Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or claim to. Everything to do with Harry Potter is J.K.Rowlings. The only things I own are my ideas and my original character Wren.

Chapter4: Path of Darkness

The first thing Harry heard when he awoke was the echoing sound of dripping water. He blinked a few times and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He immediately regretted it as he suddenly felt nauseous and his vision blurred dangerously. He put his head between his knees with a groan. It was several minutes later before he was able to move without the concern of puking up his guts.

The most obvious conclusion he made was that he was in a cell. There was no window to provide any light so it was hard to tell just how big the cell was. He stood up shakily and felt along the walls for any means of an escape, or weapon. It seemed lady luck had abandoned him. The cell was small, very small, and completely bare.

He had found the door and hoped that there was a window at the top to see out of but there wasn't. In desperation he felt along the walls again in case he missed something, but he hadn't. He settled himself on the floor and leaned back against the wall. Panic had begun to rise in his chest before he squashed it. For Merlin's sake! He wouldn't die in fear like some lowly coward! When they came for him he wouldn't beg for mercy. He was going to walk straight up to Voldemort and stand tall just like his father had done.

He sat waiting patiently. The hour hand on his watch ticked away. No matter how much he tried to suppress it, anxiety slowly began to build. Finally at thirty minutes past six the first sign of life was heard outside his cell. Footsteps echoed loudly. Harry scrambled to his feet and backed up against the wall. The footsteps continued to get louder until finally, they stopped at his cell door.

Harry straightened his black t-shirt and dusted the seat of his blue-jeans hastily, as he heard locks clicking; being undone. He schooled his expression to one of determination as the door creaked open. Harry almost chuckled at the thought of a bright light blinding him like in the movies, but he was only met by a dim light emitting from a Death Eaters wand. There were two, standing in the door way like grim reapers waiting to take you to deaths door. His musings were cut short by the one in front speaking.

"Out Potter! The Dark Lord wishes to speak with you, and we've only got thirty minutes to make you look half-way decent." He, for it was a male Harry could tell by the voice, sneered, and practically spat out 'decent'. Harry took a few cautious steps forward.

"Decent, for Voldemort? Well that's hardly fair since he most certainly won't look decent for me! He's ugly enough to scare death away!" Harry retorted and almost regretted it as he was hit with crucio. He dropped to the floor screaming in agony. He writhed on the floor tossing and turning clutching his chest. It felt like acid had been poured all over his body and his bones were on fire. At last it ended, he lay there panting and shaking. He felt someone grab his arm and haul him to his feet. They dragged him, stumbling along, out of the cell and down the hallway.

He wasn't sure how long they walked, all he knew was that he was dizzy from all the twists and turns and staircases, and that he hurt all over still. They stopped in front of a door. Harry hardly had time to register that the door was made of black wood before he was shoved into the room beyond it.

"Hurry up and bath or we'll do it for you! You mess up anythingin there and the Dark Lord will have your head, this is his private bathing area." growled one of the two before the door was slammed shut in his face.

Confused, Harry turned to find that he was indeed in a bathroom, and what a bathroom it was. Everything, and did he mean everything, was made out of a black glassy marble. The bath in the middle of the room was big enough to rival the Prefect's bath at Hogwarts! There was a shower that ran along half of the right wall, and on the left wall were shelves of different potions that Harry had no clue what was in them or what they were used for. On the rest of the right wall were a toilet and a humongous sink and counter. This place was made for a king in Harry's opinion.

Suddenly remembering the Death Eaters threat about bathing him, he undressed in a hurry and folded his clothes neatly before placing them on the floor by the sink. Walking over to the shower he was amazed at all the different knobs. Testing a few of them he figured out which one turned the water on and jumped in under the hot steam. He wondered just how long he had before they barged in on him. He cringed at the thought and hurriedly shampooed and conditioned his hair. He was just finishing washing his body when his first warning came.

"You've got ten minutes boy!" a loud banging came from the door. He wondered just how long he had before they barged in on him. He cringed at the thought and hurriedly shampooed and conditioned his hair. He was just finishing washing his body when his first warning came.

"You've got ten minutes boy!" a loud banging came from the door. Harry rinsed off and jumped out of the shower. Drying as fast as he could he froze. What was he supposed to wear? He looked to where he had placed his old clothes to find them gone. He gave the bathroom a quick search which turned up nothing. Wrapping a towel securely around his waist he knocked on the door. Harry silently cursed as he blushed when it opened.

"What am I supposed to wear?" he mumbled as he looked at the tiled floor, suddenly interested in all the strange swirls and designs.

"Your clothes of course." One of the two said matter-of-factly.

"But, they're gone." He finally looked up and motioned to behind him. They both leaned into the doorway and scanned the room.

"Damn It! Stay here McNair I'll have to get him something. Damn elves!" One of them said vehemently which Harry suddenly realized sounded oddly like Mr. Malfoy. He stalked off down the hallway leaving Harry alone with the Death Eater Harry now knew as McNair. Harry shifted from one foot to the other and tightened his grip self-consciously on the towel.

It seemed forever before Malfoy returned at a jog. He shoved a pile of clothes into his arms and pushed him back into the bathroom. With a yelled;

"Hurry! The Dark Lord is not a fan of tardiness!" He slammed the door shut again. Harry was shocked to find that all the material he was just given was all of very fine quality. He smiled slightly then frowned. All of these clothes were the same as those he had worn in his dream, only the shirt was a different color.

He shrugged off his uncertainty and pulled on a pair of black boxers, black satin pants and a white silk shirt. He tucked the bottom of his pants into a pair of black leather boots that startled him when they shrank to fit his feet snuggly. Finally pulling on a black cloak he knocked on the door again.

McNair opened it, or at least he thought it was McNair. Stupid masks, Harry thought in annoyance as he was grabbed by the arm again and dragged into a jog. Every once-in-a-while Harry noticed that one of the Death Eaters would look at a gold pocket watch and curse. At this point in time Harry was beyond confused, he was completely lost!

This was not what he had expected! His thoughts had been filled with torture, blood, pain and death all day! He was not prepared for bath and fancy clothes. Had these people gone insane? There was something obviously going on that Harry had no clue about and he wasn't so sure he wanted to know.

After more twists, turns and stairs than Harry could count they reached a set of double doors. Malfoy and McNair stopped for a moment to compose themselves before they opened the doors and shoved Harry inside. Harry couldn't help but to gasp at the finery of the dining hall. The walls were painted white with gold lining; there was a huge chandelier that took up a large amount of space on the ceiling. The table was so big it could have easily seated one hundred or more people.

Although one thing drew Harry's immediate attention. At the head of the table sat a young man. Black hair and blood red eyes gave everything away, shocked to almost cursing aloud in horror. Before him sat the Dark Lord Voldemort, or at least that's what it appeared to be only he was much, much younger and a thousand times more handso- what the hell was he thinking! That particular thought brought Harry back down to earth to find that Harry and company had just come to a stop in front of the man.

"Welcome Harry, won't you have a seat? You are dismissed McNair, Malfoy, and thank you for being on time. You were almost a minute late." Voldemort spoke in a rich voice that sent an unwanted shiver down Harry's back. Harry quickly took the pro-offered chair and sat down. Malfoy and McNair sent murmured apologies as they bowed before retreating from the room.

Suddenly Harry didn't feel as brave as he had before. Now he was confused and did not want to be in such close quarters with Voldemort without anyone around. Suddenly an almost greater shock than seeing Voldemort young again came over him. His scar didn't hurt, it didn't twinge, or itch, or anything! Now he was completely floored, that was just the icing and cherry-top to the already overloaded cake!

He turned to demand answers but when he saw those red eyes staring at him with such a look all words died a horrible bloody death in his throat. Then he smiled, a cocky self-satisfied smile that Harry felt like he could slap off his face!

"I see you must have many questions on your mind. Let me try to answer some of them. You must be wandering why instead of killing you I have invited you to dinner, am I correct?" he asked again in that rich enticing-slap! Harry mentally slapped himself, what the hell was wrong with him? Oh no! Someone poisoned him, he was delusional! He could see the Daily Prophet headline now 'Famous Boy-Who-Lived killed by poison in his cell water!' His thoughts of utter humiliation were interrupted again as Voldemort continued talking taking Harry silence as a yes.

"Well, that is a very complicated question that will take a while to explain. Let's eat while we talk shall we?" just as he asked that, food of all kinds appeared on the table in front of them. Harry practically drooled over the selection. After being starved at the Dursley's this kind of food was paradise.

He watched as Voldemort picked out what he wanted before he himself reached in for something. Picking light foods as Voldemort had (there was no point in gorging himself and getting fat) he waited for him to continue the conversation. He didn't have to wait long.

"I have a proposition for you. You know I have tried to kill you several times and failed. Well I have decided that I no longer want to kill would you like to know why I have a sudden change of heart?

At Harry's nod he continued.

"Has anyone told you why I wanted to kill you in the first place? No? Well then it seems that Dumbledore was a larger fool than I thought. Harry you know who I am, Tom Riddle, Dark Lord Voldemort, but I am something else I am the Heir of Slytherin. That much you do know, but do you know who you are?" he asked as he took a bite of his food.

"Of course I do, I'm Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, the savior of the wizarding world. The one who will once and for all vanquish you; the Dark Lord. I know very well who I am." Harry replied as he watched for any sign of Voldemort keeling over from poison. Finding none Harry very hesitantly took a bite of his own food.

"No, Harry. That's where you are wrong. That's not who you really are, that's just what the Wizarding world makes you out to be. If you wanted to, you could deny being any of those things and just be Harry Potter. You could just walk away and disappear somewhere and you would remain the same. You don't have to save the world, or defeat me."

"If you are going in the direction I think you're going, then no Voldemort I will not join you." Harry said quietly with none of his defiance that he had used every other time to refuse him.

"Just let me explain everything to you Harry and then I will let you consider my proposition. As I said before that's not who you really are. One thing that Dumbledore has kept from you since your birth is that you are the Heir of Gryffindor." Voldemort said as he pushed his plate aside and leaned forward on the table staring intently at Harry. Harry felt himself go numb. He was the Heir of Gryffindor? There was no way, but then, a memory came back to him from his second year, how had he been able to wield Gryffindor's sword?

"That's it Harry, you are the Heir to a very prestigious family. Did you ever wonder why I was so obsessed with killing you? Did you never make the connection with the old rivalry between Godrik and Salazar?" Voldemort was whispering now, as if he didn't want anyone else in the room to hear; only there was no one else.

How was this possible? No matter how hard he wanted to refuse; to come up with some excuse as to why it wouldn't work; he couldn't. Everything Voldemort had said sounded so true.

"So, if I'm the Heir of Gryffindor, what do you want of me?" Harry asked in a daze. Voldemort looked serious than Harry had ever seen him.

"My proposition to you Harry is this; Join me, stand by my side in this war. You will not have to bear my mark, nor will you participate in any battle you do not want to be in. You don't even have to be out there on the field you could just work as intelligence here in my castle. You could just stay here out of everything and away from everything that's happening outside these walls. I do not require an immediate answer, but think on it Harry. I will not lie to you like so many others have done. I want to end this rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin here and now. What have you got to say to my proposition now Harry Potter?" Voldemort finished with a sigh as he leaned back against his chair. Harry stared at him a moment before he too leaned back against his chair. He looked up at the chandelier and watched as the light caught the crystal sending off prisms of colored light.

Voldemort had just given him a way out of the war. What was he supposed to do take it? He really wished Wren was here so he could ask her what she thought on the matter. Then a memory jolted him, Wren had dealings with the Dark Arts. She would probably say go for it with extra enthusiasm. If he was going to do this, there was one thing that needed to be added to the proposition.

"Alright, Voldemort you win, but there is one thing I want to add." Harry said tiredly. Voldemort practically beamed with pride and victory.

"What's that Harry?" he asked jovially.

"I still want to continue my schooling at Hogwarts, and even then this little joining of sides will remain secret. I will decide whether or not I will finish schooling at Hogwarts or with my Guardian after my sixth year." He said as he tore his eyes away to look at Voldemort.

"Your Guardian? How is this if you mean Remus Lupin I was not aware that he was made your legal Guardian." He said curiously.

"Oh no, she goes by the name of Wren, Wren Catrin. I expect she'll show up sooner or later. Somehow no matter what she always seems to know where I'm at." Harry said with a smile. Voldemort suddenly frowned deep in thought.

"Well, well. The great assassin Wren Catrin finally appears once more. Yes, I do believe it will be a pleasure meeting with her. But back to business Harry, I agree with your terms so do we have a deal?" Voldemort asked with a new light in his eyes. He held out his hand which Harry took. Please forgive me Sirius. He prayed silently to himself. When they let go Harry couldn't take much more of his curiosity bouncing around in his head.

"Voldemort, why doesn't being near you or your touch hurt me?"

"Ah yes, your scar. Well I've discovered it only hurts if I'm feeling particularly malicious towards you. Now I see you are tired, I've had a room prepared for you next to mine. Lucious will show you the way. I must go to a meeting many things to do you know." Voldemort said as they both stood up from the table. Harry followed him out of the dining hall and into the large sitting room which Harry just now noticed. Lucious Malfoy was sitting in a chair reading when he noticed the door open. He jumped to his feet and bowed.

"Lucious, lead your new second-in-command to his room and do be quick about it we have a meeting to attend to." Voldemort said as he waved Harry over to Lucious.

"Until tomorrow Harry." He said as he exited from the room via another door Harry just now noticed.

"This way my Lord, if you'll follow me I will take you to your room." Malfoy said with a bow. As Harry followed him only one thought crossed his mind.

What have I done?

Author's Note: Thank you all for the reviews! As you can probably see the main relationship is HPxTR. Sorry if I disappointed anyone with this being a slash story! ! Next chapter is Chapter 5: Shattered Prophecy Wren shows up.