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CHAPTER FOUR

His entire body hurt. Arms, legs, chest, not to mention the throbbing headache that recently seemed to be a permanent occurrence for him.

Harry attempted to move one of his arms and was startled to find them unyielding in his command. He tried the other arm only to have the same results. Another thing that bothered him was that thick fog of darkness that clouded his vision.

Mind on the verge of panic, he tried flexing his fingers and was thankful beyond relief when they obeyed.

Okay, so his limbs were still intact… Good.

That was good.

Now, if only he could figure out why the hell his eyesight didn't seem to be working… His mind was reeling, endless possibilities going through it and most of them being dismissed at the same instant.

They could have put him in a room with no windows whatsoever, effectively explaining the darkness, or simply the curtains had been drawn so that he wouldn't be able to take a look outside in case he recognized the area. Or, and that was definitely the most likely case seeing as the people he was dealing with were no softies, he had simply been thrown into a cell.

He toyed for a moment with the thought that Voldemort had buried him alive six feet under the ground, but he quickly dismissed it since he could breathe properly, not to mention that his legs were actually able to move around… unlike his arms.

His movements ceased for a moment, every single sensation in his body focusing entirely on feeling.

His arms were lying useless by his sides, but for some reason all he could feel in that area was numbness. The ground he was sitting on was definitely hard and cold, the kind of feeling that you get when sitting on marble or stone floor. His back was leaning against a wall, probably of the same substance as the floor.

His face…

Something was draped across his face.

It wasn't heavy in the slightest, probably the reason he hadn't noticed it in the first place. Quite on the contrary actually; it felt smooth and oh, so soft and the sensation was certainly-

…Seriously…?

He had been blindfolded?

He could feel his previous panic flaring to life once again, reminding him of its presence and the effects it could have not only on his body but mind as well.

Harry tried to sit up but his arms were so heavy that the only thing he managed was to sit with his back a little straighter. His ears, fully alerted with adrenaline, caught a faint shuffling sound and his body instantly froze.

There it was again. Somewhere to his right.

He turned his head accordingly, wondering briefly if his paranoid mind was playing games with him. The stinging sensation in a certain part of his forehead, however, reassured him that he was not going mental.

The sound, which Harry now identified as footsteps or the soft billowing of robes since he couldn't be sure, was gradually getting closer. Strange, but his scar seemed to echo those sounds, a hammering throb being delivered to his head by each step the figure took.

"What the fuck have you done to me?" Shivers raked his body at the sibilant tsk that was his answer. He pressed firmly against the wall, suddenly wishing for it to open up and swallow him whole.

The almost inaudible footsteps let him know that Voldemort was by now standing right in front of him and Harry realized suddenly why the man didn't wear any shoes.

He didn't want to make his presence known.

The way he moved so soundlessly… like a predator stalking his prey. Hiding in the shadows, observing, and picking up any information that would prove useful in his hunt. And then, when he finally grew bored with this game of cat and mouse, he would strike, dangerous and deadly like a snake.

Too bad that Harry had certain means to pick up his presence, whether or not he wanted.

But laying there, wandless, unable to move, and unable to even see his captor, Harry felt more naked and helpless than ever. He certainly made the easiest of prey.

Long, skeletal fingers were suddenly on his face, gripping his chin and tilting his head backwards.

Harry couldn't surpass the whimper that left his lips, both from the effect the contact had on his scar and the iciness of the touch. He tried to pull his head away, but only achieved to make those cold fingers clench painfully, clarifying that he wasn't supposed to move.

"Always so accomplished in the art of speech, Harry." The fact that he didn't retort with some smart comeback must have pleased Voldemort, for the grip got considerably lighter.

Harry gritted his teeth when the fingers moved to his lips next, caressing them with gentle moves and seeming to pay more attention on his lower lip specifically. Oh, how he would love to open his mouth and bite the offending digits, just to hear Voldemort's cry of pain.

But before he could put his brilliant plan into action, Voldemort obviously decided to make it easier for him.

If the blindfold wasn't present to keep his eyes so firmly shut, they would have most definitely grew wide by now. Voldemort had somehow managed to pry his pursed lips open and had plunged two of his fingers in Harry's mouth.

To say that Harry was disgusted would be such an unfair understatement.

Voldemort must have foreseen what his next action would be, for more fingers were now gripping his hair, pulling his head painfully backwards and Harry had the vague impression that those crimson orbs were glaring holes in his face.

"Bite me and I promise you will be forced to swallow your food from now on, seeing as you will not be left any teeth to chew it first." For some unexplainable reason, that statement made Harry rethink through his plans.

"Good, now open up." That single sentence would have left him spluttering if it wasn't for the bold intruders in his mouth. So instead, he settled with shaking his head.

The hand tangled in his hair gave a harsh yank, making an involuntary wince rise from his throat.

"I loathe repeating myself. Open your mouth, Harry." The digits inside his cavern began wiggling about, trying to open his mouth by force.

Harry let out something akin to a growl. As if he'd ever let someone like the Dark Lord command him around.

'You can go to hell!' Harry yelled in his mind and with no warning, he clamped his jaw down hard, and took extra care of digging his teeth into the flesh of Voldemort's fingers as deep as he could.

The Dark wizard gasped from the sudden assault, caught completely off guard, and withdrew both his hands.

Harry couldn't help the grin that broke onto his face when the fingers disappeared, leaving behind a thick, coopery taste.

But his victory didn't last long. Voldemort's hand soon was wrapped around his throat, pushing his head against the wall so hard that for a moment, Harry saw stars dancing behind his closed eyelids.

"And as always, you fail to obey the simplest of orders." Surprisingly, there was no malice in Voldemort's tone as he spoke, noted Harry. On the contrary, he sounded almost pleased.

"Then again, that wild nature of yours is, amongst other things, what makes you so unique." Voldemort's breath suddenly tickled his neck. He could almost feel the man's lips moving against his ear, "Unlike many others that have crossed my path, you refuse to yield, refuse to break. But you know, Harry… I never back down from a challenge."

And then, Voldemort's choking grip on his neck withdrew completely and Harry could breathe again.

"Now, open your mouth." Harry could feel the corners of his lips twitch, that damned wizard never gave up.

"You're mental." he croaked, voice coming out a bit raspy, making him cough a couple of times to get it back to normal. A throaty chuckle reached his ears, and he could imagine Voldemort shaking his head at the usual display of stubbornness.

"I wish to administer you a potion, and according to basic order, you're required to swallow."

Harry had this sudden urge to laugh.

"Was that actually supposed to motivate me?" Voldemort seemed to be in a rather good mood, so he decided to take his chances. If he had dared to bite him before or retaliate, he would already be suffering under the influence of the wizard's Cruciatus. And damn, compared to him, Bellatrix's own Torture Curse seemed like a caress.

"If it was my intention to kill you, I would have already done so. Moreover, I believe you're already aware that poison is not particularly appealing to me as a murder weapon."

He had a point there, he'd give him that, but embarrassedly enough, poison hadn't even crossed his mind when Voldemort mentioned the potion.

But he must have started to tire the older wizard, for Voldemort gave a heavy sigh.

"It is meant to merely assist you with your… predicament." Now that, was definitely motivation for Harry to start feeling more cooperative. But Voldemort must have thought him stupid.

"You really believed I'd fall for that?"

Another sigh. This one impatient. "You are getting irksome. Harry, you will drink this potion, be it by force or your own free will."

And here Harry thought that they could have some pleasant conversation. Honestly, the Dark Lord never changed.

The raven haired teen growled deep in his throat. He was still doing it, ordering him around. But as Voldemort so subtly pointed out, he couldn't work his way out of this without a little bit of assistance.

Seriously, why did he have to always appear so weak in front of his worse enemy?

In his fourth year, he was trapped against that statue and all he could do was sit back and watch as Voldemort came back to life, and he had even provided the means for that no less. Then, the next year, when he did come face to face with Voldemort again, he was so shaken with Sirius's death that he hadn't managed to even raise his wand, not to mention that he nearly welcomed the Dark Lord into possessing his body.

And then he had done it again. Voldemort had murdered professor Dumbledore and he hadn't done anything to prevent it.

He wanted to prove so badly that Voldemort was wrong, that he was neither weak or vulnerable, but it seemed that all he did was prove him right. He didn't want to be viewed as nothing more than a powerless child.

The notion alone set him on edge.

"Will you take this stupid cloth off?"

"That stupid cloth has its reasons for being there. However, there's no need to stress over your damaged pride, nobody else is allowed entrance in here."

Harry had to keep himself from snorting. 'Like you aren't enough?' Oops, now the Dark Lord was tapping his wand against his palm, if that sound was anything to go by.

"Fine, give me that potion so that we can get it over with." he ground out, for the first time glad that Voldemort couldn't see the shame in his eyes. Oh yeah, his pride had definitely received a huge blow tonight.

And then, the skeletal fingers were on his hair again. Caressing the spot where they had pulled moments ago as if to soothe it, before tugging ever so lightly, pointedly.

Harry was quick to catch up and tip his head backwards, feeling the rim of a flask probing at his lips only seconds later. He hesitated, seriously questioning his mental state, but when nails dug warningly into his scalp, he parted his lips just a fraction.

His mouth was instantly filled with a bittersweet flavor that seemed oddly familiar. He licked his lips absently, taking in more of that liquid as his brain went on overdrive.

…He had taken that potion before.

An image of the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts flashed through his mind's eye, reminding him of the many nights he had spent there, whether it was due to his Seeker's activities or his Chosen One's little adventures. Madam Pomfrey always used to give him a similar potion after treating his injuries, it helped his body relax and put him to…-

…sleep.

He wanted to claw at his throat, but his arms still wouldn't move.

A stinging sensation slowly built up behind his closed eyelids. What the hell had he been thinking, trusting the word of the darkest wizard of all?

His head fell back against the surface of the wall, an all too satisfied hum the sole thing that processed through his fogged brain before nothingness consumed him.

END OF CHAPTER FOUR

I've read stories where Harry is taken away, but usually most of them begin to lose their earlier touch from the moment he wakes up.

I wanted to keep it to the level I started it and I hope it was that way.

Review for me! ^^