A voice from your past
Wants to know you so very well
Now that you're in my life at last
You've been through hell I can tell
There's a broken heart beating on and on
That wants you to know
That a little voice carries on and on
I want you to know
Hold on, Hold on
I'll be there
dSz
Blood is running down my hand. I must not tell lies
There is no time for lying. Only time for dying. Dark dreams fill my nights…and days. I must not lie now. I must not lie down.
Dumbledore doesn't look in my eyes anymore. What evil does he see there? Is he afraid to look into my pools of green? He shouldn't lie. Perhaps he knows I'm going to die.
Maybe he sees what I see when I look into my eyes. There's a man in there. A man I don't recognize, yet I know him so well. He's strong. He's a hero. He's a god. I do not lie.
"Harry Potter." I whisper it to the mirror and it whispers back. "Fraud, Imposter…" It calls me by name. "Liar."
I must not tell lies.
dSz
One minute I was smiling up at a childlike image of my father and the next I was surrounded by an army of different images of the same boy, Harry Potter. Not a James Riddle to be seen, only Potter. They surrounded me and glared at me with bright green eyes behind round glasses.
"What do you want?" one asked and the rest echoed at different intervals.
"My father," I replied nervously.
"Who is your father?" a different one answered and they all echoed his question.
"James Riddle," I replied resolutely, "I know he's in here somewhere." My eyes scanned the crowd but there were only Harry Potter clones, all varying in age. The oldest one looked to be only about fifteen years old.
"There's no James here," a large number answered back. "And no Riddle either," added another section of Potter's.
"You're Harry Potter, aren't you?" I asked one of them. To my surprise they all shook their heads in unison. "But then who are you?"
A strong wind wafted through the air rustling the black wizard robes that all the boys wore. I shivered and wrapped my arms around my waist. There was something horribly creepy about having hundreds of Harry Potter's staring at you. None of them said anything, they only watched and waited.
"Where is Harry Potter?" I asked. This time it was the boys that shivered but it was in response to my question, not to any breeze.
"There," they replied, pointing off to a distant mountain that seemed to pop out of thin air.
The peak was miles from me but I could see him as if I was standing only a few feet away. He was wearing a long black robe. It whipped around him, showing off knee high black boots. Messy black hair hung at his shoulders, masking most of his features. Green eyes stared at me from beneath that dark curtain, piercing eyes, eyes that did not look away, did not blink. He looked to be younger then my father but my father had always looked older then his age which meant that this man was most likely the same age.
A lump was forming in my throat as I realized who the man truly is. Harry Potter, not James Riddle, the real Harry Potter or to put it more precisely, the Harry Potter that should exist. This man, this black statue, was the real wizarding world hero, a beacon of hope, more god then man, untouched, unblemished…perfect.
It was all I could do to not look away as his lips curled back to form a cold smile. I instantly knew everything that I needed to know about Harry Potter and what I found, I did not like. An egotistical, maniacal, self-absorbed, cold-hearted, super powerful, bastard; the antithesis of James Riddle.
dSz
With Hogwarts empty of students, the hallways were dark and eerie. Draco stopped his pacing and spun around to stare at the Room of Requirement. A thousand thoughts ran through his head, each one more terrible then the last. Question, regrets, fears laid bare to his conscious mind.
What if she was hurt? Scared? What if she needed him? What if she didn't want him? What if she chose to stay inside the castle? Chose to stay with him…Potter?
That last question set Draco's lips into a cold sneer, fists clenching and unclenching. The staccato sound of sharp steps nearing did not draw his stare away from the door in front of him. He knew who was making their way down the hall. It was a familiar sound to every Hogwarts student.
"What do you want?" He growled under his breath.
Severus let out a loud sigh as he crossed his arms, leaning on one foot. It was his most intimidating pose but he knew it had little effect on one such as Draco. "I am interested to know why you allowed Miss Riddle to venture into the Room of…"
"I couldn't stop her!" Draco interrupted, leveling a cool glare directly at Snape. "I would if I could."
"I was merely going to ask why you did not accompany her. Instead you allowed her to undertake a very dangerous mission on her own. You must have a very high opinion of her skills." Severus followed up the last part with an amused snort. "How very Slytherin of you? Keeping yourself safe while Jenny rushes into danger."
"It's not like that," Draco replied defensively, "She never asked…"
"Do you think she would ask?" Severus interrupted calmly, "Did he ever ask? Did he ever request someone to help him? He never wanted anyone in harms way."
"You're saying she's just like her father?"
"More than likely," Snape sneered, "You certainly are like yours."
"I'm nothing like that bastard!" Draco shouted.
"You are somewhat correct," Severus responded, much to Draco's surprise. "Your father ruthlessly went after anything and everything he wanted. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, could keep Lucius Malfoy from getting what he wanted."
Severus came to stand in front of Draco, both hands resting on the young man's shoulders. "Do you want her Draco? Do you truly love her?"
"Yes," Draco nodded without hesitation, "She's the first person I've ever really loved besides my mother and with Jenny it's different, it's more…"
"More what Draco?"
Draco struggled to come up with an accurate description of his relationship with Potter's daughter. "It depends on me and my actions, my behavior, my personality. My mother, was my mother, she had to love me but Jenny…Jenny doesn't have to love me. She could hate me if she wanted. She has every right to hate me but instead…"
"She loves you," said Severus, completing the young Slytherin's thought. "Then show some of that Malfoy selfishness. Go get her."
"It's not that easy," Draco stuttered hesitantly.
Severus flashed a sarcastic grin. "I suppose it would be easier for Jenny to stay with her father here inside Hogwarts. Here they will be safe and the Dark Lord will not have access to either one of them. Actually it might be the best thing for the whole world if she never comes back." That last statement had the desired effect the potions master was looking for.
"No!" Draco growled obstinately. "I won't allow it."
"Then prove it," Severus purred as he physically turned Draco to face the Room of Requirement. "You're a Malfoy," Severus continued in an almost hypnotizing tone, "You know what you want and you know you deserve it."
"You're right Severus," Draco replied in a dull tone. He shook himself and adopted a proud stance. An odd emotion washed through him, an emotion he hadn't felt in many years. "I do deserve this," he stated calmly. Without looking back he reached for the knob. "Don't wait up Severus," he drawled in a bored tone, "This might get messy."
As the door closed behind the young Slytherin, a figure stepped out of the shadows to stand next to Severus. Snape acknowledge the man's presence with a slight tilt of his head.
"Do you think this was the wisest course of action?" Dumbledore questioned.
"Frankly I do not care," Severus replied.
Dumbledore patted his potions master gently on the shoulder. "You'll make a wonderful Headmaster someday Severus."
It took a moment for Snape to process the comment and by the time he turned, mouth agape, the barmy old wizard had disappeared into the shadows from which he came.
dSz
Snow crunched under my feet as I ran away from Harry Potter. That terrible, terrible image of a man seemed to haunt my every step, his cool green eyes staring straight through me. His gaze boring a hole into me, causing my heart to ache as it had when my father had died.
But he's not dead, I shouted internally. Somewhere in this hellish place my father exists. A knot slowly began forming in my stomach. There was something about that evil image of Harry Potter, something about the way he looked at me, that told me that he holds hatred for my father, a deep hatred.
"Dad!" I shouted through the gale force winds. You're not safe here, I added in my head, and neither am I. If Harry Potter hates my father then he would have to hate me. James Riddle has a daughter. Harry Potter does not. Harry Potter never had a daughter. Harry Potter would never think to create the abomination that I am. In his eyes, I should not exist.
Fate has a way of working itself out. The wizarding world has been screaming that at me since I entered it and now that thought was hanging from me like an invisible wounded wing.
Just as I began contemplating my own mortality, something odd happened. A breeze hit me from behind and then was gone. It reminded me of a door opening and then closing. I took a quick moment to glance around, but only ended up with a face full of blowing snow.
Something grabbed my arm, causing me to jump. Instinctively I pulled away and watched a pale hand disappeared into the white whirlwind surrounding me. Emotion overtook me momentarily and I gasped in fear, small tears forming at the corners of my eyes. I turned and began running…blindly…into oblivion.