Chapter 7
"Cause heaven ain't close in a place like this
I said heaven ain't close in a place like this
Bring it back down, bring it back down tonight
Never thought I'd let a rumour ruin my moonlight"
- "Somebody Told Me" The Killers
"My Lord, what are your plans for the girl after she completes the task?" Lucius asked from the smaller chair beside, what had been dubbed, the throne.
Earlier there had been a full meeting of all of the Death Eaters present. Voldemort called for order and calmly announced that Severus Snape was dead. Silence met this statement and then the admiring applause filled the whole of Cadre Fortress. Voldemort savoured the applause and then dispatched his loyal servants to complete their own tasks.
Voldemort tilted his head pensively toward Lucius "I feel that this girl could be useful to us" He paused "She is a remarkable person Lucius; I find you'd appreciate her wit"
"Very good, my Lord" Lucius acknowledged with a tilt "Is it true that she can see everything she is doing but has no control over it?"
"Yes that is true" Voldemort's lips quirked into a small smile "She's trapped in her own mind but cannot influence anything her body does. It's highly amusing"
Lucius bowed his leave of Voldemort and retreated to the room of the Inner Sanctum.
Voldemort barely acknowleged him and began to stare, the smile still threatening to break out.
"I think you were right, Antonin" Lucius sat down into one of the comfortable chairs. "He appears to have developed something that looks like affection for the girl"
"Affection?" Antonin repeated "Can he feel affection, Bella?"
The woman scowled darkly at the man and pushed and irritating strand of her black hair from her face. Antonin smiled cruelly at Bellatrix and blew her a spiteful kiss.
"Antonin, please" Lucius waved his hand impatiently "We are adults here"
"Except for the little girl who has captured our Lord's heart" Antonin put a hand to his heart dramatically and pretended to swoon. "How old is she? Twelve?"
Bellatrix snarled furiously at the man and leapt from her chair. She clamped her hands securely around his neck and began to choke him. Wormtail stared at Lucius in alarm and then began to pry the woman's scarlet nails from the man's throat. Lucius gave a resigned sigh and with a quick spell, all three Death Eaters were separated.
"We cannot get any work done with you bickering all the time" he drawled, casually twirling the mahogany wand around his fingers "We are our Lord's most able and trusted servants, yet the mentality in this room is that of a muggle crèche?" He snorted and fixed an icy glare upon the members of the room. Bellatrix and Antonin gave each other ferocious glares before returning to their chairs. Lucius gave the room a final smile, one of a bemused teacher of the Gates of Hell.
"Severus Snape has been eliminated, Harry Potter faces his death unknowingly and our Lord may or may not be developing feelings for the newest pawn in our game. Your thoughts, children?"
He could hear her struggling against the restraint of her own body and every time he made himself known to her she assaulted him with a volley of curses that would make a Weasley blush.
He visited her regularly, to both check on the progress of his latest plan and to break the spirit of the girl once known as Hogwarts greatest mind. He knew her defences were weakening every day and soon the defiant light in her eye would be replaced with the dull acceptance of her physical counterpart.
The spell cast on the girl worked like a mixture of liquid Imperious and the potion of Dr Jekyll. It split her personality into the real Hermione and the Hermione that was controlled by Lord Voldemort like a marionette doll. The "real" Hermione was locked in a dark room, watching the performance with horror as she was unable to change or effect what the "other" Hermione had been doing. This particular trap was especially rewarding.
Soon, the lives of those she loved the most will be over by her own hand. Voldemort smiled in the cruel irony of the situation.