I feel I have to put in a warning. This chapter contains something that warrants the rating I have for this story in spades. I'm not going to put any sort of indicator but you probably will know what I'm talking about when you read it. Just skip to the next line break if you don't like where it's heading.

Chapter 1

(Post Third Task - Headmaster's Office, Hogwarts)

Albus Dumbledore had only once felt so helpless. This feeling, the uncertainty, the pain…he'd only ever experienced it once.

Once. That was more than enough. This. This was not happening.

"I need all three of you to focus." Minerva said stiffly, eyeing the three champions in turn. "I need you all to tell us exactly what happened there."

"But madame, you must give zem time! What zey 'ave seen tonight…"

"One of my students was taken." Minerva cut Maxime off sharply, her eyes narrowed at the rest of the occupants in the room as if daring anyone to challenge her. "His life could very well be in danger."

"Come now Minerva, Madame Maxime is right!" Cornelius said nervously, twirling his bowler hat in his hands. "Look at the poor girl…the boys, they look like they've been through hell! You must allow them time t-"

"Not now." He found himself speaking. And none too gently. The entire room fell silent, Cornelius looking like a stricken child backed away into the shadows beside Kingsley. Maxime looked like she was going to protest but the moment their eyes met she too looked away. Severus simply stared ahead.

He avoided looking at Minerva, choosing instead to gaze upon the three teenagers before him. "What happened."

For a few moments none of them spoke. Cedric Diggory seemed to be at a loss for words. Fleur Delacour had her face in her hands, quiet sobs escaping her.

Viktor Krum, however, spoke; "Portkey. Cup was a portkey." He nodded, urging him to go on. "We ran into each other in the maze, at the final obstacle."

"Harry was with you?" He asked to which Krum nodded.

"Harry…he…." Diggory spoke up, his voice quiet. "He said that we should all take the cup. So we all decided to take it together." He saw Minerva lean forward, burying her face in her hands.

"What happened then."

"The cup took us to a graveyard." Diggory muttered, his voice wavering. "There were…I don't know, people. I didn't get a chance to see anything. I got knocked out almost immediately. And…" He opened his mouth but closed it again, no sound coming out.

"Please go on Mr. Diggory, it's vital we know what happened if we are to find Harry." He pressed.

"Yes…I…Well, I remember waking up. There was a cauldron. We were all tied to the tombstones. Then I saw a man…a hooded man. I saw him cut Harry's arm, take his blood and drop it in the cauldron." He shook his head. "He did something…an incantation, a potion-I don't know. And…" A few tears were streaming down his face at this point. He looked at Severus who moved forward, handing a vial to Diggory.

"Drink it, it's a calming draught." He said as gently as he could. "It will help." The boy nodded before drinking it. "Please continue."

"I saw him." The calming draught did naught to cover the terror in his voice. "It was you-know-who. He climbed out of the cauldron." There was a thud as Cornelius lost balance.

"And then?"

"I don't know. He was saying something but…I wasn't, I can't remember. He used the Cruciatus on…on me and Fleur. I can't…I can't remember anything after that." His voice broke.

"That's alright. Thank you for your effort Mr. Diggory."

He looked towards Krum and Delacour. Krum in particular, but he didn't seem to have anything more to say. He was just going to ask again when Delacour spoke; "'E was going to kill us. You-know-who" She murmured, her bloodshot eyes gazing up at him as Maxime squeezed her shoulder.

"What then?" He asked, not unkindly.

"'Arry…'e." Fresh tears were brimming in her eyes. "'E begged 'im to spare us. Viktor and Cedric were unconscious. Ze men, zey…" She couldn't seem to go on. His eyes narrowed, bile rising in the back of his throat.

"Did they do anything to you?"

"Non, 'Arry promised you-know-who 'e will do whatever 'e wanted if 'e let me and ze ozzers go un'armed." She took in a deep, shuddering breath. "'E agreed. Zey tied me and ze ozzers together before making me take ze cup."

"I see." Nothing more was needed to be said.

Cold.

He dug the nails into his palms as he desperately hugged himself tighter in an effort to keep what little warmth he had.

His 'cell' was not a traditional one. It was a room, a rather spacious one at that. The large right in front of him was open wide, moonlight streaming in. Tempting him with freedom.

But he knew. He'd learnt. The moment he got too close to it his skin would feel as if he was being burned alive.

This was just another form of the dark lord's torment; To raise his hopes in his short bursts of lucidity.

He'd lost track of time long ago. Judging by the signs of snow starting to fall he knew quite a few months had gone by.

The memories he had been holding onto…his friends, Hogwarts, Sirius…they were starting to become no more than nameless faces in his dreams. It was getting harder and harder to keep himself sane.

That was the worst part, knowing the moments when you're slowly losing yourself. Each day was just a new way to experience pain. The dark lord was taking great pride in his rather novel method of giving him grief. He'd taken to distorting his memories, making them worse than they really are. Turning the ones he held dear into fuel for nightmares.

He knew. It was not the physical pain that was going to drive him to insanity. He'd gotten used to it even…magic, knives, whips...they had become strangely familiar to him. Perhaps that's why the dark lord was getting more and more irritated with him. His acceptance.

Well…if his own mind breaking won't give the dark lord the satisfaction he desires he didn't know what else he had left to give. Perhaps he could die earlier?

He laughed hoarsely. To dream of an end…that was not a luxury he could afford.

He jerked himself awake violently as the door swung open, eyeing the figure that strode in warily.

"How are we doing this time around Harry?" He stared mutely at her. Her heavy lidded eyes scrutinizing him.

She scared him. In a different way from the dark lord that's for sure.

She tutted. "Come now dear, I thought we'd gotten rather..." She flicked her wand at the door making it slam shut. He heard the locks snap into place. "…close." She finished, a smile on her lips.

He simply looked on. Bellatrix Lestrange…the woman who'd proven more adept at making him scream than any of the other Death Eaters who'd tried their hand with him.

"I see the recognition!" She sang delightedly before kneeling in front of him. "I missed you. The dark lord had sent me out to do a few things but…" She placed her hands on either side of him, pinning him to the wall with her stare. "…Oh, don't worry about the dark lord. He's gone, left to take care of a few things." Her hand came up to his face, caressing his cheek lightly. "I also made sure that we will not be disturbed, I missed you that much."

Her face was much too close to his. She smelt surprisingly pleasant, and even as he noticed that his eyes fell on her ample cleavage which he noticed hovering right in front of him.

He could feel himself reacting, his traitorous body…Bellatrix was not an unpleasant sight to behold, not since he'd last seen her in the earliest of his days here. But even with that, he could feel his fear rising. Used to the pain as he was he certainly did not welcome it, and she was more than adept at that.

Something must've shown in his face because she grinned, her violet eyes searching his as she ran her fingers lightly over his lips. "I won't do that! Oh we'll have time for that later. Oh no…I had something different in mind."

He barely had time to react before she'd moved forward, claiming his lips in a kiss. He didn't have the strength as his arms flew up in a feeble attempt to push her off him but she pinned them on the wall, deepening the kiss roughly.

As suddenly as she'd started, she drew back, breathing heavily. Her cheeks were flushed and she was panting. She flicked her wand at his hands, binding them behind his back.

"Harry…" She purred, straddling him. As she did her smirk grew wider. "You liked that didn't you? I can feel it…" She bit his earlobe even as he struggled, his mind at war with his body. He wanted nothing more than to throw this vile woman off him but he was powerless to do so. "I did say I missed you." She kissed him again before biting down on his lip, a metallic taste in his mouth signaling she'd drawn blood.

"I waited a long time for this…the dark lord doesn't care much for these pleasures and I haven't had a prisoner to play with in such a long time." She finished with a pout before unbuttoning her robes. "You on the other hand…" She waved the rags that hid his modesty away. "You I want." She gripped him tightly causing him to hiss.

"Please." He whispered, looking up at her. He didn't want this. The humiliation…"Don't do this." She ignored him. "Please, wait-"

"I can't wait." She suddenly gasped, ripping her robes off before sliding down on him in one fluid motion, a moan escaping her as she did. He shut his eyes tightly, the overwhelming sensations proving too much for him.

She wasn't giving him any respite as she started moving. He felt her hand on the back of his head, pulling him into another kiss, her grunts muffled as she bounced on him like a possessed woman.

He saw her draw a dagger out the corner of his eye before he felt a sharp pain in his arm making him cry hoarsely. The mixture of pain and pleasure was simply too much.

He didn't know how long it lasted. He kept his eyes shut, wishing this was all just a depraved nightmare, yet it just won't seem to end.

He felt her tense before crying out loudly, her face falling on his chest as she panted.

"Be good Harry, perhaps I may ask the dark lord if I could keep you as a pet."

He didn't know what was worse after that. The simple fact that he was being humiliated to his core or that a sickening part of him was actually enjoying it.

He welcomed the madness; the moments when he couldn't separate reality from nightmares, the moments where he couldn't remember who he was…it was a relief. Heck, it was getting far easier to deal with what the dark lord was putting him through as well…although he suspected that was simply out of boredom.

After all, just how many ways were there to make him hurt without killing him?

Bellatrix did not stop. She would do whatever thing the dark lord asked of her to him and took great pleasure in doing so. The Cruciatus curse was after all one of her 'specialities'…but other times, time when the dark lord wasn't present, she'd indulge herself on him. So much so that it was becoming a frequent occurrence...so much so that now whenever she came to him, she didn't even need to bind him. He'd stopped resisting.

Despite all this, something had sparked in him. After all this time.

Perhaps it was the way he noticed just how eager Bellatrix was whenever she came to 'visit' him. He didn't fail to notice that she was getting rather careless. She'd once failed to cast a silencing charm on his room, causing her to Obliviate the person who'd come up to check what was going on.

This coupled by the fact that she now didn't seem to see any point in keeping him restrained, sometimes even encouraging him to explore her body.

And he did. She liked it when he did and that he noticed, lead to her indulging herself even more.

She believed him harmless…and he rightly was so. His wand had long since been snapped and the daily dose of potions he was given kept his strength sapped.

But the liberties she was taking with him was giving him something he'd not felt in so long.

Hope.

"Do you ever think about the afterlife?" The dark lord asked curiously.

He was once again in chains but today the dark lord seemed to get bored with him within just a few hours.

"Death Harry? Does it instill fear?" He continued on, seemingly lost in his own musings. "You see, I used to be…rather cautious about it." His lips twisted into a passable imitation of a smile. "The orphanage I grew up in? We had to say our prayers every night and confess any sin we may have committed." He scoffed. "To think I actually used to believe that drivel. Hell…that's where they said I'd go. Can you believe that?"

Harry's lips twisted into a smirk despite himself.

Hell was too good for the bastard.

The dark lord, fortunately, didn't see his amusement.

Or was it unfortunately?

"You truly do not fear death do you though?" He felt those disgusting, cold fingers on his chin. "I must say I am beginning to tire of you. But the simple fact that you don't care puts me in a very difficult position." A small amount of panic seeped in. He knew?! "Oh I know…come on Harry…" He muttered disapprovingly, dropping his chin. "Your mind was long since broken, its nothing more than an open book. I know what you think; I know just how much you want to beg for mercy."

"What's more, I know of Bella's obsession with you." The dark lord laughed. "Despite everything I know you secretly find pleasure in it. After all, how could you not? You are being used against your will or are you?"

That sparked anger in him. But it was anger directed at himself. Those words were ringing true to a certain extent and it was sickening.

"No matter. We're both men…I understand Harry, it's your one moment to experience something else. Although…" He could practically hear the grin in his voice. "Bella does have some interesting methods don't you agree?"

"No matter…since I have you here we should be discussing something far more important shouldn't we?" He heard him moving around, rummaging around the room for something for a few moments before he saw a pale, skeletal hand right underneath his face, an odd looking amulet in it.

"Know what this is Harry?" The dark lord asked curiously before answering it himself when he got no response; "I got it a long time ago you see…back when I was travelling the world, scouring for magical artifacts. Anything that could tell me about the afterlife. Now this piece though…" He only noticed then that the dark lord wasn't holding the actual amulet, rather, he was dangling it by its cord.

"This is interesting…I got in on my travels you see, somewhere in Ireland?" The dark lord shook his head before muttering to himself; "Or somewhere in the East? Jerusalem maybe…" He shook his head. "I digress. I may not remember where exactly I stumbled upon this but the rumors surrounding it were just too good to pass up."

Harry suddenly tensed when he felt the dark lord's hands come up around his neck, his eyes widening when he realized what had happened.

The gleam in those red eyes brightened.

The amulet was now hanging just a few inches below his neck.

"A gift Harry, a gift! Now what do we say when we receive such a gift?"

…

A flash of movement before he heard himself cry out hoarsely, pain clouding his mind before it stopped after a few moments.

"What do we say Harry. I won't ask again."

"T-thank you." He rasped, breathing heavily. His defiance had long since left him.

"Good lad. But if the rumors are true, I don't think you'll be thanking me for long." The dark lord laughed. "You see, this supposedly belonged to one of the 'fallen'."

"I remember the trouble I had to go through in order to obtain it…so many muggles I killed, all of them desperately trying to protect it." The dark lord shook his head in amusement. "The last man who stood between me and it gave me a warning…that the moment I touched it I would be signing myself to hell."

"Now, I am not one for superstitions…but I have seen things throughout my life that I cannot explain. Magic for one, I mean you understand right? This whole world, the things we can do, did either of us growing up as muggles believe in it?" His expression darkened. "And you…look at you, a harmless 14-year-old, not even half as accomplished as me when I was 11. How can you be recognized as my destroyer?"

Harry, from practice, braced himself. And sure enough the pain returned. This was one of the things that seemed to ire the dark lord the most.

"But either way…" The malice disappeared from the dark lord's voice. "Perhaps you can put that to more use than I. After all you already cannot wait for death and I have no plans of doing that just yet. Maybe this could help you along the right path."

"I'm not superstitious Harry. But if there is any truth to that thing, it is yours. Consider it a final parting gift."

Harry had no idea when it started. Maybe he'd finally lost his mind, but is that true if he was aware of it?

He'd long since been confined to his 'room'. It had been a few days since the dark lord had requested for his presence again and he hadn't had any visitors at all, save the door opening once every morning for his daily dose of potions and compulsion charm.

A voice had started whispering in his mind. It was unintelligible for the most part, yet it felt like it was getting clearer as the days went by.

He couldn't make sense of it, but he was feeling it.

He felt the initial fear before it was replaced by jubilation. He knew it because he had started hearing laughter, not just in his own mind but laughter escaping his own lips.

This had been getting stronger as each day passed. The stream of emotions was getting more and more volatile. The voice was getting louder…he was almost certain now that it wasn't his own. It sounded rather guttural at first, yet it was getting more and more cohesive.

Strange as it sounded, it was becoming rather soothing to him. He didn't know why but it was reassuring.

Wake up love, we have so much to do.

"Harry…you shouldn't be sleeping."

It's almost time.

He felt someone shaking him before a sharp pain on his cheek cause him to open his eyes.

Anger, not his own, coursed through him as his eyes focused on the last person he wanted to see.

"You're awake! I was beginning to worry."

Bellatrix. She smiled down at him.

"How have you been? I'm so sorry I couldn't come to visit earlier…" She purred, her hand coming up to his cheek. "I apologize for this but you just weren't listening to me." Her hand was trailing down his neck. "And you know how much I…" She leaned closer, placing her lips right next to his ear. "…hate that."

The moment her lips made contact he felt something more than revulsion in him this time.

More than anger although this time it was like it was multiplied a hundredfold.

No

His rags disappeared, her lips were on his neck now and a moan escaped him to his own disgust.

None of his revulsion could be compared by the fresh wave of hatred that was flowing through him, directed at Bellatrix but at him as well.

That was when he realized the other torrent of emotions at war within himself.

Possessiveness.

Possessiveness and jealousy.

You do not belong to her. The voice in his head said. Louder and clearer than ever before.

Bellatrix had straddled him, sheathing him in her without warning.

That was when the dam broke.

She was thrown off him, by his own hand. She hit the wall opposite him before falling in a heap on the floor.

But he wasn't done apparently as his body moved on its own accord. He got to his feet, his feet moving towards her as she backed away, something in her eyes that he had never seen before.

Still he didn't stop. His leg stamping down on Bellatrix's hand which was reaching for her wand, feeling the bones breaking under his foot as she screamed before he bent low, his hand closing around her throat before he stood up, holding her effortlessly in the air, her feet dangling as she gurgled, her free arm grasping desperately at him.

"You took what was mine." His lips were moving, yet it was not his voice that was coming out.

"It is only fair I take what's yours."

Sleep dearest. It will all be over soon.

AN: This is probably the first and last time I'll be discussing subject matter like this on this story. Part of the reason for the delay for this was because I was debating if I should put it in or not but...once I have an idea I can't really drop it so...voila.

I'll try to shoot for bi-weekly updates. As for length, I can't do anywhere near the same amount I did for 'His Angel'. As I said before, I don't have that same drive anymore.

So either way, let me know how you guys like this direction I'm taking with the story. A number of you asked if it'll be Harry/Fleur...to which I'll say yes? But...yeah. There is a 'but'.

If I don't see you guys before then, Merry Christmas!