Review Responses:

Angel the Devil's Daughter, Drusilla, klare, and SSC: Thanks for reviewing with such compliments:-)

E.A.V: The whole "Dursley Capture" is just that – seemingly superfluous. Don't worry, it's important. Also, Mad-Eye simply didn't have any more Veritaserum. It wore off.

T-chan: Whew, I'm so glad that you (and other reviewers) thought that my Nagini and Lord Voldemort were well written. I was struggling there, and it's not my best. Harry will be okay… eventually. Heh heh heh.

B.B.T.W: Thanks so much, because as I said in T-chan's response, he and Nagini weren't easy for me to convey! Have you really been checking every day? Wow! I'm glad you enjoy it so much:-)

Molly Morrison: Oh yes, I thought it rather fitting that Harry controlled lightening and storms too. :-) Of course Harry will get free! I can't let him kill off everyone… but I'm not saying that no one will die. Thanks for the review!

Magic Monk of Monkey: Thank you! Your review made me actually get up and write…. sweatdrop

Author's Note: And to think that in the last chapter I was so ashamed of my lateness! Good lord, what's this, a month or more? I'm sorry, real life got in the way.Well, I hope none of you have stopped reading… Cause here's number 6….

Petroselinum

Chapter Six: Going Nowhere Fast

We would not be interested in human beings if we did not have the hope of someday meeting someone worse off than ourselves. – E. M. Coiran

Severus Snape was angry. And not just angry, very angry. Furious, even.

The reason?

That damn Potter boy.

His disappearing act was affecting an amazing amount of people. It was sidetracking Order business and changing the carefully laid plans that had taken days, weeks, months of straining and collecting information and strategizing for the future. It was totally upsetting the many lines of possible occurrence that the Light side had reasoned and prepared for. Stupid Potter.

But Snape supposed Potter's disappearance was good for at least one thing, and that was pulling Snape back into Voldemort's inner circle. Snape had been called to see the Dark Lord just moments after he had spoken with Lupin. After delivering the news and taking a few Crucios, Voldemort had seemed appeased, and Snape had been both relieved and horrified to find that he was once again one of the Dark Lord's most trusted.

But he was still angry with Gryffindor's "Golden Child".

Not to mention the fact that everyone he'd spoken to within the past forty-eight hours was a bloody oozing, distraught Potter fan.

Snape grimaced at the thought as he used a damp rag to wipe the extra poisonous black chill-beetle innards from the silver blade of his knife and shoved aside the exoskeletons, silently scolded himself for letting his thoughts wander. He sprinkled the chopped chill-beetle stomachs and heads sparingly into the cauldron.

He was in the middle of brewing a very important potion at the request of the Dark Lord, one that called for his complete attention. The task at hand was one that required precise and careful measurements, and specified cutlery and materials, else the entire potion go to waste. The small silver cauldron was bubbling over medium heat, and was emitting a thin purple-blue smoke. Snape soon found himself falling into the familiar rhythm of a Potion Master at his trade. An eighth of a teaspoon ground Basilisk fang came next, followed by a full teaspoon of liquefied moonbeam. Since they were some of the rarest potions ingredients in existence, Snape considered himself extremely lucky to have at least small amounts of both, the former of which he'd received directly from Lord Voldemort. He had not dared question its whereabouts, and he would never stoop to ask the Boy-Who-Lived to open the Chamber of Secrets so that he could replenish his stash. Not that Dumbledore would allow the brat, anyhow.

The liquefied moonbeam was perhaps the rarest ingredient ever used in potion-making. To liquefy a moonbeam – a ray of light – well, it was to say the least impossible. If not for magic.

The process itself was unknown to all but a few. The only known written instruction of the ceremony was held in one of the ancient potions books Snape had locked away in a special room just for manuals with such prized information, courtesy of Albus Dumbledore. It required a detailed knowledge of the moon and its phases, precise mathematical calculations, skilled and powerful wizards (with good intentions), and the participation of magical creatures (including a few mythological ones), plus more than a bit of luck. This and more, and it still took years to obtain sufficient stores, owing to the fact that the few potions that required liquiefied moonbeam asked for more than four drops. The single half-teaspoon of moonbeam had taken just under a decade to produce, and now, Snape realized bitterly, it was going toward Dark purposes.

Snape prodded the flames with his wand and the fire lowered, burning with little flicks of heat. Satisfied, he poured the liquefied moonbeam into an eyedropper, gently letting beads of the milky white fluid fall into the cauldron at ten-second intervals. The potion rolled to a low simmer, and slowly shifted from a bruised purple hue to a metallic gray. Snape picked up yet another silver instrument, this time a shallow spoon with a long handle, and stirred the substance counterclockwise, muttering under his breath. The smoke had died down and now an almost chilly mist was rising from the surface.

Suddenly, there was a small trill reminiscent of a Phoenix song in his ear. He almost dropped the spoon in surprise, so immersed had he been in his work, but he switched the spoon to his left hand and touched his right index finger twice just behind his ear. Three taps could have initiated the visual communications screen, a shimmering magic square with a visual of the caller (something a bit like a faded wizarding portrait), but he needed to watch his potion and didn't want anything obscuring his view. Snape muttered a sharp, "What?"

"Wotcher! Who's this?" Came a voice, slightly echoed but audible nonetheless.

"Someone in the middle of brewing a very complex potion for a very unforgiving dark lord." He snapped, still stirring. "Severus Snape. Who the hell else?"

"Snape?" The voice practically wailed. "Damn, I was hoping Kingsley would pick up!"

"For Merlin's sake, who is this!"

"Oh." The voice paused. "Sorry. Nymphadora Tonks, with a message about Harry Potter."

Snape scowled. Nymphadora Tonks, another irritatingly upbeat Potter enthusiast. Her bubbly clumsiness combined with her horribly Gryffindorish manner and the very notion that she was related to Black made her even more detestable.

"Why," He began venomously while simultaneously raising the heat of the fire. "Are you wasting the open line with trivial nonsense that in all probability is nothing but worthless sentiments?"

He could practically hear the girl wince. He smirked to himself. It was like teaching her all over again. The line crackled again and he heard Tonks talking, sounding a bit sheepish.

"I, um, sort of forgot that how to work the individual line spell –" Here Snape snorted, somehow unsurprised. Tonks spoke rather quickly, "But no, you see, Remus, Mad-Eye and me just interrogated the Dursleys and –"

Snape's brow furrowed a bit as he held up a gossamer sheet of meshed miniature Night Pixie wings to the light, inspecting for any imperfections. He set the whole sheet carefully on top of the boiling silver potion and watched it dissolve completely.

"The Dursleys?" He interrupted. "Potter's Muggle relatives?"

"Yes," She responded, a pinch of irritation in her voice. "And Remus and I think we know where to begin a search for Harry."

"That's just wonderful." Snape said dryly. He was stirring again, this time in a pattern of twice clockwise, once counterclockwise. "Now go bother someone else."

"Merlin!" Tonks exclaimed, half disbelief, half anger. "You don't even give a damn if he's alive or not! He could be taken by You-Know-Who!"

"Excuse me," Snape spat. "For having other priorities than searching for some runaway brat who always gets himself into trouble at other people's expense!"

Tonks made an aggravated noise, losing her temper.

"He didn't run away, he got dumped in some field somewhere, I guess at least near Surrey, by his horrible uncle! We need help searching, but I can see you're going to be of no use. Hang up and I'm going to call the line again and get someone useful."

Snape opened his mouth to send a rather nasty retort to his former pupil, but there was another small Phoenix trill and the line was cut. He let out a low growl of irritation but pushed it aside as best he could. As far as he knew, which was very far, Potter wasn't anywhere near the Dark Lord. Voldemort had said almost nothing of Potter when Snape had delivered the news of Potter's absence from his muggle home, but he had seemed at least a tad interested…

Snape scowled again and turned back to the potion. It was rolling thickly in the cauldron, looking like mercury, and the mist was almost glassy, refracting light with a foggy white gleam. He extinguished the flames, and picked up a slender ladle. He scooped a ladleful of the thick silver liquid, inspected it closely, and then let it fall back into the cauldron, watching as it slid gracefully under the surface.

Snape stepped away from the pit where he'd been brewing, and stood before the long stone counter directly behind him. Scattered across the surface were spare pieces of parchment, volumes of Potions information, and pages upon pages of yellowed parchment with notes and observations written in tight script. Snape reached for a blank piece of parchment, and dipped his eagle feather quill into a nearby inkwell. His hand hovered over the paper, and a drop of glistening ink fell onto the jotter, spreading out and sinking into the grain of the material. He bit his lip once in an oddly pensive look, and wrote,

July 23 – 9:00 PM – Inte Rimolupus brew complete. Cooling time aprox five hours.

Administration yet unattempted. Effectiveness of brew assured in theory but with aprox 2 - 5 possibility of failure if tested upon subject with mild to acute silver tolerance.

Effects of Inte Rimolupus brew after administration to subject expected to be similar to Crutiatus, though less painful in intensity; internal bleeding; blistering and irritation of epidermis; metamorphose to and from lupine form. Other effects to be documented at time of administration.

Probable time of necrosis after administration: 24-48 hours. May vary due to amount of Inte Rimolupus brew ingested.

In untested theory brew will cause no harm past temporary nausea to all but werewolves.

---------------

Nymphadora Tonks snorted in a rather unladylike way, and jammed her finger with a bit too much force (she winced and had to rub the spot where she'd poked) twice behind her right ear, muttering the spell to cut the Order Communications line. She was standing still in a corner of the room, deciding against pacing due to her clumsy nature, and fuming with anger at the Potions Professor. How dare he! After all Harry went through…

She glanced around the room. The whitewashed walls were almost painfully bright, and the absence of furnishings gave the place an even colder look than before. Tonks had tried to get Remus to spell it some glaringly vibrant color, maybe neon orange to match her hair, but he'd smiled and shook his head no. Stupid man. Never knew how to have any fun. Tonks' eyes swept the room and rested on the single table in the middle where Remus had interrogated Vernon Dursley. Remus was sitting there, in one of the three metal folding chairs that had been pulled up to the table, and he had his head in his hands.

Tonks frowned, straightened her shirt (a pink and black striped number with glittery white letters that read, "Simply Charming"), and clunked over to the table, plopping down in the seat beside Remus and scooting her chair closer so that she could put her arm around his shoulders.

"Wotcher, Remus. Cheers, we'll find Harry."

Remus lifted his head and scrubbed his graying five o'clock shadow with one hand, offering her a weak smile, "Thank you, Nymphadora."

Tonks smiled but scoffed at his use of her first name.

"Remus! I told you not to call me Nymphadora! Call me Tonks like everyone else!"

"Yes, yes, I'll remember that, Nymphadora," He said distractedly. He gently removed her arm from around his shoulders and stood. "Did you get through to Kingsley?"

"No," Tonks responded with a frown. "I got Snape. Prat wouldn't help me at all."

Remus eyed her wearily. "Why didn't you just use the individual line spell?" At her blush he gave a knowing half-smile and said, "Just wave your wand like this, yes, with a bit of a wrist-flick, and say, 'arcesso Phoenix norma amicus Kingsley Shacklebolt.'"

Tonks got out her wand and waved and flicked clumsily, saying, "Arcesso norma amicus Kingsley Shacklebolt"

There was a Phoenix trill, and a pause, and then the deep voice of the Auror came over the line.

"Hello?"

"Kingsley!" Tonks exclaimed, waving a little thanks to Remus as he walked away into the next room where Mad-Eye was interrogating the remaining Dursleys. She tapped behind her right ear three times and Kingsley's face appeared in front of her. "I've got some news…"

---------------

Harry Potter didn't know where he was. He couldn't see anything or hear anything. Not a bloody thing. Maybe there was nothing to see or hear.

But he could feel everything.

He felt as though he'd been run over by a particularly fast-moving truck. Maybe a truck filled with Dudley clones, each as fat as the original. He ached all over and his mouth was painfully dry. The floor beneath him was hard and cold, icy through his threadbare clothes. His toes were numb through the torn soles of his trainers, and he instinctively curled up so as to maintain warmth, only to wince as his body protested. He let out a loud groan, followed by a sneeze. Merlin, if he had a cold…

The noise seemed to alert another presence in the room of his awakening. There was a small noise and then the wood slatted floor quiverd a bit with movement. Harry stiffened and frantically pulled himself up, propping his upper body back on his arms.

"Be not afraid, child," Hissed a surprisingly soft female voice. It was familiar to Harry, though how, he didn't know. "I'm here only to help you… Harry…."

"Who –" Harry's throat jammed and he swallowed twice, licking his dry lips. He looked around wildly, but the world was still black. "Who are you?"

There was a small vibration through the floor as the owner of the voice came closer. Something long and smooth ran behind Harry and overhis fingertips and his stomach gave a horrible jolt. He had a sneaking, scared suspicion as to what it was.

Now little heated spurts of air were brushing his face and something wet touched his cheek for just a second. There was a hiss.

"I," Said the voice. "Am the one who saved you from the storm." Harry felt something pulling itself over and around his shoulders like a living scarf. "I am Nagini."

Harry jerked away from the giant snake, scooting blindly backwards on the floor. His back hit the wall and he let out a cry of pain. The snake slid toward him.

"Really," Nagini simpered, sounding to Harry revoltingly like Pansy Parkinson. "I would have thought you'd be greatful for my services."

Harry grimaced and pressed his back against the wall, frustrated at the darkness all around him. Something was wrong with his eyes. He didn't bother fumbling in his pockets for his wand – it was somewhere, somewhere back at Privet Drive. The main thing that was bothering him was not the serpent in front of him, but what the serpent represented –

Voldemort.

"Nagini," Said a new voice with cold humor. "Do stop antagonizing the child. It's common knowledge that that's my job…"

Harry's blood turned to ice just as his scar lit on fire. He knew that voice. That was –

"Voldemort," Voldemort sighed almost whimsically. His voice was high up, and he was obviously standing above Harry, somewhere to his right. "Sometimes I wish people would actually say my name instead of using You-Know-Who and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Those are all well and good, but Voldemort… It's such a very unique, interesting name…" Suddenly Harry's scar burned fiercer and the voice was right in Harry's ear,

"Isn't that right, Potter?"

Harry gasped at the pain and tried move away from Voldemort, but the Dark Lord was too close, and it was too late, and Harry still couldn't see.

"Get – away," Harry hissed through gritted teeth.

"What's this?" Voldemort whispered, right next to Harry. "Speaking in Parseltongue, Potter?"

Harry didn't answer.

"That's right, I'd almost forgotten," Voldemort said silkily, his voice starting dangerously soft and growing quickly louder, until he practically shouted the last word, causing Harry's ears to ring. "The great Harry Potter is a coward!"

Voldemort stood a mere yard away from Harry. The boy sat rigidly against the wall of the room. He seemed to have awoken much too soon for Voldemort's liking. Harry could feel Voldemort's eyes on him, could sense him staring, but couldn't hold back his physical reaction to the slur. Voldemort was carefully watching Harry's face as his eyebrows narrowed even more and his jaw tensed. His bony hands were clenched into fists, nails biting his palms and his knuckles white. Harry himself couldn't see it, but his fists were glowing again, brilliantly gold.

Voldemort remained silent, so much so that Harry was almost convinced he'd left, but the pain in his scar told him otherwise. And then, there it was, his voice, his hated voice, piercing the darkness that held Harry captive.

"Potter." Voldemort's voice seemed persuasive, almost. "It's been quite a while since I had this discussion with you…."

Harry tensed.

"And I know we've been on opposite sides, if you will, –"

Nagini made a strange snake noise that sounded oddly like a laugh.

"But we're very much alike, Harry," His use of Harry's first name made Harry cringe. "And you're becoming very powerful… you and I, we could help each other, we could get revenge. Revenge on Dumbledore, wouldn't you like that?"

Something in the back of Harry's mind flickered. Yes. Yes, he would like that. He shook himself mentally. 'Don't be stupid, Harry!'

"Revenge on Dumbledore, payback for everyone who's hurt you, Harry!" Voldemort continued, his words promising. "We can overtake the Wizarding world easily if we work together – "

"No!" Harry exclaimed vehemently. His unseeing eyes snapped open, iris, pupil, and sclera all glowing gold. "I'd never side with you!"

"Pity," Voldemort said coldly. "You would have made an excellent force of evil, Potter."

"Let me go! I told you, I'll never side with you or any of your goddamn followers!"

"I'm afraid that's too bad, Potter." Voldemort said. His threatening voice was above Harry now. He was standing. Harry heard the rustling of fabric that told of a wand being drawn from Voldemort's robes. "Because you have absolutely no choice in the matter."

Before Harry could speak he was hit with a violent spell and was knocked unconscious.

"Nagini," Voldemort called.

"Yes, Master?" The serpent responded.

"Prepare for the meeting. I'll need to call my Death Eaters. Everything must be ready… our first attack will be Hogsmeade."

Outside, the lightening dimmed, and the rain gave in to the wind that swept it limply, weakly, westward.

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Author's Note: Again, sorry for the delay, and this chapter wasn't as satisfying as the others... Though I am rather pleased with the Snape section. Voldemort seems strange to me, like he's high or something. But he's just captured his greatest enemy and things are going good for him, I guess he deserves to be happy. lol

Things will begin to pick up speed in the next chapter!

The Order of the Phoenix individual call line spell: Arcesso (to call for) Phoenix norma (phoenix organization) amicus (special comrade) and then the Order member's name. Tonks didn't use that last part when she had called Snape.

The Inte Rimolupus brew is actually two Latin words I just mixed together: Interimo means "to slay" and lupus means "wolf". The potion is to kill a werewolf.

Next Chapter: We see Mad-Eye interrogate the Dursleys and Voldemort holds a Death Eater meeting…

Please review!