Disclaimer: I just own the plot and the original characters.
Author's Note: I have no good excuses, no reasonable reasons and am thoroughly (actually) ashamed of myself for this unforgivable delay. I genuinely did not realise how long it had been since I updated this and was shocked when I checked. Anyway, I can offer only my apologies and this update.
Thanks to Annibal and Severus Rabe for respectively following and favouriting, seems someone out there's still reading me and I totally don't deserve it!
A Subtle Change
Chapter 19
Harry sat staring at the locked door to the cell-like room he had been thrown in. There were no windows, four very sturdy looking walls and the door. The door, he knew from experience, was not going to budge without the aid of magic or somebody far stronger than himself, anger had kept him pounding on it and throwing himself against it for hours after Bellatrix Lestrange had pushed him roughly in and slammed it behind him. Eventually however exhaustion had left him slumped glaring at the door and trying desperately to think of some way out of his current situation.
The door being swung open by Lord Voldemort flanked by several Death Eaters was not the change of circumstances he had been hoping for, however it was the change Harry was suddenly confronted with.
"Good Evening, Harry," Voldemort hissed. Harry had scrambled to his feet and stood glaring at his captor too angry even to speak. "Nothing to say? And I was hoping we could have a little chat all about your friends in the Order of the Phoenix." He shrugged, "No matter, it can wait."
"I'll never tell you anything about the Order!" Harry blurted out.
Voldemort ignored him, turning to the only Death Eater with him who was unmasked, "You know what to do, Bella," he hissed, caressing her face with his claw like hand, "I have more important things to attend to." He dropped something to the ground, "Deal with this," Voldemort turned and swept regally from the dungeon leaving Harry alone with four Death Eaters.
One of the Death Eaters was finding the day particularly interesting. Severus Snape had never expected to find Harry alive, if he found him at all, and yet here he was.
"Someone break his wand," Bella ordered, gesturing at the object Voldemort had flung to the ground as he left. Harry watched in horror as a Death Eater stepped forward and picked up his wand.
Snape knew it was petty, knew he should have had more sympathy with the boy's capture and pathetic appearance, knew that in no other circumstance would he ever respond to an order given by Bellatrix, but it was as though his feet moved of their own accord as he stepped forward and picked up the wand.
Harry was struggling not to fling himself forwards at the Death Eater as he saw the masked figure twirl his wand between long, slender fingers but with Bella's wand still trained on him common sense warned there was nothing he could do that wouldn't make his situation worse.
It was with a small, sadistic surge of pleasure that Snape saw Harry's eyes close in pain as he snapped the wand viciously in two. There was a moment of regret as he saw those eyes open again and saw the obvious dread ill-concealed in them before they went blank. Severus allowed his mask to hide a small appreciative smile, it seemed Potter actually had practiced his Occlumency. Well, well, well, wonders would never cease.
Severus' guilt dissipated easily, if he hadn't done it someone else would have. Besides he was probably going to end up risking his life more than usual because Potter couldn't think before he reacted to things so frankly he may as well take his pleasures while he could. Besides, feeling sorry for Potter was the first step on a road that he felt could only lead to madness.
"Now, Harry," Bellatrix continued in a sickeningly sweet voice which reminded Harry of Umbridge, "I hope you're finding everything here to your liking. Comfortable?" she laughed.
Harry remained stubbornly silent and, Severus was pleased to note, blank of expression and unreadable of thought. Bellatrix however was far less pleased by this. "A few days here will loosen that tongue of yours, and if not I can always cut it out. You know the Dark Lord doesn't actually need you to speak to take information from you? He'll just tear it out of that tiny little mind of yours. All in all, most prefer to speak in the end. Begging's so much more effective when you plead aloud."
"I won't plead to you!" Harry spat angrily.
Bellatrix turned her wand on him in a wave of anger and threw him back against the far wall fiercely enough to knock his glasses from his face; Harry winced at the sickening crunch as her heavy boot came down upon them.
"Whoops!" she laughed and stalked from the cell like a cat bored of toying with its prey.
The silent three with her followed, one lingering slightly longer than the others as though wanting one last look at the great Harry Potter finally brought to his knees.
Severus looked back as he swept from the cell and refused to believe the uncomfortable feeling inside him was sympathy for the boy.
Harry was left feeling vulnerable and defenceless. The loss of his wand had been a severe blow; it had been by his side through everything and saved his life fairly dramatically upon Voldemort's resurrection.
Defenceless as the loss of his wand had made him feel though the loss of his glasses was far worse. His vision was blurred and nothing more than a foot away from him was at all clear, he felt helpless and exposed at the idea that he couldn't see properly. What was left of his glasses on the floor was useless, there was no repairing them without a wand and possibly not even with one. The dimness of his cell only made things worse and as the light faded strange shadows appeared on the walls, shadows he could not identify.
Harry clenched his eyes tightly shut and buried his head in his hands, curling up against a wall. Left alone in the cell and deprived of his wand and ability to see clearly he felt tendrils of fear grip his heart. He'd been in bad situations before but he had to admit that things had probably never looked worse than they did right now. He felt a tear leaking from his eye and angrily swiped it away. He had to be strong.
He had to stay strong; Dumbledore was expecting it of him. Dumbledore expected him to be able to do this; he couldn't let everybody down. No matter how frightening things had suddenly become.
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Professor Dumbledore could not recall a more solemn assembly of the Order than the one he now presided over. Even the deaths of Harry's parents, marking as they had the end of Voldemort's first attempt at power, had not hit this hard.
The Order members were quiet, irritable and in some cases, namely Molly Weasley and Hagrid, red eyed and looking close to further tears.
The novelty of a new face at the table seemed to be a welcome distraction however. Oliver Wood was seated between Percy and George Weasley looking stressed and a little self-conscious under all the attention he was receiving.
"You've joined us at the worst possible time I'm sorry to say, Mr Wood," Dumbledore managed a small, weary smile, "Though you are certainly a welcome addition."
"Hmm," Moody grunted, "Though I'm not sure exactly what a quidditch player's going to bring to this organisation?"
"Well if nothing else he certainly improves the scenery," Druscilla smiled lasciviously at a suddenly blushing Oliver, causing both Remus and Percy to give her disapproving looks.
"Oliver's much more than just a quidditch player," Percy argued, "He's a brilliant strategist and his skill on a broomstick could well prove useful to us."
"And he's easy on the eye," Druscilla laughed. "Sorry," she sobered at the looks she was receiving, "People tell me I deal with stressful situations in inappropriate ways."
"Quite!" Remus snapped, "I would have thought that in the current situation you could stop flirting with everything and everyone for at least a few minutes!" The room fell silent and Oliver began to look increasingly uncomfortable. "I'm sorry," Remus continued quietly, "I'm just worried about Harry."
Percy couldn't help but wonder if concern for Harry was really all that had motivated the man's irritation at Druscilla's flirtatious behaviour.
"We are in a serious situation and we need to pull together, not argue about who's doing what," McGonagall frowned.
Oliver interjected eagerly, "I just want to help, don't worry about wasting time catching me up with everything, just tell me what I can do."
"Professor Dumbledore," Percy spoke up, "With your permission, I'll get Oliver up to date on everything."
"Oh great, he'll be mailing murderers to Hogwarts in no time," Fred rolled his eyes and George gave a snort of laughter.
"Well, let's say I know what it's like to be the only one not up to date with what's happened," Percy said archly.
"Am I missing something?" Oliver hesitantly asked.
"I'll tell you everything at some point," Percy quietly responded.
Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Well, that's very good of you Percy, I'm sure you'll do a most thorough job."
Percy nodded gratefully and Dumbledore continued, "I'm afraid, there's not much new to bring to this meeting, we know nothing more of Harry's disappearance than you doubtlessly have already heard. Information seems to have filtered through to everyone since Severus' return last night. Harry is alive and in Voldemort's hiding place. A prisoner, though he is as far as we can ascertain, as yet unharmed."
"We know that but the part we don't know is why?" Moody put bluntly what was likely the question in the minds of many more people around the Grimmauld Place dining table.
"He wants the prophecy," Severus answered simply. "He expects Potter to give it to him."
"'Arry wou' never do that!" Hagrid began to sob again, causing Druscilla Thornfield to place a comforting hand on his arm and Severus to roll his eyes.
"He might if it were to be tortured out of him," the potions master pointed out coldly.
"Oh!" Molly burst into tears and Arthur glared at Severus' unfeeling turn of phrase.
Hagrid was whimpering softly into an expensive looking silk handkerchief that Druscilla looked sorry she'd presented him with.
"Severus, that was not a helpful remark," Dumbledore chided, desperate to avert further argument.
"It was however a true one," Severus sighed. "I'm wanted again tomorrow, the Dark Lord is apparently going to try to starve the answer out of him. He thinks Potter should be softened up a little before he questions him. Potter's alive and going to stay that way for at least the next few days, in the meantime I believe there's little to be done but to continue the search for where the Dark Lord is holding him."
"I'm afraid I agree," Dumbledore said sadly, "There is nothing else we can do at present. We should be grateful for Voldemort's fixation on the prophecy, for the moment it's keeping Harry alive."
"But we have to do something!" Molly choked out.
Remus sank his head into his hands and Druscilla, sat between him and Hagrid, placed an arm delicately about his shoulders while still trying to recover her silk handkerchief from the sobbing giant.
"Molly," Dumbledore said gently, "At the moment there is nothing to do."
"He's right, Molly," McGonagall spoke for the first time, she was seated quietly between Severus and Dumbledore and seemed to draw strength from their presence. "We shall have to leave things in Severus' hands for the next day or so and I feel sure he will acquit himself admirably."
Severus scowled at the sudden praise and Moody gave a disbelieving snort but even he had not the heart for starting a real fight with the potions master.
The meeting eventually disbanded in no better spirits than it had started out. Molly and Hagrid were still sobbing as they proceeded to the kitchen to make some tea, and in Hagrid's case to slip something decidedly stronger into his own.
Much of the rest of the Order followed the two distraught members with a few exceptions. Severus left immediately with McGonagall and Dumbledore, it seemed none of them could bear company at present much beyond their own. Remus too seemed unwilling to be amongst his friends and slipped quietly into a small sitting room on the first floor with Druscilla following stealthily at a distance.
XXXXXXX
Further along the first floor corridor in a large bedroom the scene amongst Ron, Hermione and Ginny was little changed from the previous day. Ginny was sat on the bed leaning back against the cushioned headboard with her legs stretched out before her. Hermione was perched at her side swinging her legs distractedly against the side of the bed. Ron was sat at the other end, back against the footboard and legs curled up to his chest, heedless of the dirty shoes he was putting on the clean quilt. They were sat in a subdued silence, Ginny's fingers playing idly with a loose thread on the heavily embroidered pillowcase.
"Sounds like the Order meeting's over," Hermione said dully as footsteps were heard on the stairs and a door slammed further along the hallway.
"You two should go down and see what's going on, they'll all be in the kitchen," Ginny sighed.
"What about you?" Ron asked.
"I'm not really feeling up to it today, I had a bad night and I feel exhausted, the healers warned me that to overdo it now could set me back months in my recovery." Ginny sighed, "Not worth the risk, if there'd been anything really worth hearing we'd have heard it already."
"Don't be daft, I'll carry you," Ron offered.
"Thanks, but I really don't feel up to all those people. You two go."
"We could stay here with you, after all you're right about there obviously being no big news as we haven't heard anything," Hermione pointed out.
"Go!" Ginny insisted, "You want to and frankly I could use some rest. You can catch me up on things later tonight."
Ron nodded and he and Hermione left reluctantly.
Ginny sighed and curled up on the pillows, her physical and mental exhaustion acting to shield her from much of the current stress and sorrow. The difficulties of her own situation were sufficient to involve more of her worry in herself than in the wider world, a circumstance she found herself encouraging as it served to keep her from the encroaching panic she felt in those around her.
XXXXXXX
Remus had hoped for some time alone with his thoughts, unpleasant as those were, but he had barely been sat down a minute before the door to the sitting room opened and Druscilla wandered in.
"Thought you might like some company." She sat down beside him before he could agree or disagree. "You look awful."
"What do you expect?!" He was still rankled by her comments in the meeting.
"Sorry. Tactless." She placed a soft hand on his arm, "Stay hopeful, Remus. Don't give up."
He gave her a grateful smile, finding it hard to stay annoyed when she was so clearly trying to be supportive. "I won't."
They sat for a while in easy silence, Remus more grateful than he would have supposed to simply have her at his side, her presence radiating a comforting quiet strength.
After a few minutes she spoke up, "I've been thinking about Harry's family, has somebody informed them?"
"I doubt they'd care if they knew."
"It's not about whether they care," Druscilla said with a sigh, "They are his legal guardians and the school is under an obligation to inform them of this."
"They've never been told of any of the other encounters with Voldemort."
Druscilla snorted in a most unladylike manner. "Yes but the previous encounters were all over within a matter of hours, he is being held by a homicidal maniac! You have to tell his family, they may not like him much but I feel sure they won't want him dead."
"I have been thinking about informing the Dursleys," Remus admitted. "It would be best done in person, but they won't welcome any of us into their home."
"Well whatever you do it has to be done soon. He could die and we need to face that, we can't just never speak to them again and have them wonder what had happened. I'm sure they would wonder even if they didn't care," she pondered. "Anyway as his relations they have a right to know."
Remus nodded tiredly, "You're right, I'll talk to Dumbledore and he'll probably go himself or send McGonagall."
"I think you should go," Druscilla said decisively.
"Why me?" Remus was surprised.
"Because next to them you're the closest thing the boy has to family, you were his parents' friend and this is his mother's sister, it just seems like your place to me." Also you need something to do to keep you busy, it'll help you cope, was what she tactfully didn't add to her argument aloud.
Remus was quiet for a moment, mulling over her words, "Maybe you're right. I'll speak with Dumbledore and see if he agrees with you."
"I think he will."
"You always think everyone should agree with you," Remus frowned.
"But of course, I'm the only one who ever talks any sense!" she laughed and caused him to laugh softly with her.
"Thank you, Dru, you've actually been strangely supportive through this madness."
She smiled with ill-concealed pleasure, "Believe me, you're actually helping to keep me sane too."
XXXXXXX
Harry tried to remember how long it had been since he had eaten. Time had little meaning in the dark, windowless cell with the only change in lighting coming from under the door. Harry remembered the light he could see was coming from torches rather than any natural source so even that was useless as in indication of the passing of time.
By a rough estimate it had been more than a day since anyone had come to speak with him. He had been asleep more than once and he was damning the fact he had not been wearing his watch when he had left the train. Funny that at a time like this one of his major regrets should be not having his watch on. He gave a subdued snort of amusement.
His eyesight had thankfully adjusted a little, both to the dark and to the lack of his glasses, not that there was anything to look at but shadows on the walls. He had long ago ceased to shout or even to search for an exit, he was slumped against the cold wall desperately trying to hang on to the anger that might keep him from sinking into despair.
Anger proved not to be a problem as the door was opened by someone Harry hated almost more than Voldemort himself. Bellatrix Lestrange gave him a lazy smile, "Come on, Harry, look lively, everyone's waiting for you!"
Before he could respond he found himself in a full bodybind being dragged along by the laughing woman.
She dragged him through a series of dark corridors and, rather painfully, up and down a few stone flights of stairs eventually entering a large stone hall, lit by flaming braziers, with boards over the windows.
In a chair at the far end of the room, flanked by an alarming number of Death Eaters, sat Lord Voldemort. Bella threw Harry to the floor, a few feet from Voldemort's chair. Ropes instantly coiled up from the floor as she released the body-bind, entangling him in bonds all his limited strength could not break free from. With a vicious stab of her wand his vision was restored, leaving his eyes stinging and watering but the room clear as it had ever been with his glasses.
Tom Riddle sat eating a bunch of deep purple grapes in a disinterested manner as though Harry were merely an irrelevance that might provide him with some small measure of entertainment. "How long is it since he's eaten?" Riddle asked idly.
Bellatrix shrugged sensuously, her dark eyes dancing with laughter, "A couple of days I think." She sashayed into place behind the Dark Lord's seat at his right hand side.
Riddle slowly placed another grape into his mouth, savouring the taste as he bit into the fruit. "These really are very good, Harry, you should try one," he extended his hand holding the grape far short of where Harry was desperately trying to get to the man in a futile wish to rip him apart with his bare hands.
"No? Not hungry?" he smiled and turned his hand palm up with the large purple fruit in the centre, "What about you, Bella?"
She bobbed her head and accepted the grape with her teeth, crunching it in exaggerated pleasure.
Harry strained against his bonds in frustration and disgust as much as actual hunger, his wish for food and had long been replaced by a dull ache in his stomach. His actions simply raised laughs along with scornful looks from the few unmasked Death Eaters in the room.
Strangely, it was the look on Lucius Malfoy's face that set Harry to abandon his anger and embark on more rational thought. The man was gazing at Harry in distaste and disdain for his lack of control, it was a look that reminded Harry of the looks Snape had so often given him when he had displayed uncontrolled emotion in their disastrous Occlumency lessons. Of course, he now had to admit that in some ways Snape had been right, emotional outbursts were wasting his energy and getting him nowhere and, more importantly in his mind, satisfying the Death Eaters far too much. It was with this in mind that he ceased his useless protests and sat down quietly, staring Riddle right in the eyes, his expression cold and emotionless as any he could ever remember receiving from Snape. He even noted out of the corner of his eye that Lucius Malfoy was looking at him with something approaching interest and suddenly lacking in scorn.
XXXXXXX
AN: I hope this was worth the wait, if anyone was indeed waiting. I would be delighted if anyone had any kind of comments to make on this. In the next Chapter Percy's got a new approach to finding Voldemort and we pay a little visit to the Dursleys.