'An Idle Mind Is The Devil's Playground'
By: Night Flame Miko
Contributed to by: Chocolate coated Blue
An:
Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter some of you have so anxiously been waiting for ;P
Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed thinking this one up :) Honestly I have no idea where I come up with these things, but they are brilliant aren't they? *shines nails on shirt*
Right, now that all the complimentary posturing is over :D
Time for the chapter!
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Voldemort could feel that now familiar tick trying to appear above his left eye.
He didn't know what God he had pissed off, but he would do or kill anything to make it up. You see, it had been 3 nights since he figured out how to Ghost (as Harry had taken to calling it), and now that Harry knew all he had to do was think about Voldemort before he fell asleep to Ghost…well Voldemort had just about had it with the Potter Brat.
There were quite a few reasons for this, actually; beyond his usual homicidal urges towards the teenager. One being that he had told his Death Eaters not to worry (as they so obviously were, and it was beginning to effect their work, and he couldn't have that) and that he had managed to get rid of his 'conscience'…again.
And at the time he had, but now it was not so, and therefore he had to act as if he didn't see Harry, and Harry had quickly figured this out. So for the past two nights he had made it a mission to get Voldemort to react. Though of course, the worst he could do was surprise the Dark Lord and/or speak to him, as because he was a ghost he obviously couldn't touch anything. Voldemort thanked God for small mercies.
But he was starting to reach his breaking point, though he refused to give up. And unfortunately it was the date for Snape's annual report on what he had garnered from Dumbledore, and now that Voldemort knew he wasn't a spy he allowed the private meetings to take place between him and the Potions Master once again, instead of having it be part of a whole meeting.
This proved to be a mistake.
He tried to pay attention to what Snape was saying without letting his attention drift to the annoyance (Aka Harry Potter) currently poking his finger with apparent fascination through the Potions Master's arm. It seemed Potter had figured out that it was only when someone else stuck something through them in their Ghost form that it was distinctly uncomfortable, otherwise they could easily float through things without any inconvenience.
Keeping his eyes focussed pointedly on Snape's features he felt a sudden chill rush through him just as Harry seemed to brighten, his face enlightened as he seemingly came up with an idea.
Wondering whether he should do or say something despite what it would look like to Snape, he was two seconds too late as Harry suddenly stuck his whole hand into Snape's chest, a look of intense concentration on his face. Deciding to ignore it he was about to focus on what Snape was saying once again when Harry let out an exclamation as he pulled his hand out of Snape's chest and punched said hand into the air,
"Yes! I knew he was a heartless bastard!"
Voldemort broke. Slapping a hand to his face he pulled it down before glaring at Harry, ignoring the Potions Master's startled silence.
"There are you happy now, you annoying brat? You got me to react, woop-dee-do-dah-day." Voldemort stated sarcastically, glaring at the grinning teenager, "And what do you mean he's a heartless bastard? I'm the Dark Lord! I've killed hundreds! Why aren't I the heartless one?"
Harry put a finger to his chin, seemingly thinking about it before coming to a decision. "What do you mean you're a heartless bastard?" Walking up to the Dark Lord, Voldemort sneered at the grin on Harry's face, "And here I thought you were all Butterflies and Roses, eh Voldie-poo?"
Voldemort's mind went blank before it caught up with what had been said and he felt absolute murderous rage, the likes of which he hadn't felt in a long time.
"Screw killing you, Potter. I am going to catch you, I am going to torture you, and then I'm going to give you to the Death Eaters so they can torture you, and only then will I kill you, as slowly and painfully as possible!"
Rising from his seat he glared down into the wide green eyes of Harry Potter, and as he forced his rage to cool (so he wouldn't end up taking it out on the only one he presently could i.e. Snape) he noticed the fear and overwhelming pain coming from the cringing Saviour, and with a start he glanced at the scar. As he half expected; it looked like the scar had re-opened and blood was starting to run down Harry-Ghost's face. Said teenager blinked before touching the blood and saying in a blank voice,
"Huh. And I thought you couldn't hurt me when I'm like this…learn something new every day." And with that he disappeared.
Voldemort looked at the empty space wondering what just happened. And why did he feel something like…guilt…again! He had never felt guilt once for anyone, and now the same person had inspired it at least twice! It was unheard of!
Sighing he dragged a hand down his face and looked at Snape when he heard his hesitant voice,
"My Lord? Is…Potter here?"
Frowning he turned it into a sneer and glared at the Potions Master,
"Yes Snape. Glad you could catch up. Now get out before I redirect my anger to a more entertaining venture." Fingering his wand he smirked as Snape easily caught his meaning and swiftly vanished out of the room.
Letting out one more sigh, he wondered whether he had damaged the tentative friendship he had with the Boy-Saviour more than he could hope to repair…and the real question was…did he even want to repair it?
It was only as he realised that he could feel nothing coming from Harry through the bond that he decided that:
Yes. Yes he did.
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Harry sighed as he stared out the window of the common room.
It had been a day since the mess with Voldemort and he was starting to wonder what was wrong with him.
He'd at first been angry. It was just a joke! Merlin, did the guy have to take it so badly?!
But it was only later that he began to wonder about how he had been acting lately. He knew that Voldemort was stressed with Dark Lord stuff, and now that he thought about it, distracting the man during all his meetings just to get a reaction, whilst being fun for Harry himself, it would most likely have just put more pressure on the Dark Lord. And whilst he may, unfortunately, view the Dark Lord as a friend, he should know that Voldemort would never view things the same way.
It would probably be for the best if he just stopped speaking to Voldemort. Hopefully the bond will relapse and then he won't have to worry about Ghost-ing to the Dark Lord anymore. Though now that he thought about it, Dumbledore would probably appreciate being able to 'spy' on all of Voldemort's meetings…but for some reason that just felt wrong to Harry, though he knew if the situation was ever switched that Voldemort wouldn't hesitate to spy on him.
Closing his eyes he rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache begin to develop, before starting when he suddenly heard a voice across from him,
"Po-Harry."
Looking up his eyes widened when he saw Voldemort sitting across from him on one of the couches. Glancing around Harry took in the empty common room before turning his attention warily to the Dark Lord.
"What are you doing here?"
He could hear the suspicion in his own voice and almost winced before remembering that he had good reason to be suspicious.
Surprisingly Voldemort wasn't wearing his usual sneer and seemed to be struggling with something. Finally the Dark Lord just sighed (Harry's eyes widened at that, even such a small show of frustration was unusual for Voldemort) and looked Harry in the eye.
"Look, I just wanted to…apologise, for my actions the other day. It was unjustified, and I had no need to force so much pain on you for so small an infraction. I hope my…oversight will not ruin our…" Gesturing vaguely he frowned before giving a small shrug and continuing, "...whatever it is we have going on."
It was a few seconds later that Harry realised he had forgotten to breathe and promptly sucked in a deep breath, wondering who the hell had gone and replaced the Dark Lord and since when could they Ghost? Realising he was letting the silence last too long, he simply smiled brilliantly at the Dark Lord,
"Don't worry! I never expected an apology, but if you don't want to discontinue our…friendship…I guess, then I'm all for it!"
Voldemort only sneered in return but another of those unidentifiable emotions came through to Harry and he only grinned in response before gesturing at the empty room,
"It was good timing you had there, Voldemort. It would have been even more awkward if other people had been around for that."
It was with some surprise that he heard a soft voice almost directly behind him, and considering Voldemort was in-front of him, eyebrow raised and smirk in place he decided that he hadn't imagined it. Turning slowly he couldn't say he was that surprised to see Luna Lovegood, in all her dreamy glory smiling at hi-…the place just above his left shoulder.
"Luna? How long have you been there? I could have sworn this place was empty…" Glancing around again, Harry realised where exactly he was and this only brought on more questions. "And how did you get into the Gryffindor common room? Where'd you get the password?"
Luna simply smiled at him…ish. And answered dreamily,
"Why Harry, I have always been here. And the Slicker-ickles told me the password, you should really be more careful about what's around when you say the password; you never know what's listening in."
Harry slowly nodded at the strange girl before saying,
"You know Luna, I would actually find it more believable if you were to tell me the castle was sentient, liked you, and then gave you the password to our common room."
Luna blinked her large blue eyes before seeming to focus on Harry for the first time since he had known her, speaking in the most serious voice he had ever heard (and considering she had fought Death Eaters with a dreamy voice, this was saying something) she asked him carefully,
"Harry…are you feeling alright?"
Blinking at her he realised what she was implying-
And promptly smacked his head into the coffee table, groaning.
You knew you had hit rock-bottom when Luna 'Looney' Lovegood thought you were insane.
Voldemort smirked at the groaning teen and asked silkily,
"Would you mind doing that again? It was quite satisfying."
Lifting his head to look at the Dark Lord incredulously they were both surprised when Luna spoke dreamily once again,
"I think that would be a bad idea Mr. Voldemort. The Nargles enjoy the sound of heads smacking wood." Leaning forward she finished conspirationally, "You don't want Nargles about, they are annoying little buggers."
Of course, Harry and Voldemort were still stuck on the part where she answered the Dark Lord.
"Luna…you can hear him?" Harry asked her hesitantly and she blinked at him,
"Of course Harry. Mr. Voldemort is sitting right there," she pointed directly at said Dark Lord who blinked at her (the Dark Lord equivalent of gaping), "Why wouldn't I be able to see him, or hear him speak?"
Harry opened his mouth and raised a finger before slowly lowering it, shutting his mouth and shrugging at Voldemort, "I got nothing."
Voldemort simply leaned forward and examined Luna, who didn't seem at all uncomfortable by the attention,
"Hmm…It would seem Miss. Lovegood has some Seer blood in her. This would account for her odd mannerisms and ability to see that which most others can't."
Harry blinked once again before looking at Luna with new respect,
"Wow Luna. That's really cool."
Luna smiled dreamily at him,
"It is rather, isn't it?"
Sitting down next to Harry she promptly began to tell Voldemort, most Evil Dark Lord in the last century about some of her more fanciful creatures, and Harry simply watched, feeling more peaceful then he had in while, knowing that finally he had someone who could know of his little secret.
Someone who apparently wouldn't care all that much.
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An:
Wow. I have no idea where this chapter came from. I had planned the Snape-heartless bit and the Luna-insane bit, but the rest came out of no-where!
Still I hope you enjoyed, it was rather fun for me to write.
And finally some more progression for our two characters eh?
Till next time.
-night flame miko
p.s. reviews=happy :P