Another Openin' Another Show! In Philli', Boston, or Baltimo'! Another place where the ulcers grow… Another Openin' of Another Show!  (I don't remember the Play, but the song's called "Another Openin' Another Show" who'd've guessed that I sing show tunes?)

Author's Notes: Wow, I like this chapter I really do. I've dropped the whole "Malfoy is a sadistic bastard that does not cringe at death" thing.  He was a wilting little pansy in the last chapter, he's a wilting little flower now.  Well, maybe not, but he's not "That thing in quotes that I don't want to re-type". Anyway, the last chapter wasn't bad, but have you ever posted a chapter thinking it's not so terrible only to re-read your chapter post-post and realized that there were mistakes/issues that you could have easily resolved? I hate that. Anyway, I think this fic is steadily improving, what do you think?  Is it getting better? Be honest now.  Oh, I should warn you, there's some violence in this chapter.  Not sexual violence, but violence nonetheless. 

Disclaimers: I neither own nor unlawfully distribute Harry Potter, please don't sue me. I'm only writing this because I'm a bored, lonely, teenaged girl that really needs a boyfriend.  Find someone to occupy my time and I promise I'll stop. (Well… maybe.)

Review Responses:

Gifford: Aw, you've made me blush. Thanks for reviewing for me. I too am extremely glad you didn't miss my fic, I know it's no better than most, and there are a lot of good ones out there.  Hey, if you like confusing/intriguing, try Palindromes by Wintry.  It's good stuff.

Katrina: Once again, thank you so much. That was indeed the distraction that Scion needed, though things have a tendency to blow up in his face, poor Scion.  I cracked up when I read your review because I watched Shreck just this afternoon.  ^_^

Emeline: Cool name, and I'll try not to get too mushy… sometimes it can't be helped, like the Hogsmead (hey, do you know if that's spelled Hogsmeade?) thing… that was pretty WAFFy. But who am I to complain if you like it? 

Weasley Wonders: You're always so nice to me… tell me if I do something stupid okay?  Anyway, thanks for the review.

KittenBabyGirl: Thanks, I like it too. And I am updating soon ^_~.

In Darkness Found, Light Revealed

Chapter 7: Lamb Chops

"You failed me Tom."  That was all that needed to be said, Tom had failed his mission, he had nearly killed his master's prey.  He wanted nothing more than a distraction, an opening in the castle's security, one that he might have been able to slip through, but Birdy had been there.  Birdy had been part of the distraction and he had nearly died for his effort. 

"No! No Master, you can't!"  Voldemort was pleading; many witches and wizards would have cheered had they known that the scourge of their world was suffering the nightmare that they'd lived for the last two decades. 

"Can't I?"

"What about-" He was panicking now, under ordinary circumstances he would never squirm away from his opponent, he would never twich like a half-crushed spider.

"The rebellion?  What do I care for mortal affairs; you ruined my plans and nearly destroyed my target!  What is your rebellion to that? You accepted the risks when you entered my forest fifty years ago." That was it, the end of the discussion. Scion didn't give a damn about Tom Riddle, he never had.  The megalomaniacal man who was no longer a man was just a stepping stone, a means to an end, a temporary source of entertainment. Tom never had a chance. "You disobeyed a direct order." 

The careless boy had endangered his dear Birdy, he had caused unnecessary discord amongst the town's people, arousing suspicion; he had ultimately jeopardized everything that Scion had been working for. A work that was precious, vital to his new-found enjoyment of 'life.' Torture was not nearly punishment enough. 

"Goodbye Tom."

***

Harry stretched and yawned before a sharp pain pierced his chest. "Ow."  Opening his bleary eyes he realized the ceiling was not familiar, neither were the sheets, and the company, while familiar, was not who he expected, nor wanted to see.  Well, most of it was unwanted. "What?"

"Harry! Look Ron, Harry's awake!  Oh we were so worried about you! What on earth were you doing in Hogsmead anyway? Did you know He would attack?  Harry answer me!"   Someone was shaking his arm, his head hadn't been sore until he tried to remember why Hermione was assaulting him with questions, but now it was rife with pain and he groaned. "Oh Harry I'm sorry, I should've realized!" What was meant to be a consoling whisper came out as an exclamation as Hermione jumped away and allowed Harry his space.

What the hell was going on, why did he hurt? The last thing he remembered… what did he remember…? "Wha…" Malfoy was afraid, "Is he…" everyone was running screaming through Hogsmead, "Is everyone… okay?"

Hermione looked away from him, and didn't answer, so Ron answered for her, "There were some injuries, and a few fatalities." At the look on Harry's face, he continued, "Do you remember what happened?"

"Not really."

"Well, all things considered… it's fortunate that the town wasn't destroyed.  You-Know-Who attacked and… oh Harry it was terrible! Buildings collapsed, people were trampling each other trying to get away, but you must have seen the Dark Mark, you must have known that he would be there.  Why else were you at Hogsmead when you shouldn't have been?"

Harry remembered why he was in Hogsmead, he might have grinned but for the serious situation; talk about irony.  "Why was Voldemort there? I thought he was afraid of Dumbledore."

"He is!" Hermione cried, leaping to her feet.  She sat down again sheepishly, and looked Harry in the eye, "This might be hard for you to hear but… he was asking for you.  It was a trap, he was trying to get to you!"

Harry put his hands over his face and rolled his eyes, he could have guessed that.  Voldemort was always after him one way or another (who else would he be chasing, Santa?), he was perhaps becoming a bit jaded on the subject. "So.  Is Voldemort dead?"

"You don't remember?" 

Harry gave them an incredulous look and a rhetorical statement, "Should I?" 

"That's quite all right Mister Potter, after an event like that, who could remember the details?"  Asked Professor Dumbledore as he came strolling into the infirmary, trailed by a flustered looking Madame Pomfrey. 

"That's enough you two, you can see Harry tomorrow, visiting hours are over. The boy needs his rest."  The Medi-witch announced, shuffling the two reluctant students out of her domain.  "Headmaster, I know that you'll have your way no matter what I say, but do try to make it short, he needs his rest."   She too left with a sad shake of her head and a soft sort of smile at Harry that left him knitting his eyebrows in confusion.

"Voldemort is still very much alive, Harry."

"I thought as much. What happened?"

Dumbledore sighed heavily, "You fought, I wasn't there so an eye-witness account is somewhat unobtainable at the moment, but Harry, he almost killed you." 

"How?" He was taking this news surprisingly well.  His arch enemy had come closer to Hogwarts than ever before, threatening its very way of life, but it all seemed so surreal.  The events of the past week made Voldemort's attack feel like a dream, besides, nearly dying was better than dying all the way; there was a distinct lack of pearly lights and pretty faces when one was alive, but there was also a distinct lack of decay.

"Again, I'm not sure.  There was powerful magical residue in the area which leads me to believe he used a bone breaking curse but..."  

Harry nodded sagely, that explained a lot about the pain, there were no obvious, gut wrenching stabs, but his entire body ached as though he had been thrown into a wall.  Though in retrospect, he probably had been.  "So why aren't I dead?" 

"Frankly, I don't know.  We're running an analysis on your wand, you should get it back by the time you leave the infirmary, but thus far we've only uncovered some of the most basic spells, things that you've been doing in class and a rather fascinating transfiguration spell.  Extra credit?"

Harry blushed, "Long story.  Anyway, if I'm alive, and Voldemort's alive, and there are no roaring parties in the vicinity, I'm assuming he won, so why hasn't he taken over the world yet." Harry was suddenly very fearful, "or has he?"

"No, he hasn't. I was hoping you could help me with that.  You weren't in the school, nor were you with the Dursleys, yet somehow you survived quite a few fatal spells.  Of course this is all hearsay and speculation, but I have it on relatively good authority that he destroyed the surrounding area trying to get to you, yet you've come out of it relatively unharmed."  The Headmaster pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger wearily, "well, I shouldn't say that.  Your friends found you in a rather poor state, if I'm not mistaken, the body-bind curse was put on you; I believe Miss Granger went into shock."

"Professor Dumbledore?" the pleading yet solid tone of his voice was very familiar, even to his ears. 

"Yes?"

"Why did he attack Hogsmead?"  Harry asked thoughtfully, "Voldemort I mean, any one of his death eaters could have stirred up just as much trouble.  Are you sure it was Voldemort?"

"I'm quite sure it was Voldemort, though I am unable to answer your question as I do not know the answer."

"Hmm." Harry didn't say anything or even acknowledge the professor as Dumbledore took his leave. He simply stared down the row of empty infirmary beds.  It made no sense! Voldemort couldn't have known that Harry would be in Hogsmead because Harry was expressly forbidden to be in the village.  Unless of course Harry was lured there by Malfoy into a carefully laid trap, but the pieces didn't fit together; Malfoy too was forbidden to go to town and though he had known Harry for nearly seven years, there was no guarantee of Harry's arrival on the scene. 

It simply wasn't Voldemort's style to do the dirty work himself, but in the brief flashes of memory that had accompanied Professor Dumbledore's vague and useless 'explanation,' he hadn't seen any Death Eaters in the vicinity. Not even an expendable shield.  What was going on?  Of course, he didn't trust Dumbledore to be telling the truth, nor did he trust his own memory in the man's hands, but he did have faith that it would all come back to him soon.  Only a few questions remained: 1, why had it been Voldemort at Hogsmead instead of someone dispensable, 2, what had happened to his body and his memory, and 3, where the hell was Malfoy with his invisibility cloak?

Harry sighed deeply, he knew that he would get no sleep or peace of mind until he answered at least one of his three questions, so he didn't even try.  He would have gotten out of bed, but he didn't feel confident in his walking abilities, if one of the many pain relieving spells that he felt tingling through his body happened to wear off because of the sudden increase in activity, he would be up shit creek without a paddle.  Enduring severe physical pain was not an activity he particularly enjoyed. 

That too was an anomaly of sorts, Dumbledore said that Voldemort probably used a bone breaker curse, but Harry knew from experience that Madame Pomfrey could mend bones with a flick of her wrist and eliminate pain with a wave of her wand, so why did he ache all over?  He could feel bruises every time he shifted on the bed, bruises that were begging to be recognized, but those too should have disappeared with a healing spell.  There was something severely wrong with this situation. 

The disgruntled Gryffindor sat up, ignoring the wince that accompanied his actions.  Walking was definitely out of the question if he couldn't even swing his legs out of bed without discomfort.  He stared straight ahead of him, focusing on what seemed to be nothing, he could feel something with him, someone with him, but he didn't know who.  As long as he stayed in this bed, he would never have his answers.  "I wish someone would tell me what happened." 

"Shit Potter!"

Harry jumped nearly a foot in the air; that was a very familiar voice, not accompanied by the familiar face that should have been attached. "Malfoy?" 

Draco Malfoy pulled Harry's invisibility cloak from his head, revealing his face, head, torso, then finally, the rest of him.  He didn't look like the type of person that had just led Harry into a trap, he didn't look like the type of person that could betray someone so thoroughly, as a matter of fact, he looked terrible. He had sat in silence listening to the proceedings and keeping a worried eye on Harry for reasons of his own.  "How did you know I was there?"

"Jesus! You scared me half to death!"

"No I didn't. You were half dead already, according to my calculations, if I'd scared you half to death you wouldn't be glaring at me like that."  Indeed, Harry was glaring.  He wasn't exactly upset, just irritated because Malfoy could smirk in the face of his surprise and confusion.  "How did you see me?"

"I didn't."

"But you were… never mind."  Malfoy could have sworn that Harry had been looking straight at him when he asked for answers, but he didn't have the heart to argue.  Harry was looking so confused and rightfully so after all he'd been through. "Jesus Potter, you are some kind of idiot. You almost got yourself killed." 

"Did you happen to see how I almost got myself killed, because no one else has."

Malfoy looked distinctly uncomfortable, like he was somewhere between throwing up and running away.  It had been horrible to watch, but he couldn't have done anything to stop it, he was frozen in place by his own terror of the man.  How Harry had gone hurtling towards the scene of the crime and his own near-death was a mystery, one Malfoy didn't necessarily want to solve.  "Yes."

Harry's eyes lit up like Hermione's on exam day, "Could you tell me about it?  I can't remember for some reason, I think I hit my head or something because I have a headache and I don't know what happened…."  He was blabbering but he didn't care, he had always had a need to know, a curiosity that was never quite sated by Dumbledore's vague answers.  Now they were even less satisfactory because of his mistrust for the man.

Malfoy flopped down on the bed next to Harry's, crossing his legs under him. "Harry I don't…" With a heavy sigh he rubbed at his face, making red the skin of his forehead before he let his chin rest on his balled fist.  This was going to take some effort. "They're not going to find anything on your wand."

Harry almost opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again with a snap.  He hadn't cast any spells?

"You didn't have time… he, something tripped you because you weren't watching your feet.  He… he immobilized you when you dropped your wand.  You couldn't find it in time because your glasses were broken."

That explained a lot, including his blurry vision. "Full body bind?" He asked, referring to a spell that every student at Hogwarts knew, front to back.  "Dumbledore said that's how they found me." 

Again, Malfoy looked uncomfortable.  "No. That was me," when Harry opened his mouth in shock and indignation he covered by saying, "I had my reasons!  No, he used something I've never seen before.  It didn't inhibit outside forces from moving you like the body-bind does," he tried delicately, "it's just, you were… frozen almost. It's hard to describe."

He gulped back the bile that was rising in his throat as Harry processed the information carefully, "Okay, so then what happened? Dumbledore said he used a bone-breaker curse."

"He – god you were screaming and –." Malfoy clamped a hand over his mouth and took a deep breath, "He didn't use a bone-breaker, he didn't use any spell at all. I think he might have tried, but something backfired, all he could do was hold you in place. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so angry in my life, it was terrifying.  He started with your fingers, and he broke every one of them. You were screaming and… I think you were scared, I was scared." 

It was a rare moment of vulnerability as Malfoy lost himself in the memory of that afternoon.  He didn't want to imagine the pain Harry felt as Voldemort slowly bent every one of his fingers back at the joint and snapped them with his bare hands.  He didn't want to imagine the agony when he crushed Harry's toes with his boots and snapped his wrists with nothing more than brute force.  He had been so afraid for Harry, afraid for himself despite the invisibility cloak.  Everyone else had fled the scene with the appearance of the Dark Mark, if Voldemort had so much as smelled him on the wind, he would have died.

"Jesus I was scared." 

Harry blanched, his fingers, broken? Screaming? Why couldn't he remember? "What else." 

"He just kept… he just kept trying to break your bones, he was so angry, I could smell it.  No one was there to help you, they fled the scene.  You were tortured Potter." He said flatly, unable to reveal any more detail, Malfoy knew that Harry wanted to know these things, but he couldn't stomach it twelve hours ago, he couldn't stomach it now.

"So why am I still alive?" Harry asked hoarsely, he hadn't realized it before, but perhaps his throat was sore.  It corroborated Malfoy's story, certainly he would have screamed himself silent if he had indeed been made to suffer that anguish, but he didn't want to think about it, he just wanted facts.

"I think… I don't know.  You stopped screaming, I think you passed out, and he threw you into the bar.  He was going to kill you, I know he was going to kill you, he was laughing, and he was so angry."

"So why aren't I dead?" Harry repeated a little desperately.

"He just stopped.  I don't – I don't know why, he just stopped everything.  He stopped laughing, and he stood very still.  Then he just disappeared, he didn't apparate, I know that much, he just disappeared.  I don't know why." Malfoy looked introspective as he shuddered in terror; the sudden blank look that had come across the Dark Lord's face was more terrifying than any of his actions had been. 

Malfoy saw him raise his wand, saw his mouth form the words "Avada Kedavra" before he suddenly changed.  There wasn't a sound but he didn't look angry, amused or even indifferent any more, he didn't look like anything.  His arms fell limply to his side and his wand dangled loose from his fingertips before he disappeared without so much as a whisper on the breeze.  "I don't know."

Harry looked wide eyed and innocent, struck dumb by the news.  How could he forget something as incredible and horrible as being tortured?  He had probably blocked out the memory because his head ached fiercely all through Malfoy's story.  He sat in silence for a long moment, almost wishing he hadn't asked before he realized something, "The full body-bind, what was that for?"

Malfoy looked sheepish, "You were unconscious and I didn't think you'd feel it.  I was worried that setting and healing spells wouldn't work on you because none of Voldemort's spells did, and the body-bind straightens you out so I tried it.  It didn't work as well as I would have liked, but it served its purpose." 

"Thank you." Harry said sincerely, Malfoy had witnessed the entire fiasco and relayed it to him without a single complaint as his friends would have done.  He had relieved the nightmare for Harry's sake, and had even tried to help him once Voldemort vanished.  Harry didn't blame Malfoy for not coming to his rescue, a man whose very name could strike fear into the hearts of wizards everywhere was not going to be challenged by a mere student unless the student had a death wish.  Instead, Harry was grateful for all the information he'd been given, even if it did put his mental stability at risk.  "Thank you."

"Shove it Potter." Malfoy said coldly, "If you ever do that again I swear to Merlin that I'll kill you myself."

Harry didn't answer so Malfoy glanced at him in alarm.  There was the eerie blank look, the terrifying look that had crossed Voldemort's face not long ago.  Harry's eyes were empty, his face had no expression lines, and his arms fell limp at his sides, just like Voldemort's.  Malfoy bit back a scream, gulping down his own terror.  He sensed power, great power that had nothing to do with the earth shattering displays of Voldemort.  The pressure was building in his ear drums, he felt like his head would explode, what was this?

Harry got to his feet and Malfoy winced in sympathy as he heard the Gryffindor's bones creaking into place.  "Potter?" Harry walked away from him, his bare feet smacking lightly on the ground, "Potter, where are you going?"  How was he going?  The simple act of walking had to be painful beyond measure.  "Harry?"

Harry ignored him and continued along the stone corridors. Malfoy followed him with no little amount of apprehension, he would have run for Dumbledore, but Harry didn't trust the old coot and neither did he.  He would have run for Professor Snape, but getting from the infirmary to the dungeons would have taken too long, Harry would be long gone by the time he reached Snape's quarters.  "Potter? Snap out of it, Potter wake up, you don't know what you're doing!" 

The time for persuasion was over, Malfoy was beginning to panic and Harry was moving steadily for the doors.  The blonde dug his wand out of his robes, wrestling with Harry's invisibility cloak, "Locomotor Mortis." The spell had no effect whatsoever, so he tried it again, a bit louder, "Locomotor Mortis!"  Perhaps the wand movements weren't right, "LOCOMOTOR MORTIS!"  

Harry's feet snapped together and Malfoy heaved a sigh of relief, but it was short lived.  No longer able to walk, it was though an invisible force lifted Harry and carried him through the doors.  Malfoy watched with dread as Harry's bare toes sluiced through the neatly trimmed grass, straight towards the Forbidden Forest. 

Post Author's Notes: Wow, 3,382 words in this chapter. I've impressed myself, I think the first one was only… (checks file) 1,131.  I must say, as it nears its end, I'm quite happy with this story.  I hope you are too. Now my two worlds are finally coming together. I think it will only be two chapters more, but I have exams this week so you may have to wait.  (Hmm… study or write… decisions decisions.)  Please read and review for me, I mean, I really really would like some feed back, whether negative or positive I'm actually begging you.  I want to know what you think even if you are just massaging my ego. 

OH! Before I forget, I wanted to say sorry about this chapter, I let my brutal side come out to play and I don't know why.  I just… yeah.  It was pretty ugly.  ::Wow, I'm in a strange mood, I'm being very sincere as I write these Post Notes::