Title: A Sticking Place

Author: charredsunshine

Warning: *shrug* Can't really say. I haven't planned too much out, so there's just the general ones. M/M, slash, H/C, angst...

Rating: NC-17

Summary: "It can only rain so much before the clouds are empty, and you realize there's no sun to evaporate the ocean you left behind." A shunned and abused Harry Potter longs to find the one place he belongs. A lonely and indifferent Lord Voldemort longs for someone to understand him. Will they soon discover that being stuck may not be such a bad thing after all?

Chapter 3: Comfort in Exchange for Pain

"How do you expect me to not go?"

"No! You aren't going, and that's final. I know life really sucks for your oh so dear sister right now, but I really couldn't care less."

Harry scowled at the Dark Lord's sneering sarcasm. He couldn't believe the man was actually forbidding him from saving his sister.

"So you're going to let her die. You're going to let my sister, my twin die!?"

"Yes."

The candid tone the Dark Lord spoke with caused Harry's mouth to drop, and the Dark Lord turned away from the treacherous look in the verdant gaze. How could the child try to do this? He practically just finished telling Harry how important he was to him, and here he already wants to leave him. Tom's hands clenched, and veins popped up on his wrists from the strain. He wouldn't. As he heard the door slam, he swore he wouldn't give in. Meanwhile, Harry pressed his back against the door, expecting to hear footsteps, calls, something to tell him the Dark Lord wasn't serious. He couldn't have been serious, could he? He couldn't be so heartless. There was nothing. For five solid minutes, Harry listened. For five solid minutes, Harry's heart dropped inch by disheartening inch. It soon became clear to him the Dark Lord wasn't backing down.

"How could he...This'll be the second time. The second!"

Harry slid his back down the wall and hugged his knees to his chest. His eyesockets burned not only with the pressure of his knees, but the pressure of his tears. To a certain extent, Harry always blamed himself for the way his sister turned out. Maybe if he'd have been stronger, he could've been the-boy-who-lived, and she wouldn't be so shallow. He could have spared her! Of course those were his earliest thoughts, before he realized the foolishness of them. Of course nothing would have changed for the better. The situation would have become worse! He would be revered, and she would be scorned. Idly, Harry considered that not even on his worst enemies would he wish such unhappiness, such loneliness. What would have happened to her? Would she have been traded? Would she have gone to the muggle world, gone to live with their magic-hating aunt and uncle? They would have torn her apart on sight. No...Harry just wishes he'd been strong enough to keep her. If he'd been a better anchor, she wouldn't have left land. She would still be with him. The Gods have offered him a second chance, and he's been forbidden. He's been trapped like a caged rat with nowhere to go or nothing to do to change his circumstances.

Tom knew Harry was sitting outside his office door, most likely crying. He didn't understand. How does one forgive a traitor? Surely the child realizes that's precisely what she is. Surely. He'll get over it. Sisters are overrated anyway. At least that's what he's heard.

Crying.

He hated the thought of seeing the boy's tears. It made him feel guilty; as if he's done something terribly wrong. While he'd promised himself he would make sure Harry never cried, he also promised himself he would protect him from his parents.

Promises...

Crying...

"Dark Lord indeed."

Tom stood up abruptly from his chair, and yanked the door wide open. There on the side was what he feared: watery eyes and anger.

"Why won't you...!"

"I don't understand. I don't understand how you could tell me you're happy here and then a few hours later leave. I don't understand how you can want to save someone who has shunned you for so long. I don't understand how you can sit there, cry, and be furious at me for wanting you to protect you! I'm sorry if I seem a bit selfish, but I will not let you go."

When Harry turned his head away in misery, blue eyes hardened. "Finally."

"Finally what?"

"You're acting how I've expected you to act: like a trapped victim. Is that how I should expect you to stare at me from now on? Should I expect to see remorse in your eyes every time I invite you down to dinner, or a look of reluctance every time you enter your room? I've never had any parents, let alone siblings to cry over, so I apologize if my sense of familial responsibility is nonexistent. At the same time, I thought you would serve as a companion. Instead, it seems I have brought upon myself an unwilling hostage."

"My sister! I just want my sister! Is that so wrong!?"

The tears in Harry's eyes reached surface and slid in torrents down his cheeks, but there was no one to acknowledge them. The Dark Lord had already turned and walked away.

"I just want her back."

-

"Lucius."

"Yes, my Lord?"

"What...Is the importance of a twin?"

"A twin, my Lord?"

"Yes."

"Well I suppose they are the other half of a whole. When two twins are seperated from each other for long periods of time, they are desolate. A strong part of each yearns for the other."

"And this is incurable?"

"Well you cannot consider it a disease. It is a bond, my Lord; natural and unbreakable."

"Dulled?"

"Like any bond, it can be weakened through outstanding circumstances, but never removed."

Lucius stared in curiousity as the Dark Lord's shoulders seemed to slump in on themselves.

"My Lord...What has brought on..."

"You are dismissed."

When Lucius reluctantly left, the Dark Lord stared unseeingly at the wall. What would he do? He was sure he was going to rescue the girl. If anything, he doesn't know how he's really going to do it. It galled him, though. The thought that she could just come in and...

Tom stood up from his seat and decided he would be impetuous with it. If anything happened, he would fight his way through. He pulled on wizarding robes, and morphed himself to look how he naturally should. Under the disguise only Dumbledore would be able to recognize him, and the Dark Lord was sure the man wouldn't still be there so late at night. When he summoned Severus to his office, he ordered him to make sure the child didn't sneak out the manor.

"I'll be back, hopefully, in a couple of hours. If I am not, you should most likely send a search party around St. Mungos."

"St. Mungos, my Lord?"

"Yes. I have business to see to. Farewell."

The Slytherin apparated out and Severus went to keep Harry company.

"Where is the Dark Lord?"

"All I know is he went to St. Mungos on important business. For the next hour, you have only me to bore you."

"St. Mun..."

-

The receptionist barely picked up her head when she told him to take the stairs up and make a left turn to the pediatric ward. As he walked up, he saw a man with Harry's hair, and a woman with Harry's eyes walking down the steps. They spoke in hushed whispers that faded as they descended. The whole affair was done efficiently. His footsteps were light as he entered the room, and verbal/physical opposition was quickly silenced. She demanded to know where he was taking her, but he ignored her. He deftly slipped into Diagon Alley through the emergency floo system, and apparated to the manor.

"Severus!"

"Yes, my Lord?"

Severus exited Harry's room to see the Dark Lord carrying a child in his grasp.

"I need you to help the elves create a medically specialized room. Then you are to place this girl inside, and have at least two elves there in rotation. Every two will be there for 4 hour intervals. When the room is situated, you are to run a scan on her and give me a report of her condition. I will expect the report before breakfast tomorrow. She will be allowed absolutely no visitors till morning. When morning arrives, you will personally escort Harry into the room. Am I understood?"

"Yes, my Lord."

"Goodnight."

The Potions Master watched the Dark Lord walk away. His steps seemed somber and reluctant, almost as if sorrow was weighing heavily on his shoulders.

-

"Tom! Tom!"

The pounding knocks upon his door did not rouse Tom to get up out of the bed. If anything, it influenced him to curl up deeper into it. He would not open the door. Tomorrow morning, the child would be happy again. No more blasted tears, no more blasted visits, and no more stupid reading sessions. It would be over, and all was better that way. As the Dark Lord drifted to sleep, all that filled his ears was the sound of desperate knocking and a small voice calling out to him.

He would not open the door.

Not again.

A/N

Alright, everyone! I know this chapter is short, but it's important to the development of their relationship, and I'm a sucker for dramatic endings. Tom's feeling down right now, and he probably won't be feeling better by next chapter. *ducks* Please don't hurt me. Give me two chapters. Tops! By the end of Chapter 5, he'll be up to his natural self.

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