A Maid in the Devil's Manor

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to JKR. All situations are mine. No $$$ is being made from this fanfic.
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Chapter 38 ~ Unexpected Guests


Draco rolled lifelessly to the ground at his father’s feet. Lucius shot a spell in the direction where the killing curse came from, and there was a terrible scream, then silence. The blonde wizard smiled evilly at Hermione as he rolled his son’s body over with his foot. Draco stared sightlessly at the sky.

“He was a fool and a traitor to the Blood,” Malfoy spat.

Suddenly there was a loud explosion that shook the earth. Malfoy spread his legs to keep his balance. Hermione reached for her wand while the wizard was distracted.

“Bindus!” Hermione shouted, pointing her wand at the senior Malfoy.

Ropes flew from the end of her wand, wrapping around the wizard tightly. He fell to the ground, tied from head to foot. Hermione jumped up and ran over to Draco. He was dead all right. She brushed his blonde locks from his face as her tears freely fell. He had tried to do the right thing. In the end, he came to the side of the Light. Hermione looked at Lucius, her eyes narrowed.

“I would kill you, but the idea of you rotting for the rest of your life in Azkaban will do my heart a whole lot better!” she said through clenched teeth. There was shouting. The Aurors were coming.

“They’re coming for you, Malfoy,” Hermione said to the wizard, who replied, “I’ll never see the inside of Azkaban, you mudblood bitch!”

The Aurors walked up.

“This is Lucius Malfoy. He’s a Death Eater, and just killed his own son,” Hermione said, rising and pointing to Draco. Just then a groan went up across the landscape of Hogwarts. Death Eaters were clutching their arms and screaming. Lucius Malfoy let out a scream and starting shuddering as his Dark Mark started smoking. Suddenly a bright white light shot out of the Mark, and Lucius screamed loud and long until the light faded. The Mark was gone.

Lucius lay there silent for a moment. Then his eyes began to flutter.

“Where…where am I?” he asked, looking up at the Aurors with a confused look on his face. He struggled in the ropes.

“What’s happening? Why am I tied up like this?” he asked again, looking around him as if he didn’t recognize where he was.

“He’s faking,” Hermione said in a low voice.

Lucius looked around. His gray eyes fell on Draco’s body. They widened in horror.

“Draco? Draco! Oh my gods! My son! My son is dead!” he started screaming

“He’s faking!” Hermione said louder as Lucius broke down, and the Aurors lifted him gently.

“It’ll be all right, Mr. Malfoy,” one of the Aurors said, “We’ve seen this before…Imperio”

“HE’S FAKING!” Hermione screamed at the Aurors

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Hermione came back to herself and ended the Killing Curse. She had held it on Severus for more than a minute. The wizard crumpled to the floor, unmoving.

“Severus? Severus!” Hermione yelled running over to him and dropping beside him.

The Potions Master’s eyes were closed, and he didn’t appear to be breathing. Hermione wiped his silky hair from his face.

“No. No.” she said, “Please…”

Suddenly the Potions Master groaned.

“Severus!” Hermione cried, shaking him roughly.

The black eyes opened, looking up at the ceiling for a moment as they refocused. Then they shifted over to Hermione.

“A simple blast would have sufficed,” he said weakly, struggling to sit up. “That was definite overkill…almost.”

Hermione laughed with relief as she helped him to a sitting position. Then she searched his face.

“Are you all right?” she asked him.

The Potions Master felt his arms and legs, then ran his hands over his chest and ribs.

“I appear to be in one piece,” he said, his voice stronger, “help me up.”

Hermione helped Severus get to his feet, then over to a stool, where he sat down heavily.

Hermione looked at him curiously. Ever the scientist, she asked him, “So, how did it feel?”

The Potions Master looked thoughtful. “Very cold. As if I were hit by a freezing wind. It wasn’t painful, but it felt like all the warmth in my body was being drawn out. Then it stopped and I was held aloft by the blast. When it stopped, I had no strength to stand and fell,” he said.

Hermione looked at him, her eyes shining.

“You are the second person in the history of the wizarding world to survive the Avada Kedavra curse. The other is Harry. But you are the first living man able to describe what the curse feels like. You’ve made history tonight, Severus. We’ve done it. We’ve beaten the curse,” she said softly.

Severus embraced the witch, lowering his head to kiss her when Eli winked in, wringing his claws.

“Master! There are Aurors at the door demanding to come in!” the elf screeched.

Severus looked at Hermione, his eyes wide with horror.

“Hermione, you didn’t cast the containment spell!” he said.

“Shit,” Hermione breathed, looking at her wand.

The Potions Master stood up.

“Eli, you and the other elves box up every paper in the labs and take them to Soledad’s office! Quickly! Now!” he ordered.

“Soledad?” Hermione asked, her brow furrowed.

“My solicitor. We have to get the research to him to protect our interests,” he said, rising and walking over to the coolers. He extended his hands. The contents inside burst into flames.

“NO!” Hermione cried, running forward. Severus grabbed her.

“We have to, Hermione. We have the research. We can recreate the elixir. Right now we have to keep it out of the hands of the Ministry. They are going to arrest you. You’ve cast an Unforgivable. That means Azkaban…but don’t worry. You will never see it,” he said as he walked to the next cabinet and destroyed its contents.

About twenty elves were gathering every bit of paper in all the labs. They made short work of it, boxing everything, reducing the box and winking out en mass. Severus continued to destroy evidence until all the containment units, and cabinets were empty. He breathed a sigh of relief. He looked down at Hermione.

“I need to be released from the Wizard’s Oath, Hermione. Are you ready to reveal what your project was and make the it available to the public?” he asked her as they walked toward the lift.

“Yes,” she said, still stunned by all the destruction of her work. Around them, magic swirled. Severus was released from the Oath. They took the lift upstairs, exited and opened the wall. There was pounding on the door. Eli was standing next to it, trembling.

“This is your last warning! Open this door or we’ll blast it open!” yelled a gruff voice.

“Hermione,” Severus said to the witch, who was clutching his arm in fear. “Just answer their questions truthfully. But don’t offer anything. Yes and no. Ok? They are going to test your wand. They will know you’ve cast the curse. You’re going to have to go with them and stay overnight. I will be there in the morning to try and get you out myself. If I can’t I will get counsel. Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you. I have plans for you,” he said, kissing her forehead.

He looked at Eli.

“Let them in,” he said.

Trembling, Eli opened the door.

About ten Aurors rushed in, wands extended. Hermione didn’t recognize any of them. They looked around the corridor suspiciously, then their eyes fell on Severus and Hermione.

“An Unforgivable was detected being cast here,” said a heavyset Auror, walking up to Severus and Hermione. “Present your wands.”

The other nine Aurors held their wands on the couple. Slowly, Severus reached in his pocket and withdrew his wand, handing it to the Auror, who turned his eyes on Hermione.

“And yours,” he said shortly. Hermione handed the Auror her wand. Her stomach was in knots and she clutched Severus’ arm tightly.

The Auror stretched forth Severus’ wand.

“Priori Incantatem!” the Auror intoned.

The image of a bell rising toward the ceiling appeared, then evaporated.

The Auror handed the wand back to Severus.

“It’s clean,” he said, stretching out Hermione’s wand.

“Priori Incantatem!” the Auror repeated.

A small cloud of smoke emitted from Hermione’s wand. It coalesced into the ghost of a niffler, which sniffed around the floor, before sitting up, then evaporating.

“You cast the Killing Curse on a niffler?” the Auror said, perplexed lines creasing his forehead.

“Yes,” Hermione said in a small, frightened voice.

The Auror shook his head.

”Well, an Unforgivable is an Unforgivable. You still broke the law. You’ll have to come with us,” he said, reaching for Hermione, who pulled back. The Auror scowled.

“Don’t make me have to bind you, Miss,” he said warningly. Hermione looked up at Severus helplessly as the Auror pulled her gently away from him. The Potions Master reluctantly let her go.

“Where are you taking her?” he asked the Auror, his eyes glowing with contained anger.

“She’ll be quartered in the Ministry dungeons overnight, and have a hearing in the morning,” the Auror said, starting to walk away with Hermione.

“The dungeons?” Hermione asked.

“Don’t worry. They’re nice. The rats don’t even bite,” the Auror said, grinning at her.

Severus scowled.

“Sir,” he said to the Auror, “What is your name?”

The Auror stopped. He was required by law to give his name if asked.

“Cornelius Apertiff,” the Auror answered, his eyes sweeping over Severus. The Potions Master looked dangerous. His black eyes glinted.

“I would suggest, Mr. Apertiff, that you make sure Miss Granger is made as comfortable as possible while she is in your care. You are the arresting officer and so are responsible. I will take any mistreatment of her, personally,” Severus stressed the word ‘personally’, his eyes narrowed.

It is against the law to threaten an Auror, but the officer knew he was being threatened. He also knew who Severus was, and his history as a Death Eater. He was not a wizard to cross. The Potions Master meant what he said, and would make good on his implied threat. He didn’t care that the man was an officer of the Ministry. If Hermione suffered, so would he.

The Auror eyed him.

“There are some empty rooms upstairs. If she behaves herself, I guess she could stay in one of them until morning,” he said. The Potions Master nodded. They understood each other.

Hermione looked over her shoulder at Severus as the Auror walked her out the door. He nodded at her and mouthed, “Don’t worry.”

The rest of the Aurors fell in step behind Hermione and her captor and filed out the door. When they reached the end of the portico, they all disapparated.

Eli, who had watched everything in silence, walked up to his Master, his claws clenched tightly against his chest. He looked up at him.

“This seems very bad, Master,” the elf said with flattened ears.

Severus looked down at him.

“Don’t worry, Eli. I will get her back,” he said.

Severus turned and walked quickly to his study. He walked up to his floo, reached into the box on the mantle for some powder and tossed it into the flames.

“Twelve Grimmauld Place,” he said, watching the flames flicker. He knelt and stuck his head in the floo. Tonks and Kingsley were sitting in one armchair in front of the fire, kissing passionately. Tonks had metamorphed an extra set of arms and was busily using them on the black, bald Auror in a number of interesting ways. Severus cleared his throat.

Both Aurors froze, looking at the head of the Potions Master in the floo, one eyebrow arched and a smirk on his face. The extra set of arms withdrew into Tonks body as they adjusted themselves.

“Gods, Severus…couldn’t you whistle or something?” Tonks said, patting her spiky hair and sitting up on Kingsley’s lap.

“I doubt you would have heard me, Tonks,” the wizard replied, “Hermione’s been arrested. I need you to go down to the Ministry to make sure she is treated decently.”

“Arrested? Whatever for?” Tonks asked, her brow furrowed.

“For casting an Unforgivable,” Severus replied.

“Shit,” Kingsley breathed. “This isn’t good. The board is still pissed at her for giving them what for. They might try to railroad her. Make her give up the goods on her project.”

“That is covered, Kingsley. Her work is protected. But I must ask that you go to see what you can do for her,” Severus said, a bit impatiently. Both Aurors rose. Severus could see that the extra set of arms had an arousing effect on Kingsley. Well, they could pick up where they left off later.

“We’ll head down there right now,” Kingsley said.

“Yah, we’ll make sure they treat her right, Severus,” Tonks piped in. “Hermione’s my girl.”

“Thank you,” Severus said, withdrawing his head from the fireplace.

He stood there a moment, then resolutely turned and headed for the labs again. He would have visitors soon. For Hermione’s sake, he had to be ready.

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A/N: Now that bites, doesn’t it? Hermione’s in the hoosegow. What a mess. Please review.