Chapter Six:
The Riddle House stood on the hill overlooking Little Hangleton with ivy crawling up its once elegant walls. No light penetrated the crusted, dirty windows with moth eaten curtains hanging in them.
The residents in the small village below avoided the house. There was just something "Unnatural" about it. First the mysterious deaths of the less than popular Riddle's and then the equally mysterious death of the long-time caretaker Frank. Not to mention that someone broke into the Riddle's son Tom's grave and removed his body. No, the villagers preferred to keep their lives as normal as was humanly possible.
Inside the house smelled of rot, must, and decay. The walls were blackened with age resting in the eternal darkness that enveloped the house. The only clean thing was the floor. Long trails slithered through the dust and dirt moving all over the house.
In an old damp library Lord Voldermort stood in front of a once rich and extravagant fireplace staring at the faded picture of an elderly couple. Between them was a tall man with wavy black hair. None of the were smiling.
A long, reptilian arm reached out of the folds of the Lord's billowing black robes and touched the picture lightly. A pair of slanted red eyes studied the young man carefully, flicking up and down his frozen composure.
"My dear father," hissed a high, cold voice emitted from a pair of lifeless, white lips. "Did you ever love mother?"
The picture's cold, grey eyes stared back stonily. Voldermort held the gaze as his spidery fingers moved up the canvas. His long nails stopped at Tom Riddle Senior's neck and began to dig into the portrait. "I so wish that I could have put you through the pain that you made me suffer. I was naïve. I did not have the respect for pain that I have now. Do you know what it feels like to have your very being ripped from your body by your own power? Do you have any idea how much pain I went through to get this magnificent body of mine? DO YOU?!"
His fingernails slashed across the painting leaving a deep gash right through his father's throat. "No you don't. How could you? You kicked a pregnant women out onto the streets. You were a cold, heartless bastard. You aren't my father. You're just the man that slept with my mother."
Voldermort turned his back to the painting his eyes moving to a bowed figure standing in the doorway. The little, quivering man held a silver chalice in his hands, one of which was made of silvery smoke. "Rise my loyal Wormtail," Voldermort said, his dry voice sending chills down Peter's spine.
The rat held the silver chalice out, flinching as the Dark Lord's long fingers brushed his hand.
"Is Bellatrix back yet?" Voldermort asked sipping the snake venom. It burned his throat as it went down. His red eyes rolled back in ecstasy.
"No sir," Peter stuttered. "But the Auror is dead."
"Good. That should shake them up a bit. Remember Peter fear can be your greatest weapon. It never fails to bring out the worst in mankind. You for example."
Peter's head twitched nervously. "Your fear of my power drove you to betray your best friend. You sentenced him and his wife to death." A smile flicked across the monstrous face of the Dark Lord as Wormtail squeaked and started to nervously scratch himself behind the ear. "Fear is a powerful thing. It will be the undoing of our dear Harry Potter."
Peter breathed in with excitement at the thought of Potter dead. "Shall we kill one of his little friends?"
"No! That wouldn't scare him. That would piss him off. The Auror showed Dumbledore's dear Order that we are everywhere watching them. We shouldn't have known he was in the Order. Killing one of Potter's friend would do the opposite. It would infuriate him to the point that I fear many of my Death Eaters would be killed. The boy has power. I didn't want to see it before but it's there. Untrained and untapped but there. The last thing we want is a wizard with no control over a vast amount of power."
In one sip Voldermort finished up the venom and tossed the chalice to the ground. It made a dull clunk against the carpet of dust. "No, we need something that will frighten Potter to the very core of his being. Something big."
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"Shouldn't you be with your Dark Lord kissing his clammy, white feet?" Remus asked, pulling Ginny and Luna tight against his back. His voice shook with fear.
Bellatrix giggled. "Now be nice, Remus. I'm not here to hurt anyone, for now. I just wanted to apologise." A wide, wicked grin spread across her face. Blonde curls fell over her empty, black eyes.
"For what?" Remus asked, slowly backing away. Ginny's hand dug into his side.
"For killing Sirius, the love of your life." She giggled, twirling around happily. "He muttered your name as he fell back. 'Remus…' It makes me all warm and fuzz inside just thinking about it." She clasped her abdomen smiling at Remus.
Remus stood there glaring at her trying to fight back the wave of pain that was washing through his body. "You will not rule me," he muttered pulling out his wand. "My fate will not be sealed by the whispers of a mad woman."
For a split second fear filled Bellatrix's eyes but she quickly reigned it in drawing her own wand. A smile of excitement spread across her face never reaching her dead eyes. "Do you really want to fight me, Lupin? Are you prepared to show me want an animal you can really be?"
"When I say go, run," Remus whispered to Ginny. She nodded, her face quivering with fear. He turned and stared straight into Bellatrix's eyes. "I won't fight you. That's what you want. My duty is to protect these children."
"Oh well. I'll still fight you." Her hand shot out quickly, a blast of red light emitting from the tip of her.
"Run!" Remus shouted, ducking the spell. Ginny and Luna darted into the crowds their hands clasped tightly together. Bellatrix tried to shoot at them but she couldn't find them in the throng of the people forming a ring around her and Lupin.
Remus stood up and aimed his wand at Bellatrix's leather clad chest. A slow anger boiled his blood as he saw Sirius fall into the veil and out of this world. He tried to suppress the anger but more than anything he wanted to see Bellatrix die before she could ruin anymore lives. "Avada Kedavra!" he shouted. A bolt of green light sped towards Bellatrix.
The crowd screamed and fell to the cobblestone alley.
Time slowed down and Remus stared at Bellatrix's grinning face through the haunting green light heralding her death. There was a sparkle of triumph in her eyes as she leapt out of the way and disappeared with a loud snap. The spell hit a brick wall and disappeared into the atmosphere.
Remus fell to his knees with exhaustion. There was a sickly paleness to his face that made him look like a walking corpse.
Ginny and Luna broke through the ring of frightened onlookers and stood there staring at Remus. He looked up at them sadly. He had lost. Bellatrix had brought the anger and pain out of him.
"He used an Unforgivable," someone yelled. "He tried to kill that woman."
Ginny spun to face the crowd, her brown eyes burning with anger. "That woman was Bellatrix Lestrange."
Everyone in the crowd stood there in silence, panic and fear creeping across their faces. Pale and frightened they began to slowly move towards the doorways in case Bellatrix showed up again.
Ginny and Luna lifted Remus up off the ground. His feet threatened to give out beneath the weight that pressed down upon his soul. Ginny wrapped her sturdy arm around his thin waist to keep him stable. "Let's get back to the house before we're ambushed by any other Death Eaters," she said, a forced grin plastered to her face.
Remus looked down at her through weary eyes and smiled. "That's the best idea I've heard all day."
Several men separated from the crowd and circled around Lupin. Ministry badges glittered in the sunlight. Remus' face fell and he pushed Ginny away from him. "Go back to the house. Tell Dumbledore everything that happened." His tired body straightened and looked right into the Ministry Officials' eyes. Gone was the ragged, tired man that Ginny knew. Before her stood a man with the majestic, kingly stature of a wolf. Not one excuse left his lips.
Ginny looked from him to the men and stepped away. They let her and Luna out of the circle before tightening their ranks.
Ginny grabbed Luna's hand and began running through the gathering crowd. She had to get to Dumbledore. If anyone could sort this out it would be him.
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