DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER!!
Memoirs
Chapter 3
Lucius and Bella opened the doors to the castle for Tom, who was holding and cradling Hermione. Many of the Death Eaters were there, and turned to see who had entered the room. They bowed when they saw Tom, but were silently pondering who the woman in his arms was. "You will find out soon, my servants." Tom's voice rang through the hall, answering the Death Eater's silent question. "Severus," Tom whispered, "go to your study and prepare a Sleeping Draft."
"Yes, milord." He answered and took a left at the next fork.
"Bella, you're dismissed." He moodily said.
"Yes, milord. Goodnight, milord." She said and left.
"Lucius, come." He said, startling the blonde. "We must take Hermione back to my room. Well, our room." He added, realising Hermione was still in his arms. They walked along the dark corridors where they had before and came to a grand varnished door. "Lucius, take her for a minute."
"I can walk by myself." Hermione hoarsely snapped, a little annoyed that those were the first words she had said since coming back from the dead. Tom chuckled lightly and put her down, but kept her against him. He pulled out his wand and cast a powerful Alohomora. The door clicked and opened slightly. Tom pushed on the wood of the door and gave Hermione a little nudge. She walked in slowly and Tom and Lucius followed.
Tom flicked his wand and all the candles were suddenly lit. Hermione gasped at the light's harshness and put her hands to her eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry, Hermione." He said and dimmed the candles. "Lucius, go to the kitchens and fetch a strong sweet tea."
"Yes, milord." And the blonde left the room.
The couple shared a silent moment, Hermione looking around the familiar yet unfamiliar room, Tom just not knowing what to say. But Hermione didn't want to talk. Not the monster she was 'married' to. Tom cleared his throat, but Hermione didn't pay any attention. "Would you like to get changed?" he asked, hoping to get a response.
Hermione merely nodded. Tom nodded a little as well and went over to Hermione's old dresser. "Your clothes are here. I'll leave you alone. I'll return shortly." He said and left the room, casting a locking spell on the door.
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Hermione walked over to the open dresser and flicked through her outfits. All of them were quite revealing dresses that Tom had obviously picked for her. She picked out the less revealing one that still revealed a lot of her back but not a lot of breast. She changed into it, and threw the old dress onto the bed. She looked at it - the bed - and horrible memories came back to her.
"Stop it! Please! Stop!" she begged.
"No, Hermione. I won't stop." Voldemort said. Not 'Tom'. Voldemort.
She clenched her eyes shut. But it kept haunting her.
"No!"
"Hermione, stop resisting me."
"No!"
Hermione looked away and walked into the bathroom to wash her face. She turned the tap on and then her eyes wondered to the floor by the sink. A small moth was on the floor, its wings flapping madly. She bent down to pick it up and cupped it in her hands. She walked over to the window, opened the latch she hadn't noticed in her 'past' life and let the moth fly out. Hermione looked at the ground and the memory of her jumping to her death filled her mind.
Hermione stood looking out the window for a minute or so. Before her head turned to the wooden candlestick. It was beautifully carved and contained about 20 designs of plants and flowers. The candlestick stood about 3 foot high and was half a foot wide at the top.
Her hands enclosed around the chunky candle on top and plucked it from its resting place. She placed it on the floor and grasped the wood.
It was heavy in her hands and she considered it for a moment. Walking over to the window, she closed her eyes and threw the stick at the glass. It shattered with a satisfying CRASH!! and the stick flew out on the ground. Oh, well. If it hit someone, minus one Death Eater to worry about!
She placed her hands on the ledge and pulled herself up onto the marble. Glass cut into her hands but she didn't care, or even notice. She was busy. Sliding her legs out the room and over the outside ledge, she looked around again. No one. Taking a deep breath and remembering all those she had loved and lost, she jumped.
Hermione slammed the window closed instantly and backed away from it, as if it were lethal. She hurried into the bedroom and sat on the bed.
It felt like being suffocated. Just being alive. Being there. Being anywhere. Like someone had their hands around her throat and was squeezing with all their might. Hermione sat on the bed, staring into midair. A knock on the door snapped her back to reality and the wood opened. Lucius entered, a delicate china cup and saucer in his hands.
"I've got your tea." He said, closing the door. He walked over to her held it out. She shook her head.
"Still...kinda queasy." She said gently.
"Alright. I'll just put it here. Maybe later." He said, placing the cup on the small table next to the bed. "Is there anything else you need?"
"Can I talk to you?" she whispered.
"Of course."
Hermione scooched over and Lucius sat down next to her, hip to hip. "How long?" she, again, whispered.
"Sorry?"
"How long have I been...gone?"
"Um, about 6 months. No, exactly 6 months. 6 months today."
Hermione looked at the bed covers. "With the Order, what happened to everyone?"
"They vanished. About a second after you left."
"Does he know?"
"No. We didn't dare tell him." They both chuckled. The door opened abruptly and a young boy, no older than 8, stepped in. And what scared Hermione most was that he was wearing a set of short sleeved robes that failed to cover his Dark Mark'd left forearm. "Hews!" Lucius roared, making Hermione flinch. "What have you been told about entering without knocking?!" Hews closed the door abruptly and knocked, and then entered again. "Better. Now what is it?"
"Mr Snape needs to see you, Mr Malfoy." Hew announced.
"Um...how old are you, Hews?" Hermione asked.
"Old enough to work." He snapped shortly, and left.
"I apologi-"
"Are you sure I've been gone 6 months?" she asked coldly.
"Hermione," Lucius started calmly, "I've counted the days since I saw you alive that night. From October through to today. 6 months. 183 days. 4392 hours. 263,520 minutes. 15,811,200 seconds." They both paused.
"You used a calculator, didn't you?" she laughed. But a second later gone.
"A what?" he laughed with her. A few moments after laughing maniacally, Lucius' torso ended up hovering over Hermione, whom was lying across the bed. She reached up and gently stroked his face. He let off a gently shudder.
"I missed you." he breathed out.
"I can tell."
"Hmmm. Alas, not as handsome as I once was." He sighed roughly.
"You're not that bad." She defended.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"You should." She insisted.
"Still, I've aged. Dramatically." He sighed.
"Stop ruining the moment." She snapped. Their lips met. But as soon as it started, it ended with Lucius' seizure. "Lucius?" Hermione asked, her voice breaking with worry. He stopped suddenly, panting and heaving.
"I'm sorry, Hermione." He wheezed.
"What just happened?"
"A restraint milord put on me. He wanted to make sure that if you came back, I wouldn't get you at all. Not even a little kiss, as I just humiliated myself to demonstrate."
"What if I kiss you?"
"No. Milord has to bear witness or give permission."
"Talk about absolute control." Hermione sighed.
"Quite so." He chuckled sadly. "Well, I'll get out of your hair." He said and left abruptly.