Everything I Do, I Do It For You

Chapter 48: The Lioness in the Devil’s Lair

As Albus, Severus and Tolmie made their way down to the dungeons, they were confronted by Sirius and a rather distraught Ginny Weasley making their way to the Headmaster’s office.

Sirius was gasping heavily as he doubled over, trying to catch his breath. He realised with a grimace that the years of hiding out at Grimmauld Place had done nothing for his physical fitness.

“Albus,” Sirius started, still expelling air at a rapid pace, “there’s something going on. I… I mean, we,’ he motioned to Ginny who was standing behind him panting quite loudly, her eyes were wide and she looked scared, “were out by the lake when we saw Herm… Miss Granger, making her way to the front gates. We couldn’t reach her in time before she Disapparated and...”

Sirius stopped his proclamation when the Headmaster held up both hands.

“I am aware of the fact that Miss Granger is no longer on the grounds of Hogwarts,” Dumbledore stated as he eyed Sirius and Miss Weasley respectively.

“What?” Sirius half-shouted, looking from the Headmaster to Severus to Tolmie.

“My sentiments exactly,” Severus rejoined as a sneer graced his face and he looked down his long, crooked nose at Sirius.

“We were just about to remedy that fact,” the Headmaster replied as Sirius looked from Severus to Albus once more.

“In fact, we were on our way to do that when you caught us.” Dumbledore looked wistful as his eyes made contact with Miss Weasley. “So as you can see, we have everything under control,” he added.

“You’re going to see him, aren’t you?” Sirius said, the disgust in his voice evident as he screwed up his face.

“Yes,” was all the elderly wizard said.

“Well send him my regards,” Sirius said in a mocking tone. “Oh, and tell him when all of this is over that I will personally hunt him down and…” Sirius added as an afterthought before Dumbledore intervened.

“Sirius,” Dumbledore snapped at the wizard who, unfortunately, had not matured since his school days.

Sirius held up both of his hands in a scornful surrender before adding, “Just let him know, okay.” He then turned to Ginny. “Are you hungry?” he asked.

As she nodded her head, a huge smile adorned his face as he held out his arm to her in a gentlemanly gesture that didn’t go unnoticed by the others that were present.

Taking his arm in a light hold, they headed off towards the kitchens. Sirius smiled at the Headmaster as he left.

“That man is infuriating,” Severus sneered as he watched the retreating figures of the man in question and Miss Weasley. Dumbledore just sighed and shook his head.

“He has a lot on his mind as of late,” Dumbledore replied sadly.

“Don’t we all,” Severus mumbled under his breath.

Though the Headmaster and Tolmie had heard, they made no mention of the fact.

Dumbledore made a sweeping motion with his hand for the two men to precede him down to the dungeons to meet with Mr Pettigrew.

***

Cornelius heard the door creak open and the footsteps of Miss Granger as she entered his study. The footsteps stopped a few paces away from him. He didn’t even bother to look up at her as he extended his arm towards her and said, ”Accio wand.”

When nothing happened, he turned around to face Miss Granger as he stood up.

Walking over to her, he ran his fingers and hands over her body, looking for her wand. When he failed to locate it, he growled out his frustration and he couldn’t help but notice the diminutive shivers that went through her body as he touched her.

She was clearly trying to struggle against the Dark spell that he had placed on her and an evil grin passed over his face. Oh, he was going to have fun with her before he leeched all of her powers, leaving her in the impassive state that went with the transference of control.

He took a step back from her, eyeing her body with appreciation. She was rather thin for his liking, her hair too wild. She wasn’t pretty, per se, although she had pleasant chocolate-coloured eyes.

‘She does have nice breasts too,’ he thought to himself as he grinned again.

Shaking himself out of the intense scrutiny that he was giving Miss Granger, he thought back to the task at hand.

He walked over to the bookshelf and grabbed down one of his many books on the Dark Arts. All of which were, of course, disguised to look like normal books to anyone else’s eyes.

How to Raise the Power was the book he chose and he quickly flipped it to page 132, to the chapter on “Stealing Power.”

Scanning the page, he moved on to the next sheet and re-read the list of ingredients on the ‘Harnessing Potion’. He discovered that he had all of the components necessary for the potion except for one - Miss Granger’s blood.

He closed the book as he stepped away from the bookshelf. Cradling it under one arm, he headed once more towards Miss Granger.

“Come,” was all he said as he made his way to the door. He didn't even have to look back to see if she was, indeed, following him.

***

“Pettigrew,” Severus snarled, inflicting as much hatred into that one title as possible as they passed into his dungeon rooms.

As Peter looked up from the chair he was seated in nervously, he saw Severus sneering at him with an open look of pure loathing on his face. Peter quickly averted his eyes and looked at Dumbledore whose expression was quite unreadable. His eyes then flickered towards an unknown wizard. His face looked kind but Peter was weary of the stranger as he knew looks could be deceiving.

As the three wizards made their way into the room Peter quickly stood, wringing his hands together as if to confirm his anxiety.

“Wwwhat can I ddo forr youuu,” he stammered out before quickly scurrying to stand behind the chair that he was previously sitting in.

“You can relax, Peter,” Dumbledore said, though his facial features were still quite indecipherable.

Peter still remained weary as his eyes flickered from the Headmaster to Snape.

“Severus, that will be quite enough,” the elderly wizard said with authority in his tone.

Severus sighed and went to stand before the fireplace, his long legs spread apart as his arms were folded across his chest.

’He’s sulking,’ Tolmie realized, as he covered over his smile with his hand and coughed.

“Please take a seat, Peter,” Dumbledore said in a kind tone, however Peter knew that it was not a request.

Peter made his way back around the chair and sat in it. He noticed that Dumbledore had conjured up three other chairs and was currently making the most of the situation by placing himself in the one nearest to Peter.

“Would you care to join us, Severus?” Dumbledore asked as Tolmie took a seat.

“I prefer to stand,” Severus said, not turning away from the fireplace. He was resigned to the fact that he didn’t have anything to say to Peter.

“As you wish,” Dumbledore replied as he turned his head once more to look at Peter who was eyeing him with some trepidation.

“Now, I guess you are wondering why we are here,” Dumbledore stated. Peter just nodded his head, not trusting his voice.

“Well, it is quite simple,” Dumbledore started, “there was another prophecy made by Professor Trelawney, in which you play a major role.” At Peter’s look of confusion he added, “It seems that Cornelius Fudge is rising up to take the place of Voldemort.” Peter shivered at the mention of his previous Master’s name. This did not go unnoticed by Dumbledore as he added, “It is only a name.” He looked pointedly at Peter who turned his gaze towards his feet.

Dumbledore didn’t want to tell Peter the whole prophecy but he wanted to give him enough information so as not to send him into battle unprepared. Besides, he would have to work closely with Tolmie, Severus and Miss Granger, as stated in the prophecy, they would have to come together to banish the uprising of the Minister.

“It seems that you will be working closely with Professor Snape, Miss Granger and Mr Crobobin,” Dumbledore said after a little time had passed.

At the mention of Mr Crobobin’s name, Peter looked up to stare at the man sitting next to Dumbledore. Peter’s face went slack and pale.

“Oh sorry, I neglected to mention that this,’ here he motioned towards Tolmie with a hand, his gaze never leaving Peter’s face, “is Mr Tolmie Crobobin.”

Peter hesitated before looking towards the dark-haired wizard who was still facing the cold fireplace.

“You found him?” Peter whispered, turning his head to face Snape. “How?”

“It was not to difficult,” Severus stated, never turning around to face Peter. “In fact, it was quite simple really.”

Tolmie gave a bark of laughter which startled Peter.

Peter looked at Tolmie, totally gobsmacked for a moment. He opened his mouth as if to say something, however, he had nothing intelligent to say so he just closed it once more.

Peter had heard of Tolmie Crobobin when his Master had been discussing him with Lucius Malfoy. Lucius had failed to locate Mr Crobobin, a mistake that he had paid for with his life in the end, along with lengthy doses of the Cruciatus Curse.

Tolmie was a legend, one which Peter thought was a myth up until now. He had told Snape about him to spare his life; never in his wildest dreams did he think that Snape would be able to come across him, especially if Lucius could not.

He realised that he was staring at the wizard and quickly tore his gaze away from the man to look at Dumbledore once more.

“Well, seeing as we’ve all been introduced, I say we get down to business,” Dumbledore said.

When Severus snorted, the elderly wizard ignored him and kept his blue eyes transfixed with Peter’s darker ones.

“The prophecy spoke of the uprising of a new Dark Lord. It also stated that Severus, Miss Granger, Tolmie and yourself would have to join together and use Dark Magic to prevent him from coming into power.” As he spoke the words Peter’s eyes blazed with something that was unrecognisable to the Headmaster.

“Now we’ve already established that the one who is vying for the power is none other than the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge.” He paused and took a breath in. “He has already cemented this fact by calling Miss Granger to his side where he plans on harnessing her powers for himself.”

Dumbledore’s eyes never once blinked as he stared into Peter’s. He was sorely tempted to use Legilimens on Peter to see whether he would betray them as soon as he was let loose, however, he thought better of it as he realised that he had to trust him to do the right thing. After all, he still owed a life debt to Harry, whose power’s were now transferred to Miss Granger.

“I am putting more trust in you, Peter, now then you deserve,” he stated pointedly. “I have enough faith in you not to let me down in this task. Need I remind you of your unfulfilled life debt to Harry?” The elderly wizard asked gently.

Peter shook his head as he looked intently into those bottomless blue eyes.

Standing Dumbledore proclaimed, “Excellent, I shall leave you three alone together to work out your strategy.”

Tolmie stood too, as a sign of respect for the great wizard. Severus had yet to turn from the fireplace where he stood, as if transfixed by something, deep in thought.

Dumbledore went over and placed a hand on Severus’ shoulder.

“Play nice,” was all he said before he conjured a fire in the empty fireplace. Throwing a pinch of Floo powder into it, he stepped into the flames mumbling his destination and disappeared.

Severus turned to look at Tolmie and Peter. He wore a frown on his face which meant business.

***

Cornelius made his way down to the sub-levels of his grand home with Miss Granger in tow. This was where he kept his potions lab, keeping the people he experimented on close at hand.

Walking into the cell directly adjacent to his private lab, he turned around abruptly to find Miss Granger a couple of steps behind him. Grinning from ear to ear, he held up his arms in a grand gesture.

“Welcome to your room for the next twenty-four hours,” he said, spinning around.

“Do you like them?” he asked, although he knew she couldn’t answer him. “Well, make yourself at home. If you need anything, just ask one of the many house-elves.” He laughed loudly at this. “I crack myself up sometimes,” he said, wiping tears from his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Now come, sit down on the bed, Miss Granger.” Cornelius motioned towards a mattress that was positioned on the floor in the left hand corner. Hermione immediately complied with his request.

Crouching down next to her, he grabbed one of her wrists and held it above her head to an awaiting manacle which was secured to the wall. Clicking her wrist into the make shift cuff, he then repeated the process with the other arm. Looking down into her eyes, he asked, “Comfortable?”

Not waiting for her response, as he knew she would have none, he pressed onwards. He leant forward before whispering in her ear, “Well don’t make yourself too cosy, because I will be back in a little while.”

He nipped at her earlobe quite violently before pulling away from her. Hermione shivered slightly.

“Like it rough, eh, Mudblood?” Cornelius asked, standing up once more to loom over her.

“Well, you may just get your wish,” he said as he smirked at her.

Turning around and walking out of the cell, Cornelius didn’t see the solitary tear making its way down Hermione’s face.

***

A/N: Hands up who wants Cornelius to die a slow and painful death. I for one am vying for that. I shall explain what type of Dark spell he placed upon Hermione soon. Also, those of you who wanted to see more about Calan Park shall have your wish as it shall be in the next chapter as I had an evil thought in the wee hours of the morning.

Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this far and for sticking with my story. If you haven’t reviewed so far, why not? Even if it’s just to say… oh I don’t know but it is greatly appreciated and all reviews will be answered by none other than ME!

Hugs go out to my beta, LariLee, thanks for everything.

Disclaimer: I am not J.K. and am just writing this for my own amusement.