Voldemort paced through the room in the sprawling warehouse that was completely concealed by magic to the outside world.
"Is everything ready, Wormtail?" He asked impatiently.
"Of course, master, of course." Wormtail said, shivering with anticipation.
"And you will have our seven prisoners to me tonight, correct?"
"Yes, yes, I will." Wormtail said respectfully.
"Wonderful. And Harry I would like arriving tomorrow morning, is that clear?"
"As crystal, master."
"All right, start preparing the charm to bring the prisoners."
"Yes, master." Wormtail hurried off, stumbling slightly over the hem of his robes.
Voldemort smiled slightly, clasping his hands together.
"This should be interesting." Voldemort said, the same malicious smile spreading over his distorted features.
~*~
"I'm exhausted." Ron Weasley complained, burying his head in his hands.
"You've got to study if you want to pass the test tomorrow, Ron. This our N.E.W.T. year, and I won't have my boyfriend failing them all." Hermione smiled affectionately at him.
"Fine, fine. But you know, if I did awful, it would just make your scores look better." He smiled winningly at her.
"Nice try. Now study."
Ginny Weasley walked by the couple who were sitting at one of the window seats in the Gryffindor common room.
"You two are so cute." She sighed, grinning at the pair of them.
"Can we help you, Gin?" Ron said, grinning back.
"Just wanted to tell you that Caroline told me Quidditch practice is going to run late tonight, so Harry won't be back until a little later tonight." Ginny said. Caroline was one of the new Chasers on the Gryffindor team.
"So I can't escape studying until he gets back?" Ron sighed.
"Not a chance. No best friend to bale you out.." Hermione said in a mock commanding voice.
Ron sighed heavily, rolling his eyes.
Ginny said good-bye, and headed off. Hermione kept reading over her notes, then suddenly put them down again.
"Okay, I'll even admit this is boring. Want to do something else?" She sighed.
"Like what?" Ron cocked an eyebrow at her.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Don't get your hopes up. I'm just tired of studying."
Ron suddenly grabbed her shoulders, looking at her with mock seriousness.
"Who are you, and what have you done with my girlfriend?"
"Still me. It's just…I know practically all this already. What's the point in reading it again? And you're still doing fine in your classes, even though you hardly ever study. And I'm bored!" Hermione said, exasperated.
"Okay, this is new. But I like it." Ron shrugged, smiling.
Hermione had loosened up considerably since her younger years, but this outright declaration of boredom was definitely a new standard.
"Let's go watch Harry's Quidditch practice…the match for the cup against Slytherin's next week, and I want to make sure they don't let us down." Ron suggested.
Hermione looked at her notes once again, as if trying to convince herself of something.
"Fine." She said, waving a hand dismissively at their schoolwork, and they set off hand in hand.
But something very strange happened to Ron and Hermione the second they started to step through the portrait hole. They disappeared completely.
~*~
"Gin! Guess what?" Kelly, Ginny's best friend for years, raced into their dorm room.
"What?" Ginny asked, looking up from her copy of Witch Weekly.
"Matthew Anders is going to ask you out for a private evening at Hogsmeade! Like a date!"
"Thanks for the clarification, Kel." Ginny said, uninterested.
"Ginny, this is Matthew Anders! He's the best-looking guy in the sixth year!"
"Yeah…I guess." Ginny said quietly.
"Oh, are we still stuck on the famous Harry Potter?" Kelly said, exasperated.
"Yes." Ginny said quietly, falling back on her bed.
"Gin, you have got to get over him! I mean, I know you two are friends and all, but I mean, come on! You've had a crush on him for at least six years! Come on, Gin, really--"
But Kelly stopped talking, and nearly fell over in shock. Because Ginny suddenly disappeared right out of her bed.
~*~
Harry flew high above the rest of his Quidditch team, overseeing his team with a proud smile on his face. He was the captain this year, since it was his seventh year and all on the team. He watched as his three new Chasers, three third year girls, executed the play exactly as he had instructed.
"Perfect, Courtney, Emma, Caroline! That was perfect!" He congratulated them, flying down a little bit.
"Thanks, Harry." Emma said, smiling widely.
"No problem." He smiled back, feeling a sort of fatherly pride for these three girls, since he had helped them since he had been their captain since their second year, and it was nice to watch them grow into better and better players.
"All right, good practice everyone!" Harry said, leading the team back to the ground.
He walked back into the castle, talking to Jake, one of their new Beaters who was a fifth year, about Slytherin's strategies. But as they entered the castle, he felt a strange, sudden twinge in his scar.
"What the…" He clapped a hand to it as the pain suddenly grew intense.
And before he knew what had happened, he collapsed.
~*~
When Harry awoke, he was in the hospital ward, his scar burning painfully. He was surprised to see Dumbledore there.
"Hello, Harry." Dumbledore said, his tone grave.
"What's the matter, Professor?" Harry instantly knew by Dumbledore's expression that something was terribly wrong.
"Harry…stange disappearances have occurred tonight. And by your scar hurting, we assume that Voldemort must be connected."
"D-Disappearances?" Harry asked quietly.
"Yes, Harry. Ron and Hermione were seen leaving the common room through the portrait hole. But before they exited the common room, they disappeared completely. Seconds later, Kelly Phillips saw Ginny Weasley vanish right in front of her eyes in their dorm. In the Ravenclaw common room, Cho Chang was studying in a corner when she disappeared as well. Hagrid was walking with Professor Flitwick when Hagrid disappeared as well. We don't know how these disappearances occurred, but they were not the work of apparation, because according to my sources, none of these people are anywhere in Hogwarts or the surrounding grounds. I fear that Voldemort himself may have taken them."
Harry looked at Dumbledore in horror.
"No…" He said faintly.
"I'm afraid so, Mr. Potter. Voldemort may have used some sort of summoning charm to perform this deed, he's capable of producing one that would be powerful enough. But before we begin our search for them, precautions must be taken for yourself, Harry. He may very well try to--"
But Dumbledore couldn't finish his sentence. Because Harry was no longer there.
~*~
Ron woke up, his head hurting and a dull pain in his right arm. Where was he? The last thing he remembered, he was walking with Hermione out of the common room. And then…he didn't remember anything else. Suddenly, he was struck with a thought. Where was Hermione? Was she hurt?
"Hermione!" He yelled, looking around desperately.
He seemed to be in some sort of jail cell, a small cell that was lined with metal bars.
"I'm right here, Ron." He heard a familiar voice.
Whipping around, he was beyond relieved to see Hermione in the cell next to him.
"You're okay!" He said, putting his hand through to grab hers.
"What happened to us, Ron? Where are we?" She said, her expression full of fear.
"I don't have a bloody clue. One minute we're at Hogwarts, the next minute we're….well, wherever we are now."
Faintly, they heard someone screaming, and Ginny was suddenly in the cell next to Ron's. Pale as a ghost and still screaming, Ginny sat up, gripping the bars of her cell.
"Gin! Calm down!" Ron said, looking at his sister in shock.
"Where are we? Where are we? Where are we?" She sputtered, shaking slightly.
"We don't know anything more than you do, Ginny." Hermione said softly.
At that moment, Cho Chang materialized in the cell next to Ginny, Hagrid appeared in the cell next to Hermione, and Sirius and Lupin appeared in the two cells across from the row of students.
Utter confusion occurred as everyone tried to figure out where they were, why they were here. Everyone started looking desperately for a way out. Ginny and Cho both started crying, Ron started kicking at the jail cell; frustarated, Hermione sat there in silent shock, and Sirus and Lupin desperately started trying to figure out why they were here.
"Wait! Shut up everyone!" Hermione suddenly said.
Everyone grew quiet, looking at Hermione.
"Isn't this obvious, why we're here?"
Not that obvious to everyone else, apparently, because they still gave her blank looks.
"We're all connected to Harry somehow. This is Voldemort's work. We're the collateral in one of his typical evil schemes. Probably the way he'll make Harry cooperate with doing something."
Everyone fell silent. That made sense, in a horrible, twisted way.
"Bloody hell." Sirius said quietly, and that seemed to sum up everyone's feelings.
~*~
Harry reappeared in a room that was completely black except for a single spotlight focused on him. Blinking in the bright light, he stumbled to his feet. Why was he here? Why was his scar burning? WHAT was going on? Suddenly, he heard a disembodied voice. But he recognized it instantly. Voldemort.
"Hello, Harry! How wonderful to see you again." It said mockingly, echoing in the seemingly huge room.
"What do you want? Why have you taken me here?" Harry yelled.
"Simple, Potter. To kill you."
Harry yawned.
"Do you ever get new material? Seems like I've been hearing that line all seventeen years of my life."
"SILENCE!!" The voice reverberated through the room, it's tone furious.
"So what's the plan this time?" Harry asked.
"It's really quite interesting, Mr. Potter. It will be great fun to watch this."
"Keep talking." Harry said.
"All right, here's why I've taken you here. You will perform seven tasks, much like the ones you'll remember from your fourth year. But these tasks have a much different purpose-they are designed solely for your extinction."
"Okay…" Harry said, trying to disguise his slowly growing fear.
"You will perform each of these seven tasks, and when and if you finish, I'll kill you anyway."
"So…why not just kill me now and get it over with? Seems as though it would save you a lot of trouble." Harry said sarcastically.
"Oh, this is much more fun. My happiest moments are when you're suffering, dear boy."
"Well, you can't really make me do the tasks, if you think about it logically. You can't force me to." Harry said, shrugging.
"You're correct, Mr. Potter. I can't make you do them. But unless you want to be responsible for seven murders, you'd better do them and do them well."
"What are you talking about?" Harry said, his shaking voice betraying his calm exterior.
"Wormtail…bring them out." Voldemort clapped his hands, appearing suddenly on a tall platform as a spotlight shone on him as well.
A slight whirring sound was heard that grew increasingly louder. To Harry's astonishment, the ceiling was splitting into two separate halves. As the opening grew larger, seven barred cells were lowed from the ceiling on chains, all spotlighted as well. Harry's heart nearly fell out of his chest as he saw who was in them.
Ron, Hermione, Cho, Ginny, Hagrid, Sirius and Lupin were the cell inhabitants. And they all looked terrified.
"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed as they came fully into his view.
"You can't do this." Harry said through gritted teeth to Voldemort.
"Yes, I can. And I have. It goes like this, Harry. You fail at a task-I pick one of them to die. Horribly. While you are chained down and forced to watch. You die during one of the tasks-I kill all seven of them." Voldemort smiled cruelly.
Harry looked up into their faces. Ron was trying to look brave, but the expression of terror in his eyes was not hard to see. Hermione's mouth formed a thin line as tears spilled down her cheeks. Ginny was clutching the cell bars, wearing an expression much like Ron's. Cho was crying openly. Sirius looked at Harry with a worried expression. Hagrid was looking defiantly at Voldemort. Lupin's expression was completely unreadable as he stared off into the darkness.
"I can't believe this..." Harry muttered, his head racing with jumbled thoughts.
"Believe it, Mr. Potter. Wormtail will lead you to your sleeping quarters. I'd get plenty of rest, because you wouldn't want to slip up in your first task tomorrow. You might never see one of them again. And don't try escaping, I've put in every precaution. And that goes for you as well, prisoners." He waved a hand towards them, looking excited.
Harry watched as their seven cells were lifted back into the room in the ceiling. Anger and fear swirled through him. How was he ever going to escape this and rescue them? Was that even possible? What was he going to do?
A/N- Harry's in quite a predicament, eh? What did ya'll think? This idea just randomly came to me today, and I thought, hey, sounds like it would be a cool fic. Please REVIEW, that makes me very happy. Love to all, ~FleurHartz~
"Is everything ready, Wormtail?" He asked impatiently.
"Of course, master, of course." Wormtail said, shivering with anticipation.
"And you will have our seven prisoners to me tonight, correct?"
"Yes, yes, I will." Wormtail said respectfully.
"Wonderful. And Harry I would like arriving tomorrow morning, is that clear?"
"As crystal, master."
"All right, start preparing the charm to bring the prisoners."
"Yes, master." Wormtail hurried off, stumbling slightly over the hem of his robes.
Voldemort smiled slightly, clasping his hands together.
"This should be interesting." Voldemort said, the same malicious smile spreading over his distorted features.
~*~
"I'm exhausted." Ron Weasley complained, burying his head in his hands.
"You've got to study if you want to pass the test tomorrow, Ron. This our N.E.W.T. year, and I won't have my boyfriend failing them all." Hermione smiled affectionately at him.
"Fine, fine. But you know, if I did awful, it would just make your scores look better." He smiled winningly at her.
"Nice try. Now study."
Ginny Weasley walked by the couple who were sitting at one of the window seats in the Gryffindor common room.
"You two are so cute." She sighed, grinning at the pair of them.
"Can we help you, Gin?" Ron said, grinning back.
"Just wanted to tell you that Caroline told me Quidditch practice is going to run late tonight, so Harry won't be back until a little later tonight." Ginny said. Caroline was one of the new Chasers on the Gryffindor team.
"So I can't escape studying until he gets back?" Ron sighed.
"Not a chance. No best friend to bale you out.." Hermione said in a mock commanding voice.
Ron sighed heavily, rolling his eyes.
Ginny said good-bye, and headed off. Hermione kept reading over her notes, then suddenly put them down again.
"Okay, I'll even admit this is boring. Want to do something else?" She sighed.
"Like what?" Ron cocked an eyebrow at her.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Don't get your hopes up. I'm just tired of studying."
Ron suddenly grabbed her shoulders, looking at her with mock seriousness.
"Who are you, and what have you done with my girlfriend?"
"Still me. It's just…I know practically all this already. What's the point in reading it again? And you're still doing fine in your classes, even though you hardly ever study. And I'm bored!" Hermione said, exasperated.
"Okay, this is new. But I like it." Ron shrugged, smiling.
Hermione had loosened up considerably since her younger years, but this outright declaration of boredom was definitely a new standard.
"Let's go watch Harry's Quidditch practice…the match for the cup against Slytherin's next week, and I want to make sure they don't let us down." Ron suggested.
Hermione looked at her notes once again, as if trying to convince herself of something.
"Fine." She said, waving a hand dismissively at their schoolwork, and they set off hand in hand.
But something very strange happened to Ron and Hermione the second they started to step through the portrait hole. They disappeared completely.
~*~
"Gin! Guess what?" Kelly, Ginny's best friend for years, raced into their dorm room.
"What?" Ginny asked, looking up from her copy of Witch Weekly.
"Matthew Anders is going to ask you out for a private evening at Hogsmeade! Like a date!"
"Thanks for the clarification, Kel." Ginny said, uninterested.
"Ginny, this is Matthew Anders! He's the best-looking guy in the sixth year!"
"Yeah…I guess." Ginny said quietly.
"Oh, are we still stuck on the famous Harry Potter?" Kelly said, exasperated.
"Yes." Ginny said quietly, falling back on her bed.
"Gin, you have got to get over him! I mean, I know you two are friends and all, but I mean, come on! You've had a crush on him for at least six years! Come on, Gin, really--"
But Kelly stopped talking, and nearly fell over in shock. Because Ginny suddenly disappeared right out of her bed.
~*~
Harry flew high above the rest of his Quidditch team, overseeing his team with a proud smile on his face. He was the captain this year, since it was his seventh year and all on the team. He watched as his three new Chasers, three third year girls, executed the play exactly as he had instructed.
"Perfect, Courtney, Emma, Caroline! That was perfect!" He congratulated them, flying down a little bit.
"Thanks, Harry." Emma said, smiling widely.
"No problem." He smiled back, feeling a sort of fatherly pride for these three girls, since he had helped them since he had been their captain since their second year, and it was nice to watch them grow into better and better players.
"All right, good practice everyone!" Harry said, leading the team back to the ground.
He walked back into the castle, talking to Jake, one of their new Beaters who was a fifth year, about Slytherin's strategies. But as they entered the castle, he felt a strange, sudden twinge in his scar.
"What the…" He clapped a hand to it as the pain suddenly grew intense.
And before he knew what had happened, he collapsed.
~*~
When Harry awoke, he was in the hospital ward, his scar burning painfully. He was surprised to see Dumbledore there.
"Hello, Harry." Dumbledore said, his tone grave.
"What's the matter, Professor?" Harry instantly knew by Dumbledore's expression that something was terribly wrong.
"Harry…stange disappearances have occurred tonight. And by your scar hurting, we assume that Voldemort must be connected."
"D-Disappearances?" Harry asked quietly.
"Yes, Harry. Ron and Hermione were seen leaving the common room through the portrait hole. But before they exited the common room, they disappeared completely. Seconds later, Kelly Phillips saw Ginny Weasley vanish right in front of her eyes in their dorm. In the Ravenclaw common room, Cho Chang was studying in a corner when she disappeared as well. Hagrid was walking with Professor Flitwick when Hagrid disappeared as well. We don't know how these disappearances occurred, but they were not the work of apparation, because according to my sources, none of these people are anywhere in Hogwarts or the surrounding grounds. I fear that Voldemort himself may have taken them."
Harry looked at Dumbledore in horror.
"No…" He said faintly.
"I'm afraid so, Mr. Potter. Voldemort may have used some sort of summoning charm to perform this deed, he's capable of producing one that would be powerful enough. But before we begin our search for them, precautions must be taken for yourself, Harry. He may very well try to--"
But Dumbledore couldn't finish his sentence. Because Harry was no longer there.
~*~
Ron woke up, his head hurting and a dull pain in his right arm. Where was he? The last thing he remembered, he was walking with Hermione out of the common room. And then…he didn't remember anything else. Suddenly, he was struck with a thought. Where was Hermione? Was she hurt?
"Hermione!" He yelled, looking around desperately.
He seemed to be in some sort of jail cell, a small cell that was lined with metal bars.
"I'm right here, Ron." He heard a familiar voice.
Whipping around, he was beyond relieved to see Hermione in the cell next to him.
"You're okay!" He said, putting his hand through to grab hers.
"What happened to us, Ron? Where are we?" She said, her expression full of fear.
"I don't have a bloody clue. One minute we're at Hogwarts, the next minute we're….well, wherever we are now."
Faintly, they heard someone screaming, and Ginny was suddenly in the cell next to Ron's. Pale as a ghost and still screaming, Ginny sat up, gripping the bars of her cell.
"Gin! Calm down!" Ron said, looking at his sister in shock.
"Where are we? Where are we? Where are we?" She sputtered, shaking slightly.
"We don't know anything more than you do, Ginny." Hermione said softly.
At that moment, Cho Chang materialized in the cell next to Ginny, Hagrid appeared in the cell next to Hermione, and Sirius and Lupin appeared in the two cells across from the row of students.
Utter confusion occurred as everyone tried to figure out where they were, why they were here. Everyone started looking desperately for a way out. Ginny and Cho both started crying, Ron started kicking at the jail cell; frustarated, Hermione sat there in silent shock, and Sirus and Lupin desperately started trying to figure out why they were here.
"Wait! Shut up everyone!" Hermione suddenly said.
Everyone grew quiet, looking at Hermione.
"Isn't this obvious, why we're here?"
Not that obvious to everyone else, apparently, because they still gave her blank looks.
"We're all connected to Harry somehow. This is Voldemort's work. We're the collateral in one of his typical evil schemes. Probably the way he'll make Harry cooperate with doing something."
Everyone fell silent. That made sense, in a horrible, twisted way.
"Bloody hell." Sirius said quietly, and that seemed to sum up everyone's feelings.
~*~
Harry reappeared in a room that was completely black except for a single spotlight focused on him. Blinking in the bright light, he stumbled to his feet. Why was he here? Why was his scar burning? WHAT was going on? Suddenly, he heard a disembodied voice. But he recognized it instantly. Voldemort.
"Hello, Harry! How wonderful to see you again." It said mockingly, echoing in the seemingly huge room.
"What do you want? Why have you taken me here?" Harry yelled.
"Simple, Potter. To kill you."
Harry yawned.
"Do you ever get new material? Seems like I've been hearing that line all seventeen years of my life."
"SILENCE!!" The voice reverberated through the room, it's tone furious.
"So what's the plan this time?" Harry asked.
"It's really quite interesting, Mr. Potter. It will be great fun to watch this."
"Keep talking." Harry said.
"All right, here's why I've taken you here. You will perform seven tasks, much like the ones you'll remember from your fourth year. But these tasks have a much different purpose-they are designed solely for your extinction."
"Okay…" Harry said, trying to disguise his slowly growing fear.
"You will perform each of these seven tasks, and when and if you finish, I'll kill you anyway."
"So…why not just kill me now and get it over with? Seems as though it would save you a lot of trouble." Harry said sarcastically.
"Oh, this is much more fun. My happiest moments are when you're suffering, dear boy."
"Well, you can't really make me do the tasks, if you think about it logically. You can't force me to." Harry said, shrugging.
"You're correct, Mr. Potter. I can't make you do them. But unless you want to be responsible for seven murders, you'd better do them and do them well."
"What are you talking about?" Harry said, his shaking voice betraying his calm exterior.
"Wormtail…bring them out." Voldemort clapped his hands, appearing suddenly on a tall platform as a spotlight shone on him as well.
A slight whirring sound was heard that grew increasingly louder. To Harry's astonishment, the ceiling was splitting into two separate halves. As the opening grew larger, seven barred cells were lowed from the ceiling on chains, all spotlighted as well. Harry's heart nearly fell out of his chest as he saw who was in them.
Ron, Hermione, Cho, Ginny, Hagrid, Sirius and Lupin were the cell inhabitants. And they all looked terrified.
"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed as they came fully into his view.
"You can't do this." Harry said through gritted teeth to Voldemort.
"Yes, I can. And I have. It goes like this, Harry. You fail at a task-I pick one of them to die. Horribly. While you are chained down and forced to watch. You die during one of the tasks-I kill all seven of them." Voldemort smiled cruelly.
Harry looked up into their faces. Ron was trying to look brave, but the expression of terror in his eyes was not hard to see. Hermione's mouth formed a thin line as tears spilled down her cheeks. Ginny was clutching the cell bars, wearing an expression much like Ron's. Cho was crying openly. Sirius looked at Harry with a worried expression. Hagrid was looking defiantly at Voldemort. Lupin's expression was completely unreadable as he stared off into the darkness.
"I can't believe this..." Harry muttered, his head racing with jumbled thoughts.
"Believe it, Mr. Potter. Wormtail will lead you to your sleeping quarters. I'd get plenty of rest, because you wouldn't want to slip up in your first task tomorrow. You might never see one of them again. And don't try escaping, I've put in every precaution. And that goes for you as well, prisoners." He waved a hand towards them, looking excited.
Harry watched as their seven cells were lifted back into the room in the ceiling. Anger and fear swirled through him. How was he ever going to escape this and rescue them? Was that even possible? What was he going to do?
A/N- Harry's in quite a predicament, eh? What did ya'll think? This idea just randomly came to me today, and I thought, hey, sounds like it would be a cool fic. Please REVIEW, that makes me very happy. Love to all, ~FleurHartz~