Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Warning: Violence. No Slash

Hi. Just wanted to keep you updated. (and my teacher wasn't at school, so I don't have any homework!) so, here it goes. Tell me what you think of it! Enjoy it. And as for wandless magic, I don't know if I'll really make that a big issue in the story. I'll see what happens though.

Chapter Two: Traitor

Harry awoke on the cold floor of a dungeon, and the first thing he heard, even before he opened his eyes, was the cold laugh of the one and only Voldemort. His head was throbbing; it didn't help that Uncle Vernon had beaten him to a pulp beforehand. "Open your eyes, Potter," the menacing voice crooned. "I know that you're awake. I can feel it." Nangini slithered on the floor nearby. Harry knew that there was no use in pretending anymore. He slowly opened his eyes in the well lit room. At least fifty death eaters stood around him, watching from behind their horrible masks. 'Cowards,' Harry thought to himself.

"Behold, the great Harry Potter, the 'Boy Who Lived.' Look at how he cannot even win against a muggle. His own uncle, nonetheless! Look at him bleeding on the floor! This is the pitiful savior of the wizarding world! The best that Dumbledore has to offer! Observe his shame!"

Harry could hear laughter from behind the masks. He raised his head up, and slowly sat up as far as his weary body would allow him. "Severus," Voldemort called. "You have something for me, don't you?"

"Yes, my Lord," Snape's voice came from behind one of the taller death eater robes. He strode to the figure and handed him a phial of a dangerous looking potion. "I do not want his wounds to heal. I want him to suffer. You give him the potion, Severus, my loyal follower."

Snape bowed obediently, then walked toward Harry. "You traitor! How could you?" Harry yelled.

"Easily," Snape answered. He lifted Harry up by his collar, and shoved the potion into his mouth. Then, he closed his hand over Harry's mouth and nose. 'Don't swallow,' Harry thought. For a good while, he stood defiant against his professor. But he was weak from the beating, and began to collapse. Unknowingly, he let his throat relax, and the potion slid easily down. He was released from the hold, and he slid onto the ground, coughing and sputtering. He made no sound, so that Voldemort would not know how he had been hurt. He would not relent. He would not let the traitor see his pain, either.

"Lock him up," Voldemort commanded in a lazy tone. "And someone clean the floor. He left a bloody mess."

Rough hands picked the young man up, and carried him to a dungeon, where the unceremoniously through him into one of the cells. He lay on the cool floor, not wanting to move. He was contemplating death. He knew that Voldemort was not going to kill him right away. He was going to bide his time, and torture him first; that much was already evident. Harry wandered how long it would take to die. He had on shoelaces, so maybe he could hang himself...

No, he wouldn't do it. Giving in to death by suicide would mean defeat either way you look at it. There was still hope somewhere. Somewhere, people were looking for him. Somewhere, people cared enough to wander what had happened to him. He closed his eyes, as he was too weary to stay awake any longer.

At what had once been the Dursely's house, Aurors and Order members, along with the MPs (Muggle Patrol) were taking care of the remains of the house. So, far, they hadn't found much. There was a lot of blood, to be sure. They had used a tracer spell to see what remained of Harry, if anything, and that was all that was found. There was no word to the Order from Snape yet on if Voldemort did in fact have Harry.

Vernon Dursely had been found returning home from the store with his family that evening. He didn't even realize that he had a small drop of blood on his sleeve. But Lupin did. He could smell it, with his keen nose when they were beginning to question Vernon at a secret building.. It was all anyone could do to restrain him from killing Vernon. "What did you do to him?" Lupin shouted.

Vernon had the audacity to shout back. "We gave him better than he deserved! He was always causing trouble. He got what was coming to him!" Two members of the Order had to drag Lupin out of the room, leaving Dumbledore with him. A sinister figure in dark robes walked in. Dumbledore nodded to him, and the hooded figure took to standing in the corner and watching.

"What did you do to your nephew?"

"Gave him what he deserved! I made him suffer like he made us suffer for all these years!"

"Oh, he will suffer alright," Snape's voice sneered from the shadows. "Do you even have a conscience enough to feel pity or regret for your own nephew? No, of course not."

"That little pain has been more trouble than he's worth. It serves him right if he were to die!"

"Can you truly decide the fate of another, Mr. Dursely?" Dumbledore asked in a calm, yet somehow painful voice. "Who are any of us to decide what happens to another human?"

"If you can call that little freak a human! All of you are just a bunch of freaks." At this point, Snape knew that the man had been drinking. No muggle who knew of a wizard's power and what he could possibly do would actually think of speaking to a wizard like that.

"Kingsley," Dumbledore called. Shacklebolt came in an instant. "Watch over him, please, and don't let him out of your sight." Kingsley nodded, and took a stance where he could keep a constant watch over the oversized muggle. Snape and Dumbledore walked out of the room and into a more private area to speak.

"How bad is it, Severus?" Dumbledore questioned.

"The situation is precarious, headmaster," Snape answered. "Potter was barely alive when he was captured, and Voldemort is going to make sure that he gets no better. There are at least two guards watching his cell all of the time. Every precaution has been taken to make sure he doesn't escape."

"Then, you can do nothing?"

"I never said that. It will be difficult, but it is possible. The only problem may be that Potter does not trust me."

"Than you need to build his trust. Make it so that he can have faith in you. Then you can rescue him. But be careful that no one catches on."

"I may need something to persuade him."

Dumbledore reached into the folds of his robes, and pulled something out. It was a small, silver instrument. The same one in fact that Harry had broken only weeks before in rage. "Tell him, no matter how bad the situation, broken things can often be fixed. I think he will believe you."

Snape took the instrument, although he looked doubtful. "I will relay your message," he said quietly.

"We will organize his escape. If it looks at any moment like he may be killed, save him. But we will try to make this as organized and planned as possible. We may have a week, maybe more, maybe less."

"I am prepared to do what it takes," Snape said. Bowing slightly, he turned and left out of the room.

Dumbledore knew he could count Snape to relay the message, but he didn't know if Harry would believe him or not. He prayed that he would, or it just may be the end to them all.

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