Searing hot pain. Harry screamed as usual. Were the muggles correct in their hell theory? This would certainly be a good description. Was this his punishment for becoming a dark lord? Wait, dark lord? Harry sighed. Or he did the best he could manage for a sigh, which was a pained gasp. Harry could feel his mind breaking. What was Harry and what was Tom. It blurred together. Is this what he deserved? Sharing a mind with a boy not unlike him? An orphan. Another failure of Dumbledore.
Harry/Tom shrieked. Body jerking and a splinter worming its way into Harry's thumb. Yes, it was Harry's body. He had gotten some of Tom's features. His eyes. His hair, kinda. Tom giggled. Tom didn't giggle. He was a dark lord.
He wished he had a wand. This would be a lot easier if he did. At least he had taken control of the mind. For now. The pain and trauma had been too much for poor Harry. He was there… Kinda. Tom giggled again. That's how Vernon found him. Giggling on the bed.
Vernon looked at him like he was a mentally disturbed puppy. He remembered torturing a Hufflepuff's puppy. Oh, how it had squirmed under the cruciatus. Fleeting Hogwarts memories kept Tom in a good mood throughout Vernon's pestering. He thought of what he would do to these people. Who said he didn't have to enjoy this?
'Kill Dudley! Tear out his eyes!' Harry squawked.
'We're already in the car, jackass.' Voldemort replied and he felt Harry wilt.
'Vernon smelled like pork chop.' Harry mused and his body giggled. Tom groaned. He was forced to share a mind with a younger, male Bellatrix. Fantastic. 'Who's Bella?' And he can read my mind…
'Our mind.' Harry thought and Tom shot him a withering glare which Harry returned with a smirk.
Vernon glanced at the mirror with an odd look. He was unnerved, Tom could tell. Tom smiled at him and Vernon immediately turned back to the road.
Once they had arrived at the church, Harry got out and projected an aura of happiness which left Vernon feeling slightly ill. Tom just groaned, but kept walking. He doubted having Harry around would make this any less fun.
Harry splashed in the puddles and Vernon sneered at him as they walked. Tom decided to start now and tripped Vernon as he lumbered. The man toppled over with a loud thud and Tom immediately straddled him and…
…
…
'We don't have anything.' Harry mused and Tom glared at him, before he felt hands wrap around his neck. Beady eyes bored into him and that was the last thing he saw before pain.
Or not.
Harry awoke in a dark place. He could feel the hum of a vehicle. Harry/Tom didn't even dare to make a joke. They felt dread pool, or maybe that was just piss. Oops. Harry felt exasperated amusement from his partner in crime, but the friendly moment was short-lived.
The trunk opened and a red faced, angry Vernon lifted Harry up onto his shoulders. Harry tried to fight him, but a punch to the stomach stopped him quickly.
Harry smelled it first. Dog. Wet dog. Tom felt confused. Why was Vernon… Oh.
Harry felt himself being thrown and suddenly he was in an enclosure. High fences surrounded him. He felt sniffing and tried to will the dogs away, but they were too hungry for that. Harry screamed and Tom was left in silent horror.
After they decided that he smelled good, the dogs immediately began their feast. Tom felt like he was being pulled in several directions. He could feel his skin being ripped. Teeth puncturing. All at once. He didn't know how many dogs were in the pit, but he would guess at least seven. Huh. A powerful number. Harry had already pulled back and was mumbling hysterically in the back of his mind. Tom couldn't blame him. Even though they were both conscious, the pain wasn't split. They both felt the same pain. Harry, only being a child of ten, would doubtless last very long. He was surprised he hadn't crack sooner.
The only up side of all this was the longer it went on, the more divided the personalities got. Tom felt more like himself and could distinguish his life from Harry's. The bad part was that two distinct minds now controlled one body. This made functions erratic. Tom wasn't certain what Harry would do. Fuck, he would kill him if he could, but the damn child was part of him! It was impossible.
Personalities aside, Tom would likely not last very long either. His already fraying sanity was slipping. He now understood the effects of the cruciatus. Not that he regretted using it, far from it. If he had a wand, then he would be cursing everyone in Privet Drive for the pain they were causing him. He'd love to witness Harry's reaction to using the curse.
Dark magic changed a person. Look at Bella. She was insane, true. However, she was doubtless his best fighter due to her unpredictability.
He'd love to see Harry meet Bella.
What a strange thought. Lord Voldemort didn't arrange play-dates.
Tom giggled, but discovered that his 'giggle' came out as a rather strained gurgle. Again.
He ventured a peek at his form.
Oh how he wished he could unsee it. Harry's body looked like swiss cheese. There were holes everywhere and muscle and bone were showing.
'Hehe. Swiss cheese. Cheese on my feet. Stinky cheese!' Harry thought, as the dogs chewed on his arms and legs.
This had turned out to be the slowest death they had yet endured. Tom had just enough strength to send one last command. 'Bite my neck'. The thought held true and one of the dogs got up and made his way over. Tom prepared for the pain. He imagined that it would never end. As he stared into manic, brown eyes Tom regretted asking Slughorn about horcruxes. He missed the owl that had been clutching onto the bars of the fence, chirping frantically.