Delusions- Chapter Five
I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I receiving a profit off of this.
A/N: This might be the last chapter I update for a while. I will not have access to a computer from August 1st to the 21st. Don't think I've stopped writing this; I haven't. The sixth chapter will probably just be a little late in coming.
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Master. Oh, my Master wishes me to halt. To wait for a woman. He's joyful I have come. To help him. My wonderful Master deserves me. He needs me. He can use me. To kill his enemies, perhaps. To show him knowledge he knows not. To take him places he cannot go.
*
Lupin stopped his short narration with a growing feeling of nervousness in his stomach. Harry, the last person who reminded him of happier days, may soon be dead or evil. He had just lost Sirius; he couldn't stand to grieve for another person he cared for.
"Bloody hell," breathed Tonks after a few moments silence.
"How does Dumbledore reckon we're to get him sane again?" Moody growled, his normal eye narrowed in concentration as his vivid blue eye moved madly.
"He didn't say," replied Lupin. "I don't think he's gotten that far yet."
"What are we supposed to do if he comes here?" questioned Tonks.
"I don't know. Try not to hurt him maybe? I haven't a clue to what we are talking about," suggested Shacklebolt in his slow, deep voice.
"I need to go to the Burrow," Lupin said, "Dumbledore isn't sure where Harry may be heading."
"Go, then," said Moody shortly.
"We'll keep watch here," Kingsley said calmly, yet there was a shadow of worry hidden in his dark face. Lupin nodded and quickly walked out the door that led to the kitchen and exited the house. He Disapparated as soon as he had left Number 12, Grimmauld Place, wondering how he would wake Molly or Arthur without alerting the entire household. He walked up the pathway that led to the Weasleys's house, glancing at his aging watch. It was nearing two in the morning, he noticed with an inexplicable feeling of desperation. He quickened his pace and noticed a single light in the window of a downstairs room in the Burrow. He made his way towards the back of the house; someone was in the kitchen. It was Molly, drinking what seemed to be a cup of tea. He knocked on the back door lightly, watching her furrow her eyebrows in confusion through the window in the door. He knocked again and saw her stand up and walk over to a window. She saw Lupin standing there and immediately opened the door.
"Remus, what's the matter?" Her kindly face showed traces of surprise.
"Molly, I know it's late, but can you go get Arthur? You both need to hear this." The look of befuddlement grew more pronounced but she nodded and ascended the creaking staircase quietly, coming down with a disheveled but alert Arthur.
"Remus," greeted Arthur seriously.
"Something is terribly wrong," Lupin said immediately.
*
Snape wiped sweat off of his brow as he continued at his pace. The exhaustion was getting to him, helped by the lack of sleep he had had the previous week. He couldn't keep this up much longer, he decided as he checked that he was on the right path. If Potter didn't stop soon, well… Snape cursed under his breath again. Damn that Potter! He was always causing trouble! He turned onto a worn dirt path that seemed to be leading to a grouping of trees. Snape swore again; was he going to need to navigate through a forest? He neared the end of the dirt path and then halted in surprise. Potter was standing at the edge of the woods, still as the night air around him. Approaching cautiously, Snape found his brain empty of any plan it may've harbored
"Well, well, well, look what we have here." Snape twirled around to find Bellatrix Lestrange standing just behind him. "The traitor has followed Potter." Snape irrationally looked around for something—anything to aid him against what he was facing. The only thing he saw was a twig, and how was that going to protect him from an armed Death Eater? "Aw, wook at the widdle baby," she said, her amusement evident in her voice, "I'm sowwy, widdle baby, are you scarwd? Stupefy!!" Snape had no time to dodge the red beam that hurtled towards him. Watching as her spell hit him in the midriff, Bellatrix chuckled as he fell over, stunned.
"What am I to do with you?" she murmured to herself as she circled Harry. He looked at her with unblinking scarlet eyes. "Will you follow me?" Internally, Bellatrix scolded herself. What a stupid question. However—
"I will," hissed Harry, "If you will take me to Master." Bellatrix started before grinning evilly.
"Perfect," she said. "Come."
*
"Ennervate." Voldemort stared distastefully at Snape as he arose. Snape blinked once to gain his bearings, and then stared at his old master. Voldemort was pleased to notice the fear in his eyes and then stood so he towered over his former servant.
"I tired you, didn't I Severus," he began, "You decided it would be better to join Dumbledore and his Mudblood loving followers. Thought you would help him by spying on me. Did you really think I wouldn't find out? I have my ways, Severus." Snape said nothing but stood still, paling from what Voldemort could see in the moonlight.
"He's not here to help you now. I doubt he even knows where we are. And now you will find out what sort of punishment I give to double-crossers. Pain, followed by a long, suffering death will be appropriate, I think. It will be entertaining to observe. Wormtail!" A short, rat-like man crept out from behind the shadows.
"Y-yes, M-m-master?" The man called Wormtail gave Snape a terrified look before his eyes flitted back to Voldemort.
"Do you have your dagger, Wormtail?"
"I d-do, M-master."
"Come here." Voldemort said a spell and invisible ropes tied Snape to a nearby tree, leaving his left arm oddly unbound. "Cut off his left arm at the elbow."
"W-what, M-master?"
"Do not question me, Wormtail," Voldemort warned as Snape gazed at him, his heart beating twice the normal rate. "His arm still bears my Dark Mark, and I no longer consider him a Death Eater. Do it now." Wormtail paused for a second, pulled his dagger out of his robes, and moved towards Snape. With one last look at Voldemort, Wormtail kneeled down and yanked Snape's arm toward him.
"Do it slowly now, Wormtail." Wormtail nodded slightly, and the dagger pierced Snape's skin.
It was agony. The blade was dull, and Wormtail moved it slowly back and forth, as though he was carving a chicken. Snape's blood flowed heavily to the ground, splattering in the dirt. Snape could not stifle his pained scream and it cut through the summer's air. All the while, Voldemort laughed in the background. Wormtail hit bone after what seemed like and eternity and withdrew the dagger from Snape's skin. He brought it upward and then, with one swift stroke, severed Snape's arm. It dropped heavily to the ground and Snape heard Voldemort whisper a spell that stopped the blood flow before he slumped backwards onto the tree, unconscious with the pain.
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End of chapter.
A/N: Well, this has got to be one of the most violent chapters I have ever written.