ꜱᴇʀᴘᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ | ᴛᴏᴍɪᴏɴᴇ

Serpentine, ch. 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Draco and Lucius bowed to Voldemort   and then they turned to Harmony and bowed to her, murmuring "Mistress." Although the display was clearly half-hearted, Voldemort did not complain as they left. His eyes latched onto Harmony's and did not waver as Barty looked from one to the other.

"I suppose I'll be going, too, then," Barty muttered after an awkward silence, and bowed to them as he headed down the hall after the others.

Harmony couldn't determine what the emotion was behind Master's eyes. He was thinking hard about something, but she didn't know what it could be. She turned slowly away, toward the direction of the stairs to suggest that they should go up to his chambers.

As soon as she moved away, Voldemort reached out and grasped her elbow, pulling her close to him. He bent his head down and whispered into her ear, "There are always consequences to everything we do, Harmony." Then he tilted his head so their eyes met and he added, "Remember that."

"My Lord?"

Did he know the truth? The more she tried to puzzle out his words, the more dreadful her thoughts became. She wondered if Lucius had discovered something about her and retold it to their Master.

When he released her arm and strode away, she was so confused that she just stood there and watched him go.

"You've done enough for today," he called back to her. "Take the remainder of the day to rest. We'll continue tomorrow."

Now that he mentioned it, Harmony realized she needed a rest. Her Cascadia lesson had left her entire body aching. She followed behind her Lord, thoughts of his strange behavior not far from her mind.

Master had a sour attitude the following day, and he seemed to push all of his anger onto Harmony during lessons. Several times he was short with her, and raised his voice as if to start a row. Harmony was used to him having a short temper, but nowadays it was becoming unbearable.

She couldn't help but feel like she may have something to do with his anger, but she had no idea what she'd done that would have set him off.

One night while they were in his bedchamber, Voldemort sat brooding in his chair. She watching him intently from the sofa. It was like watching a boiling kettle. But he only stared into the fire, and she took out one of her books to pass the time in tense silence.

Until finally, she felt his hand on her shoulder, and he spoke.

"You want to know why I've been on edge lately," he said.

She sputtered, putting her book away, "I knew you'd speak to me when you were ready."

"Indeed. You're so unlike my other followers in that way. Often, they lack the patience to leave me alone to my own thoughts." He sat forward. The hand that had been on her shoulder now rested on the arm of the chair. "It's the Vanishing cabinet. Lucius is unsure of how we will be able to reach it because it's so heavily guarded. He has considered using an Imperious curse to force some of the Aurors to leave, but he would have to wait until the absolute last moment to do it so he wouldn't get caught. And so we have to be completely sure of when to use it before we can proceed."

"Use it?" Harmony repeated, wondering what he would want to use it for.

"Yes, I can see no point in trying to take it back here to the mansion if I only need it for one use," he continued. "If Lucius can find an opening for us to act, we must gather my every follower and head to the Ministry."

Harmony sighed heavily. Voldemort leaned over and took her chin, tilting her face so their eyes met and he had her undivided attention. "I cannot tell you how important the Vanishing cabinet is. Without it, all my plans—everything would be ruined."