'An Idle Mind Is The Devil's Playground'
By: Night Flame Miko
Contributed to by: Chocolate coated Blue
An: Here it is. Finally. :D So now things are finally getting going, this and the next chapter should be really fun :P Hope you enjoy.
Thank you to all those who reviewed, they are truly appreciated, me and Chocolate coated Blue love hearing from you :D
Disclaimer: We don't own these characters.
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Voldemort kept his sneer until the door closed behind the Potions Master.
Turns out he was right. Snape had purposefully broken down what few barriers Potter had, he had done it to make sure that Voldemort would always have some form of advantage over the boy. It also explained a lot of things as well, such as the bond. But still, even the bond retained some of its mysteries, and even Voldemort was finding it hard to phrase the right questions in a single letter to get the answers he needed. Letters just took too long to go back and forth between participants…Sighing he dragged a hand down his face. There wasn't much he could do about that, though.
The easiest thing would be to just meet up with the boy…
Voldemort froze, eyes slowly rising from where they had been staring blankly at the desk, a frown crossing over his face…
Maybe… The frown was replaced with a slow forming smirk.
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Harry was worried.
He had a very good cause to be worried. You see, Hedwig had gone missing again, and there was only one other person she seemed to go to without him ordering her too, and that was the problem. You see, Voldemort was anticipating something, not only that but he was actually anxious. This was very unusual, because as you can rightly assume, Dark Lords don't get anxious.
So this was the cause of Harry's pacing across the floor of his room, wondering what the Hell was going on, and whether Hedwig's being gone pointed toward it being him that Voldy was anxious about or if it was something else. He didn't know which was more worrying.
It seemed hours before he noticed a disturbance outside and the feeling of magic being activated. Curious (and wary considering what he was feeling in the back of his mind), Harry peered out the window; only to see, to his shock, Hedwig batting against an almost invisible barrier, pushing her way through inch by inch.
When she finally made it through, she swooped in past a gaping Harry, somehow looking exasperated as she saw the hole he practically walked into the floor. Not that that was what had her attention for long. No. As soon as Harry broke out of his daze he leapt across the room, away from her, and tried to blend in with the wall; staring with quite some fear at the letter innocently tied to her foot. Cocking her head to the side she hooted, wondering what was wrong with him now. His eyes locked with hers and she waited, confident she would win this.
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5 minutes later
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Harry gave up. He didn't know what possessed him to try out-staring an owl but it was a bloody stupid idea, never mind that this was Hedwig, the most stubborn creature given life (besides him, of course). Sighing he crossed the room, eyeing the letter as if it could bite him, considering Voldemort's anxiousness still beating in the back of his head, it very well might.
Slowly opening the letter he held it at arms length, eyes scrunched closed before slowly opening them and read the letter from afar through slitted eyes.
Potter,
That last letter of yours has been the most informative by far. I was not aware of the limitations to your side of the bond. On the other hand, I can feel Every. Little. Emotion. From. You.
Consider this for a moment. I am an over 70 year old (in mind) Dark Lord, who has a penchant for killing and maiming others and have the feelings of an angst-ridden Saviour in the back of my mind. You only used to feel the extremes from me? I wish I could say the same about you. And you wonder why people think I'm insane?
*sigh* Ok. Now that I got that rant over with, I had a talk with Snape about your mind-rape training. I call it that and not occlumency training, because as it turns out, that is exactly what it was. Seems Snape (as I suspected) had purposely broken down whatever natural occlumency shields you had so that I would always have an advantage over you in Our Little Game.
This brings up another topic I have decided to mention. I have done some research into our bond, because I have to say, I have never heard of anything like it. A two way bond that does not fully reciprocate either way? Wait for it…here it comes: That should be impossible. (Harry could practically feel the amusement Voldemort must have felt in that one line, Harry on the other hand, was not amused) In any case I have found out quite a bit, though I do have some questions, questions that it would take to long to ask and answer back and forth through letters.
Considering this, if I gave a binding magical oath not to harm you for one day, will you meet with me to discuss this unusual bond we have and what other side-effects could possibly come into effect? Of course I would require a magical oath from you as well, can't have you attempting to kill me *smirks*.
In any case, until next time;
From,
Voldemort
p.s.
I, Tom Marvolo Riddle (Aka Lord Voldemort) swear on my magic not to harm/kill, or order/influence another to harm/kill one Harry James Potter on one day of his choosing so long as he makes a similar oath not to harm/kill me, or alert any others of my presence on said day.
Harry blinked, read over the letter again, looked to Hedwig for confirmation (who nodded solemnly) and then decided that maybe, just maybe, he was not hallucinating and the Dark Lord was actually offering a….a….lunch get together?!
Suddenly the anxiousness made sense.
Looking at Hedwig once more he asked quietly, "Think I should do it girl?"
Hedwig once again nodded, deciding that his owl obviously new best at this point in time (I mean if he was even thinking of accepting, then he may as well accept that he was insane and that his owl was probably smarter than him anyway).
Pulling out a parchment he wrote down a few short sentences before attaching it to Hedwig, feeding her a treat and asking her to get the letter to the Dark Lord as quickly as possible. She left immediately, struggling with the wards once again before finally breaking through and flying off.
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Voldemort had given everyone a day off.
You would think it strange for a Dark Lord to give his evil minions a day off, but even he realised he was being unreasonable, (torturing Wormtail for sneezing?) and he decided that an anxious Dark Lord was not a good thing. So all his minions were gone for the day and he was simply sitting, drinking tea and waiting for a reply from Potter.
It was nearly evening before an obviously exhausted owl flapped in, landed on his desk before promptly keeling over somehow managing to keep the foot with the letter raised despite its faint.
Raising an eyebrow he untied the letter, looking once more at the near dead owl and wondering if it could be blamed on him (thus breaking his oath) if the owl died of exhaustion. Deciding that it wasn't worth it if it was, he cast a basic healing spell before summoning a House-Elf with some food and drink for when the bird woke up.
Finally turning to the letter he read the few lines, his eyebrow rising with every word.
To Mouldy-Shorts,
Seems I am actually insane.
If you have a glamour or something, lets meet at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade or the Leaking Cauldron by Diagon Alley, they are the only places I can reach easily. When Hedwig can fly again (that trip must have tired her) send me a reply with the place. We can meet at 1pm in 2 days time, after that I will have to go to Diagon Ally to get my school supplies and then I will be staying with friends instead of at the Dursleys.
Till 2 days from now, I spose.
From,
The-Boy-Who-Lost-His-Mind
Aka: Me
p.s.
I, Harry James Potter swear on my magic not to harm/kill or let others know the location of one Tom Marvolo Riddle (Aka Lord Voldemort) on an agreed day of our choosing.
Voldemort felt a smirk spreading across his face involuntarily.
Things just got interesting.
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An: Finally! Sorry to keep y'all waiting so long, I just couldn't find it in me to get this chapter over and done with, but it's finally done!! Woohoo! Ok. Calm down. I can't wait to begin the next chapter, I've got an idea and you all are going to kill me for it (Muahahaha). So yea. Anyways. Till next time *rubs hands together with evil grin*