A/N: This chapter is a bit shorter than my usual ones. The reason is that this was supposed to be part of chapter 01 but that one was getting too long so I had to divide it into two chapters. This one ended a bit shorter than normal. Another thing, some of you may have read my other story "The Retelling, a story that I had to end prematurely due to unfortunate reasons. However, there was one plotline that people asked me a lot about. It was about what I did with Neville, since Neville was not present in that story. I have decide to reuse that plotline here. 10 points to those who can figure out what I wanted to do with Neville. Buh-bye.

It was just after past midnight when the Weasley family left. Harry had started feeling concerned that Sirius might start banging his head against the wall if he doesn't get to come out of his room soon. For obvious reasons, Sirius couldn't appear in front of the Weasleys. He was a wanted wizard, and his presence might spook the Weasleys. For this purpose, Sirius had been confined to his room while the Weasleys visited their only sister. During those few hours, Harry had occasionally checked on his godfather to see whether he was going mad.

As the Weasleys filtered into the kitchen to leave through the floo network, Harry, Remus, and Tonks were sitting there. After getting assurances from Tonks and Remus, Bill had joined the rest of the Weasleys in Ginny's guest room. Fleur had remained behind to make some sandwiches for the whole Weasley family. It was another matter that Kreacher wouldn't let her touch anything. She spent most of the time sitting in a huff while Kreacher made sandwiches. Once the sandwiches were ready, she took them to the room and did not come back till it was leaving time. Harry suspected she was annoyed at Kreacher for not letting her cook.

"Well, it's getting later. Thanks for letting us stay for this long." Bill spoke for the Weasley family who was standing around chattering. Harry noticed that the bushy-haired girl, Hermione was it? was paying him a bit more attention than usual.

"Oh, no problem, Bill," Remus answered. "You can stay here for the night if you want. It would put your mind at ease too." His comment was followed by a small grimace as Harry kicked him in the shin. Remus sent a small glare toward Harry who just smiled.

While Remus and Bill continued their conversation. Harry saw Hermione approaching him.

"Hello! I don't believe we have met. I am Hermione Granger," She threw out her hand towards him. Harry nodded and grasped it.

"Yes, Tonks told me. I am Harry."

Hermione waited a few moments for him to divulge his family name but when none came she pushed forward. "I don't think you attend Hogwarts, do you?

During this conversation, the tall stocky boy who had pushed Harry back when he entered Ginny's room had drawn nearer till he was standing beside Hermione. Harry nodded his head with a muttered Hello as he answered Hermione's question, "No, Homeschooled. Remus has been my teacher since I was five." And that was the truth, though not the whole of it. He had received tutorship from both Sirius and Remus along with Andromeda and a few other tutors from abroad who were less likely to recognize him as Harry Potter. He also had access to a secret repository of knowledge that he suspected his conversation partner would rather not know about.

Hermione's face had brightened at his answer, "That's fascinating. I have never met a homeschooled wizard or witch. I am muggle-born, you see. And there aren't many people who chose to home school their children when they can send them to Hogwarts." She hastily added. "Not that there's anything wrong with homeschooling. It's just, I think, a school is better."

Harry gave a noncommittal grunt. He didn't feel particularly strongly about this topic. He was homeschooled simply because there was no alternative.

"I am curious." Harry had the distinct impression that curiosity was the default emotion for the girl. "How do you give your OWLS? I mean for us, Ministry sends examiners to Hogwarts, and that's where they give the OWL, both written and practical portions. Same for NEWTS, but I don't know whether you have given your NEWTS."

"I haven't"

"Sorry?" Hermione looked confused.

"I haven't given my OWLS."

"Oh!" A faint blush adorned Hermione's tanned cheeks. "I thought. I mean you look older."

"I am. I am eighteen."

"Oh!" That was the end of the conversation between them. She didn't even ask him why he didn't give OWLS. Harry chose to ignore that he couldn't have told her if she had asked him that question. But her determined ignorance of him for the rest of their time in the kitchen grated on his nerve. It didn't help matters that the boy called Ron who was hanging close to the girl kept shooting him suspicious looks. He had the impression that somehow the girl thought of him less because he had not given his O. . That feeling annoyed him.

So, it was with irritation and a bit of determination that Harry clapped his hands. Immediately, the plates that Weasleys had left behind in Ginny's room, probably on Remus' insistence, zoomed into the kitchen and settled them neatly in front of him. Another clap and they zoomed into the sink and started washing.

Feeling quite satisfied with himself, Harry looked towards the Weasleys, only to receive a powerful kick to his shin. Harry muffled his yell and glared at Remus sitting beside him. The room had fallen completely silent. Nearly everyone present was staring at Harry. The Weasleys because they had never seen such a display of wandless magic and the other occupants because they were dumbfounded.

"How did you do that?" Hermione had covered her mouth with both her hands and her eyes were wide as saucers. As Harry looked around the room, he realized that every pair of eyes that belonged to the Weasleys mirrored the same question. It occurred to Harry, that what he did might have been a bit stupid if he didn't want to draw attention to himself. Not that he would admit it to anyone.

"Well it is getting late, Bill," Remus came to Harry's rescue and managed to distract the Weasley. The tension that was building in the room suddenly broke as the Weasleys broke out into chatter once more. They really didn't know how to remain silent for long.

Bill said his goodbyes to Remus and Tonks before nodding towards Harry and then throwing a bit of floo powder in the fireplace. Sirius had managed to connect the fireplace at the Weasleys without alerting anyone at the ministry. In a clear voice, Bill said, "The Burrow," and stepped into the fireplace. With a whirl of his robes, he was gone.

He was followed by his wife, who likewise, didn't pay much attention to Harry. The rest of the Weasleys were another story. The tall bespectacled boy that Remus had called Percy looked at Harry shrewdly as he passed him by. The twins winked at him, and clapped his shoulders before whispering, "Great magic, Harry." The one called Ron glared at him as if he had personally hurt him. While Hermione kept staring at him with wide eyes as her boyfriend led her away. Harry felt like a zoo animal under her gaze.

"What was that about Harry?" The dust had barely settled behind Hermione before Remus' calm voice echoed in the room that felt emptier now.

"About what?" Harry was determined to maintain his innocence for as long as possible.

"That bit of showing off that you did."

"Slipped my mind. That's all." Harry shrugged his shoulder.

Remus stared at him. His eyes slightly narrowed. "You expect me to believe that? Was it something that Miss Granger said?"

Harry simply scoffed. "She didn't think I was good enough to give O.W.L.s"

Remus' lips twitched into a small smile before he regained his serious expression, "Ms Granger can be a bit about the book. But that is no reason to lose your cool." The last part was said sternly. "It will do us no good to draw attention to you, especially at this stage."

Harry ruffled his hair. He had a habit of wearing them long to hide his scar. "Please Moony, it's not like any of them would run to Voldemort and tell him that I am alive."

"That is no reason to tempt fate, Harry."

"I am tired, Remus. Please, spare me the lecture."

"Then don't do things that would get you a lecture."

Harry rolled his eyes and got up, "I'll go check on Ginny and then turn in for the night."

As Harry walked up the stairs, Remus turned towards Tonks and said, "I thought she was sleeping. That's what Bill said."

Indeed, when Harry entered Ginny's room, it appeared that she was sleeping. The room was darkened. In that darkness, Harry could see that Ginny had pulled the sheets up to her shoulders. He was about to close the door when the sheets rustled, and Ginny sat up in the bed.

"Is that you, Harry?"

Harry reopened the door and entered the room. "I thought you were sleeping."

"No," In the dim light coming from the hall, Harry could see Ginny shake her head. "Just a bit tired from my family."

Harry gave a light chuckle. With a wave of his hand, he lit the light on the bedside table. The room bathed in a soft glow that was not too harsh on the eyes in the darkness of the night. In the dim light, Harry could see that Ginny was smiling faintly at him.

"They seemed like an overexcited lot."

Ginny grinned at him. Harry could feel his heart swelling, "That's putting it mildly."

"Are you sure you don't need to sleep?"

Ginny waved her hand at him dismissively, "I have been asleep for a long time. Now I want to be awake."

"So tell me about yourself," Harry said. "Have you graduated or in your Seventh year?"

"Seventh year," Ginny replied.

"So you have gotten your apparition license?" Harry asked.

"Yeah. At the end of my sixth year." She explained. "They let people who turned Seventeen during summer take the exam at the end of the year if they want to. Better to do it at Hogwarts at the same time than inconvenience the ministry."

"What about you?" Ginny asked.

Harry grimaced. "Well. I do know how to apparate, but I don't like it."

Ginny giggled, "I know what you mean. It just feels weird. Like fitting yourself through a really small tube."

Harry was nodding his head vigorously at Ginny's explanation. For a few seconds, there was silence. Harry cleared his throat and asked the question he really wanted the answer to.

"How was it after the chamber?"

For a long time, Ginny didn't answer. Harry was about to say that it was okay if she didn't want to answer him, but then Ginny spoke. "It was hard." Silence fell once more. After a few more minutes had passed. "Sorry, I just haven't spoken about it in so long. Just pushed it to the back of my mind, where I don't have to think about it."

"Only if you want to, Ginny. I asked because I think it was wrong to just leave you there like that, after what happened. We just didn't have any choice."

Instead of answering him, Ginny continued, "It was the hardest after the chamber. The whole school knew that somehow I was involved with opening the chamber. I couldn't make any friends before due to the diary. I was too busy writing to a fictional sixteen-year-old boy to talk to my real schoolmates. After the chamber, I didn't have anyone to rely on. My brothers tried to help, but there was just so much they could do. I still had to suffer through classes on my own. People really didn't like me back then."

It was like a dam had opened, once Ginny had started talking.

"Then, I had a lot of nightmares. I still do occasionally," Ginny added. "But it was really bad back then. Probably worse because I couldn't talk about it. I just didn't want my family giving me those weird looks they did whenever they thought I wasn't looking. Over time, I just learned to ignore everything. It did mean I didn't have many good friends though." She gave a wry smile. "Mostly I hung around with Ron and Hermione till my fourth year. Then they got busy with their O. . That's when I actually started hanging around with people from my own year. A good thing really. I found a really good friend. Luna Lovegood's her name. She's a bit weird, but a really nice person."

"That's good," Harry added unhelpfully. "Any boyfriends?" He thought he was smooth and casual about it, but from the look that Ginny gave him, it appeared that she at least suspected something.

"Not at the moment," Ginny smiled at him, and Harry felt like he could produce the world's best Patronus at that time. "My last boyfriend, Neville, broke up with me at the end of last year."

"He broke up with you?" Harry couldn't keep the incredulity out of his voice.

Ginny's smile got a bit brighter and her cheeks became slightly pinker. "Thanks, Harry, but he had his reasons."

Harry scoffed.

"It's supposed to be a secret," Ginny continued, "But he's off to fight Voldemort. He promised Ron and Hermione that he would take them with him, but he just disappeared one day." She frowned. "He did leave a note saying he can't bear to see them hurt."

"So, you two are going to get back together when he comes back?" Harry thought he did a good job of keeping irritation out of his voice.

"I used to think that," Ginny replied, "Now, I am not so sure."

"It's not like he told you to wait for him," Harry added a bit eagerly.

Ginny gave a light chuckle, "That's true."

"The thing is when we were together," She said, "I used to think that I really liked him. Maybe even loved him. Now, not so much."

At first, Harry's heart sank when he heard Ginny admitting she loved someone else. But then the words registered and he frowned.

"Ginny." He began cautiously. "Don't take this the wrong way but don't you think this could have been a love potion."

Ginny started laughing. Harry realized that her laugh was musical and he really liked hearing her laugh.

"Oh, Harry. I am sorry, I am not laughing at you." She stopped laughing and Harry immediately wished that she wouldn't have done that. "I know why you would think that. I didn't tell you this but I had the biggest crush on Neville. The only one I had a bigger crush on was…"

"On whom?" Harry asked inquisitively.

"Well?"

Ginny was looking down so that her hair hung around her like a red curtain. Still, Harry could see the bright red colour that adorned her pale freckled cheeks. At that moment, he was seized with a powerful urge to stroke her cheeks.

He was saved from doing anything embarrassing when Ginny spoke up, "You!"

"Pardon?" He was so focused on her reddening cheeks that he had completely forgotten what they were talking about.

"Oh Merlin," Ginny whispered before her voice picked up so that Harry could hear her clearly, 'I used to have a crush on you."

"Me?" Harry looked confused.

"I know," Ginny gave a loud huff, "I know, it wasn't really you. I used to have a crush on Harry Potter when I was really young. You disappeared after that night, but everyone believed that you will come to attend Hogwarts. I was really looking forward to meeting you when I went to Hogwarts. But then, the day came and you weren't there. After that, there was the whole chamber fiasco. Well, I guess after that I got over you. I gave up the hope of ever meeting you."

"Are you sure that crush is completely gone?"

"Merlin, Harry," Ginny's cheeks get even redder if that was possible. "Don't tease me like that. It's embarrassing enough talking about this."

Harry gave a snicker that turned into full-blown laughter. Soon Ginny joined him and their laughter started ringing in the whole house.

A sleepy-looking Sirius peered into their room and said in a gruff manner, "Would you two pipe it down? Some people are trying to sleep."

"Sorry, Sirius," Harry looked a bit flustered.

Sirius rolled his eyes and walked away. It was not until they had heard the distant noise of a door being open and closed did they speak again.

"What about you, Harry? Any girlfriends?"

Harry shrugged his shoulder. "A few. Most of them were muggles though. It never really clicked since I have had to hide such a large part of my life from them."

"That doesn't sound like a picnic."

"I did have one magical girlfriend though." Harry smiled at his own pun. Ginny rolled her eyes when she saw his smile. They were feeling comfortable around each other by now. "Though, I couldn't tell her that I was Harry Potter. So, that one had its own set of complications."

"I am sorry, Harry." Ginny gave him a sympathetic look, "I didn't realize your life was so hard, hidden away like this."

"I wouldn't say it was hard," Harry replied with a thoughtful look, "Sure, I couldn't get friends my age, but the relationships I had so far were fun, and I have good people around me. Sirius, Remus, Andromeda, Ted, Tonks. I think that's the best that I could have asked for in my situation."

"Why the need for secrecy, Harry?"

It was Harry's turn to be silent for an extended period.

"Is it something you can't tell me?" Ginny asked tentatively.

"I want to tell you, Ginny," Harry pushed his hand through his hair, trying to flatten them. It was a habit of his when he felt conflicted. "And that's what surprises me. I feel like I can tell you anything and it would be okay."

"I know what you mean," Ginny leaned back into the bed rest. She drew up her knees, putting her arms around them. She placed her cheek over them and stared at Harry, "I am in a strange place, among strangers. I didn't meet you before yesterday. Yet, I feel completely at ease. I feel like I can trust you completely. I haven't told anyone about the chamber in years. Yet, the words came to me easily."

Harry contemplated for a few minutes and then said, "I promise, Ginny, I'll tell you why I have to remain hidden for seventeen years soon. Just not now."

Ginny nodded her head which was laying on top of her arms and knees, "If you say so, Harry."

"Great, Let's talk about something else. How's Hogwarts?"

It didn't occur to either of them that it was getting late. That they should go to sleep. That they were feeling tired from the whole day of exertion.

So it was that Remus and Sirius once more found Harry asleep in the chair beside Ginny's bed in the morning. Somehow, the two looked a lot closer. Maybe, it was the fact that Harry had pulled his chair closer to the bed. Or maybe it was the fact that Ginny was sleeping closer to the edge where Harry sat.

"Moony, my dear friend." Sirius began, "Pray tell me why did we give the boy his own bed when he clearly prefers sleeping in a chair?"

Remus shook his head, a wry smile on his face. He flicked his wand and a blanket zoomed out of one of the rooms. He put it around Harry and answered Sirius, "He is not a boy anymore Sirius. He is eighteen. Besides, it's not every day that he gets to spend time with wizards and witches his own age."

That was a sobering thought for Sirius. He replied, "I know Moony. Don't think the thought hasn't occurred to me. So many times, I have wished that I could just take it all away from that poor boy. But, what can I do? As long as that maniacal dark lord is alive, he won't stop hunting Harry. Voldemort still doesn't believe that Harry Potter is dead and no one's seen him in wizarding Britain for nearly seventeen years. As long as Voldemort is alive, Harry won't be able to live a normal life."

"That may be Padfoot, but now that he has someone around his age to talk to, let's not disturb him."

When Ginny woke up, she noticed that the room was considerably brighter than morning. She hazarded a guess that it must have been around noon. The bedside light that they had left on was now extinguished. She lifted up her head and looked around. Just a small distance away from her, lay Harry in the chair sleeping. There was a blanket around him. Ginny grimaced. They must have fallen asleep while talking. She sat up in her bed and was about to call Harry when with a jerk he sat up straight in his chair. His hair was dishevelled and his glasses lay askew on his face. An involuntary smile formed on her face. She thought Harry looked quite cute sitting like that. She was concerned that he had slept like that in the chair.

As Harry woke up, he sat up straighter in his chair. Straightening his glasses, he looked down and blinked when he saw that there was a blanket around him.

"You okay, Harry? Ginny asked in a concerned voice, "I imagine it's no picnic, sleeping in a chair like that."

Instead of answering Ginny immediately, Harry stood up and stretched his arm over his body. For the first time, Ginny noticed that Harry was quite tall. As tall as Ron, her older brother. Harry held the blanket in one arm. With the other, he flicked his wrist and the blanket folded itself neatly. With another flick, the blanket soared out of the room. It was not the first time that Harry had performed wandless magic in front of her, but Ginny held her tongue for now. She didn't think it was something Harry would tell her yet.

"It's fine." Harry stretched the muscles in his neck, "I have slept in worst places."

"I'll go get ready and ask Kreacher to make some breakfast," Harry looked at the window and corrected himself, "Lunch. You rest up."

Ginny groaned, "I think I have rested enough. I am feeling a bit restless. Can I walk around?"

"I'll ask Remus. And Andromeda too, if she's around."

Even though Harry had asked her to wait for Andromeda and Remus to check on her, Ginny was feeling too restless to just sit in the bed. Once she was done with her morning ritual, she opened her door and walked out into the corridor. From the noise that she could hear faintly, it looked like Sirius was in the kitchen. The hallway that she stood in was wide, dark, and gloomy. Near the end of the hall, a door stood open just a crack. Ginny knew that it was rude but she couldn't resist. The whole situation was so mysterious. She was in the Black Family House, a family that espoused pureblood family values and certainly had death eaters in the ranks of Voldemort. Her host was Sirius Black, a wanted murderer supposed to be one of Voldemort's chief lieutenant. Yet, he was accompanied by Harry Potter, the boy whose parents he supposedly help Voldemort murder.

They didn't like to be in the limelight, yet they had rescued her from Diagon Alley when Death Eaters were attacking. The evidence so far certainly suggested suspicious activity, yet she couldn't be suspicious of the green-eyed boy and his wards. Besides Tonks and Remus Lupin were here too. Ginny rationalized that they couldn't be death eaters or allies with death eaters. Ginny knew she was grasping at straws. She didn't know Tonks and Professor Lupin well enough to know that they weren't in cahoots with the death eaters. Yet, she couldn't help but trust Harry, and by extension this ragtag group of mysterious people. That didn't mean that she wasn't curious about why they were hiding.

That's why, despite knowing that she was intruding on the hospitality of her hosts, Ginny slowly opened the door. The door creaked a little bit, making Ginny wince. She cast a guilty look around herself but she saw no one. No hurried footsteps or any footsteps were coming up the stairs. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door completely open.

The wall right in front of her was covered in newspaper clippings. Some of them had moving pictures. Most of them though were stationary, implying that they were muggles. There was a desk in the middle of the room with a few books strewn on top. Parchments lay haphazardly on the desk as if their owner hadn't bothered organizing them. Ginny moved closer to the desk. The books emitted an ominous feeling. She had a feeling that she didn't want to touch these books. Nonetheless, she couldn't help but read the names of the few that were visible. They were all books dealing with dark curses. One book laid open with a parchment rolled right on top of it. Ginny gingerly picked the parchment up. In the book, a phrase was encircled with a question mark next to it. Beneath the phrase, which Ginny thought most probably was a curse, were instructions for wand movement. Curious, Ginny opened the parchment. As she read the parchment, she realized that it was detailing the conditions of someone who was seriously sick. It dawned on her that she might have just looked at the curse that had hit her. She bent down to see which potion it was that had cured her. But, as far as she could see, there didn't seem to be any mention of an antidote. The author did mention that the curse worked quite effectively and efficiently, and recommended the curse for someone whom the person wanted to torture for a long time. Apparently, the curse slowly melted the internal organs. With a shudder, Ginny stood up straight. She had started to feel nauseous. Thinking that she had seen enough of the books, Ginny turned towards the newspaper clippings. There were circles and scribbled notes all over the clippings. As she swept her eyes over them, a particular piece of clipping caught her eye. The date on the newspaper put it at four years old. It talked about a curious death in Little Hangleton. Right beside it was another clipping. This one was much older. A chill rand down Ginny's spine as she read the headline. It talked about the odd death of the riddle family in their manor in Little Hangleton. A memory flashed in her mind of a high ceilinged room, of a family chattering happily and then falling silent as they noticed her approach. With a shudder, Ginny suppressed the memory. At that moment, she heard Sirius call out, "Harry, lunch is ready." Knowing that her time was up, Ginny backed out of the room and went down the stairs.

"Hello, Sirius," She said cheerfully and sat down in one of the chairs.

"Hello, Ginny," Sirius gave her a big smile, "How are we feeling today?"

….

"Crucio!"

The man in black robes crumpled to the ground. His body was twitching uncontrollably. His eyes were rolling into their sockets. Around him were others dressed in similar garb. A few of them were sporting masks marking them as death eaters.

"Nott, you fool!" The one torturing the man named Nott spoke up. One could clearly hear the anger in his voice. The man was young, barely eighteen. His blond hair could be seen peeking out of the hood that he wore over his head. The boy held himself straighter than the most present. He radiated confidence as if he was better than most people present in the room.

"You were supposed to bring her alive. Not try to kill her. That too with a spell of my mother's."

Nott took a big breath of relief as the young man lifted the curse off him. "I am sorry. It was the masked vigilante…"

But before he could finish his sentence, the blonde boy had turned his wand back on him. This time, Nott couldn't suppress the shriek that left his lip. The boy smirked as if highly amused by this display of pain.

"Do not make excuses in front of me. There were dozens of you. Dozens. And you couldn't distract one man? You had one job. How incompetent are you?"

The shrieks continued from the man. None of the figures even batted an eye as they saw one of them tortured. This was not a group that held much sympathy for each other.

"Enough!" The voice that rang out was cold. It was barely above a whisper, yet the effect was instantaneous. The death eaters immediately fell to their knees and the blonde man stopped pointing his wand at the one called Nott. Slowly, Lord Voldemort walked up among his most loyal followers. As he reached Nott, the man lifted himself up and kissed the hems of Voldemort's robe.

"Thank you, m'lord. You are too kind."

"That I am Nott," Voldemort's red eyes bore into those that were assembled. "Get away from me."

"Draco!" It was the blonde man who spoke, "Remove this blubbering mess from the dark lord's presence."

One of the hooded masked men stood up and quickly walked to where Nott lay crumpled in front of Voldemort. As he knelt down, trying to pick up the almost unconscious man, a blast hit him and his mask went flying.

With a sneer, the blond man spoke, "Stop hiding behind that mask, Draco. Remember you are a wizard. Use magic."

Draco Malfoy had given a squeal when his mask flew off, eliciting a round of laughter from those that were gathered in the room. He fumbled with his robe, finally bringing out his wand. With a murmured incantation, Nott was lifted high in the ground before making his way out of the room.

Voldemort gave a light laugh. The laugh was silky and sent chills down the spine of those that heard it.

"You mustn't treat your friends like that." The laugh died down. "Leave us."

As if they were waiting for that exact command, the death eaters quickly left the room. For a few minutes, there was silence. Voldemort stared at the young blonde man that stood in front of him. For a few seconds, he met his gaze, but it wasn't long before he looked away. There weren't many who could look Lord Voldemort in the eye for even that long.

"You overstep your bounds." Voldemort could feel a bout of fear emanating from the young man. It gave him great satisfaction to know that he could scare even his second in command with just a few words. Fear was his tool of choice, and he extracted great pleasure in wielding it over his subordinates.

"Are they your followers or mine?"

"I am sorry my lord," The blond man whimpered.

Voldemort's voice went even lower, yet his words rang clear and true, "Is that what I asked?"

The man was shaking by now, "Y-yours my lord."

"Indeed. Mine." Voldemort made his way behind the blonde man. He reached out with his hand and grabbed his chin, forcing the boy to look up, "Mine. Mine to do as I please. Mine to dispose of when I wish. Just as you are mine to do what I please." Voldemort brought his face inches from the blond man. The man's eyes were wide with fear. Sweat glanced on his brow. "Who gave you the permission to torture one of my followers?" His voice was a whisper now. "You are my favourite. Yet, even you do not own what is mine."

Voldemort removed his hand and immediately the man fell to the ground as if he was held there by Voldemort.

"I apologize m'lord. I shall never be so bold again."

Voldemort turned his back on the man, "I know you will not. You are excused, Neville."

Neville Lestrange, known in Hogwarts as Neville Longbottom, rumoured to be the chosen one, best friend of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, tasked by Albus Dumbledore to destroy the Horcruxes of the man that he called master, the ex-boyfriend of Ginny Weasley, lifted himself off the ground, bowed low to Voldemort's back and exited the room.

…..