~Chapter 16~ I would do anything… – 1 Jan to 15 June 1994~

~Voldemort~

He didn't know what to expect as he reached for the second box. Why would his mate be worried about overstepping anything? So far he'd helped him more than any other living being in the world…well, that wasn't quite true…Nagini had been the one to stay with him and to guide him when he'd been alone, but his mate was different. His mate made him realize that he didn't have to shoulder everything alone…even if the bloody man hadn't shown himself yet.

He wasn't going to say that out loud, of course, otherwise, Nagini might decide to start a merit war. He finally managed to loosen the lid that seemed to have been attached to the bottom with a spell, and he lifted the lid…only to freeze in place.

Surely he wasn't seeing what he thought he was…right?! Maybe his mate merely thought he had to get rid of some of his frustration or something, but no, a singular spell later, and Voldemort fully established that it was really a miniaturized Dumbledore sitting tied to a chair in the box with a gag in his mouth and the inside of the box had been decorated in a mobster-like theme. Apparently, his mate had a sense of humor.

It took a few seconds for him to realize the full implication of having Dumbledore at his mercy though, but then it clicked…his mate had given him the war. HIS mate had given him Dumbledore, the wizard that had caused him so much pain and suffering, practically on a silver platter!

A glance to the side allowed him to notice a memory vial taped to the side of the box. The last one had been pretty interesting so what could this one hold? He summoned a penceive and poured it in, leaving a worried Dumbledore to thrash in his bonds as he leaned into it and disappeared. He never noticed a curious Nagini coming into the room.

~~~Inside the penceive~~~

The world was dark inside the memory and at first, he thought that the memory had somehow been damaged, but then he noticed that there was a sliver of light coming through what looked like a doorway.

The silence was shattered as running footsteps could be heard and Voldemort felt a slight feeling of dread as they passed by directly overhead. It made him realize just how small the space was and he was about to exit the memory when a light half-blinded him and he was left to blink in shock at what could only be a 10-year-old Harry Potter.

Severus had told him that he was being abused, but it seems that he had forgotten to mention that the boy had been neglected as well. The clothes nearly drowned the boy's small frame and it was easy to see that he hadn't eaten properly in years. The skin that managed to show through the too-large clothes showed numerous bruises that were suspiciously shaped like a large hand.

Voldemort felt like he'd taken a fist to the gut…

Was his mate trying to torture him by showing him the results of his attack on the boy's family? Was his mate blaming him even though he hadn't been sane after making so many Horcruxes? It's true that he was still the one to blame because he had been the one to cast the spell, but he'd rather hoped that his mate wouldn't hold it against him.

He was so distracted with his thoughts that it took him a moment to notice that the scene had changed and he found himself standing in a zoo. He watched as Harry's 'family' wandered through the cages, but then his attention got caught by a familiar figure sneaking towards one of the tanks that held a rather large Boa.

He walked closer and was quite surprised to find that the boy was speaking Parseltongue. Now how did that happen? He really needed to check into the boy's ancestors. He freed the snake and Voldemort watched in amusement as the snake sailed away merrily.

The memories seemed to pause and he wondered what else his mate had added to the vial because splicing memories together was something he'd never encountered before. It was quite convenient though and he hoped that his mate would share the method with him.

The scene around him became clear once more and he found himself on a battlefield, not that anyone except two very familiar wizards seemed to be alive in it. Dumbledore and Grindelwald had their wands pointed towards each other, but then Dumbledore lowered his wand and gave a sad-sounding sigh, "I can't fight you, Gellert, you mean too much to me. Truth is that Ariana's death scared me and I ran, but I could never forget how it felt to be by your side. I tried to do the right thing, out of guilt, but all I want is to go back to the way we were…"

Voldemort watched as Grindelwald lowered his wand, and his guard, "Albus, I…" He never got any further as Dumbledore cast an Expeliarmus, followed by the torture curse.

Dumbledore's face was set in a sneer as he watched the writhing man on the ground, "Did you really think I would be content with merely being a right-hand man? I was born to rule, and soon I will have most of those power-pandering hypocrites at my feet as I turn their own children against them to create a generation that will revere the very ground I walk on!"

The scene changed again and his thoughts suddenly froze as he was hit with a sense of sick nostalgia. He was in his old room at Wool's orphanage…how the HELL had his mate managed to get his memories? But then he realized that Dumbledore was there as well and he recognized it as the day he first learned about magic.

He watched their interaction with anger as he spotted the very moment Dumbledore turned cold towards him, but what he did not expect was for the memory to deviate from his own as Dumbledore whipped out his wand, silenced the room, and then cursed him with a Cruciatus instead of simply setting his wardrobe on fire, "I do not like thieves, Tom, but it seems that I have been unconsciously looking for someone like you…"

Voldemort itched to leave the perceive, but he stopped himself. Dumbledore was going to pay for messing with his memories…but first, he wanted to know how far the man's manipulations extended and he couldn't deny that he felt a spark of hope that maybe it hadn't been his own actions that led to the desire to kill a mere child.

He then watched as Dumbledore Obliviated him before setting the wardrobe on fire as if he hadn't just tortured an 11-year-old boy. He remembered feeling the unexpected pain at that time, but he had a high pain tolerance and he'd written it off as merely being a physical reaction to losing his things.

The memory jumped again and he saw himself studying in the library just before curfew as Dumbledor hit him with a Confundus spell and slipped an open book into his hands…he'd often wondered how he managed to get access to a book from the restricted section. Of course, that is how he got his hands on the book about Horcruxes.

It didn't take much to get hooked on the dark magic of the book sadly enough, and Voldemort knew that he'd never questioned the incident as he should have.

Another skip and Voldemort found Dumbledore in the Headmaster's office. The décor suggested that it still belonged to Dippet, given the calendar taped to the desk, but Voldemort was sure that it wouldn't be the case for long as he watched Dumbledore pour a few drops from a suspicious vial onto the bowl of licorice treats that Dippet treasured for himself.

Voldemort remembered that Dippet had died quite suddenly that year while he'd been traveling abroad.

The scene then jumped to Dumbledore Confunding the rat and ordering him to dose Voldemort's chair with a potion. Voldemort wasn't very happy to admit to himself that he's grown incredibly lax with his followers at that time because he thought of them as his family…well…the top few at least.

He was surprised to see the murderous rage he fell into after that as he tortured his followers before taking off to kill the bane of his existence. That specific potion's ingredients were rarely harvested due to the time it took to make and that answered his question of why Dumbledore had been silent for quite a while at the time. Though he almost slumped in angry relief as he realized that the attack hadn't been his fault at all.

He removed himself from the penceive and looked towards the box that held Dumbledore…only to find it turned on its side with no Dumbledore in sight. He felt his heart seize for a moment as he grabbed the box and he was about to throw it down when he heard the sound of something rolling around within it. He glanced within and spotted a small blue vial with a note in familiar handwriting attached to it, it read: 'For when you don't know what to do with your enemies, but still want them to suffer while you plan…Karma is a bitch, isn't she?'

He clenched the vial in his fist before spinning around and trying to find Dumbledore.

He didn't have far to look as he heard Nagini hiss and he found the pair in the corner of the room with Dumbledore trying to become one with the wall and Nagini seemingly enjoying the game of snake and mouse.

But as much as he liked the terror on the old man's face, he was really interested in what the vial did, ":: Nagini…why are you playing with my new present?::"

Nagini turned towards him and somehow managed a sheepish face, ":: I thought he wass my part of the present…::"

She lunged forward and grabbed Dumbledore by the cloak, quickly showing how easy it would have been for her to kill the old man, and Voldemort felt slightly vindicated as he saw the fear on Dumbledore's face when he was dropped into the box once more.

Voldemort stupefied him before pouring the potion down his throat. He expected the man to be in excruciating pain, but nothing seemed to happen until a small twitch from the man prompted him to read his mind. There he was pleasantly surprised to find the man experiencing the pain of every single one of his victims…one by one…as he was either killed, confounded, crucio'd, tortured, or any of the numerous other atrocities that the man had committed.

He left the man's mind before glancing to the side and saw Nagini looking at him with pleading eyes so he released one of the golden bunnies and sent it fleeing down the corridor with Nagini close behind it. For now, he would wait for the panic to erupt regarding Dumbledore's disappearance, and in the meantime, he needed to persuade Harry that it was safer for him inside his manor…not that he was having any luck with that at the current moment.

Maybe he should just kidnap the boy, he was just trying to protect him after all…

~Harry~

He was fed up…

Voldemort had already tried to kidnap him 7 times! And that was when he only counted the times that the man himself managed to get into the castle now that Dumbledore wasn't there to keep him out of it anymore.

Usually, he wouldn't mind, but the man had almost caught him off guard quite a few times and he and a few others were now forced to use the scent potion almost constantly. Luckily Voldemort never got too close to his younger Death Eaters, or any of the other students, otherwise, he'd have been outed a long time ago. He really should have thought things through before he sent Dumbledore to the man as a gift.

He looked down at Voldemort's latest persuasion attempt…Voldemort had written a letter telling him that he would be in a lot of danger once Dumbledore's disappearance was formally registered and he had to admit that there was a lot of truth in that statement.

He knew that the people would start looking at him to save the old man, he was a hero after all, right?

He already saw the way most of the students looked at him…as if they were simply waiting for him to make a move, to save them from an unknown threat that was strong enough to make Dumbledore vanish, but he also knew that they were doubting their own thoughts because surely no one could beat Dumbledore right? The Dark Lord was gone after all, so maybe Dumbledore was just busy.

Maybe it was time for him to disappear for a while. Not that he really wanted to, but he refused to reveal himself as Ghost while still being underage in his current body, and yes he knew it was wishful thinking, but he thought he could at least hope for something good to come out of the entire thing instead of imagining how Voldemort would probably try to find creative ways to get around their vow just so that he could murder him for not revealing himself sooner.

Death had mentioned that as the Master of Death he now had duties to attend to in Death's realm, but would that really be the solution? An idea occurred to him and he grabbed a parchment to quickly write a letter.