A.N.: As I said, I wrote like a crazy woman during the last days. It's probably because I can't wait to start the next part and we all want Hermione out. To make this happen sooner, we'll just have to read a bit faster, won't we?

Chapter 56: Voldemort's secret

It took one day for Bella to return to him, quivering with fear and from whatever that bastard Albus Dumbledore had done to her. On the outside, she looked unharmed, but in her eyes, Lord Voldemort could see that the old man had almost broken her. But he hadn't and it wasn't for his lack of trying. Bella was a tough one. He had shaped her himself. Azkaban hadn't been able to break her, just made her stronger and more dangerous. Dumbledore hadn't stood a chance. Bella had been victorious and had gotten away, but only just. Still, he would ensure this experience only made her stronger, he would hate to dispose of her.

"I'm so sorry I disappointed you, Master," she sobbed, lying at his feet with eyes wide and desperate for his forgiveness. "That room was enormous and I searched it every night. But I couldn't find what you desired."

That was indeed unfortunate, but he had hidden away his Horcrux pretty well. He had chosen that room for a reason, not only because it was one of the best-kept secrets at Hogwarts but because searching for his Horcrux would be like looking for the needle in the haystack. Finding it was almost impossible. He couldn't really punish one of his most loyal followers because she could find something that wasn't supposed to be found.

"Your stay at the castle was unfortunately cut short by those bothersome twins," he said forgivingly. "It is a pity you could not kill them, but that will be remedied, soon. Do not worry."

Bella looked at him with wide, pleading eyes. "Please Master, I deserve to be punished for my failure. I disappointed you…"

"I am disappointed," he admitted, even though the usual anger was absent. Soon, the Open Link would be his and that was everything he could focus on right now. His emotional control was something he was growing to appreciate more and more.

"But I will not punish you, not today."

The woman at his feet sobbed in despair at the thought of not being suitably punished immediately or at all.

"Please Master, I do deserve to be punished," She said, her grey eyes full of unsated desire. Bellatrix Lestrange was best described as an untamed fire and raging storm combined in a pretty shell. While her looks may have faded with her imprisonment that fire was still alive and thriving. She had always been the most demanding of his followers but also his most devoted one.

He sighed. "Very well, Bella. You do deserve to be punished. Come here and kneel down."

He pointed his long white fingers to his feet and Bella hastily fell down on her knees, in front of him. Her hands grasped his outstretched hand tightly before pressing it to her cheek in desperation. "Yes master, thank you, master," she repeated, before letting go of him and staring at him in anticipation. He looked at her with a gentle smile playing at his lips. Finally he raised his wand and the woman at his feet stared at it in nervous anticipation. She could feel herself become aroused at the thought of his magic engulfing her in sweet pain. She had been denied his magic for so long, her wait was finally over. When his Crucio finally connected with her chest she happily collapsed at his feet with a moan that spoke of relief and fulfilment followed by her shrieks and cries of pain. To him, it sounded like music, a specific song he had not heard in years but one he knew very well.

That was the thing his Queen would have to learn sooner or later. Some of his followers required a firm hand, they even requested it at times. So who was he to deny them what secretly made them stronger? Leading such a group of strong individuals did require a certain amount of dedication but soon enough he would make his lioness realize just that. She may even learn to enjoy inflicting their pain or, dare he hope, receiving it from him. His spine tingled at the possibilities.

Ssssssss

She was gone, Bellatrix Lestrange had disappeared right under his nose without him gaining the answers from her he sought out. He'd been in her head for hours, but her thoughts were like a gigantic maze of shifting walls with dangers lurking behind every corner. Only a mad person could build such mental defences, unstable and shifting like the person itself. Finding what he looked for would take him days, weeks probably but when he returned into the warded chamber he had left the unconscious witch in she was nowhere to be found. How? He had put her in deep slumber she couldn't have recovered from on her own. It required a powerful wizard to lift the spell and no one at the castle would have been able to. So it couldn't have been Severus. The man had avoided him ever since the day of the Ministry and suddenly Albus could no longer be sure of the man's loyalty. Yes, he had been loyal to Lily and therefore her son, but now the boy-who-lived no longer seemed his sole focus. That made him difficult to judge and therefore dangerous. Under normal circumstances, Albus would have assumed that he had been to one helping his Death Eater comrade, but he wouldn't have been able to, for the simple lack of magical power. There was only one living person able to break Albus' carefully crafted spell, Tom Riddle. The man had bested him again. Had he been at the castle, too? But no, that would have meant leaving the Open Link behind and if the madman had grasped the importance of the girl, he would have never done that. So how had she been able to escape?

He didn't have time looking for the answer, as he suddenly felt the presence of several wizards through the wards. They weren't attacking the wards but as they were ministry officials he equally disapproved of their presence as if they had done so. What did those bureaucrats want at Hogwarts? Well, he told himself summoning his phoenix, he'd soon find out.

Ssssssss

"Bellatrix Lestrange has gotten away," Hermione said, putting the Daily Prophet aside and staring down at her untouched breakfast. Somehow she had just lost her appetite… again. Those last week's hadn't done anything for her curves, as she sometimes didn't feel like eating at all, no matter what food the house-elves prepared for her. "How?"

"Getting out of Hogwarts has never been difficult," Voldemort explained while casually sipping his tea. "Getting in is the problem. I was prepared for Bellatrix getting caught, which is the reason why I gave her a very special portkey that would return her right back to us. I had to activate it but luckily Severus had the foresight to inform me of her capture right away."

"I see," she replied, staring down at the newspaper. Finally, the wizarding world realized that Hermione Granger had never returned to Hogwarts, even though she had written her exams at the Ministry. Her magical signature was on her exam papers and proved that it had been her and no one else who wrote them. No one would be able to deny Hermione her OWLs, Voldemort had made sure of that.

"I thought about your words," Voldemort said after he had gently put down his cup of tea. "As my future queen, you deserve a certain amount of trust from my side. We need to get to know each other, to be able to build a trustful relationship, because that is what I want. This is why I decided that it is time to let you in on one of my biggest secrets, a secret I've told no one, so far. Is that something that would appeal to you?"

Hermione thought fast. Maybe such a secret would help them to win the war. But she was pretty sure he would want something in return from her, something she probably was not willing to give. Still, knowledge was a weapon, probably the most effective one against such an enemy as him. Therefore the decision was easy. "I'd love to finally be able to trust you, Marvolo." she replied, using his given name deliberately. "But it is not easy for me, you see? You're a very dangerous man and I do barely know you."

He smiled understandingly. "I'd like to change that Hermione, I really do." His words sounded almost sincere and if Hermione hadn't felt a wrongness echoing back in her mind she might have even fallen for them. Still, she forced herself to send him a shy smile.

"Then change it," she said. "Tell me something about you, something nobody knows."

His eyes focussed on her hungrily, his smile morphing to something much more unsettling. Hermione's heart started beating agitatedly and it wasn't from excitement. She squashed the feeling down and pulled her Occlumency walls in place. Then she raised her chin and waited.

Voldemort took his time, as he first let his eyes lazily roam her body. Finally he said: "I cannot be killed. When I was your age, I found a way to protect myself, which is why I was able to come back a year ago."

Hermione stared at him speechlessly for a moment, before she shook his head with a disbelieving smile. "Everybody can be killed," she said, her eyes furrowed. "Especially when one has made as many enemies as you. To every spell, there's a counter spell and even goblin-made artefacts can be destroyed. So whatever you did might make you harder to kill, but not impossible." She said assured in her logic.

For a moment she asked herself if it had been the wrong thing to say, as there was a strange flicker behind his eyes. But then he started shaking his head with a small smile playing at his lips. "Have you ever heard of the term Horcrux, my Dear?"

Hermione furrowed her brows. "No, I don't think I have. What is it, some kind of artefact?"

"No. A Horcrux can be anything, an item but also a living being, which is made a container for a part of your soul. As long as said container exists, it is impossible to be killed, as part of your soul always lives on and can be used to bring the rest of you back."

She froze. This was bad, really really bad. "So you made a Horcrux," she replied, keeping her voice calm and unimpressed. "That still means you can be killed once it is found and destroyed right? All it takes is one traitor among your followers or…"

But she didn't get any further, as he interrupted her with an arrogant smile.

"One of my Horcruxes has in fact been destroyed, by no other than your friend Harry Potter I believe. Luckily I decided to make more than one…"

That didn't make sense. Shouldn't Harry have known that he had destroyed a part of Voldemort's soul? He hadn't destroyed anything other than…

"The Diary," she gasped, staring at him with wild eyes. "The thing that opened the Chamber of Secrets and almost killed…" First, she wanted to say Ginny, but she realized that this wouldn't have meant anything to him. And so she said "me" instead. "Merlin, I always asked myself what it was but back then I was just in my second year and had no idea."

Voldemort nodded. "My younger self found that storing part of my soul in my diary was a good idea. I did get more creative over the years though." Suddenly his snake was at his side and he stroked her scaly head lovingly. It only took a moment for Hermione to connect the dots. "Merlin, she's a Horcrux, too…"

He didn't deny it, just kept smiling at her encouragingly. "She is. And it has brought us so much closer."

The snake at his side hissed and somehow it sounded like a confirmation. If a part of Voldemort's soul lived in her, did that mean he could control her? Could he maybe even look through her eyes? But then there was another thought and it chilled her to the bone: Harry. Was it possible that he was a Horcrux, too? But how? She took a deep breath before she forced herself to get up and walk towards him and the snake. It probably was a horrible idea but she had to know. Voldemort's red eyes followed her when she sank to her knees next to him and the snake. His gaze was almost burning her when her hand stretched out to touch the creature's neck with hesitant fingers.

"Can you look through her eyes?" Hermione asked, seeking out Nagini's yellow intelligent eyes with her own. "Can you feel that?" she continued, slowly stroking the dry scales as she spoke.

"Indeed, I can." The man next to her replied while the snake seemed to press herself more firmly against her hand like it was seeking out her touch. It probably was, or was it Voldemort himself? Hermione shuddered internally, feeling suddenly sick at the implications. Merlin, that snake had rested in her lap and she had touched it countless times. Was the part of Voldemort's soul the reason that animal sought her out over and over again? "I can even control her if that's what I wish." He said as his eyes became almost half lidded as she continued to touch Nagini.

So he had been the one attacking Mr Weasley, Hermione thought while locking all her agitated feelings behind her Occlumency walls tightly. She could not allow herself to make a mistake now, not when she was finally getting somewhere. "That's… incredible." She said, slowly pulling her hand away from the snake. Her words earned her a pleased smile that was tinged with something she did not want to acknowledge.

"It is. One day I'll show you how to do it, how to store part of your soul somewhere else. Then we can reign this world forever."

His words made her body break out into shivers. That would be her worst nightmare, she realized, because then not even death would be able to free her from this man. "Maybe, one day." She forced herself to say with a small smile. "But first there's so much else I'd like you to teach me. What about Animagus transformation? Have you ever figured out how to do that?"

Voldemort looked at her, his eyes glowing with amusement. "Child's play," he said, offering her his bony hand. "But if that is something you desire to learn, then I will teach you."

Hermione sighed in relief, before putting her hand into his and pulling herself to her feet. The distraction had worked, for now. "I'd love to learn it," she admitted truthfully and smiled.

He smiled back wolfishly. "And learn you will."

Ssssssss

The school year was over and somehow Gryffindor had won the house cup again. Their little stunt had earned Gryffindor a hundred house points from the Headmaster and a mention at the Daily Prophet this morning and fortunately their mum had so far refrained from letting them know her opinion on the matter. But they were sure it was only a matter of time until that would change.

"I'll miss Hogwarts," George said, once they had retreated into the silence of their room at Grimmauld Place. For some reason, their parents had decided to move to the Headquarter again but for once the twins were more than happy about that decision. They really needed to talk to Sirius and not just about the books he had given them.

"Of course you do. We've done some of our greatest pranks there…" Fred replied, the grin on his face showing that he was only half-serious.

George punched his brother's arm playfully. "You know it isn't just about that. Don't get me wrong, I love the Burrow…"

"...but Hogwarts has been as much of a home to us, I know," Fred said, squeezing his brother's shoulder. "We'll find us another home, one that is as safe and full of laughter and wild experiments. What do you think?"

"Love the idea, twin 'o' mine. We'll ask Bill about the warding. I want it to be a safe place for us and Hermione once she's out. I really hope she still wants us. I bet she's going through a lot," George said, his voice heavy.

Fred nodded grimly. "I bet she is. But look at it like this. She'll need lots of fun in laughter in her life, don't you think? And who's better suited for that than the two of us? We'll make her forget what she's been through."

"I'm not sure what it is she'll need," George said, rubbing his forehead tiredly. He could feel himself getting sleepy and he realized that he was ready for the day to end. "But I'm determined to try giving it to her. She's the one for us, Freddie. She's our witch."

"I know. But before we can try convincing her of that, we need her back with us first. Do you think Snape will be able to find her with that tracking charm?" Fred's voice was doubtful, but George did have much more confidence and trust in their former potions professor. The man had saved him from being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange after all.

"As soon as she leaves that damned wards he'll know. The question is if he'll contact us to ask for help," he said with a sigh.

"Let's hope he does because I have the feeling he'll need all the help he can get."

Sssssssss

Once again Hermione was in the library while Voldemort was somewhere else. Good, because today she was on a mission. If there was a place where she could find something about Horcruxes then it was here. Creating them most likely involved the darkest kinds of magic, magic that she probably wouldn't be able to find anything about at the Hogwarts library. But Voldemort was a collector, his secret artefact collection and the thousands of newspapers proved as much, which made her believe that he would have kept at least one book dealing with the kind of magic that made him close to immortal.

If she could find the way a Horcrux was created, then there might also be a hint on how to localize or even destroy them. Destroying the diary hadn't been easy going by the things Harry had told her. Harry… thinking of her friend made her heart ache. Could it be that he was a Horcrux, too? That would explain the visions he had and also those strange mood changes he experienced. And he had told them that he had part of Voldemort's soul living inside him. That sounded pretty much like the definition of a Horcrux Voldemort had given her. Did that mean that the bastard couldn't die as long as Harry was alive? They couldn't just kill Harry, to beat the man, could they?

The questions kept piling up in her head, as she roamed the many bookshelves. Somewhere here there had to be found the answers to at least some of them.

Part of her consciousness registered another person entering the library and without lifting her had she somehow knew that it was Eric. She had listened to his cautious steps and murmurs the other day and it wasn't difficult to tell them apart from Voldemort's. Why did they always meet in the library? He never ate dinner with them or walked the corridors of the house. Why?

From the corner of her eye, she saw him hastening to the back of the room, where the desks were located. At first, she decided to leave him in peace, as he didn't seem keen on her company anyway but after half an hours of fruitless search she decided to at least try talking to him. And so she carefully strode closer.

He didn't seem to hear her, as he was crouched over some kind of plan. When Hermione managed to take a quick look at it, she felt her heart stutter.

"Why are you studying the warding scheme of Hogwarts?" she asked, her brows furrowed in concentration. Immediately his head shot up, while his hands hastily hid the parchment in front of him.

"That's none of your business," he said curtly, looking at her with stormy grey eyes. They reminded her a little of Malfoy's eyes, but only just.

"You're too nosy for your own good," he said darkly.

She shrugged. "Probably. It saved my life more than once. So? Why do you have it?" She wouldn't let go of this, because somehow she had the feeling that this was important.

Hermione stared at him unblinkingly and for a while, he simply held eye contact without moving a muscle. Finally, he seemed to have made a decision, as he tore away from her eyes with an annoyed huff. "He wants me to find a way through the wards, tasked me with it months ago. But it's difficult."

She furrowed her brows. "Why would he let a prisoner do that for him? He's a skilled and powerful wizard."

"But not a ward breaker," Eric said with a shrug. "And now leave me in peace, I have work to do."

He was a ward breaker? Well, if he was good enough to be tasked with breaking into Hogwarts he had to be a good one, which could explain why Voldemort still kept him around. And he couldn't very well hire a ward breaker for that kind of job, could he? She guessed having one as a prisoner at least assured that he couldn't easily betray his secrets. Hermione shuddered. She more and more started thinking like him and the realization scared her. But then another thought crossed her mind.

"If you're a ward breaker, why are you still here? You could have broken through the wards of the house, or not?"

He looked at her with a humourless smile. "I did break through once. Those first wards are not a problem, but it's impossible to apparate from the large forest behind. The werewolves got me before I could even make it close to the border of the anti-apparition wards. By the time I was back at the house, I almost wished that beasts had killed me."

Hermione nodded in understanding. She could imagine that Voldemort hadn't reacted kindly to the man's attempted escape. If even a ward breaker couldn't find a way out, how was she ever to manage it?

"Is there anything else? Or will you finally let me work in peace?" the man asked, already turning his back on her. Hermione huffed at his unfriendliness, but it didn't drive her away. She had befriended Severus Snape and he wasn't the most sociable man either. She'd have to go about it slowly though.

"Alright, I'm going," she said, turning around with a small smile on her lips. Her reading list had just grown by another inch. There had to be a way to mask one's scent against werewolves, she was sure to have read something like that when Severus had them researching werewolves during their third year at Hogwarts. If she found a way to do it, she could maybe convince him to try breaking out again. They only had to make it to the edge of the forest, after all, and there had to be ways to help them achieve just that.