Just a reminder: this is an AU fic!
Every step was like lead. The floorboards voiced their displeasure as she made her way toward the muted light of the grand dining room. Voices in the distance steadily grew louder as she struggled to approach them. Both of her palms were slick with moisture; the right was gripping tightly to the hilt of a dagger and the left was clamped tightly over her quarry's mouth. He struggled against her grip, but she was stronger, holding him vice like with the dagger pressed against his jugular. Each of his ragged breaths only pressed the edge of the blade harder. She admonished him in his ear with a hiss.
The cold hands of fear and resolve gripped at her as she drew ever closer to the source of the conversations. As recognition dawned upon her victim, he writhed beneath her hold, and she pressed the tip of the knife into his neck. "You better stop."
Stepping into the light, the room was plunged into silence instantly, the occupants mouths all agape at the sight of Hermione fully preparing to slit the throat of Harry Potter.
"Drop your wands or he dies!" She screamed. "I said DROP THEM. Where is the Dark Lord! Call him! Call him NOW!"
Rabastan held his hands up nervously. "Now, now we wouldn't want to go about doing anything rash now would we?"
Harry began to cry out behind her hand, his eyes going wide with terror. Rabastan made to step forward but Hermione pressed the knife deeper. "I mean it. Call the Dark Lord…or I'll decapitate Potter with this knife!"
Gruff laughter was the response to her hasty threat. "Hold a tic Rabastan, something isn't right here." Fenrir Greyback stomped forward; his muddied combat boots kicking up plumes of dust with each step. Hermione swallowed hard but she did not relinquish her death grip on Harry; still holding the knife against his neck with a trembling hand.
"Why're we so touchy tonight little bitch? Why just hours ago you were sniveling and carrying on for that worthless cunt Bellatrix. Now you're making' demands of us? Who do you think you are? Trying to steal all the glory for yourself eh?" He asked with a smile. His atrocious body odor choked her nostrils as he slowly stalked around the two teenagers. "Do it already. Who cares who kills the brat? I'm sure the Dark Lord wouldn't mind…make his job easier eh?"
Rabastan shook his head in disbelief, moving out from near the fireplace toward the werewolf to stand between him and Hermione. "But that prophecy…neither can live while the other survives."
Fenrir waved his arms in a gesture of frustration. "Forget about the bloody prophecy! As long as Potter is dead what does it matter? The Dark Lord's rule can finally begin."
"I was told in order for Fleur and Cissy to go free, I am to bring him Potter. CALL HIM!"
A crack startled the occupants of the room as a plume of fetid smoke whipped wildly throughout the rooms. Other smoky trails burst through the windows and also joined the tempest. One by one Death Eaters materialized, fully cloaked and donning masks, and finally the Dark Lord appeared, his own black hood drawn over his head. "That's enough Fenrir. She has indeed done exactly as I have asked." He spoke in a haunting drawl.
Harry stiffened instantaneously as his eyes locked with Voldemort's. The cloaked wizard addressed Hermione first, a smirk growing on his face. "Ahh my dear…you have done marvelously." Harry's mouth was moving behind Hermione's palm, and she could feel his surprise as he tried to call out her name.
He turned to look at Harry, the smile still not going away. "Regrettably for our friend here, time is running short. I'd like to finish this quickly and painlessly for us all." His skeletal fingers reached into the fabric of his cloak and he began to pull out his ivory wand. Harry struggled once more, and the knife nicked his throat in the process, and blood started to seep from the small cut. Setting her jaw tightly Hermione frowned at the wizard.
"Let me see Fleur free of her bonds first." Hermione demanded, her jaw set. The Dark Lord simply gaped at her before rapidly casting the killing curse, aimed directly at Harry's chest.
Protego! The shield charm deflected the bolt effortlessly, sending it into one of the nearby walls. It left a smoldering hole in its wake.
"You will stand down now!" Voldemort demanded viciously, his upper lip curled against his yellowed teeth. "Let me end him now. I will usher in a new era of purity. And you will be at my side! Hand over the boy NOW!"
"Not bloody likely Tom." Helen's voice rang through the corridor, greatly startling Voldemort. He tensed the instant his true name was mentioned and his hairless head whipped to and fro in a frantic attempt to locate the source of the voice. His facial expression was one of recognition; his brow rose impossibly high. Hermione couldn't help but surpress a smile. Though the frame was shrunken, safely stowed in her pocket, still Helen was able to move about the many frames that dotted the walls in the manor
"It can't be…" His lips were slackened. "Helen Gaunt…" The Death Eaters watched in bewilderment as their leader was ostensibly thrown into a panic. "Show yourself Helen! Come out where I can see you!"
"I am already here. I am all around you." Helen's voice moved across the walls amid a chorus of grumbling voices. Out of the corner of her eye Hermione could see her mother pushing and shoving her way through the multitude of paintings that adorned the manor walls.
"This is madness, how are you still alive!" The Dark Lord demanded through clenched teeth, still wildly searching for the Grecian woman.
"Perhaps you did not kill me quite so thoroughly as you believed!" Came the proud retort. Instantly Voldemort locked his gaze upon a portrait directly across from him, where Helen stood boldly in the frame, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. "I find it exceptionally despicable that you duped all of these poor people into following your supposed great cause…especially my daughter and my beloved!"
"Beloved? Don't make me laugh. Bellatrix Lestrange is incapable of love, or even being loved, let alone by you cousin. She has served her purpose to me and no longer have I any use for her. I find myself regretting allowing a woman so deep into my ranks." He abruptly snapped while stalking back and forth. "I was foolish to have no killed her the same day I ended you."
"You wouldn't be half the wizard you are now if you didn't have Bellatrix as your most faithful disciple, blindly obeying your every beck and call! You deluded her, and now she finally sees you for the snake that you are!" Helen accused and finally the Dark Lord set his eyes upon her. "You only bring shame to the ancient house of Gaunt. And that is quite an incredible accomplishment."
"I don't have time for such nonsense. Arguing with a ghost. CONFRIGO!" Flames billowed forth from the Dark Lord's wand, igniting the frame immediately. It was consumed within seconds but Helen had already moved toward another frame.
"All of you!" She shrieked toward the group of Death Eaters. "Your leader is a fraud! You have all been kept in ignorance to his true nature!"
"CONFRIGO!"
"You all say you wish for blood supremacy!" Another frame was ignited. "But little do you see how blind you all are to the truth!" Paintings were lit left and right as Helen moved through them, and all around her, flames began to gradually eat away at the walls of the manor. Thick smoke was beginning to saturate the air. Finally Helen had reached the largest frame of them all; which sat directly above the marble fireplace directly behind the gaggle of Death Eaters. With a commanding voice, she garnered the attention of the group. "The biggest blood traitor of them all stands right before you…Tom Riddle Jr., halfblood born to a muggle father!" She pointed accusingly at the serpentine man.
The Dark Lord stopped his spells and turned to face his followers, who were slowly drawing their own wands. Instantly his face contorted into a snarl. "Stay back all of you! We have made it this far! Do not be turned by the blasphemous words of an inanimate object!"
Silence fell on the occupants of the room, Hermione still refusing to let Harry go.
Without warning the sounds of a struggle could be heard from underneath the floorboards, growing in a rapid crescendo before the wood exploded up from under the dining room table. A great winged creature flew into the room and whipped wildly about in the air. As it flew, blood rained down on the floor from a multitude of wounds. The cloaked Death Eaters immediately ran for cover, diving behind tables, couches and any furniture they could find. The Veela scrambled to her feet, her talons scraping loudly on the wooden floor. The beast shook dust from her head before letting out a vociferous roar. She sprung into the air with her wings unfurled.
"FLEUR!" Hermione screamed as the monster collided with the dark wizard, her unsheathed claws embedding themselves deep into his stomach. He grappled with the Veela for several minutes, trying to push the creature off of him. In the midst of the melee Hermione could see a glittering object slide down his cloak and onto the floor.
Accio locket! She shoved Harry hard to the floor, dropping the knife with a clatter, and her arms stretched out before her to snatch the floating locket from the air. The object was hot to the touch and she could barely grasp it in her palm before switching it to the other. She stared at the accursed trinket for several seconds before the sounds of the fight suddenly grew softer. A flash of red light burst from across the room and Hermione looked up. With a deafening shriek the Veela dove back through the hole in the floor, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. The dark lord stood upon shaking legs, his robes a bloody mess and his face covered in teeth marks. He shot Hermione a look a pure unadulterated hatred before glancing at Harry, who was struggling to stand up.
Voldemort drew his wand and pointed it directly at the young witch. "You and your Veela have spoiled my plans for the last time. Your mother is gone and now you shall join her. Avada—"
Time slowed to a crawl and Hermione braced herself for impact. Her muscles grew tense and she planted her feet firmly to the ground. Staring back at the end of his wand she could see several green magical energies beginning to swirl and congregate into a single beam. Each contortion of his thin lips as he formed the words ignited something within her, and slowly she began to stretch her arm forward, the locket clutched tightly in her hand. Its heat was beginning to sear her soft skin, but she stomached the pain.
The bolt was now careening straight toward her and all around her frightened faces watched the killing curse cover the distance between them. Harry began to shout and charge forward. Helen was also screaming, her hands clutching at her cheeks in a gesture of terror as tears streamed down her face. Resigned to her fate, Hermione closed her eyes and waited.
"HERMIONE!" Harry screamed with an arm outstretched. "NO!"
The locket shattered like glass as the bolt struck it dead on. It knocked her back several feet, slamming her body down hard onto the floor. Her arm that clutched the locket was pulled painfully behind her back, the force of the bolt instantly snapping her humerus in two like a twig. Landing directly on the broken bone, she to cried out in anguish. But the otherworldly screaming of the dark lord, who was thrashing about in pain, clawing at his face, drowned her own screams out. With the horcrux destroyed, age was rapidly returning to his body, every second he appeared more and more like an old man.
Levering herself onto wobbly legs, Hermione watched the weakened Dark Lord move about before willing her body to focus intently on her target. Before she did anything beyond that, however, she deftly removed her godmother's ring from her finger, and grasped it tightly in her burnt palm. Her broken arm flopped back down to hang loosely at her side. She could hear her mother's words echoing in her mind, a murder of significance…flesh and blood…She wanted to cheat death, to live forever. And finally the two words themselves, hurtled from neuron to axon to neuron before exploding in a spectrum of vibrant color behind her eyes.
…avada…
…kedavra…
He immediately clutched at his heart, his eyes impossibly wide with confusion. And the once silver band now glowed a brilliant red in her palm. She slipped the ring back onto her finger.
All while this was unfolding, a long sliver of verdant putrid smoke wafted up from the fading man's throat into the air. It immediately forced itself up into Hermione's nostrils, sending her into a fit of choking coughs. The caustic taste of metal filled her mouth as the smoke permeated throughout her body. Something began to move through her veins; she could feel it wriggling inside of her and an ethereal rage manifested in her abruptly stoic face.
A chorus of ghostly voices filled her head, urging her to take back what is hers. KILL KILL KILL! A migraine instantly formed inside her skull as she clutched at her head in pain. Her jaw clenched impossibly tight. Something was crawling through the folds of her brain as the ring pulsated on her finger. A high-pitched whine drowned out all sounds in her ears, and a thick coat of sweat covered her body. Muscles tensed and relaxed rapidly, and her lungs felt as though they were full of smoke. She grunted in pain as her body continued it's strange reactions. Suddenly the sensations stopped and her head snapped forward, her eyes locked upon the Dark Lord.
Proudly, she strode toward the dying man. The Death Eaters did not move, every one of them completely transfixed in fear as the girl approached their soon to be former leader, and watched helplessly as she promptly kicked him square in the chest to knock him onto his back.
"Hermione…why?" He reached for her shoe with a bloodied hand, but she slapped it away with a sneer, before reaching down with her good arm to take his wand, snapping it in two.
"Your life for mine." She smiled cruelly. "I'm taking back what I've promised. Seeing as though you've got a blatant disregard for familial piety, I fail to see why I should suddenly start giving a damn about you…" She twirled the ring around her finger while laughing wickedly before turning to face the shuddering Death Eaters. Holding her arms wide she smiled at them. "Brothers, sisters…we've all been deceived. Too long have you been led astray by this false prophet."
A gurgle escaped the snakelike man's lips before he fell limply forward, slumped over on the floor. Dead. At that same instant Harry's scar burned a brilliant white light, before disappearing from his forehead entirely. He idly touched the soft skin with bafflement before looking over at Hermione addressing the assembly of cloaked wizards.
"Pledge yourselves to me, and truly earn the future that you've desired for so long!"
Hermione's eyes began to change, slowly growing crimson in color, and her face was beginning to change as well; her nose going flat against her skull. The broken limb repaired itself as her skin turned increasingly translucent; veins black as oil erupting in a visible network on her arms and neck. Her lips seemed to deflate, and her teeth were now sharpened fangs. Lastly her hair turned into a slick mane of ebony locks. An otherworldly laughter emanated from her throat, as she slowly levitated off the ground, and her scarlet eyes scanned the room before locking on the face of an extremely terrified Harry Potter. Even the Death Eaters recoiled at the sight.
All that was left of Hermione was a monster.
"You are all that stands in my way...Potter." She rasped in a dry, hollow voice. Instantly she willed Harry's body to lift from the ground by the collar of his shirt; an invisible force brought him closer to her.
"Resist it Hermione!" Harry cried. "Resist! This isn't like you!"
"I am not the one you call Hermione…she is no more." She said with a sneer. Her voice was now an octave lower than normal.
"If you are not she…then who are you!" Helen shouted with confusion.
"I am the one who will forever be. The harbinger of purity. My name…is Salazar Slytherin."
"Salazar Slytherin!" Helen gasped with surprise. "The spirit inside the locket…was it not a horcrux after all?"
"My spirit was not in the locket churl, but passed through the blood of your wretched family. My former vessel was weak, arrogant and would not allow me full control…but he has paid his price. Your daughter, by slaying him and crafting this ring into a horcrux, has freed me from my bonds, and cemented me within her. Now with this new, pure body, brimming with powers I could only dream of possessing while I was alive…soon all of you will bow down to me!"
"That ring is driving you insane Hermione, get rid of it!" Harry's response was a stunning spell connecting directly with his abdomen, throwing him back several feet across the wooden floor.
"Who would be so foolish to resist absolute POWER!" She boomed in fury.
"Think of Fleur! What of her! She wouldn't want this 'Mione…think of the summer…the beach…Shell Cottage…your happiness together. This isn't what she'd want Hermione, you are not you! FIGHT IT!"
"You DARE to presume what Fleur would desire! I could give her the entire English coast should I will it!" She gestured toward the corpse on the floor. "Riddle said it himself." She snapped, her fangs gnashing together with a clatter. "I can shape the world for her and I as I see fit. I will rule over this land and she shall be my Queen."
"Put him down Hermione!" Helen's voice rang out from a portrait behind her, causing the young witch to whip around. Tears burned trails down Helen's youthful face, as she pressed her hands against the invisible force containing her within the painting. "Destroy the ring, you're possessed…it's eating you alive!"
"SILENCE woman! The mortal girl is nearly gone!" It came as a guttural bellow echoing wildly through the cavernous manor, instantly quieting the painted woman. "I shall purge the world not just of mudbloods and blood-traitors…but I will purge it of all who I deem unworthy!"
Fenrir Greyback and Rabastan Lestrange scampered toward her and prostrated themselves at her feet. "Oh great and powerful Slytherin!" Fenrir called out. "We pledge ourselves to you! Give us the boy, we'll destroy him for you!"
"Sh-sh-shall I fetch Fleur for you my lord?" Rabastan stuttered, sweat pouring down his brow. "She's still likely in the cellar dungeon!"
Hermione smiled wickedly at the display, and slowly reached into her jacket pocket to grab for her wand. "That won't be necessary…but your devotion shall not go unrewarded…"
As she drew her wand Harry promptly knocked it away with a hastily cast disarming spell of his own, but it did nothing to stop Hermione from flaying an unsuspecting Rabastan and Fenrir Greyback alive without blinking an eye. They disintegrated into a sickening explosion of gore and blood, the remains of their bodies falling to the ground like hunks of meat at a slaughterhouse. "They were too weak for my new world." Helen screamed loudly in horror as Hermione killed a several of the Death Eaters one by one; Yaxley, the Carrows, and Dolohov. It appeared as though an invisible hand swept across them and knocked each of the cloaked figures face first onto the floor. "Foolish child." Hermione snarled at Harry. "With this body, wands are of no use to me. I…she could kill you with a just thought."
To her right, Harry still thrashed about, held aloft by an invisible force. "I'm not going to fight you 'Mione…DESTROY THE RING! I know you're in there 'Mione!"
Hermione's winced for a moment and her old features flashed across her face. And Harry was instantly dropped to the floor like a ragdoll. "H-h-help…me…it hurts…oh God it burns…ahhh!" She wheezed painfully doubled over, grasping her stomach with both arms. Dry heaves wracked her body, and tears seeped from her eyes.
"Take off the ring!" The portrait shouted. "Darling please…before it's too late!" Tears began pouring from Helen's painted eyes.
Hermione struggled wildly. "I c-c-can't! Ugh! I can't even control my arms…he won't let me take it…I can feel him moving around inside…ahhh!" Images flashed behind her eyelids in rapid fire; she could see everything from the scaffolding of the fledgling Hogwarts castle, to the subtle contours of Fleur's body. A strange feeling washed over her as she experienced a barrage of memories that were not her own interspersed through the contents of her mind. This thing inside her was using her. Consuming her. Her body was no longer her own. Willpower slipped through her fingers like water. Still she was nothing but a tool to do someone else's bidding. Fury was overwhelming her rapidly; anger that was not her own. Letting out a wail of agony, the disfigured face reappeared in a devilish sneer.
Suddenly the main doors of the manor burst inward with a loud blast. Through the billowing smoke there in rushed a large group of witches and wizards led by three familiar faces; Remus, Tonks and Ron, each with their wands drawn. Instantly their eyes fell upon the pallid corpse of the Dark Lord sprawled out spread-eagle below Hermione's feet. Her mutilated face had been concealed by the shadows. How the Order found them here, she was unsure, but she was not pleased to see them there.
Remus' face burst into a broad smile at the sight of the fallen Voldemort. "He-he-he's dead! And…Harry's still alive! Amazing! You did it Hermione!" The brunette ignored the unwanted adulation and her eyes focused on the red head creeping toward Harry. Try as she might, she could not stomach the mounting rage that was effervescent at the mere sight of Ron. Remus led a charge toward the living room where the Death Eaters had convened, and immediately the manor was plunged into pandemonium. Debris and wood splintered everywhere, with jets of multiple hues flying in every direction. Despite all of this however, Hermione and Ron simply stared each other down.
Ron studied Hermione's face while beginning to recoil in disgust at her disfigured features. "What in the bloody hell is wrong with your face!"
Harry motioned wildly to Ron. "Leave her alone mate! She's not herself!"
"That traitor! You're defending her!" Ron was incredulous, and immediately he fired a stunning spell directly at the possessed witch. She deflected it without even looking at him, and once again Ron found himself dodging his own repelled shot. He rolled across the floor, and Hermione stared daggers at him, her crimson eyes glowing even brighter.
"YOU!" Hermione snarled at Ron. With a hand outstretched and with a simple curl of her pointer finger, she summoned him toward her violently by the neck. "You've caused so much undue pain and suffering. You are but a paradigm of everything that is wrong with this world. I am sick of your arrogance, your flippant attitude, and for that you will become my first recipient of the purge."
In an act of pure defiance Ron spit directly into her left eye, and he fell like lead to the floor, slamming into it with a loud thud. He scrambled toward Harry. "Bloody bitch has gone completely mental. Makes you wonder where the Veela slut is."
"Ron shut up!" Harry hissed through his teeth, verbally reprimanding Ron.
The warning came too late as Hermione swooped down mere feet above Ron's body. "You will swallow those traitorous words wastrel!"
"Oh yeah? You…and what army?" With a sweeping motion he gestured at the multitude of cloaked bodies littering the floor. The threat went ignored as Hermione willed her heart to slow. All around them fights broke out between the remaining Death Eaters and the Order, with jinxes and curses being fired haphazardly in all directions.
Harry's voice had reached a pitch as he watched in terror when Hermione closed her eyes in deep concentration, lowering her body down to stand on the floor. "Ron, start running!" The warning came too late.
CRUCIO!
The scream that exploded forth from the redhead's throat was like music. She knew that this was pure agony inflicted on Ron, not a polyjuiced Wormtail, and the devastation that warped his freckled features brought forth an unimaginable wave of pleasure. She began to tremble as she willed the torture curse to continue, and the intense desire to expunge him was mounting by the second. A cold and unforgiving laugh escaped her lips. She took several steps toward him, her mirth inhuman in its intonation.
Ron lay sobbing at her feet and she let out a roar of anger. "Do you feel the pain you've caused me! DO YOU!" He continued to writhe about on the floor; his body contorting in impossible angles. His limbs stiffened as though they have been shocked with high voltage, and Hermione couldn't suppress a whimper of pleasure at the sight. He begged her to stop, but his pleas fell upon deaf ears. She continued to torture him relentlessly until he had fallen unconscious upon the floor. Finally, she was fully prepared to end him once and for all.
A tugging at her shoulder shook her from her concentration. Harry. His pleading eyes stared deeply into hers and her lips curled in a snarl. "What do you want from me!"
He made to grab for her shoulders once more but with an angry swipe of her arm she swatted him away. "I know I gave up on you once before!" Harry shouted. "But I'm not giving up on you now! You're hidden in there Hermione!" He looked frantically from right to left, scanning the faces of the Order and Aurors now sweeping through the mansion.
The real Hermione returned to the surface once more; upon her face a look of pure desperation. "W-w-where is F-fleur!" The question barely managed to squeeze out before a powerful pain inside her chest overtook her. The ring burned white hot on her finger, as she willed the opposite hand to rip it from the digit. "No, you mustn't remove it!" She grunted angrily as she tugged on the band, nearly spraining the knuckle of her finger in the process. "I have come so far…ahhh…" For several minutes Helen and Harry watched as the young witch stumbled across the floor of the manor pulling at the ring, only to instantly jam it back on to her finger. On the inside Hermione fought for the control of her own body. As each precious second ticked by, less and less of her mind was her own.
Helen began to shout once more. "Your family Hermione! Bellatrix and Fleur!" Harry visibly tensed once Helen had spoken the Dark Witch's name. "Think of them! They love you. I love you!" Her words were nearly drowned out by the cacophony of violence unfolding around them. Remus had managed to subdue most of the remaining Death Eaters, with the help of several Order members. Incredibly, they were completely unaware of the other battle now taking place within the same room. Hermione's own possessed hands were now wrapped tightly around her neck, choking herself. Harry made to run toward her, only to be caught in the cross fire of a furious duel between some Aurors and Death Eaters. The young witch fought for air, her thumbs embedding deeply into the muscles of her neck. Finally the last of the Death Eaters fell, with several well-aimed shots of the killing curse.
The sound of loud crying brought everything to a screeching halt. Emerging from the basement stairs, a bereaved Kara was sobbing loudly in the arms of Tonks and Bill. Their sudden arrival commanded the attention of every occupant in the room. Kara fell to her knees dragging Tonks with her; the magenta haired woman was also fighting back a few tears of her own.
"Dead…She's dead!" Bill had shouted through the settling dust and smoke, and in that instant Hermione could feel her heart rip in two. An intense sadness gripped at her very soul.
And the ring fell to the floor with a clatter.
A/N: Only one to go and this crazy journey will finally be complete. Thank. God.
A/N 2: Deepest, deepest apologies if the above was really confusing. Writing this was a bit nuts, must've written and re-written this at least a dozen times. Going into this chapter I thought, what the heck makes Voldemort 'tick'. Why would being a Gaunt be so dangerous for our heroine?
For clarification: Hermione, in an act of desperation, decides to craft the ring into a horcrux of her own. Little does she know that in the killing of the Dark Lord, the spirit of their long lost relative manifests inside her. The spirit helped to guide Voldemort's anger throughout the years. Since horcruxes are such evil objects, and the soul is torn apart while one is made, she is weakened enough for the spirit to possess her. At the very end, the revelation that someone she cares about has died is devastating enough to rouse her from the power that the spirit has upon her. Hope this helps a little. Life has been a little hectic so I might have made a couple consistency errors…but please just be gentle about it when you let me know.