A.N.: Hello my friends, here we go again. As you all want Hermione out as fast as possible, I decided to switch to daily updates, if my schedule allows it. I hope you approve of that idea. We're getting closer, I promise. ;-)

Chapter 57: Desperate measures

Severus' time was up, the potion for the Dark Lord was finally finished. He didn't want to give it to him, didn't want that bastard to regain his old looks and charisma. He was dangerous enough as it was without having to give him more ways to succeed. But once again Severus was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He needed to stay in the man's good graces if he ever wanted to get Hermione out of this hell-hole. Faking failure in the brewing process would only get him tortured or killed, which usually would have been preferable to giving that man even more power, but considering the circumstances, it was not. Hermione needed him. What she didn't need was a younger version of Tom Riddle, the man that had charmed half of Hogwarts and won over almost all the pureblood aristocracy.

There was no right choice for him right now, only wrong ones, but that didn't make the path he had to take any easier.

Still, he had spent every spare minute to perfect the tracking charm on Hermione. He could now trace their mental connection back to her, could apparate to her once she was outside of wards preventing just that. Next time that happened he would get her, no matter the costs. He needed to get her away from that bastard, needed to know she was safe, even if that meant duelling the bastard until his cold corpse was gracing the floor. It didn't matter. Hermione was more important than his pitiful existence and she had two loyal, smitten Gryffindor's just waiting for her to return to them.

With a sigh, he pocketed the small phial containing a thick, black potion and activated his Dark Mark, before leaving his chambers to make his way to the apparition point. When he arrived at the Dark Lords residence it was dawn. The man was already waiting for him in his throne room, eyes glowing red with anticipation.

"Ah, Severus. I have looked forward to your return to my side. Do you have the potion?"

He nodded. "Of course, my Lord." Severus carefully took the potion out, handing it over to his master. "I recommend drinking it under my supervision. Your body might be weak, right after the transformation, as it needs to get used to the shift of age and structure first. The weakness will fade in a matter of hours, but you might feel the need to take a strengthening potion."

His words earned Severus a patronizing smile from his master. "You have earned yourself the privilege of staying at my side, my faithful servant. You might stay and witness the restoration of my former body."

Severus nodded and watched the man uncorking the phial before he drowned the content without hesitation. He could have easily poisoned him, Severus realized, but if the man really had made Horcruxes, it would not have meant his end. As ist was, the man was indestructible, at least until they had found a way to change that.

His master's reaction to the potion was immediate. There was a surprised gasp from him and a clatter, as the empty phial fell out of his hands, to the floor. Then his body sagged forward, a groan escaping his mouth as the first locks of black hair were growing on his formerly bare head. The whole transformation took about five minutes and Severus could not help watching it with growing fascination and horror. In the end, it took all his willpower not to let his feelings of dismay show on his face, because the man now standing in front of him looked like a young version of the Dark Lord Severus had met more than twenty years ago. Back then the man had already been older than Severus was now so he had never met this younger even more charismatic version of his master. The man in front of him was probably in his twenties and looked like he had just climbed out of a magazine of Witch Weekly. He was the sort of dark mysterious man the witches fell for: dark eyes, aristocratic nose and a charismatic smile on his now soft red lips. His hair was black, short and wavy while his skin was still pale it no longer looked an unhealthy white.

Merlin, what had he done? How was Hermione supposed to look behind that handsome facade and still see the monster this man really was?

"You did very well, Severus," his master's voice praised him while admiring his hands and strong arms. A pleased smile was playing around his lips. "You are truly a master of potions, there is no doubt of that, my friend."

Severus nodded but he barely heard the words. "Thank you, master," he said, his voice even like it always was. "Do you feel any discomfort I can assist you with, my Lord?"

"None," the other man replied, his smile wide. "It is truly a remarkable potion you created. Be assured that you will be rewarded for it."

The potions master bowed deeply. "My Lord is very generous."

His master waved him off. "Indeed. Leave me alone now, Severus. I do have some urgent business I need to attend to."

He could imagine what urgent business that was - Hermione. But there was nothing he could do for her, at least not right now.

Ssssssss

His servant had barely left the room when Lord Voldemort pulled himself to his feet and studied his new appearance in a mirror he hastily transfigured out of the empty potions bottle on the floor. It was like he had truly turned the time back to the point, where he had made his fourth Horcrux.

He made himself up to find his lioness after he had transfigured his clothes into something more fitting for his new looks. Nowadays she spent most of her time at the library, caressing his books with her soft fingers while soaking in all the knowledge she could find. They were so similar to each other in their thirst for knowledge that it was dazzling him sometimes. He could feel that his prize respected, sometimes even admired him and since he had told her his secret it had felt like she was finally starting to open up to him. Still, he could feel her emotional distance, even though she more and more sought out his presence to ask his opinion of a charm or indulge him in an intellectual discussion about some topic that had caught her interest.

Usually it was transfiguration or charms, topics he had excelled at but never had put his sole focus on, as he had always been more interested in the Dark Arts and rituals. Still, he found their conversations stimulating enough and gladly satisfied his lioness' curiosity as it brought her closer to him.

Like expected she found her at the library, lounging on one of the window sills, her feet propped up in front of her supporting another old book from his collection. Today she was studying shielding techniques, maybe she would ask him for another duelling lesson, soon.

At first, she didn't hear him approaching, as she was totally absorbed by her reading material. Only when he was standing almost next to her did her eyes shoot up, studying him from head to toe with a confused gleam in them.

"Who are you? What do you want?" she asked, closing the book on her lap with a loud snap. "Your master's downstairs, in case you're looking for him."

He looked at her with an amused smile. She didn't recognize him, of course she didn't. She had always known him as something that was barely even recognizable as a wizard. He couldn't blame her for not immediately making the connection to the handsome wizard now standing in front of her.

"Actually I was looking for you, my Dear. I wanted to show you your holiday surprise." He said, his voice back to the deep baritone it once was. For a moment she just stared at him open-mouthed, before her brows drew together in confusion.

"You drank the potion," she concluded, her rapidly moving eyes showing that she was trying to connect the dots.

He nodded. "I did. Do you like the result?"

His lioness shrugged, confusion still evident on her face. "Why did you need a potion to change your appearance? I've seen you cast glamours at yourself, which were quite effective."

He smiled. "But they were just that, a glamour. This body is real, though. Severus managed to brew a potion to restore my old body in a rejuvenated form. The change is permanent my Dear."

Her eyes widened before they once more took in his changed appearance. He felt them ghost over his prominent cheekbones, his now full lips and seek out his now dark green eyes. But instead of fascination or appeal, he saw dismay and fright growing in them before his queen suddenly backed away from him in horror.

"I need to go," she said, panic evident in her voice. But when she tried retreating any further she realized that there was the window frame right behind her, blocking her exit. There was nowhere for her to go, except past him, which was a good thing, because he needed to understand her reaction. His appearance was flawless, he checked it before entering the room. So why was she suddenly afraid of him? She had never even shorn an inch of fear in his presence, not even at the beginning of their acquaintance.

"I'd like you to stay Hermione," he said, taking a careful step into her direction, while his eyes focussed her with the most charismatic gaze he could muster. It was the gaze that had charmed Hepzibah Smith and countless other women but the only effect it had was his lioness pressing herself into the wall and closing her eyes in panic.

"Please let me go," she begged him, her voice quivering. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She was to be pleased by his change of appearance, but she wasn't, not in the slightest.

"There is no reason to be afraid of me," he said, taking another step before his hand gently took her chin to lift her head up. "I'm still the same man and I hope you know I'd never hurt you."

He felt the slightest of nods against his hand, even though he could feel her body stiffen in front of him. "So tell me, what is wrong? What are you afraid of?" His voice was a soft purr, delivered right into her left ear and he could feel her shudder while goosebumps spread over her skin originating from her neck. And suddenly he wasn't so sure if she was shivering in fear or arousal.

"I…" she started, her voice only a hoarse whisper. But then she seemed to have changed her mind and snapped her mouth shut, before furiously shaking her head. Finally, she opened her eyes and looked at him with small pupils. "Please let me go, I can't, I just can't…" she stuttered, tears springing in her eyes. And that was what finally made him stop. Right now he was only making it worse, whatever it was, and the last thing he wanted was his queen being afraid of him. And so he let go of her chin and took a big step back from her.

"Alright, go then. But I would like to talk to you in the morning, as soon as you're feeling better. We need to plan our holiday, after all." He said mechanically.

She nodded mutely before she hastened past him and out of the room. He followed her with a confused expression but as soon as the library door closed his fist connected with the wall in front of him while an angry curse escaped his lips. This wasn't how this meeting was supposed to go.

He kept himself in place as his hand retracted from the wall where a small impression was made by his fist. A flick of his wand and all was as it should be. His eyes never left the door that his Queen had all but run out of. He wanted nothing more than to go after her and find out why she had reacted in such a way to him. Why did he illicit such terror?

He forced himself to stay in place as he thought of how things quickly went pear shaped. She had not been moved by his sudden appearance at first. She had treated him as a follower she did not know. Then when he told her who he was she still remained unaffected thinking it had been another glamour. But when he had told her it was now his permanent form her entire demeanour had changed. So clearly it was not his looks but rather that he was now like this permanently.

Could it be that she liked him as he was? No, it seemed highly unlikely. Did she want him to look a different way? Possibly. Did this look affect her? Definitely but he did not know how. He would wait to speak to her and then form a plan. For now he had to prepare himself for the morning.

Sssssss

Severus had barely returned to the grounds of Hogwarts, before his bond to Hermione flared alive, projecting the feeling of pure terror from Hermione's side. Never before he had felt her emotions this clear through the link, which could only mean that something drastic had happened, to make her reach out for him like this. Merlin, what was that bastard doing to her now that he had regained his old body? Was he forcing himself on her? Merlin what had he done brewing that blasted potion?

With a curse on his lips he hastened towards his rooms while his mind discarded one reckless plan after the other. Still something needed to be done because whatever happened to Hermione right now was partly his fault.

Ssssssss

Hermione closed the door to her room behind her with a loud bang before she hectically started going through the things in her room. She needed to get out of this place, now, needed to get away from that dangerous man now wearing an angel's face. Until today she had always been able to distance herself from that man and see him as the monster he was as his appearance kept reminding her of that. But not any longer.

It wasn't long ago that she had looked down at those Death Eaters and asked herself how they had fallen for such a monster and decided to follow him into this madness. Only she had forgotten that Tom Riddle hadn't always been like this, his features blurred into a grotesque caricature of a snake-man, eyes red and gleaming with madness and cruelty. Once he had been a handsome, charismatic man, a driven and intelligent student like herself. How would she have reacted to him had they visited Hogwarts at the same time? She could see herself discussing magical theory with that man and admiring him from afar. From what Harry had told her he had been a popular student, Headboy even. Hermione realized that she could have fallen for him too. He wasn't only dashingly good-looking and charming but from experience she also knew that he was an intellectual conversationalist with a brilliant mind and lots of magical skill. What would happen to her animosity towards him, once he focussed all his attention on her now? What would happen if he really took her to Paris as he had promised her he would? The man wanted to make her his Queen for god's sake and even though she had always known what that would be implying she suddenly realized that he really meant it. Why else would he have decided to change his appearance this drastically?

Hermione shivered as more thoughts assaulted her mind. She could still feel where he had touched her and she remembered how weak her knees suddenly had felt. No, she could not stay here, could not risk falling for him in a weak moment. There was too much at stake. She was the Open Link which was why he had captured her in the first place. He wanted to gain access to her magic, to become even more powerful than he already was and only God knew what would happen to the world she knew if he ever managed that. There would be no stopping him then.

With a frantic motion she yanked the drawer of her bedside table open, before taking out the book on warding she had taken from the library weeks ago. She threw herself on her bed before she hastily started re-reading and memorizing the paragraphs she had found helpful back then. It probably wouldn't be enough to break through but she had to at least try. If she wasn't managing today, then maybe tomorrow or in a week. But she would try, she should have tried breaking out long ago instead of hoping that someone came for her. But she could not rely on others to rescue her from that monster, she had to do so herself.

Making a quick decision she hastened towards Rita's tank, yanking the lid open and staring inside. The little beetle was sitting on a fresh piece of wood, which had been delivered by the eager house-elves.

"Rita," she said, her voice hushed. "I'm leaving this place, well at least I'm trying to. You should try getting away too. Unfortunately, I don't know how to get past the wards as one needs a Dark Mark or physical contact with Voldemort to get past them. I have to try anyway, I can't stay here any longer and you shouldn't either."

The little beetle hastened towards the opening, it's little wings buzzing eagerly. Hermione nodded in satisfaction. "I hope you find a way out. Good luck," she said, before turning around and hurrying through the door, without looking back. Rita was clever, she would find a way out.

It was almost midnight when she left her room, her body clad in a black jacket and trousers she had transfigured for herself. Her steps were silenced with a charm, her body disillusioned. Voldemort would probably still be able to tell once she reached the wards, but at least she hoped that staying undetected until then would buy her some time if nothing else.

The house was silent and dark, but it usually was at night. There were no nightly Death Eater meetings like she had expected there would be.

She left the front door behind after only a few minutes and as soon as her feet touched the soft grass, she started running towards the forest. From her last trip outside she knew that the wards were about 600 to 700 metres into the forest and she wanted to reach them as soon as possible.

She could never be sure if someone followed her, but she avoided looking back, as it would only distract her from her goal. If Voldemort was aware of her attempt to escape he would catch her no matter if she saw him coming.

Quickly she left the light of the moon behind, as the trees seemed to block it out almost completely until there was nothing but darkness left. She didn't dare to light her wand though as the light would be seen from a distance and she didn't want it to give her away. Still, her steps slowed down until she could only carefully creep towards the direction she had decided on before. But it was more stumbling than walking.

How much farther could it be?

She walked on for some more minutes before she was almost she to have reached the wards. At least she was sure that she was deep enough in the forest to stop and take out her wand, to cast some analytic charms. But she had barely halted her steps when suddenly a hand appeared from the darkness and pulled her back.

"What do you think you're doing?" a voice hissed from behind and with relief, she realized that it belonged to Eric and not Voldemort so she stopped struggling. Still, his grip on her shoulder was painfully tight so she tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

"What does it look like? I'm leaving this place!" she gritted out before finally freeing herself from him.

"No, you're killing yourself, that's what you're doing," he replied, his cold, grey eyes looking at her dispassionately and incredulity. "The wards are right there." He pointed to a spot about one metre in front of her. "You'd nearly have touched them and that would have been that."

"I can't stay here for a day longer, alright? I can't!" she stated passionately, before gripping her wand. "I'd rather die trying to escape than go back." She knew she sounded crazy or like a moody teenager but she didn't care. She should have tried leaving that place long ago but she hadn't even tried. Now however things had changed and she could no longer trust herself.

He looked at her with an unreadable expression on his face. "Why? What happened? You seemed content a few days ago. What changed? Did he hurt you?" Eric asked, analyzing her with his gaze that was a little too piercing.

She sighed. "Does it even matter? I really don't have the time to discuss this right now. So either you help me, or you move aside," Hermione said gritting her teeth. But the man didn't move an inch.

"No," he said, his face unimpressed. "You're about to make a big mistake and I think you know it. Why do you think I'm still here? Because I didn't try? Is that what you're thinking?"

Hermione stared back at him with clenched teeth. "No, of course not. It's just…"

He stared at her expectantly and Hermione sighed, before continuing: "He changed himself, took a potion permanently returning him to his old body. He's…"

She gestured wildly. "Merlin, I had no idea that he had once been like that. I could never understand how so many people could join him but now… If I stay any longer I might do something I regret."

"Like what?" He asked, studying her with an intensity that she did not register in her addled state.

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I always knew that man was dangerous, I just never understood how dangerous. He knows how to manipulate people and I'd rather not find out how much longer I can resist him. And now, move aside, I'm going."

Eric sighed. "You'll never make it like this," he said, shaking his head in exasperation. "You'll need a plan, a good plan if you want to manage to get away from him. I doubt you have a chance on your own."

Hermione stared at him, fire in her eyes. "Then help me!" she shouted and suddenly she felt the tears springing to her eyes. "Please help me. We could make it out of here together. I know we could."

He shook his head. "Not today, not like this. If he catches me trying to escape again, he'll kill me. I know he will. So I only have one last try and I'd rather not butch it up."

She nodded tiredly. "What about tomorrow?"

Eric stared at her, his face an expressionless mask. "You weren't joking, you really want to get out of here."

"I do," Hermione assured him, no longer hiding the desperation in her voice.

He sighed. "You'll be the death of me," he grumbled before nodding reluctantly. "Alright, tomorrow then. But I swear if you get me killed I'm coming to haunt you."

Hermione laughed even though his words weren't meant as a joke at all. Still, it was like a weight had been lifted from her heart. Tomorrow she would finally escape that place and no one would hold her back this time.