A/N: The following warning is very important: This fic is rated M for a reason. Expect cannibalism, torture and general psycopath behaviour to follow. Cannot stress this enough. This fic is DARK. Capiche?
I wrote this for a number of challenges (which are all detailed in the bottom A/N), primarily for AnnaRavenheart who gave me the following summary to work with:
[Neville decided that it's his time to get his revenge. He joined the Death Eaters and started pretending to be in love with Bellatrix just to get closer to her and gain the chance to kill her. Will his plan work or will she see through it?]
This is what my crazed mind came up with. Enjoy.
Burn With Me Darling, Burn.
Seamus' screams were still echoing in Neville's ears even after he stopped breathing, his body finally falling limp. Fenrir was crouched over him blood smeared over what Neville could see of the werewolf's face. There was the sound of something snapping and Seamus's corpse jolted with movement. Someone in the shadows hissed in fear but none of them could tear their eyes away.
Neville couldn't decide what was worse: Fenrir slowly tear the boy apart, his jagged nails scratching skin, teeth pulling at tendons and flesh or the mere fact that he hadn't moved, that he was standing there watching. He'd wanted to be the one to kill Seamus, a weak attempt at salvation for the boy he'd once shared a dorm with but his Lord had denied him the… pleasure. Seamus had been one of the last leaders of the resistance, a wanted man for years with a one of the longest lists of crimes and felonies out of any of the ones that were left. The Dark Lord had therefore deemed it necessary to make an example of him and so had let Fenrir have his way with him after the normal weeks of torture and degradation. There were plans for the memory to be sent to the remaining few who dared oppose him. When Neville had been shown him hours previous he had thought him – Seamus. His name had been Seamus – unrecognisable.
Fenrir had twisted that and now the thing he was tearing away at didn't even look human.
Hours. It had taken him hours to die.
There was a flicker of fear and revolution which surprised Neville, every time he felt even the smallest emotion it shocked him. Every moment he was awake there was just the darkness feeding him, the flames which had turned his bones and soul to ash. Everything was black and Neville had thought he'd long ago stopped feeling anything but rage, deep, cold anger. He hated everyone and everything – every breathe was painful to take for it reminded him that he was still living whilst so many of those he'd loved were gone. Every moment he closed his eyes he saw their faces, their eyes. Most thought he was dead but the Dark Lord was often one for melodrama and for the 'important ones' Neville had been brought out, paraded in front of those he'd once called comrades. Their eyes, every time… they would flicker and something, the last thing they had been clinging to would disappear.
The sight of him destroyed them more effectively than any spell would.
Neville turned on his heel unable to watch Fenrir gorge himself any longer. There was only one reason why he was alive and finally, finally after years of waiting for the right moment he knew the time was near. His plan would soon be put into action.
He had just been marked.
They told him his arm would burn but Neville couldn't feel it, he couldn't feel pain any more. Forevermore, never more… It all blurred into one and he was always on fire. The snake writhed on his arm, coiling between the eye sockets of the skull which grinned mockingly at him. Neville smiled bitterly in return, memories and thoughts darting around his head.
It wasn't really a matter of if it was worth because the answer was no. Always had been.
Nothing made living worth it any more. The world had turned to ash just like Neville – he wasn't real or the man he was supposed to be merely a body filled with ash and black flames controlled by a master puppeteer. The Dark Lord thought he was in control of everything but Neville had a belief in a higher power – chaos.
"What doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger." he whispered to himself barking out a hoarse laugh which echoed down the corridor. Professor Snape sneered in his mind telling him he'd gone finally gone insane and Neville laughed again.
"At least I'm not dead Professor, I should be grateful for that don't you think? Isn't there supposed to be something wonderful about not having maggots in your brain? No offense."
Snape's caustic reply was that Neville had nothing in his brain for the maggots to feed on so he was in no danger.
He heard them all the time. Sometimes it was his mother humming a lullaby, or Madame Hooch telling him off. Hermione, Hagrid, Madame Rosmerta, Professor Lupin… they argued and whispered as though he wasn't there, a cacophony of madness in his head. Neville had gotten used to it just like he'd gotten used to everything else and he wondered when Seamus's deep Irish lilt would suddenly echo through the silence that welcomed a newcomer before they'd all start talking again as though nothing had changed.
As though another one hadn't died because Neville had been too cowardly all those years ago.
Should he have killed himself?
Or killed her like he was planning now?
He could never decide. Undoubtedly things would have been better if he'd had the courage to do anything but no. He'd let himself be voluntarily kidnapped, a crazed, insane plan and then when he was supposed to do something, to blow it up or react, do anything he had waited. That was the when the fire had started to burn and for a while now, a long while now Neville had known he was addicted.
It wasn't about stopped the Dark Lord because nothing ever would. The world had disappeared – all that was left were memories and they faded with every scream. No, all that mattered was her. That had always been the plan really.
'Love is watching someone die.' Bella whispered in his ear and she pressed herself against Neville's back, resting her head on his shoulder. 'Look at them. You can see it in their eyes, see when they snap. That's love darling. That's love.'
There was a shuffle to the left of him and Neville twisted around swiftly, eyes searching the darkness. Someone had been following him for the past few days and Neville would send every soul to hell if someone spying on him fucked up his plan now when it was so close to fruition. He let his hand drift to the knife on his hip – a Christmas present off Bella, selfish really. She'd only gotten it him because the tip tracing against her skin turned her on. – and stood still for a few minutes but there wasn't another sound. Shaking his head Neville made his way swiftly through the house now, something akin to excitement kindling the embers within him.
She bit him hard, drawing blood when he entered their chamber and he grabbed her hair, slamming her against the door. He wanted her to scream, for her to think she knew perfection, that the world was how it should be for the briefest of seconds before she realised his true intent and reality crumbled around her. So long, for so long he'd hid his plans from her. He'd pressed his lips against hers, done things to her body he'd never thought possible and always in the back of his mind he'd waited – waited until the day she too would burn.
He was rough, glad for the fact that Bella never wore underwear, her shirt torn into tatters on the floor and her skirt following, ripped off her body. She screamed as he slammed into her and then he felt her wand pressed against his temple and prepared himself.
"Crucio."
She was laughing, screaming again as they fell to the floor. Neville forgot everything for a blissful moment and then the agony was replaced by her tongue in his mouth, her teeth moving to graze his dark mark. There was old remnants of last night's blood on the floor and he lost himself to animalistic tendencies, trying to find something to could be defined as real in pain.
Hours passed. Time had long since ceased to exist and Neville gripped his wand. Bella was moaning as the flames crept around her, Neville tense in anticipation.
"Fuck me. Fuck me again." she ordered but he shook his head. She was chained to the floor, arms and legs stretched into a position which must have been painful and the flames around her leapt high eagerly.
"No. I want to watch you."
His voice was different, even Neville could hear it and she stared into his eyes before her own dark ones and she laughed manically, loud enough to make him want to flinch.
"So today is the day then? Today you've finally gotten the balls to do what you should have done years ago." she leered. "Think of all the lives you could have saved Neville, my blonde boy. Instead you let me mould you, turn into something broken and beautiful.
I'm so proud."
She laughed again and then screamed, a real scream this time as one of the flames jumped on the skin, wrapping around her leg.
'You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.'
Seamus had arrived and just in time too for now she was burning like Neville always was, finally. The waiting had paid off, learning dark arts had paid off.
"Today everyone dies." Neville whispered to himself before casting three spells which would set off the chain reaction through the Death Eater complex. Anti-apparition wards were the last thing he'd had to do and for that he'd needed a Dark Mark. How long it would take the mixture of fiendfyre and black magic to destroy the place, all inhabitants included he didn't know but they were all here, Neville had made sure ever Death Eater was here and nothing would stop the magic, nothing could. he'd made sure.
Fire cleanses and Neville laughed as he watched it all burn.
A/N: Challenges and competitions on the HPFC which this one shot has been entered in:
- The Completely AU/AR Competition - Extra Hard.
- The Secret Challenge
- The Key Signature Competition with Bb Minor
- The One Shot A Day Competition
- The Weasley Wizard Wheezes Competition with Extendable Ears
- The Pairing Diversity Boot Camp with prompt #11 - fire
- The Seven Sins Competition for Wrath
- The Wand Wood Competition for Blackthorn
- The Months Of The Year Challenge for March
- The Endless Possibilities Challenge for The Dark Side Has Cookies - prompt: Kidnap.
- The Double or Nothing Competiton with the restraint of 1600 - 1760 words.
- The Party Challenge for Forfeit.
- The HP Potions Competition for Flesh Eating Slug Repellent.
- The If You Dare Challenge with prompt #999 - Love is watching someone die.