Title: Who Wants to Be the Bloody Boy Who Wouldn't Die?
Author: Iskjif
Beta: Celena Amunet (also known as Keket Amara Melek with an account…)
Pairings: Voldemort/Harry (eventually), mild one-sided Severus/Lucius
Warnings: Okay, if you have a problem with my pairings and are still reading this after my warning, well as far as I'm concerned you have no rights… mild detailings of torture and abduction in this one… and that's all I can think of…
Summary: Eventual HPLV. After the events of OotP Harry is apathetic and disillusioned. The Dursley's escalating abuse only serves to alienate him further. When Voldemort's followers come for him, the idea of torture isn't too unpleasant when it's at the hands of those who don't pretend to care.
A/N: dies So sorry that it's taken so long to get this out… me and this chappie haven't been very happy with each other… And of course my mum hasn't been making it easier… but yeah! Hope that this chappie doesn't disappoint you! Thanks to all of you for reviewing and being so patient!
This chappie is dedicated to michikaru-san for saving me from plot hole induced death!
OoToO
Fear ripped through Lucius and gripped his heart as he looked in shock at his dear, foolish friend. He was careful to keep his expression blank and his feelings concealed, knowing that any objection he were to show would make things worse for Severus as well as himself.
He heard the door slam closed behind Harry and the House elf and had to make an effort not to jump at the noise. There was near silence in the chamber, no one dared speak. All present knew that even for one so favored as the Potions Master, there would be no escaping punishment. Lucius could see Severus' terror in his frame and hear it in his ragged breaths.
Severus stood with his head slightly bowed, awaiting his fate.
"Oh, my dear Severus…" The Dark Lord trailed off in a way that indicated he had more to say.
Surprised by his Lord's soft tone, Severus looked up hopefully, but not daring to look at the Dark Lord's frowning face.
"Crucio"
Lucius' mouth went dry as his friend hit the floor.
Severus took it well; he didn't scream or writhe as some would. His service under the Dark Lord had equipped him with an unusually high pain tolerance. When the time where the curse was usually lifted came, the Dark Lord made no move to do anything. Lucius' panic rose.
Shortly thereafter, Severus began to scream and then thrash. The blond Death Eater stood helpless, only able to occasionally give his Lord pleading glances. Just as Lucius had begun to despair, believing that his beloved friend would lose his life, the Dark Lord broken the curse.
"Moon!" The Dark Lord barked out.
Instantly the female Death Eater was at attention.
"Heal him" The man said just as sharply.
Lucius' horror wrenched at his heart. For the Dark Lord to have Severus healed like this… It could only mean that the demonstration wasn't over.
As soon as the woman stepped back from the Severus' gasping form, their Lord threw another crucio at him, confirming Lucius' thoughts. The Dark Lord watched the Potions Mater convulse with a sort of grim satisfaction that chilled Lucius' blood. Even if Severus did survive, he worried that his mind would not. When the Dark Lord's rage was this hot, he rarely worried about who he was torturing and it was not rare for his Lord to torture someone who had aroused his ire to death or insanity.
Severus screamed and cried and writhed, and Lucius longed to cry out with him. He ached to see his friend released from his torment. Lucius wondered how much more he could take before he stepped in as a distraction from Severus.
He was saved from such a rash action when his Lord abruptly ended the spell. His dear friend was left sobbing on the ground and Moon waited posed, ready to do her master's bidding.
Said master sat, slowly rubbing his temples. The assembled waited in anticipation of what would occur next. After several minutes the Dark Lord looked up and addressed Moon.
"Go ahead and heal him again." Then went back to his brooding.
Lucius stood motionless, his body taut with anxiety. Moon finished healing Severus and stepped back quickly. All waited impatiently to see what would be next.
The Potions master continued to lay crumpled on the floor, most likely still feeling the aftershocks of his torture. Lucius itched to run up to him and take him into his arms, to make sure he was all right. To his relief, Severus stood up shakily, seemingly ready for what awaited him next. After many long uncomfortable minutes, the Dark Lord returned his attention to the current situation. He waved a dismissal and the Potions Master limped out of the room. Lucius felt some of his tension ease.
"Lucius," the man's attention quickly snapped to his Lord, "Tell me of the wards set at Potter's home."
The blond, though surprised by the unexpected question, quickly ordered his thoughts, "They are minimal, my Lord. There are no protections for the boy's relatives."
The Dark Lord smiled evilly. "Well then, let's go hunt some muggles."
After discussing the wards that were in place further, the raiding party included Lucius, Crabbe, Goyle, and surprisingly the Dark Lord himself. Crabbe and Goyle were necessary as muscle to make up for the inability to use magic in the house without alerting Dumbledore and Lucius supposed that the Dark Lord was coming to work off his excess rage. A small party was chosen to further reduce the chances of detection. It would be suspicious looking enough with just the four of them.
They apparated to the house, just outside the wards and Lucius was glad that he and Severus had decided to leave the car they had used for their surveillance. When they were all securely in the car, they made sure that there had been no witnesses to their arrival. Shortly there after the Dark Lord turned his attention to Lucius.
"How many muggles can we expect there to be in the house?"
Lucius had noted earlier that the fat muggle had not arrived home yet and he responded quickly. "Just a woman and a large boy for now, my Lord. There is also a man but he will not be here until later in the evening."
His Lord smiled darkly. "Well should we go now and invite the woman and her boy to enjoy our hospitality?"
The man quickly stepped out of the car and Lucius hurried to follow directly behind. Crabbe and Goyle followed dumbly after them. When they reached the door the Dark Lord rapped sharply on the door and flashed Lucius a sickly sweet smile.
It was the whale-like boy that answered, looking sullen. When he took in their dress he blanched and then stuttered.
"W-what do you want?"
The Dark Lord smiled sweetly.
"Hello my dear boy, I need to have a word with your mother. Is she in?" His tone matched his expression and Lucius was amazed that none of the disgust he was surely feeling showed on his face or in his voice.
The small whale must have been disarmed by his Lord's charming façade. He seemed to lose some of his fear and he also seemed to remember to keep up appearances, asking them into the entryway. As they waited the Dark Lord smirked at Lucius and Lucius didn't need to be a Legilimens to tell that his Lord was deeply amused by the boy's stupidity.
The woman soon came into view, wiping her hands with a dishtowel. The boy peeked out from around the corner. She looked up and her features were quickly twisted with ill-concealed disgust.
"What do you want? If it's about that Potter boy, he ran away this morning." She sniffed and then tapped her foot impatiently.
"My dear Lady," The Dark Lord purred mockingly, "We wish you to come with us, to enjoy our hospitality." He grinned nastily and pulled out his wand.
While Crabbe and Goyle started slightly and looked nervous, Lucius had no worries that his Lord would use any magic. If he had decided to, he would not have bothered with his wand. The Dark Lord was fully able to cast most spells wandlessly. He was merely threatening the woman in a way she would understand.
And understand she did. She fainted straight away.
The boy rushed into the room, kneeling by his mother.
"Mummy! Mummy, what did they do to you!" He glared up at the Dark Lord and made as if to rush the man.
This was well within the comprehension of Crabbe and Goyle and they quickly grabbed the boy before he could get close to their master. When they had the boy securely in their grasp they looked to their Lord for instruction.
He spoke carefully so they wouldn't confuse anything, "Take the boy to the car. Once there, I want you to apparate with him to the base dungeons. Leave him in a cell and come back." These instructions caused the young muggle to start wailing.
The two men nodded and quickly left, dragging the struggling, crying whale-boy along with them. The Dark Lord then turned to Lucius.
"I want you to take the woman. I will wait in the car for you to return." He quickly left the house with a look of disgust.
Lucius looked down at the muggle woman, feeling equally disgusted.
Her face and neck were a bit too long and she was horribly thin, giving the impression of a sickly horse. The very idea of touching her made his skin crawl. After about a minute, Lucius shook his head and then quickly stopped studying her. He ignored his nausea, and picked her up. The blond knew that there was no way around it and that his Lord would not appreciate a delay.
As soon as he had walked beyond the wards, he quickly apparated to the base and dropped the muggle on the ground as soon as he arrived. He levitated her in front of him and headed to the dungeons. He quickly found the cell where the boy had been dropped and left the woman in with the blubbering creature. He walked briskly out onto the grounds and disapparated.
He quickly got into the car and was met with an extremely bored look from his master.
"How much longer until the other muggle arrives?" The Dark Lord asked pensively.
"It shouldn't be long, my Lord." Lucius was quick to answer. His Lord was notoriously impatient. He knew that if he was not careful, his master would not hesitate to find other means of entertainment.
Luckily for Lucius, they didn't have to wait much longer. The fat muggle pulled up in his car and Lucius looked to his Lord for instruction.
"Persuade him to come to the car, Lucius."
The blond nodded and quickly got out of the car. He approached the muggle with a brisk, business-like air. Despite the man's obvious alarm at Lucius' dress, he was clearly effected by the way that the blond carried himself.
"Good day sir. You have recently been nominated for the Best Kept Yard Award. There is an associate of mine who wishes to speak with you to confirm that you wish to participate in the competition."
Lucius had to hold back a wince. That was the best he could come up with on the spot? Surely the muggle would never believe that someone wearing wizarding robes would be confirming participation for some stupid competition that he hadn't ever even heard of!
But much to the blond's surprise, the man puffed out his chest in pride.
"I would like very much to talk with this associate of yours," the fat muggle said in a disgustingly gracious tone, "It's about time that someone recognized the work we put into our yard."
Not one to sneer at luck, Lucius held back his incredulous reaction.
"Right this way sir." The Death Eater led the muggle over to where his master waited.
The fat man waited in anticipation as the window rolled down slowly. When it was fully open he leaned forward expectantly and promptly crumpled to the ground.
The Dark Lord causally stepped out of the car and kicked the muggle sharply in the side with a look of angry satisfaction.
Lucius pretended not to notice.
Crabbe and Goyle quickly stumbled out and picked the man up from where he lay on the ground. The Dark Lord sneered at the two bulky Death Eaters.
"I don't want the muggle put in with his family. Put him in a cell where they can see him." They hastened to obey and apparated with a crack.
Lucius and his Lord apparated near simultaneously. Upon arrival, the Dark Lord quickly started up the rise towards the manor with Lucius close at his heels. Just as they were approaching the entrance, Lucius had to stop short as his Lord abruptly stopped and turned towards him as if he had had a thought.
"Tell my Death Eaters that they may do as they wish with our new prisoners, but that no one is to kill them. I will deal with them at my leisure." The Dark Lord said sharply.
He stormed through the entrance to the base and Lucius was careful to wait a few minutes before entering himself so as not to become a potential target for his Lord's obvious vexation.
Lucius idly walked down the hall, pondering the most efficient way to relay his Lord's instructions. He was soon given an answer, seeing McNair walking towards him. He repeated his Lord's words to the executioner and then wandered on, knowing that the sadistic man would have the word spread in no time.
He walked somewhat aimlessly for a while before deciding to go and check on Severus. Lucius knew that the Potions Master would not have left the base after the torture he had been subjected to, Severus never trusted himself to apparate after being punished by the Dark Lord.
His destination in mind, the blond Death Eater set off with a much more purposeful step, fully intending to spend most of the night caring for his dear friend.
OoToO
A/N: Whew! Finally done! Hope you guys liked the chappie! I love to hear what you guys think! Please review! Tell me if this chappie was worth the wait! I'll try and get the next chappie up a lot sooner this time… I love you guys!