Midnight Darkness
Chapter 2
By Linden Winter

When Harry regained consciousness, the first thing he registered was that he was in incredible pain. It almost felt as if someone had swung an anvil at him and aimed for his skull but he couldn't remember hitting his head. Trying to move only seemed to inflame the pain so he settled on lying still and tried to listen to what was going on around him. He heard the unmistakable crackling of fire but knew that the Dursleys had replaced theirs years ago with an electric heater. Confused and disoriented, he gingerly opened his eyes was met with a horrifying sight.

Voldemort.

Harry tried to reach for his wand but realised in fear that his hands had been tied behind his back and that his wand was not with him but back at Privet Drive under the loose floorboard in his room. At the sight of Voldemort half of Harry wanted to run and call for help, the other wanted to stand and fight and make the demon pay for all he had cost him. The decision was taken away from him however, when Voldemort turned his head from the fire he was gazing into and looked directly into Harry's eyes. Seeing Harry was awake, his face twisted into something horribly akin to a smile, an expression made more fearsome by the firelight that flickered gently over his snake-like nose and red eyes.

Harry felt strangely calm as though he knew this confrontation was coming and in his mind it all felt oddly familiar. His Summer nights had been punctuated not only with nightmares but also lifelike dreams where he had come face to face with Voldemort and killed him. Sometimes too, it was he himself who perished in his night time battles. Those were the nights that he woke drenched in cold sweat, his heart thudding painfully while he gasped for breath. The adrenalin that coursed through his veins meant that it was always a long time before he fell asleep again. But somehow Harry could tell that this one was real, there was a very certainty in bones that pushed back the pain from his mind and forced him to focus solely and clearly on the horror that sat before him.

He sat on a large ornate chair, decrepit and old though the firelight that washed over it revealed that it must have once been beautiful in its days of glory. He tried to take in every detail from where he was lying so that he could relate everything to Dumbledore should he ever escape. A threadbare rug lay under the chair and on the other side of the room Harry could see what looked like a few bookshelves and a desk. As though noting Harry's curiosity, Voldemort spoke.

"Ah, but where are my manners? Welcome to my humble home. This," he continued indicting the room with a sweeping gesture, "was once a study – it belonged to my mother. She was a powerful witch, something of course my father never appreciated," he added, his voice hardening considerably. "But of course, we are not here for a history lesson; tell me, where does Dumbledore keep his Order?"

Harry's heart began to race as he thought about Grimmauld place. He quickly tried to Occlude his mind and wished he had practised more during the summer holidays.

"Have you been there? What is he hiding it under? I wonder if he fool enough to use the Fidelius charm after it cost him your parents; they were valuable tools in his war after all."

"They were not tools!" said Harry aghast.

"No? Are you still so deluded about the old man's machinations? Have you not yet realised that everything that he does is for his own advantage?"

"That's not true," Harry said quietly.

"I see that you are easily bought by his kind facades and generous sweets. I do believe that he would have done well in Slytherin but I suppose his cunning is after all for the good of the entire wizarding world – or so he makes everyone believe."

"Professor Dumbledore is respected by everyone."

"Dumbledore is a fool held in awe by even more fools and those who do not admit their foolishness will eventually succumb to it. Much like your parents," he added cruelly.

"You can't talk," Harry countered. "You're afraid of him!"

Voldemort's face suddenly contorted into an expression of fury and he pointed his wand directly at Harry.

"Crucio!"

Harry screamed in agony as the spell engulfed him, searing his nerves and making him spasm with the pain. When Voldemort finally lifted the spell it was a full minute before Harry realised it was over and when his mind regained awareness he rolled onto his side and retched. Breathing hard he looked back at Voldemort who was gazing into the fire again.

"You're a coward," Harry spat, feeling the hatred rise within him. "You can only attack me while I'm bound and wandless. If you're not a coward give me my wand."

"No," hissed Voldemort dangerously. "You have caused me far too many problems in the past and it is time for it to end. This is not game or test of strength; you will have no chance to fight. You are here to die; it ends today."

"They'll come for me," Harry said wildly trying to bide time while he thought of a way to escape. "Dumbledore will send someone."

Voldemort chuckled softly. "I don't believe you have realised how far from safety you are. There is no one here to save you; you have no wand, no friends and no escape. Not even a single Death Eater stands in this room. You are mine," he hissed, "and you will die by my hand."

"Dumbledore will come for me," he said determinedly trying to fight back the panic. "He knows I'm gone."

"Of course he does," Voldemort answered unconcerned. "You are watched far too carefully and the Dark Mark floating above your house will not go unnoticed."

"The Dursleys?" Harry asked fearfully as the realisation dawned on him.

Voldemort smiled sadistically. "They are dead."

Harry struggled for a moment with the new information. "No, I don't believe you! There are wards around that place, everyone would know –"

"Wards?" Voldemort interrupted laughing cruelly. "You think Dumbledore's wards can stop me? If they could then why are you here so far from the protection of your relatives?"

Voldemort watched with satisfaction as fear overtook Harry's expression. He rose from his ornate throne before the fire and began walking lazily back and forth in front of Harry.

"They died while you slept. You are the one who supposedly defeated the Dark Lord and yet I had your relatives killed while you were sleeping – sleeping!" He laughed again cruelly. "The saviour of the wizarding world was sleeping."

"Tell me," he added bearing down on him sinisterly. "What were you dreaming of when it happened? Were you dreaming about flying on your precious broomstick while your Aunt thrashed in pain? Were you dreaming about laughing with your friends over a warm butterbeer while your Uncle took his last breath?" Voldemort asked bearing his teeth. "Come, tell me – I'm dying to know – were you laughing?"

"Stop it!"

"Is it too much for you?" Voldemort whispered quietly as he resumed his pacing. "Knowing that it was your fault? Like your Godfather's death? Or Diggory's? What were you doing while the Hufflepuff boy died? Oh yes," he answered himself smiling viciously. "You were on the floor whimpering."

"I was not whimpering."

Voldemort chuckled at hearing the lack of conviction in Harry's voice. "You are weak. See how easily you succumb to my goading? Not unlike your Godfather; he was weak too."

"He was not!" Harry shouted angrily as he fought against the cords that bound him.

"Look at you," Voldemort said and paused in his walking to tower over Harry while he struggled. "You lie at my feet like a helpless child with no one to save you. Do you know why no one has come? Because you are worthless; you are a chess piece and Dumbledore cares more about his strategy then he does about you. He will not come to save you until he is sure it will be to his advantage."

"That's not true," Harry spat coldly.

"No?" Asked Voldemort, his lips twisting into a sneer. "Then why does he send you back every year to those abhorrent muggles even though he knows that you hate it there?"

"Because I'm safe there."

"Safe?" he asked incredulously. "You call this safe?"

Harry fell silent and watched Voldemort with uncertain eyes.

"He will not attempt to save you until is sure it will be to his advantage. But something he does not know is that this house is unplottable and that no one, save those in my bloodline and my Death Eaters, can find it. You will die cold and alone and by the time you are dead you will understand the truth about your precious headmaster."

"If you're so sure then kill me! What are you waiting for?"

"Oh no," Voldemort whispered coldly. "You will have no easy death; you will suffer for all the trouble you have caused me. I will take away each of your senses one by one until you tell me what I want to hear," he threatened. "And then I will kill you," he added as an afterthought. "But first I will start with your sight."

Harry tried to wriggle away as Voldemort came closer but he was still bound and weak suddenly Voldemort's wand was pointing directly into his eyes.

"You do not need sight to spill your secrets," he hissed. "Apertus Oculus."

Harry felt a curious tightening of his eyelids and then he realised that when he tried to blink he couldn't. Harry tried to scream but before he could even open his mouth Voldemort had spoken another spell.

"Solaridicio!"

The last thing he saw was Voldemort's hungry red eyes promising him death before he was blinded by a searing white light. All he knew was the burning pain until darkness overcame him and he knew no more.

A/N: In regards to the spells: In "Apertus Oculus" – "Apertus" means "open" and "Oculus" means "eye". So you get "Open Eyes". In the second spell "Solaridicio" - "Solaris" means "of the sun" and "Dicio" means "power or authority". So in effect Voldemort had blinded Harry with the power of the sun.