Downside of Aging Potions - Chapter Seventeen

"Always move forward
Going "straight" will get you nowhere
There is no progress
Evolution killed it all
I found my place in nowhere."
-Green Day, Jaded

Hermione still fought her rising fear as Death Eaters carried her off to give her a Veritaserum.

She would ruin everything. Everything. They'd get their information and kill her. Then kill Snape. And there would go Dumbledore's best spy.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she turned the corner with the group of masked men, as they continued the slow pace to wherever.

Behind her, she heard Lucius mumbling to her.

"There now, Miss Granger, where was this obedience earlier?" He crooned, "I daresay it would have helped you."

Hermione stayed silent, glaring straight ahead and pretending each step was on top of Malfoy's face.

At long last they came upon a room, dark and the air smelt damp. It was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe as she looked upon a man with the snake face.

She would finally know. What it was like every time Harry had to face Voldemort. He never said exactly what it was like, but now she'd know.

Her stomach dropped as his eyes settled on her malevolently. He took a few deliberate, drawn out steps and grabbed her arm.

"Miss Granger. What a... pleasure." His smile was nasty and dark, revealing two rows of sharp teeth. He pulled her away from the Death Eaters and led her to a lonely chair towards the corner of the room.

With an effortless thrust by the hideous man, she was in the chair and not a second later; she felt snakes curling around her wrists and ankles. Only with a second look did she realize that they weren't actually snakes; but the black ropes came pretty damn close to reptilian features.

Even though she knew struggling would do nil, she pulled against the scaly ropes, surely bruising her wrists, at the least.

Voldemort watched her with mild interest and a smirk plastered on his somewhere between sallow and rotten milk-colored face.

When she finally collapsed into the chair with exhaustion, he stepped forward, taking a small vile of clear liquid out of his robe pocket.

"Veritaserum is not painful, little witch, I assure you."

"I don't need assurance from you." She spat.

He didn't seem to notice the venom laced into her voice and he went on, "All we need to know is the whereabouts of Severus Snape. And," He added with a smirk to the Death Eaters, "We've been assured that you know."

As he reached out his hand to pull her head back, she bit him. She bit the Dark Lord.

He didn't seem to notice this, either, however. He rose what would have been his eyebrow (if he had any) and snapped the fingers of his free hand.

A Death Eater came forward and moved to stand behind her.

Yet even as she attempted to break free, his hand grabbed her hair and pulled back so that her neck was suddenly arched.

Hermione was barely able to clamp her mouth shut, knowing full well that if she screamed it would be open opportunity to pour the liquid down her throat.

Voldemort growled and then turned very suddenly, as if something had been tickling his neck. The Death Eater kept her neck back to prevent her from seeing anything.

"What are you doing here?" Voldemort hissed to someone.

"Saving Hermione's ass, of course."

Hermione recognized the voice as Harry's; but didn't quite get that vibe. Something about the way he spoke bothered her. And how would Harry know where she was, anyway?

Her assumption was even more correct when Harry fired a curse that Hermione didn't even know; and that was saying something.

She forced her head up just in time to see Voldemort being thrust into a wall.

"Duck!" 'Harry' looked at her and she did; as much as she could anyway.

He used the same curse to blast the Death Eater, still holding her head, into the wall; not far behind.

Yet another curse came from his mouth that she was not familiar with and the ropes vanished. She ran to him and he grabbed her hand, running and just barely missing a Death Eater who had lunged at him.

They hauled ass.

!

When they were a considerable distance away from most of the Death Eaters, he pulled her behind a tree and held her hand tightly as he Apparated.

The only thing on her mind at this point was: Who the hell is this?

Panting and dry-mouthed, they collapsed onto the grounds of Hogwarts. 'They' being Hermione and whoever the person was posing as Harry.

After her mouth produced enough saliva to talk, she breathed, "Who... are you?"

"Who do you think?" He growled breathlessly.

Hermione was taken back for a brief second before her brain connected.

"Professor?"

He rolled onto his back, "You know... I'm getting tired of this... 'Professor' shit."

"Severus, then?" She suggested, hiding the scarlet that crept up her neck.

"Better."

When her heart rate was normal and breathing had slowed down to the normal again, she sighed. "I'm sorry."

"For what? It wasn't your fault they tried to shove-"

"No, I mean... I mean for not talking to you. It was really rude and I-"

"No, you had every right. I shouldn't have been such a prick and said those things. I was stress-"

"I took it way too far-"

"I'm the one who should be sorry."

She sighed, and then laughed despite herself, "We can blame ourselves all day, but it won't solve the problem."

He nodded, "I suppose you're right. So..."

"I'm sorry." They said simultaneously.

She smiled and looked away.

After a few silent minutes, he stood and stretched. "The Polyjuice should be wearing off in a few minutes, then we really ought to speak to Dumbledore."

She nodded and stood.

"We can get some healing cream from Madame Pomfrey for those." He said.

"What?"

He gestured to her wrists, that had purple and yellow rope bruises around them. She grimly nodded.

"I would have been quicker, if Potter hadn't played Twenty Questions with me."

"The point is nothing happened."

She led the lay up to Dumbledore's office, not giving him a chance to beet himself up further.

!