Summary: AU. When Harry Potter becomes a captive of Voldemort, he does not expect to meet Hermione Granger, a Death Eater who will turn his world upside down. Based off of the "Death Eater Hermione" challenge by Harry85.
Warnings: Due to the nature of the challenge (it's AU where Hermione is a Death Eater), the characters are bound to be a little OOC. In Hermione's case, she went to a different school, never met Harry and Ron, and eventually became a Death Eater (for reasons that will be revealed eventually). She'll be different, obviously, but I promise, the Hermione we all love is underneath it all. As for Harry, well, I've made him different as well; since I rather disliked the direction the 6th book took the HP series. He's had more leadership opportunities thrust on him, so he will likely seem a tad more charismatic (as we saw in book 5 when he was leading the DA).
Disclaimer: JK Rowling, not me, owns Harry Potter and all related characters and situations…unfortunately.
Our Nameless Will
There is comfort in loneliness
There is solace in sore hands.
These feelings of emptiness,
That work can't erase,
I'm trying to drive them down.
You came through the emptiness.
You came with your sore hands.
A union of lost souls,
Sharing a nameless will.
I'm trying to drive them down.
By Amandine
Prologue-Comfort In Loneliness
So tired waiting for the end to come;
Fully dead already, but forever young.
Death to Death by Stars
The wind blew forcefully, pushing against him and slowing his progress. He held his hood up with both hands, keeping his back hunched and his chin tucked in. The snow crunched under his dragonhide boots; he left muddied footprints behind, further dirtying the once pure-white ground. He stopped for a moment, breathing heavily, to adjust the pack he was carrying on his back.
The sound of footsteps continued.
He stiffened, bringing his wand to his hand with a flick of his wrist, and peered into the darkness. Slowly, a figure emerged, dressed completely in black, aside from the white Death Eater mask that covered the wizard's face.
He readied himself, going into a dueling stance and allowing the wind to whip back his hood, revealing a blood-red lightning bolt scar across his forehead. He waited tensely for the Death Eater to make the first move, but his opponent stood still, seemingly watching him carefully.
His jaw clenched; his eyes roamed around the area, scanning the darkened alleyways for other figures. Seeing no one else, he focused his full attention on the figure before him and prepared himself for battle.
"Sectumsempra!" He bellowed.
His opponent placed up a silver shield that Harry had never seen before, and the spell bounced harmlessly off. With a flick of the Death Eater's wrist, a retaliating spell, in the form of a blood red beam, shot toward him. Harry dodged it with a roll, grimacing as he felt the heat of the spell as it passed him.
Clearly, his opponent had a great deal of power. Sending off another curse, Harry wondered exactly who this Death Eater was. He could not recall ever seeing such a style of dueling. He had little time to think on this, as suddenly, a jet of fire flew towards him. Instinctively, he erected a strong shield, but the force of the wall of fire hitting it caused him to take several stumbling steps backward.
The spell let up after a few moments, but a large patch of snow was now liquefied around him, leaving brown grass behind.
There was a pause in the duel. The Death Eater observed him, almost casually.
Feeling aggravated, Harry moved his wand in a complicated motion and flicked it toward his adversary, creating a long whip of fire that extended from his wand. The rope of flame shattered the Death Eater's shield and wrapped around his opponent's body.
The Death Eater did not make a sound despite the pain that the burning rope must have caused. After struggling for a short time, the Death Eater went still, and Harry's flame whip began to turn to ice, falling to the ground and shattering.
His opponent, robes now tattered, stood up straighter, standing sideways with one foot behind the other, right hand over the head, left hand extended outward from the side. Harry was alarmed to find his opponent now possessed two wands and fully intended to put both to good use.
A spell shot out of each wand. Harry dodged the blue-colored one, but the green curse hit him in the neck. He tried not to scream as the curse ate through his robes and touched his skin. The feeling of burning flesh assaulted his senses.
"Reductor!" He growled. The spell hit at his challenger's feet, sending the Death Eater flying backwards.
A force from behind suddenly propelled him forward, leaving him face down in the snow and unable to move.
"And he's down," came a voice from the direction the spell had originated. "Little, bitty baby Potter, came out all alone, and now will die all alone."
Harry's furry rose as he recognized the voice.
"You bitch!" Came another voice. "What the fuck did you do that for?"
"Watch who you're talking to." Bellatrix hissed, her voice darkening from its previously taunting tone.
"I'll speak to you however I like, Lestrange. Forgive me if I'm not afraid of your pathetic attempts at superiority."
"You'll be lucky to live after this stunt, girl. The Dark Lord ordered an ambush, not a foolish attempt at a duel."
"I was doing rather well until you lot showed up," the woman he had dueled stated coolly.
"Your insolence will be punished…and soon," Bellatrix hissed again, "We depart now."
"Fine."
Black boots suddenly appeared in his field of vision.
"Stupefy!"
And blackness.
He awoke with a start, jerking forward, but chains held him to the cool, stone wall. His mind reeled, taking in the hard floor, the muggy smell of stifled space, the sharp pain in his neck, the feel of water dripping onto his face, and the overpowering darkness.
With a groan, he moved his hands up to his face, and feeling rough cloth covering his eyes, ripped off the blindfold. He blinked twice, adjusting to the dim light coming from a lone torch attached to the wall across from his cell.
He closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall, trying to feel any magical enchantments in place. Aside from an overall magical dampening charm on the cell and a magical current running through the steel cell door, he could only detect the faint pulse of three wizards heading towards the dungeons, where he assumed he was. Shortly afterwards, the sound of a door swinging open and loud voices confirmed the presence of approaching visitors.
"Ouch! You stupid oaf! Watch where you're going!"
"Uh-sorry, Draco."
Harry swore violently under his breath.
"I detest these dungeons-my robes are going to get dirty, I can just tell."
"Uh-then why are we down here?"
"I want to see it with my own eyes!"
The voices of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle came closer; Harry leaned back and stilled himself, feinting unconsciousness.
"Ha! It is Potter! I can't believe it! Look at him! Knocked off that pedestal of greatness now, aren't you, Potter?" Malfoy cackled.
"Is he-uh-alive?"
"Ugh! How can you possibly be so stupid? Of course he is, imbecile! He's of no use to the Dark Lord dead, at least, not now he isn't."
"But-erm-why?"
"I don't believe that's something you need to know, Crabbe," came a familiar, cool voice.
"Dammit! Why the hell are you sneaking around here?"
"It is I who should be asking you that question, Malfoy, as I'm supposed to be down here. You, on the other hand-"
"Oh, I see." Malfoy's voice turned smug. "Kicked out of the meeting were you? After that stunt you pulled with Potter, I'm not surprised, you worthless bit-AHHH!"
Harry had to use a great deal of willpower to keep his eyes from springing open.
"Fuck! You-dammit-you bitch!"
"Run along, Malfoy. If you hurry, someone can reattach your finger for you."
"Argh! My father will-"
"-Will do nothing; he's no more than a lap dog of the Dark Lord-he won't do anything unless the Dark Lord commands it, as you very well know. Now, leave me to my task."
To Harry's surprise, Malfoy left without another word, his cronies undoubtedly falling in line behind him.
"Idiot." The woman muttered darkly.
He heard a sizzling sound, and the door to his cell creaked open. The woman's footsteps drew nearer until they stopped directly in front of him.
"Impressive. From what I've heard, I wouldn't have thought you capable of restraining yourself from challenging Malfoy, even chained to the wall as you are."
Harry scowled, opening his eyes and glaring at the figure shrouded in black before him. He remained silent however. The woman stared at him for a moment before waving her wand to conjure two chains and then released him from his bindings. Harry did not move.
She sighed and finally dropped her hood. Harry barely stopped himself from gapping at her. Whatever he had been expecting beneath the hood, this was not it; curling brown hair down to the shoulders, a smooth face, and warm golden-brown eyes greeted him. She could not have been much older than he.
She dropped into one of the conjured chairs and crossed one leg over the other neatly.
"Well, are you going to sit?"
Harry stared at her stonily.
She rolled her eyes. "Of course you aren't. Anyways, I'm Hermione Granger. I was pleased to finally be able to duel you."
Harry wracked his brain for the name. When he finally remembered where he had heard it, his scowl deepened. "You killed Kingsley Shacklebolt. "
"So he does speak! And yes, I did." Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "It was only fair, after all."
"Fair!" Harry exploded. "Fair! He was a good man-a great man! And you murdered him for no reason at all!"
Hermione's eyes and tone turned cold. "I would not presume to know what reasons I may or may not have for killing a person if I were you."
"You don't scare me," Harry spat.
"No, I wouldn't, would I?" Her cold exterior melted, leaving Harry rather unsettled and confused. "You should be though. The Dark Lord is going to kill you. Soon."
Harry's face twisted into a sneer. "He's been trying to do that for over 17 years-hasn't succeeded yet. So forgive me if I'm skeptical."
She smiled. "No, but you haven't been a prisoner inside the Dark Lord's stronghold before, have you now?"
"I'll find a way out," Harry stated resolutely, refusing to show any weakness.
Hermione titled her head to the side, as if measuring him up. "Yes, I think that if there's any way out of here, you'll find it."
She stood and banished the chairs, both used and unused, and turned to go. Harry, in a moment of desperation, sprung from the floor, grabbed her, and placed her in a chokehold. She moved quickly, reflexively plunging her right hand into her robes and stabbing a small blade into his thigh, mercilessly twisting it.
Harry yelled in pain and released her, dropping to the floor-the immense pain the wound created seemed to be spreading throughout his body. She placed the blade, it's middle, pointed baton and two side projections now bloodied, back into the folds of her robes and removed her wand, waving it to cause the chains to surround him once again.
She knelt down next to him and placed her wand against the now throbbing wound in his leg. He winced when she muttered a spell, but instead of additional pain as he suspected, warmth seeped throughout the wound opening, sealing it. She waved her wand again, and the pain that had been starting to cause him to twitch disappeared. He relaxed against the chains, breathing heavily.
"I coat my sai with a poison that wrecks havoc on the nervous system-much like the Cruciatus Curse, but deadlier. It's not pleasant, but you won't die-I've performed the counter-spell."
She placed her wand once again on him, but this time, on his neck. Another whispered spell and the irritating pain that he still felt from the injury from their duel vanished.
"It was an acid-related curse," she explained again. "You're lucky it hit your neck-I was going for the eyes."
She stood and walked out of the cell, waving her wand in a complex pattern over the door.
"You're not a normal Death Eater," he exclaimed suddenly, causing her to stop short.
"No," she said, her lips curling into a cross between a genuine smile and a smirk. "No, I'm not. I'll see you soon, Harry Potter." She added before departing, leaving a rather confused young man behind her.
Notes:
The full requirements for the challenge can be found here: http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26459
I've never written an action/adventure type story before, so as always, suggestions and comments are always helpful.
Thankfully, StepiePye agreed to beta for me, so a big thanks goes out to her.
The title of the story "Our Nameless Will" is based off of the Amandine song of the same title. Each chapter will be named after a line from the song, though the plot will not depend on the song, so much.
A sai is a Japanese weapon (traditionally Okinawan) that consists of 3 prongs coming out a handle, with the middle prong of a longer length. If you ever watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (like I did as a kid!) Raphael (the red one) wielded two sai.
Though Horcruxes will play a part in this story, the Dealthly Hallows will not.
This is only the prologue, so it's shorter than all the other chapters-Chapters won't be super long, but they definitely won't be as short as they were in my last story. ^^
Our Nameless Will will be 8 chapters long.
Updates won't be too fast. My beta and I are both rather busy, so don't expect any updates more often than once a week.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy the rest of the fic!
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