Shattered Surrender
by sick-atxxheart
Chapter Sixteen

I apologize sincerely for the lack of updates.

Hermione was sitting on her bed in her room when Bella entered, startling her. Hermione had just startled to smile at the woman when she noticed the tall, pale man who had followed her into the room. She recognized him from The Incident, and remembered what Harry had told her about him.

Hermione shrunk back on her bed instinctively, but held her head high in order to appear confident. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed as Bella shot her an approving look, one that almost said Good job. Be strong. Hermione wasn't exactly sure what she had to be afraid of, but just the man's red eyes were enough to scare her.

Voldemort wasn't exactly sure how to relate to the girl who was sitting in front of him. He had instructed Bella to take him to her in order to introduce himself, and the Dark Lord wanted to get a grasp of exactly what he was dealing with. Was the girl timid and shy, meaning she would be unwilling to use her powers? Or was she daring and confident, as he hoped she would be- someone willing to learn and follow instructions, someone that Bella could hopefully mentor into a successful witch?

He had his answer in a matter of minutes.

"Hello," Voldemort said politely, already feeling awkward. He hated dealing with children, but he had learned enough in the past day to know that scaring them when you were hoping they would cooperate was not the best way to go. Being nice seemed to be the way to get them to cooperate the best, despite how repulsive that option was.

"Hello," the girl said, repeating after him. She appeared to be confident enough, at least in that moment.

"Do you know who I am?" Voldemort questioned, making sure to look at her directly.

The girl looked confused for a moment before answering. "Veldemord?" She asked, looking up at him hopefully, her face almost nervous.

"What?" Voldemort yelped, wincing as he realized that yelping was not as menacing as he would like to appear. "I can assure you that my name is most certainly not Veldemord, or whatever atrocity you just called me!"

The girl shrunk back, looking at him through her too-long bangs. "I'm really very sorry, sir. That's just what Harry told me your name was," she said honestly, still appearing confident even through her apparent fear. Her emotions were rather confusing, Voldemort noticed; he was usually very talented at reading people, but her feelings were a mystery to him. He would have to rely only on her body language and words, this time, unless he decided to look at her thoughts to prove her feelings.

Voldemort sighed, allowing his anger to cool. He knew he would regret it later if he killed this powerful child simply because she had annihilated the pronunciation of his name. Besides, Severus had expressed his belief that Harry and Hermione had become fast friends, and the Dark Lord knew that punishing this girl would hurt Harry. As much as he abhorred having such a feeling, Voldemort doubted that he could even hurt the boy at this point. Undoubtedly it was the mentor bond kicking in, but the Dark Lord still couldn't deny the hold the spell had on him.

Finally speaking again, Voldemort said firmly, "It's Voldemort. Make sure you remember it."

The girl nodded, obviously relieved that he wasn't angry. "I'm Hermione," she said, hesitating for a moment before holding out her hand for him to shake. "It's nice to meet you." Her eyes met Voldemort's, and he was startled by the easy, confident manner she possessed. It was as if she wasn't afraid of him at all.

Voldemort stared at the girl's small hand for a full minute, contemplating exactly what her gesture meant, how he should respond to it, and whether or not it was appropriate to shake hands with a Muggleborn. He hadn't even come close to making a decision on how to react when Bella cleared her throat, startling him out of his thoughts.

"Ahem," Bella said, her eyes darting around the room, obviously trying to fill the awkward gap that Voldemort's pause had created. "Anyway, how are you feeling, Hermione?"

Hermione dropped her hand and broke her eyes away from Voldemort's, wondering exactly what his problem was. "I'm feeling fine, thank you." She really wanted to ask how Harry was, because she had been able to tell that he was sick when she had met him. But judging from the look on Bella's face, Hermione knew better than to speak.

The silence had just settled into something that was a few levels past uncomfortable when Voldemort spoke. "So you've met young Harry," he said, his voice careful. He didn't want to make another mistake like the one he had made by not shaking the girl's hand.

Hermione hung her head. "I really hadn't meant to intrude on anything, sir."

Voldemort was surprised by what he said next. "What did you think of him?"

Hermione looked up at him, almost as if searching for permission to answer his question. "Well… he was very afraid of me, at first. I had to make him believe that I didn't want to hurt him before he would even talk to me. Other than that, he just looks really small for his age."

Voldemort nodded, satisfied by her answer. "I take it that you have no idea why you are here, or what exactly is going on?" He asked, without really needing her response to know the answer to his question. Of course she wouldn't have any knowledge of the magical world, other than the bits and pieces she had glimpsed during her time with them. If Hermione was to be trained, and used as a potential weapon, then she would need to be educated on magical history, theory, and application. Voldemort sighed as he realized that Harry would practically be starting off at the very same spot.

The Dark Lord turned to go, not needing to speak to the girl anymore. Before he exited the door, he turned around and shot Hermione a cold glance, only to find her big brown eyes staring back at him innocently. Voldemort found her ease unsettling; he was used to people fearing him, and he disliked not being able to scare her into obedience. She seemed intelligent, and she was undoubtedly powerful. Perhaps only logic and reason would make her act in the manner Voldemort wanted her to.

Voldemort turned around again and exited, murmuring a few words loud enough for both Bella and Hermione to hear. "My little Mudblood," he said softly, not really meaning it as a criticism. He knew in his heart that what he associated with that word would soon be drastically changed.

Hermione's love of knowledge and books was revealed early on. When told that someone would be impersonating her, she demanded to know the entire extent of the plan, how the potion worked, and exactly what the outcome of the whole ordeal would be. After that episode, Severus was much more hesitant to reveal much of anything to her, because it then required dedicating a good half-hour to explaining the mechanics of magic and potion-making. Hermione had expressed an interest, however, in learning from him; and while Severus didn't like children much, an eager, intelligent one was always appreciated.

Voldemot's meeting with the girl, Hermione, the day before had puzzled him for hours after it was over. Voldemort had gone over every possible angle, and could not come up with an appropriate explanation for why she hadn't feared him, hadn't immediately bowed down and worshiped him when she had seen his power. In retrospect, Voldemort was glad she hadn't, because it meant she had a mind of her own; but to have a follower that was so independent, especially one so young, was strange.

Bella had informed him that Hermione had asked if she could return home to her parents. The answer, of course, had been no; she needed to stay. According to Bella's later reports, the girl had taken the news very well; she had just set her face, nodded, and asked some other question. Voldemort wondered if the girl had cried later, or if she was just really not that close to her parents. He had never been an expert on family relationships, after all.

According to Severus, Harry was progressing nicely. His body was healing, although he would still have nasty scars, and his state of mind seemed to also be improving. Harry knew that he was safe, and according to Severus, that was the most important thing. The absence of fear now accompanied the boy's demeanor, which was something everyone was greatful for. Hermione was a great comfort to him, and everyone could tell that they would be fast and perhaps forever friends.

Voldemort had toyed with the idea of waiting for two days until he put their plan for sending Dumbledore to Azkaban into action, but had eventually decided that having Dumbledore disappear for an extended period of time and then act illegally was less believable than if he suddenly did something out of character. Besides, Voldemort's excitement for the commencement of the plan was too much to put off for very long. He had even dressed the part that morning, just in case he had to make an appearance.

It was early in the morning when Voldemort strode into the chambers of the dungeons that had been turned into a prison. Dumbledore was sleeping on his flat, thin cot, looking pitiful and old. For a moment, Voldemort hesitated, noticing that the man was sleeping; he then threw away those emotions and bellowed, "Time to wake up, your highness!" The laugh that followed was loud enough to wake the old man up, if Voldemort's words already hadn't. Voldemort always loved mockery, especially in regards to his enemies.

Dumbledore's blue eyes flew open with a start, but it took him a few moments to sit up and meet Voldemort's eyes. He still had a subtle defiance behind those sparkling orbs; however, the look of defeat was also mingled in with them. "What is it, Tom?" He said quietly.

Voldemort winced at the name "Tom"; he still hated being called that. "It's retribution day!" He exclaimed. "I bet you can figure out what that means, can't you, Albus?"

Fear glazed over Dumbledore's eyes for a moment, before they returned back to the overpowering arrogance that usually occupied them. "You can't hurt me," he said softly, grinning.

Voldemort turned away. "Oh, we shall see," he said over his shoulder as he walked out the door. "I think you will find your new position to be quite… ironic."

Only after hearing the entire explanation would Hermione give up a strand of her hair to allow Severus to properly make the Polyjuice Potion. Once he left, she looked up at Bellatrix inquisitively and said, "Why are you impersonating me? Why aren't I just going to be me?"

It was an innocent question, but it forced Bella to have to express her emotions. "I- I don't want you to get hurt," Bella said honestly, trying very hard not to look away from the child's big brown eyes.

"But it's okay if you get hurt?" Hermione responded with another question, one that startled Bella even more.

"I guess it is," she said honestly. "I have to say that I am used to it. You are a child- you should not have to get used to being injured." Bella almost winced as she said those words, because they seemed so uncharacteristic coming from her. Her statement was basically the polar opposite of what she had been taught as a child, and additionally the opposite from Dumbledore's viewpoint regarding Harry. Children were not meant to be injured, Bella thought to herself firmly, even if I did used to believe something different.

Hermione didn't respond to Bella's statement, but the older woman could practically see her mind whirring in an attempt to make sense of Bella's words.

When Severus finally brought in the potion, Voldemort, Sirius, Bella, Severus, Harry, and Hermione all gathered in Harry's room to watch. While the four adults had seen the Polyjuice Potion take affect many times, and had in fact all experienced it themselves, the two children were completely new to the experience. Severus and Sirius were standing ready to console them in the case that they became frightened.

Bella held the small bottle in her hand and looked at Voldemort for permission. He nodded and spoke. "Go on, Bellatrix," almost as if knowing that those three words could provide the most reassurance for her.

Bella downed the contents of the bottle in one long sip, breathing heavily after she swallowed the last of it. Almost immediately her face began to change, her bones moving around and her body size shrinking. In under a minute she was the exact replica of Hermione Granger, except in a much bigger set of robes.

Hermione cried out quietly when Bella turned to face her, but then just stared curiously. It was strange feeling to see yourself, except that it was really not you. Harry, meanwhile, also stared curiously. His demeanor was very calm most of the time; now, however, he seemed slightly unnerved at the change in Bella, who was so precious to him. "Will you be all right, Bella?" he whispered softly, almost inaudibly.

Bella turned back to him. "I'll be fine, baby," she said, startled slightly by her much younger voice. She stared down at her hands and had to hide her grin. It felt good to be a child again – almost as if all the pain and suffering of her adult life had been washed away. Additionally, she felt pretty again. Hermione could not really be considered beautiful, but she was child-pretty, and Bella enjoyed having good looks again, even if they were not really hers.

Bella quickly waved her wand and transfigured her robe into Muggle clothes that fit her body. Just from that small bit of magic she could feel strength drain out of her, and inwardly she cursed Azkaban and everyone who had put her there. Severus seemed to notice the change in her face, and he shook his head slightly, almost as if implying that she should have let him do the transfiguration for her. She ignored his silent comment, slightly annoyed by it but knowing that it was well-intentioned.

"You know the plan, I presume?" Voldemort confirmed. Bellatrix nodded sharply, and Voldemort grinned in response and exited the room. A few seconds later, he returned, two masked Death Eaters leading a struggling Albus Dumbledore.

"Are you ready, Dumbledore?" Voldemort said, circling around him like a cat. "Your punishment awaits you. Aren't you prepared? What do you mean you didn't do anything wrong? I assure you that you did. Now, look-" – he pointed to Bellatrix, or Hermione- "Your victim awaits."

Dumbledore continued to struggle through Voldemort's tirade, and the Dark Lord raised his wand, stared at the man with a glint in his red eyes, and said clearly, "Obliviate." Immediately the old man's blue eyes glazed over, and he stopped struggling. Voldemort then raised his wand again and said, "Imperio." Immediately the two Death Eaters let go of his arms and exited the room, leaving him standing upright, obviously waiting for a command. Voldemort smirked. Now Dumbledore would do whatever he wanted, but he also wouldn't remember the fact that he had been at the headquarters or that he had been cursed; he would just wake up from the spell knowing what he had done, and not knowing the reason for it.

Voldemort moved his gaze over the inhabitants of the room and finally stopped at Bellatrix. "Let's go," he said. Bellatrix nodded, following the man out the door, and nearly ran into him when he stopped suddenly. She quickly backed up and looked at him inquiringly.

Voldemort sighed. "I'm not rewarding your emotional connection to these children," he said warningly to Bellatrix, who stared back at him, confused. He then nodded to Severus, who handed Bellatrix another vial of potion; this time, the potion was electric purple. She stared down at the bottle, wondering what it was, until she saw Severus' handy little note scrawled along the bottle of the vial, on a small piece of magical tape: "Painless Spells." Her gasp was audible to those in the room; Bella knew both how rare and how difficult the potion was to make, and it was not something that was just given out freely. The potion made the user appear to be still suffering from the effects of a spell, as in Bella's body would still react the way it would normally under a spell; however, the person would feel no pain. Bellatrix would just have to supplement screams or cries, which she knew she could do quite convincingly.

Bellatrix looked at Voldemort and said in the most sincere way she could muster, "Thank you." She wondered for a moment whether it was necessary to bow down at his feet, as they used to have to; but circumstances had changed, and when Voldemort nodded once at her gratitude and then exited the room, she knew her words had been enough. Dumbledore followed Voldemort obediently. Bellatrix looked at Severus and Sirius for a moment of reassurance, smiled encouragingly and waved goodbye to Harry and Hermione, and then also left the room. Sirius followed; Severus was going to stay behind with Harry and Hermione, but could Apparate to the place where there plan was going to take place at a second's notice if necessary.

Voldemort had purposely leaked a false trail of information saying that he would be trying to break into the Ministry through Diagon Alley sometime in the morning. Doing this ensured two things; one, that there would be many Ministry employees and law enforcers patrolling the area; and two, because it was Diagon Alley, there would be many people around. It was necessary for not only the Ministry to have a reason to put Dumbledore in Azkaban, but also for the people themselves to turn against him. Torturing someone was not only a crime, but torturing a child was a crime against humanity.

Gaining access to Diagon Alley was easier than it should have been. Voldemort was carefully concealed, and actually remained quite a ways away from the scene of the upcoming action. Sirius' face had been transformed slightly and his long hair was magically hidden; it was unnecessary for him to have as convincing of a disguise as Bellatrix, as it had been long enough that most people would not recognize him; additionally, no one was really looking for him. Sirius remained close to Bellatrix and Dumbledore, who were approaching the center of the street.

Sirius knew that it would take careful timing to be able to grab Hermione and Apparate out of the scene, without anyone seeing them or really realizing what was happening. He was positive that it would work, but it would still take careful manipulation. Sirius had spent a good many hours thinking up possible scenarios and exactly how he would get Bella/Hermione out of them, and he felt confident in his ability to fulfill his role in their plan.

Bellatrix took her place, looking completely normal; just a young girl, most likely shopping with her parents, perhaps for school books or for her first wand. The scene changed, however, and many people around her cried out in shock when Dumbledore stormed towards her, yelling expletives, particularly those that were derogatory towards Muggleborns. From a distance, Voldemort smirked, enjoying having Dumbledore do exactly what people thought he would not normally do.

The screams had already attracted the attention of a few Aurors who were patrolling Diagon Alley. For a few moments, they watched as Dumbledore screamed at Hermione, who was just watching him helplessly, tears beginning to stream down her face as she seemed to become smaller and smaller with fear. Sirius, standing back with the crowd, could not help but admire Bella's acting skills. If he did not know, there was no way that he would have ever guessed that Hermione was not actually terrified for her life.

Next, as Sirius expected, came the Cruciatus. It had been decided by the group that only the cruelest of curses would work to cause absolute terror in the crowd. Dumbledore's cry of "Crucio!" left many people scrambling backward, whispering frantically, "But that's Dumbledore!" "Why is he hurting her?" and "Oh, stop!" Sirius smirked; the plan was working perfectly.

Bella's screams had just begun to resound through the crowd, ringing through the ears of everyone. Dumbledore stood tall, his persona menacing even with his half-moon glasses and long white beard. Bella was playing her part well, and her words of "No! I didn't do anything! P-please- stop-" could undoubtedly be heard even at the back of the crowd.

The Aurors were remarkably slow at constraining Dumbledore. When they did, he fought them, still yelling at Hermione and attempting to curse her again. Eventually, the man's wand was taken away, and only then did he stop kicking and only kept yelling.

The crowd immediately swarmed around Hermione, as if trying to protect her, but one Auror fought through them and grabbed her hand. He crouched down in front of her and said, "It's going to be okay. You hear me? You're fine. Calm down. Deep breaths now, that's the ticket, calm down, honey-"

Sirius saw it coming. They were going to take her away for questioning or healing or some other ridiculous remedy that was unnecessary in this situation. He fought his way through the crowd that had formed in front of him and reached the center just as Hermione was being led away by the Auror. Thinking fast, Sirius cried out, "That's my daughter!" He put as much emotion, anger, and angst into his words as possible, and it worked.

The Auror turned around, and the crowd nearest him turned to stare. "Hermione!" Sirius cried, holding out his arms to her. Hermione, still crying very convincingly, let go of the Auror's hand and ran into his arms. Sirius picked her up and stormed after the Auror, knowing that it was necessary to play his part before they disappeared. Hermione easily fit into the role of playing Sirius' terrified daughter.

"What in Merlin's name happened here?" He yelled, his voice turning into a very realistic shriek. "I let my daughter stay outside for one moment while I go inside a store to look at some books and wham- she's being cursed by some maniac? What kind of world is this? She's a little girl! Look at her! Does she look like a criminal to you? That man needs to be locked up, and I swear to you, it better happen, or I will be taking legal action-"

"Sir, please, please calm down-" The Auror attempted to say, finally cutting over Sirius' tirade. "I don't know what happened here. This man is obviously mentally unstable." The Auror muttered, "Always knew Dumbledore'd go nutty someday…" He turned around for a moment to look at the other Aurors leading Dumbledore away. "If you'd just come to the Ministry, sir, we can get this all straightened out-"

"I'm not coming down to the bloody Ministry, sir," Sirius sneered. "Do you think I want anything to do with any of you, now that my daughter has so obviously been rejected for no good reason? No, I'm leaving, thank you very much. But if this isn't taken care of-"

"It will be," the Auror reassured him, looking slightly anxious.

Sirius nodded curtly. "I appreciate your reassurance. Maybe it will restore some of my confidence in your blasted form of government if you can at least handle properly locking away criminals!" Sirius gave a resounding glare to the entire crowd, who looked both fearful and sympathetic at the same time. Right on cue, Hermione let out a heart wrenching sob. Turning on his heel, Sirius Apparated straight back to headquarters, Voldemort following suit.

Severus was just serving the two children hot tea in an effort to calm their anxieties when Sirius, Bella/Hermione in his arms, and Voldemort all Apparated directly back into the room. Severus almost dropped the tea; he immediately set it down, looking at the three expectantly.

Voldemort grinned. "Mission accomplished," he said, his voice overly gleeful. "Oh, that went perfectly- you have no idea-"

Sirius put Bella down and grinned at her. Severus couldn't resist asking. "What did you have to do to get her out?" He asked Sirius, knowing that the man had been planning for the moment.

Sirius smirked. "Had to pretend to be her dad," he said, laughing. "I thought I was pretty convincing, too. It was fun to yell. And you Bella- you were fantastic! Very convincing."

Voldemort nodded absent-mindedly, agreeing with their comments but too preoccupied with the fact that Dumbledore was going to be punished. There was no way he could not be. No matter what he plead, he had to be punished somehow. Unless they found some way around it, Wizarding law said that crimes such as the one Dumbledore had committed were signs of Dark magic and were punishable by imprisonment. If they exempted Dumbledore from this rule, Sirius had set it up perfectly so that he could sue in Wizarding courts. The day couldn't have gone better.

Just on time, Bella was turning back into herself. Voldemort noticed before anyone else and, knowing Bella wasn't srong enough to do it herself, waved his hand and her clothing turned back into her own robes. She nodded gratefully and grimaced as the transformation took place. Then she collapsed, exhausted, onto a chair and grinned at Harry and Hermione. "We did it," she said. "He's gone."

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