|
Hermione had not realized how much she'd missed the old manor and its endless library until she found herself standing in it again. She almost wished they
were here to stay, and the whole episode in Scotland had never happened.
Well, she amended, there is one part of the trip she didn't wish away. When she and Lucius sat in the dining hall and he'd expressed his true feelings for
her. Even now, as she remembered, emotion swelled within her. She turned and wrapped her arms around him.
Putting his arm possessively around her waist, he cast Egremon a stern look as he asked. "You will come back soon, will you not?"
"I will return as soon as I can, my Lord," he answered with great conviction, and then he was gone.
"I hope you know what you're doing," Hermione said as she stared at the place Egremon had just been standing. "He could take the money and run."
"I don't believe he will," Lucius said. "I think if he wanted to betray us, he would have done so by now."
"Tell that to Severus Snape," Hermione pointed out.
"Well, if he doesn't come back, we can take gold from my vault here and pop over to France with it. I know of an exchanger there with a good reputation."
"Very well," she sighed. "I'm getting a headache, I need to go lie down."
When she got ready to Apparate, Lucius cleared his throat.
With an exasperated sigh, Hermione said, "I'll just take the stairs."
Lucius watched as she stalked off. Shortly afterwards, he went to the vault and started bagging up as many galleons as he could, just in case.
Hermione went to the bedroom she and Lucius had shared on their wedding night, before all this nonsense had ever happened. With a dejected sigh, she found
herself wishing they'd spent every other night in its warmth and comfort.
She thought about everything that had happened in the last couple of months, and how quickly her life had gone from student to wife all in one fell swoop. The
war she'd been fighting for half her life was supposed to have been over now. For the rest of the Wizarding world, it was. Why did she, the Muggleborn, have to
be among those who continued to fight?
Half afraid to do so, she got up and went into the bathroom to relieve herself. A sickening fear crept over her as she sat on the toilet, wondering if something
was going to spring out of it again. When she wiped, she saw blood, and her heart began to pound harder in her chest.
Her face felt suddenly hot, and with an uncertain dizziness, she sprang up and stumbled toward the bathroom door. It slammed shut before she could reach it.
Sweat broke out on her brow as she sensed the creature standing behind her. She waited with baited breath for its attack, but it made no move against her.
Slowly, Hermione turned around to face her tormentor. The demon stood watching her, its obsidian eyes glinting like bright jewels of death and destruction.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Hermione hissed through her teeth. "Do it already, and be done with it. I'm tired of running from you."
Someone pounded on the door behind her, probably Lucius, but Hermione could not let him in. The demon grinned evilly at her, and said, "I don't intend to kill
you--yet."
"Then what the devil are you here for?" she asked in exasperation.
"The Dark Lord wishes for you to return to the cavern and become his slave," the demon explained. "You're coming with me."
"Hermione, open the bloody door!" Lucius shouted. "That thing put up some kind of barrier. I can't Apparate in."
"I can't open the door," she told him as she yanked on the handle in spite of her certainty that it would do no good.
"If you value your female at all, you will return to the Dark Lord prepared to do the ritual within a fortnight," the foul creature told him. "If not, I'm quite
willing to be the one to devour her."
"Get away from me!" Hermione shrieked as the demon surged forward and grasped her by an arm. "Let me go! Lucius, help me!"
"Don't worry, I know where to find you," he said with a voice dripping with sorrow. "I love you, Hermione. I'll not let anything happen to you."
"Lucius, you can't," she told him urgently. "You can't let Voldemort win again!"
With a loud popping sound, the demon and his prize evaporated into thin air, and Lucius fell to his knees as the door flung open as soon as they were gone.
"Damn you, Voldemort!" he growled. "You're going to regret this. More than you'll ever know."
"My Lord?" Egremon said as he walked over to the practically comatose man who sat in his easy chair near the fire, head in hands. "Is something amiss?"
"There's been a change of plan," said Lucius in a gravelly voice that was a clear indicator he'd been crying.
"What has happened, my Lord?" Egremon asked as he knelt down and grasped one of his shoulders, giving it a consoling squeeze "Where is your Lady?"
"They've taken her again," Lucius said, trying to suppress the sob that followed with little success. "The demon said that if I don't return to the cavern
within the week ready to perform the ritual to bring the Dark Lord back, he'll eat her himself."
"That's just wonderful," Egremon grumbled. "Here I am, ready to assist you, and I've done nothing so far but leave you vulnerable to every attack. We never
should have split up in the first place--"
"Do not blame yourself for this, Egremon," Lucius told him. "I am the fool who left Hermione alone. I should have known better."
"Well, we are a couple of fools, you and I," Egremon said. "But we cannot hope to win this battle alone. Perhaps there are other people we could enlist to help
us?"
"I cannot ask any of the Death Eaters for help," Lucius sighed. "Most of them are in Azkaban, and those who aren't would probably want me to actually bring the
Dark Lord back rather than stop him."
"And Hermione?" asked Egremon. "Doesn't she have any friends?"
Lucius sat up and hit himself in the forehead. "I know just where we need to go," he answered, hope returning to his eyes. "Since he killed him once, I'm quite
certain Harry Potter would be the best choice to help kill him again."
"You mean the boy who lived?" Egremon gasped. "That's a brilliant idea, my Lord!"
"Rather," Lucius agreed. "Let's just hope he will be at home. I'd rather avoid any contact with the Ministry. Those fools might let the cat out of the bag."
"Yes, from what I've heard, they excel at doing that, sir," he scoffed.
"Take my hand, Egremon. I know the way."
| 
