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The breath whooshed out of his lungs and he practically bounced up a bit on the soft mattress as Voldemort dropped him roughly on the bed. He opened his eyes and stared up at the black velvet canopy of the four-poster bed. This was it. Voldemort was going to take him. Something inside him urged him to fight it but he drowned it out. He had agreed to this in exchange for Bella's life and since Voldemort had held up his end of the deal, it was obligatory that he fulfil his end too. So, he wouldn't fight it. He doubted he'd feel anything though. His body felt too cold, numb and broken. His head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton and thoughts came slow.

The bed was unbelievably soft and felt amazing underneath his battered body. He managed to breathe out as his eyes slid shut,

"I think I'm going to pass out so please hurry up."

He felt the mattress shift and failed to bite back a laugh as Voldemort ran his fingers over his bare chest. Feeding Bella most of his blood had definitely left him delirious. He resisted the urge to move when Voldemort's fingers came to halt a little above the waist of his pants. He could hear his own heart thudding in his ears. Could Voldemort hear it too? Before he could stop himself, the words slipped out,

"Can you hear my heartbeat?"

Voldemort didn't reply and that caused him to frown. He opened his eyes and saw him staring down at him with an odd intensity. His mouth was pursed and his crimson eyes looked extremely thoughtful. The snake was hanging off his shoulder and its yellow gaze was focused on him. Harry looked away from it and back at Voldemort's face,

"Is something wrong?"

Voldemort growled and shook his head. He couldn't keep his eyes open any longer and they slid shut again. Voldemort's fingers moved away from his pants and Harry couldn't stop giggling as Voldemort began tracing the bruises over his skin with the barest brush of his fingers. He twitched and tried to move away but Voldemort grabbed his shoulder and held him in place as he continued to explore the bruises. Harry managed to rasp out breathlessly,

"Oh! Stop…Stop…"

Voldemort's fingers halted over his Adam's apple and he finally snarled,

"I do not understand you!"

Harry's forced his eyelids to lift up again and looked at Voldemort,

"I'm an open book."

Voldemort leaned over him…they were so close…so close that their breaths intermingled. The snake slithered closer to him and Harry instinctively pushed his head back in the mattress,

"Did you return to the cavern today?"

Harry frowned before it started to make sense. Voldemort had forbidden from going there and Voldemort had been extremely angry when he had sleepwalked there a second time. Is that what Voldemort had thought when he had seen the fresh bruises on his skin…that he had been back at the cavern? Was that why he had been so mad? He shook his head and spoke,

"I was at the lake."

Voldemort's fingers closed around his throat and he growled,

"Do not lie to me!"

Harry fisted the thick covers and cried out,

"Why do you keep accusing me of lying? When have I ever lied to you?"

He saw stars for a moment and his cheek stung when Voldemort struck him hard across the face. The spinning in his head worsened and he couldn't keep his eyes open,

"You know you can hit me as much as you want. I don't have anything to lose. But you…you need to start thinking more logically. I haven't done anything wrong. I haven't lied to you. You said that you don't understand me. Well, I can say the same about you."

Harry's cheek continued to sting but Voldemort's fingers loosened on his throat as he demanded,

"Explain the bruises!"

Harry exhaled and spoke,

"I went for a ride on those black flying horse like creatures in the forest."

Voldemort's fingers fell away completely, and he whispered sounding aghast,

"You did what?"

Harry repeated his statement,

"I went for a ride…"

Voldemort clamped a hand down over his mouth to stop him from finishing the sentence and spoke,

"You rode a Thestral?"

Harry nodded his head and Voldemort finally pulled away his hand,

"I don't believe you."

Harry couldn't stop himself from smiling,

"I could show you."

Harry felt Voldemort pull away from him and then spoke,

"I left my shirt on the shore of the lake. You'll find it there. That should be proof enough for you."

He struggled to open his eyes again and found that Voldemort had vanished. His body protested as he pushed himself up on the bed and buried his face in the soft pillow. He felt a pang of guilt for sullying the bed because he was practically covered in dirt, but he didn't dwell on it as sleep beckoned him. He wondered where Voldemort had gone. Maybe he had gone to check whether he was telling the truth. He had nearly dozed off when the swish of a cloak made him jump. He opened his eyes, raised his head a little and found Voldemort standing a little distance away from the bed. The snake was gone, and Harry saw something like remorse on his snake like features. He noticed that he was clutching his shirt in his hand. So, he really had gone to get confirmation. Well he didn't expect Voldemort to apologize for hurting him or Bella, so he let his head fall back onto the pillow as his eyelids fluttered shut once more,

"I told you I was telling the truth."

Voldemort grip grew white knuckled on the shirt and Harry prepared himself for another onslaught of pain, but it didn't come,

"You did not explain the bruises."

Harry nuzzled his head deeper into the pillow and spoke,

"I told you I went for a ride on a…"

He paused as he tried to pronounce the word Voldemort had used for those creatures. Voldemort provided,

"Thestrals."

Harry repeated,

"Yes, Thestral. I guess it flew a little outside the castle's boundaries and this happened…"

He paused as the thought of never being able to leave this place made him bleed inside all over again and he whispered as fresh tears slid down his temples,

"I can't ever leave this place."

For a moment, there was nothing but silence. He didn't even have the strength to raise his arms and wipe away his tears,

"And now you hate me once again, so..."

He wasn't able to finish the sentence because he was suddenly enveloped by the incredible warmth of a wonderfully soft blanket that Voldemort had probably pulled over him. He clutched the soft fur between his fingers and forgot all about what he was going to say,

"Sleep."

Now that was one order he was more than happy to oblige.