Veinte Tercer

Forbidden Obsession

Veinte Tercer

Hermione found herself being thrown through the air, coming to a halt as her body slammed into the wall, and falling onto the floor.

"You filthy, Mudblood bitch," spat Bellatrix. "You have taken from me what I most desired. CRUCIO!" The pain was indescribable as Hermione's body shook. Just as she felt as if her skin were splitting, Bellatrix lowered her wand. "I know how it works. Your energy level can only be restored by him, but he is not here to save you this time."

Bellatrix watched Hermione curl up against the wall, trembling. Like a cat playing with its prey, Bellatrix enjoyed torturing her victims before killing them.

Using the wall to support her, Hermione gathered her strength and tried to get to her feet, but Bellatrix's hit her with the Cruciatus again. Hermione dropped to her knees, screaming in agony. Her head fell back and her arms and shoulders hung behind her, shaking. Bellatrix' deranged laugh could barely be heard over the screams.

Again, the curse was removed. Gasping for breath, Hermione's body shook with the aftermath of the curse, but she did not give up. Forcing herself to her feet, she concentrated on what she had to do by focusing on Severus. He was her priority. If anything happened to her, he would die.

"You are not going to survive this," hissed Bellatrix. "You will die and then Severus will die. Now that he has made you into a creature like him, your survival depends on him." Hermione listened as she leaned against the wall, limbs still shaking. "I begged him. All these years I begged him to turn me into what he is, but he refused. Hermione slowly moved her hand to her wand. "Now you both will pay."

Bellatrix allowed Hermione to face her. She wanted to see the fear in her eyes when applying Crucio again. Raising her wand, Bellatrix looked into Hermione's eyes and was a bit surprised to see the gleam of amusement.

Catching Bellatrix off guard for a fraction of a second, Hermione quickly raised her wand and cried, "CRUCIO!"

Bellatrix fell to the ground, screaming while her body ferociously convulsed. Hermione knew the Unforgivables would only work if she meant it. From the way Bellatrix' body reacted so violently, it was clear just how much Hermione hated this woman. Images of Severus, Sirius, and Neville's parents flashed in her mind as she held the curse on her.

After several minutes, there was no movement from Bellatrix. The only sound was Bellatrix gasping for breath and Hermione finally lowered her wand.

"You don't know how it works," sneered Hermione. "I am Severus' life mate, his true love, and the only one who can heal him, but my survival does not depend on him because I am not a vampire. You will pay for what you've done to him, to Sirius, to the Longbottoms, and to me, you bitch!"

"Please, please don't kill me," whispered Bellatrix, who was still motionless on the floor. Hermione's eyes flashed dangerously, contemplating what to do, but it was too late. Bellatrix quickly sat up and fired off three curses. Hermione flew backwards, slamming into the wall. Sharp pains spread throughout her body and she looked down to see dozens of arrows sticking out from her legs. She now lay on the floor, behind a piece of furniture that distracted her view from Bellatrix.

"You are a Mudblood," Bellatrix spat, collapsing back onto the floor. "You are nothing."

Hermione's legs grew numb and she realized there was poison in the arrows. She had to stay conscious and distract Bellatrix at the same time. Severus' survival depended on it.

"If I am nothing, then what is Voldemort?" hissed Hermione, trying to mask the evident discomfort in her voice.

"What do you mean?" snapped Bellatrix. A confused expression crossed her face. "He is my Master!" she replied angrily.

"How can he be your Master? He is not even a pureblood," said Hermione as she tried to push herself further back onto the wall. Bellatrix' eyes lit up with anger, but Hermione kept speaking. "His father was Tom Riddle, a Muggle. His mother was a witch."

"You lie!" she screamed, trying to sit up.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle. He needed the remains of his Muggle father's body to return back from the dead. Why do you think you were in a Muggle cemetery on the night of his return?"

"You will pay!" screamed Bellatrix.

Hermione saw her running at her and quickly Hermione raised her arm, firing a blasting curse along with a binding charm. Bellatrix' body came to a sudden halt in midair and then flew backward, slamming into the wall. Hermione drug herself a few feet, just enough to see that Bellatrix was unconscious, bound with chains.

"Expelliarmus," whispered Hermione. She reached up and seized Bellatrix's wand. Not being able to move any further, Hermione collapsed onto the floor. Her legs were useless, and she could feel the poison spreading throughout the rest of her body as her mind blurred. Holding Bellatrix's wand in one hand and hers in the other, she closed her eyes. Only one thought came to mind: Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh dear, you did get yourself into quite a mess, didn't you? Never fear, I shall have these arrows out of you in a moment, but first I must determine what kind of magic was used." Hermione heard words, but they made no sense. It wasn't until she felt a hand trying to pry Bellatrix's wand from her grasp that she realized she was not alone. "It's okay, Miss Granger. I only need the wand to determine what kind of poison was used."

Hermione kept her eyes closed. Her body was so numb that she wasn't even sure whether she still had a body. All she could think of was Severus.

"Ah yes," said the voice. "I see she used quite a nasty combination of spells. Never fear. I will Disapparate the arrows without releasing any more poison into your system."

'Bellatrix' and arrows,' she heard, and then she remembered. Opening her eyes, she found herself staring into a set of blue, twinkling eyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Where is she?" hissed Severus. Wearing black Death Eater robes and speaking in a tone showing he would stop at nothing to get her, he entered the kitchen of the Headquarters of the Order, demanding to know where Hermione was. Tonks and Remus were in the kitchen. Tonks was startled to see him, but Remus remained unaffected.

"Who?" asked Tonks, but Severus did not answer. With his wand grasped tightly in his hand, he walked straight to Remus. Remus got to his feet while drawing his wand. The hatred the two men shared was obvious as their eyes narrowed and their hands gripped their wands tighter.

"How dare you show your face here, Snape," spat Remus. "You will die for it."

Hermione entered the kitchen to see Severus facing Remus and quickly stood between them.

"Severus," she said calmly. Severus took a step toward her. The anger was still evident as his eyes quickly scanned her body for injuries. "I'm okay," she said, taking him by the arm. "He healed me," she whispered. Severus nodded and then turned back toward Remus and Tonks. Looking past them both, he Disapparated with Hermione.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Where are we, Severus?" Hermione asked, looking around. The room was dark and cold.

"My home." Turning, he walked toward the fireplace and waved his wand. The fire instantly ignited, providing the only light.

Hermione looked around. The room was small, containing only a bed and a desk. There was one door, which she could only assume led to the rest of the house, and a small window. Cobwebs hung from the ceiling, clinging to the melted candles that lay dormant along the walls.

The bed was small. There was no headboard, just a mattress on a frame with a few worn blankets and pillows. On the worn desk lay a few quills and bottles of ink that were covered thickly with dust and cobwebs.

"I haven't been here in years," he said, offering no other explanations. He took his wand and murmured several cleaning spells. The dust, cobwebs, and stale smell were gone. His room was now clean, but Hermione felt that this room did not contain joyful memories. She quietly sat down on the bed.

"How did I escape Bellatrix?" she asked.

"It was a safety measure Albus provided when you, Harry, and Ron became members of the Order. Since neither of you could Apparate at the time, he provided a type of portkey, made from phoenix blood, which worked off of your lifeline. If you were in the process of dying, you would instantly Apparate to his side."

Severus sat down on the edge of the bed next to her, and dropped his head in his hands. 'It wasn't supposed to be this way,' he thought. He felt Hermione shift on the bed again and place her hand on his arm. He loved her. Every time he had to leave her, his heart ached. Every time he saw her, his heart ached. All he wanted was to be with her. She consumed him in every way possible. She gently squeezed his arm, and he closed his eyes. He could lead her into the fires of hell and she would willingly follow.

Opening his eyes, he turned to look at her. He could see in her eyes that she loved him, there was no doubt. And it was because of this love he allowed himself to do something he had always forbidden himself to do – dream. His life had never been his so it was useless to dream, but when he held Hermione, he realized he wanted his life to be his own. He allowed himself to dream of a future and in this future he saw himself walking with Hermione, free. They were both free.

He looked at her hand that was placed on his arm. Her arm was thin enough that the Dark Mark nearly wrapped around it. He closed his eyes and dropped his head. As long as he was a servant of the Dark Lord, they would never be free.

"Severus," she said quietly. Her heart ached to see him this way. She ran her fingers through his hair, resting her hand on the side of his head. He leaned into her touch and looked at her. There was no hope in his eyes.

"It needs to end, Hermione. It all needs to come to an end." His voice was almost a whisper.

"It will. The final battle will soon occur and it will be over." She tried to sound optimistic, but her voice failed her.

He looked at her and said, "It will never be over unless I end it." Hermione's eyes widened and she slowly shook her head no. "It needs to end," he said again. "I don't know what the outcome will be, but I love you too much for you to live this way. I would rather give you up than for you to be anyone's servant." Her eyes filled with tears that spilled over, freely rolling down her cheeks. She understood what needed to be done.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"You expect us to believe Snape is trustworthy?" spat Remus. "For gods' sake, he killed Albus!" Hermione closed her eyes and sighed. She was unable to forsake Severus by revealing the truth.

"Please Remus, you can trust Severus. We all can trust Severus," she pleaded. There were murmurs among the members who were sitting in the kitchen of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry got to his feet and approached the front of the room, standing next to Hermione.

"She is right," he said. The members became silent. "I am not sure what the right thing is to do, but I do trust Hermione and if she says to trust Snape, then we trust Snape." The murmurs were louder this time. Harry held up his hand, silencing the crowd.

"Listen to me. Dumbledore has been fighting Voldemort for over 20 years. Snape has been fighting Voldemort for nearly 20 years." Harry sighed before continuing. "It came down to a battle, Dumbledore against Snape. If Snape refused to kill Dumbledore, he would die and we would lose our informant. If Dumbledore had killed Snape, we would have lost our informant. But Dumbledore knew if he was the one to die, the Order would still have an informant." The members began speaking out at once, but again, Harry quieted them down.

"If we do not come together as one, we will be defeated and Voldemort will win. Do you want Dumbledore's death to have been in vain? Look at Voldemort – he is nothing without his Death Eaters. The night he killed my parents, his faithful servants fled. Look at us. Our leader is dead, but we are still here together. We are the Order of the Phoenix and it is together that we will defeat Voldemort." A few of the members began to nod in agreement.

A few members broke out into loud chatter, discussing what they just heard. Some openly agreed with Harry while others were not sure. Remus remained in the shadows, refusing to comment. It was a good while before the crowd grew silent and Arthur Weasley stood up.

"Harry, we are the Order of the Phoenix. Our purpose is to defeat Lord Vold...the Dark Lord. We will stand together and fight this battle together." Hermione had a big grin on her face as she grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed it.

Ron got out of his chair and walked over to her and Harry. He wasn't quite sure what to say, but it didn't matter. Hermione threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him over.

"I've missed you, love," said Ron, towering over her while hugging her. He had missed his friend.

"Me too," said Hermione, hugging him tight.

"I'm sorry I doubted you," he said. She stopped hugging him and stood back.

"Don't you ever doubt me again, Ronald," she snapped, and then hugged him again.

From the back of the room came the clapping of one person. Heads turned to see who it was. It was Albus Dumbledore.

"Very good, Mister Potter," Albus praised as he made his way to the front of the room. "You have the makings of a powerful leader, my son." The members jumped to their feet and swarmed around him. After a few minutes of hugs and handshakes, Albus was at the front of the room.

"Did I ever tell you that being under House Arrest is excruciatingly boring?" he chuckled and was the only one to do so. "Mister Potter is correct in his assessment of the situation. My death would be less harmful to the Order than Severus'. And due to the unfortunate events of others that we had to hide in the past, I chose to keep my death between Severus and myself...oh, and of course, Miss Granger." He turned in her direction and looked at her with his twinkling eyes. She gave him a smile.

"Now," he clapped his hands together and turned back toward the members, "we have a battle to prepare for."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bellatrix and Lucius were each on one knee, bowing before the Dark Lord. They had just finished a grueling session of Legilimency and were now awaiting their Master's reaction.

"Rise," he said slowly. They each got to their feet and stood before Voldemort. His voice was dangerously low. "Ignoring for now the fact that you chose to ignore my warnings – Severus will die tonight." Voldemort took his wand and touched Lucius' Dark Mark.

~TBC