ꜱᴇʀᴘᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ | ᴛᴏᴍɪᴏɴᴇ

Serpentine, ch. 6

CHAPTER SIX

"Wands at the ready, and on three," Voldemort said. He moved gracefully as he braced himself for battle, and Harmony did her best to look equally as good, though she was certain that she failed miserably.

Why had she accepted this suicide mission? Dumbledore and Snape would sure feel sorry they talked her into this when she ended up dead. She knew she wasn't ready to come here. But if this was to be her last stand, her final blow, she'd better make the best of it. She held her head high and tried to stare him down.

"One-," her Master began in his iciest voice ever. His blue eyes did a much better job at staring her down than the other way around.

Harmony acted on a sudden impulse. A red bolt of light shot out of her wand and impacted with his, and the wand went flying out of his hand toward one of the corners. A look of pure astonishment crossed his face, but he quickly recovered and his wand flew right back into his waiting hand.

She considered following the first spell with the one she had just learned about making someone believe they were being attacked by giants, but her Master did not send a spell at her. Instead, he lowered his wand.

"I said on three," he said with his mouth hanging slightly open and his fists clenched.

Harmony stared at him with her big brown eyes, full of fear and apprehension.

He saw this and a muscle in his jaw clenched. "You're bold. Almost too bold, to cheat in a duel with your Lord. But I have to admit," he said, "it is something I can admire."

Harmony blushed. She had expected him to kill her, and instead she got a comment-or something like it. Had she miscalculated his intentions?

Voldemort moved back into position, and cast a challenging look at her. "Let's see if your boldness can disarm me the right way this time. And remember, it's on three."

Harmony shook off her agitation and brought up her wand again. She sucked in a huge breath, leaned forward, and gave him a darkly look in return. I can do this, she thought. I will do it.

"One," he began, and Harmony spied a small smile on his lips, "Two ... three."

~~~

Later, Lord Voldemort sat in his leather chair by the fire in his bedchambers, as he did every evening. He and the girl, Harmony Hangleton, had left the lesson hall to go and take lunch. She would have the remainder of the day to rest for tomorrow, where lessons were going to be brutal.

When he had asked Severus for a new follower, Voldemort had never dreamed he would receive one with such power and knowledge. He once again thought about how she had miraculously deceived and disarmed him in the lesson hall today. That was something he would do in a duel, cast the first spell.

But-of all the things he could not forget-the way she had looked at him was perhaps the most unnerving of all. His followers hardly ever met his eyes, and when they did they were always full of quavering terror. Her eyes were a soft brown, innocent. But he caught her once looking at him with an unshakable fury that he somehow found appealing.

A small smile twitched at the corner of his lips as he closed his eyes. Yes, he thought, I believe Harmony and I will get along just fine.

A meal waited for Harmony when she returned to her room. As she cleaned away the meat stuck between her teeth with her tongue, she gazed around and decided that she was tired of the dirt caked all over her room. She made up her mind to make a dent in the dust at the very least. It wasn't that monumental a task, since the furniture here was not overly elaborate, and there were very few pieces. She assumed she must be in a guest room.