Voldemort stared at the little boy walking through the woods. For the first time, the Dark Lord took a moment to take in Harry's body. Harry was much too small for an adult wizard and the act of standing seemed to be too much for the boy hero.
Harry took in Voldemort's face as he came to a stop in front of the menacing semi-circle of wizards. After a few moments of silence, Harry called out to the dark wizard, "Am I dead yet?"
Voldemort wasn't startled at the brazen attitude, he had come to expect that from the boy, but the odd tilt of the child's head as he stared Death down made Voldemort tremble in fear. The child seemed untouchable for a moment, as though he were a god cast down upon mortal men. What do you do to an enemy who welcomes Death and misses Pain. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Harry had come to die but Voldemort had expected the bravery of a hero making a stupid, selfless sacrifice but he didn't find determination in his adversaries eyes. Emptiness stared out of the Child-Savior's eyes.
"No, I suppose I'm not. If I were dead I guess I wouldn't feel this anymore?" With his head still tilted at that odd angle, Harry lifted his sweater to reveal a gaping hole in his abdomen. Harry pointed a finger at the raw flesh then made to poke at the exposed muscle, "I think this might steal your chance at glory. You should kill me before this does it first." Dark tendrils tickled the young face as the wind battered into the dark forces but Harry remained as empty as ever. Voldemort thought that the child looked a bit like a puppet with all its strings cut, lifeless and odd.
"I wonder who did this to you, little hero?" Voldemort's own head tilted to match the broken doll before him.
"They did."The statement was vague but the Dark Lord had an idea of who "they" might be
The statement was vague but the Dark Lord had an idea of who "they" might be, "Dumbledore? Your family of Blood Traitors? The Mudblood? Perhaps you mean the world you are fighting so hard to save?"
Voldemort didn't think it was possible but the wraith in front of him sagged further, "Everyone!" The word contained more emotion than Harry had shown for the rest of the conversation. "You aren't even dead yet but they're already planning to ship me off to Azkaban."
Voldemort's low chuckle cut across the clearing, "Can you really blame them? Have you seen yourself lately?" The line may have been taken as teasing but the Dark Lord's crooked sneer paired with the glimmer of uncertainty and fear brought the onlookers to their knees in shock. "All the same I will give you what you came here seeking." The wand raised and whipped down, releasing a green light as it went. The surrounding forces expected to feel glee when the child fell but they only felt a sense of relief, as of a crisis narrowly avoided. When the half-giant scooped up the body of the child no one punished him for the gentle way he treated the corpse. No one could speak out against any modicum of comfort, even antemortum.