Chapter Text
She woke with a start.
“Oh shit, sorry ’Mione.”
Hermione glanced over at the boy, blinking blearily, “Don’t worry, Harry. I shouldn’t be sleeping here anyway. I would have drooled all over my runes assessment.”
She glanced around their common room; it was empty except for the two of them. Everyone else would have long gone to bed.
Harry grinned back at her for a moment, but it quickly faded, “Yeah, I suppose I should go back to bed. Double Potions up first tomorrow.”
Hermione nodded absently, sitting up so that she could begin neatly stacking her papers and quills, hiding another yawn in her palm. She looked up at him, “What are you doing down here, Harry? You’re not trying to stalk Malfoy again, are you?”
She glanced at his hands, but he wasn’t holding his cloak or the map.
“No.”
She frowned slightly. “Did you have a nightmare?”
He looked up at her briefly, but didn’t respond.
“You can talk to me about it if you want.”
He shook his head, “Thanks, Hermione, but maybe not tonight.” His gaze went to the fireplace.
She frowned slightly. “I could get Ron? Or Ginny? Or I could try to get Professor Dumbledore?” She sighed when he didn’t respond. “I’m just worried about you. You haven’t slept well for weeks, Harry. It’s important that you talk to someone about this.”
“I can’t Hermione."
Hermione shifted a pile of books from the couch, dropping them to the floor, and gestured to the now-empty spot. “Don’t be silly. You can tell me anything.”
He grinned then, but it quickly faded. Still, he moved to sit next to her. He fiddled with his holly wand.
She waited.
“I’ve been having the same dream, over and over. It’s like—it always starts with me in this corridor. I don’t know where it’s from. I don’t recognise it, and I just keep walking. I can’t stop myself. It’s like I’m under the Imperius but there’s no voice in my head that I can fight, so I just sort of watch myself go further down until I reach this one door. It’s the same door every night. I can’t choose anything else.” He looked at her then. “I can never make myself wake up. I can never walk past it. I always have to open the door.”
She frowned, reaching over to gently hold his hand. “What’s behind the door, Harry?”
His face had gone pale, the fire digging deep shadows into his skin. He gripped her hand tightly. “Don’t tell anyone. I don’t want them—”
“I won’t.” She stroked his hand with her thumb.
He nodded, but his mouth stayed shut.
“Is it—is it the Dark Lord? Is he behind the door?”
Harry nodded.
“Oh, Harry, that’s awful.” Hermione paused. “Does he—does he say something to you?”
He nodded again.
“What does he say?”
He stared down at their hands. “He talks in Parseltongue. The only way I can tell is because there isn’t really a word in English that means the exact same.”
“What’s the closest—”
“Soulmate.” He looked up at her again. “I go to sleep every night, and Voldemort tells me that I’m his soulmate.”
ooo
“Granger, hurry up with the wards. We won’t last much longer.”
Hermione didn’t turn her gaze away from the floor. “I need quiet.”
Moody ducked as another loud crash came from ahead.
"You’re not getting that here.” He looked down at her grimly. “I’ll have to leave you. We’re dropping like flies out there.”
Hermione nodded, not moving her eyes from the delicate runes she had carved into the ground.
“You should be safe enough. They hid this wardstone pretty well.”
She didn’t bother to respond.
Moody’s leg thudded loudly as he moved back towards the battlefield. Hermione quickly forced herself to focus, pulling her mind away from the noise. She stared down at the dirt, flipping through dozens of runes swirling in her head, shifting through catalogues of memories. She rapidly tossed several of her half-formed ideas aside, recognising some flaw in them which would render her work useless.
She eventually settled on carving another Sowilo, a sharp S-shaped rune, to complete the circle.
She cast her wand over her hand, allowing it to carve a thin cut into her palm. She kneeled, rubbing her wrist to push her blood out, allowing it to feed into the spell. The rune lit briefly before fading again.
Scowling, she carved into her hand again, deeper this time, carefully cutting nearly up to her wrist. The blood flowed easily now, dripping off her fingernails, filling the rune.
Blood magic. It was perhaps sorcery’s crudest forms. Her palms were covered in silver scars, immortalised by the dark magic. Any hope to grow into the perfect golden Gryffindor died after they took Harry.
And that had been years ago.
The runes she had traced into the dirt, greedy as they were, happily lapped up her blood; they began to glow dimly and now held steady, in the night. The stone in the centre, a plain thing, began to look almost pretty with the golden light glowing onto it. A shallow scratch bloomed slowly across its centre.
Hermione watched, grinning in relief. She quickly healed her hands, wiping away the last of her blood on her robes. The wards should be down within 10 minutes. Those who were still alive would be able to leave.
She stretched one of her arms out to brace herself on a thick tree. She leaned against it as she tried to pull herself up - and her vision almost immediately flickered into black. Hermione closed her eyes, swallowing harshly. She quickly resigned herself to sitting on the damp forest floor. Her magic was probably busy trying desperately to replenish her blood; it couldn’t afford to do anything else, even minutely in allowing her to stand.
She rested her head against the tree and stared out, away from the battlefield. If she squinted, and with her current wobbly vision, she could almost delude herself into thinking she could see Hogwarts through the thickly branched trees. Of course, they were far too deep into the forbidden forest for that; they were supposed to be well outside the apparation barrier if not for this one wardstone trapping them in place.
Still, it was nice to think that that tall shadow was the Gryffindor tower, and that other grey shape was the great hall, and that no Hogwarts hadn’t been taken over by Voldemort, the Headmaster hadn’t been found dead in the entrance of the great hall, and that Harry was doing just wonderfully thank you. Any moment he was going to walk right in front of her to grin and say, ‘I just went for a few laps around the Quidditch Pitch Hermione, I didn’t mean to make you worry’.
Another sharp fizzling sound snapped through the air. She twisted her head back around, looking out onto the main battlefield. She was mostly hidden behind a dense set of trees, but she could still see the flashes of bright spells as they danced across the night. Red, then white, then red, occasionally even a venomous green would streak through the dark.
She watched for a moment, entranced by the magic. Then she shook her head, forcing herself to again brace against the tree to stand.
Whoever had designed these new wards had been clever, very clever. They had been almost unsolvable and required far more magical input than the previously used anti-apparition ones had; they seemed to work as a method to extend the school’s impenetrable barrier.
There was a slight noise from her left.
“Aww, itty bitty mudblood all alone."
Hermione turned, quickly flashing her wand into a wordless disarming charm.
Bellatrix flicked up a shield, crooning as the weak spell fizzled out against it, “Is that the best magic you’ve got? Aren’t you supposed to be the best and brightest of the mudbloods?”
Hermione glared at her wordlessly. She silently willed the runes behind her to work faster, she needed to leave now. She didn’t have nearly enough in her to hold off Bellatrix and then apparate. She barely had enough to stand.
“It’s your lucky day mudblood.” Bellatrix smiled, full red lips stretched over her teeth, “Nothing would make me happier than ridding the world of your wretched blood, but it seems you are to be honoured for a higher purpose.”
“Rot in hell.”
Bellatrix tilted her head, her glossy hair whipping about behind her. Her black eyes prodded over her plain figure, which was practically hunched over, clinging to the tree, “I don’t understand it myself,” she said, ignoring Hermione’s words completely, “but who am I to question the Dark Lord?”
She pointed her wand forward, and the world went black.
ooo
Her head felt like it was splitting, a quiet but incessant ringing was clogging her ears, and she couldn’t hear anything else. She quickly pried her eyelids open. She was lying on the floor, on top of glossy grey tiles. For a moment, she just stared at it. It was really quite pretty. She wondered how long it might have taken to install this flooring; it had probably been such a tedious process-
“Sorry, I tried to find a pillow for you. The ground must be cold.”
Her head snapped up, she felt her mouth gape open, “Harry?”
He smiled, “Hello Hermione.”
Hermione blinked, trying to fight through the fog in her brain - perhaps she was dreaming? She looked up at the black-haired, green-eyed boy standing in front of her, terrified he might vanish.
She quickly tried to sit up, but her head was still ringing horribly.
“No don’t, just try to stay still. You’ll just make it worse.”
“Oh Harry.” She looked at him, Merlin was she crying?
“Hello. I missed you.”
“I missed you,” She replied, blinking rapidly, “I missed you so, so much, I thought about you every day. “
He smiled at her, “I thought of you too.”
“I never stopped looking for you,” She said, desperate to make sure he didn’t think she had given up, “We looked everywhere, I promise.”
“I know Hermione. I never doubted that.”
“Ginny tells everyone, every morning how many days you've been missing. Sometimes I heard her counting at night to make sure she had it right every time.” She wiped at her eyes, propping herself up on one elbow, “I thought it was getting a bit tedious when she had to start counting up to eight-hundred and something.”
Harry looked away then, “I’m sorry.”
“Oh no Harry,” She winced as she forced herself to sit up properly, “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I’m just so happy to see you.” She was aware she was babbling, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “I was so worried.”
He chuckled slightly, “Yeah, I was pretty worried about you lot as well.”
The ringing in her head lessened then, only slightly. The fog in her brain had also begun to clear; her thoughts were getting easier to string together. She tried to meet his eyes, but his suddenly seemed fascinated with the floor. He didn’t make any moves to come closer to her, seemingly happy to stand a strong ten feet away.
“Where are we?”
“The Peverell Manor. Welcome to my prison.”
Hermione glanced around the room, her brain managed to dredge up some surprise that they weren’t locked in some gloomy dungeon. In fact, the room they were in was rather beautiful. They seemed to be in a ballroom. It was a wide space with great arched windows that let in the bright moonlight. Pretty white wallpaper coated the room. Chandeliers dangled from the ceiling, each one dripping with thousands of shiny diamonds.
“Peverell Manor? I didn’t think this place existed.”
Harry shrugged, “Yeah, I think it was lost for a century or so. The Peverell name died out a long time ago, but the family still has descendants though, or at least a descendant. That’s why they could find the place.”
“Is the Dark Lord a descendant?”
“No actually…It’s me,” He grinned sheepishly, “The Potter’s come from a direct branch.”
He looked around the room and sighed, “These wizarding manors, they’re stuffed to the brim with magic. Layers on layers of it. All that blood magic drenched in the walls gives absolute power to people with the blood of the family.” He kicked at the floor, “Well, it’s supposed to anyway, this house hates me apparently, because it was pleased as ever to toss over its loyalty to Voldemort. Won’t bloody listen to me at all. No, it’s quite happy to keep me locked up nice and cozy with an evil dark wizard.”
A sudden groaning sound seemed to come directly from the walls of the house; Hermione felt her eyes widen.
Harry, following her gaze, waved off her concern, “Oh that’s just the house complaining, no one’s dying next door. It just doesn’t like it when I speak badly of it. In fairness, it’s not completely unloyal to me, it won’t let anything harm me when I’m here.” He sneered then, “Of course, it also never lets me leave.”
Hermione nodded. They were in a sentient house, how wonderful. She didn't devote much additional thought to that though; she still felt rather dazed just in hearing Harry’s voice. “Have you been here the whole time?”
“No, at the start I was with the Malfoy’s. They needed me to find this place remember.” He smiled slightly, “Draco wasn’t particularly happy with the initial arrangement.”
“Ok.” She squeezed her eyes shut but then rapidly opened them again, unwilling to take her eyes from the boy in front of her, “Harry, we need to leave now, before anyone comes. Do you have a wand? I can try to break-”
“Hermione stop.” Harry looked down at her pityingly, “We can’t leave.”
“What do you mean? We have to try, everyone will be so happy to see you!”
“Don’t you think I’ve tried? Over and over I have tried to escape, endless plans, endless magic and wasted time.” He looked out to the window, “The furthest I’ve ever made it was to the front garden, and I think that was just the house humouring me.”
“I’m here though. Maybe we can try something together.”
Harry shook his head, “The Peverell’s were one of, if not the most powerful wizarding family in the world. They were claimed to be the creators of magic unheard of before, of tools which inspired legends which were passed to all wizarding children.” He glanced at her with this, seeming to search for something on her face, but she just stared blankly up at him. He continued, “At the height of their power, they poured their magic and their brilliance into this house, at its wards. Trust me, we are not leaving if the house doesn’t want us to.”
She blinked again, swallowing down his words. She felt as if she had been hit with some sort of confounding charm; comprehension seemed to take an extra moment than it usually did. She wasn’t sure if it was simply the shock of seeing Harry or if Bellatrix had cursed her with some sort of mild mind depressant.
Hermione made herself stare at Harry, forced her eyes to focus. He was pale, his usual golden skin was gone, it made the scar cutting across his forehead all the more obvious, its purple ridges standing out strongly. His face seemed gaunter as well, slimmer. It may have just been him growing into majority though. It made his bones seem sharper, similar to the traditional structure all purebloods seemed to share.
Her eyes then looked over his robes, he was dressed immaculately. Dark heavy green silk covered in glimmering silver buckles and clasps. Several rings adorned his hands, both of silver and gold. His hair, while not perfect by any standards, had obviously been recently washed and brushed. He looked like a prince; he was even handsome. Far from the wasted prisoner she had sometimes imagined him as.
“How have you been treated here? By him.”
Harry hummed, fiddled with his rings like he used to do with his wand, he seemed almost surprised by the question. “Well, it was ok in the beginning, after the initial stint of being locked in some small room. He wanted to condition me a bit at first, I suppose.” Harry shrugged, “Joke's on him, I lived in a cupboard for 11 years, so having a room I could stand in was still a bit of a luxury.”
Hermione stayed silent.
“But then he may have grown complacent, or the Order just got better. You’ve managed to destroy quite a few of those horcruxes now, haven’t you?”
“You know about-”
“Yes Hermione. I know all about them.” He crouched, still a meter or so away from her, “The ring’s gone, I heard Dumbledore did that, and then was it the locket? And then Gringotts? Merlin, you should have seen Voldemort when he heard you managed to break into Gringotts. Brilliant Hermione, honestly, I don’t understand how you managed that.”
He grinned at her, but his eyes were dull, “I suppose the break into Hogwarts was for the diadem?”
She nodded.
“Brilliant, you really are the brightest witch of our age you know.”
Hermione shook her head, “It wasn’t just me, Neville destroyed the diadem. I barely did anything.”
Harry laughed lightly, “Don’t be humble now, I heard you were the one who broke the wardstone, you made sure the whole Order could escape. And yes, before you ask everyone else is fine.”
He smirked at her, Hermione hadn't seen that expression on his face before, but he seemed to slip into it easily, “You know Snape and Voldemort made that stone themselves. I heard them crooning on and on about what a marvel it was. They were quite absorbed by their own brilliance.” He laughed out loud then, “And then you just broke it! I can’t wait to see Riddle’s face when I remind him that a muggleborn destroyed his own work.”
She smiled back at him weakly, “You said you were ok in the beginning? Did something change?”
“Oh.” He couldn’t seem to look at her then, “Well, all the horcrux hunting made him more anxious, he couldn’t bring himself to leave me. I was the only one who could soothe him, apparently. He wanted me with him constantly. I used to be able to walk around the house by myself, but now…especially with the diadem gone…I’m not sure if he’ll let me leave his room soon.”
She gaped at him, “His room? Do you sleep with-”
“Don’t you remember? He thinks we’re soulmates Hermione.” He interrupted her. “Where do you think I sleep?”
Her mouth hung open, her eyes wide, “Oh Harry, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She reached out towards him.
He let her, pulling her into a hug on the cold floor.
“I really did miss you.” He said quietly.
Hermione buried herself in his neck. She breathed in deeply, he smelled different; the scent of grass and treacle tart was gone. He smelled almost like lilies now.
Eventually, Harry pulled away. Hermione wiped her eyes again. They sat quietly for a moment.
“Do you…do you know why he thinks that you are soulmates?” She whispered.
Harry looked at her, he really did have such wonderful eyes, “Yes. I think you know too.”
“I’m sorry.”
He just sighed, “You really are too clever for your own good. I assume the rest of the Order doesn’t know of me being his human horcrux? They just think he’s just keeping me as some sort of live trophy?”
“What would be the point in telling anyone? No one even knows where he was keeping you.”
He hummed again, “You’re getting low on time, you will have to kill me eventually, you’ve practically run out of horcruxes to procrastinate with.”
“No!” She gripped his face in her hands, “No, I will save you Harry.”
“Well, well, well.”
A crack hissed through the air, Hermione found herself flung back, now several meters away from Harry, who quickly stood up.
“Bellatrix.”
“You and the mudblood looking a bit cozy there, weren’t you going on about how she was like a sister to you?” She flourished her wand as she spoke, bright sparks flew out from the tip.
“She is.”
“Mmm, that better be true, you already have your one true soulmate.”
Harry glared at her.
Bellatrix smiled. She gave him a short, shallow bow before turning to look back at Hermione, “Just wanted to check on you two. I know I’m not usually supposed to be in these quarters, but the Dark Lord was busy and asked me to keep an eye about.” She preened slightly as she said this, obviously proud that her master had given her such a personal task.
Harry moved quickly, standing between Hermione and the grinning witch. “Well, you’ve checked on us, I hope you found babysitting fulfilling. You can leave now.”
“Goodness little one, you clean up as quite the charming knight.” She looked over Harry’s shoulder to leer at Hermione.
“Hello mudblood, you better keep your filthy mouth shut, I don’t want to hear any plans about kidnapping the Dark Lord’s beloved." She took a step closer, "Your role is to be a good little plaything and roll over when asked.”
Hermione felt herself flush, “You must be jealous, your devotion didn’t get you into your master’s bed in the end.”
Harry looked away, belatedly Hermione realised what she had said.
“I said keep your mouth shut you little-”
“Stop Bellatrix!” Harry said, his voice was sharp, “That’s enough, we’re not leaving as you know. So shut up and go spit your nonsense somewhere else.”
With his words, the doors Bellatrix had flounced through sprung back wide open, the house seemingly very happy to facilitate his command.
Bellatrix hissed, for a moment her glare turned on Harry. “You know,” Bellatrix mused, looking down at him, Harry was still slightly shorter than her, “I always thought soulmates were meant to be… equals.” Her gaze lingered on his face but then her expression quickly cleared into something almost pleasant. She smiled, “But of course, I live to serve.”
She still managed another glare at Hermione before twisting away, her long black skirt flourishing behind her, her tall heels clacking loudly on the marble floors.
Harry didn’t turn around until the doors swung loudly shut behind her. Then his shoulders dropped. He turned back to Hermione, “I’m sorry, she’s usually not allowed here. Riddle said we wouldn’t be bothered.”
Hermione looked up at him, “Harry, why am I here?”
He grimaced, “I think, you were meant to be…he wanted to make me happy.”
“I’m a gift.”
“No! No, don’t listen to her. Bellatrix is vile.”
Hermione stared down at the ground, “I’m surprised he didn’t get you Ron, he’s a pureblood. Surely, he would be better-suited company for you than some muggleborn.”
“I don’t think he wanted any reminders of…”, He didn’t seem like he could dare to finish the sentence.
Hermione didn’t need him to. She knew who he was thinking of.
Harry held out a hand to her, she took it and slowly stood up.
“But he’s an idiot Hermione. You are the smartest person I know, and he’s just delivered you to his home. His last horcruxes are right here.”
“What are you-”, she cut herself off, looking up when the house made another load groan.
“The snake is somewhere in this house” Harry went on, ignoring the increasingly loud rumbles of the manor, “It might take a while, but we can get it. Fiendfyre is apparently strong enough to kill a horcrux,” He grinned at her, “I’ve been getting better at wandless magic.”
“Harry stop, Fiendfyre is notoriously difficult to control even with a wand. Dumbledore himself would rarely use it, and what are you suggesting anyway? We kill the snake and then what? I just kill you? After I just got you back?”
“Hermione, I’m a horcrux.”
She shook him, “No! You are Harry Potter, you are my best friend. Stop throwing yourself on swords when there could be other solutions!”
“No Hermione, I need you to do this for me. I can’t do it myself; the house won’t let me. I need someone who will.”
“Well, I won’t, so too bad for you.”
“Hermione.” His eyes seemed so empty, “I don’t think I’ve been Harry for a long time. Merlin, even you just saying my name is strange.” He pulled away from her, “No one calls me that here, no one really speaks to me, it’s just him, over and over, every night and through every day.”
“Oh Harry.”
“It’s for the best, I am his horcrux Hermione. All that prophecy rubbish, it’s all I am.”
ooo
“Are you happy my soul?”
Harry tried not to shudder as ice-cold fingertips trailed up his neck, “Why would I be happy?”
There was a slight rustle from behind him, “Did you not like my gift? If it displeases you, I could always have it…removed.”
Harry shut his eyes, forcing air into his cold lungs. He then turned around, pulling a wide smile onto his face, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to seem ungrateful, it was really nice of you to bring me Hermione. Thanks.”
Voldemort merely hummed back, his fingers traced up Harry’s cheek to reach the corners of his eye. He had always seemed fascinated with his eyes, content to stare at them for hours no matter how much Harry fidgeted.
“I hope she will stop you from being too lonely when I must leave you. I wish I could keep Nagini with you, but it has now become too dangerous.”
Harry had to fight to keep his smile from turning into a grimace. Even the thought of having that oversized lizard wrapped around him again, cooing in his ear about how wonderful he smelled... “I understand.”
Voldemort became quiet again, “You are being unusually well behaved my beloved,” he smiled at him, “Anything to share?”
I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.
“No. I’m just so happy you gave me my…gift. I just want to show how grateful I am to you.”
Voldemort’s smile grew, “I am sure there are many ways you could show me how grateful you are.”
Harry quickly leaned back, pushing against his chest, “I think I should check on Hermione. I don’t think the house likes her much. I’m worried it might hurt her.” He looked up at him, “It would make me very upset if something happened to her.”
Voldemort nodded, allowing himself to be gently pushed away, “Very well, you may run along.” He flicked his wrist, the doors unlocked, opening out into the hallway. Harry quickly dashed towards them.
“Make sure you’re back within an hour.”
Harry didn’t bother to respond; he moved rapidly down the hallway. He did want to see Hermione.
The house begrudgingly opened each door for him, allowing him to move closer to Hermione’s room. Every doorway he passed creaked loudly to show the manor's displeasure, evidently unhappy with allowing him to see his friend again. Though perhaps unhappy was the wrong word, it was more wary. It wasn’t quite sure what it thought of her yet.
Eventually though, Harry paused, feeling he was far enough away from Riddle.
He glanced out a tall window. It was still night, though the moon was particularly bright. It illuminated the manicured grounds below. Harry moved closer to it, letting his hand tap uselessly against the glass, staring aimlessly down.
He breathed in deeply, trying to trick himself into thinking he was breathing in the billowing air from outside, and not the dark, thick air of the hallway. He shoved half-heartedly at the glass, but it didn’t budge. Of course, the house would never allow a window to open for him, especially this high up, he had already tried to jump out once.
Harry frowned as he saw a figure standing out on the grass below, their dark robes billowing behind them. Snape stared back up at the window; his face creased in concentration. Of course, he couldn’t actually see Harry, not with the dozens of privacy charms littered around these quarters, but he would know that his old student was trapped somewhere in the walls.
Eventually, Snape turned away, heading towards the tall front gates and apparating with a silent crack. Harry watched wordlessly, he turned away from the window, resting his back on the cold glass and sliding down so he sat on the floor.
“Lumos.” He whispered to himself, obediently, a small ball of white light filled his hand.
“Nox.” The light vanished.
The house watched him happily.