Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, though I am starting to think he owns me.
I have no money, and am living on a steady diet of books and paper.
Therefore, all your sneaky lawyer will manage to acquire for you is my very own battered copy of the Sorcerer's Stone.
(Sadly the package will include my arms, as he'll have to cut them off to get it.)
Chapter 8 – Day 3 into 4
Harry smiled as they entered the small, darkly-lit restaurant. The décor was unimaginative, consisting of paper lanterns and red paint. The tables were covered in red checkered tablecloths and had paper place mats. He smiled up at Lucius, thinking it was wonderful.
Lucius, meanwhile, was wondering why the universe had created restaurateurs with Molly Weasley's sense of style. Wasn't one of her punishment enough already? He was absolutely certain that, should any of his allies spot him either entering or leaving this kitschy establishment, he would have to commit suicide to restore the Malfoy family honor. As this would leave Draco without a steadying influence in his life, he found the possibility totally unacceptable. "Harry, are you certain you want to eat… here?"
Harry laughed and led him to a table. "Absolutely. Isn't it great? It reminds me of the Weasley's." He settled into a chair. "I never had Chinese before, but the Dursley's did and it smelled delicious."
Lucius was startled to realize that he suddenly wished he could resurrect the Dursleys for the sole purpose of giving each of them a slow, torturous death. He sighed and sat down, promising himself that he would burn his clothes when they returned home. They ordered their food, and sat sipping their drinks while waiting for it to arrive.
Once they started eating, Lucius found himself having to duck several times as Harry attempted to master the chopsticks. He opened his mouth times to reprimand him, but then took one look at the determination on Harry's face and found he couldn't. Harry wasn't thinking about the Dursley's, or Voldemort, or even what everyone at Hogwarts was doing. He was just being Harry, and Lucius couldn't bring himself to shatter that.
He knew that his feelings on the subject were from the bond, but he was surprisingly unconcerned about it.
Finally, Harry excused himself to use the loo. Lucius decided that he didn't need someone to watch him in there, and let him go on his own.
Harry had just finished washing his hands in the dilapidated sink, when the person who'd been in the stall all this time stepped out. He glanced up just in time to see Lupin standing there, staring at him in shock. Harry wasn't sure who was the more surprised but, when Lupin reached for him, he ran out of the loo and straight to Lucius. "We need to leave now."
Lucius raised an eyebrow at him, and then spotted Lupin coming towards them. "I see your point."
He dropped some bills on the table, and they darted out the front door with Lupin in close pursuit. Turning down an alley, they discovered a dead end piled with heaps of trash. There were doors to either side of them, and he debated using an alohomora when he heard a noise behind them.
Lucius turned to see Lupin standing in the mouth of the alley, and drew his wand in preparation for combat. Lupin raised his own wand and had just opened his mouth, when Harry grabbed Lucius' hand and Lucius felt like he was being sucked through a pinhole.
He was not amused to find himself standing in a puddle surrounded by miles of moor. At least there was no one around to notice that his pants legs were covered by muck. It was undignified.
Lucius sighed and looked at Harry, pleased to see a bit of chagrin on the boy's down turned face. After a moment, he let his arm settle around the Harry's shoulders. "I am glad to see you have enough sense not to try and reason with them. I really can't see them welcoming you home while bonded to the two of us."
Harry nodded. "I know. I just wish that I could explain everything to them…."
Lucius smirked. "Well, I may be wrong, but I suppose we could ask the Dark Lord if you could owl them." He could just picture the looks on their faces when they learned the truth. "Though, I really wish I could be there when you tell them."
Harry looked up and saw the humor in Lucius' eyes, pictured McGonagall's response, and started laughing. It took him several minutes to get the image of her mouth working like a fish out of his head.
Lucius smiled. "Now, when did you learn to apparate?"
Harry shrugged, "Not a clue. I just knew I didn't want the two of us to be there, and here we are."
McGonagall sat at her desk, staring at Lupin. Someone coming on the scene suddenly might assume that she was horrified to have such a shoddily dressed man in her office. No, the truth of the matter was that she was terrified at the thought of Harry and Voldemort aligned together. She would have consigned Harry to the darkest of hells first.
She was unaware that he considered living with the Dursley's to be decent preparation for such a fate. She also didn't know that Harry had become fairly certain that the entire family was made up of demons - bent on destroying him - by the time he'd started his second year. Still, Dumbledore had wanted him to stay there so he'd tried to find something good in the three… and failed miserably.
Moody, an ever present shadow in her office these days, snorted. "Voldemort's torturers must be getting better. I would've sworn it would take longer than this." He took a swig from his flask.
Lupin plopped down into a chair. "Well, it didn't…. I still can't believe he just ran from me. And, he ran to Lucius Malfoy of all people." He buried his head in his hands. "This can't be happening, Minerva. Harry Potter was supposed to fight Voldemort to the end, not end up helping him."
McGonagall nodded, sadly. "We think we know where they're hiding now. I was going to call an Order meeting tonight to plan an attack."
Lupin nodded. "We'll do that anyway. We need to get Harry away from there and to St. Mungo's as soon as possible."
Bellatrix watched Harry and Lucius enter Voldemort's rooms, sparing only a passing curiosity as to why they were covered in mud. Her mind was in overdrive, working to find a solution that would keep her in her Lord's graces. He'd forbidden her to harm the brat, but he hadn't said anything about….
Harry woke up starving. He glanced to either side of him, noting that both Voldemort and Lucius looked sound asleep. Well, it's not like I don't know my way to the kitchen. He slipped carefully out of the bed, grabbed a robe and headed down the maze of hallways.
Arriving at the kitchen, he set about making himself a snack. As the toast browned, he wondered what Hermione would say about Voldemort being the only wizard in Britain that apparently didn't like having house elves around. He supposed she'd be astonished for only a few moments before going on about, 'Well, if even he can see it….' He supposed telling her that it was for security reasons would make no difference. He fought of his laughter and started buttering his toast.
He was glad he'd asked Voldemort about sending a letter to his friends earlier. No sooner than he'd asked, than Lucius had been sent to procure an owl and Voldemort had handed him parchment and quill. He gave Harry one warning not to reveal their location, and hadn't even tried to read the letter when Harry finished it. He wondered if there would be a reply.
Harry wasn't aware how safe he had come to feel here, until he was hit by a stupefy from behind. As he slid into blackness, he acknowledged that he would have reacted a bit faster just a day or two ago.
Well, I looked though every bit of source material I could find, and nothing says Voldemort has no eyelids. If anyone knows of a location that I missed, feel free to enlighten me. (Please include page and paragraph numbers.)
Also, IF Voldemort has no eyelids, then he has to have some way of moistening his eyes. (I have found nothing stating he has scales, and a scale over the eye is how most snakes get away with not having any.) Some lizards lick their eyes to moisten them, but I doubt Voldemort has a tongue quite that prehensile… If he does, all I can say is: "Wow."
Oh, for ease of timekeeping, I'm going to begin noting the days on the Chapters. Just so I don't have to note that again.