Despite the warm July air, Hermione shivered. After returning home at the end of 5th year, she could not shake the feeling of being watched. It was probably a post traumatic response to the debacle in the Department of Mysteries. The longer the feeling clung to her without anything occurring, the surer she became of this. Even so, she considered heading back inside. Hermione shook her head and berated herself for being ridiculous. Her parents had left for a weekend conference not even 12 hours ago. She was nearly an adult for Merlin's sake. Two months shy of 17, staying home alone for a few days should not leave her uneasy. Maybe when she returned to Hogwarts she could ask Madame Pomphrey about the wizarding alternative to therapy. Considering the events of the last 5 years, therapy ought to be a school wide mandate.
A half hour later, Hermione started to gather her things to head back inside. "Boo," a cold voice purred in her ear. The hairs along her neck stood up. "Have you missed me, moy svetlyachok?" Unable to reach her wand and too afraid to turn around, Hermione froze in place. The man slowly turned her to face him. She startled. Staring at her with his hands gripping her arms was Antonin Dolohov, escaped convict and star of her recent nightmares.
"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" Hermione managed to stammer out. Dolohov's fingers trailed across her chest, along the path where his curse hit her. Even though it left no mark, his purple flamed curse took weeks to heal from. The healers noted it was a stroke of luck she even survived. Knowing it was improbable she would get through the war without seeing him again, she at least hoped to never get caught alone by him. Yet here Dolohov was, in her backyard, running his hands along her chest after whispering in her ear.
"Svetlyak," Dolohov gave her a cold smile. "Somehow you survived my curse, creating a link between our magics. I will always be able to find you." He stroked the back of his hand along her face. "You should have your order put up protections around your house. I'd hate for one of my overenthusiastic comrades to harm what is mine."
"Yours?" Hermione muttered hotly. "What makes you think you have any claim to me? Why are you here warning me? If anyone is going to harm me, I'd expect it to be you," she spat out, temper rising.
Dolohov smirked. Even faced with a known threat, alone and unarmed, his little firefly is all heat and bravado. Watching her the past weeks had shown him that she was a perfect witch to bind to himself. The link between their magics was created when she absorbed his spell, melding his magical signature with hers. The curse was designed to burn through a wizard's magical core, not combine with it. Dolohov was determined to discover any other side effects of casting the curse wordlessly by observing the girl before disposing of her. He did not expect to find her so intriguing. It would be a waste to lose her mind and power before she'd had a chance to fully develop. To kill her would be short sighted. He would keep her instead, but to keep her she would have to stay alive. It would be an engaging challenge.
"I will not harm you, moy svetlyachok. You carry my magical signature inside of you, bolstering my power and providing a direct path to you," Dolohov said. He trailed his eyes over Hermione with a leer, watching as panic flooded her face and her body began to shake. "Until next time, sweet," he added with a grin before disapperating with a low pop.
Notes:
DEE Prompt: "Boo," a cold voice purred in her ear.
English - Russian Translation
Firefly - Svetlyak, My Firefly - moy svetlyachok
I have not yet determined if this will continue or remain a one shot. If it were to continue, I'm not sure what path it would take. It would likely depend on my personal headspace while writing it.
