The Darkness Inside
Hey, so I know that this story isn't exactly my usual pairings but I started reading some fics involving Hermione and Tom Riddle or Voldemort.
Anything you recognise is not mine.
Chapter 1
Morgana Raven swept her long black hair out of her sapphire eyes as she trudged back to her cottage carrying a bag of shopping from the village. Various people who lived nearby nervously greeted her before quickly passing on their way. She had a reputation among the villagers for being a beauty with the voice of an angel but with a nasty and vicious temper so very few people sought her out and even then it was only in the most dire circumstances. Well, all except Mrs Wynne, but she was considered a batty old lady anyway. She was even nice to the odd people who turned up at Morgana's cottage at strange times. When she entered her cottage once more, Morgana pulled what looked like an ebony stick from her pocket and, with a flick of it, sent all her shopping to the correct places like magic. What the villagers of the unnamed village in Nant Gwynant, North Wales, didn't know was that Morgana Raven was a witch and that the odd people who showed up at her door were also magical. With a sigh she wandered up to the attic that served as her workroom to check on a potion she was making. As a very intelligent witch, she excelled at everything she did from spells to potions and one area that she was hereditarily good at was divination. In short, she was a seer. Two days ago, she'd had a vision that she'd need a Restorative potion, something that wasn't used very often. She'd immediately dropped the spell she was creating to start brewing the potion in the hopes that it would be ready when she needed it.
The recipe she used was unusual and differed greatly from the normal Restorative potions that people used but hers was far more effective. It was an old family recipe that called for many rare and unusual ingredients including a unicorn horn, ten ghost whispers, two pinches of moon dust, a pinch of dragon dust, half a pinch of crypt dirt, a handful of fairy dust and twelve drops of vampire blood; as well as, six cat's whiskers and five stems of witch hazel picked on the full moon. There were other ingredients but they were a closely guarded secret; even the ingredients that weren't so secret were kept quiet, mainly because they were considered Dark, making the potion a Dark potion. But it was by far the most effective of its type so Morgana didn't really care that it was a potion that could have her thrown in Azkaban for at least three years, if not more. Before she even went near her potions equipment, she put a black Dragonhide apron over her plain black dress and tied her hair back with a black silk ribbon, exposing her long, pale neck and her small, delicate ears that had Gothic rose earrings in them that matched a pendant around her neck that was on a piece of red ribbon and a ring on the middle finger of her right hand. As she examined the potion, she smirked in delight. It would be finished in a couple of hours, she just needed to stir it counter clockwise and leave it to brew for two hours. After completing the required stirring, she cast an alert spell to let her knew when it would be completed before taking the Dragonhide apron off and going downstairs. She had the sudden urge to bake something so went to her kitchen to get started. After making several batches of cookies, she began to make bread and had just started to knead it when she felt herself pulled into a vision. She saw herself handing the Restorative potion while under the Glamour spell she'd worn when she went to Hogwarts. Once the vision had ended, she ground her teeth in annoyance. Clearly, whoever was going to turn up knew her from school and needed to recognise her.
As the day drew on, she got the feeling that something was about to happen and, at about 9:30, she put the Glamour charm and fetched the Restorative potion that she'd bottled in an unbreakable crystal bottle. Moments after she got downstairs once more and entered her kitchen, there was an impatient knock on her front door.
"It's open!" She shouted, her Welsh accent prominent. Even though they needed to see her Glamoured face, it didn't mean that she was going to remove her Welsh accent for them as well. She heard the door opening and closing before the footsteps of two people, men judging by the way they trod, could be heard walking towards the kitchen.
"Miss Morgana Raven, I have a business proposition for you." A cold voice said from behind her. She turned to face her visitors and was surprised to see not only Severus Snape, her old potions' professor, but also Voldemort, both of whom looked stunned to see her.
"And what would that be?" She asked, carrying a pot of tea and three cups to the table before fetching milk and sugar. Both men were still looking at her with surprise as she sat at the table and poured three cups of tea.
"Sit down gentlemen." She said, clearly feeling exasperated.
"Miss Granger, I was unaware that you had become deluded after your parents' deaths." Snape sneered at her.
"My name is not Hermione Granger, that was just the name my parents wanted me to use while I was at Hogwarts." She snapped, which pulled Voldemort out of his surprised state.
"You certainly look like Potter's precious Mudblood!" He sneered, pulling out his wand.
"Actually, I'm wearing a Glamour, and did during my entire time at Hogwarts." She replied with a smirk before waving her wand at herself. Instantly the Glamour was cancelled and her appearance changed to that of the mysterious beauty that had at once both enchanted and scared the villagers. "As you both can see, my appearance is fairly recognisable, my parents didn't want Dumbledore trying to take my greatest powers from me. Now will you both sit!" She said irritably. Both wizards looked at each other but silently sat at the table and accepted a cup of tea from the young woman.
"So what is your proposal?" She asked, taking a small sip of her tea.
"In fights with Dumbledore's people my Death Eaters, while they tend to kill or injure more of their side, often become injured themselves and there is no one among them who is sufficient at healing to properly fix up the injured. What I am proposing is that you heal the injured and not tell Dumbledore or the Ministry of our whereabouts, in return you will be richly rewarded." Voldemort explained, a slight sneer still in his voice. She paused, contemplating his offer, as she picked up a cookie and ate it slowly. She made her mind up just as she finished swallowing the last of it.
"Hmm, your proposal is interesting. I do have a couple of conditions if you are amenable to them." She said, finishing her tea and pouring herself another cup.
"I will listen to them but if I don't agree with them then…" He replied.
"Obviously they won't be accepted." She interrupted, topping up both his and Snape's cups.
"My first condition is that I will not be marked, if word of my skills has reached you then it won't be long before Dumbledore's Order of the Chicken finds out and them finding your mark on me will not be good!" She stated, idly stirring her tea.
"I can slightly agree to that, I would prefer that you have a mark somewhere so that I can alert you when there's a situation that requires your attention." Voldemort countered.
"You don't need to worry about that, every woman in my family has been a Seer so I'll know if something will happen." She snorted, raising her right eyebrow. Voldemort could tell that she wasn't going to let him mark her easily so he decided to just let that argument go.
"What is your next condition?" He asked, actually enjoying their bartering.
"I treat them here. And before you protest, I'll be far better equipped here so I can deal with anything, even hidden conditions." She explained calmly, glad that he wasn't arguing about her not having the Dark Mark.
"That makes sense. Anything else?" He asked, his unnatural red eyes almost boring into her.
"No, I don't have anymore conditions." She replied staring right back at him, her sapphire eyes meeting his ruby evenly.
"Good. Now I have something I need you to do. I'm closer now to winning this war than I've ever been but once I've won, I'll need to rely on politics and charisma which will be rather difficult with my appearance as it is." He said carefully.
"Ah, so you need a Restorative potion." She smiled lightly.
"Yes and while Severus is and excellent Potions Master, none of the existing potions work. Because he's positioned so closely to Dumbledore, he won't be able to properly experiment and create a more effective one…" Voldemort nodded while Snape stayed silent.
"And so you want me to make a more effective one. Well it's a good job I already have one." She interrupted, placing the bottle on the table.
"How do you know it's more effective?" Snape asked suddenly, the lure of potions too great to keep his silence any longer.
"Because it's the original Restorative potion, and an old family recipe." She smirked in reply causing both Snape and Voldemort to snort in slight derision.
"Then surely it should be less effective." Voldemort pointed out.
"Not if it contains ingredients that have been labelled as 'Dark'." She smiled sweetly.
"What? What ingredients does it contain?" Snape gasped.
"Well I won't tell you them all but the most questionable ones are: Ghost Whispers, Dragon Dust, Crypt Dirt and Vampire Blood." She snickered at his eagerness.
"I can see why supposedly 'Light' wizards would want to find alternatives to those. But why compromise effectiveness?" Voldemort said musingly. Morgana had forgotten that he was supposed to be very intelligent.
"Because the other potions are only ineffective against Dark magic spells and potions so the 'Light' wizards and witches decided that they could sacrifice effectiveness for making the potions 'Light' too." She explained. Voldemort gently took the bottle and examined the shimmering liquid inside.
"How long before it takes effect?" He asked, looking back at her.
"It's instant, and there's no pain like with the 'Light' versions." She replied as she began clearing away the tea things. With a glance at Snape, Voldemort pulled the cork from the bottle before downing its contents.
Instantly, his appearance began to change from a skeletal snake-like appearance to a tall and well built man with deep brown eyes and very dark hair.
"That's a vast improvement on the whole 'Snake face' look." Morgana smiled, secretly gasping at the fact that he was so handsome, in fact he was probably the most handsome man she'd ever seen.
"Well it was easier to instil fear when I didn't look human." The human-looking Voldemort snapped.
"I'm sure it was, now that's over with, how long have you been winning the war? As you might have guessed, I'm a little out of touch with it." She smirked, rolling her eyes lightly.
"About 3 years, the same amount of time you've been 'out of touch', as you put it. Especially as Potter and some of his friends have opted out of the war. In fact, I even had Potter writing to me to tell me as much and asking to be left alone." Voldemort replied with amusement, leaving Morgana stunned.
"Which friends?" She asked quietly.
"Ginevra, Fred and George Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom and Lupin." Snape replied as both wizards gauged her reaction. They were not surprised when she turned to Voldemort after a few moments thought.
"And what was you're reply to Harry?" She asked, still unafraid of him.
"I told him that as long as he and his friends sever all ties to Dumbledore's Order, then I will leave them alone." He replied, looking at her closely. The one problem with his 'Snake form' was that he was completely colour-blind, so now he was in human form again, he could see the vibrancy of her blue eyes. Although he normally associated blue eyes with Dumbledore, there was something about hers that fascinated and entranced him. They were delicately almond shaped and they sparkled like actual sapphires; he could almost see the secrets hidden in the depths of those orbs. At his answer, she gave a bright and happy smile that made her entire, beautiful face light up. A sudden knock at the door made them all freeze.
"Expecting company?" Voldemort asked, looking closely at her.
"No, only you two." She replied before she was suddenly pulled into a vision of Dumbledore opening the door.
"Shit! It's Dumbledore, I had hoped for more time before he came here but I guess that's life. You'll have to aparate. Quick! Unless you want him to find you both here!" She said urgently. Snape and Voldemort looked at each other before they both aparated out of the room with two sharp cracks. They had managed to make it out with moments to spare as Dumbledore opened the door and walked into the hallway of the cottage, his boots echoing on the Welsh slate flooring.
"Miss Raven? I was wondering if I could talk to you." He called out as he walked confidently towards the kitchen.
"About what?" She asked shortly, causing his confident smile to waver slightly.
"About the war in the Wizarding world at the moment. The Dark side is winning and we need every advantage we can get to beat them. I've heard about your stunning intellect and I've seen your OWL and NEWT scores, they're the highest since Voldemort himself. Having you on our side would help us win this war! And I'm sure that if you'd gone to Hogwarts, you're scores would have been even higher!" He exclaimed.
"What makes you think I didn't go? The fact that you didn't see me? Did it not occur to you that my parents had me under a Glamour and using a false name?" She sneered.
"Oh, well you still should still join the Order of the Phoenix, it's the decent thing to do." He said, slightly startled that she had been to Hogwarts and that he didn't know it.
"The decent thing to do? Funnily enough, letting yourself into someone else's house is not considered a 'decent' thing to do; so if you don't mind, I'm not going to listen to someone who is willing to commit a Breaking and Entering offence, about what I should do." She replied coolly.
"But…but…but, surely you don't want to see the 'Dark' side in charge of the Wizarding world?" Dumbledore asked, dumbfounded.
"I will not fight in this war! As long as I can be left in peace to help the people that need it, I don't particularly care who is in charge." She replied, starting to get annoyed with him.
"What about if I give you 10 million Galleons!" Dumbledore exclaimed desperately.
"In case you couldn't tell from the simple nature of my home, money is not a motivating factor for me. Also, I have to wonder where you would get that kind of money, as I know that when your father was sent to Azkaban, the title of Lord Dumbledore and your family's hereditary money and lands were confiscated and haven't been returned as of yet." She growled lightly.
"Is there nothing that would persuade you to join us? Protection for your family perhaps? Or maybe a very handsome young pureblood man who would worship the ground you work on?" Dumbledore wheedled.
"Unfortunately, I am the last surviving member of the Raven family. Also, I have a feeling that you are attempting to refer to Ronald Weasley. I can tell you now, he's not my type; he doesn't have the level of intelligence that I'm attracted to. And from what I've heard, the reason that Hermione Granger abandoned your side is that Ronald Weasley acted like a male chauvinist pig and tried to force her to have sex with him." She replied irritably.
"Where did you hear that nonsense? He did no such thing. Miss Granger was highly unstable and delusional; that is why she left, she couldn't see that we were trying to help her." Dumbledore said condescendingly.
"Really? Because my source is Hermione Granger herself. And she seemed highly stable and completely mentally sound to me." Morgana smirked triumphantly. Dumbledore just gaped at her, unable to come up with a response to what she had said.
"Now, I would appreciate it if you left my house, otherwise I will be forced to call the Police." She continued.
"The Police? Surely you mean the Aurors?" He said, his surprise pulling out of his silence.
"No, I mean the Police. Because if you start attempting to cast spells, not only will you have trouble with the Ministry for almost exposing our world, but the Muggle Police will label you as insane and might potentially have you committed if they believe that you pose a threat to ordinary people. Now get out!" She growled, making no attempt to hide her anger. Dumbledore walked towards the front door wordlessly but, just before he left, he turned and glared at Morgana.
"Miss Raven, I hope you realise that you've made a huge mistake. I can guarantee that you will not be 'left alone' to help people when the Light side wins. We will make sure that you pay for refusing to join us." He snarled before aparating from outside her front door.
"Good job you'll never win then, moron!" She muttered to herself before turning off all the lights downstairs and heading upstairs for an early night.