Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Harry Potter

Chapter Two: Death Eaters

Harry slammed into the ground, stunned. All around him the figures were appearing, and Harry saw that they were all wearing black cloaks and had their heads covered by grotesque masks, which they were now vanishing with lazy flicks of their wands.

Faces were emerging, both scowling and smirking.

They were in a room- a large, lit room with rough stone walls, floors and ceilings, a wooden door on one end, and no windows at all. Harry got shakily to his feet and backed up until he was pressed against one of the walls behind him. His knees felt like jelly and he wanted to collapse onto the floor again, but he stayed standing. His mind was in chaos- what had happened? What was he doing here? He wanted to go back- he wanted to be at Hogwarts!

And he was afraid, so very afraid.

Some of the figures were looking at him. A woman stepped out of the group- she had black curly hair that hung around her shoulders and dark eyes that blinked at him from under thick lidded eyelashes.

'Harry Potter,' she whispered, and Harry felt a shiver run all through his body. She was staring at him as if she'd never seen a child before.

'P-please, I want to go home!' Harry said, his voice rising slightly. 'L-let me go. . .'

The witch said nothing. Instead, she reached out and pulled Harry towards the centre of the room, where all of the other figures stood. Harry tried to resist, but she was much stronger and it only made him stumble. A man standing behind her- his grey eyes glinting- reached out and yanked Harry's head back roughly. Harry gave a small whimper- squirming- but the witch gripped him tightly, digging her nails into his sleeve. His hair was brushed out of the way and his forehead exposed. The whole room stared at it.

'The scar. . .' whispered the woman, raising a finger to touch it. But before she could, Harry felt a sharp pain flare up in his head, exactly the same as he had felt that day a month before his birthday. He yelled, yanking his arms up to his face and pressing the palms of his hands against his forehead. Harry dropped to the ground, but the pain had gone as quickly as it had come. He felt numb.

Then the witch was dragging him up by the shoulder, and Harry was shoved violently against the wall, impacting it so hard he gasped. No, no, no!

He wanted to disappear, to wake up from this nightmare, but it was all too real. . .

'Are you scared, baby Hawwy? Are you scared of the bad widdle Death Eaters?' she was speaking to him, her voice quiet and soft. Harry looked up at her, eyes wide. Death Eaters? What were Death Eaters? He felt as though the word was familiar, somehow, as if he should know what it meant. . .

'W-w-what-' he started to get out.

'What?' she said. The figures- the Death Eaters- were laughing.

'What are Death Eaters?' she repeated, staring at Harry. 'You don't know?'

Harry shook his head; trying to be brave, trying to stay strong. . .

'He doesn't know!' the woman shrieked. 'Dear old Dumbledore hasn't told him anything!' she looked around, grinning gleefully.

'Now, now- Bellatrix,' the man who had pulled Harry's head back earlier said reproachfully, though he seemed amused. His gaze fell on Harry, and his lips curled upwards in a half smile. 'He's only a boy, isn't he? No older than my Draco. . .'

'I-I'm n-nine-' Harry spoke up weakly.

'Nine!' exclaimed the man, as if it were the most curious thing he'd ever heard. 'Ah, but he's nine!' The Death Eaters behind him laughed again.

Harry didn't see what was so funny. He just wanted to go home. 'P-please, I want to go-'

More laughter. The witch, Bellatrix, leaned down so that her face was level with his. 'Is the poor baby frightwened?' she mocked slowly. 'Does the widdle Harry want to go back to dear old Hogwarts?' Harry blinked away tears. He had to be brave. That's what a Gryffindor was, right? And Harry wanted to be a Gryffindor when he was old enough. 'I want A-Albus-'

Bellatrix stood up and looked around. Then she flicked her wand, and Harry found himself rising up into the air. A second later he was being pressed into the wall behind him, several feet above the floor. He tried to move- tried to struggle- but thick, invisible ropes were snaking out of the stone and binding him tightly from head to foot.

'N-n-no!' he choked out.

Bellatrix walked up to him and stroked the hair out of his eyes. Harry wanted to pull away, but he couldn't even move his head from side to side.

'Shhh, baby Harry,' she murmured. 'The Dark Lord will come, and then- soon- you'll be able to see precious Mummy and Daddy again.'

Harry stared at her in shock, face wet with tears. 'Wh-what do you m-mean?'

'Why do you think you are here, Harry Potter?' she said softly. 'The Dark Lord failed to kill you eight years ago, but he won't fail this time. You'll join your parents were you belong!'

'D-d-dark l-lord?' Something seemed to click inside Harry, and suddenly he knew who he was- who Bellatrix was talking about. 'Voldemort!'

The witch hissed as though burned and drew back. 'You dare speak his name?' she whispered again, and there was a deadly tone to her voice.

'B-but h-h-he's dead!' said Harry, shaking. Dread filled him, and he felt sick. 'A-Albus said he's g-gone!'

'Gone!?' screeched Bellatrix. 'The Dark Lord was never gone! The Dark Lord is immortal, and he'll kill you, Potter! He'll destroy you!'

'N-n-no, you're lying! He's dead-'

'Am I, Potter?'

. . .

A/N: From now on, I will try to post chapters once a week, on a Thursday/Friday.

Please review :)