Frail Wings - 1
If the prologue didn't throw you off, here's the first chapter.
Disclaimer: silk owned by Stahma Tarr (aka Defiance)
Steam rose in the air as the bubbles lying ontop of the water popped. In the next pan over something was sizzling on the stove. He hadn't cared to really look at what it was that he had thrown inside. Barty was more focused on the cutting board and the recently cleaned blade.
Setting the knife down he reached over for a glass pan to slide it under the cutting board that had little holes spaced across the wood surface. After a quick glance to make sure the water wasn't bubbling over he grabbed the package to his right, opening it he reached in ignoring the hot liquid seeping in between his fingers to grab at what was inside to set on the board. With a quick rinse of his hands he picked up the blade and cut into the organ, watching the wood turn red as the liquid splashed into the pan below.
He kept cutting until it was in small squares, using the blade to push the contents into the still sizziling pan and putting more butter in. Once he set it to a higher tempature he had to search through the cabinets before finding a popsicle mold and grabbed the glass pan moving it to another counter away from the heat of the stove. After he had filled all the molds by around two thirds he set the glass pan in the sink, letting it clean itself. Once the mold was in the freezer his attention was back on the stove.
Barty spent a few minutes picking through the muscle in the pan, cutting off bits and pieces with a thin knife until most of it was in the trash. The parts that had orginally been too tough or became stringy after being cooked anyways. What remained was thin skinny bits scattered among the cooked vegetables. Not very much of it remained. Which was fine by him since not all of it had ended in the trash. So the little experiment wasn't for nothing.
He twisted the heat off for both the pot and pan with that done, putting the food into a plastic bowl. After setting the package into a cupboard and putting a heating enchanment on it he left the kitchen, walking through a long hall of the Crouch Mansion.
Upon getting to his destination his eyes roamed the room, looking for it's occupant. With her nowhere in sight he smirked, already thinking of ways to punish her for the bad behavior. "Little lion," he called and walked in the direction of where a whimper sounded from, around the couch and a bend in the room to see the drawer had been moved away from the wall once again. He clicked his tongue in a annoyed manner, "I thought I told you to stop doing that-"
A flicker of movement from the corner of his vision made him set the bowl down quickly and turn, just catching her fist in his hand before it landed on him. His other hand wrapped around her other wrist and he quickly backed her against the drawer, careful to keep her struggling arms away from the bowl on top. "Let me go!"
"So you can try and attack me again? This may shock you, little lion, but I'm not a fool like you seem to believe me to be-"
"My name is Hermione! And I'm not your little lion!" her legs started kicking out now but with such a small distance between them it didn't have much effect so he let her continue with her kicks.
He chuckled, simply tightning his grip on her hand and wrist when she started struggling more. "That's where you're mistaken. Now why don't you explain to me, little lion," he made sure to put special emphasis on the word to enrage her further. It would make her punishment that much more gratifying later. "Why you keep moving the drawer when I already closed the passage? Is it going to take filling it up with rocks to make you stop trying to use it to escape from me?"
When her struggling just increased further in response to his words he pulled her forward to slam her back against the wood, smirking when she gasped, struggles ceasing as her eyes snapped shut. Evidently one of the knobs had gotten her in one of the more recent scars that decorated her back. This time the whimper that escaped her wasn't a lure, but one from a mixture of pain and pleasure.
"Did you forget what this is for?" He let go of her wrist now that she was preoccupied with denying what the pain brought that wasn't normal. Reaching up he wrapped his fingers around the gold links along her neck, "Even if you do get out you can't pass the outer wall with this on. We went over this remember? There's no way to take it off," he let go of the necklace so it fell back onto her skin. "Now be a good little lion and eat your dinner."
He let go of her other hand and backed up meeting her narrowed eyes until she looked away. Barty smirked as she picked up the bowl and moved away to another corner of the room. With her out of the way now he waved his hand and the dresser pressed back up against the wall that used to be the entrance of a secret passage.
Until she found out about it that is and he was forced to block it off from her with his magic. Even though she could only go so far inside until the necklace around her neck stopped her from advancing she had retreated inside more times than he could count before it started to annoy him. He hadn't minded at first since she couldn't get out anyways and he suspected she had found it comforting, but having to crawl in after her numerous times developed into a hassle. Perhaps when she stopped moving the dresser entirely he would put it back in working condition and see how long it took for her to realize it was operational again. With the way she was acting now though that wasn't happening anytime soon.
He turned around to see her picking at the food with her fingers since he hadn't supplied any utensils. "It's not to play with, it's to eat. And don't think about trying to starve yourself again. You know what happens if you try that." The food that had previously been about to slip through her fingers was now shoved quickly into her mouth and he grinned at how fast the subtle threat had worked.
Sitting back in one of the chairs he waited for her to finish. He summoned an onyx chain into his hands, glancing over the black surface and the candles reflected on it. It was a nice effect and he brushed his thumb over the smooth glass, made more durable from a spell or else it would have snapped within the first few weeks he had brought Hermione here.
"No!" she kept kicking at him, using the little wandless magic she had learned at the school to throw lightweight objects at him. Each one felt like a fly as he leaned over her, chain in hand. "You can't!"
"I can," he assured her, grabbing for one of her kicking legs and dragging her across the floor toward him. Her fists started to hit on his shoulders but he shrugged it off, reaching forward to fasten the chain into one of the links against her exposed throat, sealing it further with a silent spell.
Her hands immediately flew up to the chain tugging at it, scraping it with her nails in her attempts to get it off. "Take it off!" she yelled, thrashing on the floor with the chain in hand. Hermione stopped suddenly, grabbing at something on the floor and he watched as she swung the part of the chain she held in her hands onto the ground before smashing at it with a metal paperweight. There was an enraged scream as she brought it down again and he caught her wrist, the item slipping through her fingers to clatter to the ground as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Please, you can't do this. Take it off."
He waited for the sobs to subside, for the tears to slow before leaning down, brushing her hair over her shoulder so he could speak directly into her ear, "Gladly." Her eyes flickered to him and he met them as he dropped the chain, curling his fingers into the hem of her robe before tearing through the fabric.
His tongue snaked out to lick at his lips as he remembered her struggles then, her screams that he made sure to misinterpret.
There was a crash from across the room and his eyes refocused to see a vase had shattered on the ground. That Hermione was against the dresser it had been on top of, staring at him with wide eyes. He smirked as he got up and walked over, kicking the bowl to the side as he passed, though he did glance down to make sure it was completely empty. That she had eaten everything inside. He chuckled, "Good, little lion." Her hands raised, wrapping around the necklace and he knew her eyes were on the chain he held now. It probably wouldn't do to tell her what - or rather who - had been in there if he wanted to get the chain on her quickly and be able to get some sleep before his Lord called him away again.
That was the only thing he didn't like about this arrangement. He had her in his house but he hardly had any time to spend here with the war starting again. Once it was over he would. If the Order stopped hiding, stopped recruiting for their cause it would go quicker. Unfortunately the fools continued to fight. Which included Moody. If that auror could see her now...
His smirk widened as he crouched down next to her, reaching out to run his fingers through knotted hair, "My little lion," his hand lowered to trace the curve of her cheek, being careful not to press against a still healing scar along the edge, "My brave little lion," his thumb ran over her lips, feeling them part, trembling as warm air slipt past.
He leaned forward quickly before she closed them again, fingers wrapping along her chin to keep her from moving her head away. Her lips were warm against his and he pushed forward, slipping his tongue through to explore for the fews seconds it took before her fists were pounding at his shoulders. His tongue retreated quickly. Even so her teeth caught a corner of his lip and he moved back ignoring the tear of skin, little droplets of blood on the corner of his mouth. Looking at her, his blood smeared along her lips, his fingers just fastening the chain on to her necklace he smirked, "My brave bloody little lion."
The corners of her eyes shined from the water there and when she blinked the tears ran down her cheeks as he stood up. Barty tugged at the chain forcing her up to her feet. He took a moment to lean forward, licking the salty tears from her skin before turning and walking out into the hall.
He could hear her footsteps following slowly and he increased his pace so she would have to speed up or risk falling to the ground and being dragged across it. They tapped quicker at the stone and he grinned, only coming to a stop when he got to his door and pushed it open, pulling her though the entranceway.
"Sit," he said, waving his hand to the pile of pillows on the ground. Her footsteps hesistated and he began to frown when she hurried forward to sit among the pillows in her tattered robes, eyes lowered. Barty smiled at her, glad she had finally done as he asked concerning that. Every other time she had screamed obscenities at him. "I have a present for you," he dropped the chain for a moment, eyes staying on her for a second before turning to retrieve the small box that had been sitting on his table for almost a week now.
When he turned back around she hadn't moved from the spot, the chain was untouched and he extended his hand to her, dropping the box onto one of the cushions. "Open it and change." Barty turned from her form to go and close the door. With a whispered spell to make sure it remained locked he walked to the other side of the room, pulling off his robe to throw over a chair. He didn't take anything else off though considering Voldemort could call him at any time and he liked to be the first one there. Some of the others would take a full minute to show up. A complete waste of his Lord's time when that minute could have been used to explain what he needed them to do.
"Barty?" He glanced over his shoulder with a smile, atleast she wasn't calling him Bartemius today. If she had he would have to be taking that present back from her now and spend some time punishing her for it. "Is this..." when his eyes lowered so did her voice. Dark blue silk wrapped around from the back of her neck to trail down her chest, the two threads about an inch and a half across ran right over the nipples of her breast down to her waist where the outfit wrapped along her waist, the bottom looking like a thong.
"Perfect fit," he flicked his wrist so the chain on the ground raised and he wrapped his fingers along it, "Get on the bed, little lion." He waited to see what she would do and when she started to stand up he tugged at the chain so she fell forward onto her hands and knees. "Crawl." Her head stayed lowered as she moved forward, pausing at the edge of the bed and he thought he would have to remind her when she jumped up onto the mattress to go still again. Barty walked forward, coiling the chain around his hand as he got closer before getting onto the bed, lying on his side and watching her for a moment. Just perfectly still, waiting for his next order. He smirked, patting the space infront of him, "Come here." When she laid down across from him he wrapped an arm around her waist before allowing himself to close his eyes and sleep.