Hermione was tense as she waited for Tom next to Abraxas and Rufus. For some reason, he had asked her to stand outside the secret entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. It was not that Hermione did not know exactly what was behind it - she was more surprised that he would so naturally want to use this lair of the monster as a gathering place.
The looks Rufus gave her were anything but friendly. She could not blame him, for the dislike was mutual. He was not directly related to Bellatrix Lestrange, but the name brought back enough unpleasant memories. Besides, he seemed arrogant in a way that put even Draco Malfoy to shame.
Abraxas, on the other hand, simply looked worried. If she could have, Hermione would have stroked his arm sympathetically, but she dared not do so in the presence of other people. Of course, both men knew why she was here, but for two completely different reasons they obviously thought it was wrong. Inwardly, she agreed with them. What was she doing here? Did she really want to be accepted into the Death Eaters' circle, even if the name probably had not even been coined yet?
Before her doubts could get too big, Tom came around the corner. He smiled his friendliest smile and for a change Hermione even believed it was genuine. He was in a good mood. More than good mood. A tremor took possession of her. Obviously, he had understood what the spell could be useful for. Had he managed to change it to his purposes in one night? She prayed that it was not the case.
"My dear friends," Tom greeted them, beaming, "I'm glad you're on time. Follow me."
Silently, they did as they were commanded. The brief glance that Abraxas and Rufus exchanged spoke volumes. Clearly some were missing from this round, which could only mean that whatever Tom was up to today was really only for the innermost circle, whom he trusted absolutely. Or it was a test round to try out his new spell before he tried it on more wizards.
She shuddered.
Effortlessly, Tom opened the entrance, but after Abraxas and Rufus had climbed in first, he stopped her. His gaze was serious, almost insistent. "You will not flinch, do you understand? No matter how much it hurts, you will not show it. Don't embarrass me. Prove yourself worthy."
She merely nodded. Tom probably had no idea she knew what was coming, but she did. By Merlin. She was less dreading the pain; she could take that. She had survived Bellatrix's Cruciatus, she would get through this too. But she knew, after this, there would be no turning back for good. She would be at Tom's mercy, forever.
As she followed Tom and disappeared into the darkness, her thoughts wandered to Regulus Black. He too had once knowingly joined Voldemort, but he had chosen the good side in the end - despite the Dark Mark. Nothing could break a loyalty, a belief in the good, nothing could dictate their thoughts, not even a Dark Mark. No matter what Tom tried, he would never be able to manipulate her mind and her loyalty to her friends. Outwardly she might belong to him, but never inwardly, never completely.
In contrast to that day when Tom had shown her the chamber, he now led the small group through another corridor towards a second, much smaller hall. Here, too, there was an eerie green light, but no pipes could be seen that would allow the basilisk to enter. No one said anything, but Hermione clearly sensed that Abraxas and Rufus also noticed this fact and were relieved about it.
With a broad smile, Tom turned to the three of them. "Dear friends. Tonight, I have succeeded in what I have been striving for for a long time, without knowing how I should ever go about it. It is thanks to the love of my life that I can stand here before you today and present to you the fruits of my labour."
Hermione rolled her eyes in annoyance. As if anyone in this room believed for a second that Tom actually loved her. Even Abraxas, she hoped, was intelligent enough to understand that love was not crucial to their relationship.
"Hermione, my heart," Tom turned to her, "come here to me."
She swallowed hard. So now it was time. She stepped between Abraxas and Rufus and stood at the side of Tom, who was still smiling fearsomely cheerfully. Enthusiastically he continued, "Surely you are wondering why the others are not here today, since they have sworn loyalty and secrecy just as you have. Let me tell you: What I intend to do today is a test. I assume that it will succeed without difficulty, but if something should go wrong, I can be sure that you will not hold it against me. Before the rest are initiated, I want to be absolutely sure of the effect."
Hermione chewed her lip thoughtfully. Tom would never try anything he was not completely convinced of. His explanation sounded more like a cheap excuse. It was much more likely that he actually did not trust Orion Black, Peter Nott, and Humphrey Avery to the same extent as Abraxas and Rufus. But to say so would probably also be unwise.
"Free your left arm, please," Tom prompted her.
She forced herself to smile and began rolling up her left sleeve. Although she had not been sure whether Tom would come to a conclusion so quickly, she had nevertheless used Saturday morning to hedge her bets. She knew the Dark Mark was worn on her left arm, where - hidden under a spell - lay her Mudblood scar. She had to lift the spell for the Dark Mark to show, and so she would have had to present that scar in front of Abraxas and Rufus as well. Tom had accepted her blood status, but with these two men Hermione had misgivings. And so she had left for Hogsmeade straight after breakfast to buy foundation and powder - or at least the equivalent of those things used in the magical world at that time. It did not cover completely, but enough that at least it was no longer possible to read what was written on her arm.
Tom raised an eyebrow in surprise when he noticed her not charmed, but still covered arm. Hermione shrugged slightly and quietly explained, "I didn't want to alert any more people to my blood status."
To her confusion, Tom suddenly looked suspicious. "You've just been using a concealment spell so far, haven't you?"
Hot panic shot through her, as it occurred to Hermione that this could not actually make sense to Tom. She had had the foresight not to magically cover her arm, knowing that the Dark Mark would then also be invisible. But she could only have this foresight because she knew about the Dark Mark and its placement on her left forearm. A knowledge that she could not have from Tom's point of view, of course. Had she just given herself away?
She felt cold sweat form on her back. Her mind raced as she tried to not let her panic show.
"Hermione?" Tom insisted, no longer suspicious but openly hostile, "Why aren't you using magic to cover up anymore?"
"I..." she started as she saw from the corner of her eye that Abraxas and Rufus were staring at them in irritation. They could not hear what they were talking about, but that something was not going according to plan was probably obvious even to the two boys. She cleared her throat and started again, "Because of you. Remember? When I was unconscious after our duel the magic cover disappeared and you discovered the scar. I haven't wanted to rely on it since. What if something like that happened again and someone else saw me with it?"
The hostility drained from Tom's gaze, but a residue of scepticism remained. Hermione guessed that in his mind he was going over all the intimate meetings since that incident where he could have seen her arm. She prayed that he had never paid enough attention to be able to detect her lie beyond a shadow of a doubt.
"All right," he finally said, "But from now on you will use the spell again. What I'm about to do is hardly going to be hidden by a little make-up."
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She guessed that the last word had not been spoken on the matter, but for the moment Tom had more important things to do. This gave her a breather and a chance to concentrate on what she was doing. She cursed herself inwardly for being such an idiot and overlooking the fact that her forward-thinking actions would be inexplicable to Tom.
But what choice had she had? Should she have let Abraxas and Rufus see her arm? Surely Tom could have no interest in that either.
Shaking her head, she pushed the thought aside. It was irrelevant to ask about what might have been and what would have been. She did better to concentrate on the here and now, for Tom had begun to explain the details of what he was about to do.
"Outside of Hogwarts, we won't have any way to arrange secret meetings unless we happen to run into each other," he elaborated, "Owls can be intercepted, Floo Networks controlled. So I've been looking for a way to let you know about meetings without bystanders knowing. Hermione, in her infinite intelligence, discovered the usability of a seemingly unimportant spell and thus set me on the right path," Tom explained as he patted her head sympathetically.
Hermione smiled at him, though inwardly she would have liked to bite his hand off. As if she were a good puppy that had just completed a trick for the first time. Addressing the other two wizards, he continued, "Using the simple Protean Charm and a few others I've been thinking about, I've been able to create a new spell that will leave an extremely useful tattoo. Behold."
In one swift movement, Tom pushed up his own shirt sleeve to reveal the skull and snake. A mark that Hermione was all too familiar with. She shuddered at the sight. Suddenly it became real. Tom had created the Dark Mark thanks to her help and nothing and no one could stop her from wearing it herself. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
Rufus had stepped forward to get a closer look at the mark. "Is that ... just a tattoo?"
Sympathetically Tom smiled. "No, dear friend, it's much more. Let me show you. Hermione?"
Deeply she took a breath. He had hinted that it would hurt and even though she doubted it could be worse than a Cruciatus, she was still afraid. Trembling, she stretched out her arm.
Wordlessly, Tom ran his wand over her forearm in an intricate pattern. Briefly Hermione thought about how typical it was of him not to want to share the spell with anyone, then all thought vanished from her mind.
It hurt.
Hermione almost cried out in pain, only the memory of Tom's insistent words stifled the cry at the last second. Desperately she pressed her lips together, clenched her right hand into a fist and closed her eyes. She would not scream. She would never scream.
After several breaths, she managed to tolerate the pain. It was not as unbearable as a Cruciatus, but the feeling, the sensation was infinitely worse. As if a tiny snake had broken through her skin, now slowly biting its way through tendons, bones and veins. As if this snake was as hot as the fires of the sun. Panic crept up inside Hermione as she began to wonder if part of the spell was actually to create a snake that would form the tattoo inside her. Icy nausea took hold of her stomach and she felt a cold sweat break out.
Then it was over.
Slowly she opened her eyes. Her eyes fell on her forearm. There it was.
Ugly, repulsive, irretrievable.
As she looked up again, she noticed the worried look on Abraxas' face. She wished she could tell him how she really felt, but as it was, she was forced to just give him an encouraging smile.
"This, my dear friends," Tom announced with obvious pride in his voice, "is a Dark Mark. It will serve as our means of communication in our time after Hogwarts."
Rufus looked unconvinced. "It looks like a simple tattoo. I thought you mentioned the Protean ..."
"Ah, ah," Tom interrupted him immediately, for a change not a bit annoyed at his follower's doubt, "Patience. Watch and be amazed."
Wordlessly, Tom pressed his wand on his own mark and immediately Hermione's darkened. Involuntarily she pressed her hand to it, as if she could stop the burning sensation with it.
"As you can see," he explained proudly, "this triggers a reaction. When I touch my Dark Mark, or anyone else's, all the others warm up and change colour a little. You will know that I am calling you. You will know where I am so that you can apparate to my side immediately."
"That's ...", Rufus continued, but obviously he was at a loss for words.
"... Impressive," Abraxas completed the sentence, having much less trouble praising Tom, "I have no idea whatsoever how you managed it, but it is brilliant."
Tom smiled gently. "Thank you, my friend. And now - which one of you wants to go first?"