Shattered Surrender
by sick-atxxheart
Chapter Twelve

--

That night, Severus slept fitfully. Voldemort's manic grin still shone in his mind, and he couldn't quite place if the man was just insane, or if he really had a plan that would make Dumbledore pay. He hoped to Merlin that it was the latter; making Dumbledore pay was something Severus himself had dreamed about for years. He was only grateful that the Dark Lord had realized that dream, and allowed him to take part in it.

Finally giving up on sleep sometime after four in the morning, Severus rose and made his way to Harry's room. Bella had chosen to sleep with him, and they were both curled up against one another. Harry looked startlingly small against Bellatrix's sleeping form; but still, the fact that the child was still loving and caring was amazing in itself.

Bella's injuries had been just as grievous as Harry's; she had been tortured just as much as he had, if not more, due to the fact that she had been in Azkaban longer. Severus had healed her injuries second, at her own request; Harry had taken the top priority over both her and Sirius, at their insistence. He had been more than willing to follow that, but he had healed their life-threatening wounds first, along with Harry's, before doing anything else.

But now, Severus was truly exhausted, and he cursed the fact that he couldn't sleep. It was rather convenient, really; his mind was screaming that he would be needed that day, in the confrontation that was sure to come. He knew that Voldemort wouldn't give up Harry, now; not to anyone, especially Dumbledore.

What he couldn't quite figure out was whether it was because of the mentor-bond that had been established, or if it was just because Voldemort was selfishly gathering and gaining power, in any shape or form. Severus actually guessed it was the first, but since he had no real proof of that fact, he would be careful not to trust the bond in the very least.

Bellatrix had told him in quiet whispers before she slipped off to sleep of Harry's meeting with Sirius. He was grateful that the child had accepted his godfather so quickly, and even remembered him; it seemed too good to hope for. Harry deserved those who would love him, though, and the Potions Master was rather relieved that everything thus far had worked out so spectacularly. He disapproved and fought against the mistreatment of children perhaps more than anything, due to his own history.

Sighing again and quickly clearing his head, Severus checked on the sleeping child. After he assured himself twice that he was okay, and that Bella would be there regardless if anything happened, he left and went to stroll the corridors. When he was at Hogwarts, it was one of the things that soothed him the most; he had a persona to keep up, of course, but everyone needs comfort sometimes.

The silence of the four walls surrounding him as he paced grounded Severus, and he couldn't stop himself from contemplating what would happen that day. Would Dumbledore truly be foolish enough to come and try to forcefully take Harry away? He knew in his heart that the answer was yes, but he desperately hoped it would not be so. He had no doubt that Voldemort, for a variety of reasons, would protect Harry and himself to any level; it was exactly how far he would go that Severus was concerned with.

Although Severus hated Dumbledore for being a meddling, old coot, he couldn't forget the few times that the man had offered advice and comfort when it was needed. Beneath his cold exterior, Severus too broke down sometimes; and Dumbledore had surprisingly been there in those times. Severus had began to look at the old man as a sort of mentor; that had changed with recent events, but Severus still couldn't quite bring himself to wish the man dead.

He was almost positive that Voldemort knew how he felt. Despite his strong Occlumency shields, the Dark Lord was a master at reading emotions and body language. Severus had tried over the years to hide everything, including keeping all emotion out of his face and movements; but it had never really worked. As it came to now, Severus didn't really mind that the Dark Lord knew his thoughts- most of them, anyway.

Severus sighed and resumed his pacing. He could only watch, wait, and hope for the best.

--

As the sun rose over the horizon that morning, it set up a rather glorious view that Voldemort almost found himself enjoying. The simple pleasures in life were sometimes the best; after all, blood and pain and murder and torture weren't everything. At least most of the time.

He had had an astoundingly hard time sleeping that night. Perhaps it had been the excitement he felt at the fact that Dumbledore forcibly coming to see him, to take something from him; he had no doubt that he had enough forces to kill the old man easily. What he was rather confused about, however, was how Dumbledore knew where his headquarters were, and what was more- how to get into them.

Voldemort shook that feeling off quickly. If Dumbledore knew how to get in, then he would just have to set a trap; a brilliant one, to be sure. He would key the man's magical signature into his wards, so Dumbledore and only Dumbledore would be allowed in. Perhaps it would not work, if Dumbledore thought he could get in to begin with; but it would be worth a try, and would no doubt infuriate the old man. Voldemort grinned. Infuriating Dumbledore was always fun.

And then there was the issue of Harry. Voldemort wasn't quite sure exactly how to go about the TRAINING that the book had told him of; he knew that Occlumency, Llegimency, and wandless and wordless magics, among other things, were all important. However, Voldemort was wise enough to see that Harry probably wouldn't have any experience with a wand, or magic in general. Starting small would be crucial, and he personally had no problem teaching the boy everything from start to finish. He would be easier to mould and influence that way.

The Dark Lord actually did have a plan for how the day was to go. If the timing of Dumbledore's owl was any inclination, the so-called attack would probably come late in the evening. If that was the case, then he had all day to make the best of.

The best course of action to take was to firstly put all his Death Eaters on alert. Although most of the time they were bumbling idiots, they could have their uses; some were very adept that spell-casting, while others simply used their sheer body weight to intimidate others. He would need extra security tonight; that much was for certain.

Secondly, Voldemort planned to spend most of the day with the child, along with Bellatrix, Severus, and Sirus, just for safety. He wanted the Harry to feel comfortable and safe; trust was an important part of any relationship, especially a magical one like theirs. Voldemort guessed that Harry would already trust him nearly unconditionally, due to the bond; but he wanted to establish a real trust, one that the child could fall back on and that Voldemort could trust to hold. Having an older, stronger Harry suddenly realize that Voldemort had perhaps been leading him wrong would not have favorable endings.

What he was really hoping for was that, if prompted, Harry would say that he wanted to remain here, with him, Bellatrix, Sirius, and Severus. Perhaps that was too much to hope for, Voldemort considered; Harry was only a child, and he had gone through more than anyone, much less a child, ever should. It was for that reason that he was careful not to underestimate a child; he wouldn't be surprised if Harry was angry at those who had so cruelly thrown him into a hell he couldn't escape from.

Speaking of- Voldemort frowned when he remembered he had promised to talk to Sirius that morning, before doing anything else. That was sure to be an uncomfortable talk; he wouldn't be at all surprised if the man was no longer anywhere near as loyal as he had been. He had killed his best friends, after all…

Shaking his head to clear it, Voldemort strode to his wardrobe and began to look methodically through it. He didn't have anything to worry about; he had his explanation all prepared for Sirius, along with a rather heartfelt apology it had taken him years to think up. Despite the fact that the Dark Lord rarely, if ever, felt compassion, he was rather loyal in return to his faithful Death Eaters. Even though he was Sirius' master, for lack of a better term, he had broken the promise that made the foundation of their agreement.

Dressing quickly, Voldemort called for his house-elf and ordered a rather large breakfast. As usual, the house-elf shook like his life was about to end; Voldemort puzzled over that for a while, before remembering that he had indeed killed a few of his house elves. That was sure to be the problem…

Shaking his head once again- it seemed that his mind was slipping away from him more and more often now- Voldemort dug in to his hearty breakfast, isolated as usual in his personal chambers. He had informed Sirius to be in his receiving chamber at nine-thirty, on the dot; he expected the man to be prompt, and had no reason to think Sirius would not be.

Twenty minutes later, he had nearly finished his breakfast and his daily perusal of the nearly-useless Daily Prophet, when an article caught his eye. It was just a little mention, only a title really; but it was very… curious.

MUGGLEBORN GIRL KIDNAPPED FROM MUGGLE FAMILY AND TAKEN INTO MAGICAL CAPTIVITY; MINISTRY STUMPED

This puzzled Voldemort to no ends. He would have known if his Death Eaters had taken someone into captivity, and they had no reason to kidnap a Muggle girl in the first place. Idly he wondered if she had magic in her; perhaps Dumbledore had done it? Altogether, the possibilities were endless, but rather unlikely.

Sighing quickly, Voldemort just resolved to watch and see what happened.

--

Sirius shook his head as he left the chamber. Voldemort had explained exactly why he had killed Lily and James, and attempted to kill Harry. The reasons in themselves had been rather convincing; however, the fact that the Dark Lord had broken a promise was the fact that bothered Sirius. While he knew that he really shouldn't trust the Dark Lord in the least, he had expected that the man would keep his promise at least slightly. And then, Sirius had gone and gotten thrown into Azkaban, and it had taken the Dark Lord so many years to get him out!

That was what was ridiculous, and Sirus almost cried when he remembered how much pain he had gone through, and how much screaming he had done. He was immensely grateful to Severus for healing him without a second thought; he knew that he would have to have a sit-down conversation with Snivellus eventually. As awkward and heartbreaking as his meeting with the Dark Lord had been, Sirius was rather glad that he had had an explanation, regardless of how pitiful the reasoning had been.

What had surprised him the most was that Voldemort had actually… apologized. It was, of course, worded to sound like a simple dismissal of Sirius; but he had taken it for what it really was, and it had been a real, true apology. It was amazing to Sirius that the Dark Lord could actually have a… slightly… kind bone in his body, if any at all.

He had checked on Harry early that morning, before his meeting. It felt strange to be walking again; years and years of living in chains could make someone weak, to say the least. He had to be careful to not overstrain himself.

Anyway, Harry had been still sleeping when he had checked on him. He was immensely glad that the child had accepted him, and he hoped to bond even further that day.

Entering the small room, Sirius was greeted with the sight of young Harry sitting up in bed, eating a modified meal of liquids and soft foods. It was obvious that Severus had him on some ridiculous diet- of course it would be because Harry's small, malnutritioned body couldn't handle real food, but Sirius just wished his godson could just chow down on ice cream and chocolate and all the good things in life.

He cursed the Dursleys and Dumbledore for what seemed to be the millionth time. How was it fair that Harry had had such a wretched life? It wasn't, to any degree. Sirius hoped to Merlin with all his heart that Harry would have a better life here.

He was rather surprised to see Voldemort come into the room behind him. He was infinitely glad that when in a situation like this, he wasn't required to bend and kiss the man's robes; he had always hated that part of being a Death Eater. Sirius hated groveling.

After greeting Harry kindly, Sirius watched the interaction between the people in the room. He preferred, at least for now, to hang back in the shadows; he knew that Voldemort establishing a connection with Harry was much more crucial, at least for this day. Voldemort had informed him that Dumbledore would be coming later in the day, and that Harry had to at least trust the Dark Lord on some level; that much was crucial. He had assured Sirius that Harry would be well protected; that at least had made Sirius feel a bit better.

Aside from that, the fact that Sirius had a wand again made him feel so much more confident. Although it wasn't his own wand (that had been snapped before he was thrown into Azkaban), it was still a wand. His magic was also still weak; but he could feel himself getting stronger, and he hoped that he would be able to at least do something to help if anything happened to Harry.

--

Albus Dumbledore sighed as he neared the edge of the wards surrounding Voldemort's headquarters. It had taken him many years of preparation and research to find out exactly where the headquarters were; it was a shame he had to waste all that time and effort on something as infinitely useless as Harry Potter. The boy was simply a pawn; throwing him into Azkaban had been a necessary step to ensure the boy would be powerful and hopefully angry. He hadn't' really considered the fact that Harry might be angry at him.

He had two of the Order members with him; they were highly accomplished Aurors. One's name was Matthew; the other was Garrison. It was a shame, Dumbledore considered, that they might perish in this attack.

Shrugging his "shame" off, Dumbledore looked behind him quickly to ensure that the little girl Matthew was restraining was still quiet. After assuring himself that she was, he quickly performed a series of complicated spells he had also spent many years developing; they were a direct approach built to break through any ward, other than the Fidelius Charm itself. Dumbledore was immensely surprised to see that there wasn't one around the premises.

Stepping through the boundary with the ease of a graceful cat (he almost chuckled at the thought of it), Dumbledore was immensely glad to see that they had made it through intact. He checked again to make sure that his guards were with him, and then continued.

The walls were drab, dark, and gray as he walked through them with purpose; he really had no idea where he was going, but assumed that if he went farther into the building, he would reach something important.

That guess proved to be right. After checking a few doors with wands pointed and finding nothing interesting, one huge door revealed a large receiving hall. Voldemort himself was sitting in the chair, idly twirling his wand and looking mildly amused; two masked Death Eaters were standing behind him, their wands also out and ready.

"Hello, Tom," Dumbledore said calmly, motioning for the Aurors to move ahead of him. He quickly cast a mild shield charm, just in case Voldemort would try something. He doubted it; but you could never be so sure. After all, he had no doubts that Tom Riddle was insane.

Coming from him, that was almost a compliment.

It took Voldemort a few minutes to look up, simply because he took his good old time giving the old coot the satisfaction of having his attention. When he did, his face was carefully impassive.

"Dumbledore," Voldemort said coolly. "I'm surprised you showed up."

"Oh?" Dumbledore said politely, eying the room around him, searching for an advantage should a duel begin. "I find that rather foolish. I never break a promise."

Voldemort raised any eyebrow. "Really?" The tension in the air remained untouched, but the question and almost accusation in Voldemort's simple word didn't go unnoticed.

Voldemort rose, and Dumbledore's wand immediately jerked towards him. However, the magic resounding through the room was obvious; heavy shields were in place that would be immensely hard to break through.

"So you want to see young Harry?" Voldemort questioned. At Dumbledore's suspicious nod, Voldemort's smile only grew wider. "Very well. Follow me."

Surprised at his luck, and foolish enough to not see it as a trap, Dumbledore followed blindly behind his arch-enemy. In front of him, carefully hiding his face, Voldemort grinned manically. He had noticed the young girl, standing terrified in the arms of one of the Aurors accompanying Dumbledore; he now knew what the mention in the Daily Prophet was about. It changed his plans slightly, but- oh, yes, he could work the child in…

Checking carefully to ensure that his unbreakable shields were still in place, and his two Death Eaters were still following him, Voldemort stopped at the small door and led them in. He allowed the Death Eaters to enter first; extra precaution for the child within the room was completely necessary. Harry, of course, was warded with the exact same shields that were wrapped around Voldemort himself; but regardless, the best protection available was being given to the child.

Harry was sitting up in bed, talking animatedly to a Death Eater with a mask, sitting by the bed. His words were soft and shy, but still strong. Dumbledore couldn't quite place the Death Eater simply by his body type- no, he wasn't perceptible enough for that; however, he did notice that the Death Eater by the bed, along with the two who had just entered the room, all crowded protectively around the child. Voldemort moved to the corner of the room, content to just watch what would happen. He had no doubt that everything would play out on its own. Dumbledore was a fool; he had come for Harry, not for the Dark Lord himself- and if everything went as planned, Dumbledore would die today.

"Harry, m'boy!" Dumbledore said cheerfully, moving towards the bed with his wand still out. He immediately regretted that move as all three Death Eaters took a step towards him, menacing looks on their faces, even through their masks. He took a step back once again, taking a second to regroup before plastering the fake smile on his face once more. Harry was watching curiously.

"It's so good to see you looking so healthy," Dumbledore continued. All four members of the Dark had to carefully try and hide their snorts of amusement and contempt that Dumbledore's words. Was the man truly serious?

Harry had shrunk back on his bed, visibly looking afraid- terrified, in fact- of the addition of three strange people in his bedroom, where he had previously felt safe. Voldemort considered to himself that perhaps that had been an unwise choice; but there was no time for that now.

"Who're you?" Harry asked in a small voice, inching over to the side of the bed away from Dumbledore. His green eyes were flashing around the room, looking from Sirius' and Severus' and Bellatrix's masked faces, and finally back to Voldemort's. All four nodded reassuringly at him.

"I, my boy, am Professor Dumbledore," the old coot began, still smiling. "I've come to take you away-"

Wrong approach, Voldemort thought wickedly, hiding a smile, just as Harry began to react.

"What?! No- don't take me again- I didn't do anything- please- no-" His face was full of terror and fear as bella began to whisper nothings in his ear, trying desperately to reassure him.

Dumbledore's smile fell immediately, and Voldemort could see his approach shift immediately. Nodding to the Auror on his right, the small girl was thrust forward. The terror on her face was also immediately visible, and Voldemort watched as Harry peeked one eye out from Bella's shoulder to watch what was happening.

"Do you know what happens to people when they stay here, Harry?" Dumbledore said quietly, pointing to the girl with his wand. "Let me show you."

That's when the screams began.

The girl twisted and turned, falling immediately to the ground in pain. Her face was contorted in agony, and her yells and shrieks were piercing and full of pain. Voldemort inwardly winced, but restrained himself. This was about Harry.

It didn't take long for Harry to react. "No, make it stop! Don't hurt her! She didn't do anything! Stop! STOP!" His words became increasingly more desperate as he watched the girl on the floor, seemingly unable to turn away.

Dumbledore had a rather evil look on his face as he alternated staring at the girl and Harry, who was crying desperately now. Bellatrix, Sirius, and Severus were all visibly watching and waiting for Voldemort's cue; they knew not to do anything before they were instructed.

It didn't take long.

"Enough." Voldemort rumbled, waving his wand once; the girl immediately stopped moving. Dumbledore was a fool to not have the girl under a shield to protect her from anyone else, also. "This has gone on long enough, Dumbledore. Is it not quite obvious that Harry doesn't want to leave?"

Dumbledore was silent, looking almost thoughtful. Voldemort ignored him, and nodded to Severus, who took long steps to reach the girl, wand still pointed at the old man, and slowly picked her up. She was still sobbing, and she immediately reacted to a kind hand. She huddled against Severus' chest, still crying desperately. Severus walked backwards to end up behind the bed again.

Voldemort frankly looked furious. Was the man more of a fool than he had originally thought? He had brought a child here and tortured her, simply to prove something to Harry! The hypocrisy of it nearly made him laugh.

This time, Dumbledore would be finished.

--

Isn't Dumbledore a fool? More action about him in the next chapter. In case you didn't catch it, the girl is Hermione. She'll matter later.

I've only been getting about 19 reviews per chapter for the last few chapters, but I have over 400 people who get alerts about this story. Can I please have some more, people? What did you think of Dumbledore bringing and torturing the girl to prove a point? Also, a longer chapter! Yay!

Please review.