Chapter 4: Dying Hope
3 Months Later:
Waiting was the worst part. 5 months he had been here and the entire time, all he had done was wait. It was absolute torture, just sitting in the dark, trying to think of something to do to pass the time. Worrying about Hermione, and all his friends. Today, though, Harry was waiting for a smaller amount of time. Earlier in the day, a Death Eater had come to tell him that the Dark Lord wanted to see him. He was impatiently waiting for the return of the Death Eater who would bring him to see Voldemort. He was pacing back and forth, covering the entire area of his small cell. Maybe this would be the day that the Dark Lord would tell him when he could go home. And he would be able to see Hermione. He missed her so much. And if Voldemort wasn't going to free him… what was this meeting about then?
The sound of footsteps brought Harry out of his daydream. Then he heard the familiar clang of the jail cell door opening and he backed away from the door cautiously.
"The Dark Lord will see you now." Said the same Death Eater that saw him before. There was something about this Death Eater's voice that Harry thought was odd. He sounded almost sympathetic. The Death Eater grabbed Harry's arm and lead him out of the cell.
He led him down a number of narrow hallways before going down a set of winding stairs. At the end of the stairs, there was a door, and the Death Eater knocked once before opening the door. The room was extremely dark and smelled like rotten wood. The Death Eater motioned to a chair, turned away from them. Harry approached the chair slowly, and didn't realize when the Death Eater left the room.
"Mr. Potter. I am so delighted to see that you make it." Voldemort said in his cruel voice.
"Well what else have I got to do?" Harry said casually
Voldemort narrowed his eyes. After all these years, Harry was the only one (not including Dumbledore) who regarded him with no fear and a bit of sarcasm.
"Am I going to be able to leave. I have a family now, I'm not useful to you." Said Harry, trying to find a way to make Voldemort let him leave.
"Not useful? Oh, I think you are. And you are not leaving any time soon." Replied Voldemort.
Harry's heart sank. He really wanted to get out of here, and although he didn't think Voldemort was going to let him out, he still had had some hope. Until now.
"What are you going to do to me?" Harry said, trying to keep control over his emotions.
"You'll find out. But for now, I'm going to have you under 24/7 supervision." Voldemort said, looking behind Harry and nodding at a Death Eater that Harry hadn't realized had appeared just as suddenly as he had disappeared..
The Death Eater came up behind him and grabbed his arm, pulling him from the room. Harry stayed silent, trying to figure out something to do as he was being led down the same narrow hallways that had brought him to Voldemort.
"No! I don't want to go back to that stupid cell!" he yelled, knowing it wasn't going to help him.
"Don't you fret," the Death Eater said in a calm voice, "You're not going there. I have more suitable accommodations for you."
Harry didn't say anything, but he looked at the Death Eater out of the corner of his eye. This Death Eater wasn't like the others. Most of them were nervous looking, always looking around as if some unknown assailant was about to attack. They usually had some unusual scars, most likely a result of not battle, but Voldemort. This one seemed more relaxed, except for the look of extreme determination upon his face. Harry could feel that something was different about this one. He didn't know what, but something.