Triumvirate

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the songs included in this fanfic nor do I make money off them. These stories are for entertainment only.
~

You know where you've sent her

You should know where you are

You're trying to ease off

But you know you won't get far

And now she's up there

Sings like an angel

But you can't hear those words

And now she's up there

Sings like an angel

Unforgivable Sinner



Unforiveable Sinner - Lene Marlin



~



“He’s what?!” Ron shouted, his freckled face paling.



“Taken her” Harry said, “I hope you understand that without those bugs that Rita Skeeter snuck in here under your watchful eye, she might not be gone!”



Ron flinched.



“Now Harry, don’t be unfair” Draco spoke up suddenly, “Not like Weaslby here meant for anything to happen to her. Right?”



Ron shook his head, wondering why Draco took up for him but grateful all the same, ‘S’right” he groaned, “I just wanted her to think about what she was doing and understand the sick game you two are playing with her!”



Draco lunged then, a line of feline grace and stealth. He pounced on Ron so fast the red head had no time to deflect. An elegant hand made an elegant fist and with an elegant punch and a gratifying crunch..Ron’s nose was broken.



He yelped and fell back on his backside over a bench, legs sticking in the air, looking both pitiful and terrified as Draco lunged again.



“I’ll fucking kill you weasle! You have no idea what you’ve done!”



It took Harry and three others to pull the powerful blond off him.



Draco struggled against them and they groaned in unison at his strength. Finally they managed to get Ron up and across the room. Ron was panting, clutching his nose, his watery blue eyes locked on Draco.



“Bloody menace” he muttered.



Harry had had enough, “Menace Ron?” he asked coldly. His friend’s eyes darted to him.



“Who is a menace Ron? The ones who would kill for Hermione or the one who drove her away? The ones who only want to protect her heart or the one that purposely shattered it?”



Ron looked away guiltily.



“Hermione fled because of the file you showed her.”



“But you did those things!” he shot back.



Harry nodded sadly, “Yeah, yeah I did. I wish I hadn’t and they aren’t at all the same as what I feel for Hermione, what Draco feels…it was for us to tell her Ron. Not you. Never you.”



Ron murmured something very softly.



“What was that?” Harry demanded.



Ron met his eyes fully, “I love her Harry. Always have.”



Harry sighed, “Yeah Ron. Me too. When this is over I am stripping you for your rank for your thoughtless actions. Right now we have to save Mione… and Ron…if they hurt her, if she dies…. I WILL let Draco kill you. If I don’t do it myself.”



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Hermione woke to stiffness and pain. Her mouth felt like a dry leather boot and her body ached. She was thirsty and bound.



She forced her eyes open to see darkness and muted light. A dim lantern burned in a stone abyss. She lifted her head feeling her shoulders burn and realized she was nearly hanging from the wall.



She glanced around, saw no one and whispered, “Accio wand!”



A venomous chuckle sounded then, and she became aware of something sliding against her arms. Looking up she saw a large serpent coiling around her.



“You have no magic here” the voice said. That hissing tone all too familiar and she steeled herself.



Raising amber eyes she met the gleaming glare of Voldemort.



“It’s you” she said as though she expected no less and cared little more.



“Indeed. So brave.” he purred back to her, “I shall teach you manners little one. I shall teach you to dance attendance on me, and weep for the painful rapture of my touch.”



He stepped closer, running his cold, clammy fingers along her cheek.



Hermione jerked her head to the side and felt the searing pain of the shackle round her neck heating.



She cried out and he laughed like a lunatic.



“You see?” he told her, “I have ways to bring you to heel like a bitch.” He stepped closer and she nearly gagged to find that he smelled of lilacs and rotten leaves. A grotesque combination.



He pressed his chest to hers, his slitted nostrils quivering and she shrank from him until the chains heated once more.



“What do you want from me?” she shouted at him, finally meeting his cruel eyes.



Voldemort pressed those thin, nearly non-existent lips to her cheek and she gagged. “The prophecy…” he whispered, “What do you know of it?”



She blinked, “Nothing I will tell you!”



He slapped her, sharply. “Fool bitch!” he snarled, “I know all of it. The question is…do you?”



She went cold at his words.



He stepped back and eyed her carefully, “When the moon is full you will be more useful to me, according to the prophecy.”



“Never, it has nothing to do with you!”



“Doesn’t it though? It merely speaks of a dark lord. In case you’ve forgotten there are two of us now and either one can make good on the seer’s words. Yes. On the full moon I will pump you so full of my seed that an heir has no choice but to grow.”



She went pale and shook violently.



His hand caught her curls, dragging her face back, “I know” he whispered to her again, “That you have a fondness for two. Don’t worry. Fenrir and I shall be more than enough for you.”



He slammed his mouth onto her and she clamped her teeth shut tightly. That damned manacle grew hotter and she refused to open to relent.



Hotter and hotter, until the fire of it threatened to eat the very flesh from her bones. Hermione gathered the nearly silent scream behind her lips and then the world wavered.



She felt the slithering motion of his thin tongue, tasted fetid breath and decay and the world went black again.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“We are running out of time” Draco snapped, “We have only one day left. One!”



Harry sighed and shoved his hand through his hair, “I know that! I can’t feel him.. I can’t get a lock on him!”



“He will need a place with old magic” Snape said entering the portrait, “He is not strong enough to bind her to him at present. He will need that ancient power to seal it.”



They both nodded.



“What about her?” Draco demanded, “You are a dark lord! Can’t you feel her?”



“No. I never demanded a blood oath from anyone but you. You would have a better chance of that..”



Draco picked his head up, “What’s that?”



Harry shook his head, “No, nothing. Forget about it.”



“Like hell I will!”



He stormed to his mother’s portrait, “Explain!”



Narcissa nodded, “You’ve bitten her and you have bedded her.”



Draco arched his brow, “And?”



Harry cleared his throat, “In your….other form… you could sense her.”



Draco’s silver eyes went wide, swinging back to his mother , “True?”



She nodded, “But Draco you must not! You haven’t much time left. Every transformation is one closer to the end!”



Draco strode out into the garden and looked at Harry as he tore his shirt off. “Call your men. We’re going to find her. Tonight. Now”.



Harry was across the garden shoving Draco against the brick wall, “You can’t” he ordered.



Draco arched a brow, “Why not Potter? This is the one sure way we have. We are out of time and options. I won’t risk her. Will you?”



Harry sighed in defeat, “What do you suggest?”



“I change and lead the men to her. In my other form I can tear through most anything.”



“The longer you stay in dragon form, the worse for you.”



“That’s true!” came a female voice behind them and Harry turned to see Luna striding towards them.



“Luna this isn’t a good time” Harry began.



“No!” the gentle woman agreed, “It’s not. Draco your curse is quite different. You are not only limited by the number of transformations you can achieve but the span of time you are in dragon form.”



“What? How do you know that?” Draco asked.



She waved a large book in his face, “I wanted to show this to you weeks ago. If you spend more than thirteen hours total in that form you are trapped in it…forever.”



His eyes went wide. “Not possible.”



She nodded, “It is. From the words of your own ancestor.”



He took the book and scanned the entries before lifting his eyes to hers.



“Your great great uncle had a secret love affair with my aunt” she told him plainly, “She knew his secret and was working on a cure. However he spent a mere fourteen hours in form and was lost to her forever. Too bad really… since it seems she found a cure.”



Draco gasped, “Cure?”



Luna nodded, “Oh yes. My mother was trying to perfect the potion and the spell.”



Harry cringed, “The one that killed her…”



She nodded, “Yes.”



“So it doesn’t work?”



Luna looked highly affronted, “It certainly does I have refined it myself. You see mum was using a baseline powder of Leopard’s bane. But that is simply too docile of a flower to use. The extract give the wrong consistence and makes the mixture unstable… now I have found that using Aconite mixed with baneberry and false Hellebore…well that last was Neville’s idea but…”



“LUNA!” Harry thundered to get her attention.



She merely met his gaze, “Yes Harry?”



“It works?” he asked.



She lifted her shoulders, “In theory. I haven’t had many blood curses to practice on. If it doesn’t work he’s not lost something he wouldn’t have anyway.”



“Only his bloody life! Those are highly poisonous herbs!”



Luna met his eyes and answered in a level tone, “His life is at risk either way. He can either die in that form or die trying to escape it. I would prefer the choice.”



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Draco took to the sky, Harry clinging to his massive neck. “How many hours were your last transformations?” Harry shouted over the rushing wind.



“Eight hours” he replied, “Give or take”



“Eight!” Harry shouted, “You sensed her near the northern border. That’s three bloody hours away, plus any fighting once we get there!”



He felt Draco shrug beneath him, “Thank Merlin we don’t have to fly back”



“We might have used the brooms once you found her scent.”



“Can’t risk losing her Harry. You know that.”



To his flank Ron heard every word. Malfoy was willing to put it all on the line for Hermione. Just to see her safe. An terrible pain settled in his stomach and he felt wretched for the way things had turned out.



If only he could turn back time.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Hermione woke alone, her eyes taking in her new surroundings. She was no longer hanging. She was tied down. On a bed, and through the heavy curtains she saw the moon slowly rising.



She tugged at her bonds, feeling fear and tears prick at her. She had to escape.



She noted then, that she had been washed, placed in a scanty black robe that was raunchy to look at. She felt so dirty in that moment.



The wounds from the manacles at her wrists and throat had not healed yet, but they had been dressed. No doubt, Voldemort wanted to have his little present be perfect.



The thought of him and of Fenrir made her jolt to action once more.



She heard the door open and looked to the side. Standing just inside was the last person she thought to see.



“Saya?”



The wolf lifted her finger to her lips, “Silence.”



She padded closer, eyeing the chains that held Hermione. “They are spelled. I can’t remove them without alerting Voldemort” she whispered.



“What are you doing here?” Hermione hissed.



The other woman shook her head, “Draco ordered Cain and myself to head to my people. To Fenrir, seeking an alliance of our own. To use against Voldemort when the time came.”



“What happened?”



“We failed. Cain is chained below in a spell called Luna Aeternus. I am his mate. I cannot leave.”



“Eternal moon” Hermione whispered, “We’ve got to free him!”



Saya looked down at her, “You should save yourself first. There is little I can do for you. Save this.”



She moved to lean over Hermione and pressed something into her palm. “I do not know what this means. Perhaps you do. I must go.”



She was gone leaving Hermione alone and frightened on the bed. She looked into her hand and gasped. It was Draco’s gift.



Fingering the chain she pulled it higher enough to peer into it. It was glowing. Pale blue and within it she saw the outline of huge gossamer wings.



“Can’t risk losing her Harry. You know that.” The words were little more than a whisper but she heard them.



She thought back to the evening he’d gifted it.



“Think of what or who you want to see. It will show you. It will also warn of the feelings of others as you watch.” He explained, “And it can never lie. I’ve charmed it that way.”



She thought of him and of Harry. Seeing them rushing headlong into the dangerous night for her sake and small bubble of happiness rose up in her throat. It died away swiftly enough as the door opened.



She closed her fist around the pendant and shook as Voldemort swept into the room. “Times up poppet” he said cruelly, “Time to take you to the circle. Time to plant the seed… here”.



His large hand covered her abdomen and she tried to move away. “None of that” he admonished, waving his wand over her. “Sleep for now”.



She felt the bonds loosen and dragged her arms over herself, tucking the pendant inside her sleeve as sleep overtook her.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



“There” Draco said, his long neck dipping towards a battered stone house on a hill overlooking the sea and a broken ring of stones.



“Old magic” Harry muttered, “Right. Lets go down.”



Draco lifted one wing tip and angled himself to the wind, sweeping down in a smooth arch before spiraling towards the ground.