THE VICIS CLOCK

BY ABAY

--CHAPTER--FOUR--

Torture and Pain

Enjoy!

Harry struggled and kicked as Wormtail hauled him by the scruff of his tattered robes, but with a shove of his new silver hand, Harry fell face forward onto the ground. Any feeling of humanity he felt towards Peter Pettigrew dispersed instantly and hatred restored its place, but before he could curse the living day light out of Wormtail, Harry found himself once again yanked up by a strong metal hand. A roar of laughter rang in his ears as he was dragged into the center of the circle, right in front of Voldemort.

"Are you ready to face your death, Harry Potter?" You could hear the excitement in Voldemort; you could feel the very malice in him.

Harry did not reply, but instead, he raised his wand with hatred rushing through him and pointed at Voldemort. "Cruc—"

Before he could even let the curse leave his lips a beam of orange flame escaped the tip of Voldemorts' wand with an almost lazy flick. Hitting Harry squarely in chest, the curse sent him flying through the air and let him fall in a heap on the ground. The flame of fire was not burning him on the exterior, but it was defiantly flaming the inside of him, making him scream hoarsely, rolling on the muddy ground, clutching his head as the fire spread there.

"Ah, cheating now are we Harry?" Voldemort scoffed as he advanced on him. "And I thought Dumbledores' little boy would have known better."

The Death Eaters let out another round of laughter, enjoying the display of torture, and their master too appeared to enjoy it as he circled Harry like a predator ready to make another strike at his prey.

"Tell me to stop Harry, and I will. Beg me to make it end and I might kill you swiftly," Voldemort said looking down at him with his scarlet eyes, amusement evident in them, but Harry, who was now in so much pain that all he could do was twitch in an effort to get up, and splutter for breath, would not relinquish. He was not going to beg Voldemort for compassion; he was not going to die at his feet.

And yet the whole world was spinning around him. Blackness was threatening to overcome him. His body was trembling with the agonizing pain, his mind would surely go mad with the agony of it, but he tried to stand up for himself nevertheless.

"What did you say?" Voldemort hissed his eyes hardening as he heard Harry utter a word.

"N-no…n-never!" his voice was nothing but a hoarse whisper, but by the look of anger in Voldemorts eyes, Harry could tell that he heard him well.

"No?" Voldemort said quietly. The Death Eaters laughs now subdued as they witnessed the sheer fury on their Masters face. "You refuse my offer?" A wide lipless smirk suddenly spread across his face. "Then get up, fight like a man! Just like your fool of a father had. He died like worthless animal."

If it were not for the searing and burning pain that was immobilizing his limp form, Harry would have charged at him, ripped him limp to limp, but his body seemed to refuse to follow any command, despite the fact the he was starting to feel the flaming heat inside of him decrees.

"I said get up!" And with wave of Voldemorts wand a loud bang erupted and Harry found himself once again sent soaring into the sky only to fall again on his left arm which Harry felt crack beneath him.

A throaty scream of pain escaped his orifice as he clutched on to his broken arm, but he bit his lip to muffle his shriek into a moan, and only with summoning all the energy his adrenaline was conveying him with, Harry stood up though his feet felt so frail beneath him.

With gasps of breath, his emerald eyes started to scan his surrounding for his wand. He was nothing without it, but luckily, his eyes were keen and sharp, because in mere seconds, he found it lying near a Death Eaters' feet who was quite close to him.

Running with all his speed and might he could muster, Harry sprinted towards his wand, and by the corner of his eye, he saw a few of Voldemorts followers raise their wands, ready to act.

"Leave him!" Voldemort said amusedly watching Harry fall to the ground, grab his wand and scramble to get to his feet, but as he stood up, Voldemort had sent another jet of green light towards him. Readily and just in time, Harry ducked the curse, and by the sound of it, the Death Eater behind him had been hit with it instead, breaking the perfect ring they had formed around him and Voldemort.

Realizing that this was a root to escape and that this might be his only opportunity to do so, Harry ran, not even acknowledging that his broken arm was painfully swinging at his side. Jumping over the Death Eater who was whimpering on the ground, Harry vaguely heard Voldemort yell orders but he kept on sprinting as fast as his weak legs could carry him, formulating a plan in his head.

He did not know where he was going or how he was going to get back to Hogwarts, but if he ran fast enough, he might be able to reach the village and---

"AAARGH!" Something seemed to impede him in the darkness, rapping itself around his legs, making him fall to the ground, but this time, he kept a tight hold on his wand, not wanting to loose it again. Instantly, he started to struggle against whatever it was that hampering from running away, but the more he struggled, the more the hold tightened around his legs.

A soft swish of a cloak told him that Voldemort had apparate beside him, and his ears, which were pressed to the ground, could hear the sound of trampling; he could tell that the Death Eaters were coming too.

"Release him Nagini," Voldemort said in a serpents tongue to the snake which seemed to be the thing that rapped itself around his legs. "I will let you feast on him later, but for now, release your hold."

Obediently, Harry felt the snake slither away, hissing, but wasting no time, Harry staggered to his feet as soon as he was unbind, and started to retreat backwards away from Voldemort only to be pushed by one of the Death Eaters who had formed a ring around both himself and Voldemort.

"You're running away from me Harry," Voldemort said taking slow but staking steps in his direction. "Does this mean you've had enough? I can end this quickly Harry, just beg me to do it, beg me, and I'll torture you no more."

"Never!" Harry cried, his voice echoing through the graveyard.

"Then I'll have to teach you how to beg for my mercy before you die!" Voldemort released another jet of green light but this time, Harry was ready.

"STUPEFY!"

Severus Snape, who was all pale and shaken, was currently seated in Albus Dumbledore's office, with the sleeve of his arms rolled up revealing a revolting mark of black skull with a snake portraying out if its mouth. Dumbledore's eyes, usually bright with twinkles, were now grave and forlorn, yet knowing and determined all the same as he studied the engraved mark, his face not even cringing at the repulsive sight.

"It had happened then," he finally said, "sooner than we had anticipated."

"Yes," Severus said tonelessly, rolling down his sleeve quickly. "He is calling us."

"Then you must depart at once," Dumbledore replied instantaneously, but when he noticed what little colour was left in Severus drain, he added. "You knew that I was going to ask this of you if this was ever to happen, and it had. But if you are not up to it…"

Now Severus Snape was afraid of one thing and one thing only; the Dark Lord. But he had seen what the Dark Lord was capable of with his very eyes, and he didn't like it. The power, the magic that he possessed were beyond recognition, and that was why Severus had joined his ranks in the first place, but when he saw the ways the Dark Lord was going to channel that strength, he understood the path the world would tumble into, and he despised it. So, he turned against him, and joined the side of light.

The Dark Lord of-course knew nothing of this. If any hearsay reached his ears of his betrayal, he would find himself dying slowly, very slowly and devastatingly. It would be easy to refuse Dumbledore and join Voldemorts' ranks once again, as though he had never deceived him, but it wasn't the right thing to do.

"I am," he said steadfastly, standing to his feet.

"Then make haste Severus and send news of Harry to me at once."

"I told the both of you a million times!" Madam Pomfery cried out in exasperation. "I cannot let you speak to Diggory! He is a patient, and he needs rest, now leave my hospital wing or I shall magic you out myself!"

"But Madam Pomfery," Hermione said as though she was being unreasonable. "We only want to ask him a few questions about Harry—"

"No!"

"Because Professor Dumbledore won't see us—"

"That's because the Headmaster's too busy—"

"And no one else is telling us anything!"

"Well it's none of your concern!" Madam Pomfery said heatedly.

"But it'll only be a few minutes," Ron said. "Honestly!"

"No!" the nurse said through grinded teeth. "Now get out or else Professor McGonagall will hear of this, and believe me, she'll give you detentions that'll last you a life time. Now shoo!" She said grabbing both Ron and Hermione gruffly by the forearm and pulling them towards the Hospital Wing's door.

"But it's not fair, how come his mum and dad get to see him and we don't!" Ron argued indignantly as he struggled out of her grip.

"Because they are his parents and they have that privilege, and you Ronald Weasley don't!" And with that, she pushed them out of the Hospital Wing and shut the door with a slam.

But Ron, who was rubbing his arms where the nurses' nails had dug in didn't seem to have any mind to give up. Instead he made to open the door only to find that it was locked.

"Pff! As if that could keep us out! Alohamora!" he said tapping his wand on the door knob, but nothing happened. "Alohamora! Alohamora! Alohamra! Oh damn it's no use. Why don't you give it a try Hermione? You're better at this than I am…well you're better at everything that I am," he added in a low mumble, but as he cleared out of the way so that Hermione could have a go at unlocking the Hospital Wing's door, he found that she had silent tears trailing down her cheek.

"Er…Hermione?..." Ron said looking at her fearfully not knowing how to handle a crying girl. "It'll…It'll be O.K."

"Oh Ron! I'm so scared," Hermione cried out flinging her arms around his neck. "What if something awful happens to Harry?"

"I-I…err…don't…worry Hermione, I'm sure he's alright…." Ron said, feeling the heat rise up his face, as he patted Hermiones' bushy head awkwardly.

With a swish of his black cloak, Severus Snape disapparated to the site where the Dark Mark had summoned him to, and by the look of this place, it seemed to be a graveyard though oddly, it was lit by a glowing light, and if his ears were not deceiving him, he could hear a beautiful song of a phoenix that made the cries of the panicking Death Eaters nothing but a haze in the background.

As though allured by the site, Severus kept his black eyes trained at the connected beams of light as he pushed between the Death Eaters that were hollering so that he could reclaim a place in the circle, but suddenly, as soon as the golden beam connected with the Dark Lord's wand, beams of gold shot in the air, forcing him and the other Death Eaters to retreat backwards as a dome started to formulate.

He could see that Potter's wand was starting to shudder in his hold, and by the sweat dribbling down his face, the boy was finding it hard to keep things under his control, but his wands' reaction was nothing compared to the Dark Lord's for his was vibrating uncontrollably and for the first time in his life, he saw a mixture of shock, anger and fear etched upon his Masters' features.

A loud piercing shriek filled the air, as a ghostly hand portrayed from the wand.

"What is this magic!" a Death Eater cried in panic voicing Severus' very own thoughts.

He too, did not comprehend what magic this was, but he could tell-- by the look on his Master's face and by the soothing voice of the Phoenix--that it was not an incantation of the Dark Lords'. How could a horrible being create something with such beauty? From where he was standing, it looked at though Potter was in control, but he had never thought that this boy possessed such magical potential in him, not even in his wildest dreams.

Another thunderous scream of pain erupted from the Dark Lord's wand as hoary fingers started to wedge their way out of the wand tip until a hand blossomed from it, and the hands seemed to be pulling itself out of the wand until a silvery figure of an unfamiliar man emerged out of it, looking around with wonder.

A woman's deafening shriek erupted now, and Severus saw with shock that he indeed did know who this was. It was the figure of Bertha Jorkins who was a student with him at Hogwarts though a few years above him.

Diverting his sight back to the Dark Lord's wand, Severus could make out a new form that was pulling its way out of the wand now, and at seeing the almond shaped eyes, Severus took an intake of breathe from the shock of it; it was Lily Potter.

Realization dawned as he became conscious of these strange events. These people were none other than the last killings of the Dark Lord, but with recognition more inquiries materialize demanding fulfilling answers. Was this a diverse form of Prior Incantantment? But if it was, then why were the Dark Lord's victims appearing other than the spells that were cast? And what had initiated this reaction from both wands in the first place?

The questions would have kept flowing, for there were many of them oozing into Severus' mind, but for now, he let hatred rush into him when he saw a figure blossom out of the wand. It was a man that he thought he would never set his eyes upon ever again, a man which he, and every single person present in this grave yard loathed, save for one person; Harry Potter.

One would have thought that Harry Potter had gone completely insane by the smile that had crept upon his face, but if one would have known Harrys' history, then one would have thought how heartbreaking and tear-jerking the boys' life story was, for now, Harry Potter thought himself exceedingly lucky, for this was his second opportunity in his life to speak to his deceased father and mother, be it be minutes or mere seconds, for rarely did any orphans get a chance to speak to their departed parents. It was a chance of life time.

"Mum," Harry whispered as they approached him. "Dad…"

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Authors Note

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I apologize for the wait, but school started, and I don't leave school until it's 4:00 pm (I'm on the volleyball team) and by the time I study for upcoming quizzes and tests, and do my homework and projects, plus the other stuff in between it's already 9:00 pm. Time fly's by so quickly when you're having fun! ---I'm being sarcastic by the way (We've just started school I can't believe how much work they're already giving us!). And we've got these family gatherings every weekend, so you can see how busy my everyday in my life is. … Anyway, I hope this chapter's worth the wait!

There's something else I wanted to clear out before I stop my rambling. Someone mentioned in a review that there's no such thing at the crutius curse. I've checked that in JK Rowlings books and I realized that I have been spelling it wrong all along. Cruciatus is the right spelling if anyone's curious. But thanks for making me aware of that! Always point out my flaws, that's what makes me better ;) !

Upcoming Chapter in The Vicis Clock---: HIS PROMISE :

And please, don't forget to review/ flame !

I'll try to get then next chapter up quicker!