Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I wouldn't have named that poor character from book four Viktor Krum! I mean seriously, who names anyone something like Krum! Even Voldemort sounds better than that. And he even has a second name to fall back on. Tom. Granted Marvolo is a little out there, but it's still better than Krum! Point in theory: I do not own Harry Potter.

CHAPTER TWO

Captive

Harry awoke to something that sounded like booming thunder. Upon opening his eyes, however, he discovered that he might as well have kept them closed for he could see nothing but utter blackness. Where am I? he thought to himself. Then he remembered. He had been betrayed. Hethought back, remembering.

Oh man! I'm screwed! I never made it to Diagon Alley to get my supplies. Dumbledore might cut me some slack, seeing as how it was the Dursley's fault. Of course, Snape won't let me get away with anything like that. I wonder why Ron or Mione never came to get me? Harry was thinking as the Dursleys drove him into London. Surprisingly, they had not objected at all to taking him to King's Cross. Hedwig hooted contentedly inside her cage on his lap. He stuck a finger in and she nipped it affectionately.

They entered the parking lot and Uncle Vernon drove to the very back of the lot. "Why are you back here?" Harry asked. "There are some spaces up there at the front."

"Quiet, boy!" Uncle Vernon snapped. He said it more venomously than usual so Harry was startled into temporary silence. He was about to open the door to go find a trolley for his things when Aunt Petunia locked the doors.

"What are you doing?" Harry protested, annoyed. "It's ten minutes to eleven! I'll miss the train!"

"Hush, child! You can wait a bit longer!" Aunt Petunia stated shakily. What's wrong with them all? Harry wondered when there was a knock on Uncle Vernon's window with a black-gloved hand. He rolled down the window.

"Have you got him?" a familiar, sneering voice asked. MALFOY! Harry realized, stunned. "He's right behind me," Uncle Vernon replied, sounding a bit scared. The doors were unlocked and another gloved hand reached for the handle. Harry recoiled as a woman with a Death Eaters mask on reached for him. Dudley pushed him towards her. "Go on, runt," he whispered vilely. "Meet your Maker." The woman grabbed the front of Harry's shirt and tugged him out of the car, depositing him roughly on his head onto the hard pavement. Hedwig screeched her defiance.

"Oh wook, it's wittle Hawwy," taunted Bellatrix Lestrange. "Come, take a ride with us Potter." Harry looked around blinking the blood out of his eyes. His head was bleeding rather freely and Hedwig was chirping, annoyed at Harry for bleeding on her. Five black-robed Death Eaters surrounded him, each with a wand at the ready. One turned his attention away from the center of the group, back to Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley. He comprehended each in turn, scrutinizing. "You, boy," Malfoy said, indicating Dudley. "Unload all of Potter's things and hand them over to us." Dudley, too scared to protest, scrambled out of the car to get Harry's things from the trunk. After everything was unloaded, Dudley, sweating from the exertion, dragged himself back into the car.

"What about the amount that we agreed upon?" Uncle Vernon asked, still scared, but emboldened by the prospect of being cheated.

"Nott, give him the money," Malfoy ordered as he turned his attention back to Harry. The man directly behind Harry separated from the group carrying a large suitcase. He stepped up to the window, unlocked the suitcase and displayed the contents to Harry's treacherous family.

"50,000 pounds, as agreed upon," Nott stated. "You can take it and leave. You have our gratitude and, more importantly, that of the Dark Lord's for your assistance."

Uncle Vernon snatched the suitcase, threw it into the back and floored the acceleration, pealing out the tires, rolling the window up as he drove recklessly away.

Harry stood up to face his abductors. He would not cower on the ground in front of them. He would face death like a man, like his father had. He had even already begun to formulate a rough plan of action to delay that death. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wand, holding it at the ready. He tucked Hedwig's cage under his left arm. She shrieked at him, indignant at being held sideways. Sorry Hedwig, he thought, but I can't just set you down. I'm going to need you in a few minutes. As if she understood, she calmed.

"You might want to hand that bird over to us, Potter," Bellatrix Lestrange spat at him. "She needs to go to the Dark Lord, just like the rest of this filth." Hedwig shrieked a challenge at her. "Quiet, you stupid bird," Lestrange taunted back. The snowy owl screamed louder still. Harry tightened his grip on his beloved owl. Malfoy stepped closer to Harry. "Come, come now, Potter. You know better than to defy us alone. The only reason you escaped us two months ago was because your friends delayed us and then that fool Dumbledore came to your rescue. You will not be so lucky this time." And with that, he raised his wand to level with Harry's chest and stated, "Imperio."

Harry felt the carefree sensation once again. He was happier than he had been in a long time. He could almost feel all his grief and feelings slipping away from him, leaking out of his mind. He couldn't care less that these evil people were going to kill him. His world was perfect.

Very good, Potter. Was that Malfoy's voice in his head? Oh well. Now, let's start with something simple. Give me your owl and your wand.

I don't want to, Harry thought.

Give me your owl and your wand, Potter.

Is he actually ordering me?

Give them to me!

"Screw you, no!" said Harry firmly, breaking off the Imperious Curse and throwing it back at Malfoy with such force that the man staggered backwards.

"How –" he asked, shocked.

"You can thank your friend Crouch for that," Harry stated laughingly at him. "When he impersonated Moody he taught me how to throw off the Imperious Curse. I'm a little rusty; otherwise I wouldn't have even let you get a hold on me."

"You dare be impudent, boy?" a man that Harry somehow automatically knew was Avery asked incredulously.

"Yeah, sure," Harry stated. He was building up for a getaway.

"I'll teach you to show manners to your betters," Avery yelled bringing his wand up to bear. But Harry was ready for this outburst.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled at Nott. He then ran forward, bowling over the surprised wandless man. Harry even managed to catch his wand as it came down. Avery's crucio flew through the place where Harry had been and straight into the chest of Bellatrix Lestrange. As Harry ran as fast as he could across the busy street, weaving in and out of cars, he could hear her tortured scream. He deliberately threw Nott's wand down into the path of an oncoming car. Harry didn't know how long he ran or where he ended up, but when he finally collapsed onto the ground he was somewhere in a dirty alley between two small buildings. His legs had gone to jelly and his lungs screamed their protest at him. He very carefully undid the lock on Hedwig's cage and let her out. She hooted concernedly at him and checked him over. Harry couldn't help but smile and think of a mother checking over her child. He noticed that he had bled on her quite a bit and felt very regretful for it. She then screeched angrily in the direction from which they had retreated.

"Shh, Hedwig. They're probably trying to find us," Harry whispered to her through labored breaths. "Now listen to me. Fly to Hogwarts and let Professor Dumbledore, or McGonagall, or whoever finds you know that I'm in trouble. I don't have parchment or quill or anything to write a letter with so you'll have to figure out a way to tell them. Got it?" She chirped at him. "Good. Be careful, 'k?" She chirped again. Harry gave her a brief hug and sent her off on her way.

There were four small pops around him and he suddenly found himself surrounded by Death Eaters once again. "Give it up Potter. You can't hide from us," said a vexed Malfoy.

"Look, the cage is empty," snarled Avery. "He must've sent that owl for help."

"Dolohov, you go after it," snapped Malfoy and there was another pop behind Harry as Dolohov apparated after Hedwig. "I've had quite enough of you Potter. If I weren't under orders to bring you back alive, I'd take the pleasure of killing you right now. First though, let's get rid of that annoying wand of yours. Expelliarmus!"

"Protego," Harry gasped, deflecting the spell. Malfoy stiffened.

"Accio wand!" he bellowed.

"Protego!" Harry shouted back just managing to hold onto his wand enough to say the spell before it slipped from his hands. He fought for a grip on the wand but it had slid out to the tip and then it clattered to the cracked cement.

"Crucio!" Malfoy yelled triumphantly. Harry felt the invisible daggers piercing his skin. The pain was unbearable. Harry couldn't hold his voice back any longer. With a scream of pain, he fell to the ground and continued to scream. He only grew louder when the remaining two Death Eaters joined in. His only pleading thought was that someone would hear his cries.

His insides convulsed and clenched. He couldn't take it any longer. Just let it end. Let it end. He didn't realize it when he began to cry blood. The pain was too searing for him to comprehend anything else. And then he blacked out.

Now he was in this complete darkness and his scar began to throb more and more. He cried out in surprise when something touched his hand. Then another something, and many others. There were faint squeaks of rats all around him and the light ticking of the legs and feet of many, many insects and arachnids. His scar was burning by the time a door opened to reveal a slanted rectangle of blindingly white light with the shadowy outline of an incredibly tall, incredibly thin man.

"Hello, Harry," came the high pitched, cold, evil voice of Harry's lifetime enemy Voldemort.

AN Okay, so I'm sorry if it's a little confusing when it switches perspectives. On my copy, I have asterisks, but it doesn't show up on the site. I'm really sorry, but I don't know how to fix it. I'm not that smart.

Ummm . . . so I had a bit of trouble with this chapter, as far as things adding up. I had to go back and fix it, but it is entirely possible that I missed something. If I did, please let me know. I don't want to look even more like an idiot than I already do. 

I should also probably warn you that this is un-betaed, so all mistakes are mine and mine alone. Don't go blaming somebody else.