A.N.: Hello guys, I've been writing like a crazy woman in the last days and I can proudly say that I finished the second part of this story. It will end with chapter 61. Thank you for your ongoing support and for sticking with this story. I appreciate it!

Chapter 55: New perspectives

When Hermione walked down for breakfast the next morning, she could barely keep her eyes open. She had sat in the library until deep into the night and listened to Eric's murmurs and the rustling of paper. Somehow it had helped her to calm her strained nerves and after a while, she had found herself dozing off against the window frame, which was telling her that it was probably time to go to bed. But as soon as she was there, her head bedded on the silken pillow she found, she could no longer fall asleep.

"You look exhausted," Voldemort said, as soon as she had sat down at the table.

"I am," she admitted and it wasn't even a lie. "The last weeks took a toll on me and now that the exams are over, I suddenly find myself without a perspective."

He nodded, an understanding smile on his lips. "That is only natural, I assume. You've been working hard to achieve your goals but now it is time for you to relax."

She nodded slowly, even though she doubted that she would be able to relax, considering the circumstances. And so she simply stared at him, without saying anything in reply.

Voldemort smiled at her, showing his white teeth. "I know we've had our disagreements in the last days, but I promised to make it up to you. How about a little trip to the beach? I do own a beautiful deserted island in the middle of the Atlantic Oceans, where the two of us could relax for some days."

He had to be kidding. The two of them lounging at the beach with his nearly white skin covered in nothing but swimming trunks? The thought was ridiculous and scary at the same time. What did he hope to achieve, dragging her to some deserted beach? She shuddered internally. "I'm not much of a beach person, I fear," she said, plastering a regretful smile on her face. But she probably just looked tired while doing so.

Voldemort nodded contemplatively, even though Hermione found that he did look a bit disappointed. Merlin, had he hoped to see her in a Bikini or what?

"That's a pity then. Any other place you'd like to see then? Just name it and I'll take you there," he promised, looking at her with a self-assured smile. Hermione couldn't help but stare. Was he serious?

"I...do you mean it? Anywhere? What if I'd like to visit the Chinese Wall or go sliding with the penguins in Antarctica?" she asked, her voice full of disbelief.

He looked at her full of amusement. "Then I would take you there, Hermione," he promised. It was the first time he used her first name and she had the feeling it had been deliberate. She shuddered. What was he playing at?

Still, it was another chance to leave that damned house and the wards behind her and who knew? Maybe she would even find a chance to run away?

She thought for a long moment. "How about a trip to Paris? I heard they have one of the biggest collections of magical books," she proposed. "We could visit the Louvre and explore the city…" she said, her voice trailing off dreamily as she began to like the idea more.

Somehow her answer seemed to please him. "Paris it is, then. I'll have to make some preparations, but we could leave in a few days if that's what you wish."

Hermione nodded with a little smile. "That would be wonderful! Imagine all those books and the knowledge they contain," she said excitedly and found, that indeed hope was slowly returning to her. Even though she was still stuck with that horrible man, her life was far from over. She would find a way home, sooner or later. She had been to Paris countless times with her parents and knew the city and the language fairly well. When there was a place for her to get away on her own, then it was Paris with it's strong magical community. She'd just have to be careful and watch out for a chance to disappear. And until that chance arose she would learn as much as she could from him and use the chances Voldemort offered her. Somehow that plan made her even feel a little bit like a Slytherin and she didn't mean that in a bad way.

Ssssssss

Fred and George Weasley were finally free. With the help of Snape's brilliant potion (they still didn't know what he had given them) they had written their last NEWT exam with three hours of sleep beforehand and still felt like they were at their best. Afterwards, they had partied in the Gryffindor common room with all the other seven-graders. They had a reputation to uphold after all. When the potion suddenly ran out, they had barely made it into their dorm before crashing into their beds and sleeping for 12 hours straight, missing their breakfast in consequence. But that was alright, as they were their own master's now and that meant sleeping in for the next days and weeks. From now on they were making their own time schedule.

"Where have you been?" their little brother asked George when he finally joined the other Gryffindors for lunch. "Where's Fred? Don't tell me he's had too much to drink and is still out." Fred was here, right at George's side in fact, but no one would be able to see him, for now. They had decided to go through with their plan as soon as possible, as they needed to have the initiative if they wanted to expose Bellatrix and therefore protect the castle and its inhabitants from her murderous tendencies.

"He's still puking in the bathroom," George lied with an eye roll. "But don't worry little brother, he'll be here soon enough smelling of minty toothpaste."

Ron snorted amusedly, before focussing on the food that was just arriving on the table. George sat down across from him, next to Harry while he knew that Fred would carefully move to the end of the table, where the polyjuiced Bellatrix Lestrange was sitting. Cancelling the potion would be easy enough, they had used similar spells to cancel the effect of their products and woven it into several antidotes. They had plenty of experience in that area. The tricky part was casting the counterspell without being noticed but in fact all it required was a big enough distraction. That was Dobby's job, as he had access to the kitchen and therefore the food. They had given him a phial of their newest experimental potion and all George had to do now was provide an alibi. He generously loaded his plate and poured himself some of the altered pumpkin juice before taking a large sip of it. The potion was tasteless, but the effect was instant. He felt his body shift and it was a strange feeling, even though he knew what would happen. Some of the other students, who had taken a sip of pumpkin juice too, changed as well so that it was only a moment later, when cheers and shouts erupted all around them, as around twenty students had temporarily shifted to the opposite sex. It was hilarious and George would have remembered it as his best prank if that had been the whole purpose. But it was only shortly after, when the shouts and giggles morphed to screams of agitation and panic, when the first one sighted Bellatrix Lestrange, now looking very much like herself.

The now exposed Death Eater instantly leapt to her feet, looking through the Great Hall with wide, crazy eyes. "Who dares..." she hissed but she was interrupted by Dumbledore, who got up from his chair and stared at her with eyes that reminded of ice.

"Bellatrix," he said, while already moving towards her. "I can't remember having invited you to the castle. Where's Miss Granger?"

"You brought me here, you old fool," the woman said, her voice taunting. "And you didn't even realize that it wasn't your precious golden girl, did you?"

"But I did," Fred said, suddenly appearing behind her wand in hand. "Georgie and I suspected, we just needed a chance to prove it." His voice was proud, but that only seemed to enrage Bellatrix further.

"Of course it was you," she said, pointing her wand at him with a crazy expression on her face. "The two of you are a thorn in the Dark Lord's side which is why you'll die…"

The green killing curse flew in Fred's direction without warning, but Fred had been prepared for it to happen. He wasn't a Quidditch beater for nothing and luckily his reflexes were excellent, which had him ducking it without breaking out into a sweat. Still, the attempt to kill a student in the middle of the Great Hall was enough to let hell break loose.

"You're not touching my brother," George himself shouted, throwing a stunner at her and he wasn't the only one. Half of the Gryffindor's were on their feet, with Harry in the lead. Bellatrix Lestrange had no chance to defend herself against this many attackers and was knocked off her feet, flying back for several metres before she collapsed unconsciously on the floor. The Great Hall erupted into cheers.

George only cared for his twin though and was at his side as soon as the danger had passed. "Are you alright, Freddie?"

His twin grinned. "Never felt more alive," he replied, throwing his arm around his brother's shoulder.

George nodded. He knew what his brother was saying. His heart pumped excitedly in his chest, while he felt awake as he hadn't since Hermione's disappearance. They had just won a small victory and even if it was still a long way until they finally got their girl back, they had at least started moving into the right direction. And that was more than they had done in the last weeks and months.

sssssss

There was no question that Severus had to let the Dark Lord know what had happened, even though it would probably bring him another round of Crucio. But his punishment for not immediately telling his master what happened would be so much worse and apart from that he needed the man to trust him explicitly if he ever wanted a chance to get Hermione out.

He activated his Dark Mark as soon as he was out of the Great Hall. Dumbledore would be occupied with Bellatrix for the next hours and the school year was luckily over, which left him with enough freedom to immediately hasten towards the apparation point. He found himself in a large dining room shortly after, the table laden with a multitude of different exquisite dishes, while his master was sitting at the head of the table, while Hermione sat on the other end.

"Professor Snape," she greeted him carefully, her eyes unfathomable black pools.

"Severus, my loyal servant," his master said, his eyes glowing. "What has led you to our house at such a late hour?"

He sunk to his knees and bowed his head devotedly. "There was an incident at Hogwarts, my Lord and I saw the need to inform you right away."

"An incident, you say?" Voldemort asked, his voice strained.

Severus nodded. "Maybe your guest should leave the room for that particular discussion, my Lord. You might not want her to listen in…" to you torturing me, Severus added in his head.

But his master smiled before his eyes sought out Hermione. "Miss Granger can stay," he said, his voice generous and with, dare he say, affection. "She's going to be my Queen one day and such a position requests a certain amount of trust, don't you think my friend?"

Severus saw Hermione's eyes widen in surprise for a moment, before the blank look was back on her face. The Dark Lord had registered it too and a pleased smile crept on his face. Merlin, he needed to get her out and soon before anything irreversible happened.

He nodded towards his master, before carefully raising to his feet. "I wholeheartedly agree, my Lord. My Lady," he bowed towards his friend, but there was no reaction from her. "During dinner this evening Bellatrix was exposed. The Weasley twins got somehow suspicious of her and they managed to negate her transformation." He avoided using Hermione's name on purpose. It probably wouldn't help him much, but he had to try to soften the blow for him. If the Dark Lord overdid it, Hermione would probably try to intervene or activate the Link and that would mean his death. So he could only hope that her presence somehow helped to restrain his master's more animalistic urges.

"Those twins are more and more growing into a problem," the Dark Lord said, his eyes ghosting over to Hermione. "What about Bella? Where is she now?"

Severus bowed his head. "The Headmaster got hold of her. I believe he'll want to question her first to find out everything Bella knows about your guest's whereabouts. Unfortunately, he is quite a skilled Occlumens, as we know."

Voldemort waved him off unconcernedly. "I considered the risk of her being captured. Bella is well versed in Occlumency. She'd rather kill herself than giving any of my secrets away. Let the old fool try."

"As you say, my Lord," Severus said, bowing his head once again. Dumbledore wouldn't find anything, that was true. He, Severus, needed all his skill and the most aggressive potions to break the woman's defences. "Is there anything you wish me to do?"

His master smiled, first at him then at Hermione. "Be assured that Bella does not require your help, my friend. I want you to concentrate on the potion instead as I am most impatient to have it."

At that Hermione furrowed her brows, looking from one to another sceptically. "What is that potion? I'm not taking anything!" she stated, crossing her arms in front of her chest defensively. Severus winced internally, but instead of punishing her behaviour only brought her an amused smile from his master. Merlin, she had really wrapped that man around her little finger and didn't even know it.

"Don't worry, my Dear. The potion is for me. I asked Severus here to make it, as a little holiday surprise for you."

Hermione blinked in confusion. She had no idea, that much was obvious. Merlin, once that man had his old looks and charms back, it would be so much more difficult for her so keep her distance. And what was that holiday he was talking about? Severus had a very bad feeling about this whole thing, but for now, he had no choice but to obey his master.

"The potion will be ready in two days, master," he promised, bowing his head. Two days, until Voldemort would be back to his old self again. Merlin, he needed a plan to get Hermione out of here, soon.

Ssssssss

He had been tricked. Again Tom had managed to send one of his followers into the castle, right under his nose. But it was even worse, he Albus Dumbledore had brought Bellatrix Lestrange here himself. He had to admit that Tom Riddle was an excellent strategist who had once more turned the game to his favour without Albus even noticing it. Still, he hadn't set him checkmate and now Albus had gotten hold of one of Tom's most important chess pieces and was going to use it to his advantage. Bellatrix was a crazy woman, a merciless one who had taken and destroyed many lives. There was no reason for him to be gentle with her, not when so much was at stake. He needed to finally get a hold on the Open Link. Once Voldemort had established a link to her, even if it was only temporarily, things were lost for him. Then Hermione Granger would be a weapon in the wrong hands and that was something that needed to be avoided at all costs. Unfortunately for Bellatrix, she was the one paying the bill today. But that was alright. Nobody would miss a crazy, murderous witch like her.