The morning rolled swiftly into the evening for Harry.
The day had not at all been eventful considering his circumstances, but Voldemort had indeed been serious about him staying close throughout the day and hadn't allowed him to venture further around the house on his own. It was for this reason that Harry was currently lying on a padded window seat within a study room, where Voldemort was currently reading in a plush armchair by a large and ornate fireplace, a pleasantly warm blaze crackling within it.
Harry stared out over the grounds through the window in front of him, watching as the trees swayed and shook in a strong, winter wind that had blown in from the north, rattling the window panes as it attacked the outside of the house. Occasionally, odd spots of rain would pelt the window so forcefully that it sounded like a stone hitting the glass, and Harry was pretty sure there was a storm approaching if the ominous black clouds in the sky were anything to go by. Yes, Harry couldn't deny that he was very glad to be indoors rather than outside at the moment but felt utterly miserable with where that indoors was.
Malfoy Manor was grand, no question about it, but it lacked the one thing Harry wanted in a house. The warm feeling of love only a close family could have, and even though a family most certainly lived here, it seemed to lack the love they should share. Harry wasn't a good judge on this kind of subject, as his real family all hated him, but even a dingy house like Grimmauld Place, with its strange items and questionable past, held love within its walls to a certain degree, thanks to Sirius. But Malfoy Manor was different. The place held a rather tense atmosphere regardless of which part of the house you were in, which didn't help Harry's mood.
He was totally miserable and missed everyone at Grimmauld Place dearly, even if he had only been here a day. He wondered what was going on there, right now, and felt horrible about potentially worrying them. He wondered what The Order might do about his disappearance, would they go looking for him and maybe use some kind of spell to track him. Or would Voldemort hear about his vanishing act first? What would he do?
At this thought, Harry pulled his gaze from the window to look back at the man in question. The Dark Lord had a glazed over look about him as he stared down at the page he was reading, his bony thumb and finger rubbing the corner of the page in preparation to turn it when he finished. From this distance, Harry couldn't tell what the book was titled but guess it was on old, dark magic or something. It was a rather thick book and the pages were yellowed with age.
As if he sensed his gaze, Voldemort looked up, staring into Harry's eyes. A chill ran down Harry's spine and he quickly looked away, as if to hide the fact he had been looking over at him at all. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Voldemort tilting his head slightly and opening his mouth to speak to him, but not before the doors to the study burst open to reveal Mr Malfoy with a worried look on his face.
"Have you ever heard of knocking Lucius?" Voldemort asked sarcastically, placing a hand on one side of his book and closing it with a small thump.
"Sorry m-my lord but I come with urgent news. News from the Order of the Phoenix directly." Mr Malfoy replied breathlessly, obviously recovering from a run he had done to relay the news to Voldemort quicker.
Voldemort straightened up, and so did Harry. Harry had a good idea he knew what this urgent news was but was startled to find out that information had leaked directly from The Order itself and he was willing to bet his Firebolt it was Snape. Who else was close enough to both Dumbledore and Voldemort to share secrets like this?
And right on cue, Mr Molfoy continued, "Snape has reported that Potter had vanished in the early hours of this morning and they are currently in the process of sending out search parties to find him."
There was silence. Then Voldemort rose from his seat, placing the book on a nearby coffee table and dusting off his robes as he did so. "Very well Lucius, are my followers aware of this?"
"No my lord, only Severus, and I. The Death Eaters are currently gathered in the dining room as you requested."
"Very well, I shall tell them myself," and with this, Lucius bowed and moved aside as Voldemort made to leave the room.
"Come Scales," he commanded and Harry sighed, sliding down from his comfortable seat and gliding towards the door, after Voldemort.
Harry had been spoken to like this all day now and at first, he had somewhat disliked and feared the sudden cold shoulder but as the day went on, he found he didn't care. As long as he did what he was told and stayed out of trouble, nothing bad should happen.
"Do you know who Harry Potter is?" Voldemort said suddenly, while they travelled down a hall.
"…maybe…why?"
"I figured since you are a magical snake, you must have known other wizards and so, therefore, you must have heard about Harry Potter."
Harry could feel Voldemort's gaze on him like a pressure being applied to the top of his head, even if Harry physically wasn't looking at him to confirm it. He figured Riddle must be observing him, which Harry found odd for someone seemingly unaware of anything being different about the human-turned-snake, but also increased his sense of dread at what that could imply, but if he knew he was different, then why hadn't he said or done anything? He mentally shook himself before replying to Voldemort. "A little, I mean, humans are humans. There all the same to me, or at least, most of them," Harry momentarily paused to pointedly gaze up into Voldemort's terrifying eyes.
Voldemort hummed in agreement before halting at the same set of doors he had seen this morning but did not proceed to venture inside.
"I must ask Scales, Are you afraid of me?"
Harry thought for a moment, "…yes." He said, honestly.
Voldemort, at first, just stared down at him. But then the corners of his lips pulled back into a grin and he huffed, blowing air out of his snake-like nose quickly.
"Good, fear is good," he said simply, before pulling out his wand and waving it lazily to open the doors.
The dining room looked exactly the same as it did this morning, accept every chair along the table was now filled. The faces of witches and wizards all turned as the doors opened and each stood as Voldemort entered.
Voldemort walked around to the head of the table and lightly patted the tables' surface, indicating for Harry to climb on top. It was not an easy task, but using his body and massive length to his advantage, he finally slid securely onto the cold but smooth surface of the table. The many faces, to no surprise, eyed him anxiously and Harry had a hard time suppressing a sigh. Really, he couldn't go anywhere without stares following him, no matter what form he had it seemed. It was then that Harry became aware of another hissing emanating from the room. He peered over the side of the table and he saw the enormous body of Nagini slide past, prowling the room with her predatory yellow eyes.
When Lucius finally reappeared in the room, Voldemort sat and indicated for everyone else to do the same. Harry noticed, as he scanned the faces, that Snape was not among them. There was, however, one empty space at the table but nothing more. Not even a faint scent indicating he was ever here at all.
"Severus is late," Voldemort said.
"Ah yes, Severus had been summoned by Dumbledore for something my lord and expresses his deepest apologies," Lucius answered.
Voldemort tutted and hissed in Parseltongue, "Sometimes I wonder where that mans' loyalties truly lie." Nagini hissed in agreement while Harry, who had been thinking the same thing, remained silent.
"I have gathered you here today on account of three matters, one of which has just been brought to my attention. Harry Potter has gone missing." At this, murmurs broke out over the table.
"Silence! He went missing sometime in the night under suspicious circumstances right under The Orders noses, so I only ask you keep your guard up while he is found."
"The second matter is that of the progress on infiltrating the ministry."
"Your current efforts are not good enough," Voldemort said these words in a deadly whisper, which alarmed Harry greatly and he suspected he wasn't the only one.
"You allowed a member of the Order to slip down into the passages and potentially block access to the door altogether and reveal the reason behind our plans. If it weren't for Nagini and me, it may have happened and all our work would have been for nothing. Arther Weasley lives, however, so extreme care must be taken in our plans, as now the Order will be watching more intently than ever before for our actions."
"This then brings me to my last matter of discussion. The snake you see before you all is a Black Mamba, a magically enhanced breed of Black Mamba to be more exact, with venom so strong, I bet you wouldn't last a few minutes once bitten." A strong chill seemed to run down the backs of the Death Eaters and their faces all turned rather ashen as they wondered where this was going. Harry was wondering the same thing.
"One of you will be punished for failing to warn me of The Orders actions and for not preventing them access…Scales here will decide who that will be."
"Scales! Bite one of them!" Voldemort suddenly yelled, startling Harry completely. Translation of these words also didn't appear to be necessary, as almost as one, every occupant of the table jumped back in their seats, to give themselves some space from Harry, presumably to seem less accessible and less like targets.
Harry panicked and looked around at Voldemort, bewildered.
"Bite!" Voldemort hissed murderously.
"b-but I-"
"Bite!"
Scared and confused, Harry rose up. He didn't want to bite and resultingly kill anyone, no matter how much he despised these people, but at the same time, he didn't want to face Voldemorts rath, not when he was so helpless and unable to defend himself. He desperately began scanning the various wide-eyed faces, but then he froze, his gaze locking with one face who was very familiar to him, one that he hadn't noticed before now.
Harry felt anger boil up inside him and he hissed savagely, his neck flattened and he opened his mouth wide in an aggressive stance, as he stared daggers at the ratty face before him.
Peter Pettigrew cowered in his seat, sweat beading on his forehead as his whole body shook with fear. Out of all the faces here, he was the one Harry hated the most, apart from Voldemort.
The feeling of a rearing angry serpent inside Harry was back and stronger than ever as he stared at his victim but now that he was the serpent, it was much harder to suppress. If Peter dared to move an itch, Harry would strike and watch as his venom took the traitors life, and he would finally get some revenge for his parent's deaths. Nagini too seemed to share some hatred for Peter as she slid on the ground towards him. She wrapped her massive body around the base of his chair and snapped teasingly at his ankles, which made him whimper pathetically.
Soon though, Harry's patience dropped to zero and he had just pulled back to strike when he was suddenly grabbed roughly by the back of the head. The hand was cold and Harry began to frantically squirm and coil around the person's hand and arm in an attempt to pull himself out of their grip. He yelped as a burning sensation flared up in his scar, which only made him increase his desperate struggle as the pain got worse.
"Calm down Scales…" Voldemort said, his tone somewhat forced, and Harry gradually relaxed, realising just who had grabbed him. As Voldemort's hand released him, the pain faded and he became flat and still on the tabletop once again.
Voldemort breathed out but it didn't seem to be out of relief...no, definitely not relief, but Voldemort was tense and Harry wondered if it had anything to do with his scar hurting. "Now you see what may come of you if you fail to do what I ask," he addressed to the terrified Death Eaters. Peter was white as a sheet, his eyes locked on Harry in utmost terror, which was just how Harry wanted it, for now.
Voldemort then put on a completely neutral face and stood up as though nothing had happened at all. "Now, you are dismissed." and soon enough, they all disapparated, leaving only Voldemort, the two serpents, the Malfoys and Peter, who was still rooted to the spot.
A/N - I'm going to apologise in advance. School is a pain and will most likely prevent me from writing and updating as much as I would have liked so I will get chapters written, edited and posted as quick as I can.
Update: I've edited this chapter now and have changed it ever so slightly.
I hope you like this chapter and the story so far.