The Fall of Hermione

For full disclaimer, see chapter one.

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The Fall of Hermione

Chapter Nine

Meetings and Daydreams

The following day, Hermione arrived early for her meeting with the Dark Lord. A small oak table had been placed in the center of the chamber with Voldemort\'s throne at one end, and a smaller, less opulent chair for Hermione at the other. Walking immediately to her end of the table, she removed several shrunken rolls of parchment from her pocket, enlarged them to their normal size, and began to arrange them upon the tabletop.

For the past two days, the voice of Bellatrix Lestrange had not returned, leaving Hermione thankfully in peace to plan and completely able to write off the incident as a small breakdown caused by stress. The result had been six perfectly executed meetings, and one that would have caused the second great destruction of the Lestrange library if not for the fact that she had another meeting immediately afterward.

She had decided that she would wait to begin her search for Ginny\'s location; Rabastan was entirely too suspicious of her now. So she forced herself to maintain a strictly business in civil tones conversation, and her conference with Rabastan had begun as well as could be expected. Indeed, when he rose to leave, a small smile had played about her lips until he paused with his hand just above the Floo Powder. As he slowly turned to face her, she found that her heart seemed to have taken residence in her throat.

\"I almost forgot,\" Rabastan said, the smile gracing his lips not quite reaching his eyes. \"The pregnancy has been confirmed.\"

Hermione nearly choked on the breath she had been holding. She had known that Ginny was pregnant, but somehow hearing it spoken aloud by another made it much more real. Struggling to keep her voice even, she replied.

\"Congratulations.\"

\"Thank you. You will, of course, be leaving the family home?\"

\"I beg your pardon?\" Hermione asked, unable to fathom what he was talking about in her nervous state.

\"Unless I have greatly misunderstood the Dark Lord,\" Rabastan answered, his smile turning into a sneer. \"You will mercifully cease to be a Lestrange in a few days time. That will forfeit your rights to any family holdings, including the estate on which you now live. After all, my heir is entitled to what is rightfully hers.\"

A girl, Ginny\'s having a girl! Oh, Gods, she\'s carrying the daughter of a Death Eater! Hermione\'s stomach began to roil uncontrollably, and judging by the look Rabastan was giving her, it showed on her face. Get him to focus on something else!

\"Rest assured, Rabastan,\" Hermione spoke in a calm voice, belying her current state of mind. \"That I shall leave immediately after my hand fasting ceremony is completed. Until then, I remain a Lestrange, and therefore remain in my home.\"

In a few quick strides, Rabastan stood before her, eyes flashing and nostrils flaring. \"How dare you!\" he yelled, leaning over the desk. \"As far as I\'m concerned, you lost every right you had to that house the second you murdered my brother, you conniving little tart!\"

In an instant, Hermione was on her feet, her chair tipping backwards and crashing to the floor. Drawing her wand before Rabastan could even begin to reach for his, she aimed it at his heart.

\"I seem to recall, my dear brother-in-law,\" she hissed, \"us having a very similar conversation a few days ago. Do you?\"

Rabastan said nothing, the look of hatred upon his face merely intensified.

\"I asked you a question,\" Hermione said. \"I expect an answer.\"

Begrudgingly, he gave a curt nod, his eyes darting briefly to her wand.

\"Good boy.\" Hermione watched as Rabastan\'s face reddened. \"Then you will also recall that I did warn you. Crucio!\"

Rabastan\'s body began to shake and his hands gripped the sides of the desk, his knuckles turning white. His jaw locked, the muscles in his face and neck clearly outlined as he fought the urge to cry out in pain. He stared at Hermione, loathing in his eyes, and she watched as the capillaries in them burst, ringing his brown irises in red. Yet he never blinked nor looked away. Not until a small trickle of blood began to fall from his nose, leaving small scarlet drops on the desk, did Hermione lift the curse.

She watched as his body gave a violent shudder, his left hand slipping from the desk, before he managed to gain control of his body and stand straight. The movement was slow and his breathing labored, but he stood proudly as he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood from his face.

\"I trust that the subject will never be brought up again,\" Hermione said, keeping her wand aimed at Rabastan. He gazed at her for a moment, another drop of blood falling onto his upper lip, before once again nodding his head, the movement less graceful than before.

\"Good. Now, get out of my home.\"

Dabbing the blood away, he slowly turned toward the fireplace and began to slowly walk. He wobbled dangerously as his body gave another tremble, but he kept his footing and reached the hearth. Carefully withdrawing a handful of Floo Powder from the canister upon the mantle, he tossed it into the fire and stepped into the green flames.

\"Lestrange Manor,\" Rabastan said, his voice quivering at the end before he spun out of sight.

Oh Gods! What have I done? Hermione sank to the floor, covering her face with her hands. I\'ll never get near Ginny now! Of all the idiotic things I could have done! Why is this happening? It started out so simple, how did it end up like this? Everything I do to try and make it better doesn\'t work. Why are The Fates doing this to me, to Ginny?

Hermione had learned, a lifetime ago it seemed now, that nothing in life happened by chance. There was, indeed, a master plan, and The Fates held it in their hands. No matter what you did, you could never deviate from the path that had been chosen for you. She had her suspicions before now, but had been unwilling to accept that this was exactly where she was meant to be. A tear fell from her face as she allowed herself to acknowledge this, and she threw her head back, howling in rage.

\"What do you want from me?\" she demanded. The only answer she received was the ringing silence that filled the room. She opened her mouth to yell again, but a small pop sounded next to her, and she swiftly turned her head toward the sound.

\"Begging your pardon, Mistress,\" the house-elf squeaked, ringing its hands. \"But Master Dolohov is hear.\"

Wiping her face, Hermione stood and righted her chair. \"Show him in.\"

She made it through her meeting with Dolohov without incident, and afterward immediately Apparated to the meeting chamber. She had just finished laying out her parchments when the Dark Lord entered the room. Dropping to one knee, Hermione spoke.

\"My Lord.\"

\"Rise, Bella,\" Voldemort hissed. \"We have much to discuss.\"

Hermione obeyed, waiting for the Dark Lord to sit before taking her place across from him. \"I would like to begin with Lucius\' department, if I may, Master?\"

Lord Voldemort nodded his consent, and Hermione began reading from one of the parchments before her.

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Severus sat in the library at Snape Manor, idly tapping the arm of his chair with his fingers as he stared at the wall, lost in thought. Now that the war was over, he allowed himself to do something he had not done since he was a child, he dreamed. His mind was full of thoughts of the future and the memories of what led to this moment.

What had caused Severus to turn to Dumbledore over twenty years ago had not been a change of heart. On the contrary, no matter what Albus or anyone else chose to believe, Severus had always believed that the only worthy magical people on the earth were the ones of pureblood heritage. No, it was not a sudden epiphany that he had been wrong in his beliefs. It was simply the fact that the position of Potions Master had become available at Hogwarts, and the Dark Lord saw the opportunity to plant a spy. Severus had never changed sides, although when Lord Voldemort returned, he certainly seemed to think that Severus actually had. Evidently, he had played his part too well. It had been a long, painful road getting back into the fold once his loyalty had been questioned.

In fact, it seemed that no matter how many times he had proven himself, he could gain no favor. He had resigned himself to a life of misery, taking small comfort in the fact that if the Dark Lord was victorious, at least Severus would be able to live his life in the world he had worked so hard to bring about, and if the Dark Lord failed, Severus would escape Azkaban. It was not until three years ago that his outlook on life began to change.

When Bellatrix had first begun her pursuit of him, Severus had initially held back, knowing that she was up to something. But, after he thought about the situation thoroughly, he realized that he could turn it to his advantage. Bellatrix was, after all, the Dark Lord\'s right hand. If Severus could get her to fall in love with him, he could persuade her to improve his standing among the Death Eaters. With Bellatrix vouching for him, no one, even Lord Voldemort, would question his loyalties.

Thus he carefully began to woo her, keeping his guard up in case her motives were to cause him harm. Just short of a year later, she confessed her love to him, and he surprised himself when he in turn confessed his and discovered that he meant it. His momentary panic over this fact was abruptly halted when she finally disclosed her original motivation in bedding him. His first thought was to absolutely refuse to kill Rodolphus, but as she explained her plan, making sure that Severus was paired with Rodolphus during the final battle and stationing them well away from any witnesses, he found himself contemplating the potential in her idea.

With Rodolphus dead, Bellatrix would be free to marry Severus. There would have to be an adequate period of time between the murder and the marriage so as not to arouse suspicion, but he was a patient man. Once they were married, he would be accepted without question, perhaps one day become a member of the Inner Circle. Yes, the plan was a good one, and he agreed.

Now, his efforts were finally coming to fruition. The Dark Lord ruled Wizarding Britain, Severus was finally out from under the watchful gaze of that doddering old fool Dumbledore, Rodolphus was dead, and in a final, unexpected turn of events, Severus would be able to marry Bellatrix a full two years ahead of schedule. They would have to be careful in how they presented themselves; perhaps Bellatrix could explain her choice of husband as a matter of breeding pedigree, and then they would appear to gradually grow fond of each other. All in all, things could not be better.

A slight smile crossed his face. He had never planned on having children, and in truth, he was not particularly found of them in general. But he would be a father by this time next year, and as he envisioned Bellatrix presenting him with their firstborn, he found to his amazement that he was not as horrified by the idea of having a child as he expected to be.