bordered his sight. Once he had the image set Harry summoned a ladder and brought the can of paint while he climbed it. He dipped the brush that was about the size of his hand and began to paint.
Magic will never stop surprising him. The small stroke of white paint turned into a blue sky. He smiled and watched as with each stroke turned his imagination real. So Harry spent the next few hours painting the ceiling. He started with the sky and created the clouds with only a few birds flying about. When he was done with that he then did the ceiling's edge with tips of trees, occasionally placing a critter or a resting bird in the branches.
Kreacher announced that lunch was served moments later after he finished with his painting and climbed down. Pleased with his work, Harry left the room and went downstairs. Hermione was already sitting and eating a small salad with some fresh chicken pot pie. "Smells good."
She nodded. "It's very good. How's the room coming along?"
Harry gave her a dazzling smile. "It'a amazing, Hermione! Do all artist use this stuff?"
Hermione giggled. "No, the painting set is for house remolding only. For canvas works require different paint and brushes."
"Oh, that makes sense." He began to eat his lunch and think over what the walls should look like. Hermione wanted his opinion on the images so they decided after lunch they would look at each other's progress. Since lunch was simple they ate quickly and went back upstairs. Hermione loved the open sky and admired the little birds in the tree.
"They're so cute!" Harry blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Let's go see what I've done!" She quickly took Harry's hand and led them down the hall until they reached the other room. Hermione had painted the wall with the two windows a landscape of an open field. The sky was a lighter blue and had perfect purple mountains. Towards the bottom had painted grass and even a few, colorful daises. "I feel like there should be more."
Harry turned his head to the side, agreeing with Hermione. "There should be...a protector of some sort. Like a Mountain Lion."
Hermione snapped her fingers and grabbed her brush. Seconds later she was painting a Mountain Lion lounging in the distance. On the wall it looked about the same size of an average dog but Harry bet if the large cat were to get closer it would be three times as big. "Done!" Ten minutes later and the added creature was complete. "What should we do now."
Harry thought about and bit his lip. "Well...I wanted to go back and check on the Malfoys, just to make sure that Shacklebolt was able to give the potions." Hermione stayed silent as she placed the brush away.
"Can I come?" Harry froze and blinked at her. "I want to see for myself how they're doing. Maybe I could even help a bit.." She trailed off.
Harry pulled her into a hug and softly patted the top of her head. "If you want to go that's fine, remember that it's not pleasant."
"I understand." Harry summoned his invisibility cloak and the two left for the Ministry.
And there you have it! I have to admit, as an artist I had a lot of fun with this chapter. Trouble will begin in the next chapter so be prepared. And also, i'm curious as to who 'Mort' and 'Jonathan' is so leave your reviews below. Until next time!~
