Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling. Also this story is inspired by 'A Shattered Prophesy' by Project Dark Overlord.

Chapter Twenty Nine

James watched helplessly as his son was taken by Bella, back to Lord Voldemort. Back to the monster that had filled Harry's mind with horrific lies about his true parents. Without thinking, James pulled out his wand and rushed to the door, intending to kill as many Death Eaters as possible.

Sirius and Lily followed by Dumbledore rushed out with James. Soon the four adults were standing outside. They arrived just in time to see the last of the Death Eaters disapparate. They had got what they came for. They had managed to take Harry back to their Master. James let out a frustrated scream and collapsed onto the grass, not caring that most of the school was looking out of the windows. Lily and Sirius helped James up and led him back into the school, while Professor Snape, Professor Dumbledore and many of the Hogwarts staff helped the injured Aurors. Many of the Aurors had been killed by the Death Eaters. Thankfully no student had been hurt as all of them were inside the castle at the time of the attack.

James was brought back up to Dumbledore's office. James was completely broken. He couldn't stop the tears from falling from his eyes. He felt Lily's warm embrace and both parents hugged each other and cried. They felt they had lost Harry all over again. Suddenly James pulled away from Lily

"Damien!" he whispered.

In all the commotion, James and Lily had completely forgotten about their youngest son. Both parents fled from the office and ran to the Gryffindor common room.

"Damien! Damien! Ron, where's Damien, have you seen him?" James asked the red headed prefect.

"No, I don't know where he is." Ron replied. He and Hermione were trying to calm the hysterical students, since all of them had seen the Death Eater attack.

James tore away from the room and searched the castle for Damien.

"Please, please, don't let anything happen to him!" James prayed as he ran to the Great Hall, in search of Damien.

Just as James Lily and Sirius turned the corner, leading to the dungeons, they saw Damien making his way, slowly towards them. He had his head lowered and was walking very slowly, as if taking each step was painful. James and Lily ran towards Damien and had him a tight embrace.

When they let go of the thirteen year old, they saw Damien's hazel eyes were filled with tears.

"Damy?" Lily whispered, wondering why Damien looked so broken.

"I had to…you…you understand right? He…he wouldn't listen to anything I would say. He…he didn't believe me." Damien was speaking in a hushed tone, and his eyes looked unfocused, as if he were talking but not quite aware of who he was talking to.

James quickly led Damien back to the Potters living quarters. Once the three adults and Damien were safely inside, James turned to Damien.

"Damy, what happened?"

James could see the empty chair that Harry had been tied to, only twenty minutes ago. James shuddered as he thought about how they all had treated Harry, feeding his mind more nightmares about his parents. James gave himself a mental shake, he couldn't think about that just yet, he had to deal with Damien right now.

"Damien, what happened?" James repeated the question.

Damien brought his tired hazel eyes to his parents.

"I let him go." Damien said quietly, not looking at anyone in the room.

James felt his heart plummet to his stomach.

"You let him go, why? What were you thinking?!" James shouted at Damien. James knew that Damien was extremely upset just now, but he couldn't control his anger.

Damien had let Harry escape and go back to Lord Voldemort. The damage done was catastrophic! James knelt in front of Damien and forced the teen's face up, so that James could look into Damien's tear filled eyes.

"Why?" James asked.

Damien looked away and then answered.

"Because you were going to send him to Azkaban. I didn't want Harry to go to Azkaban. Harry's been lied too, he thinks that he ran away from home. He doesn't know the truth, and no matter what I said Harry wouldn't believe me." Damien said all this without looking at either of his parents.

"Damien, how do you know all of this?" Lily asked. She was referring to the fact that James had threatened Harry with Azkaban and the lies that Harry had grown up with.

"I heard dad telling Harry that he was going to send him to Azkaban. I was in this room, under the invisibility cloak. After you all left I went over to Harry and asked him why he attacked dad. Harry wouldn't tell me at first but after I mentioned how much dad had missed him, when he was taken as a baby, Harry told me. He said that…that he was…"Damien couldn't go on. He put his head into his hands and fresh tears began trailing down his cheeks.

Lily came over and put her arms around him, trying to comfort him. When Damien couldn't get himself to recount his conversation with Harry, Sirius suggested that Damien take out the memory and that way James and Lily could see for themselves what had happened.

Slowly Damien brought out his wand and closed his eyes. He was bringing forward the memory and when he pulled his wand away from his temple, there was a silvery thread attached to his wand.

James took the memory and put it into the grey coloured pensive that belonged to Lily. Soon James, Lily and Sirius were standing inside Damien's memory. They watched as Damien knelt in front of Harry, who was still tied to the chair and was looking utterly defeated.

"Harry, you tricked us. All of us! You tricked me this morning, by pretending to be uncle Siri. You even called me by my pet name that only uncle Siri uses. You did all of this, all the while knowing that you were going to try and kill our own father! Why Harry?"

The three adults saw Harry look up at Damien.

"You should really watch the details you give out when talking Damien. You told me everything I needed to know, in order to fool everyone into thinking I was Sirius Black."

James looked at Damien's reaction. Damien sat before Harry and had a look of utter shock on his face. It was obvious that Damien hadn't realised how much attention Harry was giving to Damien's small talk.

"Harry, why did you attack dad? Why do you hate him so much? Dad really loves you. You have no idea how much you mean to him! Mum told me that when you were taken, you were just a baby and dad went crazy with grief. It took him months to just speak again, and you have the nerve to hurt a man that loves you so much!"

James felt a rush of pride at Damien's words. Damien knew that James loved Harry. Unfortunately it was going to take more than that to make Harry believe it.

"What? What are you talking about Damien? I wasn't taken when I was a baby. I ran away from home when I was four!"

The three adults watched Damien pull back from Harry. A look of shock and surprise on his young face.

"No! No, Harry. It can't be! Mum and Dad wouldn't lie to me. They told me that you were taken away by a Death Eater. You were only fifteen months old! You must have been lied too…" Damien stopped talking as he saw Harry glare at Damien.

James watched as Harry responded through gritted teeth.

"You're the one who was lied too, Damien! No one's told me anything! I remember perfectly well what happened the night I left home. If I can even call that place a 'home'. Tell me Damien, if your parents never lied to you, then why didn't they tell you about me? Why keep me a bloody secret from everyone? Huh? Maybe because they never expected me to survive! How the hell can a four year old survive on his own? They thought that they had gotten rid of me for good. If I hadn't been caught by the Order and forced back into the Potters lives, you would never have even known that I existed!"

James fought another shower of emotions as Harry's words stung him. Part of what Harry was saying was true. James and Lily had never talked about Harry to Damien. They had always acted as if Harry didn't exist in front of Damien. They didn't want to scare Damien into thinking that he wasn't safe. If his older brother can be taken away by Lord Voldemort's men, right from under James and Lily's very own roof, then what chance would Damien stand?

Also, James felt that they had given up on Harry too soon. They never looked for Harry hard enough. Everyone just assumed that Lord Voldemort had killed Harry, because of the prophesy. No one had ever considered the possibility that Harry might have survived. If they had found Harry sooner, maybe all of this wouldn't have happened. Harry would not have had such an awful, terrifying childhood. Even though James knew that the memories he had witnessed were fake, they still tore his heart open, knowing that Harry believed them to be true and had grown up believing them.

James was brought out of his thoughts as he heard Damien respond back to Harry.

"But Harry, I can't see why Mum and Dad would lie. What possible benefit would come from lying?" Damien stopped talking and his hazel eyes widened in realisation. "Harry, why did you leave home? You said you ran away, why would you run away from mum and dad?"

Harry didn't answer and looked away from Damien. Harry seemed to be making an effort to hold his tongue.

"Harry? Please tell me, why would you run away from home?" Damien asked again.

"Trust me Damien, you of all people don't want to know what truly happened."

Harry brought his green eyes back to Damien and the three adults watching the memory, saw the look of hurt and betrayal in Harry's green orbs.

"Harry, you can't be…please Harry, tell me you don't think that mum and dad would have hurt you. They couldn't hurt anyone…" Damien was once again cut off by Harry.

"I don't think that they hurt me, I know they hurt me! I remember everything! They think that I was only a child, a four year old, pathetic, stupid child! What can he remember? But I remember everything, Damien. I lived that nightmare over and over again, until I had to cast those memories away! I took them out of my mind, so that they don't haunt me when I sleep. That's what they did to me! Not only did your mum and dad torture me when I was a child, they continued to hurt me when I was away from them, so much that I had to physically remove my memories! There Damien! I told you, is that what you wanted to hear?"

Harry was breathing heavily and had unshed tears glistening in his eyes. Damien was close to tears as well. Damien tried one last time to convince Harry that he was wrong.

"I'm not going to argue with you. If you say that you remember what mum and dad did to you, then I'll believe you. But I just want to ask one question. You say that you remember everything that happened to you, that you ran away from home when you were four years old, right?"

Harry only nodded his head, keeping his eyes focused on Damien.

"Well, Harry, if that's true then how come you don't remember me?"

Harry looked at Damien, with a confused expression, as if he didn't understand the question.

"I'm three years younger than you. So if you were four years old, that would make me one year old, around the time you ran away. If you remember everything that happened to you, then surely you would remember me as well. Yet when we met for the first time, back in Grimmauld place, you were really shocked that you had a younger brother."

James, Lily and Sirius shared a look of relief with each other. They felt immense relief and joy that at least Damien never believed the lies that were fed to Harry. Damien had brought up a very good point, surely this would make Harry question the logic of those memories.

"I don't know why I can't remember you Damien. I only remember the horrible things that were said and did to me. Maybe you…"

Harry's words were cut off by a huge blast that came from outside. Harry looked at Damien and asked him.

"Damy, what time is it?"

Damien looked at Harry in bewilderment.

"What?"

"The time! Damien, what time is it?"

Damien looked at his watch around his wrist.

"8pm, why?"

Harry looked desperately at the door.

"It's them, the Death Eaters!"

Damien looked at the door in horror.

"Death Eaters! Here at Hogwarts. It can't be! Hogwarts is too well protected!"

Harry gave a small laugh and turned his head over to look at Damien's terrified face.

"Nothing can be protected forever."

Damien looked at the doors again.

"They're here for you, aren't they?" Damien asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes. I was supposed to go home today."

James, Lily and Sirius looked at Harry in shock. So that's why Harry attacked James today, since he knew that Death Eaters were coming to rescue him later on and that he would escape before anyone found out what had happened.

Damien looked at Harry again and saw the sadness in Harry's eyes. Suddenly Damien took out his wand and pointed it at Harry's wrists.

"REDUCTO" Damien yelled and the bonds holding Harry down disappeared. It took Harry a second to realise what had just happened. Damien repeated the same action for the bonds holding Harry's legs as well. Harry sprung to his feet at once.

"Damien, what…?"

"Just go Harry! If you don't leave now, you'll end up in Azkaban."

Damien was talking to Harry but he couldn't even look him in the eye. Harry was staring at the teen before him. Unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"You realise what you're doing, don't you? I tried to kill James Potter. I'll try again until I succeed." Harry said, and he watched Damien's reactions very carefully as he spoke.

Damien flinched at the word 'kill' but didn't make any attempt at stopping Harry from leaving.

"I'm helping you escape because I don't want you to end up in Azkaban. You're my brother and always will be, but if you try to harm mum or dad again Harry, you're going to have to kill me first. I'm not going to let anything happen to them until I am around." Damien didn't have any sort of threat in his voice. He was merely stating the facts.

Harry smiled at Damien, but not in his usual smirk like fashion. The smile that James, Lily and Sirius saw was as genuine as they had ever seen on Harry.

"Typical Gryffindor." Harry said as he playfully pushed Damien.

Despite the heart breaking situation, Damien smiled back at Harry.

"And damn proud of it too."

Harry left to go towards the door. Just before he left he turned around and spoke to Damien, for what was probably the last time.

"Stay inside Hogwarts. They can't come inside."

With that said Harry left and Damien collapsed to the ground, tears falling from his eyes as he watched his brother leave all of them, again.

James, Lily and Sirius felt themselves leave the memory and were once again standing in the same room as the memory was, but were standing over an exhausted looking Damien.

James went over and picked up his son, from the chair he was sitting in and embraced him. He whispered his apologies in Damien's ear and felt the child in his arms sob harder. Soon Damien was led up to the Gryffindor common room and handed over to Ron and Hermione who took over the grieving boy instantly.

xxx

James and Lily wanted nothing more than to crawl into their beds and sleep until this nightmare was over. A part of James wished that all of this was a nightmare. That he would wake up and find himself in his bed and that Harry would still be here at Hogwarts with him.

James and Lily sat on the ground, next to Lily's desk. Both heart broken parents began blaming themselves for not realising what Harry was going through.

"How could we not have seen this? How could we have been so blind to Harry's reactions towards us?" Lily said in a small voice. "He never hid the fact that he hated all of us, but we all just pushed it aside. Not wanting to deal with it, hoping that Harry will just snap out of it. How could we not have questioned him about this?" Lily continued.

Suddenly Lily clasped her hand over her mouth and looked at James with shock in her green eyes.

"Oh my God, James! Remember when we spoke to Harry for the first time, back at the Headquarters? Do you remember what he said to us? He asked us if we were disappointed that he had survived, he said that we 'didn't expect him to survive' remember? At that time we had assumed that he was referring to the incident with his capture because he had been severely injured, but that's not what he was talking about. He was referring to the fact that he had ran away from home twelve years ago! He meant that we must be disappointed that Harry had survived and grown up. And when he was talking to Damien he said the same thing he said 'Maybe they never expected me to survive! How the hell can a four year old survive on his own?' It was all there, all the evidence that Harry had been lied too, we just never picked up on it."

James realised that Lily was right. Harry had dropped many hints, had reacted strangely towards James and Lily, but both parents had never picked up on it. Everything made sense now. The way Harry used to glare at him, the strange remarks about James being violent and the way Harry had freaked out when they had caught Damien at the Headquarters. James cringed as he remembered the words he had spoken to Damien in front of Harry,

'The Weasley's are outraged at your behaviour…you are going to be so sorry…..Your punishment will be decided tomorrow…'

These words must have brought back those horrific memories to Harry, that's why he had stood up for Damien. He must have thought that Damien had gone through the same treatment as Harry himself had suffered.

'But surely Harry must have realised that Damien was treated fairly?' James thought to himself. At this point James remembered something else. The words Harry had bitterly spoken to him just that afternoon,

'…but then I saw you with Damien and I saw how different you were with him. So I ask you again Potter! Why? Why me?'

James could have slapped himself. How could he have been so stupid? How could he not have figured out what Harry was suggesting? It was obvious that Harry couldn't talk about what happened to him. How could Harry turn to his supposed abuser and say, 'remember you tortured and tormented me twelve years ago to such an extent that I ran away, well I think we should sit and discuss it, now that I have grown up.'

James remembered the conversation he had with Harry in his dorm, just over a month ago. He remembered trying to get Harry to open up and tell him why Harry hated him so much. Harry's words came back to him.

'Just watching you sit there and talk to me as if nothing ever happened, makes my blood boil…Think Potter, can't you think of any reason I would have to hate you? Try and remember.'

James remembered how Harry was so close to breaking down that day. The tears that had glistened in Harry's eyes should have been enough for James to figure things out.

James put his head into his hands, not wanting to think about how badly he had failed Harry. Suddenly another memory came in front of his closed eyes. The day James had found out that Harry had not taken any potions that were supposed to heal him. James remembered how Harry had flinched away from him when James had raised his hand. Why didn't James realise that something wasn't right back then? The fact that Harry had moved away from James, for fear that James might hurt him, should have sent off alarm bells in his mind. But James had not let himself think about those things. He kept pushing them to the back of his mind, hoping that he would not have to deal with them. He was too caught up with being at Hogwarts with his wife and children, too involved with ways to bring Harry into their future, without even thinking about Harry's past.

Lily remembered another incident which should have made them realise that something was not right. Just after the attack with those Vampires, when Harry was recovering in the hospital wing. The way that Harry had spoke to James,

'So all of a sudden you have my welfare at heart do you?...you're the one who should think about what you're saying and to whom. 'Your job to care?' You have no right to say that, especially to me!'

Lily shut her eyes tightly. She had spent most of the past fifteen years imagining life with her eldest son, with Harry. Now that fate had given her that chance, she had completely blown it. Harry had been given to them and in the four months that he spent with them, James and Lily had managed to ignore all of Harry's comments and strange behaviour resulting in them losing Harry all over again.

The door opened and Sirius came inside. He looked sadly over at the grieving parents.

"Dumbledore wants so see us." Sirius said simply. James had hoped that Dumbledore would leave them alone for one night but that wasn't possible.

James, Lily and Sirius made their way up to Dumbledore's office. They had to talk about Harry's fake memories, they had to sort out a few things. As James made his way into the Headmaster's office he saw Dumbledore standing at the window, looking at the grounds of Hogwarts. The grounds were covered in blood, either belonging to Aurors or Death Eaters. Hogwarts grounds had never had bloodshed staining it before. It truly was a sign of bad things to come.

Professor Dumbledore turned to see the three exhausted adults come into the office. Dumbledore led them towards his desk. Harry's pensive was still lying on the desk, the silvery mist swirling within it. James found himself looking away from it.

"Dumbledore, how bad is it? How many of our men have fallen tonight?" Sirius asked.

Dumbledore sighed and gave Sirius a sad look.

"I think there have been twelve casualties and four more that are severely injured. They have been taken to St Mungo's Hospital."

James looked at Dumbledore. He felt immensely guilty. The casualties had happened because of his son. The Death Eaters had come into the grounds of Hogwarts, ready to kill anyone standing in the way to take away Harry. They fallen bodies could easily have been students. And all the while this was happening, James and Sirius were not there to help fight against the Death Eaters.

"James, please do not hold yourself responsible. You and Sirius were fighting a different type of battle at the time, one that I would not wish anyone to face." Dumbledore tried to comfort James.

James gave Dumbledore a weak, grateful smile. Dumbledore pointed at the Pensive.

"I hope that you understand the ramifications of these memories." Dumbledore said.

James looked at the Headmaster, unable to determine the meaning of these words.

"Ramifications? Harry hates all of us because of these fake memories! What other ramifications can there be Dumbledore?" James asked with anger coursing through him. How could Dumbledore be so insensitive?

"James, I didn't mean to sound tactless. I only meant that the damage done by these memories is much worse than you think." Dumbledore answered.

"How can things be any worse? Harry has grown up with these fake memories, nothing can be worse than that!" Lily responded.

At her words Dumbledore looked, if possible, even more solemn.

"I am afraid that things are much, much worse Lily. You see, these memories are not fake."

It took a moment for the three adults to comprehend the meaning of Dumbledore's words.

"What? What do you mean they're not fake! Of course they are fake! How can you even suggest that we would do anything of that sort? You were there! You know how Harry was taken fifteen years ago!" Lily screamed at the Headmaster.

"Lily, calm down. You misunderstand me. I would never accuse any of you of such atrocities. What I meant was that the memories in this pensive are not fake. They are real memories, experiences, felt and lived by our young Harry."

James felt as if someone had hit him with a hammer. All the breath was knocked out of him. They were real! The memories were not fake, they were real! Harry had suffered the physical and mental abuse for real. His child had been at Voldemort's mercy and this is what that monster did to him. Before, the only thing sustaining James was the fact that the memories were not real, they had never happened. Harry had not really been beaten and abused. But at Dumbledore's words this reassurance came crashing down. Harry had suffered. While James, Lily and Damien were enjoying their lives, Harry had been suffering at Voldemort's hands.

Dumbledore continued speaking.

"When a memory is modified or created artificially, there are tell tale signs that show this. While many wizards can't recognise them, I however can see the difference. I'm afraid that the memories I have witnessed are all genuine. Harry has lived through all that you saw in the pensive tonight. My guess is that Voldemort had someone imitate the three of you, James, Lily and Sirius. Whether Voldemort himself was part of the memory, I don't know. As I was saying earlier, the ramifications of these memories are very serious. Not only has Voldemort made sure that Harry will never return to his rightful parents, he has planted a deep seated hatred for followers of the Light. He has made Harry believe that followers of the Light are just as heartless as any Death Eater. Harry sees Voldemort as his saviour as it is Voldemort who takes Harry in and brings him up. Now this makes Harry's loyalty to Voldemort much more understandable." Dumbledore continued.

At James, Lily and Sirius' puzzled expression, Dumbledore explained.

"I have looked further into the pensive. After Harry leaves home, he is found by Nagini, who leads him to Voldemort. It seems that Harry is a parselmouth."

Lily couldn't help the gasp that left her mouth and James and Sirius were looking close to crying out in shock as well.

"I am again assuming that this is something Voldemort passed onto Harry, the night he gave Harry the scar. Of course, Harry thinks, it is a rare gift that he posses from birth. Nagini leads Harry to Voldemort, who helps heal Harry's injuries. Harry is then asked by Voldemort if he wishes to stay with him as his child, since Voldemort can sense the potential of great power in Harry. Harry is only a frightened child and accepts Voldemort's invitation. So you see, Voldemort broke Harry just so that he could be the one to fix him. Harry believes that Voldemort is responsible for the power and skill that he posses. Harry is grateful only to Voldemort. This way Voldemort has ensured that Harry will never intentionally harm him. I believe that while Harry was severely mistreated for the first couple of years, Voldemort started caring for Harry afterwards. I still have to investigate the memories but my guess is that Harry never suffered anymore abuse after he was supposedly 'taken' into Voldemort's care. Evidence around us suggests that while pretending to care for Harry, Voldemort found himself beginning to care for Harry genuinely. I don't think he would stand for Harry getting hurt now, as much as any of you would. So that at least gives us some reassurance that Harry is 'safe' with Voldemort for now."

James didn't believe Dumbledore. Anyone who could carry out such acts of violence to a defenceless child, can't possibly care for them afterwards. And this was Voldemort they were talking about. He was a heartless monster, incapable of feeling anything close to love.

James felt the rage build in him once again. Voldemort had made Harry believe that he had abusive parents and then stepped in to show himself as the great hero, the one wizard who 'saved Harry'.

"How are we going to get Harry to believe the truth?" Sirius asked, as James was not able to open his mouth, due to the rage he was feeling.

"I don't know how or even if it is possible to show Harry that these memories are not what they seem. Since they are not modified, it is difficult to prove them as false." Dumbledore replied.

"So you're saying that all hope is lost?" James asked, unable to keep quiet any longer. "Because if you are then that's fine! You can give up on Harry, but I'm not going too. He's my son and I'm going to make sure he learns the truth about his family, that he finds out that he was betrayed! I'm not going to be able to live, knowing what Harry thinks I did to him when he was a child. I may not be a very good parent, since I obviously failed in helping Harry, but I'm not the monster Harry believes I am! So I'm not going to rest until I make Harry see the truth!"

"James, I would never give up on anyone, and this is Harry we are talking about. I am only stating the facts about the memories stored in this pensive. I happen to believe that Harry is not at all what he seems." Dumbledore said, with a small twinkle in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" asked Sirius.

"Well, Harry's pensive was transfigured into a ring. This ring was not something Harry created when he came to Hogwarts. Harry had this ring, before he came to Hogwarts. The memories stored in here are not all about his childhood with the so called Potters. I have sensed that there are many, many more memories in here that Harry has kept secret. But who would he want to hide these memories from? Why remove them from your mind? It is my guess that Harry is keeping some memories from Voldemort."

At the Headmaster's words, the three adults began disagreeing with him. Harry was loyal to Voldemort. He would never do anything that would result in hiding memories from Voldemort, would he?

The truth was that no one knew exactly what the relationship was like between Harry and Lord Voldemort. No one had asked Harry and Harry was surely not going to volunteer the information. Dumbledore explained that the pensive was indicating that there were over one hundred memories stored in it, but there were only thirty or forty memories available to view. This meant that Harry had put some strong enchantments to lock away certain memories. Who was Harry hiding these memories from? And why? This was what Dumbledore was going to try and figure out.

"What do we do now?" Lily asked quietly.

"I am afraid that the consequences of tonight's actions are going to be very difficult to deal with. The Minister will be arriving any time. I will have to talk things over with him, but I fear that he will not listen to anything we say. He will want to take over." Dumbledore said sadly.

James looked up at Dumbledore in shock. He had completely forgotten the deal between Dumbledore and the Minister. Now that Harry had escaped and returned back to Lord Voldemort, the deal was over. The Minister would order the Dementors Kiss to Harry, if Harry was ever captured again. James looked at Sirius sadly and saw that Sirius had come to the same conclusion as James had.

They had lost Harry. Every Auror out there was going to be looking for him and now they knew exactly what he looked like. The silver mask won't help Harry either. Voldemort wouldn't be able to keep Harry safe forever. Unless James got to Harry first, Harry was going to be sent to Azkaban or be taken by the Dementors upon capture.

xxx

Harry felt his feet hit the ground and he knew instantly that he was home. The scent in the air was so welcoming. He felt Bella stand close to him. They had apparated just outside the gates to Riddle Manor. Harry looked up at his home that he had sorely missed. Even in the darkness, the castle looked so inviting. Harry heard the numerous pops sounding in the darkness and knew that the Death Eaters had returned. He was glad that the Death Eaters hadn't stuck around for too long. They had helped Harry escape, that was the mission completed.

Harry began walking up towards the castle. The Death Eaters rejoicing loudly at their success. Victory was theirs. They had managed to walk onto the grounds of Hogwarts and take back their Dark Prince, right in front of Dumbledore and all his men. Their master was surely going to be pleased with them. Bella and Lucius walked along side Harry. They were the only ones who remained silent as they walked along with him.

Harry entered the main hall and the Death Eaters that were stationed inside the Manor began joining in with the loud cheering sounds. Harry ignored all of them. At this moment, all Harry wanted was to see his father again. He had missed him terribly, but that wasn't the reason that he wanted to meet him. Harry had failed. He had not managed to take his revenge against James Potter. He had allowed himself to be captured. He had spent the last four months in the company of Dumbledore and he had not managed to cause any lasting damage to him or Hogwarts.

Harry walked towards the doors leading to his father's chambers. Before Harry had gotten near enough to knock on the doors, the great oak doors opened and Harry saw Lord Voldemort standing in the middle of the grand chamber. Harry's heart was thumping against his rib cage. It gave another painful lurch as his eyes met with his father's ruby red ones. Harry continued walking towards his father. The Death Eaters followed Harry into their master's chamber. They had all quietened down.

Harry stood a few paces away from his father and let his eyes trail to the ground. The Death Eaters that had followed Harry inside, had all dropped to their knees, heads bowed, waiting for their master's command to rise.

Lord Voldemort walked towards Harry. He took in all the details about the exhausted boy standing before him. Lord Voldemort stood in front of Harry. The boy seemed to be having trouble making eye contact with him. Voldemort placed his bony hands on Harry's shoulders making him look up at him. Their eyes seemed to lock into one another and Harry poured all his emotions into his father's mind. Lord Voldemort stood back and let the influx of emotions come from Harry. He could see that Harry was emotionally drained. The boy had been through a lot.

Voldemort wanted to talk to Harry, to find out what Dumbledore had said to him, how they had tried to convert Harry to the Light, but he could also see how tired Harry was. The one emotion that Lord Voldemort felt stronger than ever in Harry, was loyalty towards himself. Voldemort felt a huge weight come away from him. He had hoped that Harry had stayed strong and not let Dumbledore manipulate him into joining with the Light. Thankfully Harry didn't let that happen.

Lord Voldemort looked into Harry's emerald green eyes and smiled at him.

"Welcome back, Harry."

Harry seemed to be waiting for that as his tired face broke into a smile and he looked gratefully at his father. Lord Voldemort ordered all the Death Eaters to leave, even Bella and Lucius.

Once it was only the two of them left in the chamber, he spoke.

"Harry, I know that you are tired beyond belief, but we have much to discuss. I will ask only one question and then you can retire to your room for the night, agreed?"

Harry looked like he struggling to keep himself standing upright but he answered at once.

"Yes, Father."

"Did Dumbledore try and enter your mind?"

This was the most important thing, since Lord Voldemort knew that Harry's Occulmency skills were not as strong as they should be, especially when faced with a master Legimens, such as Dumbledore. If Dumbledore had managed to break into Harry's mind, Lord Voldemort would suffer immensely. His location, plans for the war, his weapons, everything would be exposed.

Harry smiled back at his father.

"He did try, yes, but never succeeded. I think he wasn't trying hard enough, since he was under the impression that I would betray you and volunteer all the information."

Voldemort felt relief wash over him. He felt the familiar sensation of pride as Harry spoke. The child's voice alone helped Lord Voldemort to calm down.

"He is a fool to think my child would ever turn against me." Voldemort stated as he gently squeezed Harry's shoulders, to reassure him the Voldemort had full trust in Harry's loyalties.

Harry lowered his gaze and fought hard to keep his voice steady as he spoke again.

"I'm sorry father, but I have failed you." Harry whispered.

"Failed me? How?" Lord Voldemort felt the sting of dread creep into his chest.

"I…I couldn't kill Potter. I had the chance and I lost it. I don't know what to say."

Harry wished he had just performed the killing curse on James Potter, but Harry's reluctance at using the Unforgivables, had caused Harry to fail again.

Lord Voldemort sighed with relief. It didn't matter if Harry didn't kill Potter. All of them were going to die soon enough.

"It doesn't matter for now. Maybe it is for the best that you didn't kill him. I would want to be there, to watch my son take his revenge. You will have your revenge, Harry. I promise you that."

Harry looked up at his father with relief. He had been so scared about disappointing his father, but Lord Voldemort cast away all Harry's fears as he reassured him.

Voldemort ordered Harry to go up to his room and get some sleep. Harry obeyed at once and left his father's chambers. Lord Voldemort smiled to himself again. Everything was working out. He had Harry back with him and that foolish Dumbledore had managed to make Harry even more resentful towards the Light. The assurances that Voldemort had taken in the early years of Harry's life, had paid off. Harry would never leave Lord Voldemort. He would never choose any of the Potters before him.

"Perfect" he said to himself.

He retired to his room for the night, planning on talking with Harry about his experiences in the morning. Lord Voldemort had felt the pain Harry had gone through, as the emotions had passed from Harry to him.

The Dark Lord was going to make anyone who hurt Harry pay dearly. No one got away with hurting Voldemort's only son.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx