Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter (darn!). I got the inspiration for this story by reading another story (no duh. That's how we authors usually get our inspiration). Don't sue me. If you try, my cat will kill you. Okay, now for what I do own. Er. If I tell you, it'll spoil the story. Darn. Ooh, ooh, I know! I can say that I own Darcy. Yay, that won't spoil it.
Just so you don't yell at me, I'll tell you right out: I don't like to curse, in writing or in speech. But cursing is in character for some of the characters in this story, so I've used *'s to represent letters of curse words.
Lightning is back! Yay! Go read Kittycorn's stories. She's still posting The Chaos Tunnel for me. I'm still not happy with fanfiction.net. No, Lightning is not happy at all. Lightning can nurse a grudge for a long, long time. Hmm, maybe Lightning's unhappiness will help Lightning write this story….
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All hope was gone from the world. The Dark Lord, Heir of Slytherin, reigned supreme. He had even found another basilisk to replace the one killed by Harry Potter. Azkaban itself was his toy, where he imprisoned all those who opposed him, and the dementors guarded the prison once more. Not even Hogwarts was safe anymore, now that the Boy Who Lived was dead, killed by the Dark Lord.
The Stormwinds, her fellow inmates, had mentioned a way to get from almost anywhere to almost anywhere else—the Chaos Tunnel, they called it. "Only two places we know of where it doesn't reach," they told her grimly. "The Chamber of Secrets—and Azkaban Prison."
They had tried everything they could think of—picking the locks; changing to their Animagus forms to slip away, as Sirius Black had done; using their powers, so strong not even the dementors could drain them fully, to turn articles of clothing into Portkeys; performing the Patronus Charm (they could do it without their wands)—everything, but the Dark Lord had anticipated their every move. Nothing worked.
As near as she could tell, she'd been in Azkaban for two years. Long enough, certainly, to forget everything except the worst moments of her life, which she relived over and over. There was the time when the man she loved was driven insane. That had been three years before her imprisonment, and he had not shown any signs of recovery until she was captured. After that, she did not know, but she expected that nothing had changed.
There was another she loved, more than the first, but she believed him dead. He was not here with her in Azkaban, and he had been with her that night when she was taken prisoner. Sorrow filled her heart, as she relived the moment. Her love was going to get help, but only a few seconds after he left the door opened and the Dark Lord entered the house, wand raised. "Avada Kedavra!" The green light blinded her, and she fell to her knees as the house collapsed around her. Two of her best friends died that night; she had seen the bodies with her own eyes. She had never seen her love's body, though, and she was tortured by not knowing whether he lived.
She had to believe he was alive. Otherwise she had no reason to live. If he was dead, she would go insane. As it was, the only reason she managed to cling to sanity was her anger at the murder of her best friends. Not a happy thought at all, but it kept her sane, and she clung to it with all her being, as she clung to the hope that the man she loved was still alive. A hope that brought her no joy, for he had probably found another woman by now, and had no room left in his heart to love her.
The worst was the pale-skinned, dark-haired, scrawny boy in the cell next to her. He had been imprisoned by the Ministry for betraying Harry Potter, and left there as a failure by the Dark Lord for getting himself caught. A Slytherin, he had somehow wormed his way into Harry's confidences during those last few years, then betrayed him to the Dark Lord after everyone thought they were safe. She could think about him quite clearly, for he, Donovan Black, was one of her worst memories.
"NOOOOO! I DIDN'T DO IT! I SWEAR! GIVE ME F***ING VERITASERUM! PLEASE!" He writhed and moaned, begging for mercy. She almost felt sorry for him. No, he deserved no pity. She steeled her heart.
Then came the day when a new prisoner arrived. She was dragged into Azkaban by the dementors, fighting tooth and nail the entire way. She screamed for someone named Darcy, saying she loved him. After she was locked in her cell, she collapsed, sobbing, demanding to know how he could do this to her. The Dark Lord himself arrived shortly thereafter and put a silencing charm on her so she could not speak. He looked almost… regretful. But no, that was impossible; she was just imagining things.
Donovan Black hurled curses at the Dark Lord, but the latter simply ignored him. Nothing, not even the dementors, seemed to affect the Dark Lord.
One of the Stormwinds—she couldn't tell which one, as they all looked alike—tripped the Dark Lord with a well-placed curse. The Dark Lord turned, smiling so coldly he could have frozen a forest fire, and raised his wand. "Crucio!"
Stormwind fell to the floor of his cell, gasping for breath. "Damn you!"
Katrina Stormwind, distinguishable only because she was a girl, yelled, "Think of fairies and elves and Snape in a vulture hat, and everything will seem a lot better." It was a mark of how bad things were that that was the best she could do.
With the dementors all around and the Dark Lord nearby, she could not even manage a weak smile at Stormwind's joke.
"GIVE ME A F***ING TRIAL!" Donovan Black cried. He still had not realized that the government with had imprisoned him was no longer in power, and the new ruler had no mercy whatsoever.
The next time the Dark Lord visited, perhaps a year later—she had lost track of exactly what day it was—he was followed by a sturdy toddler who surveyed the prisoners as coldly as did the Dark Lord himself.
One day, a dementor came into her cell. That could only mean one thing. Sometimes a dementor grew hungry for a soul; then it would go into one of the cells and administer the Kiss.
There was only one thing she could do. She fainted.
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Please review! Please! This is my first attempt at angst, and I really need some feedback. Next chapter coming as soon as I get some reviews.