Playing Hero

Part 10

There was nowhere to go. Magic flickered across the fractured doorframe in short bursts. Harry had learned his lesson; he would not be trying that route again. The thought of looking back at the boy on the floor behind him made him sob. There was no way that could he be Lord Voldemort.

But if he was the Dark Lord he had an opportunity to finally do something about it. Slowly, he turned back to look upon the cherub-faced boy lying peacefully on the furry rug. Walking back to the bathroom, he grabbed up the belt of Tom's robe and kneeled down next to him. He could do it; strangle the life out of him before he recovered. It would be too easy, he was completely out.

"I hate you," he whispered, letting the belt slip from his hands. He wiped a line of blood away from Tom's cheek and rubbed his fingers into the rug. "I love you." Harry stood up and took a deep breath. If he couldn't kill Tom, he'd have to escape again. For all he knew, Tom's affection was a charade and at any moment his life would end in a flash of green.

"I need a wand!" he hissed out loud, scanning the room over. His eyes stopped dead on the once normal-ish looking bed in the room and cringed; in its place stood the largest heart-shaped monstrosity imaginable. More pink flooded his eyes. Looking down, he realized he was still wet and naked. "…and some clothes." The pyjama top he'd been wearing was still the only item of clothing accessible. He threw it on and buttoned it up and began searching the room for anything to help him.

"Why can't anything go my way?" he screamed in the air, overturning every piece of furniture his hands could reach.

"Potter?" cried a voice. Harry looked at the wall towards the sound. Someone was tapping on the plaster and shouting.

"Malfoy?" Harry called back, dashing to the spot adjacent to a large moving portrait of some white-haired old woman sneering at him. "Malfoy, is that you?"

"He's going to kill us all! He's Lord You-Know-Who!" The voice was deeper, most likely Crabbe's.

Harry ran a shaky hand through his hair and pressed his ear up to the wall. "I'm trapped in here, there's nothing I can do right now except try and get out!" he said back to them.

"Are you alone in there? Where did he go? Is he coming for us?" cried Goyle, and banged on the wall precisely where Harry had placed his ear, causing the boy's ear to ring.

"Ow, watch where you tap! It's very hard to hear you from in here,"

Draco shoved the boys aside to stand against the wall across from Harry. "Potter, where is he?"

"He's on the floor in the loo. I—" A large hand slapped over Harry's mouth, cutting off his words. He found himself quickly overpowered, thrust to the floor, and looking up at the boy whose nose he'd just broken.

A snowy owl landed on the ledge of Draco's windowsill, pecking the glass with her beak. Crab screeched in horror and threw himself behind the bed. Goyle got up and let her in without thinking. Instantly, she flew through the room, landing on the centre of the bed and held out her leg. Draco smirked as he untied the note and unrolled it carefully.

"I wonder why Potter got so quiet?" said Goyle. He sat on the windowsill, resting his elbow on his knee and chin in his palm. "Maybe he got away and left us here."

Draco frowned as he read over the ransom note written in blood red letters. "They've got my father. That filthy mudblood has him!"

Crabbe peeked out over the bed and eyed Hedwig nervously. "What they got your father for?"

In a huff, Draco crumbled the note in his fist and threw it over his shoulder. "They want Potter back. They'll swap him for my father's safe return."

"Well that's easy, Draco, he's right in the next room!" injected Goyle excitedly. He slumped back into blooding a second later. "But how are we going to get to him? We're locked inside."

Crabbe bit his lip, deep in thought, shrugging. Draco, livid by now, walked sternly over to the window and pushed Goyle out of it. "The bloody window is open, you idiots- That's how."

Hermione narrowed her eyes as she watched the two men before her struggle to compose themselves. Both Ron and Lucius shambled around looking quite nervous as she approached them. "What's going on here? What were you talking about?"

"Nothing, I swear." Ron said, sure that Hermione would only hinder the sudden breakthrough he'd had with Mr. Malfoy. He was warming up to him, nearly believing the truth about his master, and he couldn't let that be destroyed.

Hermione fumed, dropping her wand to her side in disappointment. "Fine, don't tell me. Coming from the two of you it must have been babbling nonsense anyhow."

"So, you sent the ransom note off?" Ron asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Yes, of course I did," she replied, looking very smug. "I wonder how many Death Eaters he'll send when he returns Harry to us. How many unfortunate Death Eaters who will fall into my trap."

"Hermione!" screeched Ron, gritting his teeth and running his hand across his throat to signal her to stop talking.

"Trap?" piped Lucius. "What trap? You don't intend on releasing me?"

"Ha!" she bellowed, throwing her head back in laughter. "No, I have no intention of releasing you! As a matter of fact, I'm planning on capturing as many Death Eaters as I can. They all need to know what your master really is. And if they won't believe me…" She drew her wand up, pointing it at Lucius' heart. "I'm not playing around anymore. I will break this curse he's put on you, Mr. Malfoy. I'll not give up until you realise… or die."

"I want to also apologise for umm, you know…" Tom tipped his head, avoiding direct eye contact with Harry. "I wasn't really the same person then. Your parents were difficult. I'd heard there was this child of my equal that could destroy me and I just went mad. I wanted to spare your mum, but she was just so…" Harry grunted hotly through his gag. He was bound head to toe in a chair, forced to listen to the Dark Lord's heartfelt misgivings. "You know I'd remove that if you could control yourself and stop spitting on me." He said; nudging his finger into the silky cloth laced between his captor's teeth. Harry looked away in irritation.

"Don't you think I've changed? Haven't I given you my trust? I came to kill you, Harry, I won't deny that; but I couldn't. Instead, I fell in love with you," Tom cupped Harry's chin, looking deep into his eyes. "I mean that. I'm not the same person I was before. Something- something's changed since I meddled with that blasted Horcrux and gained my youth back. I feel things I've never felt before, like love and sympathy. Please believe me."

Harry's expression softened slightly as he twisted at the magical rope binding his wrists behind his back in futile. Voldemort turned away for a moment rubbing his chin. "I could make you love me, you know. My mother made my father love her," He pivoted on his heel to face Harry, looking wild-eyed. "It would be painless. You wouldn't have to think anymore thoughts about what I've done."

Harry shook his head 'No'.

"I've made my apologies. I haven't owned up to blame for anything since I started Hogwarts. Doesn't that mean anything?" Loud thumping and groans of pain echoed in through the walls, unnerving Tom to no end. He walked over to a large wardrobe adjacent to the bed and opened it. "We have to find somewhere else to go. Those boys are more trouble than they're worth."

Draco tiptoed through the garden in the back of the château like a cat. Silently, he made his way back into the home, followed closely by the others, stomping loudly behind him, stepping on every brittle twig in their path. "Could you possibly be any louder? Maybe the Dark Lord is hard of hearing and won't be able to figure out which way we've gone…" he griped, pausing to turn and sneer at them.

Crabbe frowned. "But I thought we didn't want him to know which way--Ahh!" he cried, rubbing his cheek. Draco glared darkly at him as he drew back his hand but said nothing, merely placed a finger to his lips and pointed to the front door. "Okay, sorry. Just don't hit me no more, there's still brambles stuck all over me from falling in those bushes." Goyle whimpered as he too found himself plucking prickly thorns from the seat of his pants.

"We've got to find a way to get Potter out of here. I'm sure my father said there was a port key somewhere in this place," said Draco, continuing on towards the front of the house.

Nestled deep within the Malfoy's private library, Tom sat hunched over a desk scanning over maps of the world. "Here," he said, pointing out a large land mass across the ocean from where they were, "We could go to America. I have this pen pal there we could shack up with, her name's Ravyyyn BryghteyZ and she's a misunderstood, pureblood, dark witch/princess of Elwood, and distant cousin of Snape's--"he began, but Harry snapped and cut him off.

"Don't you dare try and sneak a Mary Sue into this story! Besides, Hermione and Ron's here; they're the only family I've got left… no thanks to you,"

With a bang, Tom shoved back from the desk and stood up, running his long, spidery fingers through his hair. "It was only a suggestion. The point of hiding away from the world is 'hiding', Harry, not sticking close with your friends. We can't start over in this country and not be noticed. The whole wizarding world is looking for us."

Harry crossed his arms defiantly and leaned back against a shelving of books. "Maybe I don't want to hide. I'm not the one they're looking for for notorious reasons, you know,"

Tom sighed heavily. "We're fighting again. You promised to stop nitpicking me if I released you, remember?"

"I guess…"

With one clean sweep, Tom pushed the maps covering the desktop to the floor. Slyly, he reached out, grasping Harry's forearm, whirled him around and pinned him down against the desk. "C'mon now, I hate when we fight. Don't you want to just forget about the silly past and move on?" he breathed into the boy's heated face.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'll never forget what you've done, so stop asking me to,"

"I understand," replied Tom, frowning. He stood up and adjusted his shirt, feeling suddenly uneasy. A wave of self pity and sadness washed over him. It was something he wasn't used to experiencing. "I really… I really am sorry, Harry."

Taken aback as he straightened his own self out, Harry cocked his head like a dog as he stared blurrily into Tom's eyes. "You really are, aren't you? You're not just saying it to get to me, I can feel it."

Dumbstruck, Tom merely nodded.

Harry took a few steps back and leaned against a podium clearly marked with a large, red arrow pointing down to a small porcelain fixture of a unicorn protected under a glass dome, marked 'The Malfoy Escape Portkey is right here, Draco' and cleared his throat. "I may never forget, Tom. I can't forget something so life changing and painful as to what you've done to me and everyone else who's ever only wanted the best for our world… but I can try and forgive you."

Voldemort smiled a truly genuine smile. "I'd really like to earn that forgiveness. There's something here, something between us that is unbreakable and pure, making me feel things I've never wanted to feel before. I've never had any friends, but now I can see why they're important. I've never wanted love—but now it's here, and there's nothing I can do to stop it. Believe me, I've tried."

"Oh? How so?" said Harry, arching an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Let's just say it's a good thing you don't like chicken much,"

Harry's jaw dropped. "But you ate more than I did! Are you telling me you poisoned my food?"

Tom waved his hands up in self defence. "I'm merely saying I thought about it. That is all."

"When did you decide to not kill me?"

With a soft smile, Tom walked over and took Harry into his arms. They held each other closely in the still of the library; Harry entranced with the hum of Tom's beating heart, and Tom nuzzling his chin in a mass of wild, black hair. "It was that very night, Harry, that very same night."

TBC

AN: this is unbeta'd once again. Please forgive me for any mistakes. Thanks for reading!