Draco and Snape took a seat at the table. There was no one else around, so they had no choice but to sit next to their lord, Draco having perfect view of Harry's battered form.

He was looking at the floor, his hands tied together before him with a rope.

"I'm sorry for the small inconvenience but I must feed my pet while we discuss urgent matters." Voldemort said, slowly. His voice made Harry flinch slightly. "I invited you both here to discuss the mission that was set for you."

"Yes, my Lord." Snape started, but he was cut off.

"Draco," the lord addressed him directly. Draco swallowed, his eyes tearing away from Harry's shaking form. "I haven't heard from you at all. It's been days."

"They have been harder to find than we originally thought, my Lord." he said softly.

Voldemort grabbed one of the pieces of meat, his lips twisting cruelly.

"How is your slave doing? Did he recover from that bout of Cruciatus that I dished on him?"

Harry flinched again, his eyes looking up. The green orbs were placed minutely on Draco, but then zeroed in on the food. The young, wounded wizard stared at it with such naked despair and so longingly that Draco felt his heart crush.

"No, when we got home, I tortured him some more and then we locked them up in the dungeons." Snape lied, seeing how Draco was struggling against the image.

Harry's eyes never left the food.

Voldemort chuckled and threw it to the floor, and Harry immediately dove for it, lifting it to his mouth and barely chewing before swallowing, his eyes closing as if he was eating a banquet. Draco's throat closed tightly, and he gripped his robes to force himself to remain calm.

"And the Granger girl?" Voldemort said, lifting another piece. Harry straightened, staring at it.

"We tortured her as well, my Lord. She deserved it." Snape answered, increasingly irritated at Draco's failure to speak.

Draco watched with a completely broken heart and a closed, aching throat how Harry didn't even flinch at that, his green, bruised eyes never leaving the food in his master's hand.

Voldemort dropped it then.

And Draco knew what was happening.

Harry's weakest spot, the only thing that kept him fighting, that made him rebel against Voldemort, were his friends. They were what had caused his magical outburst... and Voldemort was squishing it. With food, he was conditioning Harry in a sick way, so that he wouldn't even fight for them. So that he had nothing.

He had been so deprived of food that the simple image of it had him completely zoned out of the conversation, his only goal was to eat something.

"My, my, Draco. You look pale." Voldemort said, as he lifted a piece of bread.

Draco flinched and laughed a little, extremely forced.

"I, uh, I was just expecting Potter to react to the news. T-that's all." His voice was shaking and he cleared his throat.

"Yes, me too. But I have been training him well. He hasn't disobeyed since the last time you saw him." Voldemort answered, dropping the piece of bread. "So, do tell me, dear Draco. Has there been any progress you want to report?"

Draco was desperate to see any reaction from Harry, and he also wanted to avoid Voldemort getting angry. If Weasley and Granger didn't cause anything inside of him, he would take it a step further.

"W-we have information on Minerva McGonagall, my Lord." he lied. "And Ginny Weasley."

Harry's eyes left the food for a moment, staring at Draco, and then dropped to the floor. He seemed to be warring with himself, and Draco regretted his brash decision. The last thing Harry needed was to fight against his own emotions and get hurt even more.

"Oh?" Voldemort beckoned him to speak further.

"Y-yes, we... we, uh..." he stuttered, but he didn't have the words. His wit had deserted him as soon as it had come.

"We have witnesses that report a red haired girl, matches the Weasly girl's description, accompanied by the former Head of Gryffindor. They were last seen at Knockturn Alley but we have been having trouble following the leads." Snape spoke for him, once again saving him.

"Draco, you seem tense and nervous." Voldemort said.

"No, my Lord." he said, softly, trying not to look at Harry.

"Are you worried about the mission?" he asked conversationally.

Draco swallowed and looked at Snape for a moment before nodding. It was better than the truth. He was actually feeling sick for Harry.

"Y-y-es, my Lord. It's an honor but also quite the responsibility."

"Harry, my dear pet, get up." Voldemort said, standing up from his seat and taking Harry with him, pulling him up by his hair. Harry winced and his legs shook as he stood, his terrible wounds bleeding. "Did you enjoy your meal?"

Harry stared longingly at the few remaining pieces of food on the plate, before Voldemort curled his hand into a fist and sank it into Harrys bruised, unprotected stomach, making him cry out as he doubled over, gasping for breath. Draco and Snape both flinched, surprised at the sudden blow. Voldemort was never one to use physical force, preferring magic to cause harm and torture his victims.

Harry heaved a few times and Draco found himself praying that he could hold on to his meager meal.

"Well, Harry? It is impolite to leave questions unanswered."

Harry nodded, still trying to not throw up.

"Y-yes, master." he whispered as soon as he stopped heaving.

"Incarcerous." Voldemort muttered, and even more ropes tied Harry down, made him bend over the table, outstretched. Then, their Lord summoned a whip, and Draco had a terrible nauseous leap, guessing what Voldemort was going for. "I see you are stressed and that is interfering with your work. So, I will lend my little pet to you as a small stress-relief. You don't need to thank me."

He offered his whip to Draco, who stared at it for a long time, and then his eyes fell on Harry. His face was turned to him, and in his new position, they were directly within each other's line of sight. His green orbs were wide, terrified, watering. Snape kicked his leg from under the table and Draco reacted then, reaching for the whip with a shaking hand. Voldemort laughed when his fingers curled around the handle and he slowly stood up, watching as Harry shook even more.

He stared at his back, completely covered in scars, and open wounds and bruises. He had been through so much pain, and whipping him on top of that canvas of torture would be too horrible. He swallowed hard.

"Well?" Voldemort said, and Draco could hear the impatience in his voice.

If he didn't act fast, their cover would be blown.

"My Lord, I really don't want his blood on my clothes." Draco said, quickly. He couldn't do this.

Voldemort furrowed his eyebrows and then laughed, making both young boys flinch.

"I'll have Wormtail clean them for you."

Draco looked down at Snape, who was still sitting, and wanted to burst into tears right there. Snape glared at him and nodded slightly. Draco stepped back and, forcing his emotions deep down, drew his arm back. Harry closed his eyes shut.

And he slammed the whip forward.

The only sound was the air being cut, and then the skin. But Harry didn't cry out, or even whimper. He bit his lower lip and his eyes remained closed. Draco sighed and stared at the new bloodied stripe on his back.

Voldemort laughed and then outstretched his hand, demanding the whip.

"Let me show you how it's done. He'll be screaming in no time, and I'm sure that will be a great stress-relief for you. I want you to leave here with renewed vigor to complete your mission."

Draco handed him the whip and tried to laugh, too, but he was way too shaken. Seeing Voldemort treat Potter like an actual dog had hit him too deep.

And then Voldemort began the onslaught.

His whip dug into Potter's skin with such ferocity that blood splashed everywhere. Both Draco and Snape took several steps back to avoid getting blood on them, but it didn't make things better. Over and over Voldemort drew his whip back and forth, making it land on the poor boy's bare back, splitting his skin open.

Blood dripped steadily down his sides, creating a pool on the table that soon dripped down the edges. As promised by the Dark Lord, Harry began screaming, tears coursing down his face as he writhed against the terrible pain of being skinned alive on his back. And Voldemort didn't stop.

He kept going even as Harry's screams died down and only the sobs remained. Even as barely any skin remained.

Then he stopped.

Harry's eyes opened in anticipation as he tried to stop crying. Grey met green and then Harry looked away, turning his head downwards and pressing his forehead against the cool wooden surface. Sweat covered his body and he breathed raggedly.

"This got me in such a good mood. Draco?" Voldemort said. "Do you want to give it a go? It's great therapy."

"I'll do it." Snape said, stepping forward. Draco knew that he was only trying to spare him, in the hopes that Voldemort would stop bugging Draco if he got his sadistic urges satisfied by someone.

Draco closed his eyes as Snape struck, and Harry continued crying.

Ginny Weasley stared down at the fallen body of the Death Eater she had just killed.

That half year and the war leading up to it had hardened her in ways she could've never imagined. She leaned down and pulled a few hairs from her black hair, putting them into her pocket. She had taken to do that so that they'd never run out Polyjuice potion. It always came in handy.

She turned to George, who was doing similar things to the Death Eater he had taken down. It was becoming quite easy lately. They were getting very skilled at fighting; which was good because it had been only the three of them for a couple of months, after Bill had been killed and they had gotten separated from their parents. She could only hope they were okay.

Fred appeared from behind a few trees, dragging a petrified Death Eater with him. Ginny raised and eyebrow at them, wondering why he hadn't killed him.

Her brother threw the Death Eater to the floor and removed the spell, instantly replacing it with ropes that bound his wrists and ankles together. The man released a few curses as he glared up at them.

"Fred?" Ginny asked, confused.

"Go on, tell them." Fred said, kicking him on the side of the ribs. The man coughed and glared.

"I know where your stupid, piece of trash brother is." he said. "Potter's friend."

"Ron?" George exclaimed, leaning down to be eye to eye with the Death Eater.

"Yes. I can lead you to him if you release me. The Dark Lord will never know." he spat.

"Why would we trust you?" Ginny said, crossing her arms.

The Death Eater spat before smiling up at her, showing his disgusting, yellow teeth.

"Like you have a bloody choice. I can even tell you where others are being kept, too... but it'll cost a little favor from you, little red-head."

Ginny growled and took her wand out, pointing it at the man.

"Talk right now or I will make you writhe until your back snaps into pieces." she growled. Fred and George looked at each other uneasily, as they did every time their little sister showed a terrible dark side that was growing within her

"He's at the Malfoy manor. I can take you there." the man said, trying to hide his fear at Ginny's threat.

"Why would he be there?" Fred asked, his wand still trained on the man.

"Oh, you brainless Weasleys." the man said, before flinching as George drew his own wand as well. He rolled his eyes. "There was an auction not long ago. Slaves were sold, and Ron Weasley along with Granger were sold to Malfoy. He owns them now."

Ginny's anger, pain and despair grew tenfold and her hand shook.

"Avada Kedavra."

"Ginny!" the twins exclaimed.

"I know where the Malfoy manor is. Dad told me once. We better get going." she said, turning and not sparing another glance at the corpse.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Draco." Snape said as soon as they left the manor.

Draco was dizzy, pale, at the verge of puking. He couldn't get the image off of his head. Snape had not been as aggressive as Voldemort, but the whipping on top of previous wounds had been too much to handle for him. He had thrown up on the table, and when Voldemort had given permission to the former Potions professor to stop, the spreading blood had reached the floor and almost touched Draco's shoes.

The boy had been so wrecked, so filled with pain, that he had begun to beg for mercy.

Voldemort had let them leave then.

"You had no choice." the boy answered.

"Let's get out of here."

They apparated away.

Draco didn't even spare a glance to Ron and Hermione, instead locking himself up in his room.

Voldemort took a deep breath as he stared at Harry. He had passed out right after Malfoy and Snape had left.

His back was a complete mess, and torturing him and then watching him get tortured had inspired him.

He hadn't missed the way Draco seemed to be so uncomfortable, but he would dig into that later. It could be nothing, seeing as the boy was always queasy and nervous around him.

"Ennervate." he muttered.

Harry came back to himself with a gasp, his body tensing.

"Welcome back, Harry." he said. "Draco and I had a very pleasant talk as you passed out. He told me he is on his way to get Ginny Weasley. When he brings her to me, I can make you and your friend watch as I have my way with her and kill her before your very eyes."

"No..." Harry muttered. "Please."

"Oh? Would you rather I have my way with you? And here I thought you were tamed already, my little pet. Remember that every time you let your emotions het the best of you, it's one day more without any food."

Harry swallowed and quieted down, knowing full well that his body couldn't take much more without food, much less after vomiting the only thing that had been in his stomach for days. He tensed, though, when he heard robed being ruffled behind him. He knew Voldemort was undressing.

"Please..." he muttered again. His back was killing him, the pain extremely intense. He didn't want anymore pain, and what Voldemort was planning on doing to him was among the worst tortures he had ever experienced. He suffered through it at least once a day when he was lucky, and after the morning round he had had, he was nowhere near ready for another go.

Voldemort chuckled and grabbed his hips.

"Oh, Harry." the man said cruelly. "Be glad none of your friends are here to watch you in this position."

The boy tried not to, but he screamed uncontrollably as Voldemort entered him, laughing.

"Ginny, I really doubt this is a good idea." Fred said.

They were in front of the manor, disguised as the Death Eaters they had recently put down. Ginny swallowed.

"We have no other choice." she answered.

"It took us, what, an hour to come up with this plan? It's rushed and could get us killed in no time." George said. "We don't know who is in that house right now."

"Well, the Malfoys are in Azkaban or dead. I know that for a fact. So only Draco should be there."

"Do you really think he would be unprotected?" Fred said. "Someone must be in there with him. I once heard him bragging about spending vacations with Snape, seeing as he is his godfather. He must be there."

"Okay." Ginny said. "Let's come up with a better plan. Meanwhile, try not to think about how he is torturing Ron." she added sarcastically.

"Fine. Fine, whatever. Let's go." Fred said.

Snape looked up from his potions as he heard the doorbell. Who could it be?

He hastily made his way to the entrance, where Draco already was. His eyes were red and puffy but he looked prepared for battle.

They looked at each other before Snape opened the door, his wand already trained on whoever was at the other side.

The sight of his former comrades of the Dark Side greeted him.

"What the hell are you three doing here?" Draco demanded

"Petrificus Totalus!" Snape yelled, stunning the three of them as they reached for their wands. "It's Polyjuice potion, Draco. I can smell it from here."

Snape levitated them into the mansion, closing the door behind himself, and Draco did the honor of unmasking them.

"Finite Incantatem." he said.

Red hair, freckles and pale skin blossomed on the three of them just as Ron and Hermione descended the stairs.