Shattered Surrender

by sick-atxxheart

Chapter Thirteen

-

The girl was still sobbing in Severus' arms, and Dumbledore was still standing thoughtfully in the middle of the room, backed by his two Aurors. Voldemort was against the wall on the side of the room, and Harry was still surrounded by Severus, Bella, and Sirius. Voldemort still had no concerns about the outcome of the confrontation. He was in home territory, surrounded by his own magical wards, with a team of accomplished Death Eaters waiting on his beck and call. Seemingly, nothing could go wrong- especially accompanied by the trick Dumbledore had just pulled.

Voldemort was still immensely confused and puzzled by the stunt that Dumbledore had so cruelly played. Although he was not a sympathetic man, even Voldemort could see that demonstrating torture in front of a child who had been tortured themselves would not be a good idea. Had he expected Harry, a mere child, to understand the metaphor and come racing in to his arms? The opposite seemed likely to happen now, after that. Things were just going better and better, for Voldemort at least.

The room was completely silent except for the sobs of the girl and the now-quieting whimpers of Harry. Bella was calming Harry down by whispering words of comfort to him, and from his position across the room Voldemort could see that she was holding his hand. Voldemort's perceptive eye also noticed Severus slip the girl a Calming Draught that he no doubt had on his person. Severus' usefulness and the extent of his practical sense came to Voldemort's mind, but he dismissed it quickly. He had more important things to ponder on.

Taking a sweeping glance of the room, Voldemort settled his eye on the two Aurors who were standing at the ready behind Dumbledore. It was obvious that they could not be true Ministry Aurors; despite how corrupt the Ministry was, having two Aurors who were so willingly blind to violence, especially against a child, was just despicable. Voldemort had no doubt in his mind that Dumbledore must have either trained them himself, or put them under the Imperius Curse in order to have them follow him.

Voldemort pulled his wand out of his sleeve and began twirling it idly in his hand, noticing how Dumbledore's thoughtful eyes jumped to watch his movements. The Dark Lord was growing tired of waiting.

He didn't have to wait long before Dumbledore spoke again, and his words were just as comical and ridiculous as his actions had previously been. "Perhaps I have taken the wrong approach," the old man said slowly, regret lacing itself through his features. Voldemort couldn't hold back his snort: oh no, he was enjoying the game too much. Although Voldemort knew that he could capture Dumbledore in an instant, now that the old man's back was turned to him, he had decided earlier that proving a point about loyalty to Dumbledore was first necessary. Letting Harry choose for himself between Voldemort and Dumbledore was the first step towards achieving this goal.

Severus, in his corner of the room, was also enjoying watching his old "master" sit and squirm. He too was appalled by the fact that Dumbledore had willingly injured a child to make a point. Although he had known the old man was manipulative, cunning, and perhaps even irresponsible, he had never thought him to be downright cruel. This stunt of his had put his heartlessness at a brand new level.

Severus was surprised to discover that although he was slightly concerned by the situation at hand, he was unworried about the outcome of it. Voldemort's calm, almost serene face was for once almost comforting to Severus. It felt good to know that they truly were on the same side, and would undoubtedly work together to achieve the common goal- which Severus firmly believed was saving Harry from Dumbledore.

The room was still silent, and everyone seemed to almost be waiting with their breaths held to see what would happen next, who would make the next move. Severus wasn't at all surprised when Dumbledore took the initiative and took a careful step towards Harry.

The child, who had been watching him intently out of the corner of his eye, immediately scooted backwards in to the furthest corner of his bed. Bella, Severus, and Sirius both stepped closer to him in unison. Voldemort chuckled to himself.

Dumbledore took another step, his Aurors advancing with him along the way. The old man stole a look at Voldemort, who was looking quite amused but also quite on the ready, with his wand out and his eyes alert. There would be no mistakes this time.

Harry's eyes were huge and fearful, but Dumbledore didn't notice. All he could think of was that Harry Potter will finally be on my side.

When the last few steps between Dumbledore and the bed had been covered, Dumbledore reached out a tentative hand to Harry, attempting now to offer the child an option. Even Bellatrix, who had no children herself and was generally not a motherly person, could tell that it was too late for Harry to want to go with the old man.

Green eyes met blue, and Harry was obviously terrified of Dumbledore and of the hand that was stretched out towards him. As Dumbledore leaned closer, Harry scrambled out of the bed, put his feet on the floor, and stood up in an attempt to get away from the old man.

Harry promptly fell down from his own weakness from his entire ordeal, and Sirius picked him up off the floor tenderly. "It's all right, cub," Sirius whispered softly.

"Siri?" Harry questioned, his head buried in the man's shoulder.

Sirius smiled, still grateful to be accepted by the little one, and said, "I'm here, Harry. Everything will be okay."

Dumbledore was incredulous. "Sirius Black?" he said, his voice disbelieving. How could this day get any worse?

Shooting a quick glance at Voldemort, who gave his permission with a nod, Sirius removed his mask and waved with his free hand at Dumbledore. "Good to see you, Headmaster," he said coldly. "I see you haven't changed at all."

Taking a deep breath and clutching his wand all the tighter, Dumbledore replied, "Was Azkaban good to you, Sirius?"

Sirius's eyes hardened, and he repositioned Harry on his hip before responding. "Azkaban does exactly what it was intended to do," he said simply. Next to him, he felt Bella shiver, and he moved closer to her for comfort.

The tension in the room was tangible as Voldemort finally decided to take control of where the little meeting was headed. "Very well," he said, moving to stand at the bottom of Harry's bed, creating a sort of barrier between the two opposing parties. "I think we have made it quite clear that there are some differences in opinion between us."

Backing up a few steps, still twirling his wand, Voldemort put on an elaborate show of looking thoughtful and contemplative for a few moments, before appearing to have an idea spring upon him. Of course, it was not improvisation that allowed for a brilliant plan to be born: no, Voldemort had hoped events would play out this way. If things kept going the way they were headed, it would be Harry who was choosing who to go with – and Harry's choice had already been made.

"Let us see, Dumbledore," Voldemort spoke softly, mentally strengthening the wards around himself and around his five by the bed. "You came here to retrieve Harry Potter, from what you believe to be an unsafe, inhumane, cruel location. I'm assuming I am correct so far?" He finished politely, looking at the old man with an air of conceit and self-righteousness. At Dumbledore's equally polite, but a little more panicked, nod, he continued.

"Well, as established by your rather grotesque demonstration, Harry is in no more danger here than he would be with you."

Dumbledore was quick to enter in his opinion, obviously trying to calm his voice down as he spoke. "Now, excuse me, Tom, but I do believe that is an over exaggeration. Harry would be protected by all means under my care, and no harm would come to him."

Voldemort raised an eyebrow, incredulous but unsurprised at Dumbledore's words. "Oh really?" he said softly. "Protected by all means under your care? I believe he was under your care when you flung him in to Azkaban, a mere child."

Dumbledore looked sheepish as he replied. "It was a necessary step to take in order to ensure his success later in life."

Voldemort simply laughed at the old man. "Was it, Dumbledore? Well, even if it was a necessary step, it also was a step that lost you your weapon. Harry's not going with you."

"Oh, I do believe he is!" Dumbledore countered, taking a step towards Voldemort defiantly.

Voldemort shook his head at the same time Dumbledore nodded. This cycle of going back and forth between one another went on for a good few minutes, before Voldemort's red eyes gleamed particularly manically and he finally fell silent.

After a few more minutes of silence, Voldemort spoke. "Let's let Harry decide for himself then, shall we?" He smirked when Dumbledore nodded quickly. Foolish old man.

The plan was decidedly foolproof. Harry would undoubtedly go to the one who would provide him with safety, and Voldemort had done nothing but give him food, shelter, and healing. Dumbledore had only provided him with an image that was scary and haunting, one that Harry definitely wouldn't want to be a part of. What was more, Voldemort had Sirius, Bella, and Severus backing him up. If Harry for some reason chose Dumbledore, Voldemort would simply not let him go. There was no chance of failure, mainly because of Dumbledore's stupidity.

It was nice to be able to count on someone else to make the mistakes, for a change.

Nodding at Sirius, Voldemort took a few steps back, putting an appropriate distance between himself and Dumbledore. Sirius carried Harry in between the two men, still carrying him.

"Harry?" Sirius prompted. When Harry looked up at him with his innocent eyes, Sirius continued. "Who would you like to go with?" Sirius asked. "Him," he said, pointing at Voldemort and waiting for Harry's green eyes to meet Voldemort's red ones. "Or him?" Sirius finished, pointing similarly at Dumbledore. Harry wouldn't even meet the old man's startlingly blue eyes.

Harry was silent for a long time before he looked up at Sirius again. "Which side are you on?" he whispered, so quietly that Voldemort and Dumbledore almost couldn't catch his words.

Sirius grinned and pointed at Voldemort. "And Bella and… and Sev, too?" Harry whispered again, looking hesitantly over Sirius' shoulder to the two figures similarly clad in black. The fear in Harry's eyes was immensely obvious, and Sirius hated to see the little boy who deserved so much having so little.

"Yes, Harry," Sirius confirmed, glancing up to look at Dumbledore's perplexed face. "Bella and Severus are on his side, too."

Harry nodded, looking immensely tired. "I want to go with him, Siri," he confided, looking pointedly at Voldemort, who was astoundingly looking a little emotional.

Sirius nodded, smiling, and moved backwards towards Bella with Harry still in his arms. Dumbledore was looking quite astounded; that was the only word that could properly describe his expression.

It wasn't quite that he was in shock that Harry had picked Voldemort over him, especially after the unfortunate way his demonstration had gone over. No, rather, he was surprised had how epically and totally his plan had failed. Unfortuanently, he had conveniently forgotten the fact that he had been the one who put Harry in Azkaban in the first place. Back then, it had seemed like a good idea, especially when you looked at how much it would benefit the Light side in the future. But this- this certainly was a twist.

The addition of Sirius Black in to the equation also complicated things, and according to Harry's whispers, Bellatrix Lestrange and Severus Snape too. No matter; Severus Snape had never truly been on the Light side. Dumbledore knew that, as much as he had never really wanted to admit it. Despite the fact that the man's mental defenses were too strong even for Dumbledore to break through, his actions had just proved that he was truly loyal to the Dark, and to Voldemort.

But what to do now was the main issue in Dumbledore's head. He had Matthew and Garrison behind him, ready to blindly follow him in whatever he wished to do; he knew that was a fact, because they had the strongest Imperius curse possible placed over them. No, that wasn't the problem; the problem was that he was facing the most powerful wizard, next to himself. Adding to that was Bella and Sirius, two powerful magicians who were probably now out of their minds, and Severus, who was immensely strong himself. Dumbledore also had no doubt that Harry could wield some of his accidental magic, if angered and terrified enough. The old man wasn't stupid, even if he was cruel. Angering any one of the five of them would not bode well in this already unfortunate situation.

It was becoming quite obvious to Dumbledore that his only option was to use the element of surprise and launch an attack. The problem, however, was that the power of defensive wards and shields in the room was tangible. Dumbledore could practically feel the magic swirling around him, and he had no doubt that if he fired a spell off, it would just be reflected back. Luckily, however, his own shields were just as strong. Although attacking did perhaps seem foolish, it truly was his only option.

Quickly scanning the room, Dumbledore was downtrodden when he did not see anything he could use to his advantage. The room was plain, white, and almost completely empty except for Harry's now vacant bed. It was four to three, and Voldemort had the clear advantage. There was no doubt in Dumbledore's mind that both Bella and Sirius now possessed wands.

Communicating telepathically with the two Aurors, informing them of his plan, Dumbledore counted to ten slowly and then raised his wand, with the intent of filing off a simple spell-

Unfortunately, Voldemort was faster.

Anticipating an attack had been easy. Dumbledore was stuck, and Voldemort had no inclination to attack first. But after making sure his wards were impenetrable, he had adjusted his robes, all the while subtly running his index finger along the tattoo on his forearm. Bella, Sirius, and Severus had all visibly winced; but they had all concealed their reactions well, returning their faces to expressionless forms of obedience.

The plan to call in the extra Death Eaters had been formulated throughout the day, and expanded upon as the confrontation went along. Although there was no Death Eater that Voldemort trusted quite as much as the three that were in the room with him, the others were at least slightly competent enough to deal with threats.

Voldemort had been watching the Aurors behind Dumbledore carefully while the old man had contemplated his options. They were unmoving and emotionless, and Voldemort had a good guess that they wouldn't react to any external movement - no flinching, jumping, or anything like that. Thus, while Dumbledore was attacking (which was, of course, pointless against Voldemort's shields), the Death Eaters could attack from behind. Dumbledore had no shield around him that prevented any bodily contact, or dispelled anyone from getting so close to him.

The Death Eaters were already thundering outside the door when Dumbledore shot off his curse, with his two Aurors following in suit with their own. The spells harmlessly bounced off of the shields that Voldemort had constructed, and in an instant Bella, Sirius, Severus, and Voldemort all had their wands drawn and pointed at the three across the room.

Before Dumbledore could react again, the Death Eaters had burst through the door and had knocked the two Aurors out cold. Although Dumbledore put up a good fight, throwing a few feeble punches, in a few moments his wand had been confiscated and three masked Death Eaters were holding him by his shoulders. Voldemort almost laughed when he realized that Dumbledore hadn't even attempted to fire off spells at the Death Eaters, who really hadn't had any immense protection spells on them. Maybe the man really was just getting old.

-

Voldemort waved gleefully at a furious caged Dumbledore, cackling madly and spinning around in circles. To Severus, who was standing at the doorway observing, the man looked either insane or just drunk. He knew the first was true, but he was never quite sure about the second.

Severus was, to put it mildly, relieved about the way events had gone down. They had been surprisingly peaceful - only a few spells had been exchanged, and things were going quite well now. Although he of course wished that Dumbledore had been roughed up a little more, seeing the man caged, wandless, helpless, and pretty much hopeless was almost enough. Harry was sleeping peacefully now, exhausted from the excitement, and Sirius and Bella had probably collapsed somewhere too. Severus felt surprisingly compassionate for the two of them; although he had always felt immense resentment towards both, being on the same side helped things. Knowing that they had been through something he could barely imagine also upped up his level of sympathy.

It was a while longer before Voldemort finally finished his rant of taunting and mocking Dumbledore relentlessly, much of which was quite comical to listen to, at least in Severus' opinion. When Voldemort finally moved towards the doorway, Severus backed up, bowed slightly, and then followed him out of the room.

Voldemort had motioned to Severus to follow him, and the Potions Master did so. Voldemort stopped in the hallway just outside the room and turned to Severus, a contemplative look on his face. After a brief pause, he spoke. "Where is the girl?" he said confidently, a look of interest returning to his features.

With a brief nod, Severus turned again and led the Dark Lord to a room across the hall from Harry's. After getting permission from Voldemort, Severus checked on Harry briefly, before continuing in to the other room. The girl was sleeping fitfully, every so often crying out and thrashing.

Severus shook his head and spoke softly. "She's in the same position as Harry now, just not as extensive. She's suffered torture, fear, and intimidation."

Voldemort nodded slowly. "Do you know who she is?"

"I believe she is Hermione Granger," Severus responded, carefully shielding his face in preparation for his next revelation. He knew how Voldemort felt about Muggle-borns. "She has Muggle parents, and was kidnapped from them recently."

Voldemort was silent as he contemplated exactly what he could do with the girl. He hated Muggle-borns and Muggles; they were inferior, useless, and most of all, they reminded him of his past, the past he so wished to forget. The easiest path to take would be to just kill the girl and be done with it; he had killed children countless times before, and it didn't phase him. But for some reason, the thought of killing this girl, who had already gone through so much, was unappealing to Voldemort.

However, Voldemort was quite unwilling to let Severus know that he was feeling... sympathetic towards the girl - Hermione. Luckily, the Dark Lord could practically feel the power swirling around her sweeping form.

Turning to Severus, Voldemort questioned, "Have you tested her power levels?" At Severus's confirming nod, he said, "Well?"

"She is, in fact, very powerful," Severus revealed. "Her power is only slightly below Harry's."

Although the information did not particularly surprise Voldemort, he was slightly taken aback by how well the situation had in fact played out for him. He still had Harry; he had gotten back two of his best Death Eaters from prison; he had acquired a new asset to his team, Hermione; and he had Dumbledore locked up. Things couldn't be better.

All he had to do now was decide what to do next.

-

Not the best chapter, and I'm sorry it's been so long.

Please review.