A/N I am currently looking for a Beta for this story! Please apply within a review and I will PM you.
Chapter 9
(From Tara's POV)
I looked desperately for a way out: I didn't know exactly what the masked figure was, but I knew it wasn't good, not by the way Harry froze when he saw it. Harry was rubbing his forehead, apparently in pain, so I grabbed his wrist and made for the door as fast as I could. Predictably, I found the door wouldn't open, and had to turn around to face Bellatrix's piercing laughter.
"You idiot! Did you really think that the Dark Lord and his handsome apprentice wouldn't think of that?" She mocked. Her face twisted and she shouted, "Fools! How dare you insult our intelligence! Crucio!" A purple jet shot out of her dark-wood wand and hit me squarely on the chest. I fell to the floor in overwhelming pain, however, from my Mother's own teachings, I knew how to counteract the spell. I tried to lie perfectly still, fighting the urge to move, and the spell melted away.
"Thanks for teaching me that, Mummy," I said darkly, making Bellatrix's face contort with uncontrollable rage, "I knew it would be useful someday." Harry looked at me strangely – he must have heard the rumours saying I was Bellatrix's daughter, but it was obviously strange to see it in real life. The pain in his forehead seemed to have subsided, and he was now standing normally, eyes fixed intently on the hooded figure. That's when I realised what the hooded figure was – Voldemort. My Stomach twisted as another realisation washed over me, but I refused to admit it to myself.
"Watch your mouth, you insolent cow!" Bellatrix shrieked. "After all those years of teaching and caring for you, all you can do is throw it back in my face!" I snorted with laughter – she never cared for me, and I always hated what she taught me – dark magic. I didn't respond to her comment though – that would be giving her what she wanted: to make me angry for no reason.
"Careful Bellatrix, don't do anything rash now," said a deep sorrowful voice, emanating from the hooded figure. He glided out of the shadows and the hood melted away, revealing the body of a young adult. "I think I might keep the body of my younger self a little longer," he explained, running his hand through his dark hair. I knew this was Tom Riddle, aged around 20, as I recognised him from some papers in the library. Although this was before he became Voldemort fully, there was a glint of evil in his hazel eyes, and there was an air of maliciousness around him.
"Very well, Master," Bellatrix said, smiling and sidling up to his side, where they kissed. A flame of disgust rose in my body, and I tore my gaze away. Harry also looked away, and I felt his clammy hand grab my hand, squeezing it tightly. Something looked different about him: he looked slightly older, with more of an air of maturity around him. With a jolt of shock, I realised he was also slightly taller. I stepped away and gasped: I also felt taller.
"What's happening to us?" I asked. Harry realised that I looked different, and armed himself with his wand, pointing at Tom Riddle in case anything happened. Tom stepped forward, smiling nastily at our confusion.
"This room isn't attached to your world, and in this 'parallel world', if you like, time seems to just slip by!" HE and Bellatrix both laughed here. For some reason, they didn't look much older, so I assumed they must be immune to the effects of this strange room.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, speaking for the first time since entering the room.
"In your world, your doubles have been living your lives: it is like you were never in here, but if anything were to happen to you in here, like, for instance, you were to die (he smiled ruefully), your doubles would also die. However, here, it feels like 5 minutes have passed, where in the real world, 3 years have passed!" I suddenly felt very sick. How could this be possible? I couldn't be 14, not when I was 11 just minutes ago!
Harry turned to me and whispered "We need to get out of here." Although this was obvious, my clouded mind had failed to reach this conclusion.
"You can't, can you though!" shrieked Bellatrix, smiling at us, her eyes filled with contempt.
"What're you going to do with us?" enquired Harry. His voice sounded deeper now: I laughed inwardly at the fact we had both gone through puberty in about 6 minutes!
"That is where we have a dilemma, my friend!" said Tom, fake-sympathy riddling his words. "Where you could kill you now, we would get little satisfaction from that! So, what to do, what to do, what to do?" He said in a patronising voice, prolonging the suspense as much as he could. "We think that we shall cause you unimaginable pain, but not to worry, we'll keep you alive, until you are such an age where everyone you know and love will be dead. That is when we'll send you back out into the real world, so old and frail that your days will be limited…very limited. Of course, that would mean we wouldn't actually kill you, but we'd have at least wasted most of your pathetic lives!" Tom was revelling in our sorrow, whereas Harry and me couldn't believe what we had just heard.
"Let the torture commence then!" Bellatrix screamed, and she then barked several spells, which forced us to stand up and be tortured. I can only compare the pain to having white-hot daggers plunged into your body non-stop. I screamed out in pain, but an idea popped into my head, which shut me up. Anyway, screaming out in pain would just give Tom and Bellatrix more pleasure.
After several more horribly long minutes, the spells stopped temporarily. If I wanted to get out, I'd have to act now. I turned to Harry and gasped: I was staring into the face of a 17-year-old! On impulse, I kissed him, wrapping my arms around his neck. After two seconds, I felt us disappear, become weightless, and leave the wretched room, leaving to the sound of Bellatrix cursing, and we soon hit solid ground, our lips still touching. I stood up, brishing dirt off my new, bigger robes, noting the badge on them had changed to reveal I was in my 7th year. Harry also got up and turned to me.
"How?"
"Since we were at least 16 and weren't technically in Hogwarts, I guessed our doubles must have learned how to apparate," I explained calmly, turning to face the gates into the Hogwarts ground.
"Genius! I heard Harry exclaim, and he hugged me tightly. We started to walk back up to Hogwarts, excited and scared to see what we would find…
A/N Sorry for the long wait - I have no reasonable excuse other than I am lazy and had schoolwork...yes...anyway, make me happy and hit the go button!
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far - you are truly nice!
