A Crown of Thorns

**DISCLAIMER** All characters etc. belong to J.K. Rowling and I am making no money from this. Don’t sue because I’m sure that I don’t have anything that you’d want anyway. The basic plot for the story was a challenge presented by ArienAstera.





Chapter Five – The Charade





Hermione found herself, once again, across from Lucius Malfoy staring intensely into his steely gray eyes.



“Feel your anger and your frustration. Let it flow through you freely.” Voldemort’s voice hissed softly in her ear, “Now do it again.” He commanded.



She thought of all the horrible things that Lucius had done to her and her friends. Her eyes met his and she shouted, “Stupefy!”



A weak stream of red light shot across the room and hit Lucius squarely in the chest, however it barely caused him to flinch.



He sneered at Hermione loathingly, “Is that the best you can do?”



“SILENCE! YOU WILL SPEAK WHEN SPOKEN TO.” Voldemort growled at the blonde wizard. Hermione bit back a grin, she couldn’t help herself, she loved it when he put Lucius in his place.



Voldemort leaned closer to Hermione’s ear and began whispering, “Look at him.” Her gaze swept slowly over Lucius, “I know that you hate him. I feel it every time he’s near you. Now close your eyes.” Hermione closed her eyes and focused on his voice, “Your parents were killed not long ago, am I correct?”



Hermione nodded slowly.



“And how were they killed? Do you know?”



Hermione nodded again.



“Something about a gas leak and faulty wiring?”



Hermione whispered, “Yes.”



“And did you believe that?”



Her mind went numb as she thought about her parents’ death. At the time, Dumbledore and the Mininstry had sent out Aurors to investigate but there had been no evidence of the Dark Mark being cast so it was assumed that their deaths had been the result of a tragic muggle accident. But Hermione had always had a doubt in the back of her mind because Draco Malfoy had threatened one too many times to harm her mum and dad.



She whispered again, “What are you trying to tell me?”



“You never believed that story they told you, about the accident. You knew, in your heart, that they had been murdered. Now is your chance. The man standing across from you, he is the one, you’ve always known it. Late at night, while they slept, he crept into your house. Forcing your father to watch the things your mother was willing to do while under the Imperius Curse. For hours he tortured them, over and over before finally taking their lives.”



Hermione felt as though all of the blood had drained from her body. She felt her anger brewing in the pit of her stomach, slowly engulfing her, causing her entire body to shake. She had never known that she could be capable of such a rage as she was feeling now.



The cool voice in her ear returned, “Now open your eyes and take your revenge.”



Hermione’s eyes flew open to focus on the man in front of her, the man who had killed her parentsd bed before she could stop herself she hissed, “Avada Ked-”



“NO!” Voldemort screamed and before Hermione hit the floor, the last thing she saw was a flash of green light shoot across the room towards Lucius.



~~~~



“Very impressive. It takes a certain type of power to cast an unforgivable without a wand. A few more months and she will be ready.”



“Impressive? The bitch nearly killed me so you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t share your enthusiasm.”



“Oh Lucius, do stop whining. I thought that you would have gotten over your petty jealousies by now. You never could handle being in the shadow of anyone, especially a woman. It was the same when Bellatrix was still alive. Get over it.”



Hermione listened to the conversation between the two men with her eyes still closed, feigning sleep.



They continued to speak.



“Lu, ha, have you heard from Severus, has he made any progress identifying the spy?”



Hermione’s heart leapt. Professor Snape? Had he been here? And a spy, was there another spy? Who could it be? Her mind was racing.



“No my Lord, I haven’t heard anything from Severus. But I must tell you, I find it odd that I haven’t seen that bloody bird since you last summoned us.”



Bird, what bird? Hermione strained to hear as they had begun to speak in hushed tones.



“That is what has led me to believe that it is one of our own. We need to flush him out Lucius. The final battle is coming, I can feel it. We cannot afford to have a traitor amongst us.”



“I agree my Lord. What will you have me do?”



“Come Lucius, we will speak further in my study. She will need her rest.”



Hermione felt someone pulling a blanket over her and tucking it in. She heard footsteps, a door closing and then silence.



Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself in her room, lying in her bed. How on earth had she gotten here? They had been down in the dungeons training. Maybe she had been out of it for longer than she realized.



Her head throbbed as she tried to remember what had happened. She had cast the killing curse without a wand but unfortunately, Voldemort had stepped in to prevent Lucius from dropping dead, pity really.



What an odd feeling it had been to have such fury and hatred coursing through her body. It had almost felt good…almost. Was this what dark magic felt like? It had been more powerful than anything she had ever felt. It was as though she had been able to briefly delve into the deepest, darkest recesses of her mind and soul. Hermione could see why certain people were attracted to dark magic, in that instant she had felt as though she were invincible. But she also had enough sense to know that although it had felt good in that moment, that feeling could very easily consume her if she let it. She was going to have to be very, very careful.



She thought about Professor Snape. This was his reality. He had known the power of dark magic for quite some time. In fact, he still possessed the power, but his will was strong enough not to let it overcome him. Hermione grinned as she thought about her Potions Master. Although she would never dare utter it to another human being, Professor Snape had been her favorite teacher at Hogwarts. She admired him in so many ways. For his intelligence, his love of Potions and his appreciation of such an exact science as a form of art. And in Hermione’s eyes, Severus Snape was probably the bravest man she had ever met. If only the other students knew about his other ‘job’. How he put his life on the line time and again to ensure their safety, then maybe they too would understand why he was such a nasty, unhappy man all the time. It couldn’t be easy for him at all. Hermione was sure that he had no family and no friends. Most of the students and faculty at Hogwarts looked down on him as the Head of Slytherin, in charge of a bunch of spoiled, pureblood twits. Little did they know that he too loathed every single one of them.



Hermione felt a lump rise in her throat and the tears that she had held for so long slid down her cheeks. How had Professor Snape managed to do this for so long, to live such a charade? She had only been doing it for a year and a half and there were days when she wasn’t sure that she could carry on. The guilt that she felt often times overwhelmed her. Despite her best efforts to remain aloof, she had unwittingly formed some sort of relationship with Lord Voldemort. It was inevitable as he was her only contact besides Lucius. Over time she had managed to see another side of him, dare she say, an almost human side. But every time she began to feel comfortable, to think of this place as her new home, she felt a deep pang of remorse, like she was slipping farther and farther away from the life that she knew. Hermione had to remind herself; he was a monster, this was not her home and it never would be and she would never, ever be the kind of witch that he thought he was training her to be.



This was her charade.