All For Nothing
See chapter 1 for disclaimer.
A/N: Thank you for the reviews- I always love to hear people's thoughts and constructive critism. This will be SS/HG; if that bothers you, feel free to leave now. I may also be upping the rating to M- the fic is dubiously mapped to about halfway through, though updates will be sporadic, at best.
Chapter 2
Voldemort strode through the corridors of Hogwarts gracefully. Harry, with his smaller stature, was nearly jogging to avoid being choked on the collar. He had little time to take in the activities going on around him, though it looked as if the Death Eaters had been purging- the bodies of many of the younger muggle-born students were strewn about, surprise and horror stamped on their faces. Apparently, Voldemort had opened the Chamber of Secrets(where they had all been hidden) and set loose his minions to 'kill the spares'. There was no sign of other students or teachers- Harry wondered what had happened to them.
His scar was still throbbing, though the pain seemed to increase as they neared their destination. No longer watching where he was going, Harry tripped over an unconsious Hufflepuff. Voldemort stopped angrily and tugged sharply on the leash until Harry rose from the floor.
The pair eventually came to a door off of the Great Hall, which opened before them. Voldemort lead him into a room he had seen only once before; when Harry had been made the fourth Triwizard Champion. A fire was burning in the grate, and a servant came forward, bowing and holding a formal set of clothing. Voldemort nodded brusquely and handed the leash to another servant as the first started dressing Harry.
As he was being(reluctantly) dressed, Harry looked around the rest of the room. Much like Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour, and Viktor Krum had stood stoically by the mantle, Lord Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, and Severus Snape were poised at the flames, talking again of things Harry couldn't hear.
Nearby on the settee, Harry once again saw Hermione in the emerald finery she had been dressed in. His eyes widened slightly when he saw Ginny next to her.
Apparently the end of her line, Ginny Weasley was dressed in a matching green Victorian era dress, which was fully skirted, and from the contortion of her face, corseted. Like Hermione, her wounds had been healed and her hair pulled back from her face in an elegant knot.
Harry noticed a fine silver choker around Ginny's neck when she shifted slightly in her seat, making it glint in the firelight. He looked to Hermione, who sported an identical piece. Odd- she hadn't been wearing any jewelry when he saw her in the dungeons.
His attention was quickly shifted when a servant nudged him to move. They fastened a white vest over the linen shirt that had been buttoned up to his throat, topping that with a calf-length emerald frock coat. Kneeling, a servant traded his worn trainers for fine leather boots. Harry had never really understood the Wizarding upper class' fixture with period clothes, but he felt that it was not the time to ask such questions. Looking down at himself, Harry found that he looked similar to Snape, who was in black, and Malfoy, who was in royal blue.
When the servants finished their task and stood back, Voldemort again took his leash and beckoned to the two Death Eaters; each of which nodded to a girl on the settee. Hermione and Ginny each rose and went to the side of their apparent keeper; Hermione to Snape, and Ginny to Malfoy.
Voldemort smirked slightly as he put his long fingers to Harry's throat. Harry shivered and tried to move away, but the Dark Lord snarled and jerked on the length of leather in his hand. Pressing his wand to the collar, Voldemort muttered a complicated spell in a different language. Harry watched apprehensively as dark smoky tendrils floated out of his captor's wand and wrapped themselves about the collar.
When the smoke had disappeared, Voldemort unclasped the leash and handed it to the servant. Harry immediately started over to where Hermione and Ginny stood, but was jerked back by the leather still around his neck. Voldemort smirked grimly as Harry reared and started panting, the momentary lack of oxygen panicking him.
"You'll soon see, my boy," he said, a slight hiss in his articulation, "that it is over. Europe is mine, and so are you. I will have nothing less than complete control over both."
The Dark Lord stopped there and turned to the other door in the room, leaving Harry fuming. Snape and Malfoy were flanking the Dark Lord shortly behind on either side, Ginny and Hermione behind them. Harry was in the middle of this and slightly confused, but calmed some when he caught Ginny's eye and she smiled reassuringly.The door in front of the group opened when Voldemort pointed his wand, and they proceeded through to the Great Hall.
They emerged on the dais where the teacher's table had formerly stood. In its place were three chairs, the largest of which being centered and heavily ornamented. It was this chair that Voldemort approached, with Harry following at the pull of the collar. Snape and Malfoy each went to the accompanying chairs, their charges following them.
The Dark Lord faced the audience, and his voice boomed over the hundreds of Death Eaters standing below.
"Britain is ours!"
Cheers and applause rang throughout the hall. Voldemort motioned for everyone to sit, and Harry could feel the collar dragging him over to a spot at the right of the 'throne' behind him. When he reached it to avoid suffocation, he was pushed to kneel, the collar relaxing its pressure at his now quick compliance.
Remaining standing, Voldemort continued. "We are now in control of the entire United Kingdom. The Revolution has begun, and soon, the Wizarding World will be its own entity."
"Being my elite soldiers," his ruby gaze swept across his followers, "you will be the main enforcers of the law. Lucius," the Dark Lord gestured to the blonde behind him, who was preening, "will become Minister under my sovereignity, and begin the complete segregation of the Wizarding and muggle worlds. This will begin by sending out squads my faithful, coming into the houses of mudblood wizard's families, and Obliviating or killing them. All muggle relations offices, excepting those of the Accidental Magic Reversal Department and the like, will be shut down."
"While all muggle relations will be shut down, Severus," he motioned now to the brooding man behind him, "will make sure that Muggle Studies classes remain in our schools' curriculum; if anything, know thine enemy." With these words, Voldemort looked back at Harry, thin lips curling. Harry glared back angrily, even as his stomach jumped to his throat.
As the Dark Lord went on, Harry was grudgingly impressed at his diplomacy. No wonder the Order had clearly underestimated him- they had simply thought him an overidealistic, but powerful, megalomaniac. But from what Hermione had taught him about Wizarding politics, Voldemort seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and Harry started understanding the appeal he must have had to young pure-bloods in the first war. Voldemort may have been insane and incredibly ugly, but he was charismatic, indeed.
The 'meeting' soon ended with some appointments to the Dark Lord's closer Death Eaters. The crowd dispersed, many Disapparating to their own homes right in the Great Hall. Harry was dragged again behind Voldemort, who left the Hall with Snape and Malfoy to Dumbledore's old office. Snape entered first, setting his own password to the goblin.
The office still held many of the previous owner's belongings- the desk and bookshelves remained, though stocked with more books than Harry remembered. The former Heads' portraits were gone, along with Fawkes. The room's coloring had changed as well; pristine whites and maroons had given way to dark browns and greens. Harry's fists clenched reflexively. He so wanted to hurt the monster who had taken everything away. The only thing keeping back a lunge towards Severus Snape was Hermione's words to him only hours earlier.
The three admired the newly decorated room for a moment; Voldemort breaking the quiet with a malicious chuckle.
"Severus, I'll leave you to your new quarters and- charge." he said, eyes narrowing amusedly at Hermione. "Lucius, you'll come to the manor for another meeting first thing in the morning.
With that, Malfoy and Snape bowed to the Dark Lord, Hermione and Ginny halfheartedly following suit. Voldemort nodded and grabbed Harry's upper arm, Apparating them from Hogwarts to Riddle Manor.