In Cold Blood

By Becca

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise and most things you don't.

Notes: Sorry if this chapter offends anyone, I had it in much more detail and stuff at first but then decided to dim it down a bit so to speak. I hope you like it and I'll try and get another update up soon. Thanks for all of your reviews.

Chapter Fourteen

Celeste paced up and down in Dumbledore's office. Sat round watching her uselessly were the Order of the Phoenix and the rest of her family – the family that is no longer complete without Harry. How could they all have been so stupid? Harry was still overwhelmed about actually having a family, about having people who care for him, so how could she have thought he had grown bored with them? How could she possibly have thought that when she and the rest of the family were frequently reminding him that he was no longer alone?

She had been jealous

Oh she would admit that now, she had thought Harry was spending more time with Severus because he had had enough and she had been jealous. She knew there had been something wrong when Harry came to them last night; she knew he had wanted company. But she hadn't known that he had been pushed aside by everyone and had been alone for the past three days. She had thought he was with Severus.

This was all Voldemorts fault.

After all she had said about how poorly the wizards had done at protecting her Harry, after the abuse she had shouted at them in her own mind, she had gone and done exactly the same. No one had ever dared to attack her family before and she let that get to her head, the immortals all knew what she and Armand were like when it came to their own. But Voldemort had stepped into unfamiliar territory and he would feel it hard before she was finished with him.

"Do you have any idea where he could be?" she asked as she continued her pacing. She had asked that question over a hundred times that morning and every time she had received the same answer. No. Albus rubbed his hand over his eyes tiredly before replacing his glasses and looking at those before him once more. Nobody could quite believe that Harry had been snatched from under their noses again.

"So, lets see if we can get this right. Harry had been gone for a night and most of a day before any of us noticed?" Sirius snapped incredulously and yet not one in that room could say that he was wrong. Anéthiel and her birth parents were sat quietly in the corner, watching everything. Raven and Marius were conversing quietly in the corner, trying to reach Harry through the link.

"He's hurting. He's scared, terrified even and is hurting both physically and emotionally. As far as I can tell, he has refused Voldemort and has angered the Dark Lord by doing do" Marius spoke up after a minute and then he sighed. "I can't tell where he is though, the only thing that may be of help is that he is cold and in a well lit room" he added. Albus sighed and cleared his throat.

"If you would all just sit down and let me say what I called you here for, then maybe we will get somewhere. Harry's been gone now for two nights and one day, is it safe to assume that?" Albus asked before any accusations could be handed out, they were all at fault here and they knew it. He didn't have the time nor the energy to sort out any arguments and so he would stop them before they began. When he received a nod from everyone present, he sighed again. "Severus, do you know where he was the last meeting you attended?"

"Riddle Manor" Severus said easily and Dumbledore nodded, climbing to his feet.

"Well what are we waiting for then? My boy is being held by Voldemort, we only have one guess as to where they are so lets go and see if he's there. I refuse to leave him any longer than necessary. Get your weapons or whatever you need and meet me in the entrance hall as soon as possible." With that said, he left his office and climbed up the stairs to his chambers. Ignoring the activity of those behind him.

Celeste stalked back to her chambers with her family behind her. Celendil had gone to gather the Elven warriors she had brought with her and was planning to accompany them herself. As soon as her family were in their chambers, Celeste slammed the door behind them, seething with rage.

"After all we said about the wizards poor attempts at protecting him! After everything he went through this summer! How could we be so stupid? If he lays a finger on my son, I will tear his head from his shoulders" she snarled as she jerkily pulled her daggers and sword from the wrack on the wall. Severus and Armand watched her wearily; both were carrying their weapons already and were not surprised to see Marius, Raven and Anéthiel stepping out of their bedrooms fully dressed for battle.

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Harry cringed as the Cruciatus curse spread through his body. He had no strength left to scream and for someone who hasn't got a lot of blood; he had managed to lose a surprising amount. He curled up into a tight ball and whimpered as the cold battered against his weak frame along with the curse. For two full nights and one long day he had been with Voldemort and had been held under practically every curse while the Dark Lord tried to convince him to join but still Harry refused. Voldemort had even resorted to muggle forms of torture, he had charmed a blade so that the wounds could not be healed magically, or by his vampiric ways and was to be left to nature to take its course.

Not once during his time here had Voldemort stopped, he hadn't slept or anything. When he ate, he ate in front of Harry and just stared at him curled up on the floor with something like lust in his eyes. Harry hadn't been given any blood to strengthen him but so far Voldemort hadn't been able to touch him. Harry hadn't allowed his body to fight against any of the curses sent his way and stored up whatever strength he had for when the Dark Lord tried to touch him. Now he had none left and Voldemort knew it.

Harry tried to shift and straighten his muscles but the pain washed through him and left him with a gasp. He heard a quiet chuckle as the Cruciatus curse was lifted but he paid no attention. He had cuts and dried blood everywhere, not to mention the broken bones that he had no strength to heal. Thankfully, he hadn't seen a single deatheater since he came here, it seems Voldemort wanted him for himself.

He blacked out again, as he had been doing on and off for hours now. But once more Voldemort woke him with a spell. He wanted Harry to feel every bit of pain and wouldn't allow him to fall unconscious. He wondered if anyone at Hogwarts had even noticed him missing yet. Would his family even care? They had turned their back on him so easily, made him feel like an intruder. Neither Severus or Dumbledore had time for him, knowing his luck; they would probably just be sitting around at supper in the Great Hall now, not even knowing anything was amiss. He had lost count of the amount of times he had been tempted to accept Voldemorts offer and he thought that he would have done almost immediately if he hadn't been there to see Cedric Diggory be murdered in cold blood like that. That thought alone scared him unlike anything else.

His eyes snapped open in fear as he heard Voldemort come closer and he could do nothing as he was lifted slightly and straightened out so that he was lying on his back. What was left of his torn shirt was removed easily, leaving Harry in only his boxer shorts. He shivered and turned away from the taunting hands as much as he could, expecting the resulting slap he received for doing so. This was it, this was when he lost everything, his body and most probably shortly followed by his soul. He wondered if he could say yes, just to save himself the pain, and then escape to Dumbledore but as soon as this thought crossed his mind, he immediately dispelled it. Voldemort wouldn't let him out of his sight if he accepted.

"Well then my pet, ready for another round?" Voldemort hissed and laughed coldly as Harry tensed visibly. "Do you sssstill ssssay no, my pet?" he hissed again. Harry screwed his eyes shut and said nothing, he didn't agree or disagree and when the listing potion ingredients didn't distract him, he started singing in his mind. As nimble fingers explored his chest, he pretended it was Severus. As lips pressed softly against his and then trailed down his neck, he envisioned his lover patiently exploring him.

When those hands moved to his boxer shorts, his trousers having been taken off and ruined hours ago by the curses, his illusion popped like a bubble and he started to hyperventilate. He didn't fight as his hips were carefully lifted off the floor so that the boxers could slide down easily – he had no strength.

"Open your eyesss, watch or I will make it sssooo painful you will alwayssss remember my touch" Voldemort commanded, his voice no more than a whisper besides Harry's ear. Harry's eyes snapped open before he could even think about it and a lubricated finger pressed against his entrance while Voldemort used his free hand to explore the body before him. The hand clamped over his forearm and Harry whimpered as the dark mark was burned onto his flesh, he couldn't even scream anymore.

"Blood," he whispered and then licked his lips and tried again. "Please, blood, please" Voldemort looked at him and smiled

"If you cooperate I will give you all the blood you could wissssh for Harry," he hissed and then pressed his lips to Harry's once more. He pushed two fingers inside him sharply when Harry didn't respond and Harry whimpered before parting his lips, allowing entrance to the questing tongue. Voldemort took control of the kiss and made a noise, a cross between a snarl and a moan when he felt Harry weakly responding. "My good boy, good boy" Voldemort said as he broke away from the kiss and ran a gentle finger down a rather large and deep wound on Harry's cheek.

The hand dropped to Harry's half-hard member and started to stroke him slowly. Harry couldn't stop the moan from leaving his lips as he arched up into the touch, tears escaped freely down his cheeks and he didn't even bother trying to hide them. Why did everything happen to him?

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Severus led the way through Riddle Manor, searching for the Throne room in which Voldemort always sat during the meetings. Behind him, Marius and Celeste were talking quietly and he heard the soft, almost whispered words confirming that Harry was somewhere inside this building. They had no plan whatsoever but had managed to slip through the wards unprotected thanks to a joint effort from the elves, vampires and Albus. They could see lights shining from a gap under a set of double doors in front of them and approached quietly, knowing Harry and Voldemort were inside.

Severus paused and waited until everyone got into position. Albus stood by his side and then behind them the others held their weapons and wands at the ready. At a nod from the headmaster, Severus kicked the doors open forcefully and stepped inside, watching as the Elven warriors spread around the room, surrounding the two figures on the floor carefully. Celeste and her family stood by the doorway, to stop Voldemort from escaping that way and both Severus and Albus stepped closer to Voldemort and Harry.

All of this was done without actually seeing what was happening before their eyes. Now that all movement had stopped they could all see it clearly. Harry lay on the floor and was nearly unrecognisable for cuts, blood and bruising. Voldemort was kneeling over him, preparing him and touching him. The anger in everyone rose drastically as Voldemort laughed and didn't even move away.

"Ahh, I wondered when you would arrive. Welcome to my home" Voldemort hissed, not moving an inch from where he knelt and continued his explorations of Harry's body while he smirked wickedly at the members of the order. "Tell them Harry, tell them you are mine. Tell them I love you. Tell them you wissssh to ssstay," he said and when Harry only whimpered, he grabbed his dagger with his free hand and stabbed it straight into Harry's stomach. Harry gasped and let out another whimper, the fingers inside him pulled out and stuck in the newest would, literally tearing at it.

"Go, please go" Harry whispered, Voldemort twisted the fingers in his wound and Harry cried out again. "Please, he loves me, I want to stay. Go!" he turned his head to the side and met the piercing blue eyes of the headmaster. He couldn't say what he wanted with his words and so he used his eyes instead, pleading for help.

"They were too late, weren't they Harry? They never cared for you as they should, they never protected you, they never loved you. It was all a lie; you see that now don't you? You saw how they turned their back on your, how they ignored you and made you feel like an outsider. Tell them I can love you like no other, tell them you have joined me"

"No, no, never" Harry choked and licked his lips again, trying to gather some strength to put it behind his words. He pushed feebly at the Dark Lord and tried to crawl away but then his muscles screamed out in protest and his arms fell uselessly to his side. He closed his eyes tight again as tears fell down his cheeks.

"I must commend you Dumbledore, you've made this one strong. Still, after all of these hours of pain and torture, after my taunts and words, he still does not give in. I do not think I have had this much fun since...well, never" Voldemort said, looking up and he laughed as the headmaster paled.

"All this time?" Albus whispered, his mind thinking of everything the Dark Lord was capable of and he looked to Harry and saw the tears slowly falling down his cheeks.

"Continuously since the night I took him from the forest. Neither of us have slept have we my pet?"

"Get your hands off my son before I tear your heart out" surprisingly this was Armand; Voldemort threw a small wandless curse his way and that set everyone moving. As Voldemort stood up to defend himself, Harry backed away from him before crawling into a corner and tucking his knees under his chin. He pressed his forehead to his knees and rocked backwards and forwards slightly, trying to stay awake. Within minutes, the fight against Voldemort was over as he disapparated and then everyone turned his (or hers) attention to him.

"Harry, my baby" Celeste whispered as she dropped to her knees besides him. She opened her arms and was about to wrap them around him when he whimpered and pushed himself away from her with fear in his eyes. Celeste frowned and looked over her shoulder at Armand, she nodded for Severus to come closer and the Potions Master bit into his wrist and offered it to his lover. Harry looked from the blood to his lover and back again before pushing himself further into the corner and away from him.

A cloak was draped around his shoulders and Harry pulled back sharply and trembled but when he saw it was the headmaster, he threw himself into the old mans arms and buried his face in his robes. He clung on to the old mans robes until his knuckles went white and Albus gently put his arms around Harry's shoulders and brought the shivering boy closer.

"Take me home, please take me home?" he whispered, Dumbledore leant down and with surprising strength managed to lift Harry off his feet completely.

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Harry sat up in his bed in the hospital wing and watched his sleeping mother for a while whilst trying to process what he had learned that night. Voldemort had sent his parents and Severus notes saying that he was spending time with the other, and so Celeste had thought that he had no need for her now that he was in love and was jealous. Severus and Albus really had been having long meetings with the order. So their not being able to spend time with him was all reasonable and mainly Voldemorts fault.

He pushed out of his mind all that had happened in the last few days and sighed. He had hurt his mother and his lover when he had refused them earlier but he could only think of the words Voldemort had said. That they didn't care, that they didn't really love him and had used him. He knew, deep down, that these words were bullshit but he also had the same fears that he had always had, and Voldemort had managed to press them so thoroughly.

He sighed again and carefully stood up, he had been healed almost expertly, except for the wounds made with that dagger. So his stomach especially was feeling quite tender right now. He didn't want to sleep, he didn't know why, but just the thought of closing his eyes left him trembling. Moving slowly but silently, so that he didn't wake anyone, Harry made his way to the bathroom and looked in the mirror.

The wound on his cheek had been healed but left a horrid scar. The rest of the scars could be hidden underneath clothes but that one would always be on view. He hadn't even dared to look at the Dark Mark he now wore but against his pale skin, it now stood out vividly. He was wearing only his black boxer shorts at the minute and around his stomach he had a huge bandage wrapped around the wound tightly and still blood was seeping through it.

He hadn't been able to tell Dumbledore and Poppy half of the curses used on him, except the two unforgiveables. Nor had he told them much of anything else either, through choice of his own. Why did they need to know anything other than that he was hurt? As long as they knew that they arrived in time, as long as they knew that he didn't rape him or kill him, then it didn't matter, did it?

He shook his head once more, he wouldn't even spare his time with Voldemort a single thought, nor would he let the bastard take his family away from him. If they were just using him for something, then let them. If Severus didn't really love him and just wanted to fuck him, then let him too. He wouldn't push them away while he still had his doubts, he loved them and that was all that mattered.