Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership of Harry Potter, the character, settings or plots that have been born from the magnificent mind of J.K. Rowling. For those too incompetent to understand words longer than two syllables: I do not own Harry Potter.
Warning: Angelhitomie asked me to add a warning about the risk of a possible heart attack, now you can consider yourself warned.
Beta: angelhitomie
His mind rose to the world of conscious much sooner than Harry was prepared for. He wanted to stay in the darkness, where he would be free from thoughts and impressions, but something was stopping him from doing just that.
It seemed like something had changed while Harry had been out of it.
Unlike the last time he had been awake, he felt comfortably warm. His leg was not pulsing with pain; in fact he could ignore the soreness coming from the spot where the wound was. The duvet over him was warm and heavy, urging Harry to stay in his half awake half asleep state.
Without opening his eyes Harry tried to access his situation. Somebody had healed his body, and Harry doubted very much that Black had any hand in it. Either he had been unconscious for longer than he thought, or someone had done it. The latter seemed more likely to him.
Form what he could tell, he had been removed from the cell. The bed he was lying on, felt like it could swallow him whole with its softness. It was definitely an improvement from the last three days. It also told Harry that it was not his own bed. In fact, Harry was fairly sure that he had never been in a bed where the covers felt like they were made of silk.
His mouth was dry and he felt like his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth. And his stomach felt like someone had twisted it one time too much. It was probably an effect of not eating for the past few days, though he couldn't say for sure.
Shifting Harry became aware of two things.
One, he was naked. That was the only explanation to why he could feel the bed sheet brush against his skin like a lover's cares at places which would normally be covered by clothes. Someone had undressed him while he had been unconscious, and whoever had done so had not bothered to redress him with new clothes.
Harry supposed that he should be thankful that the bedcovers at least were laid over his body.
Second, he was not alone in the bed. Someone was lying pressed against his side and something heavy and warm was draped over his waist, keeping him pinned to the bed. It felt like an arm and it probably belonged to the one behind him.
Harry breathed in sharply, before forcing his breathing back to the deep and even rhythm it had been before. Whoever was in the bed, probably knew that he was no longer asleep, but still Harry couldn't make himself give up the game.
He couldn't remember a single time where he had shared a bed with another person. Harry had always been a private person, he didn't want others that close. And now someone had dared to sneak up on him while he was at his most vulnerable.
Knowing that he had already blown his cover, Harry decided not to wait for his bedpartner's move. Since he lay on the side, his right arm was not of much use.
His left arm however was free and able to move.
Fast as a snake Harry elbowed the one behind him. His elbow came in contact with a body, but it definitely didn't feel like something that belonged to a human.
Not taking the time to consider what this meant, Harry rolled away from the other, not caring about the way his body protested about being forced into sudden movements after having been kept still for so long.
He had been closer to the edge than Harry had assumed, when he suddenly found that there was no more bed to roll on.
Harry hit the floor with a hard thud, taking down the duvet and something else with him, as he hit the hard surface, biting his lower lip hard to not let any sound escape him. He rolled a last time, so he was lying on his back, sprawled out on the floor and unable to move due to the heavy weight trapping him to the floor.
The body had followed with him, lying on top of him and effectively hindered him from fleeing as he had planned on doing. And now Harry new for sure that it was not a human he had been sharing a bed with.
"You're awake, little seer." A warm tongue flickered against his ear shell, startling Harry out of his wild running thoughts. His eyes flew open at their own intention as his head twisted to the side to look at the one who had spoken.
All of Harry's muscles tensed when he found himself face to face with a large green snake, which looked to be roughly twelve feet long. Its head was so close that Harry with ease could see each of the scales on it.
Figuring that he would already have been dead if that was what she wanted, Harry gradually managed to force his muscles to relax and calm his hectic breathing.
It helped that he had spoken with a few garden snakes back in Surrey, but this one was much bigger than what Harry was used to, at her thickest point, he would say she was as thick as a man's thigh.
Also, the other snakes he'd known had not been as dangerous as he knew that she could be.
Nagini was Voldemort's familiar and a snake which Harry had done his best to avoid in the past. He knew that if she attacked, he would probably be able to stop her. But that meant that he would have to reveal himself as a Parseltongue, something he had no plans about doing.
Until this moment Harry had done a good job in avoiding the snake, but now he found himself closer to her than he had ever thought that he would be.
He nearly went cross eyed when the snake's head moved so it was right in front of his face. Even with her upper part lying on him, Nagini's body still took up a great part of the bed. And Harry found out that what he had thought was an arm holding him was a thinner part of Nagini's body which was still draped over him.
Much to his relief, Nagini was on top of the covers while Harry was under them, otherwise he was sure that he would be a lot more freaked out than he felt at the moment.
"Don't just lay there and stare rudely at me. Make yourself useful and scratch me." Not sure what else he was supposed to do, Harry lifted one hand. Only when his fingers touched the warm scales did he remember that he was not supposed to be able to understand what she had said.
His fingers obediently continued the task of keeping the snake occupied while Harry tried to find clues which could tell him where he was.
He was in a superlative room, with a floor of dark mahogany which emphasized the silver and Slytherin green that decorated the walls.
French doors probably lead out, the other door could be the entrance to a bathroom. And when he strained himself to look over the bed, Harry thought that he saw something which could be a walk-in closet, if the open door and the clothes he could see was anything to go by.
Unlike the office, this room didn't lack a personal touch.
Looking out of one of the windows, Harry realised that he was still at Hogwarts. Unless someone had went through the troubles to put up an illusion which looked exactly like the Quidditch pitch and a part of the Forbidden Forest, so he would believe that he was still on the school's grounds.
Harry let his head fall back, meeting the floor with a thud. A small pain erupting where the back of his head connected with the hard surface.
He couldn't stay here, Harry comprehended. Just because he was at Hogwarts, it didn't mean that he was safe, as he had liked to believe, Pettigrew's attack had showed him that. And his stay in the cell proved that the oath meant absolutely nothing.
It was best he left, and the oath he had given Voldemort could be dammed for all Harry cared. The man had failed badly to keep his end of the deal, so what reason did Harry have to continuing listening to his orders?
It did not mean that he would stop reporting his visions. Harry would make sure that Severus would get to know them. Especially about the one Harry had had while being locked up. He wouldn't risk Severus being surprised by the Order members' presence near the giants. Theoretically Harry knew that his guardian could take care of himself, but it didn't mean that Harry believed Severus invincible.
The thought of leaving Severus, Draco and his new found friends behind was painful. However it would be for the best. Harry couldn't live somewhere where he knew that he would not be safe. Not only because of traitors, but also because of those who were supposed to protect him weren't there to do their job.
He would disappear into the muggle world. He didn't like it, but it would be easiest to hide that way. Among wizards he would stand out like a sore thumb because of his inability to use magic.
Among muggles he would just be another anonymous face among an endless amount of others.
But before he could take that step, he would have to get free of this possible death trap Nagini was having him in as she was wrapped around him. As it was, there was little to no chance that Harry would be able to leave unless the snake let go of him on its own, something which seemed rather unlikely at the moment.
Stopping the petting and removing his hand, Harry quickly got the attention of the big reptile. Her poison yellow eyes were staring directly at him, making her dislike for him stopping known to Harry without a single word or sound.
Harry swallowed, knowing that there was a good chance that he would regret what he was about to do.
But sometimes one had to offer something if they wanted to archive something bigger.
"Your strength is great, Nagini. Could you please let go of me? I doubt that Voldemort would like it if I suffocated because I can't breathe." If it had been possible, Harry would have believed that the snake was gaping at him.
At least he was pretty sure that she had understood what he'd said. For him it was hard to figure out when he spoke and when he used Parseltongue. Perhaps it was because he did not use it often, and he had never really gotten the chance to hear other people speak it.
Considering that there was only one other person who spoke the language that Harry knew of, it was not really that surprising.
"You are a speaker." Despite her exited tone Harry found the grip on him lessening, though she didn't let go of him as he had hoped that she would. "Voldemort said that there was no more of his kind out there. I would have heard it if he had produced a youngling."
"No, we are not related." Harry responded, thinking back to the family tree he had seen in the Potter vault. The British purebloods were renowned for their inbreeding. Therefore, it was surprising that there was no direct connection between their two families since they descended from the Prevell brothers.
Nagini seemed satisfied with Harry's answer. "Good, never bring a grown hatchling to your nest. It may kill you and take over the den. A mate on the other hand, can help keeping the nest warm on cold nights and days."
The words made Harry choke on his spit. "You mean that this room belongs to Voldemort?" Taking another look from where he lay on the floor, Harry had to agree that the room was fit for one of a high standing.
That seemed to create a whole new set of troubles which Harry wasn't sure he would be able to deal with.
Since this room probably belonged to Voldemort's living space, it would be harder to sneak out of it than it had been with the Hospital Wing. As the dark lord Voldemort was used to assassination attempts so he wouldn't be careless to the let the windows be unprotected and Harry doubted that he could simply wander out of the door without anyone stopping him.
A few seconds later, the second part of what Nagini had said was registered by his mind. "I'm not his mate!" Harry spluttered, feeling his face heat up though he could not say if it was from anger, embarrassment, or something else.
Not even Harry could deny that Voldemort looked good. One had to know the man's age to know that the dark lord was far older than late twenties.
Nagini looked disappointed at his statement, but huffed "To tell the truth, I don't see what good a mate would do, if you can't get hatchlings. But Voldemort has always been strange, liking males instead of females."
Harry gaped at the snake, not sure how he was supposed to respond to this, when someone came to his rescue. "Are you done blabbing to the little seer, Nagini? Move aside, he's not used to someone as magnificent as you. You shouldn't scare him like that."
Harry bit back an angry retort as he was forced to crane his neck in an almost unnatural manner to be able to look at the one who spoke. The door near the fireplace was open and by the steam coming out around Voldemort, Harry knew that he had been correct when he had guessed that it was the bathroom.
The dark hair was damp and as his eyes travelled downwards on their own accord Harry realised that the dark lord was wearing a black bathrobe, with nothing under it if he should judge by the way it was open on the chest, giving Harry a fine view of the skin.
It gave Harry plenty of time to stare at the toned and firm chest. Considering what else he could be staring at, Harry guessed that it was not the worst place to let his gaze be.
Mortified Harry realised that he had been checking out Voldemort, and he quickly turned his face away though he didn't do it fast enough for Voldemort not to see the blush colouring his face.
Nagini unwrapped herself from Harry and crossed the room to get to Voldemort with the speed of a snitch. Her sudden movement had pushed most of the duvet aside, and Harry, remembering his still lack of clothes, drove for the duvet and wrapped it securely around himself.
Right now he was wondering if the ground could open and swallow him.
"He spoke." Nagini happily hissed as she followed Voldemort over to where Harry still lay on the floor. The seer glared at the snake as he pushed himself up and away from the man, only stopping when his back hit the corner created by a wall and the bed.
Voldemort looked down at the snake, wearing a bemused expression. "Humans tend to do that, my dear. He was probably surprised to find you here. I also believe that I told you to inform me when he awoke."
Now both snake and wizard were near, effectively cornering Harry, leaving him no possible opening to flee through. "I would, but then he freaked out. And you said that the little seer shouldn't leave the nest so I had to do something. And he spoke, like you do."
The man's red eyes were back at Harry, a calculating glint in them. "Say something!"
Stubbornly Harry turned away from the man. This was his own fault. If he hadn't spoken to Nagini this would have been avoided. But at that time it had seemed like a good idea, especially since he'd believed that he would have been gone long before anyone came to check up on him. How was he supposed to know that Voldemort would be in the bathroom belonging to this room?
After the whole thing with his stay in the cell, Harry didn't feel the slightest bit inclined to indulge the man's wish.
Cold and strong fingers closed around his chin, forcing Harry's head back to its original position. While he had been lost in thoughts, Voldemort had taken the last step to close the distance between them and was kneeling down in front of him. Harry was willing to bet anything he owned that this was not a position that the dark lord was used to take.
Harry found his eyes seeking out Voldemort's red orbs on their own accord, glad that he had Occlumency shields. At this point he would not put it behind Voldemort to actually try and use Legilimency on him to get the answer the man wanted.
Silently Harry dared Voldemort to do just that. The man would get the same result as those in the past who had tried to gain access to Harry's mind had gotten.
Either Voldemort did not notice the dare, or he simply ignored it. Harry was too focussed on the man himself to ponder more on it.
This close Harry had a perfect view of Voldemort's chest. His eyes followed a drop of water which started from the hair and at last disappeared under the bathrobe. He could even smell the shampoo the man had used, it reminded him of the forest. The smell was not something he would ever have connected with Voldemort. The man seemed like the kind to go for a more masculine scent.
On the other hand, Harry doubted that anyone would dare to breathe a word if Voldemort went out smelling like perfume and flowers.
And even if they did, they wouldn't live long enough to finish the sentence.
"Do you understand what I say?" The tone was impatient warning Harry that this was his last chance. Before what, he didn't know, but Harry could imagine that most would have been tortured for denying the man an answer for this long.
Why couldn't Voldemort just take his silence as an answer that he didn't understand what was being said. But it seemed like Voldemort trusted what Nagini had said. If Harry had known that this would have happened he would never have spoken to the reptile in the first place.
"Yes." When the word was said, Harry could feel how the fight went out of his body, as if he was a balloon which had just been punctured. His shoulders slumped and though he wanted to look away or close his eyes, Harry found himself maintaining eye contact with Voldemort.
This was a secret Harry had never shared with anyone before. Not with Severus, who would have been a logical choice since he had managed to keep Harry's other secrets for so long. Or Draco, who had been his friend for many years.
Not even Dumbledore and his cronies had managed to pry the secret from him.
Harry shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if the Dursleys had known that there was more freakish things about him, than just the visions he had had while staying with them.
It was something Harry had planned on taking with him into the grave, but now the cat was out of the bag.
Finally he let his eyes slip away from Voldemort, waiting for whatever response which would follow with his revelation.
"Look at me!" Gritting his teeth Harry found himself following the order, much to his great regret. Green clashed with red and Harry barred his teeth at the man. He didn't care that it was an animalistic move, right now he just wanted his antagonism to be known.
"Let go." Unlike Voldemort, Harry didn't quite manage to put any force behind his words. The man didn't move, but watched him without blinking.
Harry didn't need to be able to read Voldemort's mind to guess what the man was thinking about. "Interesting. One would think that after such a long time, the trait would have died out." The grip on him changed, being more gentle than retaining.
"Have you considered that there might have been others before me, but unlike your ancestors, mine didn't flaunt it for the whole world to see?" Harry asked, thinking about the book Voldemort had found when they'd visited the Potter vault.
Apparently Voldemort could follow Harry's way of thinking without Harry needing to say anything. "It makes sense. Normally when a light wizard finds a book they do not understand, they either destroy it or lock it up somewhere where no one but they will be able to find it. But a Parselmouth would have saved it for future use, knowing that there would be other generations gifted."
The faraway look in Voldemort's eyes disappeared and Harry once again found himself squirming under the weight of the man's gaze. "Who else knows about this?" One would either have to be dumb or deaf to not hear the warning in Voldemort's voice. Severus might have gotten off with a light punishment for keeping Harry's visions a secret since they'd both done their best to make sure that they benefited the dark lord. But there was no way that Voldemort would let people get away with keeping more secrets from him.
Especially not something Voldemort believed concerned him.
"I have never told, and no one I know of has been able to figure it out." Harry glared into Voldemort's eyes, daring the man to say anything against him. Why it was so important for Voldemort to know, Harry would try and figure out when he wasn't dealing with a dark lord.
"From now on you'll only speak Parseltongue to me, unless there is a third party who needs to be a part of our conversation."
"That is-" Whatever protest had been on Harry's lips was cut off when Harry found himself scoped up and placed on the bed with more force than had been necessary. "I told you to stop manhandling me!" Protested Harry as he stopped bouncing on the mattress, the duvet still held securely around him.
All thoughts about modesty disappeared when Harry found Voldemort over him. The man had a leg on each side of Harry's waist, using them to keep the seer in place. The hands were on each side of Harry's head, effectively caging him in. "And I informed you, that you would not be in doubt when I manhandle you. You are supposed to be resting, which includes staying in the bed, no matter what. And what did I tell you about what language you'll be using?"
Seething over the way he was being manhandled and spoken to, Harry let go of the duvet and let his hand wander over the bed's surface. When his fingertips brushed against something Harry closed them around the item. "As you want. But I'll still not let you manhandle me."
With those words Harry smacked the pillow against the side of Voldemort's head. Because of the awkward angle his arm was in and the pillow's softness it hardly made an impact on the man hovering over him.
Before Harry could even blink the pillow was ripped out of his hand and fingers closed around his throat. The grip wasn't tight enough to suffocate him, but Harry certainly didn't need to check to know that the hand indeed was there.
Voldemort's face was now so close that their noses were nearly brushing against each other. Harry was able to spot flakes of red which seemed darker than the rest of Voldemort's eyes.
"Be careful, little seer. I allow you much more free rein than I do with anyone else due to your usefulness. But don't you mistake. If you overstep the boundaries you'll suffer the consequences."
Harry knew that it probably wasn't the smartest move, but his upflared temper refused to let him bow down to the threat. "Screw you." If he had been able to control his ability, Harry would have spoken English, as he had done not even minutes before. But with Nagini's presence and Voldemort speaking Parseltongue, Harry hardly had a say in that matter.
The grip around his throat tightened, until Harry started to fight for breathing. He could still get air in, but it was far from enough to make him still his struggling. Both of his hands had been seized above his head, making sure that Harry was unable to scratch or otherwise attempt to make Voldemort loosen his hold on him.
The man's eyes had narrowed until they were nothing more than red, burning slits.
"I told you that-" The words disappeared before Harry could figure out what the man had meant to say, and the seer's struggles which had slowed down, started with renewed strength as he realised what was about to happen. His breathing speeded up, and when he started to inhale the mist which had formed around him, Harry broke into a coughing fit.
Voldemort was no longer anywhere to see, and Harry could not feel the hand he knew had been around his throat only a second ago, not that the change mattered much as he tried to get enough air into his lungs to calm his fast beating heart.
Panic took hold on him, despite him trying not to allow it. He could not feel anything, couldn't smell, the only thing he could see was the mist and his own breathing was the only sound for him to hear.
He might as well not be existing.
Around him dark shapes took form in the mist, but they were too far away for Harry to see who or what they were. He didn't know why they never seemed to come near enough for him to see what they looked like, but he was thankful that they kept their distance.
He had seen this place enough times to know that he wouldn't like any of the shapes coming near him. Though they didn't look like anything he knew of, the effect those things had on him whenever they came too close, was the same as Harry had read that the dementors had whenever they came near something living.
As if knowing what he was thinking, the odd shapes started drawing closer. Harry took in a sharp breath, icy air filling his lungs to the border of painful.
"James!" Harry squinted his eyes close, as a new scene started to form around him, still affected by the mist which made it look deformed.
"Run, Lily. I will hold him back!" Had he been able to move, Harry would have covered his ears, though he already knew that it would not have much use. Nothing he ever did could stop what was playing out in front of him.
Therefore Harry opened his eyes, hoping against hope that this time would be different.
A tall woman with thick, dark red hair that fell to her shoulders and bright green almond-shaped eyes clung to the other person visible to Harry.
The male shared a disturbing semblance to Harry, and yet he looked so different. He was tall and thin, with hazel coloured eyes and black, untidy hair that stuck up at the back. It held a great resemblance to how Harry's hair had been, before the seer had let his grow long. To make it even creepier, the man was wearing the same round, and black rimmed glasses Harry himself had once owned.
Both wore the trademark black robes for death eaters and thrown in a corner of the room two white masks lay abandoned.
Though not being able to hear any explosion, Harry saw it when a door passed through his body. It hit the wall on the opposite side of the room and crumbled to dust. He hadn't even flinched when it had been blown off its hinges, having been in this vision plenty of times before.
The pair had gotten their wands forth and were pointing them at Harry, or whatever was behind him.
A hand clamped down on his shoulder, using force to turn him around as the first curses were thrown. Fear shot up through his spine, though Harry didn't know who had grabbed him. It shouldn't be happening, since he wasn't an actual part of the vision, and yet it did. Like every other time he had been forced to watch this scene.
Harry blinked, finding himself back in the bedroom, gasping for air though there was no longer a restricting grip around his throat.
Seeing someone above him, Harry flinched back in the mattress, not being able to move anywhere else.
It took a moment for his brain to realise, that he really was out of the vision, and that he had a dark lord seated on his lower body, effectively pinning him to the bed. As if it wasn't bad enough, said dark lord was watching him with an expression that clearly told Harry, that he wasn't going to get out of this without some explanation.
A plus was that his hands were free, though Harry didn't see how he could do much good with that.
Needing to know that this was real, Harry pushed himself upwards, letting his lips crash with Voldemort's catching dark lord by surprise.
Even when the vision involved him, Harry didn't feel anything when he did something on his own invention. Feeling the harsh lips against his own, made Harry realise that he indeed was back in the real world and not caught up in another vision.
A hand slid into his hair, gripping it and holding him in place as the warm mouth started moving lightly against Harry's clamped lips.
The body was pressed against his own, brushing against his hardening cock, and realisation dawned for Harry.
Shame over his action washed over him like a wave. He was not being turned on by this. To make it even worse, this was Voldemort, the dark lord and a man who could easily have been his grandfather if not because the family tree proved otherwise.
With a whimper Harry tried to move away, but the other male was not having any of that, and the grip on his hair held Harry in place.
It felt like his nerves had been set on fire. Harry couldn't recall a single time, where anyone had kissed him like this, and his mind was fighting his own body for who was supposed to be in control.
Knowing that he would regret it if he let it go any further Harry wrenched his lips free, wincing at the few strands of hair he felt loose at the sudden movement.
"Stop it!" He cried out.
He heard a chuckle from the male above him. Opening his eyes, not really sure about when he had closed them, Harry glared up at Voldemort, noticing the fire that had lit the man's eyes.
"I had a vision." He rasped out between deep breaths.
As he had expected the words were enough to make Voldemort pause his movements and his eyes cleared for any emotions that had been in there not even a short moment ago. "Evaporate." At least the man was too caught up with the chance of a new vision, to bother correction what language Harry used.
Sucking in a deep breath, Harry mind was rambling for a vision. He had no intention about telling Voldemort about what he had just seen. The oath could be dammed.
But that wasn't the only vision he had had.
"The Order is sending a group to try and convince the giants to change sides." He closed his eyes briefly, before snapping them open. "Hagrid, who has some giant blood in him. The Metamorphmagus and a man who called Black Padfoot. They were in a tent, eating dinner, but I didn't see more than that. Oh, it seems like they have given up on rescuing Black. Dumbledore has promised that he will do his best, but that basically means that they have no hope for him." Despite the fact that Voldemort had not corrected him the last time, it didn't mean that Harry was willing to take any chances.
"Did you see anything else?" At Harry mute shake of his head, Voldemort rose from the bed with swift movements and headed for the door. "When I return, we will discuss exactly how you ended in that cell. Nagini, keep an eye on the little seer and make sure that he doesn't leave the bed." The snake sighed deeply before unrolling and leaving her spot in front of the fireplace to join Harry on the bed.
Satisfied that his order was being followed Voldemort left without a backwards glance.
"Jerk!" He spat, throwing a pillow which hit the already closed door and fell to the floor with a thud.
He was interrupted from yelling more insult when Nagini butted her head against his shoulder. "Stop screaming. If any of us has a reason to be annoyed, it is me. I had to move away from a perfectly warm resting place and stay here with you. So make up for it and scratch me."
Sighing Harry let his fingers run over Nagini's scales. Voldemort was probably long gone now, so it wouldn't do much good to continue until he screamed himself hoarse.
It didn't mean that he would forget the fact that he had spent the last few days in a cell. Or that he would allow the dark lord to order him around.
But the most important thing was that Voldemort had not learned of the vision he'd had.
It was one that Harry did not plan on sharing with anyone, no matter how many times he was forced to watch it, or how much he saw, and no promise would be able to change his decision.
Harry groaned and let his chin fall to his chest when he realised what he had actually done to make sure that he was out of the vision.
Perhaps Voldemort would have forgotten all about the kiss by the time the man returned?
Somehow Harry could not even make himself believe that.
)00(
Voldemort did not leave right away. He heard something hit the closed door behind him. Presumably another pillow. Luckily the houseelves always made sure that there was plenty of those in the bed, so he wouldn't have to worry about the seer leaving the bed just to fetch one pillow.
When no further sounds occurred bare one muffed word, which didn't reach his ears fully because of the thickness of the door and the protective magic between them, Voldemort could only assume, that Nagini had managed to do as he had ordered her to.
Pinching his nose Voldemort otherwise kept a blank expression.
Things certainly hadn't gone as he had expected they would when he had fetched Harry from the cell. Harry had awoken after five hours of unconsciousness. By all means the youth should not have started to stir yet. Because of this, he had not been in the room when Harry joined the world of living.
But the sight which had met him when he had left the bathroom, was something he could get used to. Pale limbs, wrapped up in a silk bed sheet, like a gift which was waiting for him to unwrap it.
By the blushing and how the seer had been busy covering his body from view, it had almost been like dealing with a virgin. Though marriage was important among the purebloods, it was not unusual for the wizards and witches to gain experience before the wedding night. As long as no scandal was created, everyone was willing to let the children enjoy their freedom.
To find someone untouched at the boarder of adulthood, was a rarity, something which could catch his interest.
The kiss had peeked said interest. It had been desperate and so inexperienced, as if Potter had had no idea of how he was supposed to carry it out.
If not because the whole thing was such a delicate matter, Voldemort wouldn't have hesitated to go the whole way. But the seer's ingenuousness might have caused Harry to be scared away, something which Voldemort was not willing to risk.
He would keep the seer by his side, and perhaps this was the way he should go. By doing this, Harry would be bound closer to him than even his death eaters were. It was the best way to ensure that the seer wouldn't leave him once the year was over.
And it certainly helped, that Harry was not unpleasant to the eye.
It would be a risky rate. While a relationship would bind the seer to him, it would also make Harry a possible weakness which his enemies would use against him.
For now Voldemort would ensure that Severus was warned. The dark lord had no intention of searching for a new Potions Master because the man had a run in with the Order's envoys.
While his spy was accompanying the two Dumbledore supporters, Voldemort had no intention of letting the spy reveal their existence to the rest of the world just yet.
And while he was at it, he might as well send someone to keep an eye on Harry in his absence. While Nagini could easily kill a full grown wizard with a single bite of hers, Voldemort preferred it, if there was a human to make sure that Harry stayed in bed. The seer's actions just now and the escape attempt back in the Hospital Wing proved that the youth needed to be kept under constant supervision to make sure that the seer would not attempt something stupid.
He would let Narcissa know that the youth had awoken. She would be able to stay with him until Voldemort returned. And she would make use of the time to check up on Harry's health, as she had already promised to do.
Transforming the bathrobe into comfortable robes Voldemort left his quarters. Once he returned, he fully intended to start on his interrogation of Harry. Before this day was over, Voldemort intended to know how Potter had managed to land himself in that cell.
And not to forget the original reason to why he had went looking for the seer in the first place. He still needed to know what kind of connection there had been between Harry and Slughorn. And if Harry knew anything about the way the Potions brewer had died.
)00(
Not long after Voldemort had left, a houseelf popped in. Wordlessly it bowed before placing the items it had brought with it within Harry's reach. With one last bow the creature disappeared, leaving Harry to figure out what this meant.
Foregoing the tray with what looked to be food for now, Harry went straight for the clothes the houseelf had left on the bed. His face fell slightly when he realised, that it were not robes, but nightclothes. Apparently Voldemort had been serious when the man had ordered him to stay in the bed, and was not about to make it easy for him to leave.
Which was also why Harry had to find a way to distract Nagini so the snake would be able to stop him.
"Could you please look around so I can dress?" Since Nagini had no reason to follow an order, Harry figured, that he might as well try and ask nicely.
The snake huffed, obviously not happy with the request, but she turned her head nonetheless. It didn't escape Harry's notice that she was facing both the door and the windows, meaning that he wouldn't be able to run away while she was looking the other way. "Foolish little seer. You are supposed to shred your skin, not put more on. You humans are strange."
When Nagini turned her head, Harry had already dressed and was back under the duvet. For a while the snake said nothing, content to watch him with slit eyes.
Before any of them could start a conversation, the door Voldemort had left through, was slammed open, making Harry jump in surprise.
"Honey, I am home!" Following the singsong voice came Bellatrix Lestrange, her eyes positively dancing with mirth when they landed on Harry. "There you are, Harrykins. You have worried your Auntie Bellatrix. That is not something a gentleman ever does to a lady." The witch scolded as she skipped to the side of the bed Harry was in.
Warily Harry leaned back against the small mountain of pillows behind him as Bellatrix already had one knee on the bed, staring intensely at him. "Itchy Harrykins has been a naughty boy, you have been avoiding me. But now our lord has made sure that we can spend some Auntie and nephew quality time together." Harry eyed the woman warily, wondering what she was doing here without her minders, also known as the two male Lestranges.
Without a care for how it could look like if someone walked in on them, Bellatrix flopped down on the bed, nearly landing on Nagini in the process. The snake let out a series of hisses, about what she thought about women who dared to disturb her like that. Luckily Harry was the only one who understood what was being said, though he could have done without it.
"So dearest nephew of mine, tell your beloved Auntie, what you have done so you need to be watched?" The witch asked, rolling onto her back so she was looking at him upside down. Despite her relaxed posture the witch's hand didn't stray far from her wandholder. And like Nagini Bellatrix lay so she easily could keep an eye on the doors and windows while speaking to him.
When Harry made no move to spill the beans, Bellatrix pushed her lower lip forward, making her look much younger and less sane than she was. "Well, if you don't want to share with me, I suppose I'll just have to entertain you until our lord returns. I know, how about I teach you some spells?"
A mad grin spread on her face as she hopped up from the bed, her previously bad mood seemingly forgotten. "You do know that I cannot do magic, right?" Harry asked. It wouldn't have surprised him if the witch had somehow managed to forget that fact.
"Wingardium Leviosa." Harry sat straight up as the pillow on the bed started hovering in the air over his head. "Of course I haven't forgotten, little Harrykins." His eyebrows twisted. Why was it that people kept mentioning his lack of height? It was not like it was his fault. "But when I am done, you will know what the curses do, which will give you more reason to dodge when you see them fly in your direction. I would have loved to use bunnies as an example, but I don't think that the dark lord will be happy if we get blood on his belongings."
The witch got a mournful expression before it moved aside for her grin. "Now, eat and drink and make sure that you watch the show."
Obediently Harry placed the tray with food and drinks on his lap. He saw no reason to disobey when he already had a wand pointed somewhere above him. Besides the smell of food had reminded him about how long it had been since he'd last gotten a decent meal. And roughly anything was better than what had been served in the cell.
Since it has taken so long to get the last few chapters written, I have decided that next one will be up on next Thursday or when we round 50 reviews. (533 reviews, for those who can't count).
Go read something of Wyrdsmith, any of her work will do since it is all brilliant.
Until next time.