Harry, Hermione, and Ron raced down the stairways in Hogwarts, each with a
broom in hand. They had to leave the castle without anyone noticing, so as
usual, Harry's invisibility cloak was called for.
Just outside the school, someone spoke, "I know you're there. Take off the cloak."
The three of them froze in their tracks, terrified to see who had caught them. Sighing, Harry raised the cape over their heads and folded it in his arms.
Hermione was the first to turn and see who found them. An immediate scream escaped her lips, "What are you doing here?"
"I think I could ask you the same thing, but I already know. I'm coming with you," William said, leaning against his broom.
By that time, Harry and Ron had turned to see the Slytherin with a similar reaction. "No, go back inside," Harry ordered.
"Either I go with you, or you don't go." Honestly, there was no way that William would keep them from going. He was terribly worried about Desiree, and needed them to go try to help her. William just wanted to tag along, however, Des' friends didn't need to know that.
"We don't have time for this," Ron said, looking back and forth between his best friends.
"I know where she was taken," William began, "I was down by the lake when Wormtail showed up. I watched for a moment, getting ready to tackle him to the ground when I saw Desiree coming down from the castle to join him. They went to the Riddle house, I'm sure of it. We've got to get there now, before something happens to Des. And I'm certain that I'm the only one out of the four of us that knows where the Riddle house is."
Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione before saying, "That's good enough for me. Let's go."
Harry was on his broom and in the air in an instant with the three others right behind him.
Harry and company were hovering beside a tree, watching Voldemort through the window. He was ordering Wormtail to do some such thing, and Wormtail quickly moved down the stairs.
William motioned that he would follow Wormtail and see what the man had been ordered to do. Silently, William was hoping that Wormtail would lead him right to Desiree, but no such luck.
On the first floor of the house, a man and woman were bound, lying on the floor. Wormtail swished his wand, causing the couple to float in the air. He took them both back up to Voldemort, and William followed along outside.
The Slytherin student rejoined his three companions just in time to see Wormtail release the man and woman, allowing them to fall to the hard floor.
Voldemort was saying something as he circled around the couple, struggling for their freedom. A quick laugh, and a blast of light shot out of Voldemort's wand.
The struggling ceased.
Hermione turned to bury her face in Ron's robes, trying to suppress her cry. She had just witnessed her first murder, not something that would be easily forgotten.
Within a moment, a large snake came slithering into the room with the Dark Lord and began to swallow the two victims whole. Even Ron and Harry felt sick at the sight. However, after Hermione collected herself, she, along with the others, decided on a plan.
Harry gave a few quick orders and then asked William if he could handle his assignment.
"Are you serious? I'm one of the best Chasers that Slytherin has ever had. I could do it with my eyes closed," he arrogantly spat out.
"All right," Harry nodded, "everyone knows what to do, so let's get to it."
Voldemort commanded Wormtail to bring Desiree to him. She had been taken to another room to follow her first order. He had demanded that she allow the snake to take over again, to give the serpent more freedom to finish its migration to her heart, where it couldn't be removed.
The door slowly opened to reveal Desiree. She walked in, standing before the Dark Lord, awaiting her instructions.
"Show me your chest," he commanded.
Without question, she opened her robes, letting Voldemort examine the dark green figure making its final attack. The serpent was within an inch of her heart.
Smiling, he said, "You may close your robes. How do you feel?"
Her eyes were closed and her head downcast as she buttoned up her robes, "I don't feel well."
Voldemort's eyebrows furrowed, "How do you mean? Are you going to be all right?"
"No," a tear fell down her cheek, "I'm not going to be all right." Des forced her eyes open to glare at her new master.
He spun around, sending his cloak flying. "Soon you will be feeling fine."
"Because that snake you put in me will completely take over?"
"It won't take over, not completely. It will just...aid in decision- making. If I wanted a mindless slave, I could have just used the Imperius Curse."
"Why didn't you?"
"Like I said, I didn't want a mindless minion. I wanted you the way you are, mostly at least."
"I see. May I ask, what exactly is this serpent?"
"Very good question, I was beginning to wonder if you would ask it at all. The snake is a living creature that can be implanted by a spell, and appears to be a simple tattoo of sorts. Once it bonds with its host, you, it starts making itself known."
"That's why I was so cruel to my friends," Desiree concluded, "and what about the powers that I've been using?"
"Those abilities belong to the snake. It is a magical creature and therefore it has its own powers. It doesn't require a wand to do as it wishes. You should feel honored; you now have powers beyond imagination and are no longer hindered by wands or spells. A simple wave of your hand is enough to make your enemies tremble."
"Why would you give me this...present?"
"Can you not accept it and be grateful for my generosity? You have been hated and distrusted your whole life. Now, you have the means to make all those fools pay."
"And your revenge had nothing to do with it, I'm sure."
Voldemort threw his eyes over his shoulder before answering, "And what does that matter?"
"When I first received your little gift," she glanced down to her wrist, where the snake had started out, "I thought it might have been from some angry witch or wizard. Some kind of punishment or way of revenge. Looking back, I would rather it have been a mob of witches and wizards than you."
"Watch your tongue. Remember, you belong to me now."
It took her a moment to keep from retching at that fact. "Did you release the Fosters?"
Good thing that she couldn't see the smirk that arose on his face, "They are no longer imprisoned here." On earth, Voldemort thought to himself.
Desiree inhaled deeply, closing her eyes, and nodding her head slightly. Knowing that the couple that raised her was safe, she could face her dismal future.
A rustle of leaves outside. Des' eyes flew to the window to see Harry on his broom, watching them. Once their eyes made contact, he gasped in shock and tried to fly off as fast as possible. Desiree knew that Harry had probably followed them here in the hope of rescuing her.
Des felt horrible, for she knew that Voldemort had seen Harry too, and he would send her out to kill him. Turning back to the Dark Lord, her fears were confirmed. A quick order from him, and she was moving down the stairs towards the front door.
The instant that the door closed behind her, she saw Harry swoop in front of her.
"Harry, if you leave now, I won't have to kill you," Desiree called, "Please, I don't want to have to hurt you, but I will."
Harry answered, "We don't want to hurt you either."
Desiree finally realized that she wasn't alone with Harry; Hermione and Ron were on brooms a short distance away.
"You must leave now, before the snake takes over," Des pleaded.
Too late.
Her eyelids closed on green eyes, but an instant later, opened to reveal red snakelike eyes once again.
Hermione pulled out her wand, and waited only a second to receive Harry's approval before using her wand on Desiree.
As she had at Hogwarts, Des' hand raised to stop the attack and send it back to Hermione. Hermione wasn't the best witch on a broom; so dodging the curse wasn't easy.
While Desiree's attention was on Hermione, Ron and Harry both pointed their wands at Des and shouted spells. However, neither worked, Des was too quick.
The next attack wasn't from anyone on a broom. Desiree aimed at Ron and Hermione, unleashing such force that both were sent spiraling to the ground unconscious. Harry watched helplessly as his two best friends crashed into the dirt. If he had been able to, he would have tried to catch them, but he had to stay in his position. It was the only hope of their plan, although things were not going well at all. Harry was suddenly terrified that he wouldn't be able to stop her.
If she wasn't stopped, Desiree would wreak havoc on the entire wizarding world. Des could single-handedly attack Hogwarts and possibly destroy it. These thoughts renewed Harry's determination to succeed. Now, all he had to do was keep her distracted a little while longer.
It was apparent that magic wasn't helping on that front, so maybe words would.
"Desiree, why are you doing this? I know that you don't want to spend the rest of your life under the power of Voldemort and that despicable snake he put in you. You didn't want to hurt us, and that means that you're still in there, just buried deep down. Des, please, answer me."
Keeping his eyes on her, he could tell that Des was struggling to regain control. Her body convulsed, then collapsed to the ground.
Harry battled with himself on whether he should fly down to see if she was okay. If the snake took over again, he would be too close to dodge anything the serpent would throw at him, and that idea certainly didn't appeal to him.
However, if he hoped to reach Desiree, he would have to talk to her, face to face. It was the only way he would be able to convince her to go back to Hogwarts with them, and that was why he had come in the first place.
Landing a few feet from her, he laid down his broom and leaned over her. "Desiree, are you all right?"
His hand touched her shoulder, slightly pushing her over so he could see her face. Once he had turned her over, he tried to move away from the red eyes glaring at him as fast as he could.
Preparing to fire away at him, Des lifted a hand in Harry's direction. Suddenly, the eyes weren't as red anymore. They took on a slightly green tint, and the thin, vertical black slits started to round off.
"Desiree, fight!" Harry encouraged, but still not daring to move, so as not to provoke the serpent's wrath.
The eyes returned to a blood red and focused on him once again. Just as a fireball was about to leave Desiree's hand, she jerked it up towards the sky. The great ball of flames flew high into the sky and exploded above them.
Harry watched as Des' arm fell to her side, and she looked up at him with the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen. He didn't think he had ever been so happy to a pair of eyes in his whole life.
"Desiree, you okay?" he asked, gently rubbing her shoulder.
Her black mane fell all about her hung face, slightly hiding her features from him. When she finally brushed her hair back, he saw the trail of tears that littered her cheeks, "I'm so sorry, especially about Ron and Hermione, but I think they'll be okay. I didn't want to, but I had to. Voldemort made me promise to serve him if he released the Fosters. I had no choice, I swear."
"Desiree, it's all right, I know that you would never have hurt any of us on purpose. Now, let's go see about Ron and Hermione."
Des ran to Hermione's side, while Harry went to Ron's. Both were fine, but a little bruised and still knocked out.
Harry picked up Ron and carried him over to Desiree's position, laying him down beside Hermione. Looking back at Desiree, Harry began, "I don't think that Voldemort released the Fosters. When we first got here, we saw him kill a couple, then feed them to his pet snake."
Shaking her head, "No, that's not possible. I made a deal with Voldemort that if he released the couple that raised me, I'd do what he wanted. He told me that they were freed."
"He lied to you."
"Voldemort wouldn't have lied to me."
"Why is that?"
Desiree turned her face from him, "It's complicated."
Harry grasped Des' hand in his, "Explain it to me."
Fresh tears formed in Desiree's eyes as she tried to pull away from Harry, but he held on.
Turning back to him, she pleaded, "Harry, please, don't do this." Her body kept attempting to shrink away from him, but he wouldn't let her.
"Desiree, it's important. I need to know why you think Voldemort wouldn't lie to you."
Her head bowed down, moving her hair to cover her face again, "Because...I...I mean, h-he's..."
They didn't have time for this, "Desiree, tell me, please."
Mustering up all the courage she could, Des raised her head and met his stare. She opened her mouth to tell him the whole truth. The one thing that she had tried her best to hide from everyone, she was about to tell to The Boy Who Lived. The only person in the world she feared most to tell.
"Desiree, what is between you and Voldemort that makes you think he wouldn't lie to you?" Harry asked again.
Just outside the school, someone spoke, "I know you're there. Take off the cloak."
The three of them froze in their tracks, terrified to see who had caught them. Sighing, Harry raised the cape over their heads and folded it in his arms.
Hermione was the first to turn and see who found them. An immediate scream escaped her lips, "What are you doing here?"
"I think I could ask you the same thing, but I already know. I'm coming with you," William said, leaning against his broom.
By that time, Harry and Ron had turned to see the Slytherin with a similar reaction. "No, go back inside," Harry ordered.
"Either I go with you, or you don't go." Honestly, there was no way that William would keep them from going. He was terribly worried about Desiree, and needed them to go try to help her. William just wanted to tag along, however, Des' friends didn't need to know that.
"We don't have time for this," Ron said, looking back and forth between his best friends.
"I know where she was taken," William began, "I was down by the lake when Wormtail showed up. I watched for a moment, getting ready to tackle him to the ground when I saw Desiree coming down from the castle to join him. They went to the Riddle house, I'm sure of it. We've got to get there now, before something happens to Des. And I'm certain that I'm the only one out of the four of us that knows where the Riddle house is."
Harry glanced at Ron and Hermione before saying, "That's good enough for me. Let's go."
Harry was on his broom and in the air in an instant with the three others right behind him.
Harry and company were hovering beside a tree, watching Voldemort through the window. He was ordering Wormtail to do some such thing, and Wormtail quickly moved down the stairs.
William motioned that he would follow Wormtail and see what the man had been ordered to do. Silently, William was hoping that Wormtail would lead him right to Desiree, but no such luck.
On the first floor of the house, a man and woman were bound, lying on the floor. Wormtail swished his wand, causing the couple to float in the air. He took them both back up to Voldemort, and William followed along outside.
The Slytherin student rejoined his three companions just in time to see Wormtail release the man and woman, allowing them to fall to the hard floor.
Voldemort was saying something as he circled around the couple, struggling for their freedom. A quick laugh, and a blast of light shot out of Voldemort's wand.
The struggling ceased.
Hermione turned to bury her face in Ron's robes, trying to suppress her cry. She had just witnessed her first murder, not something that would be easily forgotten.
Within a moment, a large snake came slithering into the room with the Dark Lord and began to swallow the two victims whole. Even Ron and Harry felt sick at the sight. However, after Hermione collected herself, she, along with the others, decided on a plan.
Harry gave a few quick orders and then asked William if he could handle his assignment.
"Are you serious? I'm one of the best Chasers that Slytherin has ever had. I could do it with my eyes closed," he arrogantly spat out.
"All right," Harry nodded, "everyone knows what to do, so let's get to it."
Voldemort commanded Wormtail to bring Desiree to him. She had been taken to another room to follow her first order. He had demanded that she allow the snake to take over again, to give the serpent more freedom to finish its migration to her heart, where it couldn't be removed.
The door slowly opened to reveal Desiree. She walked in, standing before the Dark Lord, awaiting her instructions.
"Show me your chest," he commanded.
Without question, she opened her robes, letting Voldemort examine the dark green figure making its final attack. The serpent was within an inch of her heart.
Smiling, he said, "You may close your robes. How do you feel?"
Her eyes were closed and her head downcast as she buttoned up her robes, "I don't feel well."
Voldemort's eyebrows furrowed, "How do you mean? Are you going to be all right?"
"No," a tear fell down her cheek, "I'm not going to be all right." Des forced her eyes open to glare at her new master.
He spun around, sending his cloak flying. "Soon you will be feeling fine."
"Because that snake you put in me will completely take over?"
"It won't take over, not completely. It will just...aid in decision- making. If I wanted a mindless slave, I could have just used the Imperius Curse."
"Why didn't you?"
"Like I said, I didn't want a mindless minion. I wanted you the way you are, mostly at least."
"I see. May I ask, what exactly is this serpent?"
"Very good question, I was beginning to wonder if you would ask it at all. The snake is a living creature that can be implanted by a spell, and appears to be a simple tattoo of sorts. Once it bonds with its host, you, it starts making itself known."
"That's why I was so cruel to my friends," Desiree concluded, "and what about the powers that I've been using?"
"Those abilities belong to the snake. It is a magical creature and therefore it has its own powers. It doesn't require a wand to do as it wishes. You should feel honored; you now have powers beyond imagination and are no longer hindered by wands or spells. A simple wave of your hand is enough to make your enemies tremble."
"Why would you give me this...present?"
"Can you not accept it and be grateful for my generosity? You have been hated and distrusted your whole life. Now, you have the means to make all those fools pay."
"And your revenge had nothing to do with it, I'm sure."
Voldemort threw his eyes over his shoulder before answering, "And what does that matter?"
"When I first received your little gift," she glanced down to her wrist, where the snake had started out, "I thought it might have been from some angry witch or wizard. Some kind of punishment or way of revenge. Looking back, I would rather it have been a mob of witches and wizards than you."
"Watch your tongue. Remember, you belong to me now."
It took her a moment to keep from retching at that fact. "Did you release the Fosters?"
Good thing that she couldn't see the smirk that arose on his face, "They are no longer imprisoned here." On earth, Voldemort thought to himself.
Desiree inhaled deeply, closing her eyes, and nodding her head slightly. Knowing that the couple that raised her was safe, she could face her dismal future.
A rustle of leaves outside. Des' eyes flew to the window to see Harry on his broom, watching them. Once their eyes made contact, he gasped in shock and tried to fly off as fast as possible. Desiree knew that Harry had probably followed them here in the hope of rescuing her.
Des felt horrible, for she knew that Voldemort had seen Harry too, and he would send her out to kill him. Turning back to the Dark Lord, her fears were confirmed. A quick order from him, and she was moving down the stairs towards the front door.
The instant that the door closed behind her, she saw Harry swoop in front of her.
"Harry, if you leave now, I won't have to kill you," Desiree called, "Please, I don't want to have to hurt you, but I will."
Harry answered, "We don't want to hurt you either."
Desiree finally realized that she wasn't alone with Harry; Hermione and Ron were on brooms a short distance away.
"You must leave now, before the snake takes over," Des pleaded.
Too late.
Her eyelids closed on green eyes, but an instant later, opened to reveal red snakelike eyes once again.
Hermione pulled out her wand, and waited only a second to receive Harry's approval before using her wand on Desiree.
As she had at Hogwarts, Des' hand raised to stop the attack and send it back to Hermione. Hermione wasn't the best witch on a broom; so dodging the curse wasn't easy.
While Desiree's attention was on Hermione, Ron and Harry both pointed their wands at Des and shouted spells. However, neither worked, Des was too quick.
The next attack wasn't from anyone on a broom. Desiree aimed at Ron and Hermione, unleashing such force that both were sent spiraling to the ground unconscious. Harry watched helplessly as his two best friends crashed into the dirt. If he had been able to, he would have tried to catch them, but he had to stay in his position. It was the only hope of their plan, although things were not going well at all. Harry was suddenly terrified that he wouldn't be able to stop her.
If she wasn't stopped, Desiree would wreak havoc on the entire wizarding world. Des could single-handedly attack Hogwarts and possibly destroy it. These thoughts renewed Harry's determination to succeed. Now, all he had to do was keep her distracted a little while longer.
It was apparent that magic wasn't helping on that front, so maybe words would.
"Desiree, why are you doing this? I know that you don't want to spend the rest of your life under the power of Voldemort and that despicable snake he put in you. You didn't want to hurt us, and that means that you're still in there, just buried deep down. Des, please, answer me."
Keeping his eyes on her, he could tell that Des was struggling to regain control. Her body convulsed, then collapsed to the ground.
Harry battled with himself on whether he should fly down to see if she was okay. If the snake took over again, he would be too close to dodge anything the serpent would throw at him, and that idea certainly didn't appeal to him.
However, if he hoped to reach Desiree, he would have to talk to her, face to face. It was the only way he would be able to convince her to go back to Hogwarts with them, and that was why he had come in the first place.
Landing a few feet from her, he laid down his broom and leaned over her. "Desiree, are you all right?"
His hand touched her shoulder, slightly pushing her over so he could see her face. Once he had turned her over, he tried to move away from the red eyes glaring at him as fast as he could.
Preparing to fire away at him, Des lifted a hand in Harry's direction. Suddenly, the eyes weren't as red anymore. They took on a slightly green tint, and the thin, vertical black slits started to round off.
"Desiree, fight!" Harry encouraged, but still not daring to move, so as not to provoke the serpent's wrath.
The eyes returned to a blood red and focused on him once again. Just as a fireball was about to leave Desiree's hand, she jerked it up towards the sky. The great ball of flames flew high into the sky and exploded above them.
Harry watched as Des' arm fell to her side, and she looked up at him with the most beautiful green eyes he had ever seen. He didn't think he had ever been so happy to a pair of eyes in his whole life.
"Desiree, you okay?" he asked, gently rubbing her shoulder.
Her black mane fell all about her hung face, slightly hiding her features from him. When she finally brushed her hair back, he saw the trail of tears that littered her cheeks, "I'm so sorry, especially about Ron and Hermione, but I think they'll be okay. I didn't want to, but I had to. Voldemort made me promise to serve him if he released the Fosters. I had no choice, I swear."
"Desiree, it's all right, I know that you would never have hurt any of us on purpose. Now, let's go see about Ron and Hermione."
Des ran to Hermione's side, while Harry went to Ron's. Both were fine, but a little bruised and still knocked out.
Harry picked up Ron and carried him over to Desiree's position, laying him down beside Hermione. Looking back at Desiree, Harry began, "I don't think that Voldemort released the Fosters. When we first got here, we saw him kill a couple, then feed them to his pet snake."
Shaking her head, "No, that's not possible. I made a deal with Voldemort that if he released the couple that raised me, I'd do what he wanted. He told me that they were freed."
"He lied to you."
"Voldemort wouldn't have lied to me."
"Why is that?"
Desiree turned her face from him, "It's complicated."
Harry grasped Des' hand in his, "Explain it to me."
Fresh tears formed in Desiree's eyes as she tried to pull away from Harry, but he held on.
Turning back to him, she pleaded, "Harry, please, don't do this." Her body kept attempting to shrink away from him, but he wouldn't let her.
"Desiree, it's important. I need to know why you think Voldemort wouldn't lie to you."
Her head bowed down, moving her hair to cover her face again, "Because...I...I mean, h-he's..."
They didn't have time for this, "Desiree, tell me, please."
Mustering up all the courage she could, Des raised her head and met his stare. She opened her mouth to tell him the whole truth. The one thing that she had tried her best to hide from everyone, she was about to tell to The Boy Who Lived. The only person in the world she feared most to tell.
"Desiree, what is between you and Voldemort that makes you think he wouldn't lie to you?" Harry asked again.