Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, and no copyright infringement is intended; not making any money, but they are fun to play with.

A/N: In fact this was thought as a one-shot. Now there are 4 parts and I guess it's easier to read that way. I'm not sure if you can call it a romance, though it has the potential to become one.

Read, review and enjoy!

Thanks to my beta SALIGIA-the seven deadly sins, for fighting with my gramma.

A GODDESS TO SNAKES

Part One: Hope

"Move, pretty boy!"

Adrian wanted to snarl at the older wizard but knew better than that and followed him, although he seethed inwardly. He was always only the pretty and charming boy. Oh, and rich. Not to forget incredibly rich. That before all other things was what kept him in good terms with the Dark Lord.

Merlin, how he hated that hypocrite!

And he hated his father for his poor judgement and his final decision to join Voldemort's ranks all this years ago. Now he was dead, killed by the thing he called his master, and Adrian was obligated to take over his position.

One couldn't say no to the Dark Lord after all. Denial meant death and Adrian didn't want to die. Least of all in a way Death Eaters used to kill so called traitors. So he kept quiet and did what he had to do to survive.

He loathed it with every fibre of his being. Sure he was a Slytherin and a Pureblood, so he grew up with traditions and prejudices, and though he agreed with a lot of them, he was intelligent enough to know that change wasn't always a bad thing.

One had only to look around in the ranks of Voldemort's followers to see where inbreeding had brought them. Purebloods they might be, but most of them were stupid, spineless individuals. Not to forget crazy, he thought, as a picture of Bellatrix LeStrange crossed his mind.

A bunch of narrow minded bigots who thought themselves superior for following a half blood, whose biggest fear was a seventeen year old boy.

Superior his ass!

Adrian didn't want to be part of the insane plans of a...a thing...who had more similarity to his pet than to a human male. One who thought it fun to torture muggle children to fight boredom and loved to watch his Death Eaters rape defenceless women. He shuddered just thinking about it and was glad he had found ways to prevent himself from taking part in such bestial activities in the past. Hopefully he would not run out of ideas in the future.

The day his father took him to the Dark Lord to receive his Dark Mark, his mother wrenched the promise out of him to never take part in one of those orgies.

As if he would ever willingly do such a thing. Maybe not even under force.

All he ever wanted was a loving family and playing Quidditch, not really ambitious for a Slytherin but doubtlessly better than being a slave to a noseless megalomaniac. Azkaban wasn't high on his top list either, but that was exactly where he would find himself in foreseeable future.

Potter would win the war! He couldn't say that he was much of a fan of the Gryffindor boy but what did it matter as long as he did his job and finish Voldemort off once for all? Most of the Death Eaters were too afraid of their master to think about anything other than finding a way to put themselves into his good grace, to realise the real thread Potter meant for the Dark Lord.

A few years ago Adrian would have scoffed at the mere thought of it -a skinny little boy defeating the most powerful and darkest wizard that ever walked upon this earth -but now...now he had seen the fear in Voldemort's eyes. Witnessed the unreasonable commands he barked at his minions concerning the boy and realised that he really feared Potter.

And one only had to fear something if there was a reason to.

The more intelligent wizards like Malfoy and Snape and maybe Zabini and Nott saw it too he noticed. It was the benefit of being the silent, pretty boy. Nobody paid that much attention to him. He was doing what he was assigned to do without causing any drama. He supported the Dark Lord with money when he needed it and was intelligent enough to fake devotion for his master.

But being the pretty, rich boy who played professional Quidditch obviously led people to believe he was a brainless twit, something which he used to his advantage.

Truth was, he was pretty good in Charms and DADA and had a knack for Arithmancy but his most helpful skill was probably his talent for Occlumency. He was a lost case when it came to Legilimency but for one being so young he was excellent in hiding his thoughts. He had to thank his loving, cunning and purely Slytherin mother for looking ahead and forcing him into Occlumency lessons with his uncle, every time they spent their holidays in France with his mother's family. Not even his father had known about his hidden talent and he was glad about the fact that it was a secret to every one but to him and his mother, since her brother passed away a year ago.

Voldemort was known for slipping into the mind of others and it wouldn't do Adrian any good to have his real thoughts discovered.

No, it would definitely be a death sentence and Adrian, like any other Slytherin, had a strong sense for survival. Death wasn't an option but he also knew that he wouldn't be able to live the way he currently was forced to do.

If you want to achieve a goal -plan and work for it! His mother's words lingered in his head.

Edward Pucey's device on the other hand had been: "If you want something son, take it!" It had taken him some time to perceive his father's words as the rubbish they really were.

Want-Take-Have. A lot of people he knew lived after that motto but one only had to watch them long enough to see the trouble it caused them.

Adrian had always been a Mummy's boy and it wasn't only because Audrey Pucey was the only person in his life to openly shower him with love and affection. She had a sharp mind and was always able to see the whole picture. So it was no wonder he tended to believe his mother more than his father, who never possessed enough brains to realise that every action forced a reaction.

His only problem so far with his mother's advice was that he hadn't been very successful with it. All of his plans had turned to dust, quicker than he could come up with something new. The last, and so far only lifelike idea, was to pledge Dumbledore for help. He even would have worked as a spy for Potter's side if they had assured him the safety of his mother and a get out of Azkaban free card, should he survive in his role. But with Dumbledore's death all his secret hopes were buried six feet under.

These days he was finding himself deeper in the dark veil that surrounded him since the Dark Lord returned three years ago than ever before. Even Hogwarts, the home and safe place of his childhood, was infiltrated by now. The thought alone made him feel sick and for the first time since he graduated he was glad that he wasn't living there any longer.

It was bad enough that he was forced to go to the gatherings and accompany other Death Eaters on their pursuits and raids without living with them.

Adrian was not sure if they really thought they would catch Potter just like that. He might not be the brightest mind out there but really, even Potter couldn't be that thick-headed.

This evening he was forced to roam through some stupid forest and as if that wasn't bad enough, the two wizards accompanying him had to be the LeStrange brothers. Like Bellatrix, the two were giving him the creeps and usually he did his best to avoid them as good as possible. Obviously he was not doing a very good job of it tonight.

"Watch out Pucey, wouldn't want such a pretty boy to get lost in the dark, now would we?" Rodolphus hissed and shared a look with his brother who chuckled darkly.

Like before Adrian bit his tongue to hold back his answer, knowing that it would bring him nothing but trouble. Instead he gripped his wand tightly and cursed them inwardly. He might be good with a wand but he knew that he had no change against both of them, nor separately either, if he was honest with himself.

After a moment of mutual silence and another shared glance between the LeStranges, both men parted into different directions while he remained where he was for a second longer. With a sigh he finally set into motion. Hopefully they would not find anyone, there were already enough faces to haunt his nightmares, and he didn't need more.

Adrian had no idea how long it was before he heard the unmistakable noises of a duel -yelled curses and the faint flickering of red and green light- but based on his throbbing feet more time had passed than he liked. Without thinking he turned to his left and headed towards the source of the uproar. It took him a while to reach the point and he was glad to be in such a good shape from Quidditch, otherwise he would be gasping for air like a dying man.

What he saw though made him forget to breathe at all. There in the depth of the forest in the middle of the night was a witch -and what a witch she was! The woman was firing curses and hexes at her opponent and tried to dodge or block the ones flying in her direction at the same time. The fact that Rodolphus wasn't yelling insults at her or mocked her over his attempts to bring her down made it clear that she was giving him a hard time. Not a thing that happened often, as far as he knew.

But if there was one witch out there Adrian had the confidence in to bring even the toughest Death Eater down it was one Hermione Granger. She was not called the brightest witch of her age for nothing. Though he never was allowed to show it, due to his house, he had always admired her for her brilliant mind and more than once he caught himself staring jealously at Potter and Weasley.

He knew he was not the only Slytherin who begrudged both boys the close friendship they had with the curly haired witch. Most Slytherins couldn't really claim to come from a warm, loving family home nor had friends that would risk their lives for each other. Hell, most Slytherins wouldn't even risk their neck for their so called friends when it came to far less than life and death.

Hermione wasn't only brilliant, she was also loyal and kind-hearted, something all snakes loathed in themselves but craved to receive. Especially from a witch that was as gorgeous as the Gryffindor witch was these days. Gone was the bucktoothed, bushy haired girl - in her place was a real knock-out. The graceful way she moved and would twirl her wand only added to that picture let alone the way she seemed to glow and sparkle with magic -her wild hair framing her like a halo -it was breathtaking. To him she looked like a Goddess, a shining figure in the dark.

Adrian stared at her for a moment in awe before he was able to rip himself out of his stupor and take in the real danger of the situation. She was just dodging a nasty slicing spell with a spell he had never heard before, but realised that it had to be some sort of reflector shield because the next second the red light bounced off her and hit the wizard who caused it directly in the chest.

He wasn't sure who was more stunned. The older wizard who sunk down to his knees, the wide eyed witch or he himself, but he was definitely the first one to notice Rabastan LeStrange coming up from behind Hermione on her right side. Adrian could not tell if the dark wizard realised that his brother was dead -or would be in a few seconds- but one way or the other Adrian saw him lifting his arm to fulfil what so many Death Eaters were dreaming about: Killing Potter's brain.

But something inside him suddenly raged against the mere thought of letting someone harm the witch and it took over his control. Before he even realised what he was doing he had raised his wand and spoke the dreadful words. A flow of green light shot out of the wood and hit the wizard while he was just about to utter the forbidden words himself. Rabastan didn not even have the time to look astonished before his body hit the ground -just in time with his brother.

The dull sound of the crashing bodies was enough to make them both wince, but this time Adrian was quicker to gather himself. Lowering his wand to show her that she had nothing to fear from him he took a deep breath.

Plan, he needed a plan, one where she was safe.

"You have to leave!" She didn't move an inch just stared at him. Under other circumstances he would have graced her with a bright smile and change his position to make sure she got a good look at him but this wasn't the time nor the place for things like that.

"Hermione," the use of her given name surely got a reaction out of her but before she could say something he shook his head. "You have to leave now, you never know if there won't be others. I can't risk you being captured." His mind was already working on a plausible way to explain why he was still well and alive while two of the Dark Lord's best were lying dead on the damp forest ground.

"But...but you," at first he thought she wouldn't recognise him as one of them but the stupid leather amour and black capes made it kind of difficult to oversee the fact. "What will you tell him? He will know that something is off and we both know what he does to those who betray him, Pucey."

Adrian was stunned, for the second time this evening and again it was because of the witch in front of him. She...she cared about him! Hermione Granger was worried what would happen to him! Nobody cared about him ever, apart from his mother and...And she knew his name. Sure he would have liked it more if she had used his given name but still.

Suddenly he smiled.

"Don't worry about me; you have already enough to fear for. Let me handle this," he told her with more self-assurance than he really felt. "Now go."

She hesitated for a moment but finally she nodded, let her eyes roam over the dead bodies to her side and finally apparated away. But not before she graced him with a smile.

It was that smile that gave him the confidence that everything would turn out for the better. He had searched for a way to escape form the dark veil that held him prisoner and here -in the middle of the night, in a dark forest he had found it in the form of Hermione Granger.

His Goddess.

His light in the dark and suddenly he no longer feared his future. With her in it, there was still hope. Even for him.

TBC