Chapter 29

Lord Voldemort stood before a grand fire in his private chambers. He stared into the flames as if his powers were derived from the luminescence. Harry Potter had once again escaped his fate but this would be the last time.

Peter Pettigrew entered his chambers, interrupting his ruminations.

"Lord Voldemort?" he sniveled.

"What do you want, you incompetent fool?" Voldemort seethed. He was quickly running out of patience with the coward who was standing behind him.

"There's still no sign of Snape or Potter, my Lord," Pettigrew said unsteadily, taking a few steps backward.

Voldemort whipped around, turning on the rat-like man. "I know that what I felt was his power!" he shouted, causing Pettigrew to practically shrink in fear before him.

"Please," Pettigrew begged, "Lord, we are trying-"

"Quit trying and find him, you idiot!" Voldemort seethed. "If you want to come out of this alive, you will not fail me again."

"Yes, yes, my Lord," Pettigrew cowered, back out of the room, thankful to still be alive.

Turning back to the fire, Voldemort wrapped his skeletal fingers around his arm. He remembered very well how the urchin's power had felt.

Harry had been sitting in the chair, next to Severus for the better part of an hour before Phaedrus returned, carrying a bowl of soup and some bread. The boy sat up when the aroma of a cooked meal filled his nose, enticing his appetite.

"Thank you," Harry said when Phaedrus handed him the bowl and bread.

Phaedrus offered a tired smile in reply and sat on the other side of Severus.

"Aren't you going to have any?" Harry said with a mouthful of warm bread.

The werewolf smiled again but shook his head. "I'll have some later," he answered.

"Does it hurt?" Harry asked, dipping a piece of bread in the soup.

"Does what hurt?"

"You know, after your transformations."

"Oh," Phaedrus said, pausing to watch Harry engulf another mouthful. "Yes."

"Are you tired as well?"

"A bit," Phaedrus said, settling lower in his chair.

"Why don't you go to bed then?" Harry said, eating the last of the bread.

"He might wake up and someone needs to be here to take care of him," Phaedrus replied.

"I can do it," Harry said.

"But you must be tired as well, Harry."

"I'm fine," Harry argued. "If I get tired, I'll wake you."

Phaedrus heaved a heavy breath. "All right," he conceded. "But wake me in a couple of hours, understood?"

Harry nodded with a spoonful of soup in his mouth.

Phaedrus got to his feet and made his way to the makeshift bed that he Harry had been sleeping on before. He lay down and got as comfortable as he could get. He was exhausted and he knew that he would be asleep within a few seconds.

Harry watched Phaedrus fall asleep while he finished off his bowl of soup. After the werewolf's breathing had steadied, indicating that he was asleep, Harry went into the kitchen and cleaned his dishes.

Ron and Hermione sat alone near the fire in the Gryffindor common room. It was well past midnight and all of the other students had gone to bed save these two. The two friends had made a habit of staying up late into the nights together. Neither one could sleep well since Harry's abduction and tonight was no different.

"What do you gather from Draco's reaction to the news?" Hermione asked, referring to the odd behavior of the Slytherin as of late.

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows?"

"But you would think he would be happy given that his father was a Death Eater," Hermione pointed out.

"Yeah, I suppose," Ron said. "But since his father died, he's been a bit off."

Hermione considered this for a moment. "You know that his mother left two days ago, don't you?"

Ron looked up. "I thought that Sirius said she was supposed to stay the rest of the term."

"Remus told me yesterday," Hermione said. "Apparently she's going to stay with her mother."

"That's a bit odd."

"Yes, you would think that she would want to stay here for Draco's sake."

"You know," Ron said in a whisper despite the fact that they were alone, "Harry's cloak is still in our room."

"Ron, what are you suggesting?" Hermione said narrowing her eyes.

"I just thought that maybe we could go talk to Remus and Sirius, see what they have to say about it."

Hermione looked away from Ron and actually appeared to be considering the idea. "Tomorrow night," she said finally.

"Tomorrow night?"

"Remus is still recovering."

"Oh, yeah."

"Then it's settled," Hermione said as she gathered her books and pieces of parchment. "I'm going to bed."

"Right, me too," Ron said following suit. "Night, Mione."

"Night, Ron."

Draco Malfoy lay in his bed in the Slytherin dormitory. He stared straight ahead, blinking every few seconds. Since the news of his father's death, he hadn't been sleeping more than a few hours each night. His mother had left and he felt so alone in the castle. In a few weeks, the term would be over and he would be heading home for the holidays. He wasn't sure that he wanted to go home. Without his father, it wouldn't really feel like home.

Author's note: Ok, sorry that not much happened in this chapter. I'm really just setting up for the next few chapters. Many thanks go out to my reviewers, as always! I'm leaving tomorrow for D.C. so this will be the last update until after the New Year. Please review and have a wonderful and safe New Year!