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Lost Memories
Chapter Nine
In the Grasp of the Dark Lord
After waiting for so long this was it. Claire held her breath and closed her eyes as Dumbledore raised his wand. She let everything go and concentrated on the blackness of the inside of her eyelids. She didn't hear what Dumbledore said but was soon engulfed in a mass of glowing yellow light. She opened her eyes and watched as Dumbledore's office faded away and a new scene came into focus. She was about to relive the horror all over again...
"I didn't want to hurt you!" Ron said again, backing off a little. They had been fighting for a while about Claire's hair. She knew it was stupid but she couldn't help it, it just happened.
"Well, it's a little too late for that!" Claire yelled back, she turned and ran out the huge front doors and into the darkness outside.
"You'll be back!" she heard him call to her as she ran.
She soon found herself coming to the edge of the forest, she began to run into the trees when something hit her and she fell. She tried to get up and realized her arms were tightly bound to her sides. She struggled to break free but couldn't.
"Perfect..." she heard a man say, just to her left. She glanced over at him and saw a death eater grinning at her. She started to scream, but before she could he had sent another spell at her, silencing her. She tried to scream, tried to break free, tried to get away, to get help. But it was no use.
Within seconds others had joined them. She couldn't see any of their faces, they were all hidden by the black hoods of their cloaks.
One pulled an old shoe out of his pocket and the others grabbed it. The original death eater that had caught her took her hand and held it on to the shoe.
It must be a portkey, she thought. She was right, in a couple seconds she felt a jerk and they were all spinning very quickly toward a new location.
She hit the ground hard. No one helped her up, she just laid there.
The death eaters left her and walked through a door at the far end of the room. Once it closed she heard a click and knew she had been locked in.
Claire struggled a bit and finally got the ropes off of herself. She searched her pockets and found her wand. She reversed the silencing charm that had been placed on her and stood up and looked around.
The room was very large and dimly lit with torches on the walls. The ceiling was high and Claire could barley see a faint outline of designs carved into it. The pillars placed throughout the room were all at least five feet wide and were decorated with intricate designs of snakes.
"Obviously Voldemort's hideout..." Claire whispered, rolling her eyes.
She paced the room slowly and found that the only exit was the locked door though which the death eaters had left. She decided to just sit down and wait for something to happen.
Claire sat there for what seemed like hours, when finally the door opened again. A tall man entered and walked swiftly toward her. "How'd you get the ropes off?" he asked her.
"None of your business." she replied defiantly.
He grabbed her arm tightly and dragged her out of the room. He pulled her along many corridors and up several staircases, until finally they came to a small, well lit room. He shoved her in and locked the door behind himself as he followed.
Claire stood up and looked around the room. The walls were a sparkling white and there were no windows. It was very bright but she didn't see a source of light anywhere. Death eaters were standing around the room, there were at least ten of them, all wearing black cloaks and masks. In the center of the room, directly in front of her, stood the Dark Lord himself.
"Welcome Claire, to my castle. How nice of you to join us." his voice was very cold.
Claire didn't reply, she just stood and stared at him, waiting for him to speak again.
"I have big plans for you Claire, you are going to help me."
"I'd never help you." she said, without thinking.
The cloaked figures around the room laughed. Voldemort smirked, "Oh, but you will, whether you want to or not. You are going to help me kill your dear friend Harry Potter. Then you will help me to defeat Dumbledore, the Ministry, the Order, and finally the entire world."
"The world you say? A bit played out isn't it, the desire to take over the world?"
Voldemort frowned, "You think you're funny do you? Let's see how funny you think you are after this... crucio! "
Claire fell to the ground in pain. It felt as if she were being stabbed with hundreds of white hot knives. She clutched her sides and lay on the floor, screaming, until he finally lifted the spell.
Voldemort laughed and was soon joined by the death eaters. Claire continued to lay on the floor, gasping, the pain lingering faintly.
"Not so funny anymore, are you?" he asked.
Claire ignored him.
"Take her away. Lock her up until I need her," he told a death eater near by.
Claire felt herself being lifted and carried through the halls. She heard a door open and was thrown onto the floor. The door closed again. Claire had no time to look around, she blacked out.
She awoke hours later to find a single slice of bread and a small glass of water laying by the door for her.
"Bread and water, how nice." she said sarcastically. Nevertheless she ate it within seconds and sat against the wall.
This room was about the size of a large closet. She had barely enough room to move around. The only light was from the cracks running up and down the walls.
"Must be day by now," she said, looking at the yellow light entering the room. She crawled over and peered out the largest crack she found. She could see the sun high in the sky, shining over the leafless trees beside the castle. A few death eaters were pacing outside. Claire sat back against the wall again and sighed.
I'm here all because of a stupid fight with Ron, she thought. Why can't we just get along? I really do care about him, and I know he cares about me ... so why do we always have to fight about the stupidest things?
She spent the next few days alone. She didn't get anymore food and was soon wishing she hadn't eaten the entire slice of bread on the first day. She began to eat the spiders she occasionally found crawling across the walls, laughing at the thought of Ron's face if he knew what she was eating. She passed the time by seeing how high she could count in an hour, singing her favorite songs over and over, and thinking about how she might escape.
After she had been alone for a week and was barely able to move from hunger, the door opened and Claire squinted at the sudden, bright light.
A figure grabbed her arm and dragged her back to the room she had met Voldemort in when she had arrived.
"So, are you ready to cooperate now?" he asked her coldly.
"Perhaps," she said weakly, "what's in it for me?"
"How does, food sound to you?"
"Oh no, I can't possibly eat anymore," Claire told him sarcastically, "the spiders were too much really, I'm stuffed." Her stomach growled.
"Obviously..." Voldemort said. "Maybe this will change your mind?" he snapped his fingers and a short man Claire recognized as Wormtail stumbled into the room. He held a platter piled with fresh fruit, a large loaf of bread, steaming vegetables, and delicious looking meats.
Claire's mouth watered, "Fine. What do you want from me?" she asked, staring hungrily at the food before her.
Voldemort smiled, "I knew you'd come around. What I want is very simple really, information. You tell me what I want to know, you take what you want to eat. Deal?"
"Whatever." Claire said.
"Wonderful ... now tell me, what are Dumbledore's plans."
"No idea."
Voldemort frowned. "You are lying to me. I can tell when people are lying to me. What are Dumbledore's plans?"
"I told you, I don't kn-"
"Crucio!"
Claire fell to the floor in pain, just as she had a week ago. It wasn't any easier to handle. When he lifted the curse she continued to twitch uncontrollably for several minutes.
"I seem to have no choice." he said to her as she slowly got to her feet, "Wormtail, bring me the Veritaserum."
So will Claire tell the truth? Find out on next chapter! Read and Review!
