Title: In the Absence of Memory
Author: Yih
Disclaimer: All characters & original universe belong to J.K. Rowling.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers of OotP in this fanfic. They are embedded into the fanfic. I won't tell you which are spoilers and which aren't, but readers that haven't read OotP should be aware that they are in the fanfic.
Thanks to my spectacular beta-reader, SERRA!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
I wake up
I don't know who I am
It's all lost
Those memories of me
Nothing's there
Not anymore, it's gone
Gone away
To a place, far away
I run hard
Attempting to get there
Where is there?
I don't know, I don't know
Wish I did
Wish I could remember
But I don't
The memories are gone
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
3: Forbidding (July 4, 2003 to July 7, 2003)
It was one full week of coma induced healing when the only sufficient mediwizard in the Death Eater ranks declared Harry Potter strong enough for their Dark Lord to attempt a magical drain on the boy for the Forbidden spell. However, Voldemort didn't trust the mediwizard. No, he didn't trust anyone but himself and perhaps Bella when she was mentally stable. Even Lucius, he couldn't place his full faith in. He wasn't blind; he knew Lucius only followed him because he was stronger than the pureblood Malfoy. He was stronger.
So he had no other choice but to check on his bond-mate for himself. Since the bonding, he had avoided the Boy Who Lived like the plague. It simply wasn't suitable for a Dark Lord to be even the slightest bit sympathetic to his arch-enemy. It would make him appear weak and he wouldn't allow that. By staying away, he appeared strong and powerful. Any wizard knew that in any type of bond, the ones bonded were most comfortable within each other's presence. The fact he kept away told of his strength.
"Bring him to me," he hissed out at Bella, turning his blood red eyes to her as if daring her not to flinch. But she didn't disappoint him, smiling even that her Master chose to ask a favor of her. It was too bad that the fourteen years at Azkaban had weakened her magical essence. But if she could regain her former strength along with her sanity he'd consider her an invaluable asset. It was a pity she was weaker than Lucius, truly a pity. What made up for the lack of power was her unwavering obedience as she tilted her head quickly, running off to do his bidding.
With nothing to do but wait, he turned his attention to Lucius who standing by his side. He had to have Lucius as his right hand man; Bella was simply not strong enough by herself to inspire full obedience when he wasn't in the presence of his Death Eaters. And Lucius certainly dealt out his torture in a sleek manner, always getting the best results. Bella, however, often went overboard with her victims by accidentally killing them by holding them under Cruciatus too long. Thinking of Lucius and his torture sessions reminded Voldemort of Lucius' latest prey, a certain Potions Master called Severus Snape.
Fixating his always sharp eyes on Lucius, he trailed a finger deliberately down his servant's cheek knowing that Lucius disliked the touch of his scaly skin. "Lucius," he began with a sinister undertone, "how has your remolding of Severus gone? Has he been broken yet?"
Like Voldemort expected, Lucius had stiffened under his touch with a malevolent loathing of his Master's gruesome touch. If Lucius wasn't so necessary, he would have been expended already. But of the Death Eaters he had left, Voldemort thought darkly, Lucius was the most powerful and that was why Lucius dared to be this transparent. He knew that Voldemort knew that he wasn't expendable. No, he was quite necessary and needed. That arrogant bastard.
"It has gone as well as can be expected," Lucius responded stiffly. "Snape," he spat out, once Voldemort had removed his finger from Lucius' cheek, "was one of your most powerful Death Eaters and his resistance only proves that. He will not bend easily, but he can be remolded. I do not doubt if given enough time I will break him."
"You have been given a week," Voldemort replied sharply, his voice low but dangerous. "Bella has most of her victims broken by the end of the first day---"
"She kills them by the end of the first day!" Lucius exclaimed, his face flushed with a riotous wave of emotion that was so unlike the cool, chilling Malfoy. He immediately fell to his knees before the Dark Lord, knowing that he done the unthinkable by interrupting Voldemort in mid speech. The last person to do that had ended up being put under the Cruciatus Curse long enough to fry their brains, and that had been many years ago. The devastating imprint of the memory was why no one dared to challenge the Dark Lord upon his subsequent return.
Foolish Malfoy. He expected something like that from a Gryffindor, but not Pettigrew--- never that rat. The only Gryffindor that he expected stand up to him like that would be Harry Potter. Who else but the Boy Who Lived? "Lucius," he warned in a deceptively soft tone while his arm snaked out to grab the supercilious blond by the throat, "don't forget that you are only standing beside me because I allow it. Do not make the mistake of underestimating me." To prove his point, he whispered the Unforgivable without a wand in his hand, "Crucio!"
The proud inclination of Lucius' body twisted and turned in useless attempts to escape the horrendous pain of the Unforgivable. But it was no use; the physical pain couldn't be escaped not when Voldemort was the one that was controlling the curse. It was when Lucius' body began to contort from the effects not of the curse, but of the pain that the curse had already afflicted that he uttered the counter curse, releasing Lucius from his tormenting hell.
In the background, Voldemort heard a solitary clapping that caught his attention. He turned his head and saw Bella standing by the entrance, her dark eyes fixated on Lucius' crumbled form. The flare of insane pleasure in her gaze worried Voldemort. It simply wasn't good that his most loyal Death Eater was so mentally unstable. Even before Azkaban, he'd been concerned about her stability. The years spent with the dementors had only broken her down even more.
It was in the middle of her clapping that he remembered that Bella had not done what he'd asked her to do. She had not brought Harry Potter to him. It wasn't like Bella to disobey him, not like her at all. It seemed she caught his train of thought, she met his gaze and then fell gracefully to her knees and bent her head down. "Bella," he hissed at her, "why did you not bring me the boy?"
Though she was obedient, she showed not a thread of fear. It spoke of her strength, what power she had left. "Avery advised me to tell you," she began in a derisive tone that was obviously aimed at the other wizard for daring to undermine her Master's authority, "that it would be in your best interest to accompany me back to Harry Potter's room. He thought it would be best for you to drain him for your spell without waking the boy from his induced coma."
Despite the innuendo from Bella's tone that Avery was a dimwit, Voldemort knew otherwise. Perhaps Avery wasn't one of his strongest Death Eaters, but he had a rather uncanny knack with healing spells and being able to judge the condition of a person. If Avery advised this measure, then he would consider it. It was never wise to jump to a conclusion before he saw all the options, so he'd have go to Harry Potter's room and see the boy for himself.
If anything he was patient. It was a virtue that he'd cultivated over the years of lacking a bodily form. True, he had been a bit unstable in his initial return but no one could blame him for that could they? How would anyone like to come back the way he'd come back? A hideous shell of his former glorious self? A powerful Dark Lord reduced to having to depend on a weak-willed Gryffindor?
"Bella... Lucius... both of you come with me, right now!" With that harsh exclamation, he stalked out the room in a manner that was filled with more power than either of them had seen from their Lord in many years. Not only did the body Voldemort had acquired in his return look decrepit, it was decrepit. There was none of the vibrant strength of his old charisma. None of that.
But it seemed that was changing. Both of them noticed the dark powerful aura that they use to feel exuding from their Master. It had been present immediately at his return, yet they hadn't felt it this strong in ages. Perhaps, it had never been this strong. The two of them were well aware of what the dark bonding curse entailed. They were the ones that had helped Voldemort the most in his research. If the bonding without Voldemort's leeching the boy of his power already strengthened him, what would come when he actually did drain his bond-mate?
Bella was highly excited by this, even if she did despise the boy for defeating her Master those many years ago. But all was forgiven, oh yes--- definitely forgiven if the Boy Who Lived made her Lord invincible. She mentally began calculating, using her cunning brain to begin to plan on how best to get the boy onto her side. After all, this memory absent boy had no idea who she was and Bella could be a very convincing actress when she wanted to be one.
Lucius' steam of thought was on the same vein as Bella's. He recognized that the boy was the key to keeping the upper hand on Bella. Simply put, he could not afford to let Bella get one more step above him. He was counting on using her emotional upheaval against her. It simply was not safe to allow the boy to be in her presence when she had a mood swing. Yes, that would be the perfect argument to keep the boy away from Bella's manipulations.
The two of them were too busy absorbed in their own thought process that they nearly ran into Voldemort's back when he stopped abruptly once he was in the room. What stopped him was the vision of innocence as the boy, no, his bond-mate slept with the radiance of an angel. Yes, there was radiance in Harry--- he felt the power that surrounded the boy's pure white aura just waiting to be drained from him. It was a heady sensation and deeply alluring.
"My Lord," Avery greeted, sinking down to his knees with his reverence, "I thought that it would be best for you to drain the boy while he was in the coma for your spell." There was a distinct tremor in the mediwizard's shoulders when he felt the Dark Lord's gaze on him. "That way... he won't... he won't...."
"I believe what Avery is trying to say," Lucius remarked, taking over smoothly for a much grateful Avery, "if you drain him and cast the Forbidden spell without him having awoken from the coma, then he won't know anything but the magnetic and enigmatic Dark Lord that you were."
"Still is," Bella snarled loyally, her eyes narrowing into poisonous slits at Lucius' unconcealed criticism of Voldemort's current appearance. "He still is! Or have you forgotten who your Master is---"
"Bella!" Voldemort exclaimed severely. "Be silent." He inclined his head to Lucius to continue on with what he was saying, knowing that Lucius in his fickle loyalty would give him a much clearer option. "Continue Lucius."
"As I was saying," Lucius began again, "the dark bonding curse that you used to bind Harry to you says quite clearly that you are the only one that he will remember. Do you not want to him to remember you as you were instead of what you are?"
It was true, if he wanted to imprint a memory into Harry's mind--- he wanted it to be as the compelling yet dangerous Voldemort not the pathetic skeleton-like death he was now. And it could be that way too, all he had to do was to deplete Harry's magical energy and complete the spell before he had Harry revived from the coma. Then his bond-mate would never know anything less than perfection. Strangely, he cared deeply that he maintained the pedestal for Harry, for his bond-mate.
But the fact of the matter remained that if Harry was not woken up from his coma, there'd be a fine line on knowing how much magical power he could drain without harming the boy incurably. If Harry was awake, then when he passed out from the loss then Voldemort would know that he'd taken too much already. While Lucius' idea wasn't without recommendation, he was afraid that he couldn't take that risk.
He had made up his mind; his bond-mate would see him as he was now. Know him as he would now and then get to know him much more when he'd completed the Forbidden spell. He didn't doubt that Harry would only recollect a few minutes at most before he was too sapped to stay conscious. At this very moment, he could feel how easy it would be to pull Harry's energy into his own. Yes, so very easy it would be.
"Ennervate!" Voldemort exclaimed, his wand pointed above the boy as the magic seeped into his bond-mate and revived him immediately.
Wide, innocent green eyes opened up and fixated themselves instantly on his crimson orbs without any knowledge of anything except who was in front of him. The purity in the angelic eyes was startling enough, but what was truly staggering was the trust in them. But then again, it only made sense didn't it? The curse had been quite explicitly detailed. The only one that the bond victim would remember would be the spell-caster. It made sense for it only made the tie of those bonded stronger and much more dominant on the part of the one that cast the spell.
He was the boy's entire world now, the only thing left.
Unlike Lucius when he touched Harry's cheek, the boy didn't tense up or stiffen at the scaly finger. Instead he almost seem[s] to need the physical presence, leaning into it like a starved pet would do to his owner. That was what Voldemort was, wasn't he? Harry's bonded owner, his Master. Oh yes, he was, he thought with wicked delight. Letting his finger trail down the delicate throat, he drew the boy to him and flicked his tongue out to taste the pale pink lips. Sweet nectar. He'd thought no different.
"Leave us," he whispered in a dangerously soft voice. "Leave now."
Avery, Bella, and Lucius exchanged gazes but had no other option than to leave Voldemort alone. Of course, they would have liked to be present as the spell occurred but they knew better than to disobey a direct order from the Dark Lord. Bella's disappointment was dramatically less than Lucius', after all Voldemort had clearly gone against what Lucius' counsel had been. She couldn't have been more thrilled. Lucius was gravely dissatisfied with the way things had gone, and he was going to take it out on Avery once he got rid of Bella's annoying side presence.
If things had gone as planned, he had counted on using Voldemort's current appearance against Harry--- in gaining Harry's trust. That his bonded wasn't the charismatic and charming man he seemed. Oh he knew that it'd be hard to get the boy to trust him, but a pensieve didn't lie did it? Damn Voldemort for showing Harry his true appearance. The wasted evil was indeed his true self. It made Lucius shudder inside to see such devastated ugliness. Obviously that route wasn't going to work anymore. But, he smiled subtly inside; he had more than one plan up his robe. It was just going to be harder to pull off.
He was a Malfoy though. It was what Malfoys did, pull off the impossible. Perhaps, he'd never be able to fully manipulate Voldemort into doing things his way, seeing things his way. But if he got to the boy, who was undoubtedly going to be Voldemort's weakness, then he could influence the Dark Lord through his bond-mate. That would be just as well. He didn't care if he was at the forefront of power as long as he had the power.
It was a dangerous game he was playing, but wasn't the most to be gained always a bit more risky? Indisputably so. The unfortunate side effect of the dark curse was as much of a benefit for Voldemort as it was for Lucius. After all, Voldemort wasn't the only one that had tried to kill the boy--- he had attempted to do just that in the boy's 2nd year. Complete erasure was definitely going to aid him as well.
If he wasn't sure the dark curse had worked, Voldemort was absolutely reassured by the blank trusting in Harry's eyes. No one had ever looked at him in that way, no one. "Harry," he whispered out delicately, testing the name on his tongue, "your name is Harry. I am Voldemort, and you are mine. Mine."
"Yours," Harry responded with a vague look of confusion and incomprehension. All Harry knew was that this man in front of him was the only thing that he recognized in the entire room, entire world. He still knew everything, but he didn't remember anything that was substantially linked to his life. Nothing, nothing at all. Except the crimson eyes that were staring into his own with such blatant possession.
Voldemort was insufferably pleased that his bond-mate, his pet knew exactly what the situation was even if he did look very perplexed by it all. No matter, there would be plenty of time to explain it to his Harry later. What was important was the Forbidden spell and recapturing his old body again, and from there--- if he managed to succeed, there were other spells in the Tome of Forbidden that dared to be tried.
Gently he cupped Harry's youthful cheeks and drew the young man to him. When they were close enough to be touching yet not, he paused for a moment not quite certain of how to drain the boy of his magical essence. The ancient spell had never been quite specific, only briefly hinting that action was needed. The deliberate vagueness could mean anything from violence to sex. From intimate relations to brutal torture. Such a choice to make between two such extremes.
Tilting Harry's head back, he lowered his mouth onto the boy's soft petals and all the tenderness vanished as he kissed with a passion to devour the sweet essence. Crushing against those nectarine lips, Voldemort felt the pull of Harry's power more strongly--- it was there for the taking. His snakelike tongue flicked into Harry's warm wetness, wrapping around the honeyed tongue and the further into passion he went, the more magical essence he pulled at, pulled into him.
The slim yet sinewy body pressed against his own skeleton form began to tremble heavily with Harry's panting breaths as the boy fitted his body closer to him as lost in the passionate embrace as Voldemort was. It had been so long since someone had reacted that way to him and never in this body. Even Bella did not, even Bella would not. That thought drove him on, made him grasp at the energy that he took freely and forcefully.
But not too much, no not too much. Draining the boy completely dry was not his intention. That would take Harry much longer to recuperate his strength. No, he needed just enough to perform the Forbidden spell and that was it. Once he felt his power magnify itself enough, he drew away from the torrent embrace and felt his bond-mate collapse against him. It seemed he hadn't sucked his pet into unconsciousness, but Harry was still very weak.
With tenderness, he pushed Harry down to the bed and cast a simple sleeping charm over the boy. It would last long enough until Avery could induce a coma for the boy's healing. Until then, he thought, as he stormed out of the room and headed straight to chambers. It was time... it the moment to try the Forbidden. Before Lucius or Bella could think about entering into his private rooms, he slammed the door in their faces. No, he wanted to do this alone so that none would see him in his moment of weakness.
The pain of the bonding had been excruciating, but nothing like what the Forbidden entailed. No, as he looked over the parchment he'd carefully prepared for the spell it was going to be ten times as horrific. But this he could stand, this he would survive through. It was the only way to regain his old body, his proper body. With that thought, he began chanting- -- feeling the magic he'd taken from Harry going into the words, into the very spell itself:
Take this body that is not mine
Take it away, take it far away
Return to me what use to be mine
With this power, I have found a way
To take back forcefully what was mine
Give back what was stolen away
Give back what use to be mine
Forbidding magic swirled around him in no glint of gold, nor silver, nor green--- no the spell was colorless but there. It was there, the powerful magic that drained out of his own self to feed its demand for more and more magical essence of which to feed itself. He felt himself almost drained dry, just as he had done to his bond-mate, his pet. The feeling of being surrounded faded away as pain burst into his very soul.
Warping away at his old form, tearing his soul away much like the Avada Kedavra had done so long ago. It manipulated and twisted his very being in ways he'd never thought possible. Changing and canceling out his old body, it thrust him back hard into the reformed and remade body. It didn't stop there; it continued it machinations. And through it all, the horrendous pain that his mind, his body, his soul was under never numbed and never let up for a moment. It continued and continued, wave after agonizing wave of excruciating torment.
After what seemed like an eternity he lost himself to the agony and passed out.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Author's Note: My beta, Serra said that this chapter was better. Then she said that I am setting an impossible standard for myself. I'm like... great! Just let me tell you, this story is so hard to write. It's like nerve racking to try to write this story. But I love it. It's not as fun to write b/c the story's so bitchy. Trying to make everything stay true to the character and keep my plot moving along isn't easier. And guess what? To tantalize you even further, Serra says Chapter 4's better than 3! ;p.
Questions: (1) So is the story getting better? (2) Whoa! Harry said a line! Comments? (3) Voldemort looks like TMR, like no like the Forbidden spell? (4) Any other thoughts? Insights? Predictions?
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Thanks to Aria, Harial, Gemm1, Party Girl, HPIceAngel, Spideria, Solana, Nabiki, Tempest, Kitta Baby, Ntamara.
Abraxis: Perhaps that is the difference, but LV and AD are still Machiavellian in that they will do whatever they need to make sure that their cause is won. The one struggling always has the most dirty work to do.
Malakai: Voldemort was definitely maliciously delighted. He will become more attached to his magical battery, and I think Voldemort has to have this huge ego but with a brilliant mind to more than back it up. He is a slightly insane genius, like all geniuses are.
Lolita: Bellatrix is my favorite new character that JKR introduced b/c she's so twisted, and I think I've got her characterized well.
Anne Phoenix: A fellow writer! I've read some of your stuff! [blushes] Thanks! Feel free to nitpick, only makes me better and points to my beta (her fault too!) [snickers] I love Bella, at least I love that I have her so accurate.
Eaiva le Fay: Voldemort might be sympathetic, but I don't know how much he will soften and he will certainly not turn into a good oh righteous like Weasley person. No bloody way. He will remain distinctively dark, perhaps with a slight shadow of a conscience at best.
Author: Yih
Disclaimer: All characters & original universe belong to J.K. Rowling.
Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers of OotP in this fanfic. They are embedded into the fanfic. I won't tell you which are spoilers and which aren't, but readers that haven't read OotP should be aware that they are in the fanfic.
Thanks to my spectacular beta-reader, SERRA!
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
I wake up
I don't know who I am
It's all lost
Those memories of me
Nothing's there
Not anymore, it's gone
Gone away
To a place, far away
I run hard
Attempting to get there
Where is there?
I don't know, I don't know
Wish I did
Wish I could remember
But I don't
The memories are gone
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
3: Forbidding (July 4, 2003 to July 7, 2003)
It was one full week of coma induced healing when the only sufficient mediwizard in the Death Eater ranks declared Harry Potter strong enough for their Dark Lord to attempt a magical drain on the boy for the Forbidden spell. However, Voldemort didn't trust the mediwizard. No, he didn't trust anyone but himself and perhaps Bella when she was mentally stable. Even Lucius, he couldn't place his full faith in. He wasn't blind; he knew Lucius only followed him because he was stronger than the pureblood Malfoy. He was stronger.
So he had no other choice but to check on his bond-mate for himself. Since the bonding, he had avoided the Boy Who Lived like the plague. It simply wasn't suitable for a Dark Lord to be even the slightest bit sympathetic to his arch-enemy. It would make him appear weak and he wouldn't allow that. By staying away, he appeared strong and powerful. Any wizard knew that in any type of bond, the ones bonded were most comfortable within each other's presence. The fact he kept away told of his strength.
"Bring him to me," he hissed out at Bella, turning his blood red eyes to her as if daring her not to flinch. But she didn't disappoint him, smiling even that her Master chose to ask a favor of her. It was too bad that the fourteen years at Azkaban had weakened her magical essence. But if she could regain her former strength along with her sanity he'd consider her an invaluable asset. It was a pity she was weaker than Lucius, truly a pity. What made up for the lack of power was her unwavering obedience as she tilted her head quickly, running off to do his bidding.
With nothing to do but wait, he turned his attention to Lucius who standing by his side. He had to have Lucius as his right hand man; Bella was simply not strong enough by herself to inspire full obedience when he wasn't in the presence of his Death Eaters. And Lucius certainly dealt out his torture in a sleek manner, always getting the best results. Bella, however, often went overboard with her victims by accidentally killing them by holding them under Cruciatus too long. Thinking of Lucius and his torture sessions reminded Voldemort of Lucius' latest prey, a certain Potions Master called Severus Snape.
Fixating his always sharp eyes on Lucius, he trailed a finger deliberately down his servant's cheek knowing that Lucius disliked the touch of his scaly skin. "Lucius," he began with a sinister undertone, "how has your remolding of Severus gone? Has he been broken yet?"
Like Voldemort expected, Lucius had stiffened under his touch with a malevolent loathing of his Master's gruesome touch. If Lucius wasn't so necessary, he would have been expended already. But of the Death Eaters he had left, Voldemort thought darkly, Lucius was the most powerful and that was why Lucius dared to be this transparent. He knew that Voldemort knew that he wasn't expendable. No, he was quite necessary and needed. That arrogant bastard.
"It has gone as well as can be expected," Lucius responded stiffly. "Snape," he spat out, once Voldemort had removed his finger from Lucius' cheek, "was one of your most powerful Death Eaters and his resistance only proves that. He will not bend easily, but he can be remolded. I do not doubt if given enough time I will break him."
"You have been given a week," Voldemort replied sharply, his voice low but dangerous. "Bella has most of her victims broken by the end of the first day---"
"She kills them by the end of the first day!" Lucius exclaimed, his face flushed with a riotous wave of emotion that was so unlike the cool, chilling Malfoy. He immediately fell to his knees before the Dark Lord, knowing that he done the unthinkable by interrupting Voldemort in mid speech. The last person to do that had ended up being put under the Cruciatus Curse long enough to fry their brains, and that had been many years ago. The devastating imprint of the memory was why no one dared to challenge the Dark Lord upon his subsequent return.
Foolish Malfoy. He expected something like that from a Gryffindor, but not Pettigrew--- never that rat. The only Gryffindor that he expected stand up to him like that would be Harry Potter. Who else but the Boy Who Lived? "Lucius," he warned in a deceptively soft tone while his arm snaked out to grab the supercilious blond by the throat, "don't forget that you are only standing beside me because I allow it. Do not make the mistake of underestimating me." To prove his point, he whispered the Unforgivable without a wand in his hand, "Crucio!"
The proud inclination of Lucius' body twisted and turned in useless attempts to escape the horrendous pain of the Unforgivable. But it was no use; the physical pain couldn't be escaped not when Voldemort was the one that was controlling the curse. It was when Lucius' body began to contort from the effects not of the curse, but of the pain that the curse had already afflicted that he uttered the counter curse, releasing Lucius from his tormenting hell.
In the background, Voldemort heard a solitary clapping that caught his attention. He turned his head and saw Bella standing by the entrance, her dark eyes fixated on Lucius' crumbled form. The flare of insane pleasure in her gaze worried Voldemort. It simply wasn't good that his most loyal Death Eater was so mentally unstable. Even before Azkaban, he'd been concerned about her stability. The years spent with the dementors had only broken her down even more.
It was in the middle of her clapping that he remembered that Bella had not done what he'd asked her to do. She had not brought Harry Potter to him. It wasn't like Bella to disobey him, not like her at all. It seemed she caught his train of thought, she met his gaze and then fell gracefully to her knees and bent her head down. "Bella," he hissed at her, "why did you not bring me the boy?"
Though she was obedient, she showed not a thread of fear. It spoke of her strength, what power she had left. "Avery advised me to tell you," she began in a derisive tone that was obviously aimed at the other wizard for daring to undermine her Master's authority, "that it would be in your best interest to accompany me back to Harry Potter's room. He thought it would be best for you to drain him for your spell without waking the boy from his induced coma."
Despite the innuendo from Bella's tone that Avery was a dimwit, Voldemort knew otherwise. Perhaps Avery wasn't one of his strongest Death Eaters, but he had a rather uncanny knack with healing spells and being able to judge the condition of a person. If Avery advised this measure, then he would consider it. It was never wise to jump to a conclusion before he saw all the options, so he'd have go to Harry Potter's room and see the boy for himself.
If anything he was patient. It was a virtue that he'd cultivated over the years of lacking a bodily form. True, he had been a bit unstable in his initial return but no one could blame him for that could they? How would anyone like to come back the way he'd come back? A hideous shell of his former glorious self? A powerful Dark Lord reduced to having to depend on a weak-willed Gryffindor?
"Bella... Lucius... both of you come with me, right now!" With that harsh exclamation, he stalked out the room in a manner that was filled with more power than either of them had seen from their Lord in many years. Not only did the body Voldemort had acquired in his return look decrepit, it was decrepit. There was none of the vibrant strength of his old charisma. None of that.
But it seemed that was changing. Both of them noticed the dark powerful aura that they use to feel exuding from their Master. It had been present immediately at his return, yet they hadn't felt it this strong in ages. Perhaps, it had never been this strong. The two of them were well aware of what the dark bonding curse entailed. They were the ones that had helped Voldemort the most in his research. If the bonding without Voldemort's leeching the boy of his power already strengthened him, what would come when he actually did drain his bond-mate?
Bella was highly excited by this, even if she did despise the boy for defeating her Master those many years ago. But all was forgiven, oh yes--- definitely forgiven if the Boy Who Lived made her Lord invincible. She mentally began calculating, using her cunning brain to begin to plan on how best to get the boy onto her side. After all, this memory absent boy had no idea who she was and Bella could be a very convincing actress when she wanted to be one.
Lucius' steam of thought was on the same vein as Bella's. He recognized that the boy was the key to keeping the upper hand on Bella. Simply put, he could not afford to let Bella get one more step above him. He was counting on using her emotional upheaval against her. It simply was not safe to allow the boy to be in her presence when she had a mood swing. Yes, that would be the perfect argument to keep the boy away from Bella's manipulations.
The two of them were too busy absorbed in their own thought process that they nearly ran into Voldemort's back when he stopped abruptly once he was in the room. What stopped him was the vision of innocence as the boy, no, his bond-mate slept with the radiance of an angel. Yes, there was radiance in Harry--- he felt the power that surrounded the boy's pure white aura just waiting to be drained from him. It was a heady sensation and deeply alluring.
"My Lord," Avery greeted, sinking down to his knees with his reverence, "I thought that it would be best for you to drain the boy while he was in the coma for your spell." There was a distinct tremor in the mediwizard's shoulders when he felt the Dark Lord's gaze on him. "That way... he won't... he won't...."
"I believe what Avery is trying to say," Lucius remarked, taking over smoothly for a much grateful Avery, "if you drain him and cast the Forbidden spell without him having awoken from the coma, then he won't know anything but the magnetic and enigmatic Dark Lord that you were."
"Still is," Bella snarled loyally, her eyes narrowing into poisonous slits at Lucius' unconcealed criticism of Voldemort's current appearance. "He still is! Or have you forgotten who your Master is---"
"Bella!" Voldemort exclaimed severely. "Be silent." He inclined his head to Lucius to continue on with what he was saying, knowing that Lucius in his fickle loyalty would give him a much clearer option. "Continue Lucius."
"As I was saying," Lucius began again, "the dark bonding curse that you used to bind Harry to you says quite clearly that you are the only one that he will remember. Do you not want to him to remember you as you were instead of what you are?"
It was true, if he wanted to imprint a memory into Harry's mind--- he wanted it to be as the compelling yet dangerous Voldemort not the pathetic skeleton-like death he was now. And it could be that way too, all he had to do was to deplete Harry's magical energy and complete the spell before he had Harry revived from the coma. Then his bond-mate would never know anything less than perfection. Strangely, he cared deeply that he maintained the pedestal for Harry, for his bond-mate.
But the fact of the matter remained that if Harry was not woken up from his coma, there'd be a fine line on knowing how much magical power he could drain without harming the boy incurably. If Harry was awake, then when he passed out from the loss then Voldemort would know that he'd taken too much already. While Lucius' idea wasn't without recommendation, he was afraid that he couldn't take that risk.
He had made up his mind; his bond-mate would see him as he was now. Know him as he would now and then get to know him much more when he'd completed the Forbidden spell. He didn't doubt that Harry would only recollect a few minutes at most before he was too sapped to stay conscious. At this very moment, he could feel how easy it would be to pull Harry's energy into his own. Yes, so very easy it would be.
"Ennervate!" Voldemort exclaimed, his wand pointed above the boy as the magic seeped into his bond-mate and revived him immediately.
Wide, innocent green eyes opened up and fixated themselves instantly on his crimson orbs without any knowledge of anything except who was in front of him. The purity in the angelic eyes was startling enough, but what was truly staggering was the trust in them. But then again, it only made sense didn't it? The curse had been quite explicitly detailed. The only one that the bond victim would remember would be the spell-caster. It made sense for it only made the tie of those bonded stronger and much more dominant on the part of the one that cast the spell.
He was the boy's entire world now, the only thing left.
Unlike Lucius when he touched Harry's cheek, the boy didn't tense up or stiffen at the scaly finger. Instead he almost seem[s] to need the physical presence, leaning into it like a starved pet would do to his owner. That was what Voldemort was, wasn't he? Harry's bonded owner, his Master. Oh yes, he was, he thought with wicked delight. Letting his finger trail down the delicate throat, he drew the boy to him and flicked his tongue out to taste the pale pink lips. Sweet nectar. He'd thought no different.
"Leave us," he whispered in a dangerously soft voice. "Leave now."
Avery, Bella, and Lucius exchanged gazes but had no other option than to leave Voldemort alone. Of course, they would have liked to be present as the spell occurred but they knew better than to disobey a direct order from the Dark Lord. Bella's disappointment was dramatically less than Lucius', after all Voldemort had clearly gone against what Lucius' counsel had been. She couldn't have been more thrilled. Lucius was gravely dissatisfied with the way things had gone, and he was going to take it out on Avery once he got rid of Bella's annoying side presence.
If things had gone as planned, he had counted on using Voldemort's current appearance against Harry--- in gaining Harry's trust. That his bonded wasn't the charismatic and charming man he seemed. Oh he knew that it'd be hard to get the boy to trust him, but a pensieve didn't lie did it? Damn Voldemort for showing Harry his true appearance. The wasted evil was indeed his true self. It made Lucius shudder inside to see such devastated ugliness. Obviously that route wasn't going to work anymore. But, he smiled subtly inside; he had more than one plan up his robe. It was just going to be harder to pull off.
He was a Malfoy though. It was what Malfoys did, pull off the impossible. Perhaps, he'd never be able to fully manipulate Voldemort into doing things his way, seeing things his way. But if he got to the boy, who was undoubtedly going to be Voldemort's weakness, then he could influence the Dark Lord through his bond-mate. That would be just as well. He didn't care if he was at the forefront of power as long as he had the power.
It was a dangerous game he was playing, but wasn't the most to be gained always a bit more risky? Indisputably so. The unfortunate side effect of the dark curse was as much of a benefit for Voldemort as it was for Lucius. After all, Voldemort wasn't the only one that had tried to kill the boy--- he had attempted to do just that in the boy's 2nd year. Complete erasure was definitely going to aid him as well.
If he wasn't sure the dark curse had worked, Voldemort was absolutely reassured by the blank trusting in Harry's eyes. No one had ever looked at him in that way, no one. "Harry," he whispered out delicately, testing the name on his tongue, "your name is Harry. I am Voldemort, and you are mine. Mine."
"Yours," Harry responded with a vague look of confusion and incomprehension. All Harry knew was that this man in front of him was the only thing that he recognized in the entire room, entire world. He still knew everything, but he didn't remember anything that was substantially linked to his life. Nothing, nothing at all. Except the crimson eyes that were staring into his own with such blatant possession.
Voldemort was insufferably pleased that his bond-mate, his pet knew exactly what the situation was even if he did look very perplexed by it all. No matter, there would be plenty of time to explain it to his Harry later. What was important was the Forbidden spell and recapturing his old body again, and from there--- if he managed to succeed, there were other spells in the Tome of Forbidden that dared to be tried.
Gently he cupped Harry's youthful cheeks and drew the young man to him. When they were close enough to be touching yet not, he paused for a moment not quite certain of how to drain the boy of his magical essence. The ancient spell had never been quite specific, only briefly hinting that action was needed. The deliberate vagueness could mean anything from violence to sex. From intimate relations to brutal torture. Such a choice to make between two such extremes.
Tilting Harry's head back, he lowered his mouth onto the boy's soft petals and all the tenderness vanished as he kissed with a passion to devour the sweet essence. Crushing against those nectarine lips, Voldemort felt the pull of Harry's power more strongly--- it was there for the taking. His snakelike tongue flicked into Harry's warm wetness, wrapping around the honeyed tongue and the further into passion he went, the more magical essence he pulled at, pulled into him.
The slim yet sinewy body pressed against his own skeleton form began to tremble heavily with Harry's panting breaths as the boy fitted his body closer to him as lost in the passionate embrace as Voldemort was. It had been so long since someone had reacted that way to him and never in this body. Even Bella did not, even Bella would not. That thought drove him on, made him grasp at the energy that he took freely and forcefully.
But not too much, no not too much. Draining the boy completely dry was not his intention. That would take Harry much longer to recuperate his strength. No, he needed just enough to perform the Forbidden spell and that was it. Once he felt his power magnify itself enough, he drew away from the torrent embrace and felt his bond-mate collapse against him. It seemed he hadn't sucked his pet into unconsciousness, but Harry was still very weak.
With tenderness, he pushed Harry down to the bed and cast a simple sleeping charm over the boy. It would last long enough until Avery could induce a coma for the boy's healing. Until then, he thought, as he stormed out of the room and headed straight to chambers. It was time... it the moment to try the Forbidden. Before Lucius or Bella could think about entering into his private rooms, he slammed the door in their faces. No, he wanted to do this alone so that none would see him in his moment of weakness.
The pain of the bonding had been excruciating, but nothing like what the Forbidden entailed. No, as he looked over the parchment he'd carefully prepared for the spell it was going to be ten times as horrific. But this he could stand, this he would survive through. It was the only way to regain his old body, his proper body. With that thought, he began chanting- -- feeling the magic he'd taken from Harry going into the words, into the very spell itself:
Take this body that is not mine
Take it away, take it far away
Return to me what use to be mine
With this power, I have found a way
To take back forcefully what was mine
Give back what was stolen away
Give back what use to be mine
Forbidding magic swirled around him in no glint of gold, nor silver, nor green--- no the spell was colorless but there. It was there, the powerful magic that drained out of his own self to feed its demand for more and more magical essence of which to feed itself. He felt himself almost drained dry, just as he had done to his bond-mate, his pet. The feeling of being surrounded faded away as pain burst into his very soul.
Warping away at his old form, tearing his soul away much like the Avada Kedavra had done so long ago. It manipulated and twisted his very being in ways he'd never thought possible. Changing and canceling out his old body, it thrust him back hard into the reformed and remade body. It didn't stop there; it continued it machinations. And through it all, the horrendous pain that his mind, his body, his soul was under never numbed and never let up for a moment. It continued and continued, wave after agonizing wave of excruciating torment.
After what seemed like an eternity he lost himself to the agony and passed out.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Author's Note: My beta, Serra said that this chapter was better. Then she said that I am setting an impossible standard for myself. I'm like... great! Just let me tell you, this story is so hard to write. It's like nerve racking to try to write this story. But I love it. It's not as fun to write b/c the story's so bitchy. Trying to make everything stay true to the character and keep my plot moving along isn't easier. And guess what? To tantalize you even further, Serra says Chapter 4's better than 3! ;p.
Questions: (1) So is the story getting better? (2) Whoa! Harry said a line! Comments? (3) Voldemort looks like TMR, like no like the Forbidden spell? (4) Any other thoughts? Insights? Predictions?
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Thanks to Aria, Harial, Gemm1, Party Girl, HPIceAngel, Spideria, Solana, Nabiki, Tempest, Kitta Baby, Ntamara.
Abraxis: Perhaps that is the difference, but LV and AD are still Machiavellian in that they will do whatever they need to make sure that their cause is won. The one struggling always has the most dirty work to do.
Malakai: Voldemort was definitely maliciously delighted. He will become more attached to his magical battery, and I think Voldemort has to have this huge ego but with a brilliant mind to more than back it up. He is a slightly insane genius, like all geniuses are.
Lolita: Bellatrix is my favorite new character that JKR introduced b/c she's so twisted, and I think I've got her characterized well.
Anne Phoenix: A fellow writer! I've read some of your stuff! [blushes] Thanks! Feel free to nitpick, only makes me better and points to my beta (her fault too!) [snickers] I love Bella, at least I love that I have her so accurate.
Eaiva le Fay: Voldemort might be sympathetic, but I don't know how much he will soften and he will certainly not turn into a good oh righteous like Weasley person. No bloody way. He will remain distinctively dark, perhaps with a slight shadow of a conscience at best.