Chapter 5 - The Glass Vile

Disclaimer: all characters except Jerica are owned by JK Rowling.

Harry had decided that he should go look for Jerica in the dark forest. Maybe she had wandered off...or maybe she was taken.

Grabbing his invisibility cloak, he wrapped it over his body and began walking quickly down the stairs. Just as he was coming down Draco came in through the front doors and began walking up the stairs as well.

Harry threw the cloak off him and corned Malfoy.

"Where is Jerica, what did you do with her!" Harry said angrily, his eyes a menacing emerald green.

His hands were fastened around Draco's neck, making it incredibly hard for him to breath.

"Why should I tell you Potter." Draco said, sputtering out the words like spit.

"Because you took her somewhere, didn't you! Didn't you, Draco! Tell me where she is right now or I swear I will hex you and you will regret the day you messed with me."

"Hex me then, Potter! and you'll never find out where she is!"

"TELL ME DRACO OR I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU!" Harry growled, his voice like it had never been before and anger boiling inside of him.

Draco yelped and felt the hands clasped to his neck tighten.

"She's in the dark forest, but not for long, she's being taken to the lair."

"What lair? Voldemort's lair?" Harry could feel the anger and hatred for Malfoy burning up inside of him.

Draco nodded, finding he could no longer speak much less breath under Harry's tight grip. Harry dropped him and ran out of the castle, heading straight into the forest.

~*~

Minutes seemed like hours as Harry frantically searched through the forest for a sign of Jerica. His ears perked, listening carefully for any sound or movement besides the heavy beating of his heart.

He heard the swish of a cloak and turned sharply to his left. He saw a dozen or more men in black cloaks standing over a large hole in the ground. He watched as one by one the men slipped into the hole.

Voldemort's lair, Harry thought venemously.

After the last figure had gone into the hole, Harry slipped the invisibility cloak over him and ran over and slipped in as well, careful to not make any noise.

His feet landed with a soft thud on the dusty ground. Dust was caked on the stone floors and walls. Dead roots and vines grew along the walls and shared the dust.

There was little light that could be seen, except one bit coming from a room at the end of the tunnel. Harry walked quietly towards it, keeping his eyes and ears open for movement or sound.

He wandered slowly into the room at the end of the tunnel, and saw that it lead into a hallway that contained two doors. One of these doors was solid steel and was slightly open.

Walking towards it, he began to hear voices.

~*~

"Wake up, you stupid girl."

Jerica felt herself being nudged sharply in her side and opened her eyes, scared of what she would find when she did.

The room was small and surrounded by stone. Dust and mildew penetrated the air and it was difficult to breathe. She sat up and looked over at the men who had taken her there.

They were all standing in front of a large chair where another man seemed to be sitting.

"Get up." one of the men said, yanking her quickly up off the floor. One of the other men, the one Draco had called Father, walked up to her and gripped her tightly by the neck.

"Now listen to me carefully. We are giving you the chance of a lifetime because of your parents. Your parents were devoted servants to the most powerful dark wizard in the history of magic, and now that you are older and in your prime, we are offering you a chance to join us."

"Never!" Jerica tried to yell, but it came out as a tiny whisper.

"Suit yourself, you foolish girl." Malfoy's father said, dropping her to the floor and sneering at her.

"Leave." a hoarse shrill voice said. The deatheaters walked out of the room, one of them waiting outside the door.

"Look at me, Jerica Hart." the voice said again, beconing her with a hiss.

Jerica slowly looked up, and what she saw struck fear in her heart. Voldemort sat curtly in the large armchair, in full human form. He had regained a human body and was sitting comfortably with his new servants by his side.

"Tell me, Jerica, what do you know of your...parents?"

"I know nothing of them." she said, her voice shaking.

"They were my servants, and before they died they had told me how they wanted their only child, you, to follow in their footsteps and serve Lord Voldemort, or, Me." A tight, evil smirk formed on the heartless face that sent chills down Jerica's spine.

"So...so they wanted me to die?" she said, feeling her heart start to tear.

"They died for a rising power and are one of the reasons that I am where I am...don't you want to be a part in this war?"

"You think it's worth it to fight an unjust war for an unjust cause?" Jerica said, anger starting to melt away the fear she had felt as she stood up to face him.

"Absolutely." Voldemort hissed, the evil smirk still shadowing his face as he raised his wand and yelled Crucio.

~*~