Warnings for this chapter: Violence.
12. CAT FIGHTS AND HISSY FITS
Holly hadn't slept well or much at all. After… after, Tom had pulled her against his chest, his long arms staying wrapped around her possessively even as he fell asleep and the effects of the Calming Draught irretrievably wore off. Holly had pulled her knees up to her chest, trying to curl away from him and pressing her fist against her mouth to stifle her sobs. Finally she had fallen into an exhausted sleep, only to wake up again, what felt like barely an hour later, from a nightmare. She'd lain awake since then, though when Tom's wand warmed against her side and he started to stir, she closed her eyes, evened her breathing and pretended to be fast asleep.
The mattress dipped as Voldemort sat up and she could feel his eyes on her before he finally got up and left the room. A few minutes later, she could hear the sounds of the shower and dared to breathe a little easier, though she still stayed in bed, not wanting to risk running into the Dark wizard when she still felt so raw and close to tears. After a while the shower shut off and a few minutes later, Voldemort came back into the bedroom. She could feel his eyes on her again, heard the soft pad of his feet as he crept closer to the bed and crouched down on her side.
He reached out, carefully brushing a strand of her hair out of her face. "I know you're awake, Holly, but you don't have to talk to me if you don't want to. Though I do hope to see you at breakfast within the next hour." He leaned closer, so close that she could feel his minty breath against her eyelids, and pressed a chaste kiss against her lightning bolt scar before he pulled back and finally left their quarters.
As soon as she heard the click of the outer door, Holly blinked open her eyes and turned on her back, sightlessly staring up at the black canopy hangings for a few minutes until she felt less like she would dissolve into a soggy mess of tears. She pushed back the covers and swung out of bed, ignoring the brief twinge of pain and the moment of vertigo as she reached for the smaller of the two bathrobes hanging by the door and wound it tightly around her body.
Thus at least feeling slightly less vulnerable, she scurried into the bathroom, once again firmly locking the door behind her. Tom had left the window open to allow the steam to escape and she shivered slightly, telling herself it was from the cool morning air and not a physical reaction to her emotional state. She checked again that the door was locked, listened for a moment to make sure no one else was in their quarters and then shed the bathrobe again, quickly stepping under the shower and turning it as hot as it would go.
She scrubbed herself from head to toe, twice, hoping to destroy all evidence of the night before, washed her hair and then spent an inordinately long time looking for a hairdryer before she finally gave up and just tied her hair back in a braid. She hovered hesitantly over the still half-filled bottle of Calming Draught, but then pulled back with a sigh. As tempting as it was, she couldn't spend the rest of her life in a drugged daze of magical calm and if she was somehow going to get used to her new life, she might as well start right away.
That decided, and once again safely wrapped in her bathrobe, she slipped back into the bedroom and quickly found the landscape painting Tom had mentioned the night before. Her clothes were already neatly folded and hung in the walk-in cupboard, filling barely a quarter of her allotted half of the space. She picked out one of the outfits she had bought with Narcissa's help, a pair of dark trousers and a button-down, short-sleeved shirt with small stitched flowers, and then also slipped on her black casual robes. She normally wouldn't have bothered with them, but she could at least try to make a good first impression on whoever else might be residing in the castle.
She took a few more deep breaths and straightened her shoulders before she softly called for Dobby, who popped up immediately, his small face stretched into the broadest grin as he greeted her with an exaggerated bow. She was glad to see that at least someone was enthusiastic about being here.
"Good morning, Dobby. Thank you for already unpacking my things – and please also pass that on to Winky. Is everything all right so far?"
"Yes, Mistress Holly, Dobby is happy to report that everything is very all right!" Dobby announced, bouncing a little with his excitement. "How may Dobby be of service today, Mistress Holly?"
"Do you know if breakfast has started already and could you show me the way to the dining hall?" she asked, smiling a little when Dobby started nodding immediately and with so much force that he reminded her a little of those bobbleheads some people had in their cars.
"Yes, it has! Dobby will be happy to show Mistress Holly the way," he exclaimed, hopping towards the door and opening it with another deep bow. "This way, Mistress Holly, this way!"
In the light of day, the castle seemed a little friendlier than what she had feared from her first impression the night before. The stone walls still looked dark and a little damp, but most of the corridors were lined with Slytherin green wall hangings, some of the windows were fitted with coloured glass panes and the many snakes that populated the castle in the form of statues, paintings and embossings held the promise of many secrets rooms and shortcuts to discover.
Dobby didn't seem to mind that she let her mind and eyes wander, unerringly leading her through a maze of halls and corridors until they stopped in front of a black double door, twice her height.
"This is the dining hall, Mistress Holly," Dobby squeaked, performing another deep bow and looking up at her with luminous, tennis-ball eyes.
"Do you know who is already in there?" Holly asked hesitantly.
"Dobby does know! It is Marcus Mulciber, David Travers, Rabastan and Rudolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix Lestrange and Professor Snape," Dobby declared proudly, popping away when Holly murmured an absent thank you and waved goodbye.
She hesitated in front of the door, not sure that it would be a good idea to go in there if Tom wasn't present to keep his Death Eaters in check.
"You're blocking the door," she heard a deep burr from behind, swivelling around and craning her neck to meet the small brown eyes of who could only be Goyle's father. They had the same large frame, broad shoulders and long arms, the same bristly hair and the same slightly vacant expression.
"Sorry," she mumbled, taking a step to the side and then following behind him when he pushed the door open with enough force that both sides swung wide.
The dining hall was spacious, as she had expected, but surprisingly well-illuminated, the morning light falling through the large window front along one side of the hall. The walls were decorated with hangings depicting the Slytherin crest and the long table was made from gleaming, dark wood to match the upholstered dining chairs. Goyle Sr. unceremoniously dropped into one of the chairs, grunting something that might have been a greeting and reaching for the breadbasket.
"Good morning," Holly said, trying to decide where might be a safe place to sit as one or two of the Death Eaters returned her greeting. She startled slightly when she heard a hiss from behind her, turning around to find Nagini basking in a circle of sunlight, her slitted eyes studying her keenly. §Good morning, Nagini.§
Nagini gave a humming hiss, flicking her tail in what might have been a greeting, and then closed her eyes again in a clear dismissal.
Holly sighed soundlessly and finally decided on the chair next to Professor Snape, guessing that at very least he wouldn't be actively trying to kill her and that the chair was far enough from Bellatrix, who was staring at her with her heavy-lidded, malicious eyes. She slid into her chosen seat, but before she could even pour herself some coffee, Bellatrix unfolded her Daily Prophet with a dramatic flourish and began to read out loud in an annoying falsetto.
"Holly Potter, our very own Girl-Who-Lived, looked resplendent in a stunning wedding gown designed by Bianca Bouquet – ah, you see, always this inattention to detail. They clearly meant to say 'repugnant'," Bellatrix interrupted herself, making a great production of conjuring a quill and crossing out the word in red ink.
Holly busied herself with adding milk to her half full cup of coffee, doing her best to just ignore the other witch as she continued to read and rewrite passages from the article, adding her own vicious commentary whenever she felt the descriptions lacking. It seemed to be what everyone else had decided to do as well. Goyle was shovelling incredible amounts of food into his mouth, Travers and Mulciber were immersed in a conversation of their own at the other end of the table, Professor Snape had buried his nose in a book and while Rudolphus Lestrange made some half-hearted attempts to shush his wife, she simply ignored him, too focussed on Holly to pay him any attention.
"So quiet, Potter? Nothing to say – or maybe your throat is still a little sore after last night. Did the Dark Lord make good use of his child bride?" She cackled madly at her own wit, though Holly wasn't even sure what she was getting at. "It's the only thing you're good for, you pathetic little whore."
"I was just thinking that Sirius is the Head of the House of Black now," Holly answered, forcing herself not to flinch away. "Such a huge responsibility. I sure hope he won't let his personal feelings influence him in his decisions…"
"Is that a threat?" Bellatrix demanded angrily, leaning forward across the table. "He wouldn't dare kick me out of the family."
"I wouldn't say that to him or he'll do it just to spite you," Holly replied, allowing herself a smirk. "And I'm his daughter. Of course he would."
"You could never be a daughter of the House of Black, you dirty Mudblood," Bellatrix spat, her face contorting into an angry grimace when Holly laughed.
"You do know what your precious Dark Lord used when he resurrected himself, don't you?" Holly demanded, idly stirring her coffee. "The bones of his Muggle father, the flesh of his rat servant… and my muddy blood. I wonder if he'd be pleased about your assessment. And I think you also called him a paedophile – is that considered a compliment in your circles?"
"You… How dare you besmirch the name of our Lord!" Bellatrix exclaimed. "You will pay for this!"
Holly ducked on instinct, just as a red beam of light hit the chair she'd only moments before been sitting on, and rolled away from two other wordless curses as best she could until she was sure that the next one would hit its mark. She felt the transformation wash over her body, animal instincts taking over as she darted for cover.
"Bellatrix, that is quite enough," Snape's silky voice filtered past the loud pounding of her own heart in her ears.
"She insulted our Lord!" Bellatrix snapped back.
"And he shall deal with that as he sees fit. But he vowed that Miss Potter would not be harmed while she's in his care. What do you think he would value more – his magic or the dubitable pleasure of your company? Lower your wand, Bellatrix, I don't like to repeat myself," Snape replied and Holly carefully slinked out from under the table, peering around the Potions Master's long legs to take in the tense standoff between the two Death Eaters.
"Fine." The witch sneered, glaring down at Holly. "I should have killed my dear cousin when I had the chance. But don't worry, that can still be remedied easily…"
The threat cut like a Severing Hex through the thin veneer of her composure and self-restraint. She let out an angry hiss, catapulting herself over the table in one clean leap and lunging at Bellatrix before the other witch could even fully raise her wand. She lashed out with her paw, her claws leaving angry red welts on Bellatrix' right arm, and let loose a loud roar to drown out the witches' screams. Bellatrix scrambled back and Holly followed her, the anger still hot in her veins as she showed her impressive fangs in another roar.
Suddenly she heard a hiss and then there was a shifting underneath her paws, the floor seeming to break away beneath her. She backtracked quickly, but Bellatrix wasn't so lucky, the sinkhole having appeared right underneath her, the stone slabs rearranging into a chute that swallowed her quickly before the floor seamlessly slid back into its previous configuration. Holly dropped onto her haunches, huffing in thought before she became aware of the tumult behind her. It seemed the Death Eaters had finally found a reason to interrupt their breakfast.
She quickly slipped back underneath the table, winding her feline body gracefully through the turned wooden legs of the chairs and reappearing at Snape's side, who once again seemed to be arguing in her defence.
"What is the meaning of this?" Voldemort's commanding voice broke through the cacophony of sound, the Death Eaters quietening immediately. "Severus, what's that panther doing here?"
Holly hid back behind Snape's legs when the Dark Lord pointed his wand straight in her direction, a small pitiful meow escaping her throat.
"Please, my Lord, that's Miss Potter," Professor Snape intervened again, waiting for Tom to lower his wand in surprise before he turned around to face her. "Miss Potter, it would be wise, I think, if you turned back into your human form now." Holly hesitated another moment, her tail swishing behind her in agitation. "Unless you require assistance, Miss Potter?"
She huffed a little, but reached for the small part of her that remained stubbornly human, tugging and pulling on it until she could feel the transformation wash over her again, black fur ceding to pale skin, deadly claws turning back into blunt nails, sharp incisors giving way to an unimpressively human set of teeth.
"I can turn back," she murmured, meeting the inscrutable coal-black eyes of the Potions Master. "Thank you, Professor."
"What happened here?" Voldemort demanded before Snape could reply anything. "Was the contract not clear to you, Holly? You are not to attack my Death Eaters! And you didn't tell me that you were an Animagus!"
She grit her teeth, resisting the urge to take cover again as Voldemort strode towards her, easily towering over her small frame.
"Correction, I promised not to use magic to harm or humiliate them," Holly snapped back. "I didn't. And you never asked whether I was an Animagus – not that I would have had any reason to tell you!"
"My Lord, Bellatrix attacked her," the older of the two Lestrange brothers spoke up.
"She threatened Sirius!" Holly interjected, though Rudolphus Lestrange just ignored her, still addressing the Dark Lord, "She was defending herself."
"It didn't look like self-defence to me," Voldemort insisted, glaring angrily down at her. "Where did you send her, Holly?"
"How would I know? It's your castle," she gave back, crossing her arms over her chest. "And I didn't open the trap door. Nagini did." §And thank you for that.§
She turned towards the large snake, intend to move away from Voldemort's oppressive presence, but her legs suddenly gave out under her, a shooting pain stabbing her in the side.
"Holly!" Tom exclaimed, catching her and carefully lowering her to the floor as she brought her hand to her side, staring with some surprise at the blood coating her fingertips.
"Oh."
"Holly," Tom said again, his touch gentle, the pain from her scar finally subsiding.
He pushed aside her robes despite her weak protests, carefully peeling the ruined shirt away from her stomach. It didn't look too bad, at first glance. The cut was shallow and only about as long as the palm of her hand, but it still hurt, burned, and the angry red lines that were starting to snake across her sides were probably not a good sign.
Tom cursed in Parseltongue, which amused her for some reason, and then shouted for Snape, who knelt down at her side a moment later, his potion-stained fingers carefully gliding over her stomach.
"Have you taken any potions, Miss Potter?" Snape demanded, studying her intently.
"Just the one last night," she answered, which seemed to satisfy him, though a moment later he was already asking the next question, "Do you know which curse hit you?"
"The yellow one, I think. Smelled like vinegar," she whispered, wishing Tom would stop holding her so tightly, wishing the Death Eaters would find back to their former indifference and back off.
"Septica," Rudolphus Lestrange offered. "It's one of her favourites."
"I can perform the counter," Rabastan Lestrange suggested next and she futily tried to jerk away when his wand was suddenly trained on her.
"Hush," Tom murmured. "No-one will hurt you."
She still remained tense as the younger Lestrange spoke the counter curse, feeling barely any relief though the burning sensation subsided a little.
"You promised that before. You promised they wouldn't hurt me," she muttered, hissing in pain when Snape poured a potion over her wound that sizzled against her flesh with angry green bubbles.
"Correction, I promised I would order them not to hurt you," Tom replied with a smirk. "Only a fool would make a vow on their magic that would fall to someone else to uphold."
"But…" Holly protested, feeling herself go cold in shock. "But you promised peace! It was all a ruse? It was all for nothing? I let you…"
She started to struggle in earnest, her panic sky-rocketing when both Voldemort and Professor Snape held her down and wouldn't release her, the crowd of Death Eaters further closing her in. Behind her the windows burst.
§They are scaring the little snake-speaker,§ Nagini hissed testily, gliding around her and Voldemort and causing the Death Eaters to take a few hasty steps back.
Voldemort sighed in annoyance, still keeping her contained in his arms despite her protests. "Severus, are you done dressing her wound? Good, then everyone out!"
The Death Eaters obeyed without question and less than a minute later she was alone with the Dark Lord, who still kept her pressed against his chest.
"Holly, Holly, calm down," he admonished her.
"Let go of me!" Holly shouted, kicking and twisting to get free. "Let go!"
"Hush, just let me explain," he replied, catching her flailing limbs. "Holly, I have no qualms about putting you in a Full-Body Bind if you don't calm down."
Holly froze, the thought of being even more at his mercy, of her body no longer responding to her commands while he did whatever he pleased with her like an ice-cold shower. "Explain what," she pressed out, turning as far away from him as he would allow.
Voldemort sighed, running his fingers through her still damp hair.
"The contract was not a ruse. The reason for the distinction I made is the same as the one you only initialled and agreed to the terms that pertain to you and are within your purview to fulfil," he explained, but she remained quiet, mutely staring at a shard of glass on the floor. He sighed again. "But when I signed the contract I made a vow not merely as a wizard, but as the commander in chief of one of the warring parties – the same as Dumbledore and Fudge. And we each agreed to not only cease the war, but also to charge those under our command with upholding the peace. And I for one do not take kindly to being disobeyed, as Bellatrix will soon learn."
Holly was silent for a moment longer, trying to parse the hidden meaning of those words, lest she fall into yet another trap. Tom pressed a kiss against her forehead, relaxing his hold on her when some of the tension went out of her body.
"I know there have been a lot of changes for you and I know you do not trust me, not yet at least. But you do not have to fear me, Holly. Didn't I prove that last night?" he asked, still petting her hair as if he assumed this would somehow soothe her.
"It hurt," Holly whispered, wishing he had not brought up this subject when she had done her best not to think about it at all.
He sighed, gently cupped her face. "May I ask… was this your first time, Holly?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Holly demanded with a huff to cover up the blush she could feel rising to her cheeks.
"I'll take that as a yes," Tom chuckled, leaning down to catch her lips in a kiss. "And unfortunately, for girls the first time can be a bit uncomfortable. I promise it'll get better, though, and you can always tell me if you don't like something."
Holly scoffed, rolling away from him and getting to her feet when he finally released her from his embrace, pulling her ruined shirt down over the white bandage Snape had fastened around her middle. "I don't need any more promises. I just need you to keep the ones you already made."
He chuckled, also getting to his feet and once more pulling her into his arms despite her protests. "But that's what I intend to do, my dear little wife." He tilted her chin up with a long, elegant finger and lowered his lips to hers, teasingly flicking his tongue against the seam of her mouth. "Shall we have breakfast, then?"
"Are you going to call them back in?" Holly demanded, watching in annoyance as Tom switched her place setting with the one next to his chair at the head of the table, clearly intending for her to sit there. "And am I still allowed to call you 'Tom' in front of your henchman or will that ruin your reputation?"
"I think my reputation can withstand it," he replied with continued good cheer, repairing the broken windows with a swish of his wand and causing the great double doors to swing open with another wordless spell. "Oh, and these are for you. It's why I was a little late."
He wove another charm into the air and the bouquet of flowers he must have dropped earlier picked itself up, the petals and leaves shimmying as if to dust themselves off and then rearranging themselves back into a beautiful bouquet of white peonies and freesia with some stems of lavender and a few other purple flowers Holly didn't recognise. The flowers gently drifted into her arms just as the Death Eaters started to filter back into the hall, retaking their seats with respectful inclinations of the head to their Lord.
"Thanks?" she murmured. "But I think next time, I'd prefer it if you were just on time."
She placed the flowers down beside her plate as Lucius claimed the seat opposite of her. "Good morning, Holly. How are you feeling today? I heard you had an exciting morning already."
"I'd feel a hell of a lot better if I didn't keep finding out about those little surprises that were added to the contract," Holly retorted, glaring at the blond. "Anything you'd like to tell me? Now?"
"Hm, let me think," Lucius replied exchanging a smirk with Tom as both of them seemed to consider her annoyance a source of personal amusement. Which only annoyed her more. "Ah, yes, I believe I added a clause that you're allowed to use your magic in self-defence. And of course, I made sure that the Gaunt Code of Conduct would be precluded from your marriage contract as it features some provisions…"
"Such as a wife's unfailing obedience to her husband," Tom interjected oh-so-helpfully.
"… that we thought might be difficult for you to implement," Lucius added, buttering his breakfast roll while Tom reached for one of the cheese sandwiches on the platter before him.
"Oh," Holly mumbled, smiling shyly at the blond. "I guess that's okay, Lucius, thank you. And thank you, Professor, you were awesome."
Snape scoffed and sneered, but she could see an ever so slight tint of colour appear on his pale cheeks and took it as a win. "Don't open your wound again. I have better things to do than to play nursemaid, Miss Potter."
"Speaking of which, here's your timetable," Tom spoke up again, handing her a sheet of paper. "I had scheduled Martial Arts for you today, but that seems a bit overzealous given your injury. Severus will try to teach you Occlumency instead."
"Yes, my Lord," Snape agreed obediently and she was mildly impressed that he bit back any sarcastic comment about how "try" was clearly the operative term in this scenario.
"Around ten-thirty, I'd say," Tom continued and Snape nodded again. "That should give us enough time for a tour of the castle."
Holly nodded when he looked at her. In truth she would have preferred to explore the castle on her own, but she supposed she shouldn't start complaining when Tom actually intended to keep his word. And with only one or two lessons a day, as per Tom's timetable, she hoped that there would be time for a bit of independent exploration. The timetable had a small box for every day till the beginning of the school year, in which Tom had written either Occlumency, Martial Arts or his own name. But Sundays were free and on Saturdays and Wednesdays she had only one lesson.
"You will arrange the other lesson times with your respective teachers," Tom explained, reaching for a second cheese sandwich. "They will also show you where their lessons will take place."
"Okay," Holly agreed softly, listlessly picking the black grapes out of her fruit salad. "Anything else?"
"Breakfast is served from seven to nine, lunch is at noon and dinner at six," Tom replied. "And I expect you to be present at meal times unless you have been excused."
Holly nodded again, eating a few more bites of her fruit salad, finishing her coffee and generally waiting for breakfast to be over.