Okay, under threat of being trampled by rabid flying penguins (Riverlady)
and out of excitement that I'm going to see COS tonight - EEEEEEeeeeeEEE!!
- here's the update which I wasn't even going to write until Monday.
Consider yourselves blessed (
*************************************************
Harry tried to stop himself from panicking as the Death Eaters closed in. Over the deathly silence, Voldemort was speaking.
"I hate muggles and muggle borns, and our aim is to kill as many as possible. However, there is a little irony here, one that surely will not escape my guest here.
You see, muggles, in the absence of magic, have invented the most fantastic methods of torture. More exruciating than the cruciatus; more overwhelming to the mind than the imperius; and slower than Avada Kedavra.
Muggles are indeed fascinating creatures, with such a long history of various tortures. So tonight, we will hold a special. . .party. . .for our quarter muggle friend. Maybe. . .maybe he will remember some of these tricks."
Suddenly, Harry thought he knew what was going to happen, and felt bile rise in his throat.
think of spells; think of your patronus; think of anything, anything, just not that, please god not that, please, no, no, no!
With an evil smile, the Death Eater nearest to him reached out a long hand and wrenched down his jeans, causing the hems to cut his legs open.
Harry mind went blank, unable to think of anything sensible.
Oh merlin, make it stop. . .
************************* AN I have no intentions of EVER writing a rape scene. . . ***************************
Snape and Dumbledore had been talking - yelling - for nearly ten minutes and they had no idea where Harry could be. And then Draco appeared.
"They. . .took him to the cave in Hogsmeade. . .I. . .only just found out. . ."
Snape put a hand on Draco's shoulder.
"Breathe, Draco. Now tell me, when did they go?"
"About ten minutes ago."
"We. . .might be too late, Albus."
"No, he is still alive. If he dies. . .terrible things will happen. We have to save him, at any cost."
****************************
Harry lolled, trying to slip into unconsciousness, but it wasn't working. Voldemort knew everything that had happened over that summer, and was taking delight in replaying it in front of Harry's eyes. There was nothing Harry could do to make it stop; the images flashed in his mind, making him feel dizzy and sick.
And then Voldemort made his mistake.
"Potter. . .you want it to all go away, don't you?. . .you want everything to disappear. I always swore I would kill you, but I think it would be a nice little irony to let you do it yourself. So, here's your tool. I will send pictures to the Ministry."
He put on a mocking voice.
"The tragic death of Mr Harry Potter. The Saviour of the Wizarding world is no more. The Boy-Who-Lived wished he didn't. . .so here's your chance, Mr Potter. You can break the mould of your family. You can end it on your own terms."
Harry looked at the dagger swimming in front of his eyes. It would be so easy, so quick, so painless. . .
He reached out and grasped the wooden handle, thoughts of his Aunt and Uncle flying through his mind.
He drew a line across his arm, saw the blood flow out, felt the rush of pain.
And came to his senses.
*******************************
Dumbledore had never looked so old or helpless. They had apparated to the cave, but it was deserted. Either Draco had lied, or he had been wrong. . .fed the wrong information. . .
"It was the potion that I made for Voldemort! Lucius has been controlling Draco!"
Dumbledore sighed.
"That still doesn't tell us how we can find Harry though."
Then there was a bang; the two wizards dived to the ground, wands out, as the unconscious bodies of 3 Death Eaters sailed over the mouth of the cave and landed in a heap at the bottom.
*******************************
As he saw the blood, he felt suddenly alive. The Death Eaters were grinning manically.
"Expelliarmus Altus Pluris!"
The Death Eaters around him flew into the air, with a stronger variant of the expelliarmus spell knocking them all flying in one go.
"Stupefy pluris!"
Bellowed Harry and the Flying Death Eaters lost consciousness.
"Very impressive" said Voldemort, looking genuinely nervous.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The green light passed straight through Voldemort as the Dark Wizard stood and laughed. Every evil spell Harry threw at him passed straight through until Harry was exhausted. He was naked, bleeding and bruised. Now, he wanted to die. But he had to kill Voldemort first.
He closed his eyes waiting for the rush of death, willing himself to die quickly. As he shut his eyes, he imagined a world where there were no Death Eaters, no Voldemort, no Voldemort, no Voldemort. Voldemort was dead, he didn't exist, he could never come back to life.
Harry felt the blue light gathering around him, and mustering all his energy, silently, he thrust his arms out towards Voldemort, palms facing his nemesis. Blue light shot out, striking Voldemort, building up, and making him swell; and then with a hiss, he disintegrated into nothingness, all his magical transformations nullified.
White light rippled out from his dead body, sucking up all his magic, and flooding the clearing.
The last things Harry thought was,
'I want to go home. But I don't know where my home is.'
**************************
Dumbledore was just about to unmask the final Death Eater when there was a blinding flash of white light. The scent of Dark Magic was tangible in the air, but. . .it was fading slowly. . .and then with a very girly sounding yelp, Snape held out his forearm.
The Dark Mark was gone.
Suddenly Snape said,
"Who is the third Death Eater? I know them all; he is not one I recognise."
Dumbledore bowed his head.
"I am afraid I think I know him well. I never guessed that he would take this path."
He pulled off the hood, and Snape gasped.
"Weasley!"
*************************
Harry didn't know how much later it was when he awoke. He was cold, the night air freezing him slowly. He couldn't see anything through the darkness, but he could hear voices.
"Harry! Harry! Where are you? Can you hear us, Harry?"
The voices sounded tired, as though they had been calling for hours. Then he could hear muttering, getting closer.
"Severus, I think we've lost him. He can't possibly be alive in these temperatures."
The voices were coming towards him, Harry wanted to call out. He heard a thud as either Snape or Dumbledore kicked a Death Eater's body out of the way. They must have scattered a long way.
"He can't be gone, Albus. It's not fair!"
Snape's voice sounded thick and angry.
Closer, closer.
"Severus! Stop!"
Snape stopped and looked down. There was a body on the ground; but this was no Death Eater!
"Harry?"
Harry shifted and looked up at the two professors.
Wordlessly, Snape took off his cloak and wrapped it around Harry. He lifted the frail boy in his arms, and apparated him back to Hogwarts.
Consider yourselves blessed (
*************************************************
Harry tried to stop himself from panicking as the Death Eaters closed in. Over the deathly silence, Voldemort was speaking.
"I hate muggles and muggle borns, and our aim is to kill as many as possible. However, there is a little irony here, one that surely will not escape my guest here.
You see, muggles, in the absence of magic, have invented the most fantastic methods of torture. More exruciating than the cruciatus; more overwhelming to the mind than the imperius; and slower than Avada Kedavra.
Muggles are indeed fascinating creatures, with such a long history of various tortures. So tonight, we will hold a special. . .party. . .for our quarter muggle friend. Maybe. . .maybe he will remember some of these tricks."
Suddenly, Harry thought he knew what was going to happen, and felt bile rise in his throat.
think of spells; think of your patronus; think of anything, anything, just not that, please god not that, please, no, no, no!
With an evil smile, the Death Eater nearest to him reached out a long hand and wrenched down his jeans, causing the hems to cut his legs open.
Harry mind went blank, unable to think of anything sensible.
Oh merlin, make it stop. . .
************************* AN I have no intentions of EVER writing a rape scene. . . ***************************
Snape and Dumbledore had been talking - yelling - for nearly ten minutes and they had no idea where Harry could be. And then Draco appeared.
"They. . .took him to the cave in Hogsmeade. . .I. . .only just found out. . ."
Snape put a hand on Draco's shoulder.
"Breathe, Draco. Now tell me, when did they go?"
"About ten minutes ago."
"We. . .might be too late, Albus."
"No, he is still alive. If he dies. . .terrible things will happen. We have to save him, at any cost."
****************************
Harry lolled, trying to slip into unconsciousness, but it wasn't working. Voldemort knew everything that had happened over that summer, and was taking delight in replaying it in front of Harry's eyes. There was nothing Harry could do to make it stop; the images flashed in his mind, making him feel dizzy and sick.
And then Voldemort made his mistake.
"Potter. . .you want it to all go away, don't you?. . .you want everything to disappear. I always swore I would kill you, but I think it would be a nice little irony to let you do it yourself. So, here's your tool. I will send pictures to the Ministry."
He put on a mocking voice.
"The tragic death of Mr Harry Potter. The Saviour of the Wizarding world is no more. The Boy-Who-Lived wished he didn't. . .so here's your chance, Mr Potter. You can break the mould of your family. You can end it on your own terms."
Harry looked at the dagger swimming in front of his eyes. It would be so easy, so quick, so painless. . .
He reached out and grasped the wooden handle, thoughts of his Aunt and Uncle flying through his mind.
He drew a line across his arm, saw the blood flow out, felt the rush of pain.
And came to his senses.
*******************************
Dumbledore had never looked so old or helpless. They had apparated to the cave, but it was deserted. Either Draco had lied, or he had been wrong. . .fed the wrong information. . .
"It was the potion that I made for Voldemort! Lucius has been controlling Draco!"
Dumbledore sighed.
"That still doesn't tell us how we can find Harry though."
Then there was a bang; the two wizards dived to the ground, wands out, as the unconscious bodies of 3 Death Eaters sailed over the mouth of the cave and landed in a heap at the bottom.
*******************************
As he saw the blood, he felt suddenly alive. The Death Eaters were grinning manically.
"Expelliarmus Altus Pluris!"
The Death Eaters around him flew into the air, with a stronger variant of the expelliarmus spell knocking them all flying in one go.
"Stupefy pluris!"
Bellowed Harry and the Flying Death Eaters lost consciousness.
"Very impressive" said Voldemort, looking genuinely nervous.
"Avada Kedavra!"
The green light passed straight through Voldemort as the Dark Wizard stood and laughed. Every evil spell Harry threw at him passed straight through until Harry was exhausted. He was naked, bleeding and bruised. Now, he wanted to die. But he had to kill Voldemort first.
He closed his eyes waiting for the rush of death, willing himself to die quickly. As he shut his eyes, he imagined a world where there were no Death Eaters, no Voldemort, no Voldemort, no Voldemort. Voldemort was dead, he didn't exist, he could never come back to life.
Harry felt the blue light gathering around him, and mustering all his energy, silently, he thrust his arms out towards Voldemort, palms facing his nemesis. Blue light shot out, striking Voldemort, building up, and making him swell; and then with a hiss, he disintegrated into nothingness, all his magical transformations nullified.
White light rippled out from his dead body, sucking up all his magic, and flooding the clearing.
The last things Harry thought was,
'I want to go home. But I don't know where my home is.'
**************************
Dumbledore was just about to unmask the final Death Eater when there was a blinding flash of white light. The scent of Dark Magic was tangible in the air, but. . .it was fading slowly. . .and then with a very girly sounding yelp, Snape held out his forearm.
The Dark Mark was gone.
Suddenly Snape said,
"Who is the third Death Eater? I know them all; he is not one I recognise."
Dumbledore bowed his head.
"I am afraid I think I know him well. I never guessed that he would take this path."
He pulled off the hood, and Snape gasped.
"Weasley!"
*************************
Harry didn't know how much later it was when he awoke. He was cold, the night air freezing him slowly. He couldn't see anything through the darkness, but he could hear voices.
"Harry! Harry! Where are you? Can you hear us, Harry?"
The voices sounded tired, as though they had been calling for hours. Then he could hear muttering, getting closer.
"Severus, I think we've lost him. He can't possibly be alive in these temperatures."
The voices were coming towards him, Harry wanted to call out. He heard a thud as either Snape or Dumbledore kicked a Death Eater's body out of the way. They must have scattered a long way.
"He can't be gone, Albus. It's not fair!"
Snape's voice sounded thick and angry.
Closer, closer.
"Severus! Stop!"
Snape stopped and looked down. There was a body on the ground; but this was no Death Eater!
"Harry?"
Harry shifted and looked up at the two professors.
Wordlessly, Snape took off his cloak and wrapped it around Harry. He lifted the frail boy in his arms, and apparated him back to Hogwarts.