CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Summary: Sent to Volterra in order to negotiate terms of an alliance to end the war, Hermione's life is turned upside down as she is brought into the world of the Volturi, better known as the Vampire Kings. There she is made a part of a new kind of family and a most trusted member of the guard, whether she likes it or not, and surprisingly, she does. Rated M for language, violence and sexual content.
Disclaimer: I do not own canon events and characters, they belong to J.K Rowling and Stepenie Myers. I am not making a profit from writing and posting this fanfic. As for the descriptions of appearances for the Twilight characters, all my research is based on the books and not the movies, but I may have changed a few things regarding Alec's height and age.
Page count: 7
Saturday 2nd May 1998
"Protego!" Hermione called, projecting her shield in front of the cowering first year that had been backed up to a stone wall of the castle.
The less than friendly Severing Curse slammed into the shield and ricocheted to the left, slamming into the back of a figure dressed in dark robes and a Death Eater mask. The curse must've been stronger that she thought as the moment it hit the robed figure, he let out a scream of agony before collapsing to the ground. If he was dead, she didn't bother checking.
The battle had been ongoing for the past few hours. Many were dead and even more were injured and holed up in the great hall where Madame Pomphrey was busy patching up their members before they headed back into battle. The great hall was under a lot of protection to prevent the other side from getting in and killing the vulnerable and their healers.
The plan had gone off without a hitch. Harry's presence had thrown a spanner in the works for the Death Eaters running the castle. McGonagall had duelled Snape until he left the castle's grounds and the rest of the Death Eaters fled, the Order gaining control of Hogwarts. Everyone had cheered and rejoiced but it was short lived when they realised that the easy part of the plan was over. Next, was the battle.
The students were taken and hidden away, only those that were of age and that could be trusted were allowed to stay and fight, some were sent to defend the younger students in the dungeons and others stayed in the great hall as everyone prepared for the arrival of Voldemort. And they hadn't waited long.
Barely five minutes later, Voldemort's voice had rang out, demanding Harry be handed over to him and that everyone would be spared if they did so. No one took notice.
Professors and students ran onto the grounds of Hogwarts, using their magic to summon the strongest protective wards Hermione had ever seen, and it wouldn't have been possible if there weren't nearly two hundred Order members, professors and students pouring their magic, their fears and hopes into casting the spells. It was a beautiful sight and Hermione couldn't have been any prouder of her fellow peers, Order members and professors.
She had given Neville and Seamus the signal and they snuck off to complete their own part in the battle. Hermione had gained the attention of everyone and told them of Alec and Demetri and the reactions she received weren't pleasant, mostly consisting of everyone gasping in horror, stepping back with looks of terror on their faces and holding their wands tightly, but at least there were no hexes thrown.
She had defended them, much to the surprise of everyone, not because she had defended them, because that was her thing, wasn't it, the protector of the misunderstood? No, they were surprised by her clear protectiveness over Alec and Demetri, and by the time she'd finished yelling, no one had dared to question her, nor to consider offing them during the battle and blaming the other side. No harm was to come to them under the threat of Hermione's wand. Professor McGonagall had watched her with intrigue afterwards but was otherwise too busy being informed of the plans that had been thought up.
And that, Voldemort and his followers broke through the protective wards and were able to enter on to the grounds. A deafening bang was heard and the ground shuddered as Neville and Seamus blew up the bridge, preventing it as a point of entry on foot and also taking down nearly fifty of His followers.
Hermione would've counted it a win but the numbers of Voldemort's forces had been severely misjudged. They had expected a quarter of a thousand, but there was at least double that and more continued to arrive, likely coming through other parts of Europe as they knew Voldemort had been recruiting outside of Britain.
She didn't have time to analyse the situation as she threw herself into battle, Demetri and Alec disappearing from her side when the no-mad vampires made an appearance. There were forty by her count, likely more, but half of them had turned and fled after seeing them, the other half stayed. They tried to avoid Alec and Demetri and focus on the many bleeding humans that were surrounding them but it didn't take long for them to do away with the remaining vampires. Alec using his ability to subdue ten vampires at one point and Demetri quickly dealt with them before setting them on fire. Within an hour all of the vampires were dealt with and they turned their attention to the werewolves, which, she knew they'd a little fun with.
She, Harry and Ron had located and destroyed Ravenclaw's diadem and it hadn't been easy, they'd nearly died in the process and had to rescue Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. She was only glad Alec and Demetri had been too busy with the other vampires to notice her disappearance, or the fact she had been covered in soot, parts of her clothes has been singed and burnt and she smelled like smoke.
She'd been trying to make her way towards the girl's bathroom on the second floor for the last hour and she was no closer to achieving her target. It was her job to get into the Chamber, find a basilisk fang and destroy Hufflepuff's cup, but every time she got closer to her destination, she was brought into a duel, she was forced to step in and help someone else or she had to protect a wandering student that had gotten lost, trying to make their way to safety. Just as she had done now.
"What's your name?" She asked the cowering boy softly.
"C-c-ca-rl," he stuttered out, his body shaking in fright.
"I'm Hermione."
"I k-know," he nodded.
"Let's get you somewhere safe," she said, holding her hand out. He took it without hesitation and she quickly pulled him through the throng of duellers and to the castle. "Duck!" She yelled and they both ducked, just as the Killing Curse went flying over their heads.
A bang rang out and Hermione saw rubble heading straight for them but she didn't have time to move them. Instead, she covered the frightened boy with her own body to take the brunt of the force, but nothing hit her, and she was suddenly aware that arms were wrapped around her and a body was covering hers.
Somehow, she knew who it was. The body pulled back from hers and she lifted her head, seeing that Demetri was kneeled beside her with a concerned expression.
She breathed out in relief. "I'm fine, we're fine," she corrected, her gaze locked onto his. "Thank you," she said, and she took his proffered hand and he helped her to stand up whilst Carl clung to her and hid behind her.
It was the first time she had properly laid eyes on him since the start of the battle and much to her amusement and slight annoyance, there wasn't a hair out of place, even his robes looked as immaculate as ever. But herself, that was a different matter. She was covered in dirt and blood, cuts and burns littered her body and her clothes were torn and dirty. Loose curls were escaping their restraint and she knew he would be able to smell the smoke on her. No wonder he looked worried, she thought.
"I promise, I'm fine," she said softly and she felt Carl shift behind her. "Demetri, can you get Carl to safety?"
He hesitated, appearing to not want to leave her but he nodded, and in the blink of an eye, they were both gone.
Hermione turned and fought her way through the battlefield and she sighed when she finally reached the entrance hall of the castle. She darted in between duels, throwing spells and curses over her shoulder whenever she could and she reached the second floor, which was surprisingly empty, but she didn't question why, everyone avoided Moaning Myrtle, even the Dark Lord's followers.
"What are you doing?"
She startled, spinning around with her wand in hand but the spell that was on the tip of her tongue died off when she saw Demetri.
"I have something I need to do."
"In a bathroom?" He questioned, frowning.
"It's not just a bathroom, and you should be helping the others."
"They're doing fine, Alec's with them, I'm here to help you."
She sighed, knowing he wasn't going to leave. "Fine, but don't get in the way," she told him. "What I'm about to do is stupid and dangerous."
He frowned but followed her into the bathroom, watching as she stopped in front of the sinks and a series of hisses left her and his eyes widened in surprise when one of the sinks suddenly opened up to reveal a passageway.
"What is that language? I can't recall it and I'm able to speak over fifty languages."
"Really?" She asked awe-like and his mouth twitched into a smile and he nodded.
She shook her head climbing into the passageway and much to his surprise, she sat herself down, holding onto the top of the opening with both hands.
"It's known as Parseltongue, or the snake language. It's an incredibly rare talent that allows you to communicate with snakes and it's associated with dark wizards. Salazar Slytherin was the only known Parselmouth in Europe, until the Dark Lord was born and he inherited it from his mother, who was a direct descendent of the Founder himself. Harry is also able to speak Parseltongue and we don't know why. You can't learn the language, you have to be born with it. Harry was able to teach me a few phrases during our time on the run." With that, she propelled herself forward and he blinked slowly before quickly following her, and much to his surprise, he slid down the passageway like it was a children's slide.
He reached the bottom to see bones of dead rats and other rodents littering the ground, the smell of damp and dust overwhelmed his sense of smell and his eyes glowed in the dark until Hermione flicked her wand and the torches that lined the walls were filled with flickering flames.
"Where are we?" He asked, following her down the long pathway.
"The Chamber of Secrets. Millennia ago, the four Founders of Hogwarts had a disagreement regarding the students that should be allowed to attend and learn the ways of magic. Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Godric Gryffindor believed that all those that possessed magic should be allowed to learn how to control and utilise it, but Salazar Slytherin disagreed. He believed that only those that had magical ancestry should be allowed to learn magic. When the other Founders refused to expel any students that were first magical generation users, he built a secret chamber under the school and inside it, he hid a creature that only he could control, and it's purpose was to kill those that did not have 'Pureblood.' He left and before he could return to command the creature to kill all those that were 'unworthy' of magic, he died."
They stopped at a stone wall with a strange carving on it, a man with a snake coming out of his mouth and the tail of the snake in its mouth. Hermione made some more hissing sounds and the stone wall suddenly opened into a chamber, a large stone pathway down the middle with water on either side of it as well as several large snake heads, and there was a large stone statue of a man's head which was likely of Slytherin himself.
"What is that?" He asked, looking down at the strange object on the ground as they walked past it.
"Slytherin was a Parselmouth, and he hid a creature down here to command to kill those he deemed unworthy."
"You're trying to tell me it's a snake?"
"No, it's the shedded skin."
He faltered in his steps, looking down at it once again as they had yet to come to the end of it. "How big is this snake?"
"Oh, twenty feet, maybe bigger," she replied airily.
He made a sound of surprise and she giggled at his response, warming his ice-cold heart.
"Don't worry, it's dead. This creature is known as a basilisk and it kills by looking you in the eyes. This is the creature that put me in a catatonic state back when I was thirteen, Harry killed it so there's no danger of it lurking around the hidden tunnels."
His eyes widened when they came to the skeleton of the creature and it was huge. He blinked several times just to make sure he wasn't imagining things. She laughed at him and drew his attention.
"You thought I was joking, didn't you?"
He nodded dumbly and she shook her head at him before getting to the ground and plucking a tooth from the skull of the huge skeleton.
Her beaded bag appeared in her hand and she fished around inside until she pulled out Hufflepuff's cup, placing it on the ground.
"You may want to stand back," she warned. He watched her curiously and did as she asked.
She took a deep breath and held up the tooth and with both hands she brought it down to the cup.
She knew it was going to be difficult to destroy it. She was prepared for it to fight back. She was prepared to see her friends and family dead on the ground, as it used her deepest fear against her.
But she was not prepared to see both Alec and Demetri on the ground in a pile of severed limbs. Their beautiful faces were disfigured, claw marks over their cheeks and their eyes missing, leaving gaping black holes.
Suddenly, the limbs rose from the ground and put themselves back together, looking like a mismatched zombie.
"It's your fault," Demetri crooned softly. "If you had protected us, we would still be here."
"You brought us into this mess, we should've never agreed to help. I wish we had never met you," Alec spoke cruelly, a sneer on his face.
"We hate you!" They both chanted, over and over and over again.
Hermione hadn't realised she was crying until a cold hand brushed her shoulder and her head turned, her eyes locking onto the horrified face of Demetri, staring at her in worry. She could see his mouth moving but she couldn't hear his words.
She turned her attention back to the cup and with all the strength she had, she brought down the tooth and speared it through the cup. She fell onto her arse as the inky black fog poured from the cup with a piercing screech, and then, it was gone.
She dropped the tooth to the ground and her eyes landed on Demetri, he was crouched beside her, his wide eyes staring at where the black fog had once been before turning back to her. He opened his mouth to speak but Hermione threw herself at him, gripping him tightly and sobbing into his chest, he held her close to him, running a hand over her back comfortingly and he waited until she was ready.
"I'm s-sorry," she sobbed. "I'll d-do bet-ter, I-I prom-ise. Ple-ase do-n't ha-ate me," she begged.
He frowned at her words. "I don't hate you," he said softly. "How could I? You're the kindest, most selfless person I have ever met."
She hiccupped and wiped her nose on her sleeve, taking deep breaths.
"You don't hate me?" She whispered, sounding vulnerable.
"I don't hate you," he confirmed.
She pulled back from him, looking up and into his ruby-red eyes, still bright from his feeding the previous night.
"Promise?"
He lifted his hands to cup her cheeks, she didn't flinch under the ice-cold touch of his skin, in fact, much to his awe, her eyes fluttered closed when he wiped away her tears with his thumbs.
"I promise, I don't hate you and I could never hate you," he said tenderly, almost lovingly.
She blinked in surprise when he leaned forward and placed a kiss to her forehead and she held in her gasp as his cold lips brushed her warm skin.
"And Alec?" She asked timidly.
"Alec could never hate you either, glykó sýntrofo," he murmured softly. She blinked at the foreign term; she didn't even recognise the language. One day she would ask him what he'd said. "Now, will you tell me what just happened?""The cup was one of the objects the Dark Lord had encased a fragment of his soul in. When you try to destroy them, they fight back in any way that will prevent you from killing it."
"What did it do to you?" H asked softly but his eyes were dancing with fury, as if he wanted to kill the Dark Lord himself for causing her so much turmoil.
"It showed me my worst fear."
"And that is?"
She shook her head, refusing to answer. The Dark Lord's voice rang out informing them that all of his followers were to pull back to allow them to heal their injured and bury their dead, and they had an hour to hand over Harry.
Not bloody likely, she thought. There was no way she was going to allow that to happen.
"We better get to the great hall, I need to tell Harry and Ron that we've almost done it, all that's left is Nagini and then the Dark Lord can be killed. Tonight will be the only chance we have at destroying him, and trust me, it's not going to be an easy task. The Dark Lord is the most powerful dark wizard to exist; it's why he is feared by the entire world. All magical communities know of him and they know that if he is not defeated, he will have control of the world in less than a decade. He will start with enslaving Half-bloods, killing Muggleborns and Muggles and anyone that opposes him. He'll then move onto magical creatures, werewolves, vampires, centaurs, any that he does not consider to be human. He is a threat to not only our way of life, but to our existence. He must be destroyed, I don't want to live in a world in which he rules, and to be perfectly honest, I doubt I'd be allowed to."
He reluctantly removed his hands from her face when she drew back and rose to her feet before she tore the remaining fangs from the skull of the basilisk and slipped them into her beaded bag.
"Basilisk venom is extremely hard to come by, and the fangs and venom can be used in many potions to strengthen them or alter their properties. They may come in handy," she explained before leading the way back down the passage and to the entrance.