Harry Potter looked at the dead body of Cedric Diggory beside him, before slowly rising up. With the effects of being stunned slowly going away, he quickly investigated his surroundings, however it was moot because he wasn't able to see anything in the dark and so he was forced to look at the only light source. At the torch that was currently being held by Pettigrew with the only hand he had remaining, and besides him – a man, no – a monster was looking at him with curious eyes.

"Harry Potter "Monster started speaking and smirked. It was unnatural – the smile and it made Harry feel uncomfortable. It's as if being in graveyard, wandless, standing before the dark wizard that killed his parents and so many other people wasn't enough. "Are you ready to die, Harry Potter? "

"Are you? "He replied, trying to waste time and wait for the help to come. Nobody was coming though, at least nobody who could save him.

The Monster just laughed and dropped him the wand. "Let's duel, let's see what the old man had taught you" Monster pointed the wand at him, and smirked excited to see what the boy will do next. Harry didn't wait, and quickly picked up his wand.

"Expeliarmus!" he shouted and the blue spell came out of his wand straight towards Voldemort. The monster however, lazily took a step aside and the spell flew past right near his shoulder. He shook his head.

"Is that all? How… disappointing." Voldemort said and Harry fired another spell straight at him, with the same results, and then suddenly a quick curse came towards Harry and next thing he knew, he was in unbearable pain. "That night on Halloween, I made a mistake. "Voldemort whispered. "And tonight, I will fix it. "He will fix everything tonight, the boy who was prophesied to defeat him will die and he will bring down the nation to its knees. "Your blood is part of me now, Harry Potter. The protections that were created on the night Lily Potter so valiantly defied my offer, and brought me down has ceased to exist. You're nothing now, Harry Potter and there is nobody who will come to save you. "So suddenly had the light green killing curse flew out of The Monsters wand, Harry Potter was hit before even he could react. The Monster smiled at the laying body of Harry Potter in front of him and turned around to face his inner circle. There is work to be done tonight, and this was just beginning.

Peter Pettigrew stared at the dead body of the supposed Chosen one who will save the Wizarding World. Conflicting thoughts were raging in his head, his master was victorious and the nation will soon be his. He knew he should feel happy, after all – he was the loyal servant of The Master, but that happiness was missing, as he stared at the dead body of Harry Potter. Instead, memories started filling his head. Memories of his school year. Instead of happiness he knew he should feel, he felt shame. Disgust. Shame that he couldn't be stronger that fateful day and stand against the Voldemort the day Bellatrix out dueled him and gave him a choice. Live or die. He knew what his friends would have chosen, and that disgusted him. He couldn't fight and die for his friends the way they would've done for him, and the way they did in school years when everyone turned their back against him, ever since the first year just because he was different. There was regret, too. That he didn't trust his friends as much as they trusted him when they made him secret keeper. They were the only people who actually cared about them, he knew he was just a tool for Dark Lord. James Potter gave him chance to be happy. And he rewarded him with the death of his family and people he held dear.

"Peter…" a voice interrupted his mental thoughts and he quickly shook off thoughts as these. He had a master to serve. There was no point in remembering the past. Not now, now that his choices will haunt him forever and doomed the wizarding world to being controlled.

"Sorry, my lord. I was thinking about the muggle I had so much fun with nights ago." Peter said and bowed before his master.

Voldemort laughed – his laugh… It made him shiver inside. It was as if his Master became inhuman in more ways than just outside look.

"You will get so many muggles to play with, Peter. For all the good that you did tonight. But to do that, we have work to finished. Give Malfoy the intel you had so intelligently gathered. With the Harry Potter died, we will have to strike fast and destroy any opposition before they can even react. And bring fear to people. And you… You make sure our agents inside ministry are ready to act. "His master ordered him and he bowed, before walking towards Lucius Malfoy.

"Here are the locations of muggleborn families currently in a Hogwarts. "He knew a lot of people will die because of these documents had just gave Malfoy. But he couldn't afford to care. He had to stay alive. After he bowed to Voldemort again, he drank the Polyjuice potion and apparated to the ministry.

Severus knew something was wrong the moment champions portkey didn't send them to the central stage, and so instantly went down from the stands to the maze, soon after he saw Dumbledore and Moody, who also had worried looks in their faces.

"I need to check the wards, to find out whether the portkey breached the wards. Maybe it just malfunctioned and sent them couple miles off. "he heard Dumbledore saying. "Alastor, I need you to interrogate every ministry member here and find out who was responsible for portkey. If this was really a Voldemort plot… God, I hope not…" he finished and went to the inside of the castle, to check the wards. Snape reached Moody whose magical eye was eyeing everybody in turns.

"Snape! I need your help, come with me." Moody ordered and Snape followed. This was no time to argue leadership semantics. They soon reached Ludos Bagman who was standing away from the other people.

"Bagman, I will ask you one simple question, and you will answer me immediately. "Moody said.

"Yes…?" Bagman answered, looking very unsure.

"I need names. Every name who had access to the portkey at any point when it was created. "

"I don't… Remember" Bagman said.

"Do not play games, Bagman! "Moody was shouting now, but Snape quickly intervened.

"Allow me." He said and pointed wand at Bagman. There was no time to waste. "Ludos, look me in the eye" Bagman followed his instructions. "Legilimens" he quickly bypassed worthless defense and went through his mind, but he didn't find anything. Nothing in the recent past 2 days, it was gone. That wasn't good. He broke the connection and turned to Moody "He was obliviated, by very good Legilimens, too good… I don't know any death eater with mind arts this good. "he shook his head, but any further analysis had to wait, because he suddenly felt heat in his wrist. It can't be. He paled and checked his hand. It was burning, almost as if…

"Snape?" Moody gave him quizzing look, secretly analysing his reaction but Snape didn't notice. He was too busy thinking about implications. He knew he had no choice, but to answer it's summons, but the summons themselves worried him. Only Voldemort himself could do it. Did he find a way to resurrect himself? He started moving fast, because he realized it can't be a coincidence that Harry Potter disappears and in an hour Voldemort rises. "Tell Dumbledore. He is back. And has Harry Potter" he told Moody and started running. He never ran so fast in his life, to his office and fireplace.

When Dumbledore checked wards, he still had hope that Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory were still somewhere inside Hogwarts wards. His hopes were quickly shattered though, after quick spells checking whether the wards were breached by portkey. He didn't waste time, and went back to the maze, to the place where portkey went off. And was met by Moody, who gave him the news which hit him like hammer.

"Are you sure? "Dumbledore asked, fearing for an answer.

"Snape was" Moody muttered, not hiding distaste for the man "This is either some kind of crazy ploy by Death Eaters or Voldemort is really back. We both know that only he can use the mark, and you trust Snape way too fucking much to expect plot from him like that. "Moody finished and Dumbledore looked at him gravely.

"Severus is not a happy man, but his loyalty is unquestionable. And we won't discuss it, not now." Moody just huffed to that. "All the puzzles lead to terrifying conclusion. Voldemort is back from the death…" Dumbledore whispered. "And he most likely has Harry Potter.

"Aye, you know what this is, Albus. The smell of war, Albus. Just say a word, and I'll assemble the old guard, if Harry Potter is being held by him… We need all the help we can get."

Albus nodded "Yes… Until Severus returns with news, that is our only available option." and so Moody left without saying any more words. He had lambs to collect, and to slaughter them. The plan was going perfectly.

Snape took a deep breath and apparated where he was summoned. He quickly took a look, and analyzed his surroundings. He wasn't in any place that he knew off, but it was graveyard. Interesting and ironic place for Voldemort to be in. He prepared his occlumency shields and took steps towards Voldemort, who was looking him with curiosity.

"Severus! I am so glad that you answered my summons so quickly "Voldemort smile. "I invited you here, to play the game. Do you want to play the game with me, Severus?

"Anything you wish, my lord. "Snape answered and that made Voldemort smirk.

"I ask you a question, you will answer that question. If I don't like the answer, you will not enjoy the consequences of it. Let's start. Did you know what would happen to me after coercing me into agreeing to spare Lily?"

"My lord? "" Snape asked, caught off-guard. Out of all the questions he expected, this wasn't one of them. "Of course not, my lord! "He answered honestly.

Voldemort was satisfied. "Why haven't you looked for me? "

"My lord… If I knew you were still" Snape's answer was cut off by sudden Crucio that came at him in a flash. It lasted few minutes, and it took a while for Snape to recover.

"Boring, Severus. I expect better from you. It doesn't matter, not anymore. Tell me about Harry Potter." Voldemort ordered and Snape dutifully answered.

"He is arrogant, reckless. Just like you would expect from Gryffindor." Snape started, but Voldemort didn't let him finish.

"Such… Hatred for the boy. It's ironic don't you think?" Voldemort asked him.

"My lord?" Snape queried him

''This situation… is what people call irony, I think. You hate the boy so much, but yet… there's one thing, a foolish thing if you ask me. "Snape listened to Voldemort and the alarms started ringing in his head. "Love. "Disgust was visible in his face when he said that. "Love for the child, has lost me my body for years … Love for the woman, has lost me my most intelligent servant. Crucio!"

Pain overwhelmed his body again, he withered on the ground and this time it lasted even longer.

"My lord, I am your loyal servant, please…" He however was quickly silenced by a spell.

"You were my loyal servant. I made mistake by indulging you in that request on that Halloween night. I made mistake with Quirell trusting you, when I should've realized what's happening with you earlier. Love made you weak, Severus. If you even could call that love. Did you hate it? Looking at the copy of James Potter every day, while seeing HER eyes? Did it haunt you? Knowing the reason for her death, was you? Let's not play games anymore, Severus. "He removed the Silencio from Snape, before taking his wand.

'My lord…"

"If I give you a choice, right now. Your life for the life of the boy. Would you take it? "This had to be a trick, he quickly shook his head and Voldemort smirked.

"Did we miss the show?" a new voice interrupted their conversation, and Snape couldn't believe his luck. It was Moody, did Albus come too?

"No, Bartemius. We're just starting" Bartemius? He turned around to take a look where Moody's coming from and it was Moody, he was pointing the wand at the shackled and gagged boy on the ground… Harry Potter, who was piercing Voldemort with all the hatred he seemingly could muster.

"Moody…?" Snape asked and couldn't believe what he was seeing. This surely was a trick… Alastor Moody was Albus oldest friend, he wouldn't betray the old man like that. The man himself took a sip out of his flask and smirked at Voldemort.

"Good, pretend I'm not here, my lord. I will enjoy the show silently"

"Severus. "Voldemort whispered, and he took eyes from Moody and Potter. "Let me repeat the question. "Voldemort pointed the wand at Harry Potter "Your life for the life of a boy. Would you take it? "

This time it took Snape a while. He knew, that even if either of them lives… They will suffer, did he really want Lily's boy to suffer that fate? But he also knew, that if he sacrificed his life today, there was a chance that Albus will rescue him. He promised on Lily's dead grave that he will do all he can to make up for all his mistakes. There wasn't a choice here, not really. He slowly nodded and closed his eyes, preparing for the worst.

"Wrong answer. Avadra Kedavra." He heard the curse flying towards the other direction and screamed. He saw Harry Potter laying motionlessly and the ground, and he could only think of he failed Lily. How he failed Harry Potter. There are no words to describe what Snape felt at that moment, his distraught scream echoed in the distance and even the townsfolk probably heard it. He didn't even realize how his mental shields got demolished due to mental pain, but he felt the Voldemort entering his mind and taking every secret that he could find, before passing out he heard the final conversation between Moody and Voldemort.

"Gather every Order member. Make sure you get everyone, and take care of them. You did more than well today, Bartemius. You were perfect. Tomorrow, this nation will bend the knee.

Dumbledore was casting detection spells around the area portkey was in, desperately trying to find any kind of signs where portkey went or remains of magical residue. It was all for nothing though, there was just too much magic around Hogwarts to be able to safely pinpoint location of where the Portkey send Harry and Cedric. Moody has left to gather the Order of The Phoenix, and Snape left to spy for Voldemort. He felt useless, not for the first time in his life. And one question remained in his head. How did Voldemort managed to come back so suddenly?

Dumbledore found somewhere to take a seat on the stand and sighed. He was too old for another war, but the most worrying thing was not knowing where Harry Potter was. Soon McGonagall found him and took a seat beside him.

"Are you alright Albus? "She asked, worry plainly visible on her face.

"No, but I will be. You didn't come with Alastor?"

"Ï can't just leave school like that, Albus. Who else is going to teach teachers? I am sure other Order members will be fine without me. "She finished and the long uncomfortable silence reigned. "He has him, doesn't he?" she whispered. "What are we going to do, Albus?"

"We will fight, Minevra. Fight once again. "he answered her honestly and sighed once again. He was prepared to face Voldemort again, and he knew there will be no time to waste when Severus returns. It will compromise his spy position, but Harry was just too important to the Wizarding World. Any answer Minevra wanted to give to Albus, had to wait because suddenly Snape appeared in the middle of the field with the portkey cup in his hand. Albus never ran so fast in his life, but when he reached the middle, the sight of Snape terrified him. He looked like he went through hell and there were tears falling from his eyes.

"Severus? "He asked while starting to cast spells to heal the visible wounds he had suffered.

"We failed, Albus" Snape whispered, tears still slowly falling. "It's over, I am.." he wasn't meant to finish his sentence though, because The Monster doesn't do things by half. A sudden fiery explosion interrupted his words and fire consumed everybody still remaining near the maze.

Voldemort was sitting on the chair of the minister of magic, lifeless body of previous one laying near him. He was waiting for the reports. Pettigrew was standing in the room corner, smiling at the Master. He did good, he served his master good. And he will stay alive. The takeover of the Ministry was piece of cake. Half of the department heads were already loyal to ideals of his master, and so were quick to convince… And the rest of it… Couple attacks on their loved ones, a few murders and threat and they soon fell in line. All in the days work. He was very proud of himself. A knock shook his thoughts away and he very fast opened the door, and allowed Lucius Malfoy in.

"The attacks were as easy as you would expect them to be… Those muggles had no chance, my lord. Bella stayed around to have some fun; I shudder to think what she will do with these bodies. The muggleborn workers of ministry were taken care of by Greyback and his clan, my lord."

Voldemort just nodded and smiled before letting Malfoy leave. He repaid the debt of betrayal already, and he was satisfied with the work the man has done this night. The rest of the muggleborns will be taken care of when Dementors reach Hogwarts. And with Order currently being dealt with by Crouch Jr… He had won tonight. And he utterly crushed all opposition in few swift strikes. He took a look at the head placed on the table and smirked.

"Thank you, Harry Potter."