Procyon Mask - Chapter 4

Hermione devoured over a dozen books in the few days leading up to the weekend in her search. It was the middle of Friday now and she was tucked away in the corner of the library, dreading the moment the medallion took her to Barty. Even more so as she barely caught herself from flinging the latest book out the window.

Useless! That's what they all were, even the few from the restricted section hadn't helped her at all. It seemed like an impossibility. She always found the answers to her problems in books. Like during her second year when she realized before everyone else that the creature from the Chamber of Secrets was a basilisk.

Besides, she had even braved Filch's potential wrath by going into the restricted section and she hadn't been rewarded for her effort. She found some detailed reports of those that had used the traditional marriage binding ritual to do some truly awful things, but that's about it. Like how it was used on mudbloods more in communities to make them fall in line, they got a 'ward' to give them commands through the ritual that was meant to show them how wizarding society worked. But of course that just ended in abuse and not many people cared at the time because of their status as mudbloods.

It was predictable really. Which made her wonder why Barty felt the need to marry her to use it when a marriage wasn't necessary. But that's about the most useful information she was able to glean from the books. Everything else was just a repeat of what she already knew. So she had gotten some 'interesting' information for her trouble, but it was useless.

Hermione sighs, pressing her head down into her hands and massaging at her temples.

Okay, think. What were his orders, again? You can't lie to him, if he commands something you must follow. What about his commands? She couldn't tell anyone the truth about the marriage, much less his name, she couldn't talk of what happened at the house regardless of what it was. And she couldn't leave Britain without him. Everything was designed so she couldn't talk about him or run away. He was adamant about keeping her close and for - whatever reason - using her to feed information to Draco, then Voldemort.

She's not sure why the two are bothering with the extra step, but it confirmed Harry's suspicions back on the train. That Draco was a Death Eater or at least he was being tested for the position. But why would Barty help him and his father? Did he get something out of it? She couldn't think of anything Lucius could do that Barty couldn't though. She was fairly certain Barty was the more capable wizard of the two.

Whatever. It's not important.

And she was beginning to get a headache from running all the facts through her head multiple times, trying to understand Barty's reasoning or find a hole. The only one she had found so far though is that he hadn't commanded her not to look for a way out of the binding ritual. She was starting to understand why.

There weren't any records of someone breaking it. She was starting to wonder if it had been a prototype of the unbreakable vow at the time or simply a similar spell that allowed the adding and removal of rules as needed instead of doing the spell multiple times. It wasn't a line of thinking she particularly liked, but it had a solid reasoning for why she wasn't finding anything.

Hermione raises her head from her hands, glancing over the books before slowly gathering them up to put away. The last thing she needed was the school's librarian yelling at her for leaving books out of their proper place.

Was there anywhere else she could try? She had maybe seven hours depending on when Barty would activate the portkey, but she would rather not face off with him while she was low on sleep.

Maybe she should just go to the Gryffindor Commons, listen to everyone talk about the law and the matches that came with it.

Ginny had told her the other night that George and Fred's letters listed the girls they were currently dating, Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell, respectively. And… she was happy for them, really. But she couldn't find any joy in the occasion like they must have because of her own impending doom.

Barty had mentioned wanting to teach her how to act if someone came by the Manor, but that was it. She was hoping he wasn't going to ask her to say ridiculous things about wanting Harry dead like he had during the ceremony but there was no way for her to know what to expect. Other than it taking longer than the ceremony had, which didn't tell her much of anything.

There was also talk around the school about matches from other houses. She hadn't paid most of them attention, but she had heard Cho Chang got matched with someone outside of the school, and that lecherous Cormac McLaggen was paired with Romilda Vane.

Maybe the potion the Ministry had used could detect compatibility. In everyone's cases except hers.

Now she wished she had been dating someone. If someone had interested her. As upset as Ron seemed with her getting a letter she couldn't be bothered to take him seriously. Not after he ignored her own interest the past years. She finally threw away any hope of him recognizing her as the opposite gender and that's when he became interested? Hermione wasn't about to play that game.

In that regard the letters were a blessing. It gave her an excuse not to say yes to Ron that was even better than her simply ignoring him. Still, she would've liked to not have her match tampered with in this case.

But there was nothing she could do about it now. Barty had seen to that quite effectively. He was much too clever and she didn't admire that intelligence in the slightest. Nope. Not at all. Or that's what she repeated to herself each time she had finished reading through one book to find no answers.

Definitely too intelligent and insane to boot. It was a dangerous combination and she was currently suffering the consequences.

Ginny was trying to ask about her match and Hermione didn't know what to say. For all intents and purposes she had never met him, definitely wasn't married, and no, she hadn't received any letters from the 'mysterious' Radovan. Ron on the other hand hadn't properly talked to her since the 28th, only ever making snide comments when he did direct a few words her way. It was more irritating than Ginny's endless questions. Harry was trying to act as a buffer between her and Ron, though his success varied. He also asked about her match, but without anything to say… all he wanted to know was when she got into contact with her match.

Something that would be happening soon under normal circumstances. She would need to lie tonight about getting a letter and use the medallion to get back to the Manor. As much as she didn't want to go back, the law required it and she needed to tell her friends something so it wasn't weird when she disappeared. Which meant… going to the manor early.

She was hoping Barty wouldn't see it as her being more amicable towards him, but she didn't know how to read his expressions, much less understand him. Hermione would need to explain the situation with her friends and hope that Barty would help her by sending letters, ironically. She would need evidence of her corresponding with her match afterall. It would be easiest for him to write them. She wasn't sure who to go if he wouldn't.

Well, she would cross that bridge when she got to it. For now… she needed to go to the Common room and lie to her friends. The decision weighed heavily on her mind and heart, but with so little time she could find no other solution. She would go to bed early so she could have a clear mind when she met with Barty. That was the extent of her plan.

It was either lie to her friends or… find out what Barty had meant when he said, "if someone tries to take you from me I promise a ghastly death to them." which she wasn't keen on. She found it odd that he said it during the binding ritual considering it didn't bind her. He had bound himself with an order.

It was… weird. But she didn't doubt he would kill her friends if they learned of her situation and tried to take her away. That would probably count as 'taking her from him' and as mad as she was at Ron for being a giant git she didn't want to see him get tortured to death by a madman. She never wanted to see anyone get tortured really.

That was it then.

She had placed the last book back on the shelf, staring at it, willing it to grow the answer for her within its pages. The book didn't so much as twitch at her silent command.

Hermione takes in a breath, grabs her bag and heads up to face the others.

It's a much shorter trip than she remembered. Soon she's gazing up at the Fat Lady who's staring down at her with a curious expression.

"Are you alright, dear? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine," Hermione replied, trying to work up the courage to lie to her friends just this once, not to mention countless more times after she committed her first offense. She was starting to feel sick again, just like when Barty had apparated her to his manor.

"If you say so. Password?"

"Tumultuous gumdrops."

"Okay. Maybe go to sleep, dearie. You look like you need it."

"Thanks," Hermione mutters, stepping through as soon as the door opens.

Ginny is the first to look up from the couch, Harry glancing over after Ginny, and Ron keeps his head down, staring into the fire. Great. More moping. She couldn't decide which was worse. Ron acting hurt or Barty thinking she would shag him after what he did to her. Really, they were both a little nutty.

"How are you doing, Hermione?"

"I'm… good." She walks over to them, keeping a hand on her bag. "I… didn't want to dump this on you guys, but… Radovan contacted me. We're going to spend the weekend together. I'll be leaving tonight to make sure I get there and can spend the full forty eight hours required of me."

Ginny nods. "I figured. You said as much the day of. I was just beginning to wonder if he was out of the country since he was taking so long to reach out to you."

"I'll ask when I see him."

Harry looks like he's about to say something when Ron cuts in, "He already sounds like a bloody git if you ask me."

"Hush, Ron!" Ginny turns back to look at her, frowning. "Just tell us how it goes."

Harry nods his head. "We just want to make sure you're okay. If the guy ends up being a git like Ron here-"

"Hey!"

"Well, you are," Ginny interjects.

"-we'll find a way to get you out of your marriage."

"Thanks, Harry. I… appreciate it." But please don't. Gosh, she wishes she could just run away from them but then she would be useless to Barty and he just might kill her. Besides, the number of places she could run to had dwindled immensely with his one command. "I'll see you all on Monday, okay?"

"Sure thing!" Ginny smiles at her but she finds it impossible to reciprocate the action and instead turns from her friends and makes her way upstairs.

She slumps onto her bed, thankful that it's still too early for anyone else to be here and messes with the clock on her nightstand so she can get a nap in before seeing Barty. She really wasn't looking forward to the next few days.

Hermione closes her eyes and wills herself to sleep for the few precious hours she has remaining before her freedom is stripped away.

Her alarm goes off at nine pm sharp.

With a groan she gets up, ignoring the look Padma Patil throws at her for setting an alarm at night. "Sorry," Hermione mumbles, getting up and grabbing her suitcase. She was going to assume she would need a change of clothes and even if Barty were to have some for her she would refuse.

"Why are you waking up in the middle of the night?" Padma asks. Thankfully it's just her in the room.

"My match isn't at Hogwarts. I have to go be with them on the weekend."

"Oh. Who is your match anyway?"

Hermione hesitated in gathering up some clothes. Would Padma recognize the name? It couldn't hurt to ask, could it? "His name is Radovan Krevmaj. I'm hoping I'll learn more about him this weekend. So far everyone I've told doesn't know anything about him."

"What's his blood status?"

"Um… pure-blood, I think." She hadn't actually mentioned that to her friends below, she was hoping Padma didn't. Or thought she was guessing.

"Hm. Definitely an immigrant then. Radovan… Krevmaj? I want to say the name sounds Eastern European, but I'm not sure. How long does the law require you to be together? I'm not due to get my letter for a couple months yet."

"It's forty eight hours because of my schooling. So if your match ends up not being here you'll have to go away on the weekends."

"Or you could just invite him here for one of the weekends."

Hermione nearly froze in place at the suggestion. Barty in Hogwarts? Hell no. She was sure he would call her insane if she thought to ever suggest such a thing. And she would never let him near Harry, not after what happened during her fourth year.

"We'll… see." Hermione forces out the words. "His job may not allow him to do so."

"Well, I think everyone would like to see who your match is."

She didn't doubt it. Everyone was only going to get even more curious as time passed. She was mostly worried about her friends finding out, though. "At the moment I would like to meet him first."

Padma purses her lips at her words, but gets the message and says nothing else.

Hermione quickly finishes packing her suitcase and leaves the room, she descends down the stairs quickly, not looking over at the couch as she makes a bee line for the portrait. She raises a hand to push it open and steps through. The Fat Lady gives her a curious look but Hermione hurries away before any more questions can be asked of her.

She was hoping her friends would relay her whereabouts to McGonagall or she would just assume where she was because of the law.

Hermione keeps walking until she reaches a remote enough hallway and takes out the medallion. She didn't actually get a good look at it before. It was a dark bronze with a symbol carved in the middle through mismatched gems. For a moment she mistook the symbol on it for that of a hospital, but there were no wings at the top. It was… a wand with what looked like barbed wire wrapped around it. Creepy. Just like Barty, it fit him.

"Alright." She takes a deep breath and whispers to the medallion, "Take me to him."

For a moment she wasn't sure such a simple command would work, but then the air shifted around her and the snap nearly defeaned her ears.

The second time was somehow even more unpleasant than the first. Her head was being forced between two rocks again, but there was an added edge to them and they quickly sawed into her metaphysical skull. Hermione's lips part to yell in the emptiness, her ears filled with a sound akin to rushing water.

If she didn't know about the wards she'd think the medallion had been enchanted to torture her to death.

But eventually it stops and her vision clears. Hermione is standing in a study, swaying as she makes the effort not to fall to her knees. Her head still hurts. Barty is sitting in a chair at the desk, but upon hearing the snap of apparition fill the room he turns to look at her.

"You're early." Damn it. He was smiling at her, eyes glittering in the candle light. She wasn't certain her few hours of sleep were going to help her deal with him.

"I don't have anything from the Order for you."

Barty cocks his head to the side, regarding her for a moment. "I didn't think you would. It's only been a few days, after all. And I'm taking away your weekend time. So… you had the medallion bring you to me instead of just the manor?"

She didn't even realize that was an option. He hadn't actually told her how the medallion would work, just to use it. She had guessed at what she needed to say and if it hadn't worked the first time, she would have kept guessing. Hermione tells him as much, scowling. "You didn't give me directions on how to use it or if you would be in the manor."

Barty's raises a brow. "I didn't?"

"No," she snaps, not about to entertain his delusions. "That's why I'm early. I didn't want to be stuck here on Monday if it took me awhile to get the medallion to work."

"I see." He turns back around to face his desk and Hermione allows herself to relax without his gaze on her. "Let me finish here and then I'll show you to our room."

Our room? "I'm not sleeping with you, Barty. This whole marriage is a sham and you know it. I want my own room."

He doesn't even glance up from his papers, quill dancing along the parchment. "I don't think you're understanding the situation, Hermione. I'm the one that gives the orders and while you're here you need to be on your best behavior. Acting out like this is not your best behavior, in case you were wondering."

Her mouth nearly falls open. The gall of him! "I am not a pet, Barty. And I refuse to sleep in the same room as you."

"Keep refusing. It doesn't make a difference to me." He dips the quill into an ink well before he continues writing. "Or are you forgetting what happened the last time you refused me already? Do you have a short term memory loss problem, Hermione?" He finally sits up, laying the quill down and turning to face her.

The moment his eyes are on her again she feels a shiver crawl down her spine. "No, I haven't forgotten. That spell won't be necessary." If he cast it now she might be held under for the rest of her stay and then she couldn't ask him what she needed to. She might as well do so now before he decided he didn't want to listen to her talk. "I... " Hermione attempts to swallow her pride and starts again. "I need your help, actually. That's why I'm early."

"Oh? How curious." Barty smiles, clasping his hands together as he watches her. "And what do you need my help with, darling?"

Her face contorts into one of anger for a moment for using such an endearment with her before she reins her emotions in. "It's… my friends. They saw your version of my letter." His brow quirks at her wording, but he stays quiet for now. "I told them tonight I got a letter back from Radovan and that I was going to meet him for the weekend. I need you to write me that letter and others. I need them to believe Radovan is a real person and not a Death Eater."

Bartemius' lips pull up into a smirk. "You're misleading your own friends? I thought you would want their help getting out of this 'sham of a marriage.'"

Hermione flinches at his tone, but gives a small nod. "I am. Because you'll kill them otherwise. You promised you would during that binding ritual."

His teeth flash in the light for a moment as he smiles. "So we understand each other, then."

Hermione takes a step back from the intensity of his gaze. He looks… very smug with himself. She hates it. "I just want to protect my friends."

"While stabbing them in the back yourself."

"You're not giving me much of a choice here, Barty." She was starting to tremble with rage, all of her bottled emotions coming to the surface. She raises her voice, "What else Am I supposed to do!? I tried looking for a way to break the binding, but…" She grits her teeth.

"You found nothing?"

Her shoulders sag. "Yes. You've won, for now."

Bartemius' laughter assaults her ears, making every hair on her arms and legs stand on end. He quiets down after a moment, looking thoroughly amused. "Does that mean you'll sleep in the same bed as me tonight? As my reward for winning?" His tongue brushes over his bottom lip, eyes sparkling as he watches her.

She can't help it, she takes another step back from him. "I…"

"How about this? I write the letters you need to cover up who I am and in exchange you sleep with me for the nights you're here. That sound good?"

Hermione wets her suddenly dry lips. "It would sound better if I had a choice."

"Oh, but you do have a choice." His eyes glow in the candlelight as his gaze travels up her shivering frame, making her tremble even more. "You can agree to my terms or I can just imperio you. You get to choose how you end up in my bed, but you will be sleeping in our room while you're here. It would be unbecoming of a wife to sleep in a different room than her husband. Don't you think? People might talk."

What people? She wants to ask. Their marriage was to be a secret. He had made that perfectly clear himself. He was just talking nonsense to unnerve her and it was working. He really was insane.

"Fine. I'll sleep in your room."

"Our room," Barty reminds her, frowning now. "There's something else on your mind. Out with it."

How did he…?

Was he a fucking legilmens? Oh, fuck her. Even if she couldn't lie to him, what was the point of asking her anything if he could just read her mind? She was hoping she was wrong in her assessment, that perhaps he was just good at reading body language, but she was thoroughly unnerved now.

How much worse could her situation get?

"Yes. I want to know how you knew I would be alone when I got my letter. Your plans would have gone up shit's creek if I weren't."

Barty stares at her, leaning back in his chair, hands resting on his thighs now. "Is that all?"

Hermione's hands curl into fists at her sides. "I'm asking you a question! Did you or did you not use felix felicis to get that letter to me!?" That was the only answer she could think of. Nothing else made sense. He must have acquired the potion or crafted it himself that day. "Well?"

"If I tell you I didn't and that it was fate, would you believe me?"

"Hell no. I want the truth now. I want to know why you're trying to single handedly ruin my life!"

"I just told you the truth. And I'm not ruining your life Hermione. I'm enhancing it."

She doesn't know whether she should laugh or cry. "I literally can't lie to you Barty. I would appreciate it if you would extend me the same courtesy. We've already established that me running away from you just gets the people I love killed."

Barty sighs, glancing away for once. He turns and sticks the parchment he had been writing in a letter, sliding it into a peculiar slot on his desk. "I think you're exhausted and refuse to listen to reason."

"I took a nap before I came here. I don't need more sleep."

"Clearly you've worried yourself into a hole because you couldn't find a way out of our arrangement. And you won't. I assure you, you missed a book back at Hogwarts. Either because someone already had it checked out or any other number of reasons. Fate brought you to me and fate will keep you here. I don't need to do anything."

Her stomach churned at his words. That couldn't possibly be true. He had to have done something. And she had looked at the library extensively. She hadn't missed a book!

"You stuck the medallion in my letter."

"To bring you to my side sooner. I did promise the Ministry I would be married the day of to quell their fears."

"Don't pretend like you're not a Death Eater."

"I'm not pretending. The Ministry is pretending they didn't make a mistake by letting me out. But we'll have to wait and see what happens. Now come." Barty stands up, stretching his hand to her. "Let's go to bed tonight and talk more tomorrow."

Hermione stares at his hand, gaze flickering back up to his face. It was still devoid of emotion. He was a master manipulator if she ever saw one. "No."

His hand falls to his side and he sighs. "Do remember I gave you a choice."

Hermione goes to back up a step when the word imperio crosses his lips. She stops, foot hovering over the floor.

"Come to bed, Hermione."

Her lips part against her will. "Of course." And she follows him into the hall.