Disclaimer: *Sigh * You know that the characters from the Harry Potter
series do not belong to me. . . They belong to one JKR. The plot, however
is mine, ALL MINE!
A/N: Hey there peoples, I'm ba-a-ck! Heh, anyway, onto another chappie of this story. I'm as addicted to writing it as everyone else is addicted to reading it. Heh, that's a predicament and a half. Hmmm. . . Hermione has seemingly become intrigued by this William Blakely. . . I wonder what's up this kid's sleeve. We'll find out soon. Mwhahahahahahahaha. On with the show!
Double Trouble
Chapter Twenty-Five
Harry glared at the new kid in the common room, his scar throbbing painfully.
"Checkmate!" Harry returned his attention to the game, swearing rather loudly.
"How do you manage to win every single one?! I mean, we've been playing this game since First Year, and you haven't lost. ONCE! What are the odds?" Harry expostulated, gesturing wildly. It was truly a bafflement, one person shouldn't be able to do that.
"Skill. . . that's all." Ron crossed his arms over his chest, a smug smirk on his face. "I mean, if you possessed even half my skill-"
"Oh dear, from the sounds of it, Ron has gone all Percy on us." George ambled up behind his younger brother, a grin split his freckled face. Fred nodded somberly.
"It's such a pity. To date, he was our favorite brother. Well, besides Bill, and Charlie. Hmmm. . ." Fred tapped his chin, looking at his twin with a smirk.
"Don't. Call. Me. Percy!" Ron thundered, his face turning a deep red that clashed with the Weasley's trademark hair color.
"What is Ron complaining about now?!" Hermione stumbled into the common room, her arms loaded with books. After visiting the kindly MediWitch, and given the day off classes, she had decided to spend a leisurely day perusing the library. "Oof!" The brunette collapsed on one of the dark red sofas, gasping.
"Do you always have to study, Mya? Relax a bit!" George collapsed beside her, pulling her close.
"Shut up, you!" Hermione batted his arm playfully.
"PDA!" Fred collapsed on the other side of the happy couple, hiding his eyes behind his hands.
"You're just angry 'cause your girl graduated." George sniffed disdainfully.
"Doesn't mean I want to see my twin with his, now does it?" Fred glowered, a look that oddly reminded the friends of everyone's favorite Potions Master.
"Oi, Hermione!" William strode over, a friendly smile on his face that did not quite reach his eyes as he surveyed her company. The tall boy brushed back a lock of dark hair off his pale forehead.
"Oh, William! You're in Gryffindor, how nice." Hermione grinned up at the boy, once again taken with his charm. "George, Fred, Harry, Ron, meet William, he's new here. I expect you to make him feel welcome." She stated firmly. "William, this is George, Fred, and Ron Weasley, and this here is Harry Potter." William's eyes darkened at the last name.
"The Harry Potter. How. . . wonderful." Though his voice belied it was anything but. Hermione was oblivious to the slightly calculating stares that the boys were giving William, and his sneer.
"Yeah, isn't it awesome?" Ginny walked up behind Harry, her lip curled slightly as she gazed at the new boy. There was something decidedly. . . shifty about him, that set Ginny's nerves on edge. She stiffened her spine slightly, her eyes cold. "I'm sure that this a pleasure. . . ah. . . William. I'm Ginny, Ginny Weasley."
Harry almost applauded his girlfriend's attitude. . . almost. The boy gave him the creeps that rivaled one other person, Voldemort himself. "So, Will, where're you from?"
"William, please, not Will. I don't like that particular nickname. It's so. . . childish. Anyway, I'm from Surrey." He smiled again, or rather, a twisted version of a smile that disturbed the others to no end. Well, the others except for Hermione. She was too busy concentrating on the strange lilting in his voice that fascinated her for some reason. It was distinctly exotic, something she had never encountered before.
"No. . ." She tapped her chin slightly, "You weren't born in Surrey, you may have just moved there, but you weren't born or raised there. You're from. . ." Where had she heard that accent before? "Oh, you're from the Highlands!" The answer hit her, Oliver Wood had the same lilting burr to his voice.
"Right in one." He laughed, dropping onto the arm of the couch where Hermione was sitting, a move that made her boyfriend slightly nervous. Could she not feel the utter. . . weirdness. . . that pervaded the boy like an aura?
"Oh. . .well. . ." Hermione waved her hand airily.
"Yeah, that's my little know-it-all." George pulled her closer, glaring at William. The boy just smirked in return. * If that's how he wants to play. . . that's fine by me!* George sneered slightly.
"Hey!" Hermione hit him. "You're not being very nice!" She hissed, not noticing the sneer William threw at him in return. "William, I'm sorry. He doesn't like stranger." She looked up at the boy apologetically, getting the boy's heartwarming smile for her effort.
"It's fine, Hermione, dear. I'm not well liked by a lot of guys." He whispered conspiratorially. "They see me as a threat." Hermione giggled, batting her eyelashes playfully.
Ron did a double take. *Is Hermione really flirting with that creep? * He growled lowly, shooting Harry a look that distinctly said the boy was treading on thin ice. Harry personally agreed. George tightened his grip, his expression murderous. If this wasn't stopped, someone was going to die. . . a very slow and painful death.
"Hey, Will. . .do you play Wizard's Chess?" Ron gave him a superior grin.
"William." He grated through clenched teeth. "And, yes, I'm rather good at it."
"Care for a game, Will?" Ron gestured at the board.
"William, for Gods Sakes, Ron! Get it right!" Hermione admonished, turning a rather attractive shade of pink. "Honestly, one would think you're gunning for the poor boy. He's new here!" Hermione stood abruptly. "I have to study! I missed most of my classes, and personally, I would rather not get behind."
"Are you any good at Transfiguration?" William asked suddenly.
"It's my best subject." Hermione declared proudly.
"I've heard all your subjects are your best." William grinned again. "But, unluckily for me, Transfiguration is my worst. Do you think you could help me with the assignment?"
"Of course!" She gestured to a table in the back of the room. Her table. "C'mon. And I expect you lot to be nicer!" She lead the way back to her table.
"I do not like that boy at all." Harry grated, his voice ominously low.
"Here, here." George exclaimed, the murderous gleam in his eye brightening.
***
Melody hummed one of her Toddler Tunes, as they were fast becoming called, as Draco and Pansy were walking with her outside, trying to work off a little of her energy before dinner.
"My Father was here." Draco announced, his eyes hard. "He and Hermione had a run in during Potions."
Pansy nodded, "Is that why she fainted?"
"Yes. Gods, what am I going to do? He's after Melody! He doesn't give a flip about me either way, but he knows about the Prophecy, and the part she and Hermione will play in it. I won't let him have them, either of them!" He declared fiercely. "I'd die first."
Pansy stiffened her spine. "As would I, Draco, as would I."
Melody grinned at them suddenly, her cherub face all innocence and happiness. "Where Mione?"
"She's in the common room." Draco patted her on the head slightly.
"I wanna see Mione. No see her all day!" Melody suddenly clenched her pudgy little fist about her favorite toy, her little glass orb.
"Okay, it is getting a little chilly, we should go in." Pansy hoisted the toddler onto her hip, brushing the girl's blonde curls from her face. "C'mon then Draco." She commanded the boy, who was staring moodily out at the Forbidden Forest.
"What would I do with you, Pansy?" Draco looked at the girl, suddenly pensive.
"Die of boredom maybe?" Pansy smiled gently at the boy she had given her heart too.
"You do seem to shake things up, hon." Draco's voice held a note of amusement. He looked at her holding his little sister with a sad smile. One day, he was going to marry that girl, he decided. IF they all survive this madness. "Now, let's go in, before they send out a search party."
***
Hermione preened slightly before the mirror in her dorm's bathroom, pulling her hair out of her face, leaving a few tendrils hanging about. *Why am I doing this? * She asked herself, even as she secured her hair. * You didn't do this for George!* The voice in her head exclaimed. Hermione sighed. But. . . it was different. William was different. He was intelligent, a decent conversationalist, and very. . . very. . . HOT.
*But, George is the only guy you should want to impress. HE is the guy you're in love with. . . isn't he? * The voice, so sure of itself earlier, asked.
Hermione smiled at her reflection. Dinner was going to be served in fifteen minutes, she had better get a seat while she could.
She descended quietly to the common room, and stopped, her jaw dropping, her heart plummeting, and bile rising in the back of her throat. At the fireplace stood the one and only Voldemort, in the deserted Gryffindor tower, a twisted smile gracing the repulsive features, the red snake eyes locked on her cinnamon ones.
"Oh, Gods!" She exclaimed, sagging against the wall.
"Oh, hello Hermione. I hope this isn't an inconvenience, but I was hoping if you would join me for dinner?" He hissed, almost civilly. Almost, since his dark wand was pointed right at her and his eyes held a cold sort of malice that chilled her to the bone.
"How did. . . did you get in here?" She squeaked, cursing her weakness and Gryffindor bravery alternately.
"Well, I just had someone let me in." He closed his eyes slightly. "Why must it be so glaringly Gryffindor in here?"
"Maybe because you're in the Gryffindor Common Room, very unwelcome, I assure you." Hermione spat, her hatred of the. . . thing. . . standing before her overriding any common sense she might have left. The power that radiated off the former man was almost intoxicating, but at the same time, revolting.
"Come now, no reason to be that way. I have been nothing but. . . nice to you."
"Nice?!" The young Gryffindor snorted suddenly. "Yeah, try to kill my best friend, have your Deatheaters attack me and my friends, I almost died, by the way. Wow, that was such a walk in the park!" Hermione ranted. *Remember this is Voldemort you're talking to girl! The guy that won't hesitate to kill your arse! * The voice in her head screamed.
"Yes. . .but I didn't know who you were then."
"Oh, I see. Now that you know, you want what? A nice dinner and conversation? Tired of all the killing? Decided to take it easy tonight? No dark revels to occupy your time? That's too bad, y'know." Hermione sneered slightly, and made as if to step past him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Thomas, I so would like to attend Dinner, just not with you."
"Ooh, Lucius was right about you. You are a little spitfire. Hmmm. . . very nice." He murmured, stalking forward. "It's so fresh from what I'm used to receiving. You cannot possibly understand how tiring it is to have all these people groveling under you. But you, you would never grovel, would you. . .girl?"
"You're right about that, Tom. I wouldn't grovel for you, or anybody. This girl bows to no one.! I am a person in my own right. You are no better than me or anyone else in this world. You just think you are." She spat, her fist tightening about the wand in the pocket of her robes.
"Then it will be my personal. . . goal. . . to make you grovel. . . beg. . . for anything I ask." Voldemort whispered harshly, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The girl positively reeked of unbound power, raw and fresh, under no one's control, especially hers. He reached out a hand, running it down her face, the ultimate parody of a lovers touch, and she flinched away, her eyes widening suddenly. It was as if she just realized that this. . . all of this. . . was real, and not some game of her imagination.
"I beg for no man." Hermione whispered, cold fire burning in her veins, her wrath rising to the bait he held out for her. A silhouette detached itself from the shadows, striding forward. "William!" She gasped.
"Yes, Hermione?" His face was twisted in a malicious grin. "M'Lord, do you wish for me to bind her?"
Her eyes darted back and forth between the boy and Voldemort, a feeling of despair rising in her. *And you wanted to impress him! * The voice in her head grated slightly. "Damn it! Shut up!"
"Think that's funny?" William hissed, thinking her comment directed at him. "If I was given time, I could have had you do anything I wanted. You were almost willing to forsake your. . . boyfriend for me." He sneered, his eyes darkened with a thousand possibilities.
"How. . .why?" She asked, trying to mask the surprise and hurt in her eyes. Any naïve notions she had once entertained were gone in a sickening swirl of guilt and pain. She had actually trusted someone she had just met. Defended him from her REAL friends. Helped him with his homework.
"It was easy, I just enrolled, and the Sorting was simple. I knew you were in Gryffindor, so I asked the Hat to place me there. I would have preferred Slytherin but you're not that type of girl. You're too Goody-Two-Shoes to actually have a decent harmful thought."
Hermione felt her rage return a hundredfold. He had used her. He had actually presumed so much as to use her as the means to an end. She felt a strange disconnected feeling, she was a Goddess Incarnate, no one USED her. No one should even dare. The consequences of such an action would indeed be dire. The icy heat pooled about her, spreading it's tendrils about the stone floor in white hot ice. SHE would not be manipulated, by no one. Especially a pretty boy who used her as a ladder to vault to the top of the Deatheater chain. No one had that RIGHT!
She saw Voldemort's eyes widen almost imperceptibly. He could feel her power encasing him as surely as it was his own. He was almost drunk with the giddiness of it. Such a powerful creature. . . Potter surely didn't know what he had here, right beneath his nose.
"You could be great." He whispered, his voice a bare hiss of pleasure.
*Beware the Serpent's forked tongue. * Hermione barely recalled the Prophecy, and a lazy smile etched its way across her face. "I don't need you to make me great. I already am." Her eyes shifted from deep cinnamon to bloody crimson, a long lock of white adorning her hair. The castle shuddered beneath her feet, as she stalked forward, grasping the front of William's robe. He would pay.
"William." She cooed, pulling the shocked boy to her. "You've been. . . naughty." She pulled him roughly to meet her lips, her power blazing about them both. He struggled against her, but she held him steadfast, refusing to let him budge. A keening wind sprang up in the Common Room, picking up books and parchment, swirling them about in a maelstrom of emotion. Particularly anger and betrayal. He would not get away with it. HE made her doubt her love for George. HE made her doubt herself, and that wasn't allowed. AT ALL.
His dark eyes dimmed as his frenzied movements became less and less until he hung limply in her grip, his eyes open and staring, his jaw slack. With an almost inhuman strength, she tossed the boy aside negligently, turning her attention on the almost intoxicated Dark Lord. Growling softly, she advanced.
***
"Where do you reckon Hermione is?" Ginny whispered to Harry as she sat next to him, her blue eyes filled with worry.
"I want to know where William is!" George exclaimed, hearing the question.
A shudder ripped through the castle's stone foundation. Harry's eyes widened, and he went suddenly pale, the insistent throbbing in his scar pulsed harshly. "Oh Gods!" He whispered, springing up, "Hermione!" And ran from the Dining Hall.
***
Draco and Pansy were almost to the Common Room when a shudder nearly threw them off their feet. Exchanging a worried glance, they hurried onto the Common Room.
***
"Crucio!" Voldemort hissed, aiming his wand for the lithe little brunette.
"Heh, you honestly think that your power is a match for mine?" Hermione sneered, advancing.
"Crucio!" He hissed again, and watched as the spell bounced harmlessly off the corona of pure white power. He smirked, drawing on the darkness that lay in his body, in lieu of a soul. It blanketed him quite like her power. A guttural growl issued from her, as she launched herself bodily at the Dark Lord. He anticipated this, and waved a hand, almost negligently, and sent her sailing back against the far wall with an ominous crunch.
***
Harry nearly ran into Draco and Pansy in his haste to get into the Common Room, the pain in his scar would've have brought him to his knees if the adrenaline pumping through his veins wasn't present.
"Malfoy, Pansy, Move it. NOW!" He bellowed, heading towards a confused and frightened portrait of the Fat Lady. "Vinium Veritas!" He exclaimed, and was thrown against the wall as Dark and Light tore through the painting. Fortunately, the Fat Lady fled before she was shredded.
"OH GODS!" Draco pushed Pansy behind him, bringing his wand to bear.
***
Voldemort advanced on his quarry, his eyes alight with a hunger for something long denied him. She looked so frail there, blood seeping down her neck. Her hair had come undone from the binding, falling about her in a mass of waves.
"I don't wish to hurt you." He whispered, kneeling next to her, running a hand down her cheek again. "I never wished to hurt you." His hissing voice was almost gentle. Hermione's eyes fluttered open. She just looked at him with pain and anger laced in her cinnamon-crimson eyes.
***
Melody struggled in Pansy's grasp, her eyes wide and unseeing. She slipped from the other girl and ran forward, into the room. Draco cursed, trying to grab her but was unsuccessful. "MELODY!!"
***
The two year old sauntered into the room, her cobalt eyes locked onto the two there in the corner. She allowed the presence that begged entranced to peruse her body and speak.
***
Voldemort looked over his shoulder, his eyes wide. A tiny child was glaring daggers at him.
"Thomas. Who said you could touch what I have specifically marked as mine?" The voice that came out of her mouth was anything but childish. It was harsh, and demanded answers. The large cobalt eyes locked on his, and flashed crimson for a second.
Four other forms appeared in the room, though he had no idea how they got there so fast.
Melody held up her hand, preventing the four from entering fully. "No, children, I wish to speak with him first. Now is not the time nor place for the battle that will most assuredly ensue." She turned her attention back to the serpent-man before her, her tiny nostrils flaring in a righteous anger that was most assuredly not hers. "Now, Thomas. I am not known for my patience."
"She is MINE!" He hissed, clutching at the girl possessively.
"I do NOT think so." A flare of white shot from Hermione and Voldemort sailed across the room. "She is MINE. She has accepted my mark, she, therefore, belongs to me. Have you not read the Odyssey, child? Do you not know that NO ONE crosses the Gods? The blind Poet was very wise, for a mortal." The tiny girl gestured flippantly. "I could let her deal with you now. You should know that she cannot sustain any lasting damage from you. She heals herself automatically." The girl walked over to Hermione, placing a chubby little hand on her shoulder. "I protect what is mine. I know there is the deal with the Prophecy, and that she must serve her purpose, but she belongs to NO ONE else. Your boy learned the hard way." She pointed to the lifeless body on the couch Hermione had sat upon earlier. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to."
"Who are you?" Voldemort hissed, his eyes narrowing.
"I sit upon a throne at Olympus, Thomas. Hermione wears my Mark, and her lineage springs directly from my loins. I'm sure you know who I am." The girl smirked, her cherub face twisted in a completely foreign expression.
"Athena?" He gasped.
"The one and only, Thomas. I don't take kindly to those who wish to handle my Daughters. Her purpose concerning you will be served soon enough, the Fates have seen to that. Now, I suggest you get while the getting's good." The girl blinked, and Voldemort winked out.
Hermione stirred, glancing at Melody with trepidation. "I was so stupid." She whispered. "I should have never thought to trust him."
"You weren't stupid, love." Melody leaned against her. "You were trusting, and open. Something I admire about you mortals. Now, I must go. I have business elsewhere. I will return soon." Melody smiled benevolently, and then suddenly sagged fully against Hermione, her eyes closing as sleep claimed her.
The Quads rushed forward, enveloping Hermione in a group hug. They had been pacing outside the barrier the Goddess had set up like caged animals.
"I'm so glad you're alright!" Elizabeth sobbed, her eyes flashing with a dangerous gleam.
"I'm fine. . . I'm fine. I'm just a little tired." Hermione rubbed the back of her head, wincing lightly as she touched a welt. The cut may have healed, but she'd have one hell of a headache. Her eyes fell on the body of William, thrown carelessly across the furniture, his dark eyes lifeless and flat. "I-I-I've killed someone." She breathed, touching her lips tentatively, and then promptly fainted.
*_____________________________________________________________________ *
A/N: It seems our Hermione has quite the temper. Sorry William didn't last longer but he decided that he just didn't want to break Hermione from her boyfriend. I like this chapter, it's nice and long. A full ten pages on Word. Ah, well. . . I think that I may only do five more chapters, an even thirty. So, I want some suggestions on what my next fic should be about. It's going to be a Hermione/someone. I just don't know who yet. So, if you all have any ideas, don't hesitate to tell me. Just not Ron or Harry. Anyone but them, and femme slash, I don't do that. I do slash, just not femme. I was thinking Charlie or Bill, no one ever does any of those! It's not fair! Anyway, don't forget to RR.
Love,
~Me~
A/N: Hey there peoples, I'm ba-a-ck! Heh, anyway, onto another chappie of this story. I'm as addicted to writing it as everyone else is addicted to reading it. Heh, that's a predicament and a half. Hmmm. . . Hermione has seemingly become intrigued by this William Blakely. . . I wonder what's up this kid's sleeve. We'll find out soon. Mwhahahahahahahaha. On with the show!
Double Trouble
Chapter Twenty-Five
Harry glared at the new kid in the common room, his scar throbbing painfully.
"Checkmate!" Harry returned his attention to the game, swearing rather loudly.
"How do you manage to win every single one?! I mean, we've been playing this game since First Year, and you haven't lost. ONCE! What are the odds?" Harry expostulated, gesturing wildly. It was truly a bafflement, one person shouldn't be able to do that.
"Skill. . . that's all." Ron crossed his arms over his chest, a smug smirk on his face. "I mean, if you possessed even half my skill-"
"Oh dear, from the sounds of it, Ron has gone all Percy on us." George ambled up behind his younger brother, a grin split his freckled face. Fred nodded somberly.
"It's such a pity. To date, he was our favorite brother. Well, besides Bill, and Charlie. Hmmm. . ." Fred tapped his chin, looking at his twin with a smirk.
"Don't. Call. Me. Percy!" Ron thundered, his face turning a deep red that clashed with the Weasley's trademark hair color.
"What is Ron complaining about now?!" Hermione stumbled into the common room, her arms loaded with books. After visiting the kindly MediWitch, and given the day off classes, she had decided to spend a leisurely day perusing the library. "Oof!" The brunette collapsed on one of the dark red sofas, gasping.
"Do you always have to study, Mya? Relax a bit!" George collapsed beside her, pulling her close.
"Shut up, you!" Hermione batted his arm playfully.
"PDA!" Fred collapsed on the other side of the happy couple, hiding his eyes behind his hands.
"You're just angry 'cause your girl graduated." George sniffed disdainfully.
"Doesn't mean I want to see my twin with his, now does it?" Fred glowered, a look that oddly reminded the friends of everyone's favorite Potions Master.
"Oi, Hermione!" William strode over, a friendly smile on his face that did not quite reach his eyes as he surveyed her company. The tall boy brushed back a lock of dark hair off his pale forehead.
"Oh, William! You're in Gryffindor, how nice." Hermione grinned up at the boy, once again taken with his charm. "George, Fred, Harry, Ron, meet William, he's new here. I expect you to make him feel welcome." She stated firmly. "William, this is George, Fred, and Ron Weasley, and this here is Harry Potter." William's eyes darkened at the last name.
"The Harry Potter. How. . . wonderful." Though his voice belied it was anything but. Hermione was oblivious to the slightly calculating stares that the boys were giving William, and his sneer.
"Yeah, isn't it awesome?" Ginny walked up behind Harry, her lip curled slightly as she gazed at the new boy. There was something decidedly. . . shifty about him, that set Ginny's nerves on edge. She stiffened her spine slightly, her eyes cold. "I'm sure that this a pleasure. . . ah. . . William. I'm Ginny, Ginny Weasley."
Harry almost applauded his girlfriend's attitude. . . almost. The boy gave him the creeps that rivaled one other person, Voldemort himself. "So, Will, where're you from?"
"William, please, not Will. I don't like that particular nickname. It's so. . . childish. Anyway, I'm from Surrey." He smiled again, or rather, a twisted version of a smile that disturbed the others to no end. Well, the others except for Hermione. She was too busy concentrating on the strange lilting in his voice that fascinated her for some reason. It was distinctly exotic, something she had never encountered before.
"No. . ." She tapped her chin slightly, "You weren't born in Surrey, you may have just moved there, but you weren't born or raised there. You're from. . ." Where had she heard that accent before? "Oh, you're from the Highlands!" The answer hit her, Oliver Wood had the same lilting burr to his voice.
"Right in one." He laughed, dropping onto the arm of the couch where Hermione was sitting, a move that made her boyfriend slightly nervous. Could she not feel the utter. . . weirdness. . . that pervaded the boy like an aura?
"Oh. . .well. . ." Hermione waved her hand airily.
"Yeah, that's my little know-it-all." George pulled her closer, glaring at William. The boy just smirked in return. * If that's how he wants to play. . . that's fine by me!* George sneered slightly.
"Hey!" Hermione hit him. "You're not being very nice!" She hissed, not noticing the sneer William threw at him in return. "William, I'm sorry. He doesn't like stranger." She looked up at the boy apologetically, getting the boy's heartwarming smile for her effort.
"It's fine, Hermione, dear. I'm not well liked by a lot of guys." He whispered conspiratorially. "They see me as a threat." Hermione giggled, batting her eyelashes playfully.
Ron did a double take. *Is Hermione really flirting with that creep? * He growled lowly, shooting Harry a look that distinctly said the boy was treading on thin ice. Harry personally agreed. George tightened his grip, his expression murderous. If this wasn't stopped, someone was going to die. . . a very slow and painful death.
"Hey, Will. . .do you play Wizard's Chess?" Ron gave him a superior grin.
"William." He grated through clenched teeth. "And, yes, I'm rather good at it."
"Care for a game, Will?" Ron gestured at the board.
"William, for Gods Sakes, Ron! Get it right!" Hermione admonished, turning a rather attractive shade of pink. "Honestly, one would think you're gunning for the poor boy. He's new here!" Hermione stood abruptly. "I have to study! I missed most of my classes, and personally, I would rather not get behind."
"Are you any good at Transfiguration?" William asked suddenly.
"It's my best subject." Hermione declared proudly.
"I've heard all your subjects are your best." William grinned again. "But, unluckily for me, Transfiguration is my worst. Do you think you could help me with the assignment?"
"Of course!" She gestured to a table in the back of the room. Her table. "C'mon. And I expect you lot to be nicer!" She lead the way back to her table.
"I do not like that boy at all." Harry grated, his voice ominously low.
"Here, here." George exclaimed, the murderous gleam in his eye brightening.
***
Melody hummed one of her Toddler Tunes, as they were fast becoming called, as Draco and Pansy were walking with her outside, trying to work off a little of her energy before dinner.
"My Father was here." Draco announced, his eyes hard. "He and Hermione had a run in during Potions."
Pansy nodded, "Is that why she fainted?"
"Yes. Gods, what am I going to do? He's after Melody! He doesn't give a flip about me either way, but he knows about the Prophecy, and the part she and Hermione will play in it. I won't let him have them, either of them!" He declared fiercely. "I'd die first."
Pansy stiffened her spine. "As would I, Draco, as would I."
Melody grinned at them suddenly, her cherub face all innocence and happiness. "Where Mione?"
"She's in the common room." Draco patted her on the head slightly.
"I wanna see Mione. No see her all day!" Melody suddenly clenched her pudgy little fist about her favorite toy, her little glass orb.
"Okay, it is getting a little chilly, we should go in." Pansy hoisted the toddler onto her hip, brushing the girl's blonde curls from her face. "C'mon then Draco." She commanded the boy, who was staring moodily out at the Forbidden Forest.
"What would I do with you, Pansy?" Draco looked at the girl, suddenly pensive.
"Die of boredom maybe?" Pansy smiled gently at the boy she had given her heart too.
"You do seem to shake things up, hon." Draco's voice held a note of amusement. He looked at her holding his little sister with a sad smile. One day, he was going to marry that girl, he decided. IF they all survive this madness. "Now, let's go in, before they send out a search party."
***
Hermione preened slightly before the mirror in her dorm's bathroom, pulling her hair out of her face, leaving a few tendrils hanging about. *Why am I doing this? * She asked herself, even as she secured her hair. * You didn't do this for George!* The voice in her head exclaimed. Hermione sighed. But. . . it was different. William was different. He was intelligent, a decent conversationalist, and very. . . very. . . HOT.
*But, George is the only guy you should want to impress. HE is the guy you're in love with. . . isn't he? * The voice, so sure of itself earlier, asked.
Hermione smiled at her reflection. Dinner was going to be served in fifteen minutes, she had better get a seat while she could.
She descended quietly to the common room, and stopped, her jaw dropping, her heart plummeting, and bile rising in the back of her throat. At the fireplace stood the one and only Voldemort, in the deserted Gryffindor tower, a twisted smile gracing the repulsive features, the red snake eyes locked on her cinnamon ones.
"Oh, Gods!" She exclaimed, sagging against the wall.
"Oh, hello Hermione. I hope this isn't an inconvenience, but I was hoping if you would join me for dinner?" He hissed, almost civilly. Almost, since his dark wand was pointed right at her and his eyes held a cold sort of malice that chilled her to the bone.
"How did. . . did you get in here?" She squeaked, cursing her weakness and Gryffindor bravery alternately.
"Well, I just had someone let me in." He closed his eyes slightly. "Why must it be so glaringly Gryffindor in here?"
"Maybe because you're in the Gryffindor Common Room, very unwelcome, I assure you." Hermione spat, her hatred of the. . . thing. . . standing before her overriding any common sense she might have left. The power that radiated off the former man was almost intoxicating, but at the same time, revolting.
"Come now, no reason to be that way. I have been nothing but. . . nice to you."
"Nice?!" The young Gryffindor snorted suddenly. "Yeah, try to kill my best friend, have your Deatheaters attack me and my friends, I almost died, by the way. Wow, that was such a walk in the park!" Hermione ranted. *Remember this is Voldemort you're talking to girl! The guy that won't hesitate to kill your arse! * The voice in her head screamed.
"Yes. . .but I didn't know who you were then."
"Oh, I see. Now that you know, you want what? A nice dinner and conversation? Tired of all the killing? Decided to take it easy tonight? No dark revels to occupy your time? That's too bad, y'know." Hermione sneered slightly, and made as if to step past him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Thomas, I so would like to attend Dinner, just not with you."
"Ooh, Lucius was right about you. You are a little spitfire. Hmmm. . . very nice." He murmured, stalking forward. "It's so fresh from what I'm used to receiving. You cannot possibly understand how tiring it is to have all these people groveling under you. But you, you would never grovel, would you. . .girl?"
"You're right about that, Tom. I wouldn't grovel for you, or anybody. This girl bows to no one.! I am a person in my own right. You are no better than me or anyone else in this world. You just think you are." She spat, her fist tightening about the wand in the pocket of her robes.
"Then it will be my personal. . . goal. . . to make you grovel. . . beg. . . for anything I ask." Voldemort whispered harshly, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The girl positively reeked of unbound power, raw and fresh, under no one's control, especially hers. He reached out a hand, running it down her face, the ultimate parody of a lovers touch, and she flinched away, her eyes widening suddenly. It was as if she just realized that this. . . all of this. . . was real, and not some game of her imagination.
"I beg for no man." Hermione whispered, cold fire burning in her veins, her wrath rising to the bait he held out for her. A silhouette detached itself from the shadows, striding forward. "William!" She gasped.
"Yes, Hermione?" His face was twisted in a malicious grin. "M'Lord, do you wish for me to bind her?"
Her eyes darted back and forth between the boy and Voldemort, a feeling of despair rising in her. *And you wanted to impress him! * The voice in her head grated slightly. "Damn it! Shut up!"
"Think that's funny?" William hissed, thinking her comment directed at him. "If I was given time, I could have had you do anything I wanted. You were almost willing to forsake your. . . boyfriend for me." He sneered, his eyes darkened with a thousand possibilities.
"How. . .why?" She asked, trying to mask the surprise and hurt in her eyes. Any naïve notions she had once entertained were gone in a sickening swirl of guilt and pain. She had actually trusted someone she had just met. Defended him from her REAL friends. Helped him with his homework.
"It was easy, I just enrolled, and the Sorting was simple. I knew you were in Gryffindor, so I asked the Hat to place me there. I would have preferred Slytherin but you're not that type of girl. You're too Goody-Two-Shoes to actually have a decent harmful thought."
Hermione felt her rage return a hundredfold. He had used her. He had actually presumed so much as to use her as the means to an end. She felt a strange disconnected feeling, she was a Goddess Incarnate, no one USED her. No one should even dare. The consequences of such an action would indeed be dire. The icy heat pooled about her, spreading it's tendrils about the stone floor in white hot ice. SHE would not be manipulated, by no one. Especially a pretty boy who used her as a ladder to vault to the top of the Deatheater chain. No one had that RIGHT!
She saw Voldemort's eyes widen almost imperceptibly. He could feel her power encasing him as surely as it was his own. He was almost drunk with the giddiness of it. Such a powerful creature. . . Potter surely didn't know what he had here, right beneath his nose.
"You could be great." He whispered, his voice a bare hiss of pleasure.
*Beware the Serpent's forked tongue. * Hermione barely recalled the Prophecy, and a lazy smile etched its way across her face. "I don't need you to make me great. I already am." Her eyes shifted from deep cinnamon to bloody crimson, a long lock of white adorning her hair. The castle shuddered beneath her feet, as she stalked forward, grasping the front of William's robe. He would pay.
"William." She cooed, pulling the shocked boy to her. "You've been. . . naughty." She pulled him roughly to meet her lips, her power blazing about them both. He struggled against her, but she held him steadfast, refusing to let him budge. A keening wind sprang up in the Common Room, picking up books and parchment, swirling them about in a maelstrom of emotion. Particularly anger and betrayal. He would not get away with it. HE made her doubt her love for George. HE made her doubt herself, and that wasn't allowed. AT ALL.
His dark eyes dimmed as his frenzied movements became less and less until he hung limply in her grip, his eyes open and staring, his jaw slack. With an almost inhuman strength, she tossed the boy aside negligently, turning her attention on the almost intoxicated Dark Lord. Growling softly, she advanced.
***
"Where do you reckon Hermione is?" Ginny whispered to Harry as she sat next to him, her blue eyes filled with worry.
"I want to know where William is!" George exclaimed, hearing the question.
A shudder ripped through the castle's stone foundation. Harry's eyes widened, and he went suddenly pale, the insistent throbbing in his scar pulsed harshly. "Oh Gods!" He whispered, springing up, "Hermione!" And ran from the Dining Hall.
***
Draco and Pansy were almost to the Common Room when a shudder nearly threw them off their feet. Exchanging a worried glance, they hurried onto the Common Room.
***
"Crucio!" Voldemort hissed, aiming his wand for the lithe little brunette.
"Heh, you honestly think that your power is a match for mine?" Hermione sneered, advancing.
"Crucio!" He hissed again, and watched as the spell bounced harmlessly off the corona of pure white power. He smirked, drawing on the darkness that lay in his body, in lieu of a soul. It blanketed him quite like her power. A guttural growl issued from her, as she launched herself bodily at the Dark Lord. He anticipated this, and waved a hand, almost negligently, and sent her sailing back against the far wall with an ominous crunch.
***
Harry nearly ran into Draco and Pansy in his haste to get into the Common Room, the pain in his scar would've have brought him to his knees if the adrenaline pumping through his veins wasn't present.
"Malfoy, Pansy, Move it. NOW!" He bellowed, heading towards a confused and frightened portrait of the Fat Lady. "Vinium Veritas!" He exclaimed, and was thrown against the wall as Dark and Light tore through the painting. Fortunately, the Fat Lady fled before she was shredded.
"OH GODS!" Draco pushed Pansy behind him, bringing his wand to bear.
***
Voldemort advanced on his quarry, his eyes alight with a hunger for something long denied him. She looked so frail there, blood seeping down her neck. Her hair had come undone from the binding, falling about her in a mass of waves.
"I don't wish to hurt you." He whispered, kneeling next to her, running a hand down her cheek again. "I never wished to hurt you." His hissing voice was almost gentle. Hermione's eyes fluttered open. She just looked at him with pain and anger laced in her cinnamon-crimson eyes.
***
Melody struggled in Pansy's grasp, her eyes wide and unseeing. She slipped from the other girl and ran forward, into the room. Draco cursed, trying to grab her but was unsuccessful. "MELODY!!"
***
The two year old sauntered into the room, her cobalt eyes locked onto the two there in the corner. She allowed the presence that begged entranced to peruse her body and speak.
***
Voldemort looked over his shoulder, his eyes wide. A tiny child was glaring daggers at him.
"Thomas. Who said you could touch what I have specifically marked as mine?" The voice that came out of her mouth was anything but childish. It was harsh, and demanded answers. The large cobalt eyes locked on his, and flashed crimson for a second.
Four other forms appeared in the room, though he had no idea how they got there so fast.
Melody held up her hand, preventing the four from entering fully. "No, children, I wish to speak with him first. Now is not the time nor place for the battle that will most assuredly ensue." She turned her attention back to the serpent-man before her, her tiny nostrils flaring in a righteous anger that was most assuredly not hers. "Now, Thomas. I am not known for my patience."
"She is MINE!" He hissed, clutching at the girl possessively.
"I do NOT think so." A flare of white shot from Hermione and Voldemort sailed across the room. "She is MINE. She has accepted my mark, she, therefore, belongs to me. Have you not read the Odyssey, child? Do you not know that NO ONE crosses the Gods? The blind Poet was very wise, for a mortal." The tiny girl gestured flippantly. "I could let her deal with you now. You should know that she cannot sustain any lasting damage from you. She heals herself automatically." The girl walked over to Hermione, placing a chubby little hand on her shoulder. "I protect what is mine. I know there is the deal with the Prophecy, and that she must serve her purpose, but she belongs to NO ONE else. Your boy learned the hard way." She pointed to the lifeless body on the couch Hermione had sat upon earlier. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to."
"Who are you?" Voldemort hissed, his eyes narrowing.
"I sit upon a throne at Olympus, Thomas. Hermione wears my Mark, and her lineage springs directly from my loins. I'm sure you know who I am." The girl smirked, her cherub face twisted in a completely foreign expression.
"Athena?" He gasped.
"The one and only, Thomas. I don't take kindly to those who wish to handle my Daughters. Her purpose concerning you will be served soon enough, the Fates have seen to that. Now, I suggest you get while the getting's good." The girl blinked, and Voldemort winked out.
Hermione stirred, glancing at Melody with trepidation. "I was so stupid." She whispered. "I should have never thought to trust him."
"You weren't stupid, love." Melody leaned against her. "You were trusting, and open. Something I admire about you mortals. Now, I must go. I have business elsewhere. I will return soon." Melody smiled benevolently, and then suddenly sagged fully against Hermione, her eyes closing as sleep claimed her.
The Quads rushed forward, enveloping Hermione in a group hug. They had been pacing outside the barrier the Goddess had set up like caged animals.
"I'm so glad you're alright!" Elizabeth sobbed, her eyes flashing with a dangerous gleam.
"I'm fine. . . I'm fine. I'm just a little tired." Hermione rubbed the back of her head, wincing lightly as she touched a welt. The cut may have healed, but she'd have one hell of a headache. Her eyes fell on the body of William, thrown carelessly across the furniture, his dark eyes lifeless and flat. "I-I-I've killed someone." She breathed, touching her lips tentatively, and then promptly fainted.
*_____________________________________________________________________ *
A/N: It seems our Hermione has quite the temper. Sorry William didn't last longer but he decided that he just didn't want to break Hermione from her boyfriend. I like this chapter, it's nice and long. A full ten pages on Word. Ah, well. . . I think that I may only do five more chapters, an even thirty. So, I want some suggestions on what my next fic should be about. It's going to be a Hermione/someone. I just don't know who yet. So, if you all have any ideas, don't hesitate to tell me. Just not Ron or Harry. Anyone but them, and femme slash, I don't do that. I do slash, just not femme. I was thinking Charlie or Bill, no one ever does any of those! It's not fair! Anyway, don't forget to RR.
Love,
~Me~
