Silence followed Malfoy's statement. James felt his stomach sink. He had thought his situation dire before, but if Voldemort was on his way, he was going to be in even more trouble than before. He had no idea what plans the Dark Lord had for him, but he highly doubted that they would be pleasant. He had to get out of here. He struggled against his bonds, but they didn't budge. His gaze fell on his family ring and a sliver of hope blazed through his body. The tracking charm! His father could use it to discover where he was! He could rally the aurors and they were going to get him out of here! Everything was going to be alright! The thought comforted him for a moment, but he sobered very quickly. While it was easy for his family to find him, they would have to realize that he was missing first. His parents would not expect him back until late in the night, so it would take them a while to realize that something was wrong. Unless Peter had already told them what happened. However, there was no way to tell whether this was the case and he had no idea what time it was. It was maddening! Where was his wand? If he could only get it, he might be able to free himself and to slip out of the house without anyone noticing. There was no way he would be able to defeat all three Death Eaters currently in the house, so fighting was out of the question. But first he had to get out of this bloody chair! He pulled at his shackles again, but to no avail.

'Careful, Potter, you are going to hurt yourself if you pull to hard,' said Macnair mockingly.

James looked up in alarm and saw the figures of two Death Eaters looking at him from the now open door at the end of the room. Dim light flickered into the previously dark room, making it barely possible to see properly. He had not noticed the two men enter the room. A shudder ran down his spine. What had they planned for him?

'What have you done to Peter?' croaked James. His mouth was parched and he had trouble forming the words.

'There, there,' said Nott. 'This will not do at all.'

He whipped out his wand and waved it through the air. A silver goblet appeared in his left hand. With another wave of his wand, he filled the goblet with clear water. He put it to James's lips and gently tilted it so James had the chance to drink it. James briefly thought about refusing, but quickly realized that this would only be a pointless show of defiance given his severe thirst. So, he drank the water greedily and almost immediately felt better.

'That should do it,' said Nott, after the goblet was empty again. He quickly vanished it again and put away his wand. 'Don't worry about your useless friend. We have left him where he was. Someone should have found him by now.'

'Why?' asked James. 'Why did you leave him behind? You don't have a habit of being merciful, have you?'

'He was no threat to us,' growled the second Death Eaters and James recognized Macnair's voice. 'And in contrast to you, we are not interested in recruiting him. We are not monsters, Potter, we need a reason to kill someone.'

'Somehow, I doubt that,' said James. 'What reason have all these Muggles you have killed given you?'

'Well, they exist for one thing,' said Macnair nastily. 'Don't preach about equality to me, Potter. You know that wizards are forced to live in secrecy because the Muggles don't accept us. We are the kings of this world, but we are forced to cower behind our walls like rats. I refuse to accept that and so should you.'

'What do you want from me?' said James. 'Why have you brought me here?'

'It is about time that you make a decision, Potter,' said Nott. 'You are the heir of one of the great pure-blood families. We want your support for our cause. You have toed the line in the past, but even our patience is limited. We are going to get an answer out of you today. And it better be yes.'

'What if I refuse to make a decision?'

'You will not be able to refuse us for long,' said Macnair. He whipped out his wand and fingered it gently. 'I still have to introduce you to my Cruciatus Curse after all.'

'Macnair,' said Nott warningly. 'You are not supposed to harm him until our master arrives. He is not your problem anymore.'

'Yeah, yeah,' said Macnair dismissively. 'I just don't see what difference it makes. The Dark Lord is not going to be gentle with the boy after all.'

'It is not your place,' said Nott simply. 'You should think about what you are going to say to our master, Potter. He can be... unpleasant when he does not get his way.'

'Is this supposed to scare me?' said James, slipping into the role of an arrogant pure-blood without hesitation. While he was terrified on the inside, he knew that he must not show any weakness to the Death Eaters. There were only going to treat him worse when they considered him vulnerable. Also, his survival was only guaranteed as long as they considered him a valuable asset. No one was excited to hire a coward.

'Feisty,' said Macnair. 'If you are not scared you are a fool. Hold on to your bravado for as long as it lasts, Potter. The Dark Lord will crush it soon enough.'

'If you think you can strong-arm me into joining your cause, then you are sadly mistaken,' said James. 'I am a Potter. We don't bow to anyone, in particular not to miscreants like you, Macnair. You should have learned by now to respect your betters.'

Macnair slapped him hard across the face. James grimaced in pain, but managed to keep quiet.

'So, you know who I am,' said Macnair. 'Good for you, a least you have a face to picture while I curse you senseless.'

He reached for his wand, but Nott was faster. He whipped out his own and quickly disarmed Macnair.

'I have told you to leave him alone, Macnair,' said the other Death Eater warningly. 'Stop it, or I am going to tell the Dark Lord about your behaviour.'

'How dare you disarm me?' snarled Macnair. James could not see his face as it was hidden under the mask, but he could clearly tell that Macnair was furious.

'I am doing you a favour,' said Nott calmly. 'If you curse the boy, the Dark Lord will punish you. If you are lucky, he is going to let your punch slip. Don't be an idiot, Macnair.'

For a moment, James was sure that Macnair would attack Nott with his bare hands. However, Nott has his wand aimed at Macnair's neck and the latter seemed to realize that he was being foolish. He unclenched his fists and took a deep breath.

'You are right,' said Macnair. 'I shouldn't let the brat get to me. He is going to pay for his arrogance soon anyway.'

'We are going to leave you alone for a while, Potter,' said Nott.

'But don't worry, our master will be here soon to pick up the conversation were we left it. Don't go anywhere.'

Nott chuckled at his own joke and motioned for Macnair to follow him. The two Death Eaters left the room and closed the door behind them. The absence of the light filtering through the open door, made the room seem even darker than before. James was alone in the darkness, with only his erratic thoughts to keep him company. He let out a deep breath, relieved that he had made it through the encounter with only a bruised face. He had no illusions about what Voldemort was going to do to him when he arrived: His choice would be to either join the Death Eaters or to die at the hand of the Dark Lord. James was not sure what he preferred. The thought of working for these monsters sickened him, but he also was in no particular hurry to die. He was not going to fight his way out this mess. He might have been able to defeat Macnair, but he was not going to be a match for the Dark Lord. He didn't even have a wand, for Merlin's sake! Also, the Death Eaters liked to use the Imperius Curse as well. Voldemort might be able to make him serve him! His whole body shivered at this nightmarish thought. He had no idea whether he would be able to resist such a powerful dark curse. He preferred not to find out.

Still, there was a still hope: They had left Peter behind. With a bit of luck, his friend had already told James's father what had happend. He could use the enchantment on James's ring to find him and bring the whole auror department with him. The only question was: Would he be in time? James had never met Voldemort, but he doubted that the dark wizard was a particularly patient person. James doubted that he would be able to delay making a decision for long. The aurors would be no help to him if Voldemort had already killed him when they arrived. Was there the chance of talking himself out of this? Could he convince Voldemort to let him go? He could pretend to join the Death Eaters and flee as soon he had the opportunity. Would they believe him? Somehow he doubted that Voldemort was easily fooled. How did he ensure his Death Eater's loyalties? While most of them clearly were blood purists, who were sufficiently motivated by their own believes, some must have joined him for purely opportunistic reasons. The Ministry was not doing a great job at fighting the Death Eaters after all. People were looking for protection from the brewing war and some of the pure-bloods must have joined up with the Death Eaters only to protect themselves. However, as soon as Voldemort's position grew desperate, these recruits were bound to defect and crawl back to the Ministry. How did Voldemort keep them under control? Was he just using fear or was something else in place?

What would happen to him if he decided to join up and Voldemort believed him? Would he make him take an Unbreakable Vow? Or would he just place him under the Imperious Curse and be done with it? There was no way he could predict what was going to happen. He didn't know anything about Voldemort after all. There were a lot of rumours flying around about the dark wizard, but no hard facts. Not even his proper name was known to the public. Voldemort clearly was a chosen name, as there was no way any mother in Britain would have given her child such a ridiculous name. James wondered why Voldemort had chosen this particular path. Had something happened to him to awaken his hatred for Muggles or had he just been born evil? The thought of talking in person to the most feared dark wizard in the world was terrifying, but also very interesting. James wondered how many people outside of the Death Eaters had ever met Voldemort and lived to tell the tale. Probably not that many. In any case, mulling over these increasingly confusing thoughts was going to get him nowhere. He had to do something! Following a sudden urge, James tugged at the ropes binding him with as much power as he could muster. They dug into his wrist, but did not budge. Cursing at the stinging sensation, James stopped his efforts. So much for this plan. Curse the Death Eaters for properly tying him up! Maybe he should try something else. If he rocked his body hard enough, he could topple over the stool he was bound to. But what good would that do? He was tied directly to the chair and falling down was not going to make the ropes any less taut. His position was miserable enough sitting in this chair; he did not need to make it worse by falling down on the floor as well. No, as much as it galled him, there was nothing he could do but wait for help to come. It was a terrible feeling and he hated it with every fibre of his being, but he couldn't help it. He slumped in his chair, trying to get at least a little comfortable and waited.

James did not know how long he had waited in the dark. The house had been quiet all the time. Neither Macnair, nor Nott, nor Malfoy had checked up on him and he had not been able to overhear any additional conversations. It had been terribly dull in addition to being horrifying. However, a sudden change in the atmosphere of the house made him jerk upright in this chair. He could not pinpoint what exactly had happened, but he could feel a dark presence in the area which had not been there before. A chill slithered down his spine. It was disquieting that he could actually feel Voldemort without seeing him. James was not sure whether this was just a cheap trick the Dark Lord used to make himself more intimidating or if he truly was that powerful, but he could not deny that it was working. Maybe he would get lucky and Voldemort was not interested in seeing him in person. While dealing with his cronies was unpleasant, their master could only be worse. James knew it was highly unlikely, but he liked to cling to this small hope. It only lasted for a few minutes. Then, the door to his room swung open noiselessly, causing a brilliant ray of early morning sunshine to fall into the room. James was blinded by the sudden brightness and hastily closed his eyes. When he had finally adapted to the change in light level, he jerked in surprise. A man was standing directly in front of him. He was thin, bald, had a strangely flat nose and reddish eyes. His skin was deathly pale and contrasted starkly with his black robes. James was willing to bet everything he owned that he was now standing face to face with Lord Voldemort.

'It seems my Death Eaters did tell the truth,' said Voldemort in a quiet, cold voice. 'When they told me that they had abduct the Potter heir on a spur of the moment decision, I almost did not believe them. I also was rather... displeased.'

'Funny, I am feeling rather displeased myself,' said James dryly. A heartbeat later he cursed himself for his big mouth. This was the most feared dark wizard of the world and here he was cracking jokes like he was dealing with a fellow Hogwarts student.

'Oh, you do, do you?' said Voldemort. 'I had the impression that you had the intention of joining our ranks, Mr. Potter. Was I wrong?'

'My father makes the decisions regarding our alliances,' said James, hoping to deflect the question. 'I just do what I am told.'

'Not entirely false, but not quite the truth either,' said Voldemort. 'If you think you can lie to me than you are sadly mistaken, Mr. Potter. Finding out whether someone is telling the truth is one of my many gifts. So, don't waste my time. I know that your father has signalled support for our cause in the past and I was rather pleased that he did. The Potter line has been very Muggle-friendly in the past and I consider it a step in the right direction that they are reconsidering that stance. However, it seems rather half-hearted. Tell me Potter, what is your father's plan?'

'My father is a very careful man,' said James. He was careful to stay close to the truth. If Voldemort was indeed able to tell whether he was lying - James was not sure how that would be possible though - he had to pay close attention to how he was wording his answers. 'He is not sure how the conflict between you and Ministry is going to go and he wants to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.'

'Smart,' admitted Voldemort. 'But also cowardly. He should join our ranks and do his part to secure the future of the pure-bloods. I don't understand how you and your father can be so ignorant. How can you stay idle when Muggles and Mudbloods control our society?'

'We are just not convinced that they are that dangerous,' said James. He would have preferred not to answer at all, but he figured that as long as they were talking, he would be rather save. 'I have met quite a few of Muggle-borns at Hogwarts and they seem quite ordinary to me. I like to judge wizards by their character and their abilities, not by the blood-line.'

'As if you can separate one from the other,' scoffed Voldemort. 'If you deny that pure-blood wizards are different from Mudbloods then you are a fool. All of the great inventions in wizarding history have been made by pure-bloods or half-bloods. What have Mudbloods ever done for our community? They are just Muggle who by some big mistake managed to acquire some magic. They are closer to the Muggle society than to our own and therefore are as much our enemies as the Muggles are. And they are even more dangerous as they know we exists and can also wield magic. There can be no mercy for them.'

'Why do you consider Muggles that dangerous than it is so obvious that wizards are superior to them in every regard?' asked James. He was trying to ensnare Voldemort in his own logic. Discussing with the dark wizard bought him some more time. 'I see no way a competent wizard could be in danger from any number of Muggles.'

'There may be hope for you yet, Potter,' said Voldemort, focusing his gaze on him again. 'You are asking the right questions at last. Muggles are not dangerous in small numbers, but you must never forget by how much they outnumber us. If they wanted to, I am quite sure that they would be able to destroy us. Muggle weapons can harm us after all and while we are able to hide ourselves from them, we are not going to win an open war. This was the reason the Ministry chose to put all of us in hiding a few centuries back, robbing us of our rightful place in the world and giving the planet to the Muggles. We cower in our small communities which have become our prisons ages ago. I want to bring the wizarding community back to the light. If we are willing to do whatever it takes, we will be able to regain our freedom. But we have to be clever about it.'

'But doing this is an insane risk,' said James. 'You have just said yourself that the Muggle could overwhelm us. The status quo protects us and allows us to exist comfortably. Why should we risk it all, just to wrench control from the Muggles? Let them have it! Our community is so small, we don't need more space nor more resources. We have little to gain and everything to lose.'

'I thought your Gryffindors were brave,' said Voldemort mockingly. 'Why are you that afraid of challenging the status quo? As I have said, the Muggles can be handled as long as we act smartly. We must not seek a direct confrontation. Instead, we are going to move in secret. If we gain control of the Muggle leaders, we can make them act just as we want without having to fight them at all. We have all the tools we need to achieve victory, we just have to do it. The Ministry refuses to see the danger Mudbloods and Muggles pose to our society. This means that it is the duty of every pure-blood to do what the government cannot do.'

'And to achieve all this, you are willing to spill pure-blood?' said James. 'You stand here preaching about the virtues of blood-purity, jet you murder pure-bloods simply because they disagree with your views. I knew Richard and Margaret bones. They were friends of my family for decades. I find it hard to accept you as our champion if you kill good people like them. Why should I throw my lot in with you if you are an even bigger threat to my security than the Muggles are?'

'Killing the Bones family was regrettable, but necessary,' said Voldemort. His voice was smooth, but his eyes glittered dangerously. If James had to take a guess, he would assume that the Dark Lord did not like being compared to Muggles. 'I made them the offer to join my ranks, but they threw it into my face. They were Muggle-lovers and blood traitors and I cannot tolerate any form of opposition if I am going to achieve my goals. Being a pure-blood does not buy you immunity from the consequences of your actions, Potter. I don't want to kill proper wizards and I will do it only if it is truly necessary, but I am not going to hesitate or show mercy. All of this bloodshed could have been avoided if the Ministry had acted on the Mudblood problem. If you want to blame anyone, blame them. And you don't have to worry about me at the moment. All you have to do to be save from me, is to join my cause. I am very generous towards my faithful servants.'

'Do I have to make a decision now?' asked James. 'I don't have the habit of making long-term decisions after being kidnapped after all.'

'I have been very patient with your family so far, Potter,' said Voldemort dangerously. 'Don't make me wait any longer. I have explained to you why our case is just and necessary. It is really not that complicated. You are either with me or you are not. The time has come to pick your side and staying on the fence is not possible in this war. But before you make your decision, keep in mind where you are and who you are talking to. I would hate to spill blood as pure as yours, but don't think I will not do it.'

James sighed. This had played out pretty much as he had expected. Voldemort was trying to strong-arm him into joining the Death Eaters and there was no way he could talk himself out of this. It probably would be prudent, to pretend to join his side, just to get out of here in one piece and living, but James was not sure whether Voldemort would believe him. Also, he found the thought of being part of something as repulsive as the Death Eaters unbearable. He supposed he should have seen it coming from the very beginning. His father's plan had been smart, but there were some things which you just could not avoid. All members of the wizarding community were sucked into this pointless war and it had been overly optimistic to think that they could escape it. In the end, it was not really a tough decision to make. He had known which side he was one from the very beginning. Even if he hadn't been dating Lily, he never would have considered joining the bad side. He was not going to try to weasel his way out this situation by pretending to sympathise with Voldemort's crazy ideas! He had pretend to be someone else for too long already. It was a pity that he probably was going to die here in this dusty cellar, just because he had a conscience, but at least he was going to die being himself. He felt a pang of regret for everything he would never get to experience and for all the people he was never going to see again, but his determination was steely. He just hope his parents would get over his death eventually.

'Very well, then,' said James. 'The answer is no. I will not join you.'

'Such a disappointment,' said Voldemort and James actually believed him. 'You are talented and pure-blooded and yet you opt to throw it all away for nothing. Well, because I am merciful, I am going to give you the opportunity to change your mind. But first, let me give you something to think about.'

Voldemort's wand appeared in his hand out of nowhere. Before James had any chance to brace himself, the Dark Lord had hit him with a Cruciatus Curse. The pain wiped out everything else on his mind. James was only barely aware of his body twisting in agony on the chair and of his own screams. He was too busy feeling the agony which consumed every fibre of his being. It was worse than he remember, worse than everything he could imagine, too much to bear. And suddenly it was gone. James gasped for air, his whole body still burning from the force of the curse. He could feel blood flowing over his hands. He had twisted so much during the spell that he had scraped open his wrists on the tough ropes. He was disoriented and only barely managed to keep from vomiting. Merlin that had been terrible! Was that what Voldemort had in store for him? Would he torture him until there was nothing left of him? He had done the right thing, but it seems that his reward was a miserable death. The thought burned bitterly in his mind.

'Chin up, Potter,' said Voldemort. He put one of his spiderlike hands under James's chin and pushed it upwards, so that James was forced to look into his face again. 'Don't just slump in the chair like that, it is not a proper posture. Did you enjoy my demonstration? That just was a little appetizer. The Cruciatus Curse is a very handy curse. Clean, easy to use torture available at your fingertips. However, sometimes I feel like it limits my creativity. There are so many ways to inflict pain, why should you just stick to the curse? Maybe I will spice things up a little bit at a later point of our little session. I could start cutting some parts of you away. What do you think about that? Would you dearly miss one of your hands? Yes, I imagine you would. It is not too late, yet, Potter. Swear loyalty to me and I will accept you as one of my faithful servants. But think carefully. That is my very last offer. Refuse me again and I will slowly kill you and leave you at your parent's doorstep as an example of what happens when you try to fool me.'

Before James had any time to come up with an answer, Voldemort continued speaking.

'On the other hand, I could just make you obey me with an Imperius Curse,' said the dark wizards thoughtfully. 'I prefer not to use it as someone controlled by the curse uses any ability for thinking on his own. This means that you have to tell your minion everything you want him to do in detail. It is tiring, but can be useful on occasion. However, give how headstrong you seem to be, I doubt the curse would hold you for long. Worse, you could do some real damage if you break free at an inconvenient time. Hm... a difficult decision. You are more useful to me under the Imperius than you are dead, but you are also more dangerous. What do you figure, Potter? Should I try the Imperius on you? Or have you reconsidered by now? Are you still willing to refuse me just out of spite?'

James still hadn't found any answer. His whole body was still aching from the Cruciatus and his brain was foggy. He felt his consciousness slowly fading and tried desperately to stay awake. His weakness wasn't a good sign. What kind of damage had the Cruciatus done to his body? Was it possible to die from exposure to the dark curse? Well, it was preferable to die now than to die after more torture at least.

'My lord,' called a voice suddenly from far away. 'We have to move! They are... ah!'

It broke off. James could here bangs and shouts in the distance. Voldemort snapped to attention at once.

'What is it now?' he asked irritably. 'What have these fools done now? I will be right back, Potter. Don't go anywhere.'

He chuckled lightly at his own joke and glided from the room. James slumped even further down in his chair in relief. He had just been granted some time at least. What was going on? Had the aurors arrived at last? It sounded like a fight was happening in the house. James hoped that whoever had arrived was prepared to deal with Voldemort's wrath. He didn't want someone to die for him. He ought to use the respite and try to get out of this mess again. He tried to scope up some power to test his bounds again, but his body did not cooperate. Black spots appeared on his vision and for the second time in less than a day, James lost the fight against the darkness.