DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, JKR does. And I definitely don't own Genesis 3, verse 14 and 15. . .though I'm not sure who does. . .perhaps God. . . . . .hmmmmm.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Pain. . .Caralynn sucked in a breath as she tried to lift her head off the mattress. The iron tang of blood filled her flared nostrils, muscles protesting the slight movement. A fuzzy shape swam before her vision, but she ignored it, trying to call on the life-giving magic that kept her sane.

"I see someone's awake." The blood in her veins froze, and hot tears of shame burned beneath her now closed eyelids. "Good thing too, I was beginning to believe I had broken my new toy." His voice took on a childish edge, and she heard the slight footsteps that signified his entrance into the room. "It's no use, y'know. Calling on your Magi training that is."

Caralynn hissed in frustration. "Lucius, do something useful like taking a long walk off a short pier, hun." Ropes bit into her wrists as she twisted, trying, though futile, to free herself.

"Aw. . .feeling better?" She could imagine the cold gray eyes filled with mock-regret. "Don't worry; it will only hurt a moment." She felt a tingling sensation on her skin, flinching away from the cool hands that traveled up her legs. "Honestly, one would think you'd been tortured or something."

A short bark of manic laughter escaped, "That's exactly what happened." She wondered if things could possibly get worse. Her head slumped back against the mattress, her mouth twisting into a melancholy smile. "Why?" Her plaintive question hung in the tension that surrounded the two.

*~*~*~*

Rohan stirred, the gray light of dawn lighting the room. Something tickled at the back of his mind, something strange. He blinked, wondering what the problem was, as exhaustion fell upon him again. The air smelled of raw magic, and his bed was cold. Caralynn. . .

Starting from his position, he glanced about the room. Empty. His eyes traveled to the window, open, curtains blowing in the slight breeze. Magic emanated from everything. . .enchantment, and a dark one at that.

He closed his eyes, pressing the heel of his hand to his temple as pain throbbed suddenly through. A flash of blonde hair flickered behind his eyelids, the memory of a gray eyed specter that often haunted the nightmares of his beloved. A feral growl ripped itself from the Halfling's throat. Only one practicing Void Magick could possibly set so strong a sleeping charm on his abode.

He gasped, lifting his head. He had taken her!

A roar startled him from his musings. Confused, he glanced out the window, spying a rather large crimson dragon sitting on his lawn, looking antsy. A Guardian?

Without hesitating, he turned, running at full speed onto the lawns.

*~*~*~*

"Here we are." The simple statement caused Hermione to stiffen. She tried to jerk herself free of the man's grasp, tried calling on her magic, but there was some sort of damper about the place that prevented her.

"Exactly where is here?!" Her voice took on the edge of panic once she realized that it was impossible to call on her protection.

"Right where we need to be, and that is all you need know." His answer was curt, but she could hear the slight tremble of nervousness in his voice. He pulled her roughly, jerking her hair and urging her forward with a malicious chuckle that was supposed to cover his trepidation. "Now, we can't have you being late to your appointment, can we?"

Hermione shuddered involuntarily.

*~*~*~*

"Where are we?" Harry's whisper echoed in the clearing, causing the others to jump.

Draco sighed. "We're in the snake's lair." The simple answer sent a shiver down the bespectacled boy's spine. Voldemort. . .near.

"Okay, what are we going to do? There must be hundreds of Deatheaters in there." Ron strode forward, his face pale in the half-light, though the lilt in his step was unmistakable. He was in his element, a strategist at work. "If it were up to me, Draco. . .is there a back entrance? Something that isn't guarded so well?"

The platinum haired boy thought for a moment. "Well, I think there is a cave entrance to the dungeons, which of course will lead us inside."

"How do you know this place so well?" Charlie eyed him suspiciously.

"Well. . ." Draco shuffled his feet, but Pansy stepped up, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"This is a property owned by my father." Pansy's voice wavered, but she squared her shoulders. "I can lead you about it blindfolded, if need be." She gripped her wand in a white-knuckled fist. "Whatever is needed, I can do."

Harry nodded.

"Protection." Elizabeth stepped forward. "I can offer protection until we get in there." The green about her body intensified until she had become a blinding beacon.

"NO!" Charlie tried to pull her back to him.

"Charlie." Her voice seemed sad as she turned to him, her large hazel eyes brimming with tears. "If I can give you all the chance to make it alive, I will." The ground about them bucked in response.

"But-" Danielle trailed off, staring at her sister with an appraising look. "We can all offer protection."

"Not like I can." The finality in her voice caused a rather strange shiver to go through the companions. "I can assure a fuller protection."

"No. . ."

"Trust me." She reached out her hand to Charlie. "Give me the benefit of the doubt."

"I can't lose you. . ."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "Who said you would?"

"I. . .er. ."

"Right." She leaned forward, her magic enveloping them both. "I would never dream of leaving you, Mister Weasley." Her voice was soft, but there was a hard edge that denoted her devotion to him. "You are my everything, and I would do my best to protect you. . ." Her voice dropped. "Even if it meant my life."

With a suddenness that startled Charlie, she pulled back, the warmth of her magic snapping from him, leaving him shivering in the cool December air.

"Let's do this." She smiled sardonically, clapping her hands. Her magic flared to a new height, her eyes closing as she reveled in the power that surrounded her. Bright green flames licked at her body, spreading to form a see through wall about the rest of them, a sheild of love.

*~*~*~*

"Miss Granger." Hermione stared morosely into the fire, ignoring the hissing voice that begged her attention. "What a pleasant surprise."

"Oh, sure." She replied flippantly, her hands tightening at her sides. "Why go through the trouble to set this up?" She kept her voice cold, almost calm.

"To set what up?"

"And the Lord God said unto the serpent, 'Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat, all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

"Quoting the bible, Miss Granger. I never thought you much of a Christian."

"Ah, what can I say, I aim to please." She turned, her cinnamon eyes blazing. "I do try."

He stepped out of the shadows, his crimson eyes shining in the firelight. "You would do well to remember your place, Mudblood."

Hermione pulled on a courage borne of the very desperate. "You know, Thomas." She relished watching him flinch. "We have much in common, you and I. Both our blood is tainted, and we are far more powerful than we ever thought in the beginning." She smiled slightly, plunging in. "But there is a vital distinction. I know my weaknesses and my strengths, and I embrace them as part of myself. You, on the other hand, seem to overcompensate for the imaginary faults." She shook her head, her brunette hair flying about. "That's very sad."

"Astute observation, Granger." He spat her surname as if were acid. "But you forgot something. I am more powerful than anyone!"

She sighed. "See, overcompensating something again. . .is there something you are trying to make up for?" She allowed her eyes to rake him with a pointed stare.

"Crucio!"

Hermione dodged the curse bodily, thanking her lucky stars for the inane ballet lessons her mother had made her take in Elementary School. "Don't you know you treat your guests with more consideration than that?" She scolded the errant Heir-Apparent Slytherin. "Tis rude that is!" She whirled about, glaring.

"Imperio!" The curse caught her in the chest, causing her to stagger backward before enveloping her in a beautiful aura of prettiness.

*~*~*~*

Elizabeth clenched her hands at her side, trying to keep them from shaking too bad, the strain of using her Magic on such a big scale causing her to lose strength slowly but surely.

Pansy walked in front of her, weaving about in the darkness like one familiar with the twisting caverns. Draco followed with much the same confidence, as did his two former lackeys and best friends.

She heard a muffled curse, sighing. If Sirius didn't quit blundering into things, he would be hurt.

The smell of dark Magick was making her ill, and she realized that they were approaching their destination, the dampening field about the house causing her own magic to flicker accordingly.

*~*~*~*

'Kill Potter.' The command reverberated through Hermione's skull as she floated on a wave of peacefulness. The order didn't seem that ridiculous, not as long as it fell from those honey-coated lips, so full of the sweet dominion of grace.

She ignored the niggling feeling of Something Wrong that kept playing about the back of her mind. Nothing else mattered except for the peace and the Order. She had to kill Potter. It was needed, or the peace would be gone.

The shuffling of feet met her ears, and she turned her head, ignoring the Rat-faced minion of the honeyed One. Magick approached, and with it, so certainly did her Order.

*~*~*~*

A/N: So, Hermione's under the Imperio. I already have the battle, and it's not even Christmas yet. . .! Ah well, will update soon, I promise. . .so RR!

Love,

~Me~