Chapter 43
"Again," Severus demands.
Hermione throws back her head, black curls cascading down over her tight corset, and lets loose a peal of deranged laughter.
"Perfect. You've got her mad cackle down pat." Thank God. She spent nearly an hour watching memories of Bellatrix in his mind, and he's thoroughly sick of thinking about her.
"You're not surprised, Snape? Our lord doesn't put his trust in incompetents." She pauses as though recalling something, then narrows her smoky eyes and laying a long red talon along her jaw. "Oh, wait. Actually, in your case, he made an exception." She turns her back on him and walks away, balancing perfectly on her magically cushioned high heels, hips swaying.
Severus shudders. "I've created a monster."
Hermione looks over her shoulder at him. "You wanted me to stay in character, Sevvy. Don't whinge when you get what you ask for." With a toss of her curls, she continues toward the sofa and sits down. She crosses her legs, letting the black silk ride high on her thigh, and looks at Severus the way a cat looks at a cornered mouse.
As he watches, the Polyjuice wears off, and her curls fade from black to brown. She hasn't yet Charmed away the red lips and nails and the dramatic eye makeup or Transfigured the provocative robes back to jeans and a t-shirt, so she looks disconcertingly like a cross between herself and Bellatrix. He thought she'd need to watch more memories of the mad witch than she did before being able to mimic her speech patterns and body language.
She looks at the vial of potion. "Do I need to do it again?"
"No, you're ready."
"Bella, my most loyal servant, come to me."
"As my lord wishes." Hermione approaches the monster on Bellatrix's sky-high heels, moving her hips as the other witch does, careful to hide her disgust at the Dark Lord's noseless face and scaly skin. He wraps one of his arms around her, squeezing her hip with his long, bony hand and she forces herself not to shudder.
"Who are you, pet?"
Who? Her heart pounds in her chest and she can scarcely breathe. Without meaning to, she looks at Severus, panicked. The monster follows her gaze, and his face twists into what looks almost like a smile. He points his wand at Severus and says, "Incercerus. Expelliarmus." As the magical ropes bind Severus, his wand sails into the Dark Lord's hand.
Then the Dark Lord is in her mind. She slams her library shields into place, not bothering with the pretense of not Occluding. He tears books off the shelves at random, remaining only long enough to see whose memories they are. When he withdraws from her mind, leaving her head throbbing, he looks at Severus. "I do not recall asking you to bring your Mudblood filth here this evening, Severus. But since you have, I'm sure we can find something entertaining to do with her."
At the series of gasps and exclamations of "Potter!" that erupt from the side of the room, Hermione turns to see Harry transforming back from Rodolphus Lestrange to himself. Like Severus, he is bound by magical ropes. From the back of the room Dolohov and Macnair drag a similarly bound Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy to stand beside Severus. Hermione feels herself starting to hyperventilate, and forces herself to take deeper breaths. She, Severus, Lucius, and Narcissa all have a dose of the do-over potion. If none of them can take it because they are all dead or at least incapacitated, there is no second chance.
"Did it not occur to you that I have spies everywhere? My source at Gringott's told me not only that Bella and her husband were dead, but that her poor grieving sister and brother-in-law had raced to her vault before the bodies were even cold." He looks at Narcissa. "Your own sister. How could you?"
"She didn't," Lucius says. "She didn't know anything about it. "It was me. Only me."
"We shall see. Crucio."
Narcissa screams and falls to the floor, where she writhes and convulses, still constrained by the Incercerus bindings. The Dark Lord lowers his wand and watches her pant and gasp and vomit on the expensive carpet, then raises it again. "Legilimens." After a moment he withdraws and turns to Lucius. "You lied. She did know. But fortunately for you, your son did not, else the House of Malfoy would have become extinct this night. Draco, come here."
Draco Malfoy walks from the back of the room to the front, his eyes on the Dark Lord and not his parents.
Voldemort casts the killing curse twice, then turns to the only living Malfoy. "Take your rightful place as the head of your family."
Malfoy pales, and when he speaks, his voice quavers. "Yes, my lord." He turns back to the Dark Lord who is still gripping Hermione with his claw-like hand. She feels the effects of the Polyjuice end as she transforms from Bellatrix's form back to herself. She shrinks back as Nagini climbs her master's legs, inching closer to Hermione.
"You petitioned to marry this filthy thing, did you not, Draco?" the Dark Lord asks.
"Yes, my lord."
"You do not still want her, do you? Now that she is the traitor Snape's leavings?"
"No, my lord. Unless you wish me to have her, my lord." Malfoy appears to have gotten himself under control now, as his voice is no longer tremulous.
"Not as your wife, certainly. But as your plaything, you may, if you so choose. If you do not, I shall give her to Antonin. Or perhaps to Nagini?" He strokes the giant serpent as it nuzzles him and then flicks its tongue at Hermione. "Would you like that, precious?" When the snake hisses, the Dark Lord chuckles. "I thought you might."
Hermione shudders.
The monster laughs again. "So, you prefer young Malfoy to my Nagini? Well, then I shall grant your wish, provided you perform one small task for me." He waits, but Hermione doesn't speak. "The correct answer is 'Yes, my lord,' Mudblood. Draco, instruct her."
Draco's eyes widen in surprise and, if Hermione didn't know better, she'd say panic. She gives him an almost imperceptible nod. She knows this isn't his fault, and if he doesn't do it, someone else will, and she fervently hopes that someone is not Voldemort. Then she is on the floor, every nerve in her body on fire. It does not last long, but during the seconds it does, the pain is unlike anything she's ever experienced.
The Dark Lord laughs indulgently. "You play very nicely with your toys, Draco. Cissy said you always did." He glances at Narcissa's body. "Poor Cissy. I always liked your mother, Draco. That is why I did her and your father the kindness of killing them quickly. A great pity, this whole sordid business." He turns to Harry. "But what a lovely silver lining to all this betrayal." Then he casts the killing curse once more, and in a flash of green, Harry is dead.
Hermione emits a strangled wail. It can't end like this. It just can't. Not after all their planning and preparing. This can't be the end. She looks at Severus.
His face is a mask of anguish. "I'm so sorry, Hermione," he says. "I love you."
"I love you, Severus," she says through her tears. "I only wish I'd told you before."
"I wish I had, too."
"Isn't this touching?" the Dark Lord says. "Such a poignant little drama. Our very own tragic love story, played out right here for all of our amusement. Are you not amused, Draco?"
"Very much so, my lord."
"Antonin, are you also entertained?"
"Yes, my lord," Dolohov says.
"But you are vexed that I have given the Mudblood to Draco."
"It is as my lord wishes."
"I do have a consolation prize for you, Antonin."
"My lord?"
He gestures at Severus. "You may execute the traitor in whatever manner you wish."
Dolohov bows his head. "My lord is too kind."
"Draco, would you like to watch, or shall I excuse you to enjoy your plaything?"
"I am sorry to miss the spectacle, my lord, but if she stays to watch, I doubt my plaything will afford me much amusement tonight."
The Dark Lord gives him a fond smile. "Quite so, my boy. Run along, then." He pats Hermione's hip nauseatingly close to her arse and says, "You too, Mudblood. Be a good girl for the new master of Malfoy Manor."
Before Draco leads her off, Hermione looks at Severus and wills him to understand. She loves him. She doesn't blame him for this. She's shattered and heartbroken and mourning Harry, but she loves him. For the briefest moment, she feels him as he enters her mind, and knows he loves her. She may not blame him, but he blames himself, and the pain she feels in his mind is almost more than she can bear. She doesn't want him to die feeling this way, but there is nothing she can do.
As Hermione climbs the grand staircase at Draco's side, neither of them speak. Her husband is about to be tortured to death, and she's supposed to be a good girl, Malfoy's little plaything. And Malfoy? He's just watched his parents die. Surely, he is in no mood to play.
Malfoy stops in front of one of the doors. He opens it and stands back for her to enter first. The room is large, and tastefully decorated in shades of cream, gray, and dark green. There is a large four-poster bed, armoire, small table and chairs, a love seat and two armchairs near a fireplace. Malfoy drops into one of the armchairs and releases an audible breath.
"I'm sorry about your parents," Hermione says.
Malfoy pulls a vial out of his pocket and holds it up. It's empty, but the residue in the bottom is light blue. "Do you know what this is, Granger?"
She practically flies across the room and takes the vial from him. "Oh, God, Malfoy, did Severus give you that?"
"Yes. He said to take it if things went badly. He didn't tell me why, but he made me swear I would, so I did. Do you know what it is?"
"Yes," she smiles through her tears. Thank God Severus didn't listen when she told him not to give the potion to Draco.
"What does it do?"
"It resets time. Tomorrow morning you'll wake up and it will be today again. Because you're the only one who took the potion, you're the only one who will remember today. You'll have to go to Severus and me first thing and tell us everything that happened today, because we won't remember."
"Do you mean none of this will have happened? My parents will be alive?"
"Yes, Malfoy, that's exactly what I mean."
Author's Note
I thought about making this chapter a cliffhanger and not letting readers know Malfoy took the potion, but I just couldn't be that cruel.
Many thanks to all who are reading and reviewing, and especially to turtlewexler who beta read the story.