Chapter 26

Culmination

I hesitantly knocked on Hermione's portrait the next afternoon. I spent the night with Severus and we used his Floo to retrieve my trunk and a few more clothes to make my story true. He slid my ring on my finger before we departed.

Once we returned I put my trunk back in the Slytherin seventh year's dormitory. Mille asked where I've been and I replied "Bunking with the Gryffindors." No one believed me so I said, "Sleeping with Blaise." Tracey said that was impossible because that's where she's been. So I said, "Shagging Professor Snape." No one believed me and let it go since I wasn't going to tell. I just smiled and left.

Now I'm waiting nervously at Hermione's door. I debated on turning and running. But this was the best plan I had. If all goes well I'll be free in a matter of days. If it doesn't, I'll be dead and won't care anyway. It's a win-win situation.

Hermione opened the door and Ron and Harry sat on her bed. I walked in tentatively. Harry was the first to speak, "So, what's the plan?"

We were prepared as much as we could be and I was supposed to get Harry when I was summoned next. All the seventh years were spending more time in the library studying for the upcoming midterms. So therefore no one found it odd that I was in there during Harry, Hermione and Ron's study sessions. If all else failed I would apparate without Harry and we would try again on the next night.

Harry had taken to carrying all the supplies at night so he would be ready for my signal. After I gave the signal he would tell Hermione and Ron and they were supposed to join their power in a single spell. No one else was to know. If we told anyone they would try to stop us.

I was browsing the titles in the magical creatures section when I my brand began to prickle. It was a precursor of Voldemort's impending summons. I gave Harry the signal and went to change out of my uniform and into my crimson gown. I gathered my robes and was ready. I was nervous and scared but tampered those feelings. It would do no good for Voldemort to wonder why I was projecting fear so strongly.

When I got to the Entrance Hall I stood still a moment and waited. It wasn't until I felt him brush against me that I knew Harry was there. It also let me know that the cloaking spell was effective. He couldn't speak or it would shatter the spell. If I couldn't sense him then Voldemort shouldn't be able to. We were betting on it.

So I walked to the gates and waited a second for Harry to get into position before I tandem apparated. We had been over the plan thoroughly and felt confident that Harry knew what he was supposed to do. I only hoped he didn't disregard all our planning and expose himself to take revenge on a Death Eater or two. It would get us both killed.

We arrived in the ballroom at Malfoy Manor. I knelt immediately and felt the brush of cloth as Harry moved off to stand out of the way.

"Rise, pet." I did as he bid and he stared intently into my eyes. I released images of class, nights with Severus and studying. "You have used the release of the curse wisely, pet."

"You were perfectly clear in your orders, My Lord. I only wish to obey, My Lord."

"Good," he said. "You may take your place next to Lucius, my pet. Your next punishment will no be so lenient. Death for any further infraction, pet."

"I understand, My Lord." I walked and stood next to Lucius.

This was only and Inner Circle summons. A full summons was usually revels and sometimes raids. This way, Harry would not have to idly witness death and torment waiting for the right moment. We still wouldn't know if it would work until the other Death Eaters were dismissed. It was a long boring meeting and Lucius kept leering at me from behind the Dark Lord's back. In fact I was receiving quite a few lecherous looks which Severus noticed and I seen his jaw clench in anger.

It was mostly a tedious meeting. Almost every member seemed to vie for Voldemort's approval and were disappointed when my favors weren't a gift any longer. What seemed like an eternity had passed before the Death Eaters were dismissed one by one. The ones remaining were Voldemort, Lucius, I and an undiscovered Harry. I prayed to any Deity that Harry had not fallen asleep.

"Shall I escort you to your chambers, My Lord?" Lucius asked.

"That is not necessary, Lucius. You may go." Lucius bowed and left. It was apparent that Lucius was disappointed that he was not to be included. Voldemort turned dark eyes toward me and swiftly glided to me. It was with supreme effort that I did not back up or flinch

"Have you enjoyed the last few nights with Severus, pet?" He held my chin firmly in his hand.

"Yes, My Lord, I have," I answered honestly.

"You will do well to remember that you belong to me, pet, and no other."

"I will not forget, My Lord."

"But you have before. What assurance is there that you won't stray once more?"

"I only wish to please you, My Lord. I do not want to feel your wrath or the lash ever again. I will endeavor to be the example of what a Death Eater should be, My Lord."

His thumb stroked my jaw and then he released my chin. He placed his hand on my back and led me through the ballroom and up the stairs. I opened the door fully for him to enter and stood aside for him to proceed. I felt the brush of Harry and sighed in relief. I entered the room and closed the door.

Voldemort stood by the bed waiting. I unbuttoned my gown as I approached him seductively. His gaze was appreciative as I stepped out of the fabric puddle on the floor. I ran my hands over his broad shoulders and removed his outer robe down his arms. I placed it over the wing back as usual. I unbuttoned his silver shirt carefully as he watched my movements carefully. After removing it from his arms I folded it and lay it on the seat of the chair. I returned to him and knelt on the floor unlacing each shoe and removed them when he lifted each foot in turn. He repeated the action for me to take each black sock off. I got up and placed his shoes side by side beneath the chair with his socks folded on top of them. I returned to him and knelt once more and unbuckled his belt and pants. I felt his erection pressing against his pants. I guided his pants down his hips and down his muscled legs. I stood and folded his pants and placed them next to his shirt as to not wrinkle either.

"What do you desire, My Lord?" He reached for my hand and pulled me to the bed with him. He lay in the center propped up with pillows.

"Suck me, pet. But be mindful of your teeth."

"As you wish, My Lord." I knelt between his spread thighs and carefully placed him in my mouth. He was too large to work in earnest but I could maneuver enough to give him pleasure. Practice makes perfect. I wrapped my hand around the base of his shaft and increased my suction to the almost point of pain.

He threaded his fingers through my hair and pulled me off stating, "Enough."

I straddled him pressing his erection between us and ground my hips giving me zings of friction. I did not want to give him any reason or opportunity to flip us so I readjusted and impaled myself on his ridged prick. I sat up and used my thighs to rise up and release back down. I kept my pace unwavering. He fondled my bouncing breasts while he reclined, enjoying the sensations I wrought. He was probably happy that I was doing all the work. With our movement the pillows shifted and he was now lying flat against the mattress.

I grasped his right hand and kissed it. I placed light kisses and swirled my tongue from his wrist to his inner elbow. I slowed down and whispered against the so soft flesh, "May I, My Lord?"

He panted back with heavy lidded eyes, "You may." I knew he was close to climax by his breathy response. I tasted the flesh once again and resumed my thigh straining task. With his prick sliding easily in and out of me, our hips smacked together rhythmically. I pierced his flesh drawing and swallowing the metallic life flow. Through his blood I felt the rise of his orgasm. He finally deigned to thrust his hips upward. I contracted my internal muscles simulating my orgasm so he would not look further into the reason for my inability to climax.

I lifted my right arm and thread my fingers through my hair pulling it as Voldemort reached his peak. I felt a small flicker of movement to my right and closed my eyes as Harry invisibly brought the blade down fast and true.

I opened my eyes and witnessed what lay before me. I released my mouth from his arm. I lifted him by his shoulders to glutton myself on the blood spurting from his headless body in tandem with his ejaculate while his heart still beat.

It took a moment for me to release him with a soft thunk back to the bed beside his head. Harry handed me the burlap sack spelled with Harry, Hermione, Ron and my magic binding. So that Voldemort's essence could not escape the sack. It also prevented blood from seeping through and leaving evidence or harming anyone.

When I noticed Harry, he was now completely visible and stood in complete shock with Godric Gryffindor's sword in his hand. I lifted Tom Riddle's head by the scalp and put it in the sack shutting it quickly. Riddle's essence was not at full awareness at the time of his decapitation so that had given us the small window of time to bind him in the bag.

We were not sure what to do with it to prevent his escape if even he could. Vanquishing his essence would alert the Death Eaters who bore his Mark. Doing so was to be Dumbledore's job, eventually. But for now the figurehead of the Dark movement was in the bag. Pun intended.

I got up off of his still erect cock and fumbled to the floor with the realization that I was momentarily fucking a headless corpse. I held my hand over my mouth and swallowed a few times to prevent myself from vomiting the most powerful blood I would ever consume.

"I can't fucking believe it," Harry whispered.

I knelt and shakily stood. "Well it's not over yet, Harry. We still have some work to do. Are you okay?"

"I think I should ask you that."

"Yeah, Harry. I'm okay. Or I will be soon. I need to clean up before I can dress." I knew I was covered in blood from my face downward from the overflow of blood.

"What do I do?" Harry asked. His voice although hushed had a squeaky edge to it.

"Levitate the body into the fireplace and burn it as rapidly as possible. Since he was put together by mostly magic it should incinerate quickly. After that summon any remaining ashes into the canister. Can you handle it? Do you need me to help?" He was pale with shock and I wasn't sure how he would deal with this.

"No. It's fine. I'm just…I can't believe…"

"I'll only be a minute in the bathroom, Harry. I'll help. Just burn the body first, okay?"

"Sure." Hopefully the shock and trauma will wear off soon.

I went to remove any and all fluids left behind on my skin. It only took a moment and I returned to the room as the fire blazed brightly. It emitted green and yellow sparks and pops as I redressed. Harry did as we had discussed his movements methodical and his eyes glazed. I approached him tentatively and embraced him. He stood wooden for a moment before his arms came up and returned the embrace. When I pulled away some time later the glazed look in his eyes had faded some.

I walked over to the bed and used a few powerful cleaning charms to remove all traces of blood. I left the bed unmade when I was done. I threw his clothing, minus the silver shirt, into the remaining fire. I rolled the shirt and stuffed it into my robe without Harry noticing.

Harry held the unbreakable glass jar filled with ashes and the burlap bag in either hand. He slipped the jar into an inner pocket of his Hogwarts robes. We placed the invisibility cloak over him. The cloaking spell he used earlier couldn't be recast without at least one more wizard to add to the magic.

"Now why can't we disapparate from here?"

"When the Death Eaters are summoned Voldemort's magic overrides Lucius' anti apparition wards. Sometimes we could disapparate with Lucius present to lower those wards. Now we have to go out and down to the foyer in order to leave."

"Okay. What if we run into Malfoy Senior?"

"Stay behind me, keep quiet and let me handle him."

"Got it." For everyone insisting how headstrong Harry was he took my instruction rather well. Then again he is still in a state of shock.

I opened the door and left it open so Harry could follow. We walked down one carpeted hallway before I glimpsed Lucius obviously waiting for me.

"Have fun tonight, Mercy?"

"Always, Lucius."

"I understand your restriction has been released."

"Yes it has. Are your propositioning me Lucius?" I asked as I added a seductive sway to my hips and approached him. His cold gray eyes gleamed with interest. I stood toe to toe with him and looked up into his eyes and smiled. He seemed to take that as an invitation and leaned down to kiss me. I returned the passionate kiss and lengthened my nails and forcefully slit his throat not to deep since I needed him to stay alive a bit longer. I had no intention of drinking his blood since I had other plans. His eyes widened as he fell to his knees. I heard Harry gasp behind me. He had not realized what I had done until blood began to pool at my feet.

"I always get my revenge, Lucius." I pulled the sleeve of his dressing robe up exposing his Dark Mark. I used my thumb nail and sliced down from elbow to wrist and performed the same on my right I pressed our bloody forearms together and held on tight.

I incanted, "Ego consumere vester tenebrae apud amor. Vester copula in hic insigne nunc separare apud amor."

Lucius still holding my arm a soft sigh escaped his lips as he looked up to me in wonder. I stared into his eyes as they became dull and unseeing. I released him and cleaned the blood from his arm. It was already healed leaving a faint white scar and no other mark to blemish his alabaster skin.

"What did you do that for?" Harry hissed.

"For Narcissa and for Draco. They should not suffer for the crimes he committed. Shit! Harry stay covered I'll be right back."

"What? What will we do with Malfoy?"

"Just a minute, Harry." I called back over my shoulder. I had to extend my Empathy to find Narcissa. Sense of smell wouldn't help right now because all I could smell was blood and death. I found the door only a few doors down from where I left Harry and Lucius. I opened it without knocking and approached the sleeping blonde woman on the bed. I gently shook her shoulder, "Narcissa," I whispered. I didn't want to scare her but I had to wake her. "Narcissa," I said a little firmer.

She bolted awake and sat up. She looked around before her gaze focused on me. "Mercedes?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"What? Why are you here?"

"You need to get up and pack. Go somewhere for a few days. Tell the house elves that you and Lucius are going on a small holiday. Pack for him too."

"Where is he? Where is Lucius?"

"He's dead, Narcissa. I'm sorry. Well no I'm not, but you are safe. You have to keep a low profile for a few days. The war is almost over."

"What about Draco? Is he safe?"

"Draco is fine. You both are going to be better than fine. Can you do this? Can you go away and stay safe?"

The answer I got was a fierce hug and her getting out of bed pulling clothing out of drawers. "What do I tell the Aurors later?"

"Tell them that Lucius told you to flee for your life. Tell them that Lucius was forced to cooperate with Voldemort."

"But the Mark?"

"It's gone. Don't ask. The reason it worked was because of my affection for you and Draco. I have to go. Be safe. I'll send an owl in a few days. That way you can either come back then or stay on holiday for awhile. You deserve it."

She embraced me and pulled away smiling through her tears. "Thank you, Mercedes."

I was uncomfortable with the appreciation so I just nodded and left her to plan her trip. It wasn't my business how she would react when I left. Her future was at stake as well as her son's. I was positive that I could count on her to be discreet.

When I returned to Harry he asked, "What did you do?"

"I had to tell her to flee. Did you think I was going to kill her?"

"No." I wasn't entirely sure I believed him.

"If you had then you didn't try to stop me."

"No, I was just curious. What are we going to do with the body?"

"Take it with us. We can't leave it here to be discovered by anyone."

I levitated his body and we made our way to the foyer. I had to release Lucius from the spell letting him drop to the floor. I picked him up with his arm held secure around my shoulders and Harry held on to my other arm for us to disapparate.

When we appeared at the gates and I dropped Lucius again. I wandless spelled him to levitate once more so I did not have to carry him. Harry covered the body with his cloak without having to be asked. We made our way up the gravel path slowly. We both needed some time to absorb all that had occurred tonight.

"It feels like nothing is different," Harry said quietly.

"No, not really. Why? Were you expecting something more?" I said without looking at him.

"Yeah, a lot more. For the last seven years I have been told that a big battle was to come. I had mentally prepared to witness my friends' death. I had dreaded it and wished for it to be over with at the same time."

"It may take time for you to readjust. But it was better this way, don't you think?"

"Yes it was. It's over, well almost, but it is over. He won't be trying to kill me every year. I don't have to worry about getting close to someone and worry for them to be taken away from me. But it is going to be a long time for me to actually believe that he is gone and I'm still alive. I thought I was going to die in the war. I believed it was inevitable."

"Feels anticlimactic."

"Yeah, that's the right word."

"I'm glad you trusted me enough to try, Harry. I really am."

"Your life was at stake too. But I'm glad that I did too," he looked at me and smiled a small smile. It was evidence that he would handle what he witnessed tonight and move on.

As soon as we stepped over the threshold of the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts Castle every teacher on staff and the Head Boy and Girl stood with their wands aimed at us. Most of them looked like they had rolled out of bed and not had time to dress just putting a robe over their pajamas. Even Dumbledore stood in his robe with his white hair mussed. Severus was wearing only his white shirt, black pants and boots.

I looked at each of them in turn as if nothing was amiss and walking into Hogwarts at neigh three in the morning with Harry Potter beside me was completely normal. "Where's the fire?"

Latin Dictionary translation

Ego consumere vester tenebrae apud amor. Vester copula in hic insigne nunc separare apud amor. –

I consume your darkness with love. Your bonds to this mark now severed with love.

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