A.N.: Hello guys, I hope you all had a great week. We're getting closer to Hermione's escape, but it will take some more chapters, sorry. I know you're all getting more and more desperate for her to finally leave Voldemort's clutches and have her reunited with the twins. Believe me, she wants that, too. ;-) I mean, Voldemort is a creepy bastard and he's getting worse with every chapter... But we all knew that wouldn't be a walk in the park for our poor girl. I'm as always looking forward to your comments. Are you all still with me and the story? Or did you get bored by now?
Chapter 49: False play
Finally, Lord Voldemort thought, carefully suppressing a moan as he felt his lioness's fingers caressing his beloved pet. He and Nagini were connected in a very special way - a way that enabled him to feel what she felt and act through her, if need be. Right now he wanted to, but slipping into his pet's head required quite a lot of concentration, which would have given him away. Therefore he made do with savouring his witch's touch which she ever so gently bestowed on his beloved pet's head and enjoying the intoxicating scent that emanated from his lioness lap. She was shaking though and he could tell that it was from fear. His lioness was afraid of Nagini, even though she had never been afraid of him. Right now, he didn't care. He even liked to see her tremble at least at this very special occasion. The day had brought so many disappointments for him and punishing Lucius had not been nearly enough to vent his frustration. Making his witch tremble and being able to feel it was perfect, as it not only soothed his nerves but also gave him enough to feed his fantasies.
Soon his prize would touch him too, run her fingers through his black hair or across his muscular chest. Not long now, until he would have his potion and with it his old, handsome body. But for that to happen he first had to move his soul piece to another item or being. Then he could hand Hufflepuffs cup over to Severus. Luckily Lord Voldemort knew exactly the right vessel for that purpose.
ssssssss
Severus was called to the Dark Lord two days after he had saved Lucius' life. It had been a close call for his friend, but somehow he and Narcissa had managed to get the man into St Mungo's where he would be treated for the unforeseeable future. Lucius Malfoy would never be the same intimidating figure he had once been. Severus was positive that he had saved the man's sanity and intellect at least, but some bodily pains and malfunctions would stay. Which ones that were only time would tell.
Severus could only hope that the Dark Lord was in a better mood today and did not feel like torturing him as well. With that madman, one could never know.
"Ah Severus," his master greeted him with a welcoming smile on his thin lips, while petting the head of his gigantic snake. How had that reptile gotten here? Did it live in the same house as Hermione now? He sincerely hoped not.
"Master," Severus greeted back with a deep bow.
"I got what you've been asking for, my friend," the man said and carefully lifted a golden cup towards him. It was golden and the badger on its side was clearly visible to him. There was no question what it was.
"Very well," Severus said looking at his master with dark eyes. Then he conjured a magical container that was usually used for collecting fragile potion ingredients and levitated the cup carefully inside. "As soon as I am finished with the potion, I will send a call through the Dark Mark, master. Expect it in about a week."
The Dark Lord nodded, his eyes glowing and his mouth turned into a generous smile. "Excellent. Try not to disappoint me, Severus. I'd hate to lose another one of my most trusted servants."
The potions master nodded. "Don't worry my Lord. I know exactly what I'm doing."
Severus did. He knew what he was doing. It just wasn't what his master expected him to do.
Ssssssss
Hermione hated that damned snake with a passion. The thing seemed to follow her everywhere except to her room and the bathroom. As soon as she had sat down, it would roll together on the floor, right next to her, or worse, bury its head on her lap again to ask for her attention. For a while Hermione had tried ignoring the damned thing, but that only led to a snake suddenly staring into her face and moving its tongue expectantly. It had been one of the scariest things in her life and Hermione felt uncomfortably reminded of her encounter with the basilisk. Right at this moment, she had nearly passed out and only the iron grip she had on her feelings prevented her from doing so. Still, she had learned that ignoring the snake was not a good idea and so she stroked its head from time to time, in the hope to avoid such a scary encounter again.
It was like she had gained a lap-dog or something, which would have been cute if the thing didn't give her the willies. In her head, she was counting the hours until her first exams at the Ministry, because secretly she hoped that Severus would get her out of there right away. But as the exams were planned for several days, he would probably use the chance to spy everything out, at first. Which meant that she would probably have to hold out some more days, but that was alright. She'd spend a large part of them in the Ministry anyway, which meant that there was no time for that horrible snake to bother her. Thank Merlin! She'd have nightmares about that huge reptile for weeks and months, that much was sure. Luckily Crooks would soon be back at her side, which meant that she could cuddle him whenever it happened. Stroking his soft fur would hopefully make her forget the feeling of dry scales below her fingers - but it would take a while.
"You look worried," Voldemort said, pulling her out of her thoughts with his words. "Don't tell me you're worried about not passing your exams, because I can assure you that this fear is totally unnecessary. You're well prepared."
Hermione forced herself to smile which was hard, as that obtrusive reptile was back in her lap. "I know I am. But I don't just want to pass, I want to be the best. I want to show people that I'm not just to be respected, because I'm the Open Link. I want them to respect me because of my intelligence and magical ability, not just because of some sort of magical anomaly, I don't even fully understand myself."
Her jailer nodded. "I understand the need to be the best. I was, at my time. But I can assure you, my dear, I will not think less of you if you only make second or third. These are unusual circumstances for you and as I have taught you myself, I know how talented you are."
Somehow his words made her heart swell, even though she really shouldn't have cared about them. But the man was a talented wizard who had met and duelled some amazing wizards. Even though she disliked him she got the impression that his words were honest and not just meant to charm her. And coming from a self-proclaimed Dark Lord those words were high praise. She didn't know what to reply to his words, which happened to her more and more often now. A few weeks ago she would have told him, that she did not care about his opinion, but ever since talking to Severus, she tried reigning her Gryffindor tendencies in as much as possible. Affronting him would do her no good, as it would either anger him or make her even more interesting to him and both were options that didn't look appealing to her.
"I'll still do my best. I've been working towards those OWLs for years and I won't let them slip through my fingers now or let anybody take them away from me."
He looked at her with a soothing smile. "Nobody will take them away from you, my Dear. You have my word."
Hermione didn't know how much his word was worth, but it was all she had. She nodded. "Good. And thank you for letting me do this. I know it sounds stupid, but those exams are important to me."
"Which is what makes them important to me," the man added with a smile. Then he offered her his arm: "Shall we go over those last transfigurations again? We want to make sure to impress the examiners with your skills, don't we?"
Hermione nodded with a small smile. "Absolutely."
Ssssssss
Severus looked through his rooms with a wistful gaze. Everything was prepared and ready to be moved to his new place. Just a command from him and his stuff would automatically be ported to his new location, wherever that would be. Where he went, went his stuff. There was nothing anybody could do about it, except he knew the spell and the code word that would trigger the portation. But that was pretty unlikely.
His floo roared to life. It was too early, Severus thought, but when he turned around he saw the Headmaster stepping into his room. Today he wore a silvery robe with a matching hat, while his long beard was braided in a fashionable way. Weren't they on an undercover mission? Whom did the old man plan to impress?
"You're early," Severus commented dryly, looking at the old man with a raised brow. I am all for being in the ministry beforehand, but the exams will start in a few hours and the longer we stay the higher the risk of being found."
Dumbledore nodded. "I'm sure you're right my friend. I am not here to take you to the ministry though as I and the Order have decided that you will not come with us to rescue Miss Granger."
He stared at the man with a dark expression. "Of course I'll be coming. This is my plan. Without me, you wouldn't have even known that she'll be there in the first place. I have a right to be there, she's my friend."
The other man shook his head with an understanding smile but Severus didn't buy that farce. He and his friendship meant nothing to that old manipulator. All he cared about was getting Hermione into his manipulative fingers and using her himself. Merlin, he should have never told that old goat. "You don't want me close to her, is it that? Are you afraid that I'm going to mess up that little scheme, you've most likely already cooked up in your head? Who do you want her to bond with? Yourself? Potter?" he spat the last words, feeling disgusted by either possibility. Hermine deserved better than stumbling from one manipulator into the arms of another one.
"This is none of your concern, Severus. The Open Link will be presented with suitable options to choose from, don't worry. As for you: we can not have your position as a spy discovered, my friend. You are far too valuable for our cause. Believe me, it is for the greater good," the old bastard assured him with grey, caring eyes. But he did not care, at least not about him. And Severus would not let himself be manipulated again, not in this. Getting Hermione away from these two puppet masters was too important.
"Right now I give a flying fuck about the greater good, Albus. We need to get her away from him. This is probably our only chance to do so," he shouted, not caring if it would give away his feelings for the girl. There was nobody able to hear but the old goat. And Severus had stopped caring what he thought about him long ago.
Albus sighed. "I feared that this would be your answer, my friend. As it is, you don't leave me much of a choice." Before Severus digested the meaning of his words, a wandless, silent spell hit him squarely into the chest, making his body go limp like a puppet, whose strings have been cut. Without being able to do something, Severus saged to the floor, staring at the Headmaster with wide eyes. That bastard! He wanted to rage, to scream at the man, but it was of no use. His tongue simply would not obey him.
"Don't worry, Severus. The Open Link will be rescued from your master. In a few hours, she will be safe." With that the old man turned around, leaving Severus lying on the floor. He stared at the retreating figure of the Headmaster with a hateful expression. He had promised Hermione he would be there, to rescue her. He had sworn that he would protect her. Would she think he abandoned her? Would Dumbledore even tell him he did? It wasn't beyond that old manipulator. He knew that the man wanted to break their link…
"Be assured that the Open Link will be in good hands," Dumbledore said, before leaving his office through the floo. Severus watched him go, thinking: "Her name is Hermione, you bastard."
Ssssssss
"Did you hear that, Georgie?" Fred asked his brother. Both of them were crouched over a bludger sized orb, levitating in one corner of their lab. They had been here for a while, staring at their creation with wide eyes and listening to every word it broadcasted.
"Sure I did, brother mine," George said with a contemplative expression. "Even though I'm still not sure if I've somehow gone barmy."
His brother snorted. "Well, Snape's definitely on our side. That much is certain."
George nodded. "Yeah. But he and Hermione being friends? That's…"
"Hard to believe, yeah. But it's what he said… Hermione is his friend. He wouldn't say that if it wasn't true. I mean, this is Snape we're talking about. I didn't even think that man had friends," Fred said rubbing his forehead with an awkward smile. "I mean seriously? Snape and Hermione? That must be the strangest friendship the world has ever seen. That guy tormented her during class, he was horrible to her. What kind of friend would do that?"
George shrugged. "Dunno. I guess we'll have to ask them one day. But think about it Freddy, in a very strange way it does make sense. Remember those healing potions Hermione gave us? Where should she have brewed them? I doubt she used Myrtle's bathroom for that."
Fred hummed in agreeance. "True. You'd need a full equipped potions lab for that and I doubt she has her own, secret lab at the castle. Could Snape also be the one who taught her the disillusionment charm? Or do you think she taught herself?"
"Either could be possible," his twin agreed with a crooked smile. But I think we can say one thing for sure: "Our Hermione has a lot of secrets, more than we thought possible."
They nodded in unison. "What now? What shall we do with what we just learned?" George asked, looking at his brother.
Fred grinned: "First we activate Snape's teleport coin."
"And then? Do you wanna go help him?" George asked, earning himself another grin.
"We're magical twins, Georgie. You already know the answer to that question."