A/N: Edited on December 7, 2013.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter at all. I'd be in Japan…In an anime convention cosplaying if I did.

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Chapter three:

There was a void within me…

A void so dark and deep and painful that no one understood…they liked to think they could but they couldn't. It wasn't as if they could feel the horrid hollowness eating at me, mocking me with its searing coldness and stabbing loneliness…

My screams of despair fell on deaf ears as hundred of useless people scrambled around on their feet to do the will of the master mind behind it all, of the man I gave myself to. It seemed as if everybody, so keen in finding my only treasure and air I so desperately needed, failed to see that my very essence had been taken away with the frail, small body that I once cradled to my chest in a fit of loving gentleness. It felt as if my very soul was being ripped away brutally by a vicious dementor who only wanted to watch me crumble into a pile of useless ash as it took away the only thing that could be called happiness.

It was gone…my everything was gone.

Bitter tears of sorrow blurred my vision and I was thankful for it, for I knew that my poor, beaten heart could not bear the sight of the empty nothingness that hung in the place that used to feel like a home. Painful sobs wracked my now frail frame as the memories of her tiny smiles flashed before my eyes, her sweet, small giggles echoing in the halls of my brain as she ran away from the many uncles and aunts that played with her, the softly whispered words as she sung their song under her breath and her small, pale face, screwed up in concentration as she tried to twirl around without falling off her feet; memories so freshly imprinted in my mind forever that mocks me in a bittersweet voice, remembering me of what is now lost.

The pain increased with every passing second that I spent not knowing what had become of my little girl and my mind, my treacherous mind, supplied me horrible possible scenarios of what my angel could be going through. They were horrible, grotesque pictures and it only made me want to curl up in a ball and wither out until I died and ceased to exist.

Fate was mocking me in the cruelest of ways…To give me something that I'd always wanted and was deprived of myself as a child, my very own daughter, only to take her away after six years of her birth; it was the cruelest, most vile thing ever done to me. Not even Tom, my beloved, sweet Tom, had been this cruel once upon a time, so long ago. I wished with all my might for this to be a horrible dream, I wished for this all to be a figment of my own fears and insecurities reflected in a dream; that I would wake up to find her spooned in my arms, pressed tightly into my chest. I hoped against hope that comes dawn, everything would fade into black and come back to the way it was before.

But deep inside me, I knew that it was just wishful thinking. The pain was just too real, too cutting and cold, the emptiness felt so deep for it to be imagined and the loneliness I felt seemed to be going deeper and deeper into my very being with every passing moment. It was torture, having to wait for news of some kind, begging to every deity for her to come back with all my might and feeling, as the days passed by, my hope came crashing down in a wave of aching despair.

Days passed and passed, and months wore me out as the light that once used to live in me, inside of me, faded away and left in its wake the black cold feeling of a hurt so deep rooted that not even the kindest of words, the warmest of days could make me feel better.

I felt lost, it was dark and no matter who tried to reach me I would always rear back into the nothingness that surrounded me, letting myself be consumed by the numbness that I've come to crave. Nothing matters; there was no use in living anymore if she wasn't here…

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Soon enough the years tumbled upon me and after so long of being buried in the loss of the preciousness of life, I decided to open myself to the gentle, understanding embrace of my one and only. The soft lips of the man that once could make me smile at the little nothings of life with his wicked humor and biting sarcasm; the gentle caresses of his big hands broke something inside me that I thought was long sealed and locked. And soon enough, I felt myself crumble under his softly given comfort. His quiet murmurs of soft words pierced my shriveled heart and before I knew it I found myself crying out the horrors of my hidden pain that I've swallowed up for four years since the disappearance of my daughter.

I cried and cried and cried and cried.

Cried for the unfairness of it all, for the sad song that my soul sang every waking day of my life, for the yearning that my heart screamed and for the desire I've felt to go back in time and make things better, to do anything, something to have her back in my arms.

It was not easy coming out of the isolation I've put myself into after that horrid day. It was not easy facing the very crowd full of hypocrites that said to understand me but didn't know even a sliver of what I was really going through.

I was not the same and would never be, I would never look at life the way I used to and my soul would be forevermore marked by the harsh blow that was given to me so many years back. But it was time to get up now and face my demons; it was time to accept what had happened and heal. He couldn't keep on mourning and letting himself die because his daughter, his sweet little Annamaria, would surely look up at him and say with a scowl on her face that looked more cute than menacing:

"Daddy, you shouldn't sit down all day, you'll get fat and then papa will have to levitate you all the way to your rooms. Come and play with me! Come, come outside and see the birds!" She'd want me to live, to smile and love again; to be happy and full of the smiles and the joy that she used to see on me when she was by my side.

And I did that, I succumbed to the heat of the so forgotten passion that I shared with the man of my life. It was smoldering, fantastic and so full of burning life that for the first time in a long time, I remembered what was to be truly alive and loved by someone again. I remembered that not everything was lost and that if I had this man, this strong, brave warrior, at my side I could overcome everything and anything that came my way because he would move Earth and Heavens to do what he had to do in order to find our little girl and bring her back to my warm embrace. We would overcome this and they would soon move forward.

And after so very long, I let myself be consumed by the burning waves of pleasure that seared my soul and gave it new life. I became drunk in the sensations and sounds that were long forgotten but most welcome to my ears.

The symphony of moans and groans encased us both in a word so wonderful and beautiful, in something that was meant to be shared with one another. The touches and kisses and thrusts and licks bestowed on my body made me truly forget the pain that almost always lingered in my mind and replaced it by the beautifulness of what was love, made me go to a place that was near heaven and go back to where he waited. The horrid screams that used to haunt my mind for every waking hour of my day, were replaced by the delicious pants of my name, every twinge of pain that wanted to tighten my chest into knots with the sudden aguish was overcome by the slight burn of a hard thrust and the following warm pleasure that set my body on fire, sent my nerves on a tingling madness. And my withered soul, frail and broken, came back to life as the essence of what was my lover poured inside me like a warm wave of comfort and love with a loud cry of release.

Words of love embraced me and strong arms held me tight to the chest that is so known to me as I was slowly dragged to the gentle embrace of sleep.

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"Harry, Harry! Look the baby is smiling! Oh he has cute dimples." Remus cooed down at the wriggling baby that was currently resting on his arms, snug and cocooned in warmth.

It's been hard, dealing with a pregnancy after what had happened before with my Annamaria but I somehow managed to deliver him without going insane with the anxiety of him being abducted by random shadows. I wasn't going to let the same story repeat itself again, no; I wasn't going to allow it. I was going to protect my baby, with my very life if I had to, but no harm would come to my son if I could prevent it. I vowed to accomplish it and I will do so. Cicero made a gurgling sound and Remus proceeded to squeal happily down at the child, beaming while murmuring something about being a very great Marauder.

Cicero…My beautiful baby boy.

Life had given me another opportunity at happiness but it felt incomplete somehow, I wanted to have my daughter now; my eleven year old daughter with me…She would've gone to Hogwarts were she with us right now, she would have gone to the very place that me and my Tom once called home. She would've been a great, intelligent witch.

My thoughts were interrupted when Tom entered the room. My Tom had changed so much too…he was not longer the scary looking humanoid snake that he'd once been. He had a nose now and hair, which was great too, but he was not the same in personality. The loss of our daughter was a harsh blow for him, since he loved Annamaria very much. Our little girl had him around her little finger and he knew this and loved every single moment of it. He enjoyed playing with her and enjoyed greatly watching her manipulate people to do her will and now that she was gone, he felt lost, empty though he didn't show it much considering that he was the most feared Dark Lord in history and the Minister of Magic Tom Riddle. The birth of our Cicero made him happy, but, just like I was; he didn't want to take any chances with the security of our son. The man was even more paranoid than normally and with reason.

A kiss on my lips brought me back from my thoughts and I smiled lightly at the man that stole my heart years ago.

"Are you okay, Harry?" He asked his red eyes soft and full of worry, a radical change of what he usually looks like.

"Yes." I replied, smiling up at him.

"I've found nothing, not even a trace. The troops I've sent to Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Korea and Africa had all come back empty handed. We've checked the biggest black markets in the world, known for their clandestine selling of children and no one has had her. I don't know where she might be and we've looked almost everywhere. The only thing left to do is to keep on searching on this side of the world and if our search becomes futile, I will send the troops to raid America's wizarding community. She has to be somewhere." Tom said, his head falling into his hands in a sign of tiredness and despair.

Remus shuffled on his feet for a while before placing his free hand on the Dark Lord's tense shoulder. "Don't worry, I am sure you'll find her sooner or later, you just have to keep on searching. Have you perhaps searched in the muggle-?"

"No! The people who have taken her couldn't have taken her to the filthy muggle world! They must've taken her to somewhere secure, somewhere where my troops cannot find because of ancient, outdated but clearly powerful wards! I will find her and prove it to you that she is not in the muggle world; she cannot be kept in there!" He exclaimed in sudden anger, his crimson eyes flashing with hatred and fear, then said in a small voice: "She cannot be there, tainted by their hatred and their petty prejudices."

I took Cicero from Remus and cuddled him to my chest as I walked towards the clearly stressed Tom. I pressed my forehead into his and sighed deeply, knowing how much the search was taking out of Tom but knowing that he would not cease to search for our daughter until he found something on her trace. Tom wrapped his arms around me and Cicero and took a deep breath before opening his eyes and giving me a sheepish smile.

"You should rest Tom, you've been working nonstop and this is not good for you. Beside you need to spend time with me and Cicero, here." I said nonchalantly.

Voldemort smiled a bit wider this time. "I will Harry love, but let me at least find something on her and then I'll go to you and my son. I promise."

"Very well then."

The red eyed man proceeded to kiss my lips softly, then he kissed Cicero's forehead and left the room with a last nod to Remus who looked as sad and tired as all of us did nowadays. Silence prevailed in the room for a while until Remus sighed softly and then said, almost to himself:

"I shall find Severus and ask him for a Dreamless Sleep potion…Maybe a Calming one too."

"Yes, of course." I murmured absentmindedly.

With that the man left the room, leaving me alone with my pessimistic thoughts and my baby, who was looking up at me with the greenest eyes I'd ever seen in my life. I smiled then down at my son and promised to whoever was listening to protect him with everything I got even if I died doing so.

I was not going to lose anyone dear to me ever again. Especially, not his child.

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A/N 2: Hope you enjoyed this little input in Harry's rather summarized reaction as to the disappearance of his daughter and the birth of his son, Cicero.

A bit of information on Cicero:

-He was born five years after Annamaria was abducted.

-He was born on August 9.