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Chapter 67Tallis rounded the corner, surprised out of his thoughts by the unexpected sight of Ron and Hermione.
"What are you two still doing here?"
"Study group, remember?" Hermione asked softly. They had already scouted the area for eavesdropping students, but you could never be too careful. "Besides, we haven't been able to see you properly in weeks."
Tallis smiled. "I'm sorry. This whole teaching transfig thing has really thrown me. I hope the Headmistress finds a full time professor soon."
"You did great with your first class, mate," Ron announced. At Tallis' look of disbelief he pushed on. "No, really. I know it was just the Gryffs and Ravenclaws but we all loved it. I'm sure you'll not have any problems with the other classes. They Slytherins love you and Hufflepuffs are never rude to anyone."
"We'll see," Tallis said dryly. He was still irritated that he was teaching them in the first place, but he had to admit the class had seemed to go well. Even still, McGonigall couldn't hire a replacement any too soon, as far as he was concerned.
"With everything going on, has Bill been able to work on his animagus form at all? I know in November he said he was close," Hermione asked, linking her arm loosely through Tallis'.
"He finally finished it last week. Wait 'til you see. He's absolutely gorgeous."
"Any hints, mate?"
"It's his to show you, I don't want to ruin it for him. He'll show you soon enough, I'm sure. And get this—my dad has started work on it too! He thinks he's being sneaky about it but I caught him reading some books on it late at night when he thinks I'm asleep. And more than one morning I have caught him meditating on his form."
"What do you think he'll be?" Ron asked.
"I'm not sure. Maybe something in the cat family, like me. Maybe not. It's hard to say."
"Families don't always take after each other, Tallis," Hermione said factually. "I am quite certain that Ginny will be a bird of some sort, and that is not even remotely related to canines. You can never tell though."
"I bet he'll finish soon," Tallis said.
"Really?" Ron asked, incredulous. They had worked on their transformations for well over a year.
"Yes. He's not only a fully developed wizard completely grown into his powers but he also has the advantage of incredible occlumency and meditation skills."
"Think about it Ron," Hermione cut in. "We were kids trying to force developing bodies and growing magic into a completely different form—all at the same time that we were struggling with both in our natural forms. Of course it took us forever."
"I guess. Not fair, really."
Hermione and Tallis rolled their eyes at the moody red head.
The trio quietly made their way to the Chamber. They were a bit wary about meeting in the early evening like this, but their previous night time meetings were simply too difficult now that Ron and Hermione needed to be studying for the NEWTs. While they called their meetings 'study group' in truth they spent most of the time chatting and catching up.
As they entered the hallway where Myrtle's loo resided, Tallis let out a low gasp and stopped suddenly.
"Are you ok, mate?"
Tallis didn't respond. All color fled from his face and he stumbled, nearly dropping to the floor. His hand started to move to his forehead but he stopped himself.
Hermione noted the aborted movement and paled.
"Pick him up Ronald. We have to get him inside."
Ron looked at her blankly and turned back to Tallis. A fine trembling had seized his limbs and he started to drop to the floor.
Ron grabbed him around his waist just as his knees gave out. "Is it…"
"I think so," Hermione whispered back. "He's been too quiet for too long. I've been wondering when he would strike back."
"So," Voldemort hissed. "This is the muggle who thought to take the life that belongs to me."
The death eaters around him shifted nervously. While their Lord couldn't feel the effects of the dementors they certainly could. The muggle had just been left in the tiny cell and they were all terrified that the Ministry would come to check on the fat muggle soon.
"You're that Lord Volde-thingy, aren't you? Been trying to kill the whelp for years? Pleased to meet you," Vernon said, clearly not realizing the danger that he was in.
Voldemort hissed in anger, his red eyes flashing.
Vernon
took no notice, and simply plowed on. "Too bad you couldn't have
enjoyed the brat first. Absolutely delicious."
The death eaters made a nearly collective gasp. The muggle surely couldn't be speaking of what they thought he was…could he? They had all read the article in the Prophet but had decided, nearly as one, that the report had been fabricated. There was no way that Dumbledore would have allowed his boy savior to be raped.
"It appears that the rumors were true then," Voldemort said softly, his tone no less menacing for the lack of volume. "You raped a child?"
"Hardly rape when it's family, you know?"
"No, I suppose you would see it like that. Nothing less than incest for you, muggle."
"Incest? Now see here you freak—"
"Crucio."
A surge of satisfaction passed through those assembled. Voldemort's eyes glinted madly as he watched the fat muggle writhe and sob, taking an almost sexual pleasure in the muggle's pain.
Ron swung his friend easily into his arms and walked quickly to the bathroom door, Hermione all but running to keep up with his long stride. She threw the door open in front of Ron and rushed over to the sink.
"What are you doing here?" Myrtle asked, for once not crying, her concern for Tallis outweighing her own self pity for once. "Is he alright?"
"He will be. Can you go to his father and tell him that we're down here? Bring Draco and Bill too if they're there," Hermione asked anxiously.
"I suppose. What's wrong with him?"
"We don't have time for this Myrtle," Ron snapped. "He needs protection and he needs to get to a comfortable, safe place. Just go get Snape."
Myrtle eyed the small wizard who was now nearly convulsing in Ron's arms before leaving to track down the potions master.
"Open," Hermione hissed, finally understanding exactly why Tallis had insisted so vehemently that they learn the password.
Ron changed his grip on Tallis so that they were chest to chest, his arms wrapped tightly around him.
"He'll get hurt if we jump down like this," Hermione said softly.
"Do we have a choice? We can't stay where people might see him and make the connection. And the wards might help him. Look at him Mione…he's in so much pain. We have to help him."
Voldemort released the curse almost reluctantly. "It wouldn't do to break him too quickly. Oh no, my dear muggle, we will have many hours of play time ahead of us."
"You hate the freak. Wanted him dead. Why would you care?"
"The boy and his death belong to me. Even the most foolish of my followers know better than to touch the boy. He is mine, whether it be to kill him or to bring him to my side."
He paused, running his fingers lightly over his wand.
"It seems, muggle, that you have done part of the job for me."
Vernon looked up in hope. Perhaps the insane freak would reward him now for treating the boy as he had. "I did?"
"You must have the child thoroughly convinced that muggles are the loathsome, odious creatures I know them to be. He will be far easier to bring to my side now. Dumbledore's treatment of him has only eased the way for me. Yes, the boy will be mine."
"So you do want him. I knew it. He's beautiful…so small and pliant…those eyes just begging you—"
"Harry Potter will stand at my side as a co-ruler, not lie on his back under me. I have no need for a plaything. No, muggle. While you were effective in showing him how worthless muggles really are, you took what did not belong to you."
"I don't understand."
"Of course you do not. You are a muggle. I assure you," he hissed with delight, "that by the end of the night you will."
A whimper from Tallis decided them. Hermione wrapped her arms around the two, sandwiching Tallis in the middle. Hopefully they would be able to cushion the blows of the twisting pipes some. They had placed a few charms on the pipes to slow the trip down slightly but had never bothered to do anything more to alter the route to the Chamber. They both regretted their lack of foresight now.
With a deep breath they dropped down into the tunnel, gripping each other with a nearly painful grip. They needed to get to safety.
They knew that the Chamber would not only keep them away from prying eyes but it would also provide them with the additional safety of the ancient wards surrounding the rooms. While they could not in any way stop the vision they might lessen the pain that their friend was obviously feeling.
They landed at the bottom in a mess of limbs, with Ron luckily on the bottom. Hermione slid off as quickly as she could and helped Ron to stand up, once more cradling his friend's shaking form.
Both ignored the bruises that covered their arms and legs. The pipes had never been intended to be wide enough for three people to comfortably slide down together. Tallis was safe and seemed unharmed. That was all they could ask for.
"Hurry," Hermione urged unnecessarily, grabbing a torch to light their way rather than take the time to light the torches on the walls as they went along.
They made their way quickly toward the back, entering their rooms without bothering to activate the spells for the fairy lights that they had installed in their study room and emergency bedroom.
Ron eased Tallis onto his bed. "Pillows," he ordered shortly.
Hermione was already ahead of him and she tossed him the pillow from her own bed and ran over to Ron's bed to grab his. Ron stuffed the second one under Tallis' head and used the third to prop against the wall to keep him from injuring himself. The convulsions had eased but he was still shaking uncontrollably.
"What do you think he is seeing?" Hermione whispered.
"I don't know. Whatever it is, it can't be anything good."
"Bind him," Voldemort said, finally turning away from the muggle.
The death eaters moved forward as one, each one applying his or her own binding spell. Most of them were shaking in anger at the thought of what this creature had forced on their one time enemy. No self-respecting witch or wizard would harm another in a sexual way for any reason. There simply was nothing that could ever make it worth the danger of the act, and the stigma should they be unfortunate enough to survive the experience.
"I believe it is time for us to withdraw to a more…private location," Voldemort said, hissing in amusement as he caught sight of the wet patch on the front of the muggle's trousers.
The group touched a portkey and disappeared from the holding cell, leaving no trace of their presence behind.
Tallis' shaking stopped for a moment.
"Do you think it's done with?" Ron asked, reaching out to push the long hair away from his friend's face.
"I—" Hermione sighed as her words of hope were ripped from her mouth. Tallis had started shaking again. A fine sheen of sweat appeared on his brow, "Let's slip him out of his robes. His shoes too. He could hurt himself with too much constricting him. I'll bring over blankets if he looks like he needs them."
Ron nodded and started undoing the clasps on the green robes.
The group reappeared in a damp dungeon.
Vernon looked around himself, his beady eyes darting around furiously. "What have you done you freak?" he managed to get out, struggling with all his strength in the too-tight bindings. He quickly tired himself.
"I am giving you your just reward. It appears that the Ministry is too scared to give you what you deserve so I will do so for them."
"Reward?" Vernon asked, visibly calculating what wonderful gift this man would give him. He was obviously wealthy, if his title was anything to go by. One was not a 'Lord' for nothing, after all.
"Oh yes, muggle. You see, they knew what you deserved but they did not have the stomach to give it to you. You may consider yourself lucky that I am not damned with their sense of morality."
"Er…morality?" Vernon asked blankly. This conversation was proceeding far too quickly for his liking. How was a man to keep up? He kept being pushed from punishment to reward to…damn! it was so confusing!
"Ah, it seems you have heard of the word," Voldemort said with no little amusement. "You see, while the Ministry has decided that life in Azkaban was punishment enough for you I have determined that it is not nearly enough to atone for your sins."
"Sins?"
"Even discounting the rather unspeakable sins you committed against the boy, you still deserve to be punished for your sins against my. You do not steal from the Dark Lord and escape with your life."
"What have I ever stolen from you?"
"The boy's life."
"But you were going to kill him anyway!" Vernon protested.
"Precisely. I laid claim to that boy's life before he was even born. You dared to touch what was mine, and now you will suffer for it. Crucio."
Vernon screamed unabashedly, his heavy limbs fighting the bindings.
He panted for breath for a few minutes after the curse was finally released. "I don't understand. I thought you said that I had done your job for you, or some such rot? That you were pleased?"
"Silence, fool."
Vernon cowered back, for the first time wishing that his considerable girth was somewhat lessened so he could stand a better chance of hiding.
"What I said was that you managed to show the boy how truly useless muggles are…how much they crave violence and torture that wizards would never dream of…that all muggles need to die."
"I…what?" he said stupidly.
"You managed to take the last, best hope of the wizarding world and turn him into…me," he hissed, laughing aloud when he saw the horrified expression on his face.
"Boy?" Vernon asked, terrified to think that this snake-like creature standing before him could be his beautiful nephew.
Voldemort laughed harder. Muggles. They were barely worth torturing. They always took things so literally. "Crucio," Voldemort said lazily.
When he deemed the muggle ready to comprehend him again, he continued his explanation. "Stupid muggle. You managed to turn a boy who was all light and goodness into a creature that could very easily become the next Dark Lord. You brought out the darkness that had been buried within him. You made it possible for him to hate."
"Everyone hates," Vernon snapped, irritable from the prolonged torture. He immediately regretted his words.
"And you made it possible for the boy to hate every single creature of your kind. Congratulations, muggle. You managed to end the war before it even started. The light has been left without their mad leader, without their much-abused figurehead, without anything. The boy will come to my side and we will rule the world before we are finished."
"The boy is dead! I killed him myself."
"You would think that, wouldn't you?" Voldemort said, smirking at the cowering muggle. "Amuse yourselves," he said to the Death Eaters before moving to sit down and watch the show.
"How long has he been in this one?" Severus asked, his fear evident in his voice.
"About forty five minutes," Hermione said, dipping a cloth in a bowl of water again to wipe Tallis' forehead.
"It's never been this long before," Ron muttered. "Never this long."
"What do we do?" Draco snapped impatiently.
"Nothing!" Ron snapped back.
"Ronald," Hermione warned, her voice making it clear that they needed to stop attacking each other.
"Sorry Weasley."
"Sorry," Ron muttered back.
"There's nothing we can do, Draco," Bill finally answered Draco. "The vision must play itself out. We cannot do anything for him but be here when he wakes up."
"I thought he didn't have visions anymore. I thought you did something to the scar," Draco said turning to Severus, his confusion evident.
"I moved the scar but I had no hope of destroying the connection. If it were that easy don't you think I would have done that years ago?" Severus sighed, trying to calm himself. "He's had a few small visions earlier in the summer but nothing noteworthy. The Dark Lord has been all but silent since Harry Potter disappeared."
"But occlumency…" Ron's objection faded out as he saw the sneer on Severus' face.
"Occlumency prevents the Dark Lord from seeking information in my son's mind. It does nothing to prevent a vision like this. Their minds are irreparably connected. No amount of occlumency can prevent this."
Ron's shoulders slumped once more.
"So we wait it out?" Draco asked softly.
"We wait it out."
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A/N: Part 2 to come soon (I hope).