AN: I'm sorry that this chapter doesn't include the party but it has some new developments. Harry is very confused when he wakes up because of the spell that Voldemort puts on him so please don't take what he thinks into too much detail. Voldemort intended for Harry to remember what he said but he over did it.

It's Just a Nightmare 20

          It is rather ironic that a Dark Lord the destructor of love and light could be so attached to a boy, debatably his son but still so attached. It was probably the reason why the blood linked spells worked so well. Voldemort could not help but smile at his own cleverness. Of course the most obvious way of controlling the boy was to use blood spells but the ones that he had cast on the boy were of his own ingenious invention.

            Blood spells worked by linking the magic of two relatives together magically. Magical relatives, especially pure blood ones would already be linked magically but the bond is weak even in immediate family and hard to utilise. A Blood Bondage spell could easily enhance that bond and make it easier to utilize. To utilize a blood spell means to send magical spells or impulses through his invisible link to the other person who did not cast the spell for the caster was the controller and the victim the controlled. These spells were amazingly strong as they went straight from the caster to the magic in the blood stream without having to cross boundaries such as clothing, skin and the person's natural mind and magical barriers.

For a spell to work the magical impulses from the wand have to penetrate into the magic and the mind of the victim. Spells are like a nerve signal but they can control inanimate objects too. The spell is only an outside stimulus that induces the energy inside objects to perform in such a way that makes the symptoms of the spell appear. However the magical impulses from a spell can be drastically weakened by magical barriers which magical people set up unconsciously that is why it is easier to cast spells on muggles and why a blood spell can be so strong as it bypasses the magical barriers.

All Voldemort had to do in order to control the boy was to utter a few magic words such as Imperio and the boy would be unable to resist. Of course he could cast the spell on the boy from anywhere in the world and it would still just be as strong. The ancient Blood Spells only enhanced the magical bond enough for certain classes or groups of spells to cross over the bond and these groups were further classed as Blood Spells but Voldemort's new Blood Bondage Spell could enhance the bond so much that any spell could pass through without difficulty. With this the boy had no means of being able to escape or run very far but he did not wish to keep the boy under Imperio for the rest of his life so he needed to crush any rebellion cursing through the boy's veins. He would not let the boy go. Harry and Alex were his and he was very possessive of what was his.

Harry opened his eyes and found himself on a bed, his bed the bed that he had been sleeping in ever since he had arrived at this place in time. The memories of his passed life were so blurred now and they seemed so far away even though he had only been here for a short time. What had happened last night? All he remembered was having a great fear of Voldemort, his father but the fine details were so very blurred. However he had a strange feeling, as you do when you try to remember a dream, that Voldemort has something terrifying, something so awful that it could possibly hurt the people he loved. Harry mentally shook himself, it was probably all just some stupid dream of his and he really didn't have time for moping around when he still had to come up with a plan to save Sirius and the twins. He lifted his duvet, clambered out of his bed and proceeded to dress in the only clothes available, Slytherin robes. Suddenly a faint pop greeted his ears and he saw Fern appear next to him.

"Master has ordered that Young Master must dress in dress robes for the formal occasion," stated Fern as if she were reciting the bible. Harry quite taken back, he didn't have any dress robes in his wardrobe. Fern, as if she knew what he was thinking pointed to a neatly folded pile of forest green material lying on his bed, which was definitely not there before.

"He wants me to dress up for a party," said Harry, even the sentence sounded ludicrous; Voldemort was having a party. A very amusing mental image of Death Eaters at a disco popped into his mind and he couldn't help laughing at his visualisation of Snape dancing away with no top on. When he had recovered from his little self-amusement phrase, he found that Fern was giving him very strange looks. Harry just shook his head to indicate that he couldn't make her understand if he tried, after all had house elves even heard of disco?

 "Young master must hurry up, his Lordship is waiting," insisted Fern. Harry blinked in surprise at that statement. It had never really occurred to him that people held parties in the morning. Of course it was perfectly viable but he had just presumed that the party would be in the evening. Rather taken aback Harry replied,

"Of course I won't keep him waiting or get you into trouble." He hurried to struggle into the mass of material that was his dress robes. The material, which Harry couldn't identify, was soft but strong and had snakes embroided into the fabric with silver thread. As he stepped up to the mirror and saw himself, he thought, even Malfoy would call it spectacular. Sliver cloth lined the borders of the fabric and real silver button with the Slytherin family crest was sewed on. There was also a belt, which Harry did not notice at first that was clearly made from the pelt of an animal. It was dark brown with small emeralds encrusted at regular interval. He carefully slipped the belt into place and fastened it. The process made him feel quite a different person, no longer the despised orphan who only had hand-me-downs but a prince in regal dress.

"If Young Master is willing, Fern will tell his Lordship that you are ready," said Fern. Harry decided that he would rather approach Voldemort than vice versa as he felt more secure with this arrangement for no apparent reason. Perhaps it was the thought of surprising Voldemort and giving himself the upper hand in some obscure way.

"No thanks, Fern, I'll go an see him," replied Harry and straightened his collar.

He found Voldemort sitting comfortably in one of the armchairs just like the second day he was here, reading a newspaper. The atmosphere was warm and relaxed.

"My son, did you sleep well but I do hope that sleep hasn't made you forget about our little talk last night," hissed Voldemort in an almost threatening way. Suddenly the terrible memories flooded back into Harry's conscious mind as he remembered about the talk. 'For every hour your are away, I will have your godfather tortured for ten hours'. The words became engraved on his brain. The shocked look on Harry's face must have prompted Voldemort to say more, "As I told you before if you behave than I will have no need to harm your friends or godfather. So I advise you to crush any rebellious thoughts now before it gets nasty." Harry swallowed and nodded. "Let us have our breakfast in our chambers. It's a little more intimate, don't you think?"

The food arrived in an instant and his father was very pleasant throughout the meal of delicious but strange items that Harry could not name. Voldemort encouraged him to eat as much as possible and they had very amicable conversations. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all to be my father's son. Harry mentally kicked himself for being so stupid but his father was so nice, so caring now that he couldn't feel any ill will towards him at all. His stomach churned as he thought of the things he had been planning to do. No, he's just messing with my feelings. He doesn't care for me only wants me for a slave. Seenign his father's eyes trailing on him Harry abruptly stopped thinking about these things and continued to eat. The conversation soon turned to the party that was going to be held,

"Father, what is this party for?" inquired Harry in his most innocent voice for he had already thought of using the time to his advantage. He planned to find out as much as possible about the world situation at this time. Voldemort had not even let him out of the castle ever since he had arrived but then again he had only been here for less than five days. The Dark Lord also refused bluntly to talk about the political situation after his brief that he ruled the world and that some people were slaves. The thought of the political situation had been driven from his mind soon after he had become Alex and when Harry had resurfaced he had lots of other things to think about. He briefly wondered whether he wanted to know what the political situation was like. Would all the non-pureblood people be slaves? Would his father have killed off all the muggles? Had Voldemort taken over the world or just Britain, after all he had been rather vague. His train of thought was distracted by Voldemort's reply,

"This party has is to be held so that my Inner Circle can have time to associate with one another. Socialisation is very important. Don't get upset though, there will be an official welcome party for you in the next month but I haven't got round to planning it yet, for I intend to plan myself." At this Voldemort gave Harry an indulgent look. Harry felt rather confused, as he hadn't even thought that there would be a welcoming party for him and apparently Voldemort thought that he would be upset when he found out the party wasn't for him.

"I understand, Father, but at what time does it start?" asked Harry.

"Four in the afternoon," was the reply. Harry was rather taken a back. Four? So why was he wearing these dress robes? Not that he minded out all.

"What will I be doing before the party comes?" inquired Harry. Voldemort stroked his chin and said,

"Anything you wish, my boy, why not amuse yourself in the Vestal room. I do regret that I can't spend this morning with you as I have a lot of work to get on with." They finished the rest of their meal in silence. Harry found himself rather at a loss. He had hoped that Voldemort would have sounded more upset than that but then again was Voldemort even used to showing emotion? But what about the time that he had told Harry he loved him? The other part of Harry's brain however was very please to get the whole morning to himself as that would mean more time to think up a plan to help the prisoners in the cells.

Harry once again found himself inside the huge bright room filled with toys beyond the imagination. Fern had just left him to attend to some other more pressing matters. It was actually Harry who had persuaded her that he didn't need any supervising. He carefully picked his way through the throng of different toys to the quidditch set. Flying usually took his mind of all the troubles he had and now that he had more to add to his long list of lamentations, he really needed a break. However he found it hard to concentrate as he soared above the pitch searching for the snitch. Voldemort's mind reading ability was a very big hazard to Harry. He had spent the time it took him to walk to the Vestal Room pondering this very problem. How could he hide is inner secrets of Voldemort's prying mind? He briefly wondered whether there was some way of magically defending himself against intrusion but he had no one he trusted to ask. After all everyone in the castle was under Voldemort's direct control and it would benefit them to tell the Lord everything they knew in order to seek his favour. Maybe if he could just go into the dungeons one more time and try to find Sirius again. He knew he could not devise a plan all on his own with the limited knowledge he had of magic and the rest of this new world. However the idea that there was still a resistance against Voldemort gave him hope that maybe, just maybe someone might rescue him and the other prisoners.

The moment Harry's feet touched solid ground, he carefully packed away his broom and peeped outside. The hall was devoided of any movement and he stuck more of his body out to get a better view of the surrounding area. The thick black carpet on the floor obliterated any noise his feet made as he hurried down the corridor. He mentally told himself not to hurry or he would look suspicious to any house elves passing by. He had taken steps to memorize some landmarks such as carvings and statues on the way back from the dungeons so now he could find it with ease.

Suddenly a wave of guilt washed down on him and a voice in the back of his mind had something to do with it. Stop! How dare I disobey Father after all that he had done for me! He saved me from those manipulators in Hogwarts; he bought me here to live with him and cared for me. Harry shuddered; he certainly didn't want Alex back again but was it Alex? Alex was a lot more horrid than this? Could it possibly be  . That would jeopardise any chances of assisting the resistance; besides Voldemort didn't care for him in any way. He was only seen as a possession and nothing else. Harry had been working hard to convince himself that Voldemort was the unfeeling and evil man that everyone believed him to be but every time his father was kind to him deep feelings of love would sweep over him making rebellion even less likely. No, this isn't the time to think about these things now. I need to find Sirius and make sure that he's alright. I need more information about the situation before I can even attempt to help the resistance.

Without further a do Harry pushed all thoughts to the back of his head with a vengeance and cautiously crept down the familiar hallways. His breath hitched in his throat as he heard the sound of conversation and footsteps floating down the corridor and to his intense discomfort it was in parseltounge,

"Yes Nagini, I shall be spending more time with the boy as you advised, only he seems to have slipped back into his former self." At the sound of his father's voice Harry immediately ducked into a cove behind a rather ugly statue. 

"I'm sure he will be fine in times to come but I implore you to treat him with more care. You need his affection. His spirit is too strong to be held down by force but must be caged with love and affection. If you indeed wish to keep him I advise you to wipe his mind. It is too full of hatred for you to ever be able to recover."

"I will consider that point but what about his lessons? I hope to start them quite soon. He has had too much time at liberty in that toy room. I wish to brush up on his skills, after all I need a powerful heir." A somewhat amused sound escaped from what Harry thought was the snake Nagini.

"Many people will be surprised at you giving up the quest for immortality."

"You and I both know it was but a cover story to get support from those spineless toads. I had always planned to carry on the Slytherin bloodline."

"Does Alex know about his mother? Have you even told him who she was?"

"He……………………knows her name."

"You should talk more about her to him no doubt that will gain you some points in his heart. However I am rather frightened about his split personality. You must nip the problem in the bud for if it is not dealt with now Alex risks going insane. I suggest you eradicate the side that is hostile to you now."

"No I have thought long about this too and I need Harry, Alex is too twisted to love. I am a good judger of character. He will develop into something unmanageable. I need Harry………….. I suppose I shall have to pull out Alex by force. Will it do too much damage to Harry?"

"The implications are widespread but mostly it will be his mind that suffers the most although physical damage will also be inflicted. He will perhaps have a nervous breakdown or coma but with his strength of magic he will pull through. However it will not make him love you anymore."

"I hope he understands that what I am about to do to him is for his own good. And then what? Shall I wipe his memory?"

"Yes now will be the time. If you had wiped his memory at the beginning you would have only brought out Alex but now with Alex gone there will be only Harry left with all his devotion reserved for you,"

"Good I shall do it tomorrow morning when he is well rested. I trust the process will not take long?"

"Half an hour at the most but still you mustn't rush. He is still a fragile boy."

"Right, come let us check on the boy, I'm sure he will be interested to meet you. After all I don't think you socialised with him much before hand. Now that you are back from the mission I'm glad to have you two acquainted."

Harry stopped breathing.

AN: Hey guys I'm back and with a vengeance I know it's a cliffhanger but next chapter: does harry manage to get back before his father or is he punished? The party with old faces and much more.