Souls Ensnared
By
Carameldaydream
Book 1: The Debt of Salazar
i) Death's bargain
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In the Wizarding World, there were a variety of mysterious artifacts, clouded behind rumours and superstitions while the real reasons of their methods were only mere hypothesises. The Veil of Death in the Department of Mysteries was one of them. Even the Unspeakables regarded the aforementioned artifact with caution, which was somewhat of a turn-off, since time turners were mere toys to them.
This day, on Samhain's eve, two Unspeakables sat stiff and rigid, eyes darting nervously towards the shadowed walls. A celebration to death and rebirth, as it may be for those of unorthodox breeding, but still the Unspeakables were sent on guard duty, always looking for any unusual phenomenon to report.
'Well,' Death contemplated, as she stepped out from the veil.
'It was a good thing they couldn't see her.'
The sibylline murmurs and whispers came to a halt as she whipped her cloak, walking sedately past the officials, who hadn't noticed anything wrong, except a sudden flurry of coldness in their bones. She let herself be pulled away, melting into the air seamlessly, as she looked for her wayward immortal.
Death followed behind Tom Riddle, echoing his cowardly steps towards the man's prophesied equal.
She hated Tom Riddle. It wasn't a matter of spite, that Death couldn't get ahold of him, it was his fear of her, and the extent to which he had gone to protect his soul from Death's inevitability. He gave her soul upon soul, eclipsed by flashes of green light, but still couldn't understand that she would come for him.
No matter how much he resisted, one day Death would take his soul for herself, and the world would be free of the despicable man who called himself Voldemort.
But today, she followed the man to Godric's Hollow, when the veil was almost as thin as parchment, and the entity could be felt from afar.
Tom Riddle shivered as he blasted the front door, and the father crumbled underneath the rubble. Death pressed her shadowy fingers towards the man's heart, for the barest whispers of the killing curse to pass on Tom's lips, and then he thought better of it, walking over the carpeted stairs above.
Death glanced at the still-alive father and then followed behind into the nursery.
"Not my children please, take me instead, " the mother begged, red hair shielding the sight of the twins in their cribs, arms splayed in front of the two children, but Death only had eyes for one.
The green-eyed boy stared at her, almost as if he could see her, and Death gazed into his soul, her master in another time, or another universe.
Ahead, Tom grew impatient and the auburn haired woman threw a spell at him, as a last resort. She recognised it instantly, the green light bursting from her wand effortlessly. Lily Evans Potter cut a graceful figure in the dark house, green eyes glowing with fury, her red hair- the color of blood, long since free of their binds, and arms covering her children behind. But Tom laughed, a high and cold sound and the moment was broken as he side-stepped the curse, and instead sent it back towards her.
Her broken scream echoed as she collapsed, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Death took the soul of the mother, fiery as she had been in life, and like a warm breath in winter, she whispered, "Spare them, please."
Murmurs of a bargain echoed through the room and she could feel something forbidden, gaining energy.
"Which one of you is my supposed match?" Tom Riddle asked, twirling the wand in one hand, and sneered when he saw the twins holding each other, the one on the right crying with big heaving gasps.
Love, such a simple thing it was, like the warm hug of a parent or the deep insatiable feeling of fondness. It was easy to those who understood it, but Riddle was not one of those. He never caught the air thickening around him, almost imperceptibly but Death glanced around with interest.
"Avada Kedavra," Riddle whispered, and the green light flew lightning-fast from his wand.
It never struck his target.
"Spare them," it was a slight whisper, like a breeze on a hot day, or a mother's light kiss. It crackled with energy, forming a barrier between the green light and the two boys holding each other firmly.
The spell bounced back at Tom Riddle. He screamed, a loud sound touched with anger and agony and Death extended her hands, joyous to finally take the soul of the vile creature.
It was not to be. The soul carriers remained, and Tom Riddle could not die. His soul shattered into two pieces, writhing in the air. One-piece formed into a shade, a shade who was furious and a little bit scared, loath to admit as he was. The only living part of Lord Voldemort floated away, keen on revenge.
The remaining soul fragment, however, was not so easy to deal with. It floated through the golden barrier, intent to merge with the nearest living soul, and decided in front of his master. The boy screamed and the barrier collapsed, trying to keep the vile thing at bay.
Death looked at the boy's soul, so young and so pure, her master's soul which was now being squeezed by the vile fragment. The mother's protection interfered, keeping both souls away, and Death smoothed the boy's hair out of his eyes not caring that the pattern of her movements knitted into her green-eyed masters' skin.
Her magic pooled beneath her fingertips, cold and dark but when it spoke, it was a malovelent hiss.
"Leave him," the serpent commanded and she unwillingly stepped aside, loath as she were to risk disrupting the Entities' Code. The rune of Sowilo crawled on the boy's forehead where Death's shadowy hands had touched a boy of the mortal realm, and lit up, golden brown.
With a last look at both of the scarred boys, the entity let herself be pulled away from the little cottage.
"A bargain, little master." She whispered and Harry Potter shivered.
Outside the cottage, the unblinking grey eyes of a black cat watched.
A/N: Hello dear readers, first of all, welcome to this joyous ride on which you have embarked with me. Thankyou for giving this story a chance, I promise I'll do the best I can, sculpting this into a fanfic you'll all be pleased to read in days past.
I'm sorry if this all seems raw, but this is my first time writing, and I'm learning new things everyday which will for sure help me with this.
WBWL stories have long since been the trope that has the best and the worst fanfics ever written in any genre. So, this is my part to our little project, which will seem like the usual Wrong Boy Who Lived stories mixed together at first, but I promise you, it will shape up to be something you do not expect.
Pairings will not take place until 4th year, and there will be altogether no bashing. I'm not sure I can even write children, seeing that I have no idea how to write British People, honestly it sucks to have English as a second language. Anyways, I'll try my best, and I hope you like my efforts.
Inspiration Credits, of course go to
Harry Potter And The Prince of Slytherin By TheSinisterMan.
Certain Dark Things by evejenson.
Harry Potter And The Ashes of Chaos by Ac1l00.
Sarcasm And Slytherin by sunmoonandstars.
Crashing Into Darkness by Sectumus Prince.
Bezoar by silverdrip.
Antithesis by OceanBreeze07.
Who Dares Wins by OlegGunnarson.