(A/N: I warned you that I might be slowing down a little bit. But don't worry, I fully intend on finishing this story, and hopefully every other story that I've left unfinished so far. It's a tall order, but so is getting out from under Depression, baby steps. Anyway, warnings for some torture type imagery, but it's not super graphic, so on with the show!)

A Cold Sleep

Chapter 13

At some point in the middle of the night, Harry woke up screaming, his body wracked with pain, every inch of him feeling like it was being torn apart. Every breath was agony and he was certain that someone had broken each one of his ribs in a single crushing blow. His head pounded and all of his muscles rebelled, convulsing instead of obeying his commands. Were it not for Tom's presence and quick work to restrain the other man, Harry very well might have clawed his own skin open.

Spelling the lights on and summoning the others with a few harsh strokes of his wand, Tom set himself to the task of combating the Dark magic that ravaged Harry's body. It was like nothing he had ever seen before, deeply entrenched in blood rituals, a malignant presence that almost made Tom want to vomit. As deep in the Dark as he was, it was astonishing that something could have such an effect on him, but here he was, barely able to focus as he watched Harry thrash against the bindings that he had conjured.

"Severus, this is Dumbledore's work. I can feel it, but I can't stop it," Tom said, panting through the effort it took to drive his own magic against that which was assaulting Harry. Severus was instantly at Tom's side, wand making quick movements as he spoke under his breath, his eyes were intense.

"Blood magic, but something more, something worse," Severus covered his nose with the sleeve of his pajamas and coughed violently. "Necromantic. Not Dark magic, Blood magic. He can't find Harry but now he doesn't need to," Severus spoke with great effort and it was only when Sirius stepped forward and gripped his shoulders that he was able to stand firmly again.

"Necromantic? The bastard has Lily and James, he's stolen their remains," Sirius said, pushing as much of his magic as he could into Severus, hoping that he might be able to give his partner enough strength to begin fighting back. But it was useless, all of them were flung back, leaving Harry to scream and writhe on the bed as his friends and family stared on in horror.

"We need to find him, we need to stop him," Remus said, his hands shaking with rage as he knelt to assure himself that neither of his partners were hurt. Severus had a nosebleed and Sirius looked unfocused, but both of them seemed alright. Lucius took a knee to see to Tom, cringing at the blood streaming down the Dark Lord's face from his nose and a gash above his left eye. The magical backlash had been enough to do some serious damage to the men that had been trying to combat it, none of them were going to be in much shape to help at this rate.

"And we will, Narcissa, my love, I must beg you, stay here, tend to those that need it. Draco, you know what to do if someone tries to breach the wards. Remus come with me, you're the only one fit to help me right now," Lucius said and transfigured his night clothes into a set of heavy winter robes.

"I'm coming with you. I'm stronger than you think," Hermione spoke up, her eyes fierce as she transfigured her own clothing. She met Draco's eyes for a moment and the blond man nodded his affirmation, he trusted her.

"I like three to one odds better," Remus said, his panic obvious even as he gave Severus and Sirius each a quick kiss in parting.

The three departed with little else said between them. Narcissa at once took to healing those that had been harmed by the corrupted magic, her expression tight and professional, it was all that she could do to cast a silencing spell around the bed, to keep Harry's pitiful cries from reaching them. Draco had assumed a meditative position in the corner of the room, clearly looking into the wards to ensure that everything was as it should be. No normal magic should have been able to get past them, but if this was truly something as vile as the others believed then there was no way that even the ancient wards would be enough to stop it.

Sirius regained himself first, swearing under his breath as he wiped the blood away from Severus' face, trying to keep his eyes off of the tormented figure that Harry presented. He kept his head down, swallowing thickly against the pall cast about the room by the evil in the invading magic. He hadn't felt something quite so sickening or disturbing since he'd been a young man living under the harsh teachings of his family. Severus remained stunned, his eyes unfocused, Narcissa had done all that she could for him and so Sirius simply held him close until he came around, hoping to shield him from the corruption in the room with some of his own magic.

Narcissa remained seated beside Tom, her face contorted into one of concern as she repeated her healing spells, only managing to close the cut in the man's forehead bit by bit. It was not a typical injury, she forced as much magic as she could into each casting and it eventually did seal, but the scar was red and angry. The wounds left behind by the Darkest of magic were always the toughest to heal.

"Harry, I have to help him," Tom said, trying to move forward, only to be restrained by Narcissa's strong grip, keeping him from moving before she could do anything about the damage to this head.

"You're not going to be able to do anything until they manage to track Dumbledore down," Narcissa said softly, looking to Sirius and Severus to ensure that they were doing alright without her attention. Across the room, Draco's face was still a blank mask of meditation, though she could see that her son's hair stood slightly on end from the power of the wards that he was tapping into. She wondered if he was only monitoring them, or if he was attempting to shift them to combat the attack. They had modified the wards around the Manor on the first of the year, as they always did, continuing to maintain the shields that concealed the magical signatures of those within and to prevent unwanted intruders. But they'd taken the added precaution of re-awakening wards long unused, that were designed to prevent someone from being compelled off of the property. It had been a collective idea, knowing how strong Dumbledore's abilities were concerning mind magic, they had not wanted to take any chances. But it seemed that not even they could account for all the tricks that the old man had up his sleeve.

Tom growled and cursed his former master, swearing that he would see the man torn to shreds for what he'd done to Harry. It had happened before, Dumbledore had destroyed the Light Lord from a distance, using the Darkest of magic to sunder their minds or cripple their bodies. Tom had not understood even as a young man just starting out in his training, he knew that magic needed to be balanced, that Dark needed Light, but he had trusted Dumbledore in those days, believed that he knew what he was doing. If only he had killed the old bastard, then and there.

(A/N: That's it for now. I know it's a cliffhanger and that is mean of me, but I have been good about updating and I promise you that I will continue to be, at least as long as it takes me to finish this arc of the story. Okay? So how about leaving me a review or a comment and letting me know what you think? Thanks for reading!)