CHAPTER TEN:
Harry stared at Hagrid, who had just begun to arouse from his unconsciousness, before Voldemort had spotted him and cursed him again. Hearing Hagrid's yell of pain had woken Siria, who'd been put under some sort of sleeping curse by Voldemort as he talked to Harry. "W-What happened?" she asked, quickly glancing around, rubbing her eyes as she stared at Harry dazedly. "Voldemort's come back, and he's cursed Hagrid-" "Whose Hagrid?" she asked, glancing around as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. "That man over there in the corner," Harry replied, making sure that Voldemort couldn't hear him as he kicked Hagrid's half-unconscious form. "That's a man?" Siria asked, her voice raised in amazement. "Well, he's actually half-giant, but we aren't supposed to know that," Harry said, trying to raise his bloody arm to pull Siria back. "Siria!" he cried. "Voldemort'll see you!" Siria sat back down, crossing her legs. "Who's that man behind Voldemort?" she asked, staring at Sirius. "He's Sirius Black, a friend of ours," Harry replied. "If he's a friend, how come he's with Voldemort?" "He's tricking him," Harry replied. "Oh," Siria said. "His name is like mine, isn't it? Sirius and Siria," she smiled to herself. "Maybe you can get together and have little Sirianne's or something," Harry joked. "Please! He looks way too old for me. He must be about forty or something," Siria said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "He's 36," Harry said. "And he isn't attracted to girls." "Is he gay or something?" Siria responded, her nose wrinkling deeper. "No! No, not at all. It's just, well, he spent thirteen years in Azkaban, and his name hasn't really been cleared yet, so if he even approached a girl, she'd scream, accuse him of attempted murder and he'd be killed- or given the Dementor's Kiss at least," Harry said, trying to pull Siria back as she leant forward again to get a better look at Sirius. "Interesting," she whispered. "I wonder-" "So!" a loud cackle interrupted them. "You finally decided to wake up, did you?" Voldemort walked over them, leaving Hagrid, who was still half awake, gasping for breath. Fang lay next to Hagrid, his body twisted in unconsciousness. "Stand up!" he yelled out. "Stand up and look at me." He yelled again, finally grabbing Harry by the collar of his robe to pull him up. Sirius made a move to grab Voldemort, but he stopped himself just in time. "Sirius!" Voldemort yelled out. "Come here!" he continued. Sirius moved toward him. "Pick the girl up!" Voldemort commanded. Sirius did so, making sure he didn't hurt Siria, who stared at him with complete horror on her face. "Don't act like you don't want to hurt her. Think of this as your opportunity to follow in my footsteps, to take over Lucius Malfoy's position," Voldemort said. With a quick flick of his hand, he slapped Siria across the face. She gasped, yet did not move away or raise her hand to the sharp, red mark that decorated her cheek. Her eyes narrowed, and she glared at Voldemort with such hate that even Harry had to wonder how she could dare to. "How dare you even try to look at me like that!" Voldemort screamed. He grabbed Siria from Sirius' arms and shook her violently, her head shaking back and forth. "Let her go you moron," Harry muttered between his teeth. "Poloche," Voldemort said, flicking his wand at Harry. Harry immediately doubled up in pain, falling to the ground as he convulsed in violent twists. Siria screamed loudly and tried to kick out at Voldemort, who pulled her up and threw her through the air. With an even louder scream than before, Siria smashed into a tree, her arm bending almost immediately outwards. She fell to the floor, her eyes rolling back as she fell into unconsciousness. Sirius' face paled quickly as he glanced at Siria's limp body. He involuntarily shuddered at her unconscious form and turned away. "You bastard!" Harry yelled, attempting to jump up as he continued to writhe in pain. Voldemort cackled; a loud cackle that echoed throughout the trees and caused the owls to hoot loudly. He continued to laugh as he turned to Sirius. "I want you to dispose of the little slut in the best way possible," he commanded, waving a hand in Siria's direction. Sirius' face paled beneath his shaggy black beard and he nodded his head slowly, turning around to walk over to Siria, who lay half-hidden in the dark shadows of the tree she lay beneath. With frightening ease and strength, Sirius bent over and picked Siria up, carrying her away towards the shadows. Inwardly, Harry breathed a sigh of relief. At least Siria would be saved. ?
Ginny and Dumbledore crept quietly towards the centre of the Forbidden Forest, trying not to step on anything that may give them away. There were hurried footsteps behind them, and they could hear James panting heavily. "What happened to Ron?" James asked as soon as he reached Ginny and Dumbledore. "Nothing; we had to knock him out because he was too worried about mum," Ginny replied quietly. James nodded. "Where's Hermione?" he asked, glancing around. "Good question," Dumbledore said, looking around like James. "Where did she go?" "I don't know. I thought she was behind us when we cursed Ron. Did she go back to the castle?" "I don't think so. James, perhaps you should-" Dumbledore was broken off by yet another loud yell, this time Siria's. "Come on- forget about Hermione. She probably went to the library to look up something," Ginny said. "Ginny!" Dumbledore exclaimed, his voice tinged with shock. "We all know it's true," she replied, pushing past Dumbledore, making her way towards the yells. James glanced at Dumbledore. "Well, I suppose it is likely that she would go to the library," Dumbledore began. "Dumbledore, if she went back up to the castle, I would've seen her. I came back the long way in case you were still at Hagrid's cabin," James replied. "I mean, face it, there is no missing that bushy hair," he smiled, trying to make light of the moment. Dumbledore's lips quivered into the making of slight smile before he frowned sternly. "I don't think we can dismiss her that easily. Perhaps you should go see if she's gotten lost or anything," he said. James nodded, just as Ginny whispered loudly. "Hurry up!" ? Hermione kicked her legs wildly, trying to release the grip that the person, whoever he was, had on her. One arm held her back, and the other covered her mouth. "Ssh! It's me," the voice said. Hermione's eyes opened wildly. Not him. Not him, not the one who would try to make a hero of himself, just like he did with Pettigrew, at such a time. When Hermione calmed down, the man slowly released his grip on her. She turned to face him, and almost burst into laughter; she would've, had she not been so focused on rescuing Harry and Siria. Snape stood before her, his slimy hair ruffled and pushed up at the back, like Harry's often did, only it looked ten times worse on Snape. His bright blue Teletubbies pyjamas were messed about, and on his feet he wore bright pink slippers. "What are you doing here?" Hermione hissed rudely. "Saving your arse, that's what I'm doing," Snape snapped back, equally rude. "What do you mean? I was with Ginny, Ron and Professor Dumbledore, to save Harry and Siria," she began. She didn't notice Snape's eyes open wide in horror at the mention of Siria. "And I'd prefer it if you didn't think about my arse; you really are too old for me, and I." "How can you joke at a time like this?" Snape narrowed his eyebrows furiously. "And besides, at least I don't where Playboy pyjamas." Hermione's eyes widened at this comment. "They are not Playboy bunnies. They're Easter bunnies. And I'm sure you'd know exactly what Playboy bunnies look like, you've probably got issues stacked under your bed-" With a start, Hermione stopped. What was she doing? She was standing in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, in her pyjamas, discussing where Snape hid his Playboy magazines. "So, what are you doing here?" she asked again, more calmly. "We have to distract the others up at Hogwarts," Snape answered. "What do you mean?" she replied. "Miner- Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey have discovered the dead body, the fake one Al- Professor Dumbledore used to trick You-Know- Who. They were writing a note to the Ministry when they discovered Quirrell. We have to stop them from doing anything that may ruin Professor Dumbledore's plan," Snape finished off. "And how do you know about Professor Dumbledore's plan?" Hermione asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Because I was part of it. I know all about Draco, and the Krilic curse, and about Ginny being a Mage. Of course, I don't know who Draco brought back from the dead, Dumbledore wouldn't tell me, but I-" he broke off suddenly as he stared at something behind Hermione. His mouth opened and closed like a drowning fish before he managed to mutter a few words. "But-how-wh-what on earth?" he muttered. Hermione, with a puzzled look on her face, glanced behind herself. James stood behind her, a small smile on his face. "Hello, Severus," he said mockingly. "What a pleasure it is to see you." Snape stood there, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Finally, he began to understand. "You- Draco- back from the dead- you?" Snape managed to get out, the confused look on his face beginning to darken with anger. "Yes. Me," James smirked, a bemused look on his face. He turned to Hermione. "I think that perhaps you should escort Professor Snape back to Hogwart's, while I go back to Dumbledore," James said, staring at Hermione's face, which immediately took on a look of abject horror. "But James! What if someone sees us walking around together in our," Hermione glanced around, hardly daring to speak the word. "Pyjamas!" "Hermione, I don't think it is such a crime to be wearing night-time attire at night," James replied, rolling his eyes. "Just take Snape back up to Hogwart's and I'll go back to Dumbledore." Hermione sighed and turned to Snape. With one last disgusted look, she stormed forward. "Are you coming? You were the one who wanted to stop the others from telling the Ministry," she called out. Snape, who still had a confused look on his face, followed her as she raced up to Hogwarts. ? Harry stared at Voldemort, whose snake-like eyes were glistening with a dark anger. Harry could hear his breath coming out in quick rasps, and his body still convulsed in pain slightly as the effect of the curse wore off. Voldemort smirked and began to turn around. "You're a bastard," Harry spat out. "A bastard." He couldn't think of any words that would describe the hate he felt for the man standing before him good enough. Voldemort turned back towards Harry. The look in Voldemort's eyes summed up all the hate that Harry knew Voldemort felt for him. "I-have-waited-all-my-life-just-for-this-moment," Voldemort yelled out haltingly, taking a step toward Harry with each breath. "I have never hated anyone as much as I hate you," he continued. "Neither have I," Harry replied, suddenly not caring about anything except killing the man who'd ruined his life. He leant forward and spat on Voldemort's feet. His eyes blazed red as though they were literally alight and Voldemort pulled Harry up by the collar of his torn cloak. "I could kill you right now," Voldemort muttered as he raised his wand above his head. "But I won't. I'll wait. Wait until it truly is time." With that, he dropped Harry to the floor, ignoring the sharp crack of a breaking bone and Harry's yelp of pain. ? Siria turned around as she heard Harry cry out. She glanced out into the darkness of the forest, unable to see past the engulfing shadows. "Where are you taking me?" she whispered into the man's chest. "Away," he roughly answered. "How far is away?" she replied, closing her eyes, the sleep beginning to overtake her. She yawned and quickly blinked. "As far as I can get you." "We can never hide from Voldemort," Siria mumbled sleepily, ignoring the slight pause in Sirius' step as he walked. "How would you know?" he asked. "Because I've been trying to hide from him all my life." She looked out again. "I think here is far enough. You have to help Harry too, remember?" Sirius nodded and gently placed her down on the floor. "Do you think you could run to Hogwarts from here?" he asked, squinting into the darkness. "I wouldn't know the way," Siria answered. Sirius paused. "Do you think you could stay here without getting into any trouble?" he said instead. "Yes," she responded dully. How boring, she thought. I miss out on all the fun. Sirius nodded and turned backwards, beginning to make his way back to the heart of the Forest. "What will you do if Voldemort figures out that you didn't kill me?" she called out. Sirius turned around. "Good idea,' Sirius said. "Okay, on the count of three, scream really loud, okay? One.two.three," he continued. Siria opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could. There was a hooting of owls, and a loud rustling of leaves as birds pushed off from the branches, soaring out into the dark night sky. "That should be enough," Sirius replied, before closing his robes tighter around himself and walking off back into the forest. ? "Ssh," Dumbledore hissed as he and Ginny hid in the bushes, watching Voldemort pace back and forth impatiently, waiting for Sirius to return. Finally, there was a rustle of leaves before Sirius emerged from the shadows between the trees. "You took care of her?" Voldemort asked, his eyes squinted. "Yes. Just like you instructed me to," Sirius replied, glancing at Harry's limp form, his arm bent out of angle. "Is Harry awake?" Sirius asked in a seemingly uncaring voice. "Yes- just though," Voldemort responded, laughing loudly. "I need him to be awake when I kill him. What fun would there be if he wasn't?" With a quick step forward, Voldemort crouched over Harry's unconscious form. "When should we stop him?" Ginny whispered harshly. Dumbledore raised a hand. "Not yet. Wait until I say so," he whispered back. Ginny nodded. "How do you think we should go about it, Black? You know him well enough; how do you think he'd like to die? Quick and painless? Or slow and painful?" Voldemort asked, pulling Harry to his feet by his hair. Pulling his wand up, he raised it above his head and began to speak.
Harry stared at Hagrid, who had just begun to arouse from his unconsciousness, before Voldemort had spotted him and cursed him again. Hearing Hagrid's yell of pain had woken Siria, who'd been put under some sort of sleeping curse by Voldemort as he talked to Harry. "W-What happened?" she asked, quickly glancing around, rubbing her eyes as she stared at Harry dazedly. "Voldemort's come back, and he's cursed Hagrid-" "Whose Hagrid?" she asked, glancing around as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. "That man over there in the corner," Harry replied, making sure that Voldemort couldn't hear him as he kicked Hagrid's half-unconscious form. "That's a man?" Siria asked, her voice raised in amazement. "Well, he's actually half-giant, but we aren't supposed to know that," Harry said, trying to raise his bloody arm to pull Siria back. "Siria!" he cried. "Voldemort'll see you!" Siria sat back down, crossing her legs. "Who's that man behind Voldemort?" she asked, staring at Sirius. "He's Sirius Black, a friend of ours," Harry replied. "If he's a friend, how come he's with Voldemort?" "He's tricking him," Harry replied. "Oh," Siria said. "His name is like mine, isn't it? Sirius and Siria," she smiled to herself. "Maybe you can get together and have little Sirianne's or something," Harry joked. "Please! He looks way too old for me. He must be about forty or something," Siria said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "He's 36," Harry said. "And he isn't attracted to girls." "Is he gay or something?" Siria responded, her nose wrinkling deeper. "No! No, not at all. It's just, well, he spent thirteen years in Azkaban, and his name hasn't really been cleared yet, so if he even approached a girl, she'd scream, accuse him of attempted murder and he'd be killed- or given the Dementor's Kiss at least," Harry said, trying to pull Siria back as she leant forward again to get a better look at Sirius. "Interesting," she whispered. "I wonder-" "So!" a loud cackle interrupted them. "You finally decided to wake up, did you?" Voldemort walked over them, leaving Hagrid, who was still half awake, gasping for breath. Fang lay next to Hagrid, his body twisted in unconsciousness. "Stand up!" he yelled out. "Stand up and look at me." He yelled again, finally grabbing Harry by the collar of his robe to pull him up. Sirius made a move to grab Voldemort, but he stopped himself just in time. "Sirius!" Voldemort yelled out. "Come here!" he continued. Sirius moved toward him. "Pick the girl up!" Voldemort commanded. Sirius did so, making sure he didn't hurt Siria, who stared at him with complete horror on her face. "Don't act like you don't want to hurt her. Think of this as your opportunity to follow in my footsteps, to take over Lucius Malfoy's position," Voldemort said. With a quick flick of his hand, he slapped Siria across the face. She gasped, yet did not move away or raise her hand to the sharp, red mark that decorated her cheek. Her eyes narrowed, and she glared at Voldemort with such hate that even Harry had to wonder how she could dare to. "How dare you even try to look at me like that!" Voldemort screamed. He grabbed Siria from Sirius' arms and shook her violently, her head shaking back and forth. "Let her go you moron," Harry muttered between his teeth. "Poloche," Voldemort said, flicking his wand at Harry. Harry immediately doubled up in pain, falling to the ground as he convulsed in violent twists. Siria screamed loudly and tried to kick out at Voldemort, who pulled her up and threw her through the air. With an even louder scream than before, Siria smashed into a tree, her arm bending almost immediately outwards. She fell to the floor, her eyes rolling back as she fell into unconsciousness. Sirius' face paled quickly as he glanced at Siria's limp body. He involuntarily shuddered at her unconscious form and turned away. "You bastard!" Harry yelled, attempting to jump up as he continued to writhe in pain. Voldemort cackled; a loud cackle that echoed throughout the trees and caused the owls to hoot loudly. He continued to laugh as he turned to Sirius. "I want you to dispose of the little slut in the best way possible," he commanded, waving a hand in Siria's direction. Sirius' face paled beneath his shaggy black beard and he nodded his head slowly, turning around to walk over to Siria, who lay half-hidden in the dark shadows of the tree she lay beneath. With frightening ease and strength, Sirius bent over and picked Siria up, carrying her away towards the shadows. Inwardly, Harry breathed a sigh of relief. At least Siria would be saved. ?
Ginny and Dumbledore crept quietly towards the centre of the Forbidden Forest, trying not to step on anything that may give them away. There were hurried footsteps behind them, and they could hear James panting heavily. "What happened to Ron?" James asked as soon as he reached Ginny and Dumbledore. "Nothing; we had to knock him out because he was too worried about mum," Ginny replied quietly. James nodded. "Where's Hermione?" he asked, glancing around. "Good question," Dumbledore said, looking around like James. "Where did she go?" "I don't know. I thought she was behind us when we cursed Ron. Did she go back to the castle?" "I don't think so. James, perhaps you should-" Dumbledore was broken off by yet another loud yell, this time Siria's. "Come on- forget about Hermione. She probably went to the library to look up something," Ginny said. "Ginny!" Dumbledore exclaimed, his voice tinged with shock. "We all know it's true," she replied, pushing past Dumbledore, making her way towards the yells. James glanced at Dumbledore. "Well, I suppose it is likely that she would go to the library," Dumbledore began. "Dumbledore, if she went back up to the castle, I would've seen her. I came back the long way in case you were still at Hagrid's cabin," James replied. "I mean, face it, there is no missing that bushy hair," he smiled, trying to make light of the moment. Dumbledore's lips quivered into the making of slight smile before he frowned sternly. "I don't think we can dismiss her that easily. Perhaps you should go see if she's gotten lost or anything," he said. James nodded, just as Ginny whispered loudly. "Hurry up!" ? Hermione kicked her legs wildly, trying to release the grip that the person, whoever he was, had on her. One arm held her back, and the other covered her mouth. "Ssh! It's me," the voice said. Hermione's eyes opened wildly. Not him. Not him, not the one who would try to make a hero of himself, just like he did with Pettigrew, at such a time. When Hermione calmed down, the man slowly released his grip on her. She turned to face him, and almost burst into laughter; she would've, had she not been so focused on rescuing Harry and Siria. Snape stood before her, his slimy hair ruffled and pushed up at the back, like Harry's often did, only it looked ten times worse on Snape. His bright blue Teletubbies pyjamas were messed about, and on his feet he wore bright pink slippers. "What are you doing here?" Hermione hissed rudely. "Saving your arse, that's what I'm doing," Snape snapped back, equally rude. "What do you mean? I was with Ginny, Ron and Professor Dumbledore, to save Harry and Siria," she began. She didn't notice Snape's eyes open wide in horror at the mention of Siria. "And I'd prefer it if you didn't think about my arse; you really are too old for me, and I." "How can you joke at a time like this?" Snape narrowed his eyebrows furiously. "And besides, at least I don't where Playboy pyjamas." Hermione's eyes widened at this comment. "They are not Playboy bunnies. They're Easter bunnies. And I'm sure you'd know exactly what Playboy bunnies look like, you've probably got issues stacked under your bed-" With a start, Hermione stopped. What was she doing? She was standing in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, in her pyjamas, discussing where Snape hid his Playboy magazines. "So, what are you doing here?" she asked again, more calmly. "We have to distract the others up at Hogwarts," Snape answered. "What do you mean?" she replied. "Miner- Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey have discovered the dead body, the fake one Al- Professor Dumbledore used to trick You-Know- Who. They were writing a note to the Ministry when they discovered Quirrell. We have to stop them from doing anything that may ruin Professor Dumbledore's plan," Snape finished off. "And how do you know about Professor Dumbledore's plan?" Hermione asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Because I was part of it. I know all about Draco, and the Krilic curse, and about Ginny being a Mage. Of course, I don't know who Draco brought back from the dead, Dumbledore wouldn't tell me, but I-" he broke off suddenly as he stared at something behind Hermione. His mouth opened and closed like a drowning fish before he managed to mutter a few words. "But-how-wh-what on earth?" he muttered. Hermione, with a puzzled look on her face, glanced behind herself. James stood behind her, a small smile on his face. "Hello, Severus," he said mockingly. "What a pleasure it is to see you." Snape stood there, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Finally, he began to understand. "You- Draco- back from the dead- you?" Snape managed to get out, the confused look on his face beginning to darken with anger. "Yes. Me," James smirked, a bemused look on his face. He turned to Hermione. "I think that perhaps you should escort Professor Snape back to Hogwart's, while I go back to Dumbledore," James said, staring at Hermione's face, which immediately took on a look of abject horror. "But James! What if someone sees us walking around together in our," Hermione glanced around, hardly daring to speak the word. "Pyjamas!" "Hermione, I don't think it is such a crime to be wearing night-time attire at night," James replied, rolling his eyes. "Just take Snape back up to Hogwart's and I'll go back to Dumbledore." Hermione sighed and turned to Snape. With one last disgusted look, she stormed forward. "Are you coming? You were the one who wanted to stop the others from telling the Ministry," she called out. Snape, who still had a confused look on his face, followed her as she raced up to Hogwarts. ? Harry stared at Voldemort, whose snake-like eyes were glistening with a dark anger. Harry could hear his breath coming out in quick rasps, and his body still convulsed in pain slightly as the effect of the curse wore off. Voldemort smirked and began to turn around. "You're a bastard," Harry spat out. "A bastard." He couldn't think of any words that would describe the hate he felt for the man standing before him good enough. Voldemort turned back towards Harry. The look in Voldemort's eyes summed up all the hate that Harry knew Voldemort felt for him. "I-have-waited-all-my-life-just-for-this-moment," Voldemort yelled out haltingly, taking a step toward Harry with each breath. "I have never hated anyone as much as I hate you," he continued. "Neither have I," Harry replied, suddenly not caring about anything except killing the man who'd ruined his life. He leant forward and spat on Voldemort's feet. His eyes blazed red as though they were literally alight and Voldemort pulled Harry up by the collar of his torn cloak. "I could kill you right now," Voldemort muttered as he raised his wand above his head. "But I won't. I'll wait. Wait until it truly is time." With that, he dropped Harry to the floor, ignoring the sharp crack of a breaking bone and Harry's yelp of pain. ? Siria turned around as she heard Harry cry out. She glanced out into the darkness of the forest, unable to see past the engulfing shadows. "Where are you taking me?" she whispered into the man's chest. "Away," he roughly answered. "How far is away?" she replied, closing her eyes, the sleep beginning to overtake her. She yawned and quickly blinked. "As far as I can get you." "We can never hide from Voldemort," Siria mumbled sleepily, ignoring the slight pause in Sirius' step as he walked. "How would you know?" he asked. "Because I've been trying to hide from him all my life." She looked out again. "I think here is far enough. You have to help Harry too, remember?" Sirius nodded and gently placed her down on the floor. "Do you think you could run to Hogwarts from here?" he asked, squinting into the darkness. "I wouldn't know the way," Siria answered. Sirius paused. "Do you think you could stay here without getting into any trouble?" he said instead. "Yes," she responded dully. How boring, she thought. I miss out on all the fun. Sirius nodded and turned backwards, beginning to make his way back to the heart of the Forest. "What will you do if Voldemort figures out that you didn't kill me?" she called out. Sirius turned around. "Good idea,' Sirius said. "Okay, on the count of three, scream really loud, okay? One.two.three," he continued. Siria opened her mouth and screamed as loud as she could. There was a hooting of owls, and a loud rustling of leaves as birds pushed off from the branches, soaring out into the dark night sky. "That should be enough," Sirius replied, before closing his robes tighter around himself and walking off back into the forest. ? "Ssh," Dumbledore hissed as he and Ginny hid in the bushes, watching Voldemort pace back and forth impatiently, waiting for Sirius to return. Finally, there was a rustle of leaves before Sirius emerged from the shadows between the trees. "You took care of her?" Voldemort asked, his eyes squinted. "Yes. Just like you instructed me to," Sirius replied, glancing at Harry's limp form, his arm bent out of angle. "Is Harry awake?" Sirius asked in a seemingly uncaring voice. "Yes- just though," Voldemort responded, laughing loudly. "I need him to be awake when I kill him. What fun would there be if he wasn't?" With a quick step forward, Voldemort crouched over Harry's unconscious form. "When should we stop him?" Ginny whispered harshly. Dumbledore raised a hand. "Not yet. Wait until I say so," he whispered back. Ginny nodded. "How do you think we should go about it, Black? You know him well enough; how do you think he'd like to die? Quick and painless? Or slow and painful?" Voldemort asked, pulling Harry to his feet by his hair. Pulling his wand up, he raised it above his head and began to speak.