The first thing Draco registered was that he was warm, which wasn't a common feeling in the dungeons during the winter. Not like this, anyway. He always woke up a little chilly.

Now he was far from it.

The second thing was that something was wrapped around him and it wasn't just blankets. He slowly opened his eyes, registering the arm lying on top of his chest, the tan hand resting on his shoulder. His head was tucked in the crook of someone's neck, and then he instantly recognized the smell of the person embracing him.

He jumped instantly into a sitting position with a gasp, but the boy next to him simply sighed in his sleep and rolled over onto his back, his face turning away from him.

Draco's grey eyes were trained on him for a few moments, trying to remember how he had gotten himself into this, how exactly had he fallen asleep cuddling The Golden Boy. While he processed the situation, he found with rising worry that he didn't feel disgusted - at all. His stomach was buzzing, his traitorous brain scanning the black-haired Gryffindor and displaying thoughts of how handsome he was, how peaceful he looked, how... gorgeous.

Draco got up, pushing his hair away from his face as he scanned the room - The Room of Requirement, Harry called it. They had been talking, endlessly, but he couldn't remember for the life of him how he had fallen asleep. He did remember bursting into tears, and Potter embracing him to comfort him.

He scoffed.

It was twice now that his sworn enemy had seen him cry. He turned around and walked over to the table where he had left his wand, and grabbed it.

"Hey," Harry muttered behind him, still half asleep. Malfoy didn't turn to look at him. "Are you leaving?"

"Yes, Potter, we have class." he bit back.

"Are you feeling better?"

Draco turned then, glaring at him. Harry didn't seem surprised, he simply sat up and rubbed one eye before putting his glasses back on.

"Potter, this can never leave this room, are we clear?"

Harry smiled slightly.

"What can't?"

"I mean it. No one can know that we're..." he was at a loss for words, and Harry's smile widened. "I mean it, not even the Weasel and Granger, got it?"

"Understood." Harry said, shrugging. "I won't tell. But it's the best sleep I've had in weeks."

Draco rolled his eyes and turned to leave. He was starving, and he wanted to take a shower and change clothes before having breakfast and getting to his first class.

"Whatever."

"Hey," Harry called before Draco could open the door, "I... I just want you to know that it's okay to be scared, and sad. If you ever feel like that again, I'll always be here to listen. I don't judge. Maybe someday you'll see me crying as well and you'll be the one consoling me."

"Oh, shut the hell up." Malfoy growled, before pulling the door open fiercely and leaving Harry behind.

"Harry, please, calm down..." Ginny tried.

"Harry, mate, it's us..." Ron added.

"It's okay, you're safe..." Lupin muttered.

But nothing seemed to work. Harry had woken up screaming, and that had only intensified when his gaze had landed on Draco. The horror in his eyes had only heightened, and now tears were running down his face. He wasn't screaming anymore, but he was hyperventilating and shaking violently, scurrying backwards every time any of them tried to walk closer to him.

His green eyes were jumping around the tent, trying to take everything in, but they always went back to Draco and it seemed to rile him up every single time.

Draco swallowed against the lump in his throat.

"I..." he started, his voice faltering as Harry closed his eyes shut and uttered a small whimper, "I'll go check on the magical wards we set around us."

It was a stupid excuse, but he knew that he was only making things worse. As far as Harry's fragile mind remembered, he was on Voldemort's side, had aided to his torture, had enslaved his closest friends.

Once Draco left the tent, Hermione tried again, lifting her hands so that Harry could see that she meant no harm.

"Harry, it's just us, ok? Please, try to calm down. You'll hurt yourself worse this way." she spoke softly, and the rest of them nodded, trying to smile encouragingly at him.

Harry's breathing became less erratic, and his trembling lessened a little bit.

"W-w-w-w-" he stuttered, but he couldn't form the words. A dry cough and a groan escaped him.

Fred stepped forward then, and slowly tried to hand a pouch of water to Harry, who eyed it with dread.

"It's just water," the twin said softly, smiling.

Harry's eyes watered and he closed them shut. He was dying for a sip of water, he couldn't remember the last time he'd drank anything except potions, but every time Voldemort or any of his followers offered that to him it was in exchange of an extremely humiliating request, or a savagely painful torture to make him beg, or part of a horrible mind game. It was never just given. His breathing picked up again as he recalled the Carrow brothers waterboarding him for hours when he had begged for some water after being deprived for days.

"Harry," Ginny said, softly. "It's just water. You need it."

Harry opened his eyes and stared at her, a few tears escaping him. He slowly lifted a shaking hand, and noticed that it wasn't as injured as he remembered it to be. In fact, it was the same hand that was usually torn open around the wrist from the manacle in Voldemort's bed, and while some cuts and bruises remained, it definitely looked a thousand times better. He looked down at his body, wrapped in a soft blanket, and realized for the first time that he wasn't in the amounts of pain that he had grown partially accustomed to. He was sore and a few of his injuries were still biting at him, but most of them were clotting over already. Most of the bruises were fading.

More tears escaped his eyes as his mind slowly worked through the onslaught of information. The memories slowly crawled back to his brain, which was fiercely struggling to process everything.

He remembered Ginny getting tortured, and Ron and Hermione looking injured. He looked up at them. They were fine - no injuries whatsoever. Their faces were terribly worried, and they looked pale and skinny, but they were fine.

Was he hallucinating? Was this some elaborate dream? Had his mind finally snapped?

He looked around. He was sure he had seen Draco Malfoy a few minutes before. What had that been about?

Then he looked back at the water pouch. His throat screamed with thirst.

"Harry?" Ginny goaded, gently.

He slowly reached for the pouch, but the muscles in his hand failed him, his shaking so intense it made it impossible for him to actually grab it. The container fell from his hand and landed on the floor, the clear liquid spilling for a few seconds before Fred grabbed it again.

"S-s-s-s-..." he tried to apologize, but the words wouldn't come to him.

Lupin sighed, and Harry's eyes snapped to him. The recent, fresh memory came to his head and he closed his eyes again.

"Harry, please, drink some water, it will help." the former Professor said, softly, wishing he had a calming draught or at least some chocolate to offer the boy. Anything besides the horrible memory that he knew was coursing through the poor kid.

Harry's eyes landed on Fred again.

"I can help you drink it?" the twin said, more like a question than an offer, slowly moving the pouch closer to his face.

A sharp memory caught in his brain again, of being tied up on his back to a metal table, shaking violently after Voldemort and Bellatrix had spent hours torturing him. He remembered vividly as the woman grabbed his face, her nails embedding into his cheeks, drawing blood, her bony fingers forcing his mouth open despite his struggles, but Bellatrix had not been starved and tortured, so she was stronger than him. Voldemort held a vial in his hand. As the cruel wizard poured the potion past his cracked lips, Harry could feel it burning his mouth, his throat... and then his entire body lit up as if fire was running through his veins. He remembered his own screams, and remembered them laughing at him, at the way he cried and begged as Voldemort pulled another vial out and revealed to him the several others he had hidden below his cape.

They all remained silent for a moment while Harry, unbeknownst to himself, began sobbing.

Draco peeked inside and his heart broke even more, if possible, at seeing Harry curled in on himself, shaking and crying. How he wished he could do something other than staying ten feet away from him to avoid another panic attack.

Harry calmed down again after a few minutes of nothing happening. He looked at them through his wet eyelashes and then down at the soft blanket covering him. He hiccuped and then attempted, once again, to reach for the pouch, this time with both hands.

It was an effort to lift it to his mouth, but once the precious liquid touched his lips, and went down his throat, he couldn't stop.

Fred had very smartly put only a small amount of water inside the pouch, to avoid Harry drinking too fast and vomiting it all up. The black-haired boy seemed disappointed when the water ran out, but his throat felt much better.

He looked up, his eyes watering again... but this time with a much different feeling as the situation began to sink in again.

"I thought..." he began, clearing his throat to sound less raspy but not being very successful at it, "I thought M-Malfoy had tortured you."

Hermione smiled.

"No. It was all for show - it's a long story. But we're okay Harry, we're not injured." she explained softly.

"I don't - I - How..." he didn't know what to ask. As his mind slowly calmed down and came back from the brink of total insanity, he tried to sort the thoughts in his head.

"We can explain everything in a minute, Harry, but for now you need to eat." Lupin said, smiling slightly.

George had been sitting in the back, cutting up some bread and fruit to feed to Harry in small bites, as instructed by the Professor. He smiled when Harry's eyes landed on him, and then zeroed in on the food. A similar feeling to what the water had caused in him bubbled in the pit of his stomach, but he was a lot calmer now... and ravenous. The second twin walked slowly up to Harry and placed the plate in his lap. Harry couldn't believe it.

His hands hovered over the food and his eyes watered again.

"I think we should give Harry some space." Lupin said, noticing that the boy was about to start crying again, and he didn't need anymore exposure to his fragile mind.

The youngsters groaned a little, but they understood, too. Besides, none of them wanted to raise their voice and risk another panic attack, so they all quietly left the cave to join Malfoy outside.

Lupin stayed next to Harry, and watched as he hesitantly brought a piece of bread to his mouth and chewed, his face scrunching a little as soft sobs escaped him.

"Easy," he said softly after Harry hastily drove the next five ones to his mouth without chewing. "You'll choke on it if you don't chew first."

Harry kept crying as he ate, but thankfully he didn't choke as he ate through the tiny sobs. To his dismay, he was full not even halfway through his meal. He considered eating it all, but he was feeling bile creeping up his throat. Lupin smiled as he summoned more water to the pouch with Draco's wand, and handed it to Harry.

"It's okay. You can finish it later. It will be there whenever you feel hungry again."

Harry looked up at him.

"Is this real?" he asked softly. "I think I'm dreaming."

"No, no, Harry. It's real." Remus answered, smiling gently at him. He lifted his hand slowly, and put it on Harry's shoulder in an extremely slow motion. The boy closed his eyes as tears kept rolling down. His hands raised to grab his former Professors wrist.

"How can you tell?" he whispered, his voice unsteady and hoarse.

Lupin slowly and gently pulled him closer, and then embraced him, not too tight in case the boy wanted to pull away. But he didn't. He buried his face in Lupin's shoulder and cried inconsolably, his hands gripping his coat for dear life. Lupin caressed his matted hair, shushing him gently.

"You're safe, Harry. I promise. You're safe."

It was a few minutes before Harry calmed down again and leaned back, cleaning his tears.

"How did you get me out of there?" he asked, softly. "You were tied up - you were..." he closed his eyes against the memory and shuddered.

"It wasn't me." Remus said, shrugging a little. "It was Hermione and Ginny and the Weasleys... and Draco."

Harry flinched at the name.

"No, I saw him torturing Ginny and Ron and Hermione."

Outside, the others looked at Draco with some pity, as the blonde looked away, swallowing.

"It was all a set-up Harry. He was trying to get Voldemort to trust him."

Harry paled as he heard the name, the nausea returning.

"He did a good job" he muttered bitterly, "fooled me."

Hermione watched as Draco fought back tears. She sighed softly before entering the tent again, smiling gently as Harry's eyes landed on her and she slowly walked over, sitting next to Lupin. Harry smiled slightly at her.

"Can I join you? Maybe I can help clear the air a bit."

The boy's smile widened a bit.

"You don't need to ask." Harry said softly.

Hermione recounted everything she could, from the auction up to the moment they had left the manor, trying to leave out any details that might cause Harry more emotional distress. The boy listened intently, his eyebrows furrowing every time she mentioned Draco being helpful and actually trying to save him. She hinted at him being very distraught each time he came back from the Riddle Manor, but didn't go into much detail to avoid reminding Harry of what had transpired, even though it played in the back of his mind every time she mentioned the blonde boy.

Harry was silent when she finished talking, his face confused.

After a few minutes, he spoke, softly.

"Thank you for... saving me," he said "but what now? What do we do now?"

Hermione swallowed, unsure.

"For now, you heal." Ginny said from the mouth of the tent. She was done with being in the sidelines. She didn't approach them, still wanting to give Harry some space, and unsure of how to be soft and gentle in the way Remus and Hermione were being... she didn't know how to not be harsh anymore, and she knew that was the last thing the boy needed. But she needed to talk to him, or at least see him at that moment, when he seemed a bit more sane. "You need to heal, Harry, and regain your strength."

"Ginny..." he said, softly. "Are you okay?"

Ginny's eyes watered and she almost laughed in shock.

"Harry, are you seriously asking me that?"

"I - Bellatrix was - " another nauseous leap assaulted him and he closed his eyes.

"Yes, Harry. I'm perfectly fine." She said softly. "Are you feeling better?"

Harry opened his eyes and nodded.

"Can we come in?" Ron asked, poking his head inside a little.

Harry laughed a little, the sound feeling extremely weird in his chest. He didn't think he would ever laugh again. At seeing Harry smiling slightly against all odds, Hermione's eyes watered.

"Can I hug you?" she asked softly.

Harry tensed a little, but in the next minute he nodded. Hermione approached him slowly and then wrapped her arms around his neck, and he hugged her back. Ron walked slowly up to them, with tears in his eyes, and Harry nodded slightly to indicate that he could join the hug, too.

Harry pulled back first, still feeling a bit queasy at the idea of being touched, or embraced... He swallowed and tried to push the thought away from his head.

Ginny and the twins entered then, as well.

Draco stood at the mouth of the tent, unsure. As soon as Harry noticed, his body uncontrollably began shaking again, and so the blonde boy decided to leave again, and sat a few meters away.

"He's on our side, you know." Ron said, surprising even himself. "We couldn't have done this without him."

Harry didn't answer, still looking at the entrance of the tent, now empty.

"You should get some more rest, Harry." Lupin said.

Harry nodded and finally set the food plate aside, and Lupin helped him back to the makeshift bed he had crawled out of in his panic.

It didn't take long for him to drift off, even with everyone around him. He was exhausted.

Draco walked in then and quietly sat down with the others as George began handing out plates of food.

"He's right." Ginny said after a few minutes of silence. "What now?"

"Harry is healing, but he needs more than the spells I can cast with a wand that isn't mine." Lupin said. "He's going to need a few healing potions, so the first thing is to try to get as many ingredients as we can. Then, when he is a bit on the healthier side, we can move and... help him continue his mission."

"Collecting the Horcruxes." Ron said.

"Do you really think" Draco spoke up, sounding genuinely concerned, "that once we find them, if we even manage to do it, Harry will be able to face him?"

They all looked at the beaten boy laying a few meters away, and a heavy feeling clouded their minds.


Harry woke up with a gasp, but thankfully he couldn't remember what he had been dreaming about, so he didn't wake up in a panic. He did wake up a little shaken, as usual, his heart beating madly in his chest.

It was night time, and he slowly calmed down as he looked at his friends lying down around him, asleep. Ginny was next to him, and he stared at her for a long moment, his stomach queasy as he remembered how close she had been to being the Death Eaters' plaything. He swallowed and hesitantly drove a hand to her cheek, his fingers touching it softly. He didn't think he would ever see her again... Any of them for that matter. He turned to his other side and stared at Hermione and Ron, who were holding hands in their sleep. He was mildly surprised at that... If things ever got back to being relatively normal, he would have to ask about it.

And then his eyes travelled to the entrance of the tent, and his heart jumped wildly. Draco was standing there, no doubt guarding the tent.

Half of his mind was terrified of the blonde... but the other side, the side that had been beaten down for the last several months, began to speak up. If Draco actually wanted to hurt them, he would do so at that moment, when he knew all of them were asleep. He wouldn't be awake, standing guard.

His eyes travelled through his frame, taking in how much taller he looked.

He was slowly calming down, even playing with the idea of getting up and talking to him... until his eyes landed on his hand, clutching the wand tightly. Logically, he knew that he needed it to stand guard and defend them in case of danger, but his logical side was so beaten down that it got silenced immediately by his self-preservation. His entire body trembled wildly, the intense terror nearly making him scream. After all, despite the explanations he had already received, Malfoy had watched and laughed as Voldemort tortured him. He had participated in it when he had whipped him. He had cast the Cruciatus curse on Ginny, several times... Hadn't he even mentioned that he held nothing but hatred for Harry? Hadn't he even condoned the fact that Voldemort had repeatedly...?

A flashback tore through his fragile head like a bullet.

The last flashes of his kiss with Draco disappeared from his eyes, and he slowly, painfully came back from the absolute edge of insanity.

He was panting harshly, violent gasps tearing through his throat and chest. His entire body was burning with unbearable pain, both from his injuries and the aftermath of the strongest Cruciatus curse he had felt yet. He was in so much pain he could barely form a coherent thought.

"Now, isn't this interesting?" Voldemort said above him.

Harry's eyes focused on him, wide and terrified, and he realized with ice-cold terror that the monster had used Legilimens on him. Despite his best efforts, the man had finally broken down the last of Harry's mental defenses. The pain had finally been too much, and his mind had surrendered. Voldemort had seen everything. Every single thing.

"This is good, Harry. At least now I won't need to forcefully enter your mind anymore. There is nothing else you can hide from me." the man continued saying, smiling widely. His teeth were bloodied, and the boy knew the blood was his... he could feel the several, deep bite marks all over his body. "So, my dear, dear Draco fooled you, huh?" Harry couldn't help the confusion that crossed his features. "Oh, my sweet Harry, you were in love with him. I saw it. Poor, little Potter, torn between loving the Weasley girl and the Malfoy boy... but despite everything, your heart always belonged to my dear Draco, didn't it? Deep down, you always knew that the one you wanted to be with was him, no matter how much you cared for the girl.

"Oh, don't cry. It's nothing to be ashamed of. I must be the bearer of bad news, though. As I said, my dear Draco fooled you. He seduced you, lured you into a false sense of security, grew closer to you... but none of that was real, Harry. Draco Malfoy's allegiance is only to me. He never loved you, not even as a friend."

Harry looked away from the monster's face, up to the manacle that was wrapped around his wrist and cutting into it. His other hand was pinned to his other side by the monster's bigger hand. He shook his head against the words, trying to grasp onto even a single feeling of comfort. Draco had been that to him - comfort, understanding, love. He didn't want the man to take that away from him. But his broken mind was having trouble grasping onto anything besides the horrible agony.

"He never even cared about you. He hates you. In fact, I have never seen someone who hates you more than him... Well, aside from myself obviously. He just wanted the thrill of fucking the Boy-who-lived." Voldemort leaned down, close to his ear, and Harry couldn't help the shudder that ran through him and the instinctive way in which his bloodied legs tried to close together to protect him, "I can vouch for it, it's a real thrill, especially when you are writhing and shrieking under Crucio. I shall do it more often."

The panic that ran through his veins nearly made him scream. No, please, please - anything but that. His lower lip trembled and more tears ran down his cheek. Voldemort leaned back to stare at his face better, and he laughed.

"You don't believe me?" he asked, malicious pleasure shinning in his smile. "Maybe I can bring him here. He can tell you himself."

Harry began crying in earnest then. He wanted to plead. He didn't want it - if what Voldemort was saying was a lie, Draco would be tortured as well for loving him. If it was true, Harry did not want to know. He wouldn't be able to take it. Besides, he did not want anyone to see him. He didn't want Draco to see what had become of him... It was too mortifying. But the words wouldn't come to him - his throat was way too injured, he couldn't get enough oxygen to talk, he couldn't form the right words in his head. It was in shambles. He was in too much pain to even think.

Voldemort smiled wider, his free hand tracing Harry's bruised cheek. The boy tried to pull away. He hated when the man touched him gently almost as much as he hated it when he hurt him. The older man suddenly curled his hand into a fist and punched him. It nearly knocked the young wizard out, but not quite. More blood ran through his lips.

The man finally got up and walked over to where he had discarded his belongings, and Harry wanted to curl into a ball, but his body wouldn't move. His limbs wouldn't answer him. He could do nothing but shake violently on the bed. He kept his eyes closed, though, willing his brain to shut down.

"Nobody will ever love you, Harry Potter. This is all you are. Just my pet. CRUCIO!"

As the pain rose to a new plateau that Harry's brain could not begin to understand, he finally saw black and knew no more.

What if he wasn't standing guard? What if he had betrayed them all and was currently waiting for Voldemort to show up and take Harry back to his clutches? He looked around, his damaged mind on full alert, rolling around in anxiety and terror. What if they weren't asleep? What if they were dead?

Oh no. This had all been just some elaborate ruse. Voldemort was right. Malfoy had fooled them all.

He hyperventilated so badly that he began wheezing, and Malfoy heard him. He turned around and when their eyes met, Harry instantly got on his knees and crawled backwards, one of his hands covering his face. He wanted to scream but his voice had left him.

"Harry..." Malfoy muttered. "Are you okay?"

"Stay-stay back." Harry said between his gasps.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Please, calm down." He lifted his hands. Bad move.

Harry saw that wand lifting and couldn't help it. He screamed in terror, his arms flying to protect him from whatever fresh hell Malfoy would unleash upon him.

His friends were up instantly, looking around in alarm.

It didn't surprise them to see Harry curled in on himself at the far end of the tent, terrified, but it did break their hearts and shattered their hopes a little more. What did surprise them though, was when Malfoy sank to his knees and began sobbing as well, his hands flying up to cover his face.

The Slytherin had finally broken down. He had been trying to keep it together for a long time, but seeing Harry so immensely terrified of his mere presence was shattering beyond words. He knew what he had done, he knew it was only natural that the Gryffindor felt that way after the past few weeks, but he couldn't take it. He wanted to be a source of comfort, he wanted to help Harry... he really, really wanted to hug him. The least he wanted was to be associated to the Dark Lord in Harry's mind.

Harry stopped crying in his shock. He watched as Hermione knelt next to Draco and awkwardly rubbed his back, but the blond boy couldn't stop. Lupin also knelt next to him patting his shoulder.

"Harry..." Malfoy sobbed, still covering his face with his hands, "I'm so sorry. I n-never meant to... I was only..."

Ginny went to comfort Harry instead, as he seemed positively lost at what to do. She sat next to him and offered him some water, which he took gratefully.

"Maybe you should leave the tent for a bit, Malfoy" the youngest girl said, her expression hard. But Harry shook his head.

"N-no, I..." he didn't know what to say. He did want Malfoy as far from him as he could be, but he also knew it was his trauma talking. A small memory of so many months ago, when they were friends, crossed his mind. Despite the sharp twinge of panic that twisted his insides, he asked "C-can you give us a m-minute?"

Draco's head snapped up, his tear-streaked face surprised.

Harry was still shivering and pale, his hands clutching his blanket in a death grip, but he seemed determined. He repeated to himself, over and over, that even if Malfoy didn't have good intentions, the others wouldn't let him hurt him.

The others tried not to look annoyed at the prospect of leaving their beds and the warm tent in the middle of the night. They left quietly.

"We'll be just outside." Ginny said, softly, and Harry nodded.

When they were alone, Harry couldn't help the waves of fear.

"Harry, I -"

"T-the wand. Put it away. P-please."

Draco looked at his hand and wanted to punch himself at that moment. Of course the poor boy was terrified of it. He put it in his back pocket and looked back at Harry.

"I never meant to hurt you." he whispered.

"Why?" Harry muttered. At Draco's confused expression, Harry closed his eyes. "H-he... He always said that you were becoming one of his most trusted followers. H-h-he really... He really l-liked you. H-h-he s-ss-said..." he swallowed hard at the memory, his eyes closing more tightly, "he said he had never seen someone who hated me more than you."

Draco could feel a fresh wave of tears assaulting him but he tried to keep his composure this time. The lump in his throat hurt.

"I... I needed his trust, to survive and to be able to see you. I needed him to trust me, I needed his guard down around me, so that I could help you." Draco said, softly. "I never wanted to hurt you, Harry. Everything I did was to keep the act up. I never hated you... I think he told you that to hurt you. I'm sorry."

"You said it, too." Harry muttered, opening his eyes but not looking at the blond. "The first time you saw me. I remember. You said you were only playing with me."

Draco sobbed for a minute, his hand covering his mouth, and then he lowered it. He was aching to run to Harry and hug him, to open his chest and show him how his heart beat for him.

"I needed him to trust me." he repeated. "Everything you saw these past weeks, Harry, was a ruse. You know the real me. You know who I am. I showed you, many times, at Hogwarts."

Harry's eyes watered again.

"I don't know... how... to trust you." he confessed. "Y-you almost killed Dumbledore... You..."

Draco shook his head slowly, tears still falling. He knew that blurting out more excuses wouldn't help either of them.

"I'm so, so sorry, Harry."

Harry remained quiet, and after a few minutes, the others returned. Nothing else was said, and they slowly went back to their places, everyone lying down and Draco leaving to keep guarding the tent as his turn wasn't over yet.

Harry soon drifted off, but this time it wasn't a peaceful sleep.

He was tied to a wall, facing it, his back exposed to the Lestrange's sadistic whims. They had been at it for hours, whipping him, burning him, stabbing him, the man even using him as a literal punching bag several times when he got too riled up. Bellatrix, as usual, had also Crucio'd him a bunch of times.

Voldemort was watching, leaning against the opposite wall. He enjoyed watching others torment his little pet almost as much as hurting him himself.

Harry was crying desperately. Bellatrix was running her wand down his back, the tip ignited so that it resembled a hot poker. Blisters and burnt skin followed the wand, and Harry wanted nothing more than to pass out. His vision was darkening already. But he knew that they would force him awake anyways, they had done so several times already for the past few hours. He prayed for them to get tired soon... But he knew his reality was much worse. Voldemort hadn't even started.

As if reading his mind, the Dark Lord pushed himself from the wall and walked up to them. Harry caught the movement from the corner of his eye and turned his head, pressing his forehead against the wall to avoid watching him come closer. He flinched and shuddered as the man placed a hand on the back of his head and slowly ran it down, pressing down on the horrible injuries and making the boy whimper at the pain.

The hand travelled down to his thigh, and Harry shuddered again, trying to keep himself from pleading. After caressing him for a few minutes there, both of the snake's hands were placed on his hips and the monster turned his body around. The twist in the rope that kept his hands bound made it tighten, the coarse material digging deeper into his flesh, fresh blood pouring down. Harry gasped in pain, and then cried out as his mutilated back made contact with the uneven stone wall.

Voldemort's pale fingers traced his broken ribs gently, and then sank into different injuries, ripping at his flesh. Harry tried not to scream, his body squirming as the pain intensified. And then the man brought his face closer, and bit down deep into the flesh right under his ribs, making his pet shriek in agony. His sharp fangs went deeper and deeper, his nails digging into previous injuries. He pulled back and smiled, licking at the blood on his lips. He pulled one hand back to clean his chin and laughed at the boy's expression, consumed by pain and terror.

Quick as lighting, as seemingly out of nowhere, the Dark Lord pulled out a knife and sank it to the hilt into Harry's leg. The boy screamed again and his body was hit by horrible shudders as his mind was forcefully dragged from the edge of unconsciousness by Bellatrix's spell.

Voldemort pulled the knife back, slowly, and placed it gently against Harry's other thigh, smiling widely at how much the limb was shaking.

"No..." Harry muttered. He had hit his peak. He couldn't take it.

His three tormentors laughed loudly.

"Alright, since you asked so nicely..." the monster said, putting the knife away. The alternative was much worse. He drew his wand, and before Harry could register the terror running through his soul, the man was pointing it at his thigh. "Fractossa."

A split second of terrible pressure inside his tigh was followed by a loud series of cracks, as the bone broke and splintered below his skin. Harry shrieked at the terrible pain, unable to stop as Voldemort lowered his wand to his knee, and repeated it. And then his shin. And his ankle and foot.

Another spell brought him back to full consciousness, and he couldn't help the reactions of his body. He gagged violently, although nothing but blood escaped his lips. He was drenched in sweat, and screaming, his body vibrating wildly. His leg... Oh god. His leg. His leg, Merlin... He wanted it cut off from how much pain it was radiating.

"Oh, don't cry." Bellatrix said, smiling sweetly. "A simple Episky spell when we're done will fix those poor bwoken bones! We wouldn't want a crippled toy. You'll be as good as new in a few hours."

Hours?!

The Dark Lord's wand landed on his hip, and after the bones in the joint broke gruesomely and unconsciousness was once again denied to him, the poor boy could no nothing but cry.

"Please, please, stop. Please..." he whispered, his throat torn.

"This is nothing, Harry." Voldemort said. A strange sensation wrapped around him. He looked over at the Lestranges, noticing with rising confusion and dread that they were frozen in their spots, their nasty smiles still on their faces. He looked down at Voldemort again. "You will be wishing for a session like this after I get my hands on you again."

The scene around them melted into darkness. Harry was no longer tied to the wall, and thankfully he wasn't in pain anymore, but he was extremely terrified, as Voldemort once again stood taller than him, albeit a few feet away.

"Oh, are you not in pain? So I take it they've healed you. Good. You'll be as good as new then. It will be more fun to break you all over again."

"Wh-what..." Harry managed to stutter, before he was once again harshly reminded of the awful mind bond that connected him to his enemy.

"Yes, my little pet. I can still enter your mind, it's still open for me whenever I please, like everything else you have to offer." he laughed. "Tell me where you are, now, or there will be consequences."

Harry swallowed hard and tried to will himself to wake up.

"I d-don't know where..."

"I had a feeling you would say that. And don't bother trying to wake up. You won't until I allow it. Let me just show you something."

An image once again displayed between them, and Harry saw in clear detail McGonagall standing in the middle of a dungeon cell. She looked unharmed, albeit a bit disheveled. He took a step towards the picture, but it glitched and vanished.

"That's right, little pet. My Death Eaters found her." he said. "Now, if you really don't know where you are, I suggest you ask your dear old friends to tell you. She doesn't have much time... Fenrir is eager to drink more Gryffindor blood, and now that you're gone, we might just have to keep her alive until you return."

"No, please... Don't..."

"When has your begging ever convinced me of anything?" The monster growled. "I will visit you every time you sleep, Potter, and I will make you watch what we do to her until you either return or tell me your location so I can come for you."

The darkness wrapped Voldemort instantly,

and the next second Harry was awake. Once again, screaming.

This time crying uncontrollably.

He looked at his friends and couldn't even begin to form the words to explain that he desperately needed to go back.