I don't own anything, J.K Rowling does.
WARNING: Mature themes brought up so if you are less than 18 and / or easily triggered by mature content DO NOT READ THIS STORY. You have been warned.
A/N: Hey guys. It's me again J1974. Here is a little chapter I wrote. I try to make them a bit longer. Hope you will like it. Thanks again to all my reviewers. They really do help me to know if I am doing things right. This chapter will be a little more canon. Hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. So here you go
Have a great time reading! J1974
Chapter 14
They all entered the house bowing their heads as they passed the white-haired man. When they were all inside, he looked behind them as if expecting another person but when he realised no one else would be coming, he slammed the door behind him and warded it with a spell with complicated wand movements. They were standing in a small kitchen were everything, from the pots and pans to the plates and dishes were made out of fine silver embedded with golden flowers and animals. There was a small wooden legged table in the centre of the room. It struck as it was so much different from the rest of the furniture in it.
"Do come through to the living room." Mr. Lovegood said while looking at the three of them intently. They walked up to a small living space completely filled by the few furniture arranged in a circle around a small glass table. They sat in the old mismatched armchairs and a full set of tea things appeared in front of them on the small glass table. Hermione looked around her.
It was quite a sight, all around them bookcases were stocked with messily placed books. Some of them were so old that they looked like they would transform into dust at the slightest touch. Others had some bits of parchment sticking out of the tops of them. It made her remember the time she would spend in Severus' quarters reading to her heart's delight as he graded papers, taught or did school related work. She would just curl up in his big armchair and read until her eyes felt heavy and she would fall asleep. He then would wake her up and make love to her most of the time. She finished daydreaming and saw that everyone was looking at her.
"Where's Luna?" Hermione asked. A long silence followed before Mr. Lovegood answered.
"Luna? She'll be along." He replied in his usual unconcerned tone. They all reached for their respective cup of tea and looked down at it for a few moments before bringing them to their lips in a perfectly synchronised fashion that filled the air with embarrassment. They placed their mugs down on their knees their hands wrapped around them as to take in the heat of the liquid.
"So, how can I help you Mr. Potter" the man asked his voice still baring the same unconcerned tone that was beginning to anger Hermione. For Gods sake, the war was looming over their heads but the man seemed to be unconcerned and talked to them as he talked about the weather.
"Well…" Harry began not wanting to sound like a complete idiot "It's about something you were wearing around your neck at Bill's and Fleur's wedding. You wrote about it in your book Obscure Symbols and their Obscure Meanings. Unfortunately, I don't think I quite understood by what you mean in your paragraph about it."
"You never heard of the Deathly Hallows?" the man asked cocking an eyebrow. It sounded to Harry as though he had asked the most stupid question anyone could ask.
"Until I read your book. No, I never have." Harry replied
"I never read about them too. Mr. Lovegood. And I spent most of my life in the library." Hermione added
"I assume you're all familiar with the 'Tales of the Three Brothers'." The man said as though it was a fact. From the three of them, while Ron and Hermione said 'yes'. Harry shook his head and said 'no'. The man didn't know how to react to it he brought his cup a few times to his lips before Hermione broke the awkward silence.
"I have it in here." Hermione said rummaging through the beaded bag she always carried with her wherever she went.
"The original?" Mr. Lovegood asked. Hermione nodded. "Why don't you read it aloud then."
She read the story, it came to life before them like if it was a puppet show. They saw the three brothers making the bridge with their wands, they saw death giving them the wand, the stone and the cloak of invisibility, finally, they saw the death taking each brother one at the time, finishing by the last one in his old age. When Hermione closed the book, the puppet had disappeared and the room's brightness came back to normal.
"So, there you are. Those are the Deathly Hallows" said the older man. He was looking outside of the house through one of the windows from the living space. He had bend over some kind of surface which was in his way to reach with his outstretched arms the window seals.
"Sorry sir. But I don't quite understand." Harry said frowning.
The man rumbled through his papers and when he found a blank piece of parchment, he took a quill out from his pocket and began drawing a line on it "the Elder Wand" he announced quite dramatically. He then drew a circle and spoke once again. "the Resurrection Stone.". He finally drew a triangle that enclosed the two other drawings. "the Cloak of Invisibility" he looked at them and held the piece of parchment in front of him. For them to study it.
"We should get going. Thanks a lot for your time Mr. Lovegood." Hermione said after another long silent pause.
"NO" said the man blocking the way to the door with his whole body. "They took her. They took Luna and the only way I could figure was to hand you over. Then… maybe, I would see my daughter again." He said
"Not happening, now step aside and let us through" Ron said his wand pointed at the wizard's chest.
Hermione had just the time to turn away from the window and shout 'Harry' before a good dozen of death eaters entered the house. The trio Apparated away but it was too late, they had followed their magical trace and followed them to their Apparition point. Then followed a desperate race throughout the woods. A desperate chase as the Death Eaters had managed to make them split, making it impossible for the three of them to Apparate away together. They ran throwing curses at the men chasing them. Hermione and Severus' invention was of a great help as they managed to incapacitate at least three of their purchasers. As Hermione thought it was over. She realised she was being surrendered by the group of Death Eaters. She saw Harry running towards her in an attempt to help her fight herself out of there. Without a second thought, she pointed her wand towards him and threw a Stinging Hex. Knocking him to the ground while in the meantime making his face swell so that it was impossible to define who he really was.
"Harry Potter" Harry heard as a hiss he now recognised as Voldemort's voice. "I need the wand" The voice said "Where is it? Tell me Gregorovitch. Where is the Elder Wand?" Harry now saw the whole scene happening in front of his eyes. "It lies with him of course. The Elder Wand lies in the ground with it's owner… Dumbledore." Another voice said. The vision stopped there and Harry felt himself being pulled to his feet.
"Who do we have here?" the tallest of the band asked.
"Vernon. Vernon Dursley" Harry responded. His uncle's name being the only thing that popped to his mind
"Dursley, hey." Another member said. "Not on the list"
"And you what do they call you beautiful?" The man turned towards Hermione held by two other Death Eaters. He was holding her head between his hands almost gently.
"Penelope Clearwater sir." Hermione said trying to avert her eyes from him.
He stroked her cheek with his thumb while leaning towards her. Her breath caught up. She could now feel his breath on her lips. As he was about to kiss her, he pulled back even more slowly.
"Change of plan. We're not going to the Ministry. I have a better plan for the three of them"
Hermione felt the grasp on her left arm loosen up and she tried to jiggle her way out of the grasp of the second Death Eater but in vain. She only felt herself being pulled away from the ground as the Death Eater who had grabbed her by the arm had Apparated away. They were now standing in a dark alley surrounded by large hedges. In front of them was a wrought iron gate.
The man holding onto Harry approached to the gate and when he was a mere inch from it, threw him towards it. There was a woman standing on the other side of it. Hermione immediately recognised who she was.
"Who do we have here?" the witch said smiling. She looked at Harry and Hermione saw her eyes widen in interest.
"Fetch Draco" she said in a mere murmur.
They were all lead through the gates and into an elegant foyer where everything was either black or maroon or dark blue. The furniture which usually stood where they were, had been roughly pushed against the walls in piles that were covered by huge sheets, also in dark colours. Neither of them understood where they were until they saw the whole Malfoy family arrive. That's when they understood they were in Malfoy Manor.
Bellatrix Lestrange, was holding onto Harry, her wand pointed towards his heart while her free hand held onto his head pushing his hairs back and revealing an indistinct pattern of a lightning bolt.
"Come Draco. Is it him. Is it Harry Potter?" Bellatrix asked the same crazy smile on her lips
"I don't know. I can't tell. What happened to his face, he's been jinxed." Draco said, his voice tainted with disgust.
That's when Bellatrix saw something that made her change her mind about everything. It seemed like her goal was no longer Harry but the long silver object held by one of the Death Eaters.
"Where did you find that" she said in the same screeching voice she would take when she was about to kill somebody.
"Was in her bag. I found it when we searched them. Guess it's mine then" the man replied with a heavy Scottish accent.
As soon as the words got out of his mouth, Bellatrix pointed her wand and sent a stunning jinx directly to his chest. The man fell to the ground with a loud thump. The Gryffindor sword following a short time after. The witch walked over to where the sword was. She picked it up and pointed it towards Hermione.
"Take the boys to the cellar. We have a little talk to have, just the two of us. Girl to girl" she said.
Harry and Ron were roughly taken by the collar by Wormtail while Hermione had still the wand pointed towards her chest. She was scared of what was going to happen. When Ron and Harry were in the cellar, Bellatrix jumped on Hermione and threw her to the ground. She dropped the sword a few feet away so that Hermione would not be able to reach it and pinned her on the marble floor with her weight.
"How did you get this sword Missy." She said sounding as mean as possible.
"I… I… found it" Hermione said on the verge of crying.
"LIAR. This sword was in my vault. Someone mysteriously took it. A few months ago. Why did your friends and you go into MY VAULT" she had used a mix of soft and screaming voice that made her sound like the most terrifying person in the whole world?
"I… I... didn't do anything. I promise" Hermione said sobbing. She then felt the most excruciating pain she had ever experienced. She felt as if her arm was being burnt and her skin separated from her body. She began crying and moving her legs up and down furiously. A few seconds after. She was knocked off as her body couldn't manage the pain anymore.
A few days later
Hermione woke up and the first thing she felt was her arm. She pulled her sleeve up and saw that her arm now bared the inscription Mudblood. She pulled the sleeve back covering the inscription from her sight and looked around her. She couldn't find her wand. She knew that it was vain to try and heal the wound as most magical injuries could not be treated without potions or somewhat advanced healing spells. She then saw a small plate of food and a glass of water. She only realised now how thirsty she was. She rushed towards the glass and emptied it. To her great surprise, it filled itself back and she drank from it once again. She then turned her attention to the plate next to it. There was a small piece of paper next to it. At first, she thought it was blank, but as she picked it up, words began to form on it.
Hey my sweet darling.
I have been ordered to come by your side on the Dark Lord's command. Harry and Ron are safe, they managed to escape the Manor, but you passed out from the pain you have been afflicted. I was there for three days mending you. Eat well. I'll come back as soon as I can.
Your love Severus Snape.
As soon as she finished reading it, the paper glowed red and ignited itself. Hermione just had the time to let go of the paper before it vanished into thin air. She ate the plate of soup and curled up onto the thin mattress and pulled a blanket she found on the foot of it. The blanket smelled of Severus. This sweet smell of fresh earth, freshly cut grass and old parchment filled her nose and dozed her off to sleep.
She woke up a few hours later. Woken up by the distant sound of doors being opened and closed. She faked her sleep to make sure of who entered the room. She heard footsteps approaching, by the sound of it, two persons were walking up to where she was.
"You may leave Olgov. I won't be needing you while I tend to the mudblood's injuries. Not that I mind greatly of her welfare. I only want her to be able to answer the Dark Lord's questions and Merlin's knows how many their will be. He is furious after Bellatrix let the boy escape her." The deep voice of Severus Snape said echoing into the room.
She heard the sound of a door being opened and then closed before the sound of footsteps departing. A few seconds later, she felt his lips on her own. She opened her eyes and when she saw it was him, relaxed a bit.
"The first book you read while in my office was Agatha Christie's the Crime of the Orient Express" he said. He knew that she needed reassurance at the moment and proving to her he was in fact her lover was the only thing he could provide at the moment.
"Sev, it hurts so much" Hermione said sobbing.
"Where does it hurt my love. Tell me." Severus said, trying to find Hermione's eyes to reassure her.
Hermione was ashamed and didn't want Severus to see what Bellatrix had done to her as it would certainly enrage him more than ever. Severus reached for her and took her in his arms rocking her back and forth slowly while rubbing her arms. When his hand went over her wound, she flinched.
"What is it my love. Is your arm hurting? I'm going to take a look. Don't move, I'm right here for you my lovely Hermione." Severus said while shifting in his position to reach for the sleeve of her jumper and pull it up.
Hermione couldn't bare to look at her arm, she didn't want to see the blood red letters carved into her skin. Most importantly, she didn't want him to see the word carved into her skin afraid he might leave her for someone else. She closed her eyes as she felt the end of the sleeve touching the end of the wound. She felt the tip of a wand on her arm and a slimy substance being applied on the wound. The salve disappeared almost instantly leaving the wound behind.
"I'm so sorry Hermione. I can't do anything for you. Against Dark Magic inflicted injuries, there is only so much we can do. I applied my most powerful salve and still, it doesn't do anything. I wish I could do more. But understand me Hermione. To me you are still the most beautiful person on earth." Severus said capturing her lips in a passionate kiss.
Suddenly a loud bang was heard outside the door.