Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my imagination and whatever else is in this story that doesn't make sense. I was inspired by J.K. Rowlings wonderful world. Enjoy, and please read and review! I love reviews!

Spellbinding

Page 10

It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

~ Dumbledore

He looked back at the monster in the mirror. His eyes were a hideous red, they did not appear human to him. His skin so, clammy and colorless that he could easily pass for the vampires that he had only read about in the restricted section from the school library. His fingers were so abnormally thin and longer than his own true hands.

He stretched them out and examined the pallid whiteness of his nails and fingertips, pressing them upto his face. Needing to touch his own being, pinch even slap himself just to be sure that this was not some bizarre nightmare.

He ran his hand back and forth along his bald skull. He had always prided himself in the lustrous darkness of his hair and its natural waves. Now there was nothing, not so much as a string. And faint veins could be seen as they traveled beneath his skin. Could he truly have been so stupid in his later life. Could he be the blame for the monster staring back at him now.

But he was responsible and he knew it. There had been strange dreams, nightmares really, for the days he lain unconscious. Dreams of far away lands and unusual places. Many of them he had never seen before and then there had been strange wizards in his nightmares as well. And the one thing he could remember was the feeling of intense thirst and hunger, hunger for more power, more knowledge, more of the dreams that came.

He stood wrapped in a towel and barefoot in the steamy lavatory. He had been there for more than an hour now.

The walls were made of some type of stone, dark and smooth to the touch. Several wall lanterns flooded the steamy bathroom with a soft light, that did little to flatter his hideous appearance. He could feel the tears pouring onto his face. He knew he was wrong to cower away in the shower like a child. He knew it did no good, he would have to face the world and the monster dwelling in him soon. This he could handle, compare to facing her, those were a luxury.

"I suggest you pull yourself together. Should the others discover that you are not Lord Voldemort…."

"THEN LET THEM…." shouted Tom.

"That would not be wise." said Severus. He stood in the entrance way, closing the door behind him as he entered the room. He approached Voldemort and staring at him a bit reluctant to speak. Snape had dismissed Bellatrix and the others the moment the Dark Lord had awoken. Severus noticed immediately that the man standing before him was not at all the feared dark wizard.

"What is wrong with my eyes?" asked Tom he place his hand beneath them and widened them more to expose the red pupil looking back from his reflection. "Why can't I change them back."

"It will take practice and time, you are exhausted now my lord and you have been through a great ordeal."

"I have asked you kindly not to call me that." said Tom.

"Yes, and with all do respect my lord, I do recall the request, but it is as I have told you before, the title is necessary for your protection as well as my own. Unless you have formulated a more suitable explanation should it be discovered that you are little more than a fifteen year old boy locked in the body of the most infamous wizard our world has known since Salzar himself." Replied Snape. He stretched out his hand and handed Tom a cup and saucer of clear tea. "Drink! It will calm you, we shall begin your training within the hour. You will have to learn to disguise who you truly are. Your beloved Bellatrix can smell disloyalty from miles, should she even suspect something has happen to her Tom.

"I am not her Tom…" he said, and his eyes caught the full sight of the older man, with a look that delivered a warning. Tom shoved the cup aside, and its contents splashed over the bathroom counter. He turned, grabbed the edge of the sink and lowering his head. His breathing was deep and very troubled.

Severus's voice hushed, the room became strangely, uncomfortably quiet. Severus then crept slowly to the center of the room and the steam was beginning to diminish as the air around them cleared. Severus stood frozen as he studied the back of him, and for the first time ever in his life, he reached out and used the power of legilimens and invaded the mind of the Dark Lord.

Tom, was unaware of the invasion. He wanted to forget about the older man in the room with him all together. For the moment he only care about one thing, and that was he had to find a way to Ginny, he had to find a way to her. To get her and himself to safety and completely out of the reach of the insane old man while he was lying dormant for now.

Severus said nothing. He lifted his cup to his lips and sipped slowly. He could see this would end in disaster. He now knew that Tom held the mind of a teenage boy, and did not want to accept or understand the magnitude of his role in this life. But should he go lolly-dotting about shouting foolishness of love and escaping…..

Severus could also see that the boy, who was not a boy at all, was solely devoted to protecting the Weasley girl.

Tom ran a hand over his bald head and then down his neck.

Severus read the fear in his mind as clearly as a page from a book. The tiny breaths of air Tom made churned into a soft weeps.