ꜱᴇʀᴘᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ | ᴛᴏᴍɪᴏɴᴇ

Whispers from the Past, ch. 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

When Harmony and Ginny left the boys' room to go to bed, Harry's words raced through her mind. He said it wasn't over, meaning it wouldn't be over until Voldemort was dead. Harmony wanted to tell Harry that that wasn't going to happen; she wasn't going to let that happen. With Voldemort's memory gone, he was as harmless as a child. If Harry was going to kill Voldemort, he'd have to go through her first. She wasn't sure where the sudden desire to protect her old master came from, but she knew it was true. If it ever came to it, she wouldn't stand by and watch Harry murder him.

At least Voldemort is safe inside Menkar, where no one can hurt him, Harmony thought as she climbed the stairs to Ginny's room.

When she reached the top of the stairs, a gruff voice called up to her, "Miss Granger!"

She jumped back down the stairs and was met by Mad-Eye Moody's penetrating gaze. His normal eye narrowed at the sight of her.

"Yes, sir?" she inquired politely, remembering Moody's intent gaze trained upon her all dinner.

He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "I believe Miss Fleur has your Death Eater clothes cleaned and ready in the laundry room."

Harmony thanked him and wondered why Fleur didn't tell her herself. When Moody didn't move to leave, she slid past him with her back against the wall and walked down the hallway. She remembered where the laundry room was from the tour Fleur gave her earlier that day. The little room resided on the far side of Shell cottage, away from the kitchen and living room. When Harmony walked inside, the smell of laundry detergent filled her nose. She found her black wool clothes folded neatly in a wicker basket. She brought the clothes to her face, breathing in the clean scent; they smelled better than even when she first got them. Snape had given them to her smelling like pine and campfire, and she never found out where exactly he got the women's clothing.

Suddenly the laundry room door banged shut behind her, making her jump and spin around with a gasp on her lips. She was surprised to see Moody there in the room with her, a hand wrapped around the door handle.

"Sir?" Harmony said slowly, holding her clean clothes to her chest.

Without a word, Moody released the handle and took a step toward her. He reached into his jacket and pulled out the copy of The Daily Prophet he was reading earlier. He unfolded the newspaper dramatically and opened it to what Harmony guessed was page five.

He cleared his throat and began in his scratchy voice, "'Granger not only is a follower of the Dark Lord, but also possesses a unique Death Eater mark called a Serpentine charm…it is understood she is the only follower of You-Know-Who ever to possess such a charm.'" Moody looked up at her from the newspaper as he folded it back into his jacket. When he said nothing, Harmony knew he was waiting for her to speak.

"I told you about the charm, remember?" Harmony said. The palms of her hands were beginning to sweat. "The snake charm, the thing he used to keep an eye on me."

Moody nodded. "I remember you telling us about a charm, but the funny thing is, Miss Granger," he chuckled dryly, "I don't remember you telling us exactly what the charm means."

Harmony gulped. She wondered what Moody was getting at. How could he possibly know the Serpentine charm was more important than she let on? As she replied, her eyes drifted over his shoulder to the laundry room door, and she found herself wondering if it was locked or not. "I don't know what you mean."

Straight away she knew he didn't believe her, because when he chuckled again his face screwed up into a sneer. He took another step toward her, making her feel claustrophobic in the small space of the laundry room.