Jake (Jangy)
Malfoy Manor was nothing like Jake thought it would be, it was a lot more depressing than he imagined a prestigious manor to look like. Blackout curtains covered all the windows, leaving the corridors dark, its only light the numerous amounts of gas lamps hanging off the walls. Jake cautiously took Hermione's hand again, she let it go when they entered the manor; but he needed the comfort of her hand in his to get through this.
He wanted to laugh at himself, he was 1000 years old and he was frightened of some house? The idea was so irrational, he had to mentally shake himself to get a grip on reality. He was a vampire; they have no known weakness: the ultimate predator.
"Are you alright?" Hermione leaned closer to him and whispered.
"Yes, I was just caught off guard." Hermione rose a brow in question but didn't reply, instead, she turned back around and continued following Lucius and Voldemort.
Malfoy led them to a drawing room, complete with a huge fireplace in the far corner. This must be where they floo in and out of the manor. Glancing around curiously, Jake noticed this room was a lot more comfortable, it didn't ooze doom and gloom and it was brightly lit. Malfoy gestured to the furniture in the room, offering them all a seat. Jake followed Hermione to the love seat that was seated the closest to the fireplace.
"Shall we begin then?" Voldemort asked. "Lucius, we require tea." Malfoy nodded and disappeared through another door. "Besides the obvious reason Jake, why do you want to join me?"
Jake swallowed hard, relieved that Voldemort is unable to penetrate his mind. "There is no answer but the obvious, my Lord." Jake answered confidently. "I know of the tasks your followers must perform and I know Hermione. I know she has refused to kill anybody for the sake of your name." Jake took a breath and continued. "I am a vampire, when I was a newborn, I pleasured in taking another's life. I will be gladly to do so again for the sake of Hermione."
Voldemort studied him carefully, Jake could literally see the wheels turning in his head. Hermione and I sat with bated breath and it was a full minute before Voldemort spoke up. "So you will complete the tasks that she refuses to do, without fail?" Jake nodded. "Why so eager to kill?"
"I am a soulless monster, so staining my hands with blood is not an issue for me." Jake answered quickly, continuing on before Hermione could protest about his soul. "This is becoming a war, I have chosen a side, and death always happens."
"How admirable of you, Jake." The room fell in to silence as Voldemort pondered again. "Vampires have always been an asset in war, they are hard to kill." Jake nodded in confirmation. "Welcome to the ranks, as a new recruit, you will be under Hermione's authority."
"My authority?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"You have proven yourself quite capable, Hermione." Voldemort praised. "You have become a valuable asset; one I don't want dying anytime soon." Voldemort chuckled as if they shared a private joke. "You will be assigned other recruits as well."
"I am honored, my Lord." Hermione dipped her head in respect. "I wonder how Bella would feel about my… promotion." Hermione mused.
"She hates not being my favorite anymore." Voldemort quipped, and Jake felt Hermione squeeze his hand tightly. He looked over at her and noticed she was struggling not to laugh.
"Thank you for this honor, my Lord." Jake interceded before she could disgrace herself. "I will not disappoint."
Voldemort frowned at him, "See that you don't. After all, it will be your commanding officer that will receive punishment as well." Jake swallowed and resisted the urge to glance at Hermione. "You two are dismissed, I will see you in a few days for initiation."
"Of course, my Lord." Hermione stood up and bowed, Jake following quickly after her.
Once Voldemort left the room, Hermione turned towards him. "So, do you feel like you just signed your soul to the devil?"
Jake chuckled, "Pretty sure I did that a long time ago, I no longer have that issue."
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Do we have to argue about your soul every single time we bring it up?"
"Only if you like to lose said argument every time."
Hermione snorted, "I don't know if you have heard, but I never lose an argument."
"Not at all, you just storm away angrily, like a little kitten who lost her milk."
Hermione glared at Jake and pushed him towards the floo. "Come on, we are leaving."
"Does that mean I won?" Jake asked.
Hermione ignored him and grabbed the floo powder, "Diagon Alley." She yelled angrily and disappeared in the green flames.
"Guess I did." Jake muttered, chuckling to himself. He grabbed some floo powder and followed Hermione.
Voldemort
"Lucius, did Jake look familiar to you?" Voldemort asked, he left Hermione and Jake and retired to his office. Lucius came in moments later.
"The man with Hermione?" Lucius clarified, and Voldemort nodded, "I believe I saw him a couple times at Gringotts over the years."
"Bring me your family history books, specifically from a thousand years ago." Voldemort demanded, waving his hand in a shoo motion.
Lucius nodded, "Right away my Lord."
"And send Bella in, would you? I need to speak to her."
"Of course, my Lord."
Bellatrix Lestrange knocked a few minutes later and Voldemort sighed as he told her to come in. "Usually you are here within moments when I call for you Bella. Are you longer obsessed with me?"
Bella looked at him wide eyed with fear, "Of course not, my Lord. I am and will always be your loyal servant."
Voldemort resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "I must speak with you about a certain young lady…" He trailed off and watched with interest as Bellatrix glowered for a moment and then her face returned to its state of adoration.
Sirius Black
Sirius Black had done a lot of stupid stuff growing up, most of it with his partner-in-crime, James Potter, he never regretted any of it. At least not until he was thrown into Azkaban and nothing better to do than to think about how he ended up there. If it wasn't for his immature antics and arrogance, he might have noticed Peter's betrayal sooner. He still mourned his best friend and his wife daily, after all, what did he know about raising a child, let alone two of them? Hermione seemed capable on her own and Harry was nothing like his father, personality wise. His looks were another matter completely, Sirius couldn't help but feel a pang of grief every time he looked at the boy.
Yes, he regretted that James and Lily died, and he ended up in Azkaban for it. Leaving Harry and Hermione alone in the world. Harry turned out alright, growing up in the orphanage for the first few years of his life until Sirius finally got released from Azkaban, a miracle really, no one ever left Azkaban unless it was in a body bag. Poor Hermione, on the other hand, had to grow up with Lily's sister. How terrible it must have been, we are lucky she didn't become a serial killer.
Sirius couldn't sit down, he was pacing the living room for the passed hour, since Hermione got called away. He should have told her to cut ties with Voldemort after Snape disappeared, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. What she was doing was too important, too valuable. How many raids have we stopped because of her intel? Sirius didn't know the exact answer, but he knew it was a lot. So many lives have been saved all because of the selfless act of a sixteen-year-old girl. A reincarnated sixteen-year-old girl.
Sirius never gave much stock to the legends his mother would spout off during afternoon tea. It was hardly memorable, but apparently his brain remembered every single word that came from Walburga's mouth every tea session. She would scold Sirius and Regulus when they were not paying enough attention, claiming it was part of our history and we should remember it. Did Lily and James know about Hermione? Is that why they decided to send her off to some secluded, unknown place? Sirius had more questions than answers, and unfortunately, the only ones who could give him answers were all dead.
The front door suddenly slammed open, making Sirius jump and grabbed his wand he left on the table. He stealthily made his way to the front hall, peering around the corner to get a look at the intruder, he sighed in relief when he noticed Hermione coming down the hall. Sirius put his wand away and met up with her. "Blimey Hermione, are you trying to give an old man a heart attack?"
Hermione glanced behind her and then back at Sirius, a smirk adorning her lips. "I don't think a heart attack is strong enough to kill him."
Sirius rose a brow in confusion, until Jake stepped up beside Hermione. "Har har," Sirius replied sarcastically. "Why didn't you use the floo like a normal person?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Jake isn't in the wards yet, Sirius. It would be kind of hard to get him through the floo."
"I wasn't aware I had to add him."
"Well he was accepted into the ranks, it seems Voldemort is ruling over his lackeys as a general or something."
Sirius' face was a giant question mark, it was Jake who answered. "She is talking about Muggle military ranks, Mr. Black."
"Right, of course she was." He peered at Hermione curiously. "Which one are you?"
"Commanding Officer." She said smugly.
"I need a drink." Sirius muttered, making his way into the kitchen.
"Me too." Jake announced, following him. Sirius heard Hermione sigh, but followed them to the kitchen.
Harry Potter
Harry was currently very frustrated. He was standing in a Muggle dress shop trying to figure out what kind of dress he should buy for Hermione. She needed a dress for the wedding and he doubted she would actually go out and buy one. He sighed as he looked around at the racks of dresses on display, and decided he was completely clueless.
"Can I help you, sir?" Harry turned around to see a young woman in her late teens. He decided she was cute in a plain way. She wasn't dressed to the nines with brand name clothes, she was wearing jeans and a uniformed shirt, she wore slim glasses that made her face seem more angular.
"I am looking for a dress for my sister." Harry answered sheepishly, "But I am not exactly sure what she wears."
She smiled, "I will try to help any way I can, sir."
"Thanks, you can call me Harry."
"Mirabella." She battered her eyelashes. "What kind of clothes does she normally wear?"
"Mostly jeans and t-shirts." Harry thought about it, "I don't think I have ever seen her wear anything else."
"Most likely she doesn't like dresses." Mirabella guessed. "What is the occasion?"
"A wedding for a family friend."
Mirabella grinned, "I think I know the perfect dress." She turned around, "Please follow me."
So, Harry followed Mirabella across the store and they came up to yet another rack full of dresses. She plucked one off the rack and handed it to Harry. He studied the dress carefully and then nodded. "It looks perfect."
"Great, now we can go grab shoes and accessories to match." Mirabella practically dragged Harry all around the store until she was satisfied. After he had paid for Hermione's dress and all her other accouterments, Mirabella slipped him a piece of paper. After he took it, she winked at him. Thanking her again, Harry left and realized she wrote her number on the paper. Harry grinned as he disappeared with a loud crack.
Hermione Potter
Hermione groaned as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, the dress Harry bought her was stunning and it fit her perfectly – not like she would admit it to him though. The wedding was in a couple hours, and Hermione had completely forgot about the damn thing. Her thoughts were more focused on the initiation that Voldemort planned to have tomorrow night for Jake and other new recruits. Harry had given her a puppy dog stare and she found herself agreeing to go with him, again.
"Why are you groaning?" Harry asked, coming into her bedroom and sitting on her bed.
Hermione glared at him through the mirror, "I am not supposed to be more beautiful than the bride."
"No chance in that happening," Harry muttered sourly, "Fleur is half-veela."
"You only find her attractive because of her blood." Hermione pointed out, "If she was just a regular witch, you probably wouldn't have even noticed her."
Harry rose a brow, studying his sister carefully. "Are you jealous?"
"Of course not!" Hermione snapped. "Why would I be jealous of someone who has never had to work for anything in her life?"
Harry grinned widely, "You ready to leave soon? I hear Jake got invited to the wedding too."
"So I heard," Hermione replied dryly. Yesterday, after he had a few drinks in him, Jake admitted he was invited to the wedding by Ginny of all people. Hermione pretended to be okay with it, after all, Jake and she were not going out or anything.
"Are you mad?" Harry asked.
Hermione shrugged, putting the final touches to her hair. "I have no reason to be mad, Harry. Ginny asked Jake to the wedding long before he met me. It's not like we are dating or anything."
"No…" Harry began, "But we both know he wants to."
"I am not going to date him until he realizes I am not his long lost love. Until he wants to be with me because of me, then I will consider it."
"Don't you think that is a little harsh though?" Hermione whipped her head around to look at Harry that her curls bounced frantically on her head.
"How is it harsh? I am not HER! I refused to be pursued by a vampire because he believes I have her soul."
"You are not even giving him a chance to get to know you." Harry argued, "How is he supposed to realize you are not her if you won't let him see who you are?"
"I am not ready to trust a guy like that, Harry." Hermione whispered, "After Dudley, I just can't. It's different with you and sirius, you are family, and I know you would never hurt me."
"That's not true, it took you two months to finally be comfortable around you. Hell, you still flinch when I hug you."
"Then you see my problem. I am just not ready."
Harry nodded, "Fine, I will let the matter drop, we really have to get going."
The scowl reappeared on her face as Harry led her to the fireplace. "I hope there is a lot of alcohol, I am going to need it."
"You will have a great time, just maybe stay away from Ginny." Harry suggested, "I am sure she is still pissed off at me about not wanting to date her, so she might take it out on you."
"Probably why she invited Jake. I mean he is gorgeous as fu-"
"Yeah, I got it. Thanks," Harry interrupted and then stepped into the floo. He held his hand out for Hermione and she took it, a small smile adorning her face. "You should really smile more Hermione. I know it's been hard since Snape disappeared, but it's not heathly to be so depressed." Hermione glared at him and he grinned cheekily before throwing the floo powder at their feet and yelling out "The Burrow".
A/N: I know this chapter is short, but I wanted to do the wedding and the initiation in its own separate chapter. As always please review, favorite, and follow. I love to hear what you think or what I have to improve on. Until next time….
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