Hello, my lovelies, my Muse fest piece is finished, which is impressive since I practically broke my finger. And as birthday present (because it is mine) I give you the next chapter. Possible trigger warning for an rather tense moment at the end of the chapter. (No violence, just creepy old men overstepping their bounds.) Enjoy.
Chapter 38
A few days later Hermione decided to take advantage of the sunshine and quiet at Black Cottage and read by the pool. She selected the other book she borrowed from Grimmauld Place. The ritual descriptions left Hermione feeling like someone dumped a bucket of ice water over her. It left her frozen and, at the same time, slimy. She could bathe for a hundred years and never feel clean or warm again. The authors glorified murder and dismemberment. The biography of Herpo the Foul disgusted her the most. He discovered how to breed basilisks, and as a parselmouth, was able to control his creation. They also credited him as the first creator of a horcrux. Her skin crawled as she read the requirements for a soul tether, and she shuddered in revulsion. Ultimately, someone must have destroyed it, since Herpo the Foul no longer walked among the living. "Immortality, my arse." she snorted in derision. She settled back in her chair before her brain finished connecting the dots. "The road to immortality! Holy fuck!"
In her haste to question Harry, she knocked the deck chair into the pool. She raced through the house to Sirius's office. He and Remus sat at his desk going over new investment ideas. Both looked up, startled to see Hermione standing in the doorway, dressed in a small green bikini, chest heaving with deep breaths. "Where's Harry?" she panted.
"Why? What happened? Is he in danger?" Sirius leapt to his feet.
"No, no, he's fine as far as I know. But where is he?"
"Longbottom Manor, he went to see Neville." Remus supplied.
"I need him, now." She spun to head for the fireplace.
"Hermione, stop." Remus told her firmly. "What is going on?"
"I think I know how Riddle survived."
"How?" Sirius demanded.
"I need to double check something with Harry first, then I'll know for sure."
Sirius grabbed her hand, "What are we waiting for? Let's go."
"Padfoot! Stop!" Remus cautioned. "If we want to keep things quiet about Riddle, we can't go bursting in unannounced like wild animals. Especially with Hermione dressed like that. No need to give Augusta heart failure." He placed a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "I share your enthusiasm, but let's be smart about this. Send Harry a message to come home, sooner rather than later. Discretion, my friend."
Sirius deflated before nodding. "You're right, I know you're right." He flooed Augusta Longbottom, asking her to send Harry along.
Ten minutes later, Harry sprang from the fireplace, looking about wildly. "Is everyone okay?"
"Everyone is fine, Prongslet. Pup is out with mystery girl, but kitten has an important question."
Hermione stepped in front of her best friend. "I need you to think really hard about this question. Could the name you heard in the dream vision have been Herpo?"
Harry closed his eyes, his face scrunched a bit as he concentrated. "Um, actually, yes." He opened his eyes, grinning broadly. "It was Herpo."
Remus's eyebrow raised, "Herpo the Foul, the creator of the basilisk?"
"And the first person, they say, to successfully create a horcrux." Hermione supplied.
"And Riddle bragged he'd gone farther down the path to immortality than Herpo did. Meaning... " Harry trailed off.
"Meaning he made more than one." Hermione finished.
"What is a horcrux?" Sirius asked.
"A soul tether, the creator splits his soul with murder and puts the broken piece in an item. Unless the item is destroyed, which is hard to do, the person cannot die. The horcrux can be used to bring the person back to life." Hermione's eye widened, and she covered her mouth with her hand in horror. "That's what he's looking for, the ritual to use the horcrux to resurrect him."
"Was it not in the book you read?" asked Sirius.
She shook her head, "No, it is in Herpo's original work. Magick Moste Fowle mentions it. I get the feeling the authors admired Herpo immensely, but thought this was a bad idea."
"How so?" Remus asked.
"The book explains how to make them: the murder, the ritual, the potions, all that. It also explains how to destroy them. But nothing about utilizing them to rise from the dead. "
"Like, there's how terrible it is if you create one. And of anyone you know does this, here's how to get rid of it. But, in case you're dumb enough to do this, nothing on how to use it." Harry concluded.
"Pretty much." Hermione agreed.
"Do we know where to find that ritual?" Sirius asked.
"No, but I think that's what the Death Eaters wanted at Nott Court the other night, to look through the library."
"Possible, very possible. What is it called, do we know?"
"The translation from Ancient Greek is Great Deeds of the Dark. Another book I read mentioned it."
"I'll have the Black elves scour the libraries at all the estates. Hermione, Harry, have the Malfoy and Potter elves do the same. Ask Theo if he would have the Nott elves look as well. Moony, contact Gringott's and have the goblins search any vault with enough of a connection to our combined authority to search. We may not even find a copy."
Ultimately, the goblins located a copy in one of the smaller vaults of a cadet branch of the Potter family. The previous owner, Calpurnia Wigginsymthe, died childless after pureblood zealots murdered her muggle lover in 1815. Vault ownership reverted to the Potter family at that time. Once the Potter elves located the correct vault key, Harry removed the book for safekeeping. Not that he told the goblins that, he didn't want to insult them, just keep the Death Eaters from slaughtering them.
Sirius bought a remote, deserted lighthouse on the island of Sula Sgeir, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, called Taigh Beannaichte. No one lived on the rocky island except the odd wildlife since the construction of the solar powered lighthouse. Remus made the lighthouse unplottable and placed it under the Fidelius charm. He made himself the secret keeper and told no one the location.
Preparations began for Harry's birthday as July drew to a close. Hermione felt unsure if she should be relieved or annoyed Thoros had yet to be interested enough to make the time to meet her formally. Theo sheepishly admitted his father bluntly congratulated him on their relationship and to do whatever he needed to the its cultivation. She voiced her concerns to Narcissa one evening after dinner.
"I understand your irritation, darling. Perhaps I can explain his mindset to you. Your grandparents went to school with Thoros. Their generation expected arranged marriages; no questions, certainly no complaints."
"You and Dad were an arranged marriage."
"Yes, but the custom is slowly morphing. While Abarxas maintained final say, he asked Lucius's opinions on various young women and what he wanted from marriage. Our response to inquires about both you and Draco have lead to a few other families considering letting their children choose their own spouses. But I digress.
"Thoros's first wife died childless, and he waited many years to remarry. He selected a young woman from Greece, Calla Galanis. She was a fragile flower, very sweet and gentle, but oh, so fragile. She had stunning blue eyes and coal black hair, very beautiful. Though, Thoros chose her because her family business would help grow his. She was a commodity to him, one he needed to acquire an heir, and he treated her as such.
"She hated British winters, especially in Newcastle. She begged to be allowed to travel over the winter months. He told her they would discuss it after she fulfilled her wifely responsibilities. She spent most winters miserably sick, and the rest of the year desperate to conceive." Narcissa paused to sip her tea.
"She had a hard pregnancy. Happily, Thoros's generation believed pregnant women should retire to their boudoirs and remain there, so he never complained about her need to be on bed rest. After Theo was born, Calla assumed she would be able to winter in Greece with her family. And Thoros did, indeed, grant her permission."
"I hear a but coming." Hermione said darkly.
Narcissa gave her a sad smile, "Clever girl, but she could not take Theo with her."
"And he was too little to be without her."
"Nor could she bear to leave him. Your kidnapping shook many to their very cores."
"So she stayed."
"So she stayed. And faded a bit more every year. Thoros's complete indifference to her death prompted me to demand Draco and any other children we had be allowed to choose their own spouse, to have a chance to find love, or at least someone who might be sad they were dead."
"What if he wanted to marry a muggle?"
"Does she love him? Will she be a caring wife? Does she want him for more than his money?"
"Yes, yes, no."
"Then I don't care." Narcissa replied fiercely. "There is more to life than blood and riches." She sighed, "My greater point is that Thoros has spent his life ignoring his family, sometimes to their detriment. I don't see that changing any time soon. So, perhaps, being ignored is for the best. I would hate for him to treat you like a commodity."'
"You may be right."
On Narcissa's advice, Hermione did take special pains to look nice when she did meet Theo at home, a rare occurrence to be sure. Just in case Thoros had been in the mood to entertain. Recurrent visits from the escaped Death Eaters caused Theo to avoid being home, himself, as much as possible. Hermione wanted to look through the library for her own research on horcruxes causing Theo agreed to meet her there on occasion.
Since Thoros could be home, Hermione used the public floo. Marco immediately greeted her. "Missy Hermy, Master Theo is not here. He is running late. He suggests Missy could be waiting in the library."
"Capital idea, Marco." She smiled at the elf and made her way to the room. She browsed the shelves in the back of the library. She heard the door open but thought nothing of it. Theo would come find her. She continued to peruse her selected book, missing the sound of multiple sets of footsteps entering the room.
"What have we here?" A deep male voice startled Hermione. The book dropped from her hands. "I thought Nott's brat was a boy?" he called over his shoulder.
"He is." Another male voice answered.
"Then where'd this one come from?" His dark eyes roved over her, lingering over her chest and legs. "Hello, pretty bird."
Hermione watched him, fighting to keep her expression calm, bored even. The stranger continued to leer. His dark brown hair hung past his shoulders, lank and stringy. His robes, while of good quality, were decades out of fashion. Clothes shopping with Narcissa helped her spot that . He stepped into her personal space. She held her ground. Years of dealing with bullies taught her that the slightest shifting of weight gave them the advantage. Tangle twisted through her hair. Her face ending up next to Hermione's ear. The tiny snake tensed, waiting for the need to strike.
"You're a lovely thing, my pretty bird." He brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers.
"Oh well, look at this. Nice find, Rab." She glanced at the new stranger coming around the shelves. He looked like an older version of the first wizard. Obviously, they were the Lestrange brothers.
Hermione narrowed her eyes and summoned her inner Pansy. She grabbed Rabastan's wrist. "I did not give you permission to touch me. And before you even ask, no I do not want some strange wizard touching me in any fashion. I am most certainly not YOUR pretty bird."
The younger wizard glared as the older one roared with laughter. "Such spirit. She's not a bird, she's a spitfire."
"Shut it, old man, you're married."
"And it doesn't matter," Hermione snapped, "I'm not interested." She took a step to move past them, only to have Rabastan move to block her path.
"Well, I am."
"Bully for you. Move."
He laughed, "Or what?"
"I will light you on fire to begin with."
He grinned, still leering and standing entirely too close for comfort. "Will you now?"
"Yes. The ministry is unable to trace underage magic in pureblood homes. And even if they did, you have more to worry about than I do, Rabastan."
"They send a letter for the first offense." the older man told her.
Hermione cocked an eyebrow and gave a joyless laugh. "Who said it would be my first offense, Uncle Rodolphus?"
Rodolphus took a startled step back. "Who are you? What do you mean, uncle? I don't have any nieces."
"Or do you?" she purred. She took advantage of their shock to move past them. "If memory serves your wife's sister had a daughter."
He started towards her angrily, grabbing her arm to haul her around to the face him. "Listen here, you little half blood mutt..."
She laughed in his face, knocking off him balance again. "No, I'm not Nymphadora. Guess again." He stared at her blankly. She yanked her arm out of his grasp. "The other sister."
Hermione kept her pace even and unhurried as she escaped. Just as she reached the door, a witch with wildly curly dark brown hair entered. Before the witch could speak, Hermione greeted her, "Hello, Auntie Bella, imagine seeing you here." She exited the library. Once she knew they couldn't hear anything she fled to Theo's private wing.
She promptly vomited in the toilet, her hands shaking uncontrollably, once she felt safe in Theo's room. Tangle purred in her ear comfortingly. Marco popped into the room with a vial of calming draught. She sipped it. "Thank you, Marco."
Missy bes mosts welcomes. Missy needs be leaving."
"I agree, Marco. Do you know if they have free rein over the house?"
"No, Master Thoros's visitors bes restricted to the first floor."
"Okay. Then I'll use Theo's floo. Tell him I went home."
"Yes, missy."
Legs trembling, Hermione forced herself to walk, not run, to the floo. She burst into the front parlor at Malfoy Manor. She collapsed on the couch, covering her eyes with her hand. The adrenaline rush ebbed and drained, leaving her exhausted. She took deep gulping breaths to keep the panic attack at bay. She sipped the calming draught still clenched in her hand. Tangle moved in a caressing manner down her arm, nuzzling her witch with her head. "I'll be okay, really. Just the shock wearing off." Hermione told her familiar. Harry and Draco entered the room at the same time Theo crashed through the floo.