Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of these characters. All of that belongs to the brilliant JK Rowling. Some parts of this fic may be taken directly from the book. I by no means intend to plagiarize. Some things are just too good to make any changes to. In this chapter most of the quotes are taken word for word to keep the story line in check and keep this as canon as possible.
Chapter 2:
Voldemort tore his blood red eyes from Harry's emerald green and began to examine his new body. It felt different than possessing others like Quirinus Quirrell. This was his, all his. The sense of control he now possessed felt stronger than he has felt in years, surged through the thin boniness that is his new body. His spider-like fingers flexed and ran over his new hairless head. His eyes sparkled with glee in a way that made him only more menacing looking. The thick serpent circling Tom Riddle Senior's grave, made her way over to her master.
"Nagini," The Dark Lord hissed as he ran a long finger over the snake's head and looking deep into each others' eyes. This snake has love for her owner, no one would mistake it. Wormtail's obnoxious sobs broke their contact. Voldemort turned his head to look at the fool crying like a baby on the ground. This angered the Dark Lord immensely. How dramatic he thought. His master had just returned, he should be crying with tears of joy! With his new body easily in control he used the new legs to stroll over to where the pathetic man lay curled in a fetal position, his black robes trailing behind him like a train.
"M-Master you promised," Wormtail choked through his tears.
"Hold out your arm," the high pitched voice commanded.
"Oh master… thank you master!" he held out the bleeding stump of the arm that is no longer there. Voldemort laughed a cold and sinister laugh.
"The other arm Wormtail," Voldemort cackled. Wormtail looked back at his master, lip quivering and with small watery eyes; but he obeyed his master and lifted the only good arm he now possessed. It was shaking violently. Under the sleeve that the skeletal man pushed up passed Wormtail's elbow was the large black skull with snake tattoo; exactly the one that Harry now has. Voldemort pulled the lengthy elm stick that was his wand and had been concealed in the pocket of his new robes, and roughly poked his wand to the mark upon his servant's limb. The skull and snake began to wriggle slightly. At this, Harry and Wormtail both shrieked in apparent agony.
"It is back," Voldemort whispered, "they will all have noticed it… and now, we shall see… now we shall know. How many will be brave enough to return when they feet it? And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?"
It was almost as though they had forgotten that Harry was even there. Neither of the two, master nor servant, paid him any attention. They just stared blankly at the cloudy grey sky waiting for something to happen. Harry was still in terrible pain. The spider bite in the calf of his left leg created the sensation of acid biting its way through the flesh. The cords binding him were enough to cause anyone distress. They squeezed so tight around his thin torso that he could barely take in any breath. His bony back pressed unyielding against stone induced great discomfort as well. Bone against rock. The boy's left arm was oozing red to the point of almost covering the new tattoo which now resided there. Harry could barely see through the blood coating his face. The adrenaline coursing through his veins was the only element keeping him conscious. There were too many thoughts abiding his brain. Pain. Panic. Grief. Fear. Loneliness.
The air dropped a few degrees as wind whistled pass stirring some stray leaves. The clouds above moved apart constructing a circle in the sky above them. The silence that filled the air a moment previously had gone entirely as the whooshing of cloaks filled the air. Swooshing and billowing robes fell from the sky and landed between all of the gravestones. For a moment everything went black. There now stood about ten cloaked figures who were one by one dropping to their knees to kiss the hem of Lord Voldemort's robes.
"Welcome my Death Eaters," Voldemort said opening his arms in welcome as if they were all gathering for a picnic and he was the host, "Thirteen years it has been, and yet here you stand before me as if it were only yesterday," By now all of the cloaked figures, including a still sobbing Wormtail, were gathered in a large circle around their master about ten feet away from Harry, "I confess myself disappointed. There are still some of you missing, and no one here has ever tried to find me."
"I found you master!" Wormtail bowed so low he almost toppled over.
"You returned to me, not out of loyalty, but out of fear of your old friends. You deserve pain, Wormtail. Yet you helped return me to my body. Worthless and traitorous as you are, you helped me… and Lord Voldemort rewards his helpers." Voldemort waved his wand along the length of Wormtail's arm stump. Now in place of the bloody and feeble arm was a chrome replica of a human arm. It shined like a mirror. Wormtail in shock and delight bent down to the dirt to pick up a pebble. He was able to turn the pebble to dust with just his forefinger and thumb.
"Thank you Master! Thank you," He bowed so low to the ground that he would probably have dirt on the tip of his nose when he stood back up.
"Harry Potter has kindly joined us this fine evening for my rebirthing party. How nice of him. Some might even call him my guest of honor. It is in fact to give credit to him that I am here this fine night. We must all show him our gratitude." Voldemort and his death eaters all rotated to look at the prone boy standing there helplessly.
Harry felt his stomach drop. With morbid curiosity he could not look away from the circle of men that were staring back at him. Lucius Malfoy was the only familiar face there which rose bile into Harry's throat. His heart pounded blood into his ears. There was no place to go and no place to hide. He was facing death and unable to fight for life. Every one of their faces bore into Harry's eyes with the same want and need. They all wanted him dead for defeating their master that Halloween night thirteen years previously.
"You know, of course, that they have called this boy my downfall? You all know that on the night I lost my powers and my body, I tried to kill him. His mother died in the attempt to save him and unwittingly provided him with a protection I admit I had not foreseen… I could not touch the boy," Voldemort hissed into the night addressing his death eaters while making his way over to the boy. Once he reached where the boy stood he faced him and raised a spidery forefinger to trace Harry's jaw ever so gently, "I can touch him now!" Harry's head exploded again. His piercing screams must have been heard by someone…anyone.
When the Dark Lord stepped back an inch, the unbearable torture stopped abruptly along with Harry's cries. "Astonishing what a drop of your blood will do, eh?" taunted Voldemort, "Wormtail!" he commanded his servant forward. Wormtail ran from the circle of death eaters and practically dove into a kneeling position before his master. "Untie him and give him back his wand. I wish to duel. "
Hesitating for only a moment to understand this shocking command, Wormtail slid the sliver dagger from his robes once more and crawled over to the bound boy. Standing up and with one forceful slash against the bonds, Harry was cut free. The ropes were not the only things that were cut however. The force, with which Wormtail used to slice the bonds, also slashed Harry's torso from the top of his right rib to the bottom of his left hipbone. He cried out for a quick moment in pain at his new bleeding injury. He dropped face first into the ground below since the ropes were no longer aiding his posture. Wormtail lifted him back off the ground by the neck of his now torn to shreds long sleeved Triwizard tournament jersey. Barely able to carry his own weight, Harry swayed where he stood. The foggy feeling in his head momentarily blocked the knowledge that he was in fact standing before the darkest wizard in the world and is about to duel him. Gravely injured already and only fourteen years old there was no way possible he could survive this.
"You've been taught how to duel I would presume, yes?" The Dark Lord asked mockingly, "Pick up your wand Potter!" Harry's wand was shoved unceremoniously into his uninjured left arm. He grasped it firmly knowing his wand is his last chance at life.
"First we bow to each other," Voldemort bowed with grace while looking on at Harry expecting him to do the same, "Come now Harry, Dumbledore would want you to demonstrate your manners. I said BOW!"
It felt as if an invisible hand pressed with all its might against Harry's spine causing him to bend forward into a bow which Harry recognized as the Imperious curse. I will not let him toy with me. Even with all the suffering he had gone through thus far this evening, Harry's stubbornness was not knocked from his personality. He was still Harry.
The only time in his life he had had a formal duel was in that joke of a duel club hosted by Professor Lockhart. All he learned was the disarming spell 'Expelliarmus'. What use would that be against the darkest wizard in history? There was no one to protect him this time. His mother had died for him at the hands of the same wizard he is now facing.
"I see we are a bit stubborn. Bow to death Harry, "the disturbing snake-like face laughed.
Before Harry could ready himself, Voldemort yelled, "Crucio!" The un-blockable torture curse hit Harry straight in the chest. He collapsed to the ground unable to sense anything neighboring him except for pain. White-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin. His already sore and raw throat protested the screams they were forced to produce.
The curse ended as quickly as it had begun. Harry did not know if his body would be able to sustain that type of torture again. It was too much. Sweat beading on his forehead and convulsing from the shear pain and exhaustion, the adrenaline took over. Harry rose from where he lie on the dirt. I'm going to die like my parents. Standing upright and with a fight. At some point during the time he landed in this graveyard and now, he had accepted death.
Voldemort looked at him piteously, "I admire your courage Harry. Just like your father you are. I respect that. Since you are a bit amateur with magic, how about we try this the muggle way? Seize him!" With the Dark Lord's command, 4 death eaters approached Harry from behind. Two of the four clutched his upper arms with tensile strength and lowered him to the damp earth. Harry's wand was grabbed away by a fifth individual. When his back made contact with the ground, the other two death eaters secured his legs with their body weight. The petrified boy was now pinioned beneath four men; one at each arm positioned straight out from his body, and one at each leg straight down.
The Dark Lord knew he was not being fair; one fourteen year old boy being held down by four grown men while injured. But that just made it all the more fun to him. The boy deserves to suffer and I am doing it the muggle way to be courteous. After all, life isn't fair. Voldemort smiled his pointed teeth at these thoughts. He strolled over to where Harry lay, cloak trailing behind him. He circled a few times enjoying the view of the boy in such a vulnerable position. Maybe this will be just as fun as magic.
Harry could do nothing. The weight of the death eaters pinning him down would be impossible to escape from. He would just have to endure whatever was about to happen. No matter what I will not give in. He will not win.
Voldemort straddled Harry and knelt down so he was directly above him. He tilted the boy's chin up with the tip of an elongated finger. "Ah Harry, I just need a bit more playtime before I kill you. Just a little bit more, you have my word," Harry spat at the red eyes above him. The expression of deepest loathing that showed on the snake-like face alone could kill.
Without a minute to even think about his plan of action, the master called for his servant. Wormtail scurried over and handed Voldemort the silver dagger. With red eyes glaring directly into the innocent green, he lifted the boy's bloodied shirt exposing the slash on his abdomen that Wormtail designed earlier.
Dizziness and nausea flooded Harry's whole body. Short and shallow breaths made their way out of his chest but with no oxygen getting to the cluttered brain. He felt as if he was being choked.
The Dark Lord traced the line of the already formed cut with the tip of the blade causing it start bleeding again. The pain was sharp and worse than when the original cut when formed. I will not show that I'm in pain. Harry repeated this mantra over and over in his subconscious. Voldemort deepened the cut further and further by repeating the same gesture. Slowly digging the tip of the blade over the same spot until he finally got a reaction from the boy. Harry finally could not take it anymore, and cried out gasping for the breath he was unaware he was holding the entire time. By now blood was pooling in his navel and dripping over the sides of his belly.
"That's enough of that; let us move on shall we? Unfortunately the Cruciatus curse does not produce physical damage on the skin. I want whomever it is that finds your body to know how weak you are. I want them to know that Lord Voldemort did this." In a crisscross motion, the red eyed man sliced the dagger at nowhere in particular, but accomplished two more very deep cuts to the front of the boy's shoulder. "Let us move on from this muggle nonsense. I want to duel the great Harry Potter. The Boy Who Lived about to die. I want to see the lights leave your eyes!"
At once all four death eaters stepped away from Harry leaving him alone on the ground. "Get up!" With a flick of his wand, Voldemort raised Harry back to his feet. Harry wanted this to be over with already. He was too weak. His wand was shoved into his hand again. "Ready to duel Mr. Potter?"
Almost like it was happening in slow motion, Voldemort cast his spell. By instinct so did Harry. He yelled, "Expelliarmus!" While Voldemort bellowed,
"Avada Kedavra!"
The jet from the Dark Lord's wand was as green as Harry's eyes and the jet of light from the boy's wand was as red at the man's whom was trying to kill him. The irony was not something Harry could think about at the moment. Each wand was violently vibrating, like an electric charge stinging through their arms. The vibration was difficult to handle for Harry with the exhaustion of his mind and body.
The beams of light met in the middle creating a golden ball. Nothing could have prepared either of the duelers when transparent, ghost-like people, and erupted one by one out of the reborn man's wand. Cedric was the first to emerge, followed by an old man and middle aged woman. Harry almost broke the connection out of shock when Lily and James Potter appeared.
"Bring my body back, will you? Take my body back to my parents," Cedric requested.
"Son, we can linger a moment to give you time to get back to the porkey, but only a moment. Do you understand?" James Potter's voice sounded like music to Harry's ears. He nodded in understanding.
"Sweetheart you're ready. Let go!" Lily's voice sweet yet firm caught Harry's attention.
"One… two… three…" all of the ghost-like figured chanted. With all the strength Harry could muster and without thinking twice, he tore his wand upward to break the connection. Without looking back or remembering how injured he was, Harry ran for it. Every one of the death eaters were right on his tail shooting hexes left and right. The sky reflected all colors of the rainbow, flashing from the curses being cast.
When Harry reached to where Cedric's lifeless body laid, eyes still open slightly, he dove to grasp the dead boy's wrist. Once Harry's hand clasped around the cold wrist he called "Accio," the triwizard cup and only hope to get back to Hogwarts flew directly to him. The second metal touched skin, Harry felt the familiar pull behind his navel. He was safe. He was going back.
A/N: Well there's chapter 2. I will update asap! I know my tenses are all messed up. That has always been my downfall with writing. Please review, follow, and favorite!