Run Away
Chapter 2 of 3
Ron found Eris the next day pouring over books upon books in the library.
"Honestly, Hermione, don't you ever quit?" he asked with a grin as he sat down. When she didn't respond, he looked at the title of her book, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and the chapter title, The Boy Who Lived.
"Hermione…" questioned Ron. She still didn't respond, so he shook her arm. This woke her up out of the trance, and she stared at him with troubled eyes.
"Voldemort is dead," she stated at him.
"Don't say the name," Ron said through gritted teeth. Then he looked around library, and, finding it empty, continued. "Well he's not anymore, is he? He came back last summer." For an instant, he thought he saw Hermione smile.
But the moment passed, and Hermione simply stood up and left the room. Ron stared after her in amazement.
I'll have to watch her he thought to himself.
****************
Several weeks later, Professor McGonagall called Hermione into her office. Although a fire warmly lit the room, Hermione's face was pale and cold.
"Come in and sit down, Miss Granger." When she had done so, the professor sat on the other side of the desk. Hermione refused to look into her eyes. "I believe you know why you are here."
"Do I?"
"Your grades have begun to slip drastically. You never participate in Herbology, Profesor Flitwick informs me that you give little or no effort to learn new charms, and you haven't turned in a single paper in Study of Ancient Ruins for five weeks." She paused to let this sink in.
Hermione did nothing except stare above her head.
"What do you have to say for yourself?" Professor McGonagall said sternly.
"You're right," Hermione said at last. "I have been failing in my duties. I must try harder."
"Alright. I must warn you that I will write your parents if this continues." If this was suppose to have an effect on Hermione, it did no such thing. She remained as cold as ever.
"You may go now…," the professor started to say, but Hermione had already left.
******************
When Hermione returned to the common room, Harry and Ron were playing chess by the fire. Instead of joining them, she picked a chair on the other side of the room, and sat down.
"She's starring at you again," Ron whispered to Harry as his knight took Harry's bishop.
Harry twisted around to find that, indeed, Hermione was gazing at the from across the room. "Hermione, come over here with Ron and me," he called to her. She didn't move.
"I telling you, she's getting really weird." Ron said as Harry turned back around.
"How so?"
"Well, she stares at you during classes. And remember, during potions, she 'accidentally' gave you an ingredient that would have turned the fumes poisonous, if you hadn't caught it."
"That was an accident!"
Ron glanced up from the chess board and looked at Harry. "Maybe. But there was that time in the library, when the whole shelf of books almost fell on you. She was there then."
"Circumstantial evidence, that's all you have."
"Is it? And that's not all, she, well, she," he glanced over to Hermione and then whispered to Harry. "She kind of creeps me out."
"What?"
"Have you ever noticed when she's near how it gets really cold?"
Harry hesitated. He had noticed that, actually. "So what are you saying? Hermione has turned evil and now she's trying to bump me off? Is that it?"
Ron, recognizing anger in his friends face, sighed and said, "I don't know what I'm saying. Just maybe we should watch out."
"Well, she's probably just going through a hard time right now. Hermione is my friend, and I'm not going to declare her 'weird' and move on. Goodnight," Harry said shortly. He got up, and headed for the stairs that lead up to their bedroom.
Ron sighed and looked down at the chessboard. He moved his rook, and whispered, "Checkmate."
The moment he did, a huge crashing sound came from behind him. He leapt up and raced toward the sound. It appeared as though while Harry was climbing the stairs, a huge, and very heavy, painting decided to topple down on top of him.
People were gathering around trying to help him, and calm the subject of the painting. Ron quickly glanced around, and saw Hermione a few feet away.
"How could that fall down?" asked Lavender Brown. "It's held up with magic."
"Maybe the spell got old," suggested Ron. "Is that possible? Can a spell wear out, Hermione?" He looked up, but she wasn't in the spot where he had last seen her. "Hermione?"
Hermione was gone.
*************
Late that night, Eris sat staring out the window. She absently twisted the ring around her cold finger.
Why was it so hard to kill one boy? Was he that much more clever that he could escape all of her traps? Or was something protecting him?
For the hundredth time, she turned the information around in her head. She couldn't believe it when she had read of her Lord's defeat. How could he possibly be defeated? Even in his school days, he was constantly putting protection and immortally spells on himself.
Now, what could she do? Voldemort was alive, but where? And in what condition?
She lifted her face to the moon. She would find a way. She would make up for her mistake. She would find him, and help him in whatever way she could.
What was that!? She stiffened as a little warmth came back into her body. No, no, no, no, NO! The warmth went away, and coldness replaced it. The girl took a deep breath.
Hermione was learning to fight back, wanted control of her own body again. The girl smiled. Not now, Hermione Granger. You are still my prisoner.
She would travel to Voldemort and be forgiven. And then, possibly a new, better body.
And then… well, nothing could stop them.
*************
"How could she do this? What the hell was she thinking?" he shouted as he paced the dormitory. He punched the bedpost, hard, and the cradled his hand as the pain of the collision shot through him.
"Will you calm down? You're not doing her any good carrying on like this," Harry said to Ron.
"I tried to warn you, didn't I? I told you she was acting strangely."
"Well, how was I supposed to know she would disappear?"
"You're sure she's not anywhere on the Maradur's map?"
"Positive."
Ron sighed, and plopped down on the bed. "Do you think she left of her own free will?"
"Who would kidnap her?" But the minute he said it, the same thought crossed both of their minds. "No… how could he possible get inside the castle?"
"Another spy, like Moony?" suggested Ron.
"We need to see Dumbledore now. We should have gone to a teacher the moment we knew she was missing."
But they never got the change. A steel-gray owl flew through the window, carrying a small marble-sized ball. The ball was released from the owl's talons, and fell to the stone floor. A light green, foul-smelling gas filled the air.
Harry and Ron barely had time to cough before everything went black.
**************
"My Lord, you wanted me?"
The boy and the girl from long ago faced each other. Each was very changed. They both had experienced death, and rebirth. And both of their hearts held nothing but cruelty.
Voldemort stared at her with red eyes. The black robes that were draped over his skeleton-like body looked as though they might snap him in two. But his long, bony hands held power, and his voice, though inhuman, shook with intensity.
The air outside was dark and cool, but no stars could be seen that night.
The Dark Lord sat in the throne room in the ruins of an abandoned castle, and placed himself on the throne. Eris stood in front of him, the ring shinning brightly on her finger. Apart from the lack of servants, it looked like a scene from a medieval tapestry.
The brave knight had returned to his King.
"Eris," he said, addressing her by the name he knew, "Are you ready to join me?"
"Yes, my Lord," she said, bowing low. Her body still ached from the punishment he inflicted on her yesterday. Cries of Crucio echoed around her head. She shivered slightly. Her lord did not easily forgive.
But now that she had paid for her sin, she could be a loyal servant.
"Good." He turned to a pale and scrawny man, with watery eyes, next to him. "Wormtail, bring them in." The man bowed and scuttled away.
"Lord Voldemort," Eris said in a soft voice, "if it is not too much to ask, I require a new body. This one is small and weak, and it's owner never ceases to struggle and fight. Once or twice, I almost lost control."
"But it is precisely that that makes you valuable."
Although she did not know the meaning of this, she knew better than to question him.
"Don't say anything," the Dark Lord commanded. Eris stood silent, and obedient.
Two Death Eaters walked in, dragging along two boys. One, Eris recognized as Harry Potter. The other was the red-haired child who was always around Harry.
"Hermione!" the red-haired one called out. A blow over the head, administered by a Death Eater, silenced him.
The boys were brought around to face the decaying throne. The red-haired one gasped and shrank away, absolutely terrified. Harry Potter looked as though he had known, but not allowed himself to realize, the horrible truth all along.
"I am stronger now, aren't I, Potter? I am no longer weak and helpless. With one curse, I could kill you where you stand," Voldemort said in his cruel voice. Eris knew all too well the well-disguised fury in it.
Harry stood there, torn between making sure Hermione was all right and responding to Voldemort.
"But, will Harry Potter be brave and noble once more?" Not even Eris could guess where what he was talking about. Still, Harry said nothing.
"For you see, you must choose between your friends, and yourself. Now, brave, noble, famous Harry Potter couldn't possibly choose himself over his friends, could he?" Eris glanced to her side and saw the Death Eaters had placed the other boy next to her.
Harry started to say something, but the Dark Lord cut him off. "Now, you must choose. Either you give yourself to me, or I will torture and kill your two friends."
"You'll trade me in for Harry Potter?" Eris gasped.
"Don't take the bait, Harry, don't listen…" the red-haired child was again silenced by a smack to the head.
Throwing caution to the wind, Eris ran up to Voldemort, and grabbed his arm.
"Please my lord, what is this?"
He shook her off, as if she were barely more than a little annoyance, like an insect. "You wish to serve your master. This is how you will do it."
"What…" she said open-mouthed and disbelieving.
The dark centers of his eyes constricted, and he hissed at her, "You are mine to command, now get back in line."
Numbly, she walked back beside the red-haired child.
"Hermione, what's going on? You're not… you're not, like, a Death Eater or anything…are you?" he was asking.
But Eris didn't hear this, nor did she hear the following conversation between her Lord and Harry Potter. Her thoughts were turned within.
Waves of feeling of betrayal swept over her like a bitterly salty ocean. It stung her eyes, and scratched her skin.
How could he do this to her? How could he use her as a mere bargaining chip? She was worth more than that! She was the one who first called him by the new name, Voldemort. She lied to the teachers for him. She crept into the Forbidden Forest to perform ghastly spells and horrible enchantments. She watched as he grew in power and broke magical barriers. She felt him become more and evil as he was swept into a world of Dark magic.
She gave him everything. Her devotion, time, energy, virginity, power, and most importantly, her love. She truly loved him once.
One night, she lost everything. He was right, what he said to her that night. She could have been his queen. The Dark Mistress of all. Because of one mistake, she was no longer his lover, no longer the second-in-command. She was lower in rank than a Death Eater. She was a pawn. Tom Riddle did not love her.
A/N There is only one more chapter, which I will upload tomorrow. Please review!
Thanks for reading!
--Tigerlily
