More violence I'm afraid - but nothing gory, just a few punches etc.
Also, for those dubious about the 'no slash as yet comment' I haven't really decided but if I did include anything it wouldn't be weird or a major part of the story.
I'm thinking Voldemort will become the equivalent of a father figure, but initially it'll just be a teacher-pupil relationship.
Normal speech'
'Snake speech'
Enjoy!
oooooooooo
A Cold Green
Choices
Harry's head swam. What the hell was going on? How had Voldemort managed to get into the castle? Harry must have been ignoring the powerful man in front of him, as the next thing he heard was:
"I won't have him only giving me half his attention. Severus, if you would…"
Harry was so busy trying to make sense of the Dark Lord's words that it came as a great surprise when a small glass bottle was pressed against his lips and a cool liquid entered his mouth. He coughed and spluttered, trying to spit out whatever potion had been administered.
A sharp smack against he back of his head with what he guessed was a fist stunned him and blurred his vision once more. He heard a familiar voice mutter,
"Thank you…"
Again he found himself drinking a liquid that he didn't want to, but this time he couldn't focus on the muscles required to close his mouth in defense.
Wait a minute… a potion? Who was giving him potions? As the bottle was lowered Harry strained to focus on the eyes in front of him. They were a dark endless black that he recognised as having glared at him many a time. A pair of eyes he hadn't seen since the corridor earlier that evening.
Snape.
Before he realised it, his senses had returned fully and the pain had ebbed enough for him to realise where he was. The fact that the potion had helped him didn't detract from the fact Snape was the one who had landed him in this mess in the first place and he wrenched his arm free suddenly, lunging forwards with a swiping punch, teeth bared in anger.
Snape seemed to have just registered the movement in time, however, and smoothly moved his head out of the way. This incensed Harry further but before he could launch a further attack he was hauled backwards from behind and thrown hard on the stone ground before those now familiar feet.
"Feistier than I would have guessed." Voldemort hissed, a thin smile warping his features, "But I will remedy that if I have to…"
His wand appeared from the dark folds of the cloak and Harry could only stare, frozen in place as it swung around to face him.
"Close your mouth now, Harry. You may be facing death but you must remember your manners."
Harry snapped it shut sheepishly, eyeing the Dark wizard before him with caution. The tall man watched him and for several moments there was silence. Harry was aware of the other students being held in place at their tables by hundreds of masked men. Surrounding this central group were many more, but it was only him and Voldemort in the centre of the hall now.
Time almost stopped as red eyes met green, and Harry felt an unease such as that when Snape looked at him sometimes. Something wasn't right and he struggled to control his thoughts, trying instead to visualise his hatred for the man and the situation in general. The thoughts running through his head turned to ramblings,
'I hate you, I hate you, I hate you… shit my head really hurts… I don't even know what's going on but I know that everything is sore! I HATE you, let me go! I just want to sleep.'
Again Voldemort smiled, but this time it was laced with warning.
"Not bad, Harry, not bad at all, but I want to see how you fare with something a little harder."
What wasn't bad?
This was his last sensible thought before he was hit with an incredible pain that ripped through his chest and rippled across his body. It shot up his back and he heard himself scream loudly in agony. He'd never experienced anything like this hot sharp fire before.
And then it was gone, leaving only a ringing in his ears and a pins and needles feeling in his legs. He was face down on the floor once more, clutching his chest in defense. He struggled to pull himself up with shaking arms.
"Now," Voldemort asked, slowly twirling his wand, "What did you think of that?"
Harry caught his breath slowly.
"Hurt…" He managed to mutter softly as he pulled himself up.
"You can't stand in front of me unless I ask you, you should know that." Came the cool voice from the man in front of him.
A spell knocked his legs out from under him and he fell to his knees once more. The next thing he knew, a thin shining cord had wrapped itself tightly around his upper torso, binding his arms tightly to his sides. It dug into him painfully, and gave off an unusual heat.
"I think you'll like this one…" Voldemort smiled at him.
Harry looked up at him with wide green eyes, almost expecting what came next.
The cord burst into flame and Harry winced as the heat blistered across his chest and up his arms. All he could do was pull his face as far back from the flames as he could whilst the numbing pain of the licking flames ripped through his arms.
He didn't give Voldemort the pleasure of a scream this time though, and only gritted his teeth, trying to meet those red eyes defiantly. Voldemort smiled and raised his wand higher, increasing the flames to a level that Harry couldn't ignore.
He let out a pained yell and struggled against his bonds for several seconds, falling backwards to the ground before once again the spell was released and all that was left was the constricting wire. Harry felt defeated once more.
The Dark wizard was no doubt just playing with him until his brother, the main attraction, appeared. He blinked back the tears and tried to ignore the pain across his chest and arms as he lay on his back, staring up at the starry ceiling.
Another unfamiliar spell raised him back up on to his knees and he scowled at the stone floor angrily. He had no idea what was going on, and it was all the fault of his brother, no doubt - this was causing him great physical pain that he wasn't willing to accept it for his brother's cause. As if on cue, Voldemort spoke once more.
"You were late to join the party, Harry. Why were you not celebrating the end of term with your classmates and family?"
The question was asked teasingly and Harry couldn't answer. In fact, he wouldn't answer. He set his jaw squarely and glared at the red-eyed man before him.
"I see, you've gone off me have you? Why don't you try and get some answers out of him, Nagini."
Harry blinked, noticing the change in speech. An impossibly large snake appeared from behind the tall man, it's tongue flicking the air leisurely.
"Can I have him when you're done?" The enthrallingly feminine hiss asked slowly.
Harry eyed the large snake carefully as it twisted its way towards him.
"Perhaps, but I am not done with him yet… just scare him, do not harm him." Came the hissed reply.
Green eyes frowned. Why make that public knowledge? Now he didn't have to worry about being eaten. No wait… parseltongue… but surely someone else in the Great Hall other than the Dark Lord spoke it. There had to be hundreds of wizards here.
Harry glanced around the room at the reactions around him. The death eaters were all watching the scene with sickly smiles, some appearing more attracted to the situation than others. The students were whimpering away as could be expected and there were some expressions of horror up at the head table.
It's just a snake… Harry thought, unmoving from his kneeling position.
Nagini's round eyes blinked lazily at him as she slithered forwards and raised her head, hissing in an intimidating manner.
Harry glanced back at the Dark Lord wondering how he was supposed to react. Would it give the game away if he remained calm? His hesitation as to what to do seemed enough to intrigue the pale man who narrowed his deadly eyes and ran a finger across his lips thoughtfully.
"He's not playing, massster…"The snake circled Harry, her body long enough to surround him in glinting scales and she increased the volume of her hissing making sure that she showed everyone her sharp fangs.
"I can see that… perhaps you should bite him."
Harry forced himself not to react to that particular statement and merely continued watching the snake circle him. Nagini laughed and shot forwards almost playfully, raising a worried gasp from the onlookers.
Harry just swallowed, reassuring himself that the Dark Lord still needed him for a while yet. The snake seemed to scowl at him and slithered backwards in a bit of a huff.
"He'sss boring, master. I want a better one who will scream and cry…""Very well, I will find you one soon. Leave him be."
Nagini turned with a flick of her tail and gradually disappeared out of Harry's view once more. He let out a small sigh.
"Well that was disappointing, little Harry. You should learn that if you want to survive around here then you have to scream a little bit now and then to keep the crowds happy. Perhaps you need reminding of this…"
Harry quickly shuffled back in escape as the pale man raised his wand again.
"Surely this is not necessary." A voice rang out strongly from the head table.
Most faces turned to see the owner of the powerful voice – Albus Dumbledore, who stood by the head table under the watch of several death eaters.
Harry now had a clear view of the table where all the teachers stood, some angry, others worried. He saw his parents, both standing protectively by Ben. There must have been a sort of panicked run-around, as Harry noticed that house tables were mixed and around a quarter of the students were missing. Perhaps they escaped the initial attack…
There were several strangers that Harry spotted too – they must have been Aurors. Under further scrutiny Harry spotted Sirius nursing an injured arm, and further back, Remus – his godfather.
An unfamiliar pang of worry rolled over him when he saw his godfather. He didn't really have much care for what happened to anyone else, but Remus was the only one who ever looked out for him. He didn't really know what to do as the feeling was so alien to him.
"Now Dumbledore," Voldemort said shaking his head in disappointment, "You should know that it's all about appearances in this game and if I need to appear dangerous, then I shall make sure that I do."
He raised his right arm and clicked his fingers loudly.
In response to this two large death eaters stepped out of the ranks, one punching Harry hard in the face in a very smooth motion. Harry hit the ground at a bad angle and the wind left his lungs in a painful whoosh. The second man kicking him in the ribs a couple of times with his heavy boots did not help matters much either.
Harry gasped for air as he was dragged upwards again. Spitting away some blood he felt a wave of anger and threw himself backwards, struggling ferociously against the strong arms that held him.
On the first launch backwards he heard a satisfying crack and roar of anger as the back of his head collided with something solid… hopefully a nose. The action probably caused him as much pain as his attacker, he thought, annoyed at the numbing sensation creeping around the back of his head.
But this didn't stop him kicking out forcefully with his legs, connecting with something solid at least twice. Once his legs had been grabbed he had little fight left in him and he yelped in pain as he was forced to the ground face first. The full weight of someone's knee pressed deeply into his back and it caused him too much pain to struggle any further.
The bindings were released but his arms were quickly grabbed and wrenched behind him eliciting another howl of pain from his mouth. A meaty fist grabbed a handful of his hair and stretched his head back awkwardly.
"Are you ready to behave Harry?"
He heard Voldemort's amused tone of voice and growled, struggling aimlessly against the two death eaters apparently sitting on him.
His face was thrust forward into the solid stone with a thump and yanked back up very suddenly. Harry blinked, the pain of it only rapidly hitting him then. He felt the fresh cut on his face now bleeding freely down his cheek and panted very ungracefully as he tried to regain his breath.
The hand knotted in his hair did not loosen up.
"As I was saying before our young guest arrived, I want to bargain with you, Mr Potter." Voldemort's unnatural voice said powerfully.
"We're not going to bargain with you!" Was the firm reply from Harry's father.
Harry strained his head to see what was going on but received an increase in pressure against his back.
"Don't you fucking try it." A deep voice hissed in his ear.
He closed his eyes momentarily, trying to focus on anything except the pain.
"I'll let you have your youngest son back in return for your oldest." Voldemort announced almost triumphantly.
In the silence that followed Harry began to chuckle softly. Little did Voldemort know but he was offering them the best deal in the world – don't hand over the son that they love and the one that they hate gets taken away and murdered. Perfect.
His amused thoughts were abruptly stopped when his death eater slammed his face into the floor once more, but this time didn't raise it back up, and Harry was left to survey the events at an angle parallel to the floor. The cold stone sobered his thoughts up slightly and it took a few minutes for the room to stop spinning.
"I'm glad you find it so amusing, Harry…" Voldemort hissed suspiciously, gaze lingering on the helpless figure before returning his attention to the head table.
"We'll do no such thing." His father announced loudly.
Surprise surprise, Harry thought sadly.
"You're willing to sacrifice your innocent younger son?" Voldemort asked angrily, the evening clearly not going to plan.
Of course they are… Harry gazed disappointedly at the flagstones around him. Maybe a small part of him had hoped they would miraculously change their minds but it seemed they really did just want him dead.
"If it is for the good of man-kind, then yes." James continued brashly.
"I'll never go with you!" Shouted another brave voice, causing an echo in the still room – Ben.
What an idiot, Harry thought.
"Well… I can't pretend I'm not surprised. You won't mind then, if I just kill this one right now?" Voldemort continued slowly, his footsteps approaching Harry from behind.
Harry didn't struggle. He had resigned himself to his fate. What use was it to struggle for the survival of his existence if nobody else would?
The end of the wand pressed against his neck painfully and he took a deep breath in anticipation.
"You can't let them do this James! He's your son!" A voice yelled from another direction.
Remus.
"They really hate you, don't they Harry?" A voice hissed very quietly near Harry's head.
So Voldemort had worked it out earlier. Harry didn't reply and tried to steady his breathing as he heard Remus being reprimanded for speaking out of turn. One or two less familiar voices spoke out in Harry's defense also, but his father argued his case.
"Ben is my son too, and I have to protect him!"
Green eyes fought back tears of frustration. It really didn't matter, Harry thought, wryly. He was thankful for the few sticking up for him, but if he did survive and was returned to the happy and loving care of his family, he might have to take his own life anyway. He smirked to himself a little at the thought.
"But he's family!"
"I have no choice!"
"Ben could fare better against them than Harry could! He's just a boy!!"
"Are you scared of death, Harry?"
Was he scared?… A little bit. But it had to be better than this, right?
"Exactly! He's just like any other boy! Hundreds of people had to sacrifice their families in the last war! I'm not prepared to let our only hope go, just for him!"
The last sentence was almost spoken with malice and Harry wasn't the only one who picked up on this.
"I know you can understand me. Why don't you reply Harry?"Harry ignored Voldemort and struggled against the anguish he felt in his chest at hearing his father's words.
Why didn't his father love him? What made him so different to Ben? Was it really just the fame? He choked back an unheard sob, fighting to keep his anger and pain down in his chest where it belonged.
"Breathe Harry, you're going to pass out if you don't remember to breathe…"Voldemort's voice contained a chuckle at the prospect of such a thing occurring but it was also soothing. Harry just couldn't concentrate on what was being said.
'Just for him.' 'Just for him.' 'Just for him.'
No matter how he said it, it just couldn't be understood in any other, more positive manner.
"It seems such a waste to kill you… but I'm afraid the waste is necessary. They have to see the error of their ways, Harry. You understand, don't you?"
Harry shivered at the words. By breathing in, his body welcomed back his surroundings and he regained a hold of his composure.
"I understand…"He hissed his reply softly, finally answering Voldemort.
"Good boy."
His father was still arguing with some of the protesting teachers but he couldn't listen anymore.
"Mr Potter, you've made your decision, there's no turning back now." Voldemort announced loudly.
No protest was heard to this. Harry's attacker lifted him back on to his knees roughly as Voldemort continued. His eyes blinked ferociously as they adjusted to the new lighting and normal viewpoint once more. He disappointedly took in the impassive expressions on his parent's faces.
"It seems a shame… I know which wizard is the better of the two…" Voldemort continued, reaching a hand out to Harry's messy hair.
Harry allowed his eyes to close at comfort offered from the pale hand that ran itself over his head and down the back of his neck. Again he felt the power washing over him in waves and he drew from it, pulling it around him like a cloak.
"But if that is your decision, then so be it." Voldemort finished in a very final tone of voice.
The hand left but Harry kept his eyes closed.
"Have you ever seen a dead body before, young Benja-?"
The Dark Lord's question ended abruptly as a resounding explosion threw Death Eaters forward through the ranks in disarray, scattering chairs and knocking some robed men to their feet.
Harry heard Voldemort roar and all of a sudden there was chaos. It seemed that some enterprising students had alerted further Aurors to their situation. These new men stormed the Hall speedily, duelling their way to the head table and ushering as many students as they could out of the main door. The room was abuzz with shouts and jets of magical energy. A part of Harry found it all incredibly exhilarating and when a man fell prey to a particularly nasty slicing spell Harry didn't look away in disgust – he could only stare at the blood issuing from the man's wounded arm as he battled on.
A chair clattered past where Harry kneeled and he came to his senses.
He made his split second decision and tore himself out of his guard's grasp, elbowing his way through the seething mass of robes and using his slim form to his advantage. He soon slipped into the crowd and dodged his way to the end of the head table where he knew there was a side door into the staff room.
With his hand on the door-handle he happened to glance back over his shoulder at the multi-coloured battle going on behind him. Suddnely his eyes happened to lock with a menacing pair of red ones but before Voldemort could react, Harry disappeared into the doorway swiftly, slamming the door solidly behind him.
He paused, unsure of what to do, and listening to the muffled fighting going on behind him. Leaving it to instinct he let himself sprint though the messy staff room and around the corner into the darkness of the corridor ahead.
Running as fast as he could and experiencing a sudden panic as to where to go, his decision was made for him as he ran smack straight into something decidedly solid and knocked himself flat on his back.
He sat up hurriedly, reaching for his wand that wasn't there and feeling his stomach drop as the figure emerged from the darkness, eyes glittering darkly. The man was large and wore a deep blue cloak but it wasn't the stranger's stature that worried him… it was the shining set of fangs that greeted him in the smile…
Oooooooooo
Woohoo! Another chapter past. What did you think of that one? Hope it was up to par. I think it's a bit longer than the others so hopefully you can make do with that for a few days. Schoolwork is calling me, but I'll get back to the story as soon as possible, no worries.
The next chapter will be the action from the castle corridors and the consequent choices that Harry makes.
Thanks for the reviews – they really are encouraging! x