CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: THE DISCOVERY

Harry took a step back but froze at a soft hissing sound that came from behind him. He chanced a look and saw a large twelve-foot long snake circling him dangerously, its tongue flickering as it hissed menacingly. He froze, and looked back at Voldemort, knowing that his chances of escape were limited.

Voldemort took a moment to take stock of his new body, staring in wonder at his long spider-like fingers. He turned to look at the two Death-Eaters, his bright red eyes boring into those of his followers.

"Wormtail…Zabini…I would never have imagined you two to be the ones to restore me," Voldemort said, his voice cold and chilling.

"I have fulfilled your bidding my lord," Ben replied softly, bowing submissively. "I have ever been your servant, completing your noble work."

Voldemort looked at him with vague interest, and Ben straightened. He looked towards Buffy who stared back calmly, keeping her horror, disgust and anger deeply buried. Ben motioned for her to come closer, and she managed to take her place at his side.

Voldemort looked her over impassively, not certain what Ben had meant. His eyes suddenly widened, and his bony hands reached out to stroke Buffy's cheeks. He jerked her chin upwards, looking her in the eyes.

"Yes," he drawled out slowly. "Yes, I see. This is most pleasing Zabini. You will be rewarded for this, I assure you."

Ben bowed once more to hide the smile on his face. "Thank you for honouring me, my lord," he said quietly.

Buffy remained calm, keeping her eyes downcast, knowing that if she looked at the newly risen Dark Lord, she wouldn't be able to keep the hate away. She could feel him gently probing her mind, and she concentrated on the memories of the lessons that had been given to her by Lucius Malfoy and Dominique Quirrell.

Seemingly satisfied, Voldemort dropped his hand and looked towards Pettigrew. "Hold out your arm," he ordered.

"Oh master, thank you," Pettigrew whimpered, extending the bleeding stump, but Voldemort just laughed. "The other arm Wormtail."

Voldemort bent down and pulled out Pettigrew's left arm; he forced the sleeve of Pettigrew's robes up past his elbow to reveal the vivid red tattoo on his arm. Voldemort examined it carefully, ignoring Pettigrew's uncontrollable weeping.

"It is back, they will all have noticed it. And now, we shall see…now we shall know."

He pressed his long, white forefinger to the brand on Pettigrew's arm.

Harry's forehead exploded in pain once more, and Buffy felt a piercing migraine pass through her brain. She flinched, but remained standing, unlike Harry who fell to his knees once more.

Moments later, over a dozen Death-Eaters began apparating into the area, looking at Lord Voldemort in shocked disbelief. Several of them fell to their knees in front of the skeletal man, and then began forming a circle around where Harry was struggling to get to his feet, the twelve foot long snake still circling him, keeping him in place.

Buffy stood completely still, taking in the scene before her. She managed to hold back a gasp as she recognised Giles among the gathered group. Even with his cloak and white mask, she still recognised him by the ring on his pinkie finger. He looked directly at her, and nodded almost imperceptibly. She returned the gesture, and listened as Voldemort began explaining exactly what had happened, and how he had been restored by his faithful servants, and how another of his followers had been at Hogwarts manipulating things to ensure that Harry was the first to get the Triwizard Tournament Cup and be portkeyed to the cemetery.

It took nearly twenty minutes for the Dark Lord to explain everything that had happened since he'd been defeated by the two-year-old Harry, and the Death-Eaters listened in rapt attention, as Harry stood in the centre, the snake continuing to circle him, occasionally snapping towards his heels to keep Harry aware of the snake's presence. Harry was trying to work out an escape route.

Unfortunately for the Boy-Who-Lived, there didn't seem to be any chance to escape. He was surrounded on all sides, with no opportunity to get past the snake, Nagini.

Voldemort stepped forward into the circle, and Harry took a step back, almost forgetting about the large snake circling him. Voldemort instructed the snake to retreat, causing Nagini to hiss unhappily, but comply with Voldemort's instructions.

"You have been taught how to duel, Harry Potter?" Voldemort asked.

Buffy was shocked back to attention. She'd only been half listening, but she couldn't believe what was about to happen. She was beginning to panic, though she wasn't really all that certain as to why. She knew that she didn't want her old friend hurt of course, but there was something more to it than that. The thought of Harry being hurt caused her stomach to clench in fear, and her throat to close up in a complete panic. Voldemort hurting Harry was not something she wanted to happen at all.

It wouldn't be a fair fight at all either. Giles had taught her that Death-Eaters had no honour whatsoever. They would attack in the dead of the night when people were unprepared to defend themselves, so she shouldn't have been so surprised that Voldemort would duel with Harry to the death when Harry was only fourteen-years-old.

"And now you face me like a man, straight-backed and proud, the way your father died," Voldemort taunted.

Harry glared at the man who had killed his family. He could feel his hatred welling within him. The man in front of him had taken his entire family away from him, and Harry knew that there was very little he could do to get his revenge.

"And now, we duel!"

Before Harry could even think of a spell to fire, he was hit with the Cruciatus Curse. Buffy struggled to stay in her position away from the circle, wanting nothing more than to run to her old friend and fall to her knees beside him and break the spell. Harry was screaming loudly and the Death-Eaters just watched either impassively, or with maniacal grins of satisfaction on their faces.

Voldemort released the spell and stepped towards Harry, grabbing the boy by his cloaks and hauling him into a standing position. Thin bony fingers gripped Harry's hand, directing his wand away from Voldemort, and Harry felt a cold shiver of fear run down his spine.

"I once offered you your parents back, do you remember?" Voldemort whispered, for Harry's ears alone.

Harry said nothing, but he could remember it as though it had happened only the day before instead of three years ago.

"I'll make you another offer boy," Voldemort continued. "Join me. Join me, and you and your sister will be reunited."

That did get Harry's complete attention. His eyes swung up to look directly into the scarlet eyes of Voldemort. The Dark Lord gave a low and soft chuckle, and the sarcastic sneer that graced Voldemort's lips was more terrifying than anything that Harry had ever seen before in his life.

Voldemort grabbed Harry's chin and forced him to look in Buffy's direction. Buffy caught his eyes, and Harry saw the flash of curiousity in them before they hardened into the unreadable green depths they'd been before.

"She is beautiful, is she not, Potter?" Voldemort whispered. "And she is mine to command. Raised to be loyal to me. If you'll join me, you could finally have part of your family back."

"You're a liar," Harry said through clenched teeth, though he couldn't take his eyes from Buffy after what Voldemort had just told him.

"You don't believe me?" Voldemort asked. "Just look at her eyes, boy. Your mother's eyes. Your eyes. I remember how beautiful her screams sounded when she was younger, the taste of her blood, the sounds of her wimpering. And now, she's become the perfect Death-Eater. Wouldn't your parents be proud?"

Harry pulled back and spat in Voldemort's face, catching the Dark-Lord off guard, and managing to struggle out of Voldemort's bony clutches.

"Ellie!" Harry yelled, racing towards his sister, desperate to reach her.

He was cut off by the Death-Eaters, and thrown to the ground at Voldemort's feet. The Death-Eaters closed ranks around him, and he could no longer see his sister. He struggled to his feet, his wand aimed at Voldemort.

"You won't join me then?" Voldemort asked mockingly.

Harry gripped his wand tightly, wanting desperately to make another break for his sister, but with the Death-Eaters surrounding him, there was nothing he could do. He couldn't properly comprehend what he'd just been told. His sister was still alive. She'd been raised by Death-Eaters. She was loyal to Voldemort. It seemed like the best of dreams, but a nightmare at the same time.

Harry tightened his grip on his wand, his eyes hard. As Harry shouted "Expelliarmus!", Voldemort cried "Avada Kedavra!"

A jet of green light issued from Voldemort's wand just as a jet of red light blasted from Harry's. The lights met in mid-air and suddenly Harry felt his wand vibrating as though an electric charge was surging through it. A narrow beam of light, a bright deep gold connected the two wands.

Chaos ensued as both Harry and Voldemort were picked up from the ground and deposited several feet away, outside the circle, a golden cage of bright light creating a dome around them, and then to Harry's complete and utter shock, Voldemort's wand began to emit echoing screams of pain, followed by a dense, smoky hand, more shouts, and then something much larger. The ghostly figure of Cedric Diggory. More screams came, and then another body. And old man, followed by Bertha Jorkins.

Harry breathed in deeply as he saw the next shadowed figure, a young woman with long hair emerged and looked at Harry.

"Your father's coming," Lily said, her voice taking on an ethereal, distant, and echoing sound. "It will be alright, hold on."

Harry only had to wait a few more moments until he saw his father emerge from Voldemort's wand and move closer towards Harry.

"When the connection is broken, we will longer for only moments, but we will give you time. You must get to the Portkey, it will return you to Hogwarts. Do you understand, Harry?" James asked, his voice also distant and echoing.

"What about Ellie?" Harry asked, desperately wanting to look over his shoulder to see where his sister was. He knew he had to keep the connection between the wands though.

Both his parents gave small smiles. "It isn't her time yet," Lily replied softly. "There are certain things that each of you must do first."

"All is not as it seems," James added. "You must do this Harry. Be ready to run…do it now."

"NOW!" Harry yelled; he didn't think he could have held the connection for another moment anyway. He pulled his wand upwards with an almighty wench, and the golden thread broke. The shadowy figures of Voldemort's victims did not disappear – they were closing in upon Voldemort, shielding Harry from his gaze.

Harry ran as he had never run in his life, knocking two stunned Death-Eaters aside as he passed; ducking and dodging curses, pelting towards Cedric's body. He jumped over the cup and dived as he heard more wand blasts behind him; stretching out his hand to grab Cedric's arm. Harry's hand closed on Cedric's wrist; one tombstone stood between him and Voldemort, but Cedric was too heavy to carry and the Cup was out of reach,

Harry saw Voldemort's lips curl into a smile, the Dark Lord's wand raised.

"Accio!" Harry yelled, pointing his wand at the Triwizard Cup. It flew into the air, and soared towards him. Harry caught the handle, and he heard Voldemort's screams of fury at the same moment as he felt the jerk behind his navel that meant the Portkey had worked.

Ooo, Harry knows now. What happens next?

Many thanks for all your feedback and support.

Toodles.

DKG.