(A/N) Hey guys! It's so good to be back. Thanks so much for your reviews, it helps so much. Well, I'm just glad you all like it! It's 2:51am and I can't sleep, plus I'm listen to Asian Techno (Captain jack). Moving on! R&R and Enjoy!
The song lyrics in this chapter are referring to Harry's view of Voldemort now that he knows more about him and Harry's just set on revenge for everyone he loves. He can see that Voldemort is evil and he wants everyone to be free of that. Hope the lyrics make sense…
This chapter is dedicated to Charlotte Westbrook, thanks for introducing me to this site! Couldn't do it without you.
#-#-#
If You Knew
What I Know
Would You Move
Like You Do
With Malicious Discontent
You Went About Hellbent To Destroy
But Did You Have A Reason Why?
#-#
Can You Breath In Reach In And Let It Out
The Evil Inside
That's Eating You Out Tonight
With Every Venomous Move
I Will Suck You Up And Spit You
Get Out Of My Life
Get Out Of My Site
#-#-#
- Shameful (Atreyu 2006)
Chapter 28: Gasping For Breath
Narcissa and Crabbe slammed Snape into the wall, pinning him there by his arms. The door clicked shut behind them. Voldemort smiled.
"Explain," he said coldly, looking into Snape's eyes.
"I had deadlines to meet at the school Master. I had classes to teach, people to distract…"
"That's never stopped you before," Narcissa smirked. Voldemort edged closer.
"Severus…how many times must I say it? I am your number one priority. You are my servant, you do what I say. If I say you must be here by a certain time, you will be here. Do I make myself clear?" The Dark Lord whispered, his eyes hardening.
"Yes Master," Snape replied sourly. Voldemort turned in the opoosite direction. Crabbe and Narcissa looked at their Master, a little crestfallen.
"Hold out your arm Severus," Voldemort hissed, turning back to face him.
"My Lord…" Snape scowled at Narcissa in anger but rolled up his left sleeve and held out his forearm.
"Sectumsempra," Voldemort snarled, flicking his wand downwards. Snape clenched his teeth and groaned as blood began to spurt from his arm, warm and rapid. His face burned with shame, "Feel good to have his own spells used against the Half-Blood Prince?"
"Yes Master," Snape muttered harshly.
"Get yourself cleaned up and then get back here. Crabbe, escort him." The Dark Lord ordered. Crabbe gripped Snape's right shoulder and steered him out of the room.
"What must we do now?" Narcissa asked timidly, removing her cloak hood.
"Wait…for the rest of ours and for Potter." Voldemort whispered, tracing his fingers over the cold, fogged up window.
"What of the prisoners?"
"Leave them there as bait of course…"
There came a crack suddenly and five people appear in the room before them. Voldemort faced them, his red eyes gleaming.
"Welcome my servants. Nott, Rosier, Mulciber, Dolohov…Lucius…" Voldemort walked up and down, pacing before them. "At least you can meet deadlines,"
"We had no difficulty escaping this time. It was all in order, the girl's parents are dead. We had no other choice."
"Excellent…she should find out in the morning. Hogwarts may be closed by then, if enough blood has been spilt by daybreak…" Voldemort mused, smiling nastily.
"Killing Luna Lovegood's parents? I don't see how that relates," Narcissa said quietly.
"Her father is a creator of some wizarding magazine, her mother is a member of Rufus Scrimgeour's Ministry. If anybody found out that Potter was dead first, it would have been them."
"What do you propose we do?" Lucius asked softly.
"We see if Dumbledore has taken the bait. If he has, he would send Potter, half-dying, to fight. They will inevitably follow after, in order of protecting the fools. Killing Dumbledore would result in the closing of Hogwarts, then we take over." Voldemort explained, mostly to himself.
Snape entered the room at this point with Crabbe, a look of disgust on his face.
"We're ready Master, we await your command," Crabbe said, a little stupidly.
Everyone turned and looked at Snape, as he strode towards Voldemort.
"I severly injured Professor Trelawny. I am unaware whether or not she will die, but she was rushed to St. Mungo's late last night." He said swiftly, kneeling at Voldemort's feet. Narcissa scoffed. Snape rose angrily.
"You think you could do better!" he raged, "You have a son who has turned on us and a husband who has done nothing but disgrace the name of the Dark Lord repeatedly!"
Lucius made a move to hurt Snape, but Nott held his arm in restraint. Narcissa scowled.
"Shut your filthy mouth before everyone in this room turns on you." She spat, flicking her hair out of her eyes.
"Severus, you have done well. Check the prisoners and then come back here. Narcissa, what your tounge,"
Snape bowed curtly, shooting a smile at the Malfoy's, before sweeping from the room, his black cloak billowing.
Harry turned onto the dark street, puddles of water at his feet. Ginny and Hermione were either side of him, wands drawn. Neville and Peter slunk quietly in the middle, determined to stay almost invisible. Draco and Ron brought up the rear, eyes darting from side to side, wands at the ready in case anything aimed to attack them.
There was no sound, only their footsteps maing the lightest noise as they trudged through the water and over the crumbling cement road. They stopped, facing number 11 and 13.
"What?" Draco mummbled, "Where's number 12?"
Neville and Peter also looked confused. But Harry, wiped his face and closed his eyes, thinking of number 12. No sooner had he done this, but the battered door appeared, as did the house, squeezing in between the two others. Neville, Peter and Draco watched, open-mouthed as the house just appeared.
Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged small smiles. Ginny exhaled deeply.
"We're here to redeem the wizarding world. If I die…keep going without me, you'll be ok…" Harry said bravely.
"Harry," moaned Hermione, trying not to cry. "Don't talk like that. You're not going to die."
"None of you are," came a voice from beside them. Everyone jumped slightly as they saw Dumbledore standing next to them, followed by Lupin and Tonks.
"Professor…" faltered Ginny, squeezing Ron's hand.
"You're not alone," Dumbledor said simply. Harry looked into the sparkling blue eyes of his Headmaster and found hope, hope to fight for the ones they loved.
"Let's go," Harry said, opening the battered door. Dust fell from the ceiling as they crept along the passageway.
Keeping as silent as possible, the 10 of them snuck down the corridor, turning into the deserted second living room. Something moved in the dining area.
"Where to?" mouthed Draco, as Tonk put her hand on his shoulder. Hermione squeezed his hand. They moved closer, hearing muffled voices. A snake slithered past them and Harry had the sudden urge to kill it, but refrained from doing so.
"I do believe, we have guests." Snape's icy voice said from behind them. Harry turned and glared at the man who had made everything so hard; the man who had betrayed them after all the years of swearing loyalty.
"Severus," Dumbledore said sternly, "Shouldn't you tell your Master of our arrival?"
"Don't tell me what I should do," snarled Snape, scowling at Dumbledore, "I'm aware of my duties. Unlike some…" His eyes fell on Draco. Hermione held his hand tighter as Draco shook with rage.
Snape flicked his wand and bound Draco tightly in ropes.
"No," gasped Hermione, watching as Draco was invisibly pulled towards Snape, straining with all his might.
"Your master wants to talk with you," Snape said fluidly, pushing Draco into the dining room. Harry followed, ushering the others to do so too.
An explosion occurred as soon as they appeared at the doorway. Something ripped through the roof and out into the night sky. The Dark Mark, floated in green, up in the sky, illuminating the street.
"Nice of you to join us, my friends," Voldemort spoke coolly.
"I was thinking more along the lines of disgusting," Harry spat, raising his wand. The Death Eaters hissed in anger.
Ginny and Neville looked purely petrified, but tried to be brave as they could, when faced with a room full of people who had murdered so many others in their life time.
"Yes Potter, disgusting. Nice to know your true feelings at last." Voldemort laughed, swishing his wand. Harry was thrown backwards, smashing into the wall.
------------------
At that moment, lots of things happened. Ginny dove at the nearest Death Eater, Rosier and tackled them to the ground, Snape brought Draco before his mother and father, which resulted in Draco striking his father across the face, Hermione and Neville ran at Dolohov, Ron was grabbed from behind by Mulciber, Dumbledore and Lupin rounded on Nott and Crabbe was left standing behind Voldemort.
Harry shook his head and stummbled to his feet, adjusting his glasses. He stepped closer to Voldemort his eyes gleaming.
"You thought I was dying, but really, you were the foolish one," he smirked, sending a powerful Rictusempra curse at Voldemort, who deflected it easily.
"Oh how so?" Voldemort replied, sending a jet of purple curses at him. Harry ducked, hitting into the wall to avoid being hurt.
"You under estimated me," Harry snarled, "Diffindo!"
The spell hit Voldemort in the chest and he was slammed backwards into the wall.
"Indeed," he wheezed. Harry dodged around Ginny and ran, eyes blazing, at the demented figure before him…he wanted to kill him!
Hermione was gasping in the corner, clutching her chest from the stupify spell that had been cast upon her by Dolohov. Neville had Dolohov around the waist and was delivering sharp kicks to his shins. Dolohov snarled and tried to get Neville off him, sending a flurry of hexes at him behind his back. Hermione frowned and stood, shrugging off her pain.
"Locomotor Mortis!" she yelled, pointing her wand at Dolohov. Dolohov's legs sprang together suddenly. He jumped, unbalanced. Neville and Hermione kicked him in the back of the knees and he fell, groaning onto the floor. Anger burst through Neville, from all the pain that everyone was going through. He smartly kicked the back of Dolohov's head, sending the man unconcious within seconds. Snape swiftly knocked Neville against the wall, creating a barrier between them and Hermione.
Crabbe grabbed Hermione from behind, his strong hands wrapping around her neck. She cried out, pain shooting through her body.
"I-incendio.." she choked, pointing her wand at Crabbe's robes. Flames shot up suddenly, burning through Crabbe's black robe hem, causing Hermione to wriggle free and steady herself.
Ginny was pinned to the ground by Rosier, her robes ripped, blood seeping down her right arm. She was in pain, her stomach searing. Had she somehow forgotten that she was pregnant? She had to protect her baby…Rosier felt the lump and grinned evilly.
"Knocked up are we?" she hissed, digging her nail into Ginny's stomach flesh and running it downwards. Ginny whimpered, "Seems like this kid won't live to see his little family grow up."
Rosier pinned Ginny's legs to the ground, holding her robes at her collar. Ginny was struggling to reach her wand which lay millimeters from her grasp on the floor.
"I don't think so missy," Rosier smiled, pushing the wand further away. Ginny let out a groan of frustration.
"G-get off," she wheezed, as Rosier pressed down on her stomach. Then she stood, pulling Ginny with her, laughing as the young girl crashed into the wall, stomach first. Ginny moaned and fell to her knees, clutching her stomach in agony. Rosier pushed her, face first, into the ground, pulling her arm behind her back and holding her there. Sher fiddled with something in her pocket and drew out a knife…
------------------
Draco was in the corner with his mother and father, scowling.
"Draco…you've disappointed us all. You belong to our Masters side," Narcissa tried to reason.
"Don't treat him so kindly!" Lucius spat, holding Draco's robes, "He's dishonoured us by turning against us. We have the right to kill him…and will!"
Lucius' fist came in contact with Draco's temple. Narcissa gasped.
"Lucius no…not again," she pleaded, holding her husbands arm. Lucius tore away from her and backhanded her heavily across the face.
"You raised him when he was a child. Now it's my turn," he ordered. Seizing hold of Draco's robes, his father slammed Draco into the wall, delivering a punch to his stomach. Draco coughed, loss of breath over taking his body. His father continues to attack him, punching him across the jaw. Blood spilled from Draco's mouth; his eyes hardened as he flashbacks filled his mind:
"You're worthless. You'll never amount to anything," Lucius laughed, pushing Draco into a scalding hot bath, clothes on. Draco was only 10; his father had been physically abusing him for 2 years now already. Ever since he found out that he must serve Voldemort for the rest of his life…
The door was closed, no one could hear him scream. His bruises were visible now, covering his arms. He was in his first year at Hogwarts, on the holidays, home for a week. His father had locked him in his room, beaten him and left him there. His mother was forbidden to speak to him. His eye was black, his face distorted.
He had failed to help Voldemort into the castle, and had been punished for it. No bad deed ever went unpunished, that was his fathers rule…
Draco shouted, out loud, as the years of pain flooded back. He rammed his knee upwards defencivley, catching his father off guard. Wiping blood from his mouth, Draco began punching and kicking at his father as hard as he could. Lucius reeled backwards, trying to sheild himself from the blows.
Draco's fists clenched, he continued attacking relentlessly, punch after punch. He ignored his fathers pleasand noises of pain, he only cared about paying back all the hurt his father had caused him.
"No bad deed goes unpunished - remember that," he whispered in his father's ear, as Lucius became trapped against the wall. Narcissa held his arm.
"Get off me!" Draco yelled, pushing her away, "Vestirus!"
Large red welts tore across Lucius Malfoy's body, springing up as suddenly as anything. Draco slashed at the air, each time he did so, more stinging welts lashed across his fathers chest and arms.
"How do you like it?" screeched Draco, grabbing his fathers collar. The side window out onto the street was before him.
"Draco…" Lucius moaned in pain, his face bloodied and scarred.
"I hate you," Draco stated simply. Then, with all the force he could muster, Draco flung his father through the window. The glass smashed, exploding everywhere as Lucius Malfoy's body fell from the second story, down onto the road below; glass covering his mangled body. Narcissa screamed.
Draco pushed her out of the way, but was tripped suddenly, his face smashing into the ground.
"You won't get away with that…"
------------------
Ron and Mulicber were battling out in the kitchen, eachdeflecting curses and hexes wildly, pots and pans strewn all around the floor.
"Stupify!" cried Mulicber. Ron ducked, blood smearing his vision. His forehead had split open when the Death Eater had thrown a frying pan at him and had hit.
"Think your dearest Harry can save the world?" Mulciber smirked, delfecting Ron's stunning curse.
"He can try, which is more than you'll ever do." Ron replied, with a straight face. Mulciber tripped over a pot; Ron rammed his knee upwards, into Mulciber's knee. The Death Eater fell, giving Ron time to think of his next move.
"Densaugeo," yelled Ron. Thejet of bluelight hit Mulciber and instantly his teeth began to enlarge, "Immobulus!" Mulciber stopped moving, his body jammed together. Ron dragged the Death Eater into the pantry and locked the door.
Stairs caught Ron's attention. He saw them leading down and quickly slipped down there. Maybe he could find the Dursleys…
Dumbledore had Nott unconcious on the floor before him, the Death Eater's arm was broken badly. Hermione had been knocked unconcious too and Ginny was barely breathing. Lupin had grabbed Narcissa and the two were battling fiercly in the far corner.
"SECTUMSEMPRA," Harry screamed. Voldemort let out a shriek, blood spurted from his chest, splattering Harry and himself. Harry knocked Voldemort to the floor, his scar burning heavily. He couldn't see, pain blinded him…
Voldemort reached up and punched Harry across the face. The two lay on the floor, bleeding, sore and barely concious…fatigue spread through each others body…
