Harry was sleeping in his four poster bed in the Gryffindor tower, but he wasn't sleeping very well. He was sweating and groaning in his sleep.
Evil laughter was filling his head, and his scar began to burn with an agonizing pain.
He cried out in his sleep causing Ron and Neville to stir in their own beds. None of them had waken though.
A nightmarish vision crept into his head as a dark forest appeared out of a foggy mist. He shivered as a long forgotten cemetery appeared in the dense woods. His memories of Cedric dying in the graveyard came back to him and he cried out again, wishing the image to go away. But it did not.
This graveyard, however was not the one that Cedric had met his fate in.
This one was different.
Harry gingerly stepped forward, careful not to make any kind of noise. He was afraid that it might bring something awful.
His breath came in clouds and he shivered with the cold. He approached one of the headstones, one that was not so old looking as the rest, but still had been there some time. The engraving on it read Regulus Black.
Harry went pale and touched the stone as if to make sure it was real.
He had barely just touched it before he felt the ground beneath him disappear.
The world started to spin. He felt as though he was going to vomit... it felt like the portkey to the World Cup, but much worse.
He was flung roughly onto a hard marble floor, and he heard the sharp crack of his glasses breaking on the floor.
He reached out to pick them up and gingerly put them back on his face. There was a large spider web crack on his left lens. He rummaged around in his robes for his wand but only found that his pockets where empty.
Fear tugged at his heart, knowing that he was in an unfamiliar place without his wand.
Where had the headstone taken him?
He looked around him and his eyes widened as he noticed that he was in a very large room similar to an old ballroom. A large chandelier loomed far above on a ceiling that was painted with horrid images of demons and creatures. There were candles lit throughout the room with green flames, casting a eerie glow about the spacious room.
There was a large statue of a serpent looming out of the wall on the far side, with green torches lit around it. The serpent had gigantic rubies in its eye sockets, and its long sliver tongue was stuck out as if trying to smell him.
A sharp cry echoed across the room, startling Harry. He spun around the room looking for what had made the sound.
Another cry pierced the silence again, but this time it grew louder and lasted much longer.
The hair on his arms pricked up in fright and a cold voice pierced the air alongside the pained cries.
"It's good to see that you actually can feel pain. Sometimes I wondered"
There was a brief silence except for the sound of labored breathing.
"It's been three months... haven't you had enough? You're bound to go mad if you don't give in... wouldn't that be worse for you than death?"
Harry had known who was talking before he even saw him. Voldemort was in the room, and he was torturing someone.
They materialized in front of the serpent statue, but there were more than just the two people present. Four other dark figures materialized on the sidelines, watching.
The victim was bound to the throat of the serpent, and was very pale and thin.
He looked as though he had gone quite a long time without a decent meal, and his robes were tattered and stained with dark spots of dried blood. His long hair was tangled and matted with blood.
Voldemort approached the man and twirled his wand in his hand slowly.
"Come now, Severus... I know you fear that most of all... imagine... being trapped inside of yourself... and not being able to get out... having people constantly watch you because you can't take care of yourself."
Harry's eyes widened in fear as he realized that the man was indeed Professor Snape. He was almost unrecognizable after three months of this horrible treatment.
The usual haughtiness that he wore on his face was gone, and his eyes lacked their usual glare... there was emptiness and defeat in them now.
"No, then? Well if you insist..." laughed Voldemort.
"CRUCIO!"
Harry cried out and woke up shaking, his body covered in a cold sweat.
Harry's cry awoke Ron, and he stumbled sleepily out of his bed.
"Huh... wha... Harry? Are you ok?" he asked.
Harry shook as Ron opened the curtains around his bed.
Dean, Seamus and Neville were staring at him from their beds.
"Harry, what's wrong?" asked Ron, his eyes wide with worry.
"I saw him..." stammered Harry.
The three boys stared at Harry.
"You saw You-know-who?" asked Seamus.
"Yes... and he's got Snape." said Harry.
