Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! So, you are still enthusiastic about this story, then? Yay! Thanks for letting me know! :D

Boblove321: ahhh, no spraying this time? Did you really read it 6 times? Wow, that's a nice compliment for my writing :)

autumngold: no problem. It's normal to misread stuff from time to time. That's why I'm here to answer the questions, right? ^^

FanFictionLover: Who said Voldemort hasn't tortured him before he killed him? It just wasn't important enough to warrant a detailed gory scene...not to mention that I don't have the stomach to write torture scenes. That's part of why I can't read abused!Harry fics either. The abuse is wayyy too graphic for my taste sometimes. And I agree with you. The canon Potterverse wouldn't have lasted very long. I have a plot-bunny for a story based on that assumption, by the way. I'm not sure I'll write it, but I've recently had this really cool idea for a good twist on a time-travel story, so perhaps I'll exploit both in my next story ;) Would you read it if there wasn't any slash in it though? :P

One last thing, I hadn't planned on including the French Minister in the rest of the story, but since so many people asked me what will happen to him, I have decided to add his fate to the plot :P You'll see!

Nowwww, readers. Please make sure you have enough time to read this chapter because it's quite long and if you read it in small shots if won't have as much impact. I'm looking forward to see how you will like it! Let me know! :)


Chapter 29: 31st of October 1997, Part One: Revelations

A month had passed since I woke up next to the Dark Lord for the first time and I had yet to be sent back to my own bedroom to sleep. In that time, I was blissfully introduced to a whole new world of sensations and sensuality. We had worked on the strange connection between us and discovered that we could, to a certain extent at least, tone it down with Occlumency. I often failed to keep my shields up the whole time, though. I blame his talented hands and mouth for distracting me...

The Dark Lord had been right, I would never want another man than him in my whole life. I hadn't before and I wouldn't now either. I could feel it every time he touched me, with every brushes of his lips, every gasp he coaxed out of me, every passionate embrace...

We hadn't done 'it' yet, but with everything that we had done so far, I don't think I could still count as innocent by anyone's standards.

My relationship with the Dark Lord, if you could call it like that, was going well. I had never been with anyone else before, but I'd say that, apart from the normal little problems that every couple probably had, it was definitely looking promising.

We mostly got into debates (with barely any shouting, I swear!) when I didn't want to behave like a mindless minion. The...exchanges inevitably ended with me pressed against the first flat surface he could find and having my clothes ripped away from my body. Seriously, it probably turned him on to have somebody who shouted back at him instead of cowering in fright. That's the impression it gave me when I'd see the lust burning brightly in his eyes every time I shot him a witty comeback.

At this point, I had more or less accepted the Dark Lord's explanation of our strange connection. There wasn't anything else it could be, really. And well, soul mates guaranteed that I wouldn't get discarded quickly when he'd got his fill, so it did wonders for my self-doubt.

I was beginning to trust him even more. After all, he had welcomed me in his house and in his bed and was sleeping next to me without as much as a second thought for his safety (that I could see anyway), even if I was supposed to be his enemy.

He hadn't mentioned the Duel again and I knew that, theoretically, we were supposed to fight it after I was done with my OWLs and NEWTs, but I think it was just an excuse he devised to delay the moment and give me a chance to back out.

And forfeit, as it so happened, looked more promising every day. What could he possibly ask for anyway? I didn't even have access to my vaults when I issued the Duel, so he couldn't ask for any money outside of the ridiculously small pile of gold rotting away in its big cave in Gringotts and the few coins that remained in my money purse. For what else could he ask? My body? I was already involved with him and would probably have already had sex with him if the man weren't strangely reluctant to actually cross this line. That last issue was actually worrying me a bit. Why wouldn't he want to have sex with me? He seemed to want me, that was clear in the way he acted, but he'd always stop himself right before. I did ask him why and he said he wanted to wait 'for the right moment'. Whatever that meant.

I just hoped the right moment wasn't when I had forfeited to him and he would start to maniacally laugh and reveal to me that it was his plan from the beginning and that now I'd be his sex slave for the rest of my life...or any other equivalently horrible scenarios.

But I was less and less afraid of those as time passed. One didn't make elaborate plans spreading out through months when he could have easily seduced me in two weeks or so. It simply didn't make any sense.

He seemed to be hesitating to reveal me something, though. That's all I knew.

In the meanwhile, all I could say was that I was settling down in our routine pretty peacefully. I still trained everyday or so, but without the same...determination and anger I had before. When I thought of not having to fight the Dark Lord, it felt like a huge weight that had been pressing down on me all my life had just been lifted from my shoulders. I felt light, nearly giddy.

.

Not everything was going so well, though. After my hasty departure, the Rebels had upped the amount of raids and their exposure to the world. It felt to me as if they were giving a big last push. From what I knew of their capacity, they wouldn't be able to last thing long at this rate.

Some new people had joined them in the past few months, like this mysterious new ally who could control House-Elves. She hadn't done anything else since Draco's kidnapping, however, so she had been temporarily declared as inactive, or as a 'one-shot ally'. There hadn't been any House-Elves in raids, but many Purebloods who heard of what had happened to the Malfoys decided to either strengthen their wards even more and add precautions against House-Elves magic, or give them explicit orders against any type of betrayal they could ever think of. A lot of them had also pleaded the Dark Lord to give them the 'recipe' for the curse he employed. As it had the unpleasant side effect of making them more ugly than they had previously been and rendering them, for all intent and purpose, mute, most just went back home disappointed at the news and resolved to discipline or curse their House-Elves by themselves. The amount of elven deaths in the past months had grown exponentially and dramatically and, sadly for them, they couldn't even leave the service of those who had killed their brothers or parents in their quest for the perfect curse to make them even more servile than they already were. If I were them, I'd think twice before trusting this 'Onniny' again. She didn't seem to be there right now, supporting them and helping them get away from their families, after all.

When I'd asked Voldemort what he thought of the situation with the House-Elves, he had replied:

"While it is regrettable that so many good servants are killed or maimed so uselessly, I do understand the fear that motivates their owners. Some of those Elves have been there, in their home, for generations. They know everything that has happened in the house that they served for the past fifty years or more. Some of them had been entrusted the care of the family heirs when they grew up; they had access to every room and every Galleon their family owned; they were trusted blindly and doubtlessly and now, that trust is shattered. The system can't stay as it used to be without a period of recuperation, of adaptation. Both the masters and the servants have to revaluate the situation and reach the appropriate conclusions. In the meanwhile, it's the servants who pay the price for the betrayal committed by one of them. Lucius' traitorous House-Elf is responsible for the massacre of its brethren: it, and its contact in the Rebels, this supposedly 'friend of the House-Elves'. She singlehandedly harmed their cause more than anybody else had ever had."

I pondered how I would feel if someone I trusted had betrayed me like that. It had already happened a couple of times when I was at the Rebel's camp, at a smaller scale: Sirius' neglect to talk to me about my Hogwarts letter, the Rebels' lie about Tonks' death, Moody's repeated manipulations. I was seriously glad that time was all behind me. Here, the Dark Lord hid some things from me, but at least I thought I could trust him not to lie to me about important questions.

.

I was wrong, of course, as I discovered on the night of the Samhain.

o0o0o

Back at the camp, on that holy day, we had lit up a few candles in honour of the dead and we had addressed short prayers to those we knew that had passed away. When Sirius was there, we had prayed for my parents' soul to return to Magic and find peace together in the great continuum. It was the British's interpretation of what happened in the afterlife according to what Necromancers and Mystics have been able to determine throughout the centuries.

Apparently, there were three phases when you died. The first one was theoretically quite short and was called 'the Ascension': immediately after your death, your soul supposedly would lift out of your body and you could see yourself lying there, immobile, and the reaction of those close to you. It sounded a bit horrible, really, but one consequence of this was that most wanted to have people surrounding them at their death. Dying and seeing your body all alone lying there, without anybody to mourn it or be sad that you were gone was one of the most wide-spread fears of the Wizarding World and one of the only reasons why we didn't take well to be hermits and recluses. Despite the...originality and plain weirdness of certain elements of this society, they always had at least one person to turn to in their lives, one person with which they could share their solitude. The Dark Lord had told me once that Severus Snape was quite the isolated man, and that he thought the Potions Master had chosen Hogwarts instead of a private lab because of this fear. It is said that those who die alone have more chance of ending up as ghosts.

Ghosts are the only ones who didn't pass to the second phase, which was, depending on your interpretation, a phase of sort of waiting/judgment/torment/reunion with others souls that you knew. Some thought that it was a relaxing time where you could ponder the accomplishments and failures of your life, others said it was like a gossip room with everybody talking about what they learnt in their lives, and what else had happened down there. Others thought that you met some sort of guide who would explain to you what happened to get you killed, or where you were heading. Anyway, it's not really certain as the souls the Necromancers did manage to contact all had different versions. The guide one was pretty popular though and people had taken to honour great symbols in their life by telling them that they hoped those mentors would be their guides in their afterlife.

The third phase, nobody knew what it consisted of. It was globally recognised that there was a third phase, and the British's general belief was that the souls joined with the great continuum of Magic to eventually be reborn as a new children of Magic. Purebloods, in particular, tended to believe that because at least it guaranteed them that they wouldn't return as Muggles or common animals. Sirius, for all his Gryffindorness and his rejection of most Pureblood customs, had agreed with that belief and brought me up as such to a certain extent.

Now that he was dead, and that my life had changed so drastically, I wasn't sure if he would welcome my prayer to his soul at all. My dead parents, if they hadn't 'carried on' yet were probably just as ashamed of the choices I had made in life. After all, between rebelling against people who didn't share your values and literally sleeping with their murderer...there was quite a gap.

It was, therefore, with much apprehension that I considered tonight's ceremony.

The Dark Lord had planned it all. It would be the night I was introduced to Wizarding society. I was quite nervous about that as well. I didn't know how they would react to me.

Draco had helped me by breaking the misconception I had about my reputation. Apparently, the 'Boy Who Betrayed Us All' nickname hadn't stuck, despite what the Rebels had told me. I was seen as an icon of the Light and a hope for all those who didn't like the current regime. I guess it would have been easier for me to run away from the Rebels if I thought I'd be welcomed by the outside world...

So, anyway, I knew what the Dark Lord was all about with his little 'introduction to society'. He just wanted to parade another chapter of his Victory for everyone to see. I only let him go with it because I too wanted to break the myth about the supposed 'light' I would bring to the Wizarding World...

.

o0o0o

It was late afternoon, and the Dark Lord had the worst idea of his life, in my opinion. He decided, at the last minute, to give me a crash course on ballroom dancing and pulled me to a big room I had never seen before with walls covered of mirrors. Bad, bad idea.

Nagini thought it was hilarious. She was there in the corner, shooting her little comments every time I did a mistake and rolling herself on the floor laughing at my misery. I had trouble containing myself and not shouting at her in retaliation.

"Why would I want to dance in front of all those people anyway? It's Samhain, not Yule, for Magic's sake! " I said in an exasperated voice after yet another failed attempt. I was 'this' close to take out the whining card to annoy him.

As it was, I was already frustrating him a bit.

"Because, Harry, there will be a ball after the ceremony and people are going to ask you to dance," said the Dark Lord in a strained voice.

"Who would ask me anyway? I won't know anybody there."

He sighed.

"I could ask you..."

I lifted an eyebrow at him. It was one thing to accompany him there, and another completely to dance with him as well. That would give people the idea that I was his lover quite plainly. Something he had never done before with anyone else.

"Are you sure you want to plaster our connection in front of the society? I thought you said you were afraid of them targeting me to get to you..."

Not to mention that I didn't want to face the onslaught of Howlers sent in protest of this choice, but it did make me feel better about the status of our relationship if he was ready to announce it to the world. It meant that I wasn't that temporary.

He looked at me attentively, pausing our whirling.

"Harry, I won't announce the soul mating bond, but I would like for the population to get a hint that I have chosen someone to be at my side."

I felt my heart warm at his word and a small pleased smile stretch my lips. I was about to answer, but Nagini beat me to it.

§ Soul mate, soul mate, you haven't even mated with him yet! What holds you back from claiming him properly! You can't make hatchlings without mating! §

The Dark Lord turned to answer her.

Thank you, Nagini, for asking what I had wondered too. Well, I didn't wonder about the hatchling part, only about the mating part...I thought, curious to see the Dark Lord's answer.

§ Nagini, I won't be making hatchlings any time soon, if ever. You should get that idea out of your head. §

§ But, Master, before, you were telling me that you just hadn't found the right mate for it, but this one is your soul mate, shouldn't he be perfect for making little hatchlings and populating your empty nest? §

I nearly laughed at the Dark Lord's predicament. He dropped his arms from around me and turned to face her in frustration. It was one thing for me to bear Nagini's babbling about babies when she didn't expect an answer, but it was a new world of annoying when she actually nagged him for something.

§ It's still too early and stop calling him that. I thought you understood when I told to you that soul mates didn't exist. §

I barely stopped myself from gasping out loud by smacking a hand on top of my mouth.

What?

I could feel my blood pounding in my ears and I held my breath.

§ I know you said that but I don't really understand why you continue to lie to him about it. Why don't you just tell him that he's your... §

I interrupted her involuntarily by gulping in a large breath of air. My hand lowered to my throat as I felt it close. It was as if I was being strangled and my heart was wrenched from my body. I bent in half, gasping and backing away from the Dark Lord and his familiar of a few steps.

I didn't think it would hurt this much when he betrayed me. I thought I had protected my heart enough for this moment.

I saw the Dark Lord turn to look at me and frown uncomprehendingly. He took a step toward me, his hand stretched to reach me, the perfect picture of concern. I shook my head violently and he let his hand drop.

He's acting; he's always been acting. Why was he even doing that? Was he planning on humiliating me tonight at the ball? Was he making me believe we'd go there to come out as a couple and in fact gathering an attentive crowd for our Duel? To throw me off-balance; to humiliate me in front of all of them; to show them how easy I was to manipulate.

I felt myself become completely red.

Oh gods, I can't believe I did all that stuff with him...I'm so easy. He was probably laughing inside when I was spreading my legs wide for him. He'll probably tell everyone how eager I was and how he didn't want to sully himself with me...

I took another step backwards. I felt my eyes water despite myself.

No! No! Don't give him the satisfaction to see how hurt you are! Turn all of that into anger! Take it all on him! Force him to duel you now!

I took out my wand, sending a Disarming spell at him. He batted it away with his hand. He hadn't even taken out his wand yet.

"Harry, what are you doing? What's happening to you?" he asked, disbelief and a bit of anger in his voice.

The spell wasn't strong enough. I thought a bit hysterically, sending him a Bone-shattering curse.

It missed. He had slightly stepped to the side. Now he looked really angry. Good. He took out his wand. Maybe he'd set that Duel now if he were angry enough. I aimed Cutting hex at his stomach and a Bludgeoning charm at his head. He blocked them easily.

"Harry, by Morgana! Explain yourself right now!"

I paused, letting my eyes slide to Nagini and back to him. I didn't say anything. I didn't trust my voice not to waver. My throat still felt too constricted to let any sound pass.

"What about Nagi..." He stopped himself, looking surprised. § You understand Parseltongue? §

I nodded. There was no point denying it now.

"Harry, let me explain, I didn't mean it like that..."

Like what? Let me guess, we're soul mates, but not of each other? What lie will you come up with now, oh so terrible Dark Lord?

I shook my head again at him and send more curses in his direction. I didn't care which, as long as they hurt. Sadly, he blocked them again.

I guess Dark curses don't work well with Dark Lords. They are members of the same family, after all, why would they attack each other? Draco said family is important in time of crisis, after all...I wonder if Draco will be sad if I die today? Maybe he'll be sad that I'm dying now and not in front of a crowd. I wonder if someone will mourn my death. With my luck, I'll probably be stuck as a ghost, condemned to follow the Dark Lord around and see him take lover after lover and laugh at my memory. Maybe we could have ghost sex if I kill him at the same time.

I laughed a bit hysterically, throwing spells left and right. Half of them were wide shots. I couldn't see well at the moment.

Maybe that Potion I took years ago to fix my eyesight stopped working now. It would be ironic. I took that Potion to help me kill the Dark Lord, and now, in the final battle, it would fail me.

A red spell flew toward me. Disarming spell, a voice whispered in my ear. I reflectively set up a shield. The spell crashed on it resoundingly. The force of the impact made me take a step back. I was in a daze. I put a hand on my face, trying to rub my eyes to make the blurriness go away. My cheeks were wet. I took the hand away from my face, looking at it. It was water.

Why am I crying? I'm angry, not sad. I had expected this would happen. They all used me and betrayed me, after all.

I distractedly stepped out of range of another spell. Binding charm, whispered the same voice.

Nobody had been that nice with me, except the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord, with his handsome face and strong body. The Dark Lord, with all his might and power. The Dark Lord, against which I was fighting now...Why hadn't I received more spells from him? Why wasn't I moving now? Was I paralysed?

I twitched, something made a strangled sound.

What? Where did that sound come from?

I blinked around, looking confusedly at my surroundings.

Why were there so many mirrors around?

I caught my reflection in one of them. I looked weird, as if I had taken Muggle drugs. I walked to it, extending my left hand to touch the image it sent.

It's probably lying. We are in the Dark Lord's Fortress: even mirrors are evil here. But his pillows are fluffy. That's all I have discovered in the past two months living with him. Neville would probably have done a better job than me here. Maybe if I were him, He would have wanted me.

The eyes in the mirror watered.

No, stupid mirror, you're wrong! I'm not crying! Stupid, stupid mirror.

I fell on my knees, facing the mirrors.

Maybe if I die in front of the mirror, it will count as if someone is mourning my death? Where is the Dark Lord, by the way? Why am I not I dead yet?

I looked around again and jolted when I saw him kneeling at my right. I cocked my head to the side.

How did he appear there? Could he Apparate inside of his Manor? That was certainly something useful to do in a Duel.

I turned back to my reflection in the mirror. I felt boneless and tired.

I know a lot of things that would be useful in a Duel. Why am I not I doing them now? I was always told I'd get killed instantly if I didn't do them. Move constantly, scan your surroundings for hidden threats, conserve your magic, be efficient in your movements and in your spells. Don't hesitate. Don't hesitate even if he's kneeling at your feet begging you to spare him. Happy tenth birthday, Harry. Here's a big sharp knife. It's for the monster you'll slay when you're older. No, not the one hiding under your bed. The one with a nice smile and a beautiful face, the one with strong hands and soft lips, the one with ruby-red eyes that just looked at you so warmly...Your eyes are red today, Harry, are you becoming like him? Has he tainted you? Have you become a monster too, Prongslet? How could you let him do that, Prongslet? What would your parents say, Prongslet? Prongslet? Prongslet? You should wake up, we have a big day ahead of us!

"What, is it my birthday again?" I whispered through the knot in my throat.

No, Prongslet! It's the day you die! Everybody here is so proud of you! It's the achievement of a lifetime, being killed by a Dark Lord! I tried, but I had to settle for second best and take the magical artefact. I thought you'd understand.

"No, no, I don't understand...why did you leave me? I needed you. Why was a stupid artefact more important than me? Was it because I wasn't good enough? Was it because I couldn't hate the Dark Lord enough? Why? Answer me!" I shouted, hitting the mirror repeatedly with my palm.

"Why! What was I to you? Just a tool? All my life? Everybody around me? Was I just a tool for all of you? The Dark Lord doesn't even believe in the Prophecy! Why did you? Why did you ruin my life for it? Why did you let me cry alone in my bedroom after you told of my stupid Destiny? Why didn't you enter my room? I knew you were standing outside of it! I could feel you there! Why didn't you take me in your arms? Why did you wait until you were dying to tell me that you loved me? Did you even mean it? Why did you need a Dark Lord to tell you how to say goodbye to me? Did he tell you to go get me from the Dursley too? Would you have let me in my cupboard if it weren't from him? From the Prophecy?" I gulped in some air, feeling breathless.

"Why did we have to stay at this shitty camp with that mad Moody? He's insane, Sirius! How could you not have seen it! Why didn't you take me away? We could have gone to France, to Australia! I saw on my Gringotts statement that you had villas there. Why didn't we just leave everything behind and go? Why...why not? Why not? We had everything before us, now you're dead and I'm alone. Look at me; I'm a wreck. I'm even worse that he is" I said, waving my hand in the direction of the Dark Lord.

My attention was caught by something and my eyes strayed on his face slowly. His brows were furrowed and he was looking closely at me. Even now, he was so handsome, with his magic that made my blood sing. His eyes were the purest of rubies, or was it garnets? I lifted my right hand, something fell out of it but it didn't matter, I pressed it against his cheek. It was so soft and warm. I rubbed my thumb over his cheekbone. He took my hand in his, caressed it a bit as well.

"Harry," he said with a soothing, careful voice. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth, but I swear to you I didn't do it to hurt you. I would have told you soon...

-Are you...going to kill me now?" I asked with a strangled voice.

"No, Harry, I don't want to kill you. You are precious to me. I didn't lie about that. It's just our connection that is a bit different. Our souls are linked because sixteen years ago, on this very date..."

I waved his explanation off tiredly. I didn't want any other esoteric invention.

"You don't have to put that much effort in lying to me. The Rebels didn't and it worked well for them for a long time...

-Harry, look at me." I turned back at him again. He was still watching at me with that soft look in his eyes. He looked very serious, though. Where was all his normal teasing gone?

"Harry, I swear on my magic that what I will tell you in the next five minutes is the truth." I felt my eyes widen. Swearing on your magic was dangerous; you'd be nothing more than a Muggle if you didn't respect your oath. He was the Dark Lord, he loved magic; how could he swear on it?

I shook my head at him.

"Don't loose your magic for me. It's too beautiful to be wasted so uselessly."

"Harry, I care about you. We have a real connection between our souls. We are not soul mates, but something happened in the night where I tried to kill you years ago and I think that a part of my soul embedded itself in you. It's in your scar. My Horcrux."

I felt my tongue trip as I tried to repeat the foreign word.

Did he just say that there was a part of his soul inside my forehead? I felt shivers of disgust wrack my body. What sort of monster has he turned me into?

I tore my hand out of his and started to claw at my forehead.

"Get it out! Get it out! It's not supposed to be there!" I shouted frantically.

The Dark Lord gripped my hands tightly with his and pulled them down from my face. I fought against him, but I felt so weak. Which spells had I shot him to feel so drained? He encircled me in his arms. I struggled against his grip, hitting him with my fists but he didn't budge. I heard a whimper. I realised that they were coming from me. He made a shushing sound that was strangely reassuring. His magic wrapped around me, swaddling me. I felt warm and comfortable. The weak tremors that had shaken my body since my speech to the mirror calmed down at last. I settled against him, my head resting against his shoulder, breathing his scent in. He rubbed a hand in circles around my back and another up and down my arm.

.

o0o0o

After a while, I felt the fog in my head clear out. I couldn't really remember what had just happened. I thought about it, breathing deeply in and out to center myself.

What the effing heck had just happened? Why did I do all that?

I asked as much to the Dark Lord. He laughed. He laughed. As if I hadn't aimed who knows how many deathly curses at his head. As if I hadn't gone completely barmy on him. I shook my head. I didn't understand.

"I believe that, were you a Muggle, this could be called a psychotic break, Harry. Mind Healing is more abstract and uncertain, however. Even the fact that day is Samhain could be a factor in your...slightly violent episode."

I snorted.

"You can say that again." I breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly. "Couldn't this have all be avoided if you had just tell me the truth about our connection? You made me paranoid for months! I knew there was something wrong with the whole soul mate scenario."

The Dark Lord sighed.

" I know, it's just that...this information makes me a bit vulnerable and the less people knew about my Horcruxes, the better.

-Horcruxes? As in, plural? You have other people like me running around?"

I couldn't help but feel a bit hurt. Were they all his lovers, as well?

"No, not people, objects. The connection with you was an accident. I didn't know about it until I felt it when I met you.

-Objects? Is it what Moody was searching for? The rattle and all that?"

He snorted.

"Well, obviously, there is no rattle. I grew up in an orphanage, if I had a rattle, it must have belonged to at least ten other babies after me."

I smiled a bit despite the situation at the thought of a baby Dark Lord.

"Do you have any pictures of you then? I bet you looked so cute and adorable..."

He chuckled a bit darkly.

"Actually, they called me monster and they thought I was possessed by the Devil because I never cried and looked too intelligent.

-And pictures?" I asked, unable to stop myself. I lifted my head from his shoulder to look at him with a teasing smile on my face.

He answered it with a smirk, bringing one hand up and trailing it against my still puffy cheek. I felt it magically clean under his touch.

"No baby pictures, I'm afraid. There might be one of me at when I was about eight, however. I remember that they had taken one of the orphanage's children, that day. It might still be in some archives, somewhere."

I bit my lip. It was probably lost. Maybe I'd ask for a Pensieve memory at some point.

"It's horrible that they thought you were possessed. They must not have been very loving, then?"

He snorted and started carding his fingers through my hair.

"They tried to exorcise me when I was about ten. It was quite brutal. They thought I had killed the rabbit of a boy my age.

-Had you?

-Of course. He was an annoying and vulgar bully. But he never bothered me afterwards. He learnt to fear my strange power. Even at that time, I had quite a good control over my accidental magic. "

I felt my eyebrows lift on my forehead. I winced a bit because of the sore flesh I had scratched out. I searched for my wand, finding it lying on the ground a foot away. I bent down to pick it up and shot myself a Healing spell and general grooming spells. I glance at my reflection. My hair was still standing on my head and my eyes were still a bit red from all the crying, but I looked sort of presentable, for my low standards. The dress robes I had put on for the occasion were all rumpled and dirtied, with wet spots staining the fabric. I'd have to change them before I went anywhere.

"I spent three years with my mother's Muggle sister before your Victory. Her beefy husband and she just shoved me in a cupboard and locked me in there. They called me 'Freak' or 'Boy'. When Sirius and Remus came to pick me up, I didn't even know my name. They were so angry on my behalf. When they told me that I wouldn't have to go back to my cupboard ever again, it was the best day of my life. It was my first Patronus moment, as well. So...I get a bit what you felt a bit with the crappy orphanage."

He sighed a bit, his fingers returning to my hair.

"Well, I'd rather you...

His sentence was cut short when we both felt someone magical hurrying to the room we were in. We got up to our feet quickly, wands drawn, right before the doors flew open and crashed on the walls noisily. Severus was running to us and looked breathless, as if he had run all the way from the entrance parlour to this room.

"The Rebels! They dropped a bomb on the Ministry!"


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Oh s* !

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