ꜱᴇʀᴘᴇɴᴛɪɴᴇ ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ | ᴛᴏᴍɪᴏɴᴇ

Serpentine, ch. 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Harmony cracked her eyelids open a sliver. She was now alone in the Dark Lord's bed, tucked snugly under the blankets which spread heavy and warm over her weary body. A bright light entered from somewhere and she sighed and curled her toes in contentment. She rolled onto her side, ready to go back to sleep, but became suddenly aware of another presence in the room.

The sound of labored breathing met her ears somewhere beyond the foot of the bed. She slowly turned onto her back, peering up and over the blankets. The bedroom door was wide open, which let in the afternoon sunlight.

Long-fingered claws gripped one edge of the door, and Harmony's eyes fell on a wide-eyed Bellatrix Lestrange.

The look on the woman's face made Harmony shiver violently. Bellatrix wasn't just angry; her eyes didn't have that glare they usually held when turned on her. She was livid. Only death flared in her smoldering eyes. The only thing keeping Bellatrix from lunging at Harmony was her grip on the door. Then she let go. 

Deep indents appeared where her long fingernails had pierced the wood. With a snarl, she flung herself at Harmony and grabbed her around the throat. She lugged her out of Master's bed and flung her down onto the cold floor.

Harmony tried desperately to loosen the woman's death grip around her neck. She tried to gasp, but it was impossible to fill her burning lungs with air.

Their faces were nose-to-nose when Bellatrix managed to spit out a few words. "You!" she screeched, "Y—you whore!"

She gripped Harmony so hard the young witch thought her head might sever completely from her shoulders. She shook her violently and stars flashed in Harmony's vision. When her Serpentine charm reacted on her right arm, Harmony realized this crazy witch really did want her dead.

"He belongs to me! He used to teach me the spells he knew. I bet you didn't know that, did you? I was the one who always fought by his side! He loved me!"

Harmony made a deep noise in the back of her throat as she tried to speak. She had suddenly remembered something her friend Harry Potter had once said, and with a surge from her abdomen she repeated it now. "Voldemort. Can't. Love."

Shock ignited in Bellatrix's enraged eyes. With her teeth clenched, she brought a clawed hand up and slashed it down on Harmony's face.

Stars burst behind her eyes. Even though her scarf still covered her lower face, her exposed eyelids and upper cheeks seared painfully where the centimeter long nails had broken the skin. Since one of Bellatrix's hands had released her throat, Harmony was able to breathe in enough air to shriek with pain.

"How dare you speak his name!?" Bellatrix screeched. "I don't care if you do have the Serpentine charm. I don't even care if he kills me, but if I can't have him, no one can."

Harmony felt the tip of a wand stab her between the eyes.

"As much as I would love to watch you two lovely ladies fight to the death...," said a familiar voice in the doorway.

Bellatrix spun around on her knees and Harmony peeked over the witch's shoulder at Barty Crouch Jr.

He grinned down at them as he continued, "We're on a bit of a tight schedule, so if you don't mind. Could you save it for later, perhaps? I'd love to watch."

Harmony couldn't remember ever being so happy to see him. She stared up at him with pleading eyes.

"You're interrupting, Barty," Bellatrix snarled as she turned back to Harmony.