Author's Note: Please do not read this crossover unless you have read both the Power of Four series(both the first and second book) and the Darkness Within Rewrite, up through chapter 29. I have permission from Kurinoone to use her DW to write a crossover with the Power of Four series. This mainly features Aaron and what would happen if he stumbled upon the DW world. This goes out to Kurinoone who created both of these amazing plots. This will more than likely just be about three long chapters. I'm not even sure it will make it to that point. It's just kind of a way for me to pass the time until the third book comes out. I hope you all enjoy.

Deadly Consequences

A Darkness Within and Power of Four Crossover

Chapter One: Turning the Tide

Aaron wasn't sure exactly how long he had been in his own personal corner of hell. The only thing he was absolutely sure of was the fact that his entire body was on fire. Ever nerve in his body felt as if someone had taken acid and just poured it into his system. His chest hurt, his legs were definitely broken and his arms were still twisted painfully behind his back. He voice had left him completely. He couldn't scream for help anymore; he couldn't even whisper. He knew he had either damaged or destroyed his voice box and/or vocal cords from all the screaming he had done before.

Aaron sighed, shifting the position of his body to a slightly more comfortable angle. His breath caught in his chest as he jostled his shattered legs. He laid his head on the ground, thinking back to how all of this originally started. Salvador was still trying to pick up the pieces from Neriah's death while Aaron had begun working with Ella on how to properly use the Water legacy. Needless to say, Neriah's niece was drowning in grief but she somehow managed to push it aside and focused on helping Aaron.

It was during one of the training sessions that the Hunters had been called away to check one of the zones. It was supposed to be a simple scouting to make sure there weren't any vamages or Lycans in the area. That was the only reason Chris finally gave up on trying to hold Aaron back; to keep him from going. The mission was supposed to be a simple pop in, check to make sure everything was fine, and pop back to Salvador. Skyler and Ella were both going to be there and Chris had made both of them swear that if anything went wrong, Aaron would be the first to get out of there. Ella waved him off, saying that everything would be fine. Nothing was going to happen.

Boy, were they all wrong.

The mission had started out well enough. The three scouted the area, looking for any potential threats. Nothing was out of place. At least until the three loud pops rang through the air. All three Hunters had turned, expecting some type of demon to be standing there grinning viciously at them. Aaron had been completely taken aback when he only saw three men dressed in long black bath robes wearing oddly decorated white masks. All of them were holding sticks.

Ella and Skyler both quickly accessed the situation and came to the conclusion that all three men were human. They dropped their guards, dismissing the entire situation. That was where the whole thing went sour. In the blink of an eye, the three man raised the sticks, shouted something in another language and bright jets of light shot out of the ends of the sticks. Aaron quickly kicked Skyler's legs out from under him and tackled Ella to the ground. The bright lights had left scorch marks on the ground, in the exact spots they had been standing.

Aaron couldn't remember every little detail that happened after that. He remembered running, his shorter legs trying to keep up with Ella and Skyler. The two had alternated, one always behind him and the other in front. Skyler was shouting into his pendant for back up. Ella had ran ahead, throwing her hand out to open a portal. They were almost there when Aaron felt a searing pain flare up through his back, knocking him to the ground.

The last thing he remembered before waking up in the cold, dark room he was being held in was his dad running through the portal, heading in his direction. Darkness consumed his vision just as he felt hands grab him from behind.

Aaron coughed, wincing as the air scrapped his bruised throat. He drew in a shuttered breath as he relived the hell those three men had put him through. Somehow, they had managed to break both his legs and torture him without even touching him. All they had done was point the sticks at him and mutter some strange words. No, not sticks—wands. As much as he didn't want to believe it, they were using magic to hurt him.

As Aaron laid his head on the ground, he head the metal door at the end of the hall swing open with an eerie creak. He squeezed his eyes shut, laying as still as possible. Maybe if they didn't see him moving, they wouldn't hurt him this time. Even as the though crossed his mind, the mage knew that wasn't true. The door to his cell flew open and Aaron braced himself for the pain.

He wasn't disappointed.

"Crucio!" a voice cried and Aaron felt his whole body light up with a fiery pain. His mouth opened as a silent scream tried to get out of his body. He had long since stopped screaming. That didn't mean he stopped pleading for help. He reached down to the bond he shared with his family and screamed at his parents to come and help him. He threw desperate pleas their way, wanting nothing more than for them to help him. As many times as he tried to call his parents, he sent triple the amount of pleas to his brother. None of them were answered. He had stopped counting the days after he reached fifty. They all blurred together now anyways.

Aaron gasped for breath as the sensation was lifted. He faintly heard his tormentors jeering and laughing at his expense.

Kyran, he mentally shouted. Help! Please!

Unlike his parents side of the bond, Aaron could feel the agony his brother was going through every time his cry for help shot down the line. He could feel his brother reaching out, trying to find Aaron's location but so far, Kyran couldn't get to him. Something was blocking him. Aaron silently cried out as one of the men kicked his broken legs, sending fresh flashed of pain up his legs. He laid there, breathless, as they continued to laugh and insult him.

"Aww," one of them cooed. "The poor muggle is all tired out." The man grinned down at Aaron, his rotten yellow teeth darkening in the low light of the room. "Don't worry. You'll be gone soon enough."

Aaron flinched as the man raised his wand, the tip of the wood glowing a bright green. Aaron closed his eyes and turned his head. He wasn't sure how he knew but he did know that the man was about to kill him.

I'm sorry, he thought, sending the message out to his parents and brother. I love you.

Aaron felt panic from all three people, his brother's almost deafening his parents.

AARON! he heard Kyran shout in his mind. Aaron gave a bitter smile, tears trekking down his face.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

Aaron lifted his head, his vision swarming as all of his injuries began to affect him. He blinked, thinking the lights were playing tricks on him. Standing in the doorway was a young boy about two years older than him. He looked very similar to Kyran, with his dark hair and green eyes but their facial features were different. The boy looked livid, even though that was probably an understatement. His green eyes began to darken a few shades as he took in the whole situation. The darkness continued to creep into Aaron's vision. He heard the three men begin to beg the boy for mercy as his head hit the ground with a soft thud and he knew no more.

Sam ran a hand through his hair, taking in the frantic appearance of Aaron's parents. Kate had been a mess these last three months. She wasn't eating and hardly slept. Between her oldest son working with/for the enemy and her youngest son know missing, Kate seemed to age a few years. Her eyes were dull and her hair was a mess. Christopher Adams didn't look any better. In fact, all of the mages could feel something wrong but not as much as the Adams had.

The pair had woken up the entire city, screaming frantically. From what Sam was able to gather, Aaron had sent his parents an apology. Sam knew it was his friend's way of saying goodbye. They all waited on bated breath, watching the two Adams for any signs of their bond with Aaron breaking. Hours had passed and nothing had happened. Chris had been trying to calm Kate down, assuring her that Aaron had simply fallen unconscious and that their bond was still there.

Kate was a little hesitate to accept that, however. Especially since she thought her eldest son had died when the bond between them had shattered. She constantly keep one of Aaron's shirts with her, replaying one of her favorite memories associated with the fabric.

Rose sat down next to her twin, sighing heavily. They shared a look, both mentally assessing how the other was holding up. Rose opened her mouth to say something but a shout cut her off.

"Where is he?!"

Sam turned and saw Kyran stalking towards the group gathered at the Stove. He looked down right furious, his poison green eyes fixed on his father.

"Ben," Chris began.

Kyran cut him off by grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him to look him straight in the eyes. "Where is Aaron?!" he hissed, his eyes continuing to darken.

"We don't know," Kate said, placing her hand on Kyran's. Her eldest son quickly pulled his hands out of her grasp, letting go of Chris's shirt in the process.

"Don't give me that shit," he countered, his face the definition of fury. "I've been hearing him screaming for help from the other side of our bond for the last three months! Don't you dare say you don't know where he is?!"

Both Kate and Chris paled at this. They had been able to sense some of their youngest son's pain but they didn't know the extent of the situation. The only time they had heard their son was when he had said he was sorry. Kate swallowed the lump in her throat and stepped forward.

"We don't know where he is, Ben," Kate said tearfully. "We've been looking even since he went missing."

"Like you looked for me?" Kyran hissed, his eyes darkening in anger.

Kate paled even more, her resolve to tell her son what happened falling away with her tears. Chris opened and closed his mouth, trying to find the words to tell his son what happened but they failed him.

"He's missing, Kyran," Ella said as she stepped forward, watching the former Hunter. "Skyler and I were there when he got kidnapped. We were on a simple scouting mission." She paused to keep herself from crying again. "Nothing was supposed to happen."

Kyran looked shocked for a moment before he looked down at the ground, his jaw clenched in anger, his hands balled into tight fists, his nails drawing blood from his palms. He was quiet for a moment before he looked up to meet Ella's gaze.

"Tell me everything!" he demand.

Aaron came too slowly. His sense of touch came first. He could feel a very comfortable bed under his aching body. His chest had stopped hurting and his head felt a little fuzzy. His legs were heavy, being weighed down by some sort of splint. He felt something restraining his throat and felt panic rise up in him. He slowly opened his eyes, thanking whatever deity that could hear him that the room was coated in darkness, the only light being the half-moon that stared in from the floor to ceiling window.

Aaron took in his surroundings, noticing the elegant looking furniture sitting around him. The four post bed he was laying on was draped in dark green silk curtains. Everything in the room was either decorated in the dark wood or green silk; from the bed he was laying on to the desk in the corner to the chest of drawers opposite of the window that was dressed with green curtains.

Aaron reached up, touching the restricting material around his neck. He nearly sighed in relief when he felt a bandage under his fingertips. Someone had dressed his bruised throat and, upon looking down, he noticed that they had done the same with his wrists. He was still really sore but nowhere near as bad as he had been down in that dark, cold room. He shivered from the very thought of it.

Aaron jumped when the door opened. He hissed when he, yet again, jarred his broken legs. He looked up, watching as a woman close to his parents age walked in the door, two silver trays floating in behind her. It was the floating trays that made him tense; it was the wand the woman was using that set every fiber of Aaron's being on edge. He mentally tallied how screwed he was in this situation. His legs were still broken and he didn't want to use his powers. Even though those three men put him through hell, he didn't want to subject them to the death that a vamage or Lycan might put them through.

The woman was very pretty with her dark hair cascading in curls down her back. She looked over at Aaron, surprise written on her face, her heavy lidded dark eyes staring into his.

"What are you doing sitting up?" she scolded, as if talking to a child. "Lie back down. You need to rest."

Aaron frowned in confusion. He made no move to lay back in the bed, no matter how much his body protested. The woman sighed, waving her wand suddenly. Aaron tensed, expecting to feel pain but was surprised when none came. The trays the woman had levitating behind her simple descended down, landing on a nearby table with a soft thud.

The woman sat herself gracefully at the edge of his bed, watching him closely. "We didn't expect you to wake up until tomorrow evening, at the earliest."

Aaron opened his mouth to ask the time but was unable to utter a word. Panic rose up in his throat. He flinched violently when the woman laid a hand on her shoulder. She sighed, sounding as if she had better things to do than wait on a fourteen year old. She reached up and rubbed her temples.

"We were able to heal a majority of the damage that your vocal cords had sustained," she explained. "You will still need a couple of weeks to heal, however, so don't try to talk until we say you can." Her dark eyes pierced Aaron's and he felt himself nodded automatically.

The woman nodded in approval. "My name is Bellatrix LeStrange," she introduced.

"Everyone calls her Bella."

Aaron turned to see the same young boy from before standing in the doorway. Bellatrix looked relieved that he was there.

"He woke up fast than expected," she explained.

"I can see that," the boy commented dryly, causing the woman to roll her eyes.

"Since you are here," she said, standing up. "I'll let you take care of him." She pointed to the trays. "The healing salves and potions are on the first tray while there is some warm broth on the second. He hasn't had any solid foods in close to three months, if what those buffoons said is true. Don't let him have too much or else it will upset his stomach."

"Do I look like a babysitter?" the boy asked cheekily, a grin on his face.

"You're the one who wanted us to heal him so you're the one who gets to take care of him," Bellatrix replied smartly. She gave the boy a mock curtsy, which he rolled his eyes to, before she walked out the door. She never once looked back at Aaron.

"She's always like that," he said, gesturing back towards the now closed door. "She gets really testy when I have her do something she doesn't want to."

The boy pulled over a chair, straddling it, his arms leaning on the back of the chair as he watched Aaron with interest. Aaron simply stared back, mentally comparing the boy before him to his brother. The boy smiled suddenly, holding his hand out for Aaron to shake.

"I'm Harry," he said.

Aaron shook his hand, suddenly at a loss as to how to introduce himself when he could speak. Harry, however, seemed to think of that as he reached into the nightstand beside the bed and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. He quietly handed them to Aaron, who gingerly took them, mindful of his wrists.

My name's Aaron, he wrote, showing the paper to Harry.

Harry smiled. "How old are you, Aaron?"

Fourteen.

Harry's eyes darkened again. Aaron blinked in surprise. He had been sure it was simply a trick of the light before but now he could see Harry's eyes slowly darkening to a deep, poisonous green, very similar to his brothers. Harry sighed heavily.

"Those idiots much have place a silencing charm on the dungeons," he said after a moment, referring to the Death Eaters.

Silencing charm? Aaron wrote, showing the paper to Harry with a confused look.

Harry read the message and sighed again. He ran a hand through his already messy hair, making it look even messier. "I take it you're not a wizard?"

Aaron shook his head rapidly, only stopping when his head began to swim. He caught himself on the headboard, nearly falling back from the sensation. Harry reached out and steadied him, catching him by the shoulders. "Careful," he said after Aaron sat back against the pillows.

Harry wordlessly reached around him, propping the pillows up, so Aaron could lay back. As soon as he was settled, he wrote a quick Thank you, to which Harry smiled in response.

"You're welcome," he replied.

Why did you help me?

Harry looked surprised. "You were hurt," he responded, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. The look of confusion on Aaron's face prompted him to elaborate. "This is probably going to sound bad but those men work for my father."

Aaron sat up a little, his nerves wired with panic but Harry simply laid a hand on his shoulder.

"They're not going to hurt you," he said calmly. "They disobeyed direct orders. They knew they weren't supposed to kidnap any children."

Aaron calmed down a little. He looked down at the notebook in his lap. He quietly pondered what to ask Harry next. To his credit, Harry waited patiently, giving Aaron time to think.

How long was I out?

Harry hummed to himself, mentally calculating. "About three days. We expected you to be out at least four. You're recovering quickly, especially since you aren't even a wizard."

Aaron didn't write a reply. The only reason he recovered quickly was because of him being a mage. But he didn't want to relay that to Harry. He didn't want these people to be targeted just because he slipped up again.

The door opened again. Aaron looked up again, not jumping in surprise this time. He did jump, however, when the room lit up.

"Why are you sitting in the dark if our guest is awake?" a silk-like voice questioned. The owner of the voice walked in, watching Aaron with interest. Everything about the man screamed power. His face was pale but stern with wavy black hair brushing the top of his eyes. Those eyes sent a chill down Aaron's spine. They were blood red, watching Aaron with interest and curiosity. There was no malice in them but Aaron had a feeling that could change in an instant.

Harry didn't seem phased by this man in the least. He simply smiled. "I figure Aaron might be a little more comfortable in the dark."

"Is that his name?" the man asked, walking forward.

Everything in Aaron screamed at him to run. He stayed put, however, seeing as how he couldn't exactly run on broken legs. He willed his body to relax, keeping the panic off of his face. He stared the man directly in the eyes and the man stared back with interest.

"You're making him nervous, father," Harry chided lightly.

Aaron blinked in surprise, breaking eye contact with the man to look at Harry. He raised a questioning eyebrow.

Harry just smiled. He looked back up at his father, who looked back. "Did you need something?" he asked respectively.

"I was just coming to check on our guest," Harry's father replied. "Bella told me he was awake." He paused for a moment. "I'm a little interested in him, myself. Bella mentioned that he wasn't reacting like a normal muggle might."

Aaron reached for the notebook and quickly wrote out a message. What is a muggle?

"A non-magic person," Harry explained. He shared a look with his father before he reached into his jacket and pulled out a wand. Aaron tensed a little but didn't move back as Harry flipped the wand around, holding the handle out to Aaron. The man frowned.

"What are you doing?" he questioned.

"Seeing if he can do magic," Harry explain.

"It doesn't work like that and you know it," he reprimanded.

"It's not going to hurt anything," Harry replied with a grin. "He doesn't know the terminology, so he can't be a wizard. That and he isn't freaking out from seeing you."

The man sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "Fine," he said, looking a little leery.

Aaron blinked in confusion but gently took the wand in his hand. As soon as the wand made contact with his hand, Aaron felt the wood heat up, burning his hand. With a silent yelp, he threw the wand, sending it arcing through the air. Harry caught it expertly and stared at him in confusion. Aaron simple showed him his blistered, red hand in response. Both Harry and the man raised questioning eyebrows.

"That's never happened before," the man answered, frowning as he took Aaron's hand, observing the burn make.

Harry wordlessly reached back, grabbing a glass jar of an odd cream. He unscrewed the top and applied a generous amount to Aaron's hand. Aaron hissed as the cool cream made contact with his burnt palm. Within moments, the pain was reduced, leaving Aaron staring in wonder. Harry also looked surprised as the red faded, leaving a completely unblemished palm.

"That's never happened before," Harry repeated his father's statement.

"Our guest is sure full of surprises," the man commented.

Aaron grabbed the notebook again. What is your name?

"Voldemort," the man with red eyes answered.

Aaron mouthed the name, trying to commit it to memory.

Flight from death? He questioned, remembering some of the lessons in French his mother had given him.

Voldemort nodded, looking impressed. He turned back to Harry. "I expect to see you at lunch tomorrow. I suspect you will be spending your time here, helping Aaron," he said, testing the mage's name out.

Aaron couldn't help the shiver that ran down his spine as the man said his name.

Harry simply nodded in response. "Yes, father."

Voldemort departed quietly, a thoughtful look on his face. He spied a glance back at Aaron before leaving the room all together.

He scares me.

Harry burst out laughing at the simple sentence. "He scares everyone. But don't worry," Harry smiled. "You've caught his interest. He won't do anything to you."

For some reason, Harry's words didn't comfort Aaron as the green eyed boy had originally intended. It felt almost like a prison sentence that he had interested the crimson eyed man. Aaron swallowed, completely unsure of the veiled danger he had found himself in this time.

Kyran paced back and forth in front of the table at the Stove. He sighed in frustration, running a hand through his hair. He looked over at Ella.

"Where exactly did you lose Aaron at?" he asked, his voice oddly calm.

Rose watched Ella shift uncomfortably. She knew that the calm was just a mask. Kyran was practically seething. The mages of Salvador had called a temporary truce in hopes of finding the missing Adams. Every time Kate or Chris tried to speak with Kyran, however, the eighteen year old would either blow up in their face or simply ignore his parents.

"It was somewhere in Surrey," Ella answered. "I can take you to the exact spot."

Kyran nodded. He quickly walked over to Lexi and hopped on. He looked at Ella and raised an eyebrow. "You coming?"

Ella flushed but quietly climbed on the back of the bike. Kyran didn't say a word as he kicked the bike into action, speeding off toward the Gate. Skyler quickly followed on his bike. The trio came out through the tear into the human world.

"It's about three miles from here," Ella shouted over the roar of the motorbike.

"Heading north?" Kyran asked.

Ella nodded and tapped his arm once, letting him know that he was correct. Kyran quickly floored the bike, mentally berating himself for not thinking of coming here three days before, when he had first confronted his birth parents.

"Here!" Ella suddenly shouted.

Kyran hit the brakes, swinging the bike around to a stop. Skyler pulled up beside him and the three quietly scanned the area. Ella stared at the scorch marks that were still as black as night on the pavement.

"We ran this way," she said, pointing to the left, where the road branched off.

"And they were dressed in black bath robes?" Kyran asked, still skeptical.

"With bone-white masks," Skyler replied with a heated glare.

Kyran exhales slowly through his nose, inspecting the area closely. "And they just disappeared?" he asked.

Ella frowned, noting the mockery in his voice. "We showed you the memory. Why are you still questioning the authenticity of it?"

"Because it sounds like complete bullshit," he replied. "Men waving sticks, shouting in Latin, while wearing bath robes." He gave an accusing glance at the two. "Makes me wonder if it actually happened."

Skyler bristled, picking up on the accusation that hung in the air. Ella put a hand on his chest, preventing him from jumping Kyran like he had been wanting to for the past three days.

"Enough!" she snapped, glaring at the both of them. "We aren't going to find Aaron if the two of you are constantly at each other's throats."

"Harry Potter!"

The trio turned to see a group of men standing at a distance, sticks held in their hands, pointed in their direction. The head of the group was a patchwork looking man with a wooden leg and a bright electric blue eye that seemed to swirl around in its socket. The man frowned, his heavily scarred face scrunching up. He lowered the stick, his eyes fixed on Kyran.

"You're not Potter," he said, taking in the eighteen-year-old's appearance.

"Who?" Kyran asked.

The man grunted and motioned for the group to put the sticks away. "Who are you three?"

"We don't have to answer that," Skyler bit out, crossing his arms across his chest. A smirk tugged at Kyran's lips.

The scarred man frowned. He watched the three carefully. "What are you doing out so late anyways?"

"That's classified information," Kyran countered in a stuffy tone that matched the man. Skyler didn't even bother to hide his snicker.

Ella shot both boys a look. "We were looking for information about a friend." She looked at the man. "I'm Ella and these two idiots are Kyran and Skyler," she explained, pointing to each boy respectively.

"What kind of information?" the man asked gruffly.

"The kind you might be able to answer," Skyler said, eyeing the stick in the man's hand. "Are there others like you who run around in black bath robes and white masks?"

The man's face changed from curious to stern in less than an instant. "When and where did you see them? How many were there?"

"Three months ago. In this exact spot and there were three of them," Ella supplied. "They kidnapped Kyran's brother."

Kyran shot her a look that told her to shut up, which she promptly ignored. She stared the man straight in the eyes. Well, one eye, since the other continued to swirl around in all directions, sometimes even disappearing behind his head. He looked back at a man with ginger hair and muttered something.

"Follow me," he said, motioning down the street. "I'm calling for back up."

"So am I," Skyler replied as he pulled a pendant out of his shirt. He quickly muttered something to Scott before looking at the man. "You know our names but we don't know yours."

The man gave an emotionless smile. "Alastor Moody. Everyone knows me as Mad-Eye."

"I'll say," Kyran remarked, watching the eye swirl around again.

"Who were those men?" Ella asked, once again ignoring Kyran's commentary.

"Death Eaters," Mad-Eye explained, limping along. He paused for a moment to yell at someone before he looked back at the trio, studying them carefully. "You three are warriors." It wasn't a question.

"We are," Kyran confirmed calmly.

"Harry?"

Kyran just barely resisted the urge to punch someone, preferably Skyler. This was the second time someone called him by that name. He looked over, eyeing the man dressed in a blue bath robe. He wore a shocked expression, his hazel eyes wide behind wired glasses and his face pale. His black hair was messy and unkempt, looking as if he had just ran through a wind storm.

"Sorry, Potter," Mad-Eye answered. "He's not your son."

"Damn," another man with longer black hair and silver-gray eyes said as he observed Kyran. "He sure looks like Harry."

"Well, I'm not," Kyran said crossly. "Get over it."

"On second thought," the same man said, "his attitude is worse than Harry's."

"Ben!"

"For the love of God!" Kyran muttered under his breath. He turned to see Christopher Adams running up the street, followed closely by Kate, Michael, and Drake.

"Any leads on Aaron?" Kate asked quickly, looking at all three of the teens.

"Maybe," Skyler said before gesturing to the blue robed men. "They said they're called Death Eaters."

"Death Eaters?!" Chris parroted questionably.

"Dark wizards working for Public Enemy Number One," Mad-Eye supplied.

"I'm sorry," Ella cut in. "But did you just say wizards?"

Mad-Eye gave her a grin. "What did you think the wands are for?"

Kyran raised an eyebrow. "So, you're telling me my brother was kidnapped by some dark wizards?" he hissed, his anger evident on his face.

Potter surveyed the area. He looked over at Mad-Eye. "We need to take this conversation somewhere safe."

Moody grunted in agreement. "We'll take you to see Dumbledore."

"This day just gotten ten times as weird," Skyler commented as he watched the men. Kyran silently agreed, before he walked over to his bike. He closed his eyes for a moment, reaching out through his bond to his younger brother. He sighed in relief as he still felt it as strong as it had ever been. He opened his eyes and followed the strange…wizards. He mentally vowed to not stop until he found his brother.

"Will Harry be joining us?" Bella asked as she sat at the dining table in Riddle Manor.

Voldemort shook his head. "I told him he could take care of Aaron until lunch."

Bella frowned. "But you never let Harry skip out on eating breakfast with us! Why are you making an exception for a muggle child?"

"He's not a muggle," the Dark Lord countered.

Bella's eyebrows disappeared under her fringe. "He's not? I didn't sense any magical properties from him."

Voldemort smirked. "Nor did I."

Bella's confusion began to mount. "If he's not a muggle, then what is he?"

"I don't know."

Bella dropped her fork, staring at her master in shock. Never in the years had she known him had he ever uttered those words before! Lord Voldemort knew everything! It was just a fact. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, completely unsure of what to say.

"How can you tell he isn't a muggle?" she asked cautiously.

Voldemort raised an amused eyebrow. "A few things, actually. The first is his unnatural accelerated healing. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if his legs and voice were healed in a couple of days rather than weeks. The next being that he gets burned if he touches a wand."

"What?!" Bella practically shrieked. "No one has even gotten burned just by holding a wand!"

"I know," Voldemort said dryly. "I am well aware of the fact. But I was standing right there when Aaron got burned from simply holding Harry's second wand."

Bella was currently doing a very impressive impression of a fish. Voldemort simply chuckled.

"The one thing that really catches my attention is something I have not experienced in years," he said, sounding highly amused.

"And what is that?" Bella asked, a little hesitate to find out.

Voldemort locked eyes with his only female Death Eater. "I can't get into his mind."

The room fell deadly silent as Bella processed the information. "Nothing at all?" Bella whispered, stunned.

"Nothing," Voldemort replied with a grin. He seemed to be enjoying himself, immensely. "I had eye contact with him for more than a minute and I still couldn't get passed the wall that he had up." He paused for a moment, the grin stretching across his face. "Actually, I don't believe he even realized I was trying to read his mind." He turned back to Bella. "He doesn't even know who I am."

Bella sat forward, resting her elbows on the table as she held her throbbing head. She tried and failed to process everything her Lord was telling her. She looked up suddenly, a thought thundering in her mind.

"That's why you don't mind Harry spending time with him," she said, a little breathless. "You want to figure out what he is."

Voldemort smirked, taking a drink of the red wine in front of him. That smirk was all Bella needed for conformation. She looked down at her food, suddenly losing her appetite. Whomever this Aaron was, he could potentially be the very thing that turned the tide for this war.