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Check out my fanfic named "Entrapped".

Summary: Madness is not a state of mind. Madness is a place. What happens when Harry stumbles into it and gets trapped there? A Harry Potter version of Alice in Wonderland but a thousand shades darker.

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Oxford is burning.

That was the headline on the evening news. Voldemort didn't feel any kind of way about it. Anger drove him since leaving Harry's place the other night. Anger at himself, for getting caught in Harry's web of lies. For listening. For believing it. Anger at himself.

So yes, he'd been playing arsonist. First, he'd taken out the restaurant and the soldiers, they were victims of opportunity, those men. Last night he'd torched Sirius's auto body shop in Oxford, his secondary base of operations and the Laundromat two doors down. For the price of a one-way ticket to Italy, Cho had been full of information, letting Voldemort know about all the different business Sirius owned all over Oxford and London. Sirius might be the owner on paper, but they belonged to Harry. And Voldemort hit them all. Four buildings going down at once. He wanted to eradicate anything Harry and Sirius had. Wipe out their resources, leave them on their knees. Like Voldemort was.

He didn't need the Russians and their guns, but he'd gotten them anyway. Anything to one-up Harry. To show him who Voldemort was. But Harry wasn't responding. He was allowing Voldemort to rampage through his territory without repercussions.

It didn't help. Only made Voldemort angrier. Nothing eased that tight ball in his chest. Nothing helped him forget he'd been betrayed on all sides. Cho had told him about Morfin meeting with Sirius. She didn't know what went on, what was said, but Voldemort knew. An audio file had appeared on his phone, texted to him by a number he didn't recognize. He'd sat on the floor in his bedroom, headphones on, and listened to his uncle hand him over to Sirius Black. He'd listened to his uncle talk so casually about trying to kill him. A part of Voldemort died right there in that bathroom.

He'd placed his trust in the wrong people. That'll teach him. A numbness settled over him after that, and he'd watched everything as someone far removed from the spectacle as opposed to the epicenter that he so obviously was. At the meeting, he paid the loud threats and bluster no mind. They had lots of questions about his uncle's death. Voldemort couldn't make himself care about retaliating on that,

"My uncle tried to kill me, more than once."

Everyone went silent. He looked around the room.

"I know he wasn't acting on his own. I know he did it at your command. So let's cut the chase."

He stood.

"I'm done with you old bastards. I'm done with this."

He picked up the table, flipped it. Drinks and cards went flying. Men started shouting.

"You can keep trying to kill me and I'll take every last one of you with me, or you leave me alone to do what you ignorant bastards never could."

He walked out the room without a backward glance, but of course, that was too Goddamn easy. They jumped him in the small, dark alley leading from the back of the bar to the street where Avery and Nott were waiting for him. Boots and punches, and was someone wearing brass knuckles? He gave as good as he got, as best he could. But there was only one of him and he didn't even know how many of those bastards there were.

In the end, his knees gave out and he fell to the ground, curling in a fetal position as boots stomped on his head. This was what he deserved after provoking a fight. He protected his head as best he could and waited for it to be over. At least he could still feel this. The numbness inside him remained, even when a boot caught him in the throat and he blacked out from all the pain.

He woke up in his bed. Voldemort shifted and groaned when pain shot through him. He panted, trying to breathe. Holy hell. That was some kind of hurt.

"Careful. Careful."

A gentle hand touched his brow and he looked up into Bella's concerned eyes.

"Wa…Water."

He croaked the word out, and she waved at someone across the room. Rodolphus came into view, worry on his face. He and Bella helped Voldemort into an upright position. Every single movement hurt. He panted, sweat dampening his forehead. Bella brought a glass of water to his lips. He gulped it eagerly, even though that too, hurt unlike anything he'd ever experienced.

"Avery and Nott found you in the alley."

Rodolphus said stiffly. Voldemort ignored the reprimand in Rodolphus' voice.

"They should have left me."

He shouldn't have survived that beat down. He knew for damn sure the old heads didn't intend for him to live. Bella made a choked sound.

"Don't say stuff like that. You could have died."

Her eyes glittered as she stared at him. Voldemort shook his head and looked away. Maybe that was what he wanted. God knows he'd done his best to provoke that beating.

"I know you're hurting. And I don't mean this."

She waved at his body, battered and bruised.

"But you can't do that. You can't just lie down and accept this."

What should he accept? Voldemort didn't know anymore. He just knew that the numbness needed to go.

"Nott says you've got some cracked ribs and contusions."

Rodolphus moved closer to Bella and together they peered down at Voldemort.

"You're going to hurt for a while."

Voldemort knew about that, didn't he?

"Here."

Bella offered up some painkillers and more water.

"This will help."

He doubted that very much, but Voldemort swallowed the pills and allowed Bella and Rodolphus to help him settle back onto the bed. When they left, he tried to get back up, but that wasn't happening. He smothered a cry and fell back onto the pillows, chest heaving. Damn it. He needed something way stronger than those tiny Goddamn pills if he wanted to ease the pain, to drown out the words. Harry's words. To block the memories.

Check out my other fanfic named "Ensnared". It's actually a Harry Potter Version of "The Beauty and the Beast" Let me know what you guys think. Just follow the link below or visit my profile. Looking forward your feedback

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Check out my fanfic named "Elusion". Let me know what you guys think. Just follow the link below or visit my profile. Looking forward your feedback

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Check out my other fanfic named "No Escape." If you haven't checked it out yet. Just visit my profile or click on the link below

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If you have the time, then check out my other Harry Potter fanfic labelled "Desperation" Just visit my profile or click on the link below,