Sorry, I had planned to post this earlier, but I got sick when I came back from my vacation and then I had to travel to the University I will start this fall and look at my new apartment, so yesterday I was just lying down with high fever. But I'm better now, so I managed to re-read it and change a couple of errors... I hope there aren't too many left. It just so hard for me to see them... Ah, well... Hope you like it anyway!

Warning; This chapter has not yet been betaed!

Chapter 36 – Taking over

Severus woke up when he felt Voldemort summoning him. He cursed and stumbled out of bed and put on his Death Eater's robes and mask. A moment later, he was standing inside Voldemort court room. Severus frowned when he saw all the other Death Eaters there as well.

"My Death Eaters." Everyone turned toward the voice of the most powerful wizard alive. He was standing on a small stage, smiling at them. "It's time. Minutes from now, the Order will come here and this place will explode, hopefully killing them all. We will go to Hogwarts and take over the school while they are occupied here. I hope you all know what to do. If you don't, ask someone from the inner circle. We will invade Hogwarts in ten minutes time. Capture everyone who tries to fight you. Bring them to the storehouse and lock them inside. Knock them unconscious if you have to, but don't harm them more than necessary. We don't want to cause chaos."

Everyone nodded and Apparated to their positions. Severus stayed behind. His order was to take the Dark Lord to Hogwarts. He couldn't help but to scowl at the other man.

"Don't look like that, Severus." The Dark Lord smiled. "This is a happy day! Now, take us back to Hogwarts."

Severus just nodded and took Voldemort's hand. If someone would look into the magical transportation during this night, they would only see that Severus had Apparated into Hogwarts, not that he had guided someone else.

They landed inside Severus study.

"Is Hermione asleep?" Voldemort asked, a little too eager.

"I hope so," Severus said. "We should let her sleep…"

Voldemort didn't listen; he was already on his way to the bedroom. Severus followed, sighing. They entered the bedroom and stared at the empty bed.

"Hermione?" Severus called and went to the bathroom. No one was there. He went to the kitchen, but she wasn't their either. "Hermione?"

Voldemort was standing next to the fire. "Someone has used the Floo recently…"

"Hermione wouldn't leave. Something must have happened."

Voldemort nodded and something started to hum inside his robe. He took out some kind of device and smiled. "I knew it."

"What?"

"I made a bomb that would explode once everyone in the Order made it inside the headquarters. It has exploded now. I hope you didn't forget anything…"

Severus looked at him in surprise. "But all your things, my Lord?"

"I did another spell some time ago that would let me transport everything from the headquarters with a blink of an eye. Everything I own is now in a secret and safe place only I can enter. You shouldn't worry so much, I take care of everything."

"What will happen if someone survived the explosion?"

"Some of my Death Eaters are looking into it right now. Survivors will be taken to the storehouse."

Severus nodded and Voldemort sat down and started to investigate the fire.

"I think she was taken to Dumbledore's office," he said after a while. "It is the latest connection."

Severus grinned. "Shall we make a visit?"

"Perhaps we should."

xxx

Hermione woke up by someone shaking her gently. She got quite a surprise when she recognised Dumbledore standing next to her bed. He didn't look happy at all.

"Come with me," he ordered.

"W-what? Why?"

"I will explain everything, just come with me to my office."

"Where's Severus?"

"Voldemort."

"Oh…" Hermione got up and held her blanket close to her body. Dumbledore handed her a robe and turned around. When she had put it one, he lead her out to the sitting room and toward the fire.

"You first, Mrs Snape," he said.

Hermione threw in some Floo-powder and stepped inside. The next moment, she was stumbling into the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore followed her.

"Please sit down, Hermione."

Was it just her, or was Dumbledore acting peculiar than usual? He seemed… upset.

"Has this something to do with Severus?" she asked.

"You could say so…" Dumbledore sat down behind his desk. "I know he is hiding something from me, Hermione. It's very important I get to know what it is."

Hermione looked outside. The sun was about to rise. She frowned.

"Couldn't this wait? I'm really tried…"

"No, it can't wait," Dumbledore said harshly. "Voldemort has found out that Severus is a spy. I have already sent the Order to his headquarters."

"Oh…" Hermione didn't really know what to say. She couldn't say that Severus wasn't a spy… "He hasn't spoken to me about what it is he does when he is with Voldemort…"

Dumbledore had watched her carefully and now he sighed. "I am sorry to hear that, Hermione… I wished I could have done something earlier."

"Done what?"

"My dear child, I know you are lying."

Hermione stared at him.

"I suspected that you were lying the last time we spoke, and now I can see it in your eyes."

Hermione eyes went wide, but before she could say anything, he had tied her hands and legs together.

"I expected so much more from you," Dumbledore continued. "But Voldemort has always been talented in seducing people… Tell me what you know Hermione."

Hermione opened her mouth and closed it again.

"You can fix things, Hermione," Dumbledore said eagerly. "Just tell me everything you know about Voldemort. What is he up to?"

"I don't know…," she whispered.

"How about Severus?"

"It's not my place to tell. He trusts me, I won't tell you his secrets," Hermione said. It was true. Oh how she wished she didn't have to be in the middle of this.

"I'm sorry to hear that… I really am." Dumbledore closed his eyes for a second. Hermione trembled. And for some reason, she was hungry.

"Are you really pregnant?" he finally asked.

"Yes, I am. I even have morning sickness."

Dumbledore smiled sadly. "Legilimens!"

Hermione wasn't prepared for it. She tried to shut her mind down, but she was too weak. She couldn't even throw him out with magic. He was looking for memories of Voldemort and she could feel his surprise when he found them.

Her talking to Voldemort. Her eating dinner with Voldemort and Bella. Voldemort standing in front of her, naked and with strange symbols on his body. Her waking up next to a gorgeous man…

Dumbledore pulled out from her head with a horrid look. Hermione looked down at the floor.

"What have you done, Hermione?" he asked and got up.

"He helped me when you wouldn't. I helped him in return," Hermione said quietly.

Dumbledore didn't answer. Instead he dragged her up and put her one his desk.

"What are you…?" Hermione began, but Dumbledore pressed his wand at her stomach and muttered something. There was a glow.

"I said I was pregnant!"

He still didn't answer, he muttered something else. A curse.

It felt like something had cut her open and tried to burn her stomach. She screamed in pain. The burning sensation disappeared, but she still screamed. She didn't stop to scream until something cold was placed on her stomach.

"Hermione? My princess? Answer me!"

Breathing heavily, she opened her eyes and saw Voldemort bent over her with a worried expression on his face. She started to cry.

"It hurts…," she mumbled.

"Hush… You are safe now…" he said and stroked her face. She believed him.

xxx

When Voldemort stepped through the fire and into Dumbledore's office, he heard her screams before he saw her. It didn't even take him a second to throw Dumbledore into the wall and start to heal Hermione. Her stomach was swollen and red. Voldemort cast an eye on Dumbledore who was unconscious. Had the old man tried to kill her? Then why…

Voldemort looked down at Hermione again. No, not her. The thing inside her. Dumbledore knew… He managed to make the swelling go down and then he placed a freezing spell on her stomach.

"Hermione? My princess? Answer me!"

Hermione opened her eyes. She looked scared to death. When she saw him, she started to cry. Hopefully out of relief.

"It hurts…," she mumbled.

He was going to kill Dumbledore. Dumbledore wouldn't have hurt Hermione without a reason, he must have known…

"Hush… You are safe now…" He stroked her face and she closed her eyes again.

He looked up and saw Severus staring at him.

"Tie him up and wake him," he ordered Severus.

The other man nodded and looked at Dumbledore with murder in his eyes. Some minutes later, Dumbledore was awake and safely tied up.

"Tom," Dumbledore said. "You are too late. I have already sent the Order to your headquarter."

"I know, old fool," Voldemort scowled. "Why do you think I am here? We are taking over the school."

Dumbledore looked at Severus and arched an eyebrow. "Severus?"

Severus crossed his arms. "There is no one in this world I despise as much as you, Dumbledore."

The old man bowed his hand and sighed.

"Professor!" the door swung open and to everyone's surprise, Potter was standing in the doorway.

Potter seemed to be just as surprised as any of them. He stopped and stared from Severus to Voldemort, to the tied Dumbledore and then to Hermione. His eyes widened.

"What the…," Potter started to say, but then everything happened at once.

Voldemort disarmed Potter and Severus took a hold on his arms. He was just about to kill the-boy-who-lived-to-cause-trouble when he heard Dumbledore.

"Let him go or I will kill her, Voldemort."

Voldemort spun around and saw that Dumbledore had managed to get loose and now held his wand at Hermione neck.

"What?!" Potter called out.

"NO!" Voldemort cried. "Let him go, Severus."

He didn't turn around to see if Severus had followed his order. His eyes were on Hermione. She was staring at him with frighten eyes.

"Professor," Potter said and came up next to Voldemort. "That's Hermione! You can't…"

"Run, Harry," Dumbledore asked. "Please run."

"But…"

"Harry," Hermione said in a trembling voice. "Run… please…"

That made Potter run. Dumbledore looked with a triumph smile at Voldemort who took the opportunity to kill the annoying man. Dumbledore didn't have time to harm Hermione, he feel down on the ground with his smile still on his face.

"Come…" Voldemort mumbled to Severus. "We have things to do… Take Hermione back to your room and stay there…"

Severus nodded and helped his wife up from the desk. Hermione winced in pain and Voldemort wanted to kill Dumbledore again. When they were gone, he exited through the stairs.

Outside the window, the sun was rising. He didn't meet any people until he was on the stair, looking down at the entrance hall. Death Eaters fought teachers and students. Some had fallen. He could see Potter fighting Lucius and Draco.

Voldemort jinxed his voice so it would be heard over the noise.

"PLEASE LOWER YOUR WANDS. THE WAR IS OVER." His voice rang trough the hall.

There was some fighting. But when the teachers and students saw that the Death Eaters didn't try to hex them, just protect themselves, they lowered their wands too.

"As I was saying," Voldemort said and started to walk down the stairs. "Dumbledore is gone. I don't wish to kill anyone. If every student would please enter the Great Hall and just sit down, this would be so much easier."

Half of the Death Eaters followed the students into the Great Hall. The teachers and the unconscious ones were left behind. Voldemort frowned. Potter was not among them. But he would never just give up. Voldemort looked at Lucius and Draco. They, on the other hand, were knocked out cold. Damn. Potter had got away again.

Voldemort looked at the one still standing. "Now, this will be very painless. You will all receive a necklace. It will help us to keep track on you so you don't run away. It is only temporary."

Everyone was too confused and shocked to do anything. He waited until everyone had got a necklace before he continued. "Now, my Death Eaters will take away the wounded ones. Don't worry, they won't hurt them. They will be taken to a house with other… wounded. I want you to go and wake up the students who aren't here and bring them to the Great Hall."

The Death Eaters started to transport the bodies as the teachers disappeared to different directions. Voldemort went into the Great Hall and sat down at the centre of the head table. He had taken Dumbledore's life, why shouldn't he take his chair as well?

Students started to come in and sit down at their different tables. Voldemort started to think of what he would say. He needed to explain to them what was going to happen and that he would not stand for any rebelling. But he didn't want to scare them. He wanted this takeover to be quick and painless. Scared people always did something drastic. And he could feel the fear in the students. When the hall was full, he made a gesture for his Death Eaters to close the doors. None of them had any masks on. That would only scare the children.

"Students," he began. "Please don't be afraid, we won't harm you. As you may see, we have taken over this school but it doesn't mean you will be harmed in any way. The war is over now. We won."

The terror in the hall rose.

"It may sound strange to you, but we actually won a long time ago. We have been in control over the Ministry a whole year and no one has complained. The only resistance has been inside this school, led by Dumbledore. I went to him earlier this morning to sort things out and I found him torturing a student. Sadly, Dumbledore's paranoia had turned into madness. He was torturing the poor girl because he thought she would know something about me. She didn't know anything." Voldemort made a pause to sigh. "I managed to stop him, but rather than letting me questioning him, he killed himself…"

Like on cue, one of his Death Eaters hurried into the Hall and went to Voldemort.

"Everyone who went to the headquarters are dead, my Lord," he whispered.

Voldemort nodded and the man left.

"I'm afraid I have more bad news," Voldemort said in a sad voice. "Dumbledore's death activated some kind of bomb… the Order of the Phoenix is gone too…"

A gasp travelled around the Hall and some people started to cry. Voldemort rose.

"It seems like I was too late… Please return to your rooms… your teachers will come with more information later. I must ask you not to run away. Until we have everything under control, Hogwarts is temporary cut off from the world."

He nodded toward the teachers who took care of the students again and led them away. Once they were gone, his Death Eaters came closer.

"Make sure none of the rebels remember what actually happened," he said to them. "We don't want the truth to come out."