A/N: I told you that last chapter was sad, didn't I? Didn't I! I'm sorry. But you know- I don't write the story…the story writes me. Wait! No! That sounded wrong. I don't really read what I write. I just write it. Please don't murder me!

Always,
Tad

P.S. This chapter gets really weird really fast, so please be prepared
P.P. S. Special thanks to Seeker_2000 who "hung on every word". You're the best.
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Prologue to the chapter:

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James dashed out of the bed, having finally made his choice 3 seconds too late. He saw Harry's body relax. Voldemort cackled with laughter, not seeing James.

"You- you-" James yelled. "You monster!" He sank down to Harry and grabbed him, shook him, and in seeing that all was lost, began to cry.

Voldemort whipped around. He saw James. "What's this?" He cackled. "Grieving for your son? Its too late man. Get off of him. He's not coming back." He laughed.

"How- how could you?" James stammered. "I ought to-" He got up and began to charge Voldemort. Voldemort laughed and with a wave of his wand, James was thrown (screaming) into a tunnel of darkness.

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(A/N: I'll bet you think I killed James too, huh? But I didn't)

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And as quickly as it came, it was over. The world got bright again and James was alive and well. But something was very different.

He was not in the room any more. Voldemort was gone. He was standing on a dirt road…in the mountains. James looked up and sure enough- there was Hogwarts on the top of the hill. He apparated to the Forbidden Forest and ran to the castle.

Students who were on the lawn talking stopped suddenly as the man ran at them.

"It's Harry!" Some cried. "Harry's back!"

James didn't stop. He didn't stop until he had reached the statue of the Gargoyle.

"Damn, I'll bet he's changed the password." He hissed. "Open up!"

It stayed solid.

"Come on…think…candy names. Bertie Botts! Licorice Wand!"

Still, it remained solid.

"STUPID THING!" James said. He kicked it and then hopped back, grabbing his foot.

"Harry. That will get you nowhere." A calm voice said. James whipped around to find himself face to face with Professor McGonagall.

"You're not Harry." She said lightly. "You're- you're-"

"James."

She pointed a finger into the air as if she'd know the entire time. "Ah. Of course." And she fell to the ground in a dead faint.

James was just about to start rambling off candy names again when the gargoyle stepped to the side and Dumbledore came strutting out of his office. First he saw McGonagall.

"Oh my." He said, looking at her. "I shall have to send for Madame Pomfrey…" And then he saw the hems of ripped up robes on the floor. He slowly looked up until he was face to face with James.

"Harry!" He said. "You're back."

"I'm not Harry." James said sadly. Dumbledore adjusted his spectacles.

"Ah, of course." He said genially. "So glad to see you back safely. Now I'll interview you and your son about the goings on where you were held as soon as I get Minerva cleared off the ground. Not smart to come here without your disguise James..."

James said nothing. Dumbledore filled in the silence by calling out, "Winky! Bob! Dobby! Please come here!"

Three house elves appeared and picked up Professor McGonagall (she was looking in sad shape) off the floor and went away as silently and as quickly as they could with the overweight teacher balanced on them.

"Step into my office, please James." Dumbledore said. "Wait. Where's Harry? Shall we wait for him?"

James took a deep, calming breath to fight the lump in his throat. "H-Harry- won't be here."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"He was- he was…" James said as his shoulders began to shake violently. "Oh god, he was-" Racking sobs echoed through the corridor.

"No." Dumbledore whispered. "He didn't- he wasn't-"

"Yes." James choked out. "By Voldemort."

"This cannot be." Dumbledore said. "It's a trick! I has to be…Harry can't be-"

"Gone." James finished.

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After that there were a lot of major changes at Hogwarts. James taught without his disguise and Ron and Hermione were taken off the curse they were under. But both were still very silent and seemed distant. James was the same way. Something was missing from the castle.

The only people that didn't seem to mind this absence were the Slytherins, excluding Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy. Nobody cared really, but Draco and his cronies seemed very silent and smug in the months following Harry's death. Something was up, and nobody even caught on. They were all to wrapped up in themselves to see the immediate danger of Draco's actions.

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I lie in an early bed.
Thinking late thoughts
Waiting for the black to replace my blue.
I do not struggle in your web
Because if was my aim to be caught
But daddy long legs I feel
I am finally growing weary
If waiting to be consumed by you
Give me the first taste
Let it begin
Heaven cannot wait forever.

(Poem adapted from Fiona Apple)
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Harry lay on his back, staring at the ceiling wishing he wasn't where he was. He was of course, alive, in Voldemort's dungeon of course. A few months ago he had been dragged out of his first cell and then thrown in a new, smaller dirtier one. Avery had informed him that James had been let out and also that James had told the entire world that Harry Potter was dead. So Harry was stuck here, in this cell that smelled of rat droppings and rotting hay.

He didn't know why Voldemort kept him alive, really. Harry thought at first that it was for entertainment but the idea of that was vetoed out of his brain when he had a vision of Voldemort complaining about keeping "that wretched boy" here.

The days were long with nobody there to talk to. And so he would just sit in the cell silently pondering things like "what if the sky were brown and the soil was blue" and "if love is blind, and god is love…is god blind" all day.

But today was different. Something was going to happen and Harry could feel it in the very air around him. He didn't even hope that he was going to be let out for he knew that would never happen. He didn't hope at all, in fact because nothing in this house was something a person could hope for. But something was going to happen and he knew it.

And that was why he was lying on his bed, wishing that what ever was going to happen wasn't and that he was far, far away from here. But wishes rarely come true, and Harry knew that well.

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Avery walked down the hall lined with cells with a smug grin on his face. He was twirling his wand around in his hand and humming his favorite song. He stopped by Potter's cell and peeked in. His grin widened as the boy tossed in his sleep.

Avery moved on down the line of cells.

Harry opened his eyes as soon as the guard had passed, thankful that Avery hadnt come in to fetch him. In truth, he wouldn't have minded leaving his cell for a while even if it did mean that he would be beat up or cursed. But something today was telling him that once he left this cell he would not be coming back again and that feeling frightened him.

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"Would I would know what was going on here." Harry thought as the day wore on uneventfully. "Or rather, would I would leave this place!"

"Talking to yourself, Potter?" Came a cool voice. Harry nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Who's there?"

"You don't remember your favorite Potions teacher?"

"You!" Harry hissed. "I knew you had something to do with this!"

"Had something to do with what?"

"They're keeping me here for no reason." Harry said. "You have something to do with that don't you? Don't you!"

Silence.

Harry walked to the door of his cell and peered out. "Why can't I see you, Snape? I know I'm not that tall."

"It's because you're not the only one being kept hostage, idiot." Snape said.

"Wait- you're innocent?" Harry said. "You aren't on His side?"

"Yes, I know it's not what you'd expect from me, narrow-minded as you are, but I'm not as evil as the student body thinks."

Harry snorted. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"You know, scar face, I wouldn't say such things if I were you." Snape said with a little laugh.

"Why do they have you in a cell." Harry wondered suddenly. "I thought you were a double agent."

"I'm no actor." Snape said. "They've found me out. I don't know why they haven't killed me really. I think it's your fault."

"What do you-" Harry started but the rest of the sentence was cut off because the doors at the end of the hall had opened again.

Avery was walking down the row of cells again. "Severus." Avery said. "You're time is coming shortly." He moved on to Harry's cell. "You- boy. You're coming with me."

Avery unlocked the cell and prepared himself for a fight with the boy. But it wasn't needed for Harry walked out of the room willingly. It had to be a trick.

"No funny stuff." Avery muttered and put a strong hand on Harry's shoulder as he led him out of the dungeons.

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Harry was led into one of the nicer rooms in the run down house. It had a fireplace and a big comfy looking chair sitting right in front of the fireplace. Nagini was curled up on the rug by the chair. Harry had a vague feeling he had been here before.

"Avery turn 'round my chair." Came Voldemort's voice. Avery gave Harry a stern look before bidding his master's orders. Voldemort sat his spidery hands in his lap, looking at Harry for what seemed like forever.

"Why have you kept me here." Harry said at last.

"Wormtail wished me to do it actually." Voldemort said. "He said that he owed you something, so I have kept you alive."

"And what are your plans for me."

"That is what I wish to discuss." Voldemort said. Harry was fingering his wand. "You see, I can't kill you because I've promised Wormtail- but I can't keep you in a cell much longer. I'm a restless man."

"Why can't you just lock me up until I die?"

"First and foremost, Potter, I've worked long and hard to get you here and I'm not going to just let all my ambitions go to rot. And second, your father has spread word through the world that you are dead. Your funeral was 2 months ago, actually."

"How does he think I died?" Harry wondered. He had taken his hand off his wand at this point. He knew he wouldn't need it and he also knew that if he so much as took it out of his pocket, Avery would tackle him.

"I placed him under a spell while he was knocked out." Voldemort said lazily. "He thought the dream I sent him was reality. He was a fool."

"Of course." Harry whispered.

"Come closer Harry, I wish to tell you something."

Avery pushed him forward. Voldemort grabbed Harry's wrist and looked at him in the eyes. Harry cringed and bit back his yell of pain and all his impulses to just strangle Voldemort.

"You aren't very happy, are you, Harry?" Voldemort asked silkily.

"What?" Harry said. He tried to look away, but found he could not break eye contact with him.

"You heard me! You aren't happy."

Harry could feel himself spinning into those eyes- losing all control. His head was getting very light. He tried to blink the feeling away, but found he could not blink.

"No." He heard himself answer. 'No!' He raged inwardly. 'Don't let him do this to you! Think about- think about something else. Quidditch!' "I mean- yes! I am happy."

Voldemort stared at him more intensely. "You hate your father and you don't trust your friends."

"I hate my father…" Harry said like a machine, but inside he was screaming like a banshee. Suddenly he blinked, able to move again. "What are you doing to me?" He nearly yelled. "I trust my friends."

Voldemort grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him, never breaking that eye contact.

"You hate life! You don't enjoy anything anymore. You're at the end of your line! You're spent! You hate Hogwarts!"

"I…I-"

Voldemort's stare intensified. "Say it." He hissed. "Say it and believe it!"

"I hate life." Harry said. 'NO! Don't let him win, damn you!' "I don't enjoy anything anymore."

"Keep going." Voldemort whispered. "You're almost there."

"I -I… I can't keep going!" Harry burst out. "You can't win!"

Voldemort made a noise in his throat. Harry still couldn't break eye contact or move. His mind began to close off. His eyes were losing their sparkle the more he stared into Voldemort's. Harry was falling under Voldemort's spell.

"But I have won." Voldemort whispered. "And you are mine. Say you agree."

Harry's control over himself snapped like a dry twig. He was spiraling into Voldemort's red eyes, falling under his control and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Absolutely nothing.

Harry fell to his knees. "I am yours, Master."

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A/N: Challenge to the readers! I have a poem here, and it's a very good poem too. It's by Fiona Apple. But it can be related to this story. So I want you to read the poem and then tell me whose point of view it's from for each stanza. It shouldn't be too hard and I'll give you one hint: it's not all from Harry's point of view, neither is it all James. If you take me up on the offer and you get it right, I'll e-mail you with a free spoiler- or if you don't want a spoiler I'll let you read the first chapter of my new series IN ADVANCE.

Let the games begin!


You'll never see the courage I know
It's colors richness won't appear within your view
I'll new glow the way that you glow
Your presence dominates the judgements made on you
But as the scene re-grows I see in different lights
The shades and shadows undulate in my perception
My feelings swell and stretch
I see from greater heights
I understand, but I am still too proud to mention to you

You say you understand
When you don't understand
You'll say you'll never give up
Seeing eye to eye
But never is a promise and you cant afford to lie.

You'll never touch
These things that I hold
The skin of my emotions lie beneath my own
You'll never feel the heat of this soul
My fever burns me deeper than I've ever shown
To you

You say don't feel your dreams
It's easier than it seems
You'll say you'll never let me fall from hopes so high
But never is a promise and you cant afford to lie

You'll never live this life that I live
I'll never live the life that wakes me in the night
You'll never hear the message I give
You'll say it looks as though I might give up this fight
But as the scene re- grows I see in different lights
The shades and shadows undulate in my perceptions
My feelings swell and stretch
I see from greater heights
I realize but I'm now to smart to mention
To you

You say you understand
You'll never understand
I'll say you'll never wake up knowing how or why
I don't know what to believe in
You don't know who I am
You'll say I need appeasing when I start to cry
But never is promise
And I'll never need a lie.

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(P.S. Answers will be posted at the beginning of the next chapter)