Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ (Harry Potter) How to Defeat a Dark Lord ❯ One ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter One

Coal black eyes stared out from behind a fringe of greasy, unwashed hair, taking in the surrounding room that was his current 'home'. All the muscles in his body trembled with the strain of holding his weight, knowing that if he let his legs collapse that his arms which were stretched out above his head, would more then likely end up pulled from the rest of his body. The manacles around his wrists tore at his skin causing blood to creep down his arms, following the trail of dried blood from the previous time his wounds had cracked and bled. His cell wasn't very large, it was adorned with only a single window set high in the opposite wall, which didnft let in much light or fresh air, leaving the room dark and suffocating. The sound of footsteps crossing the room above him made his aching muscles tense even more. A tingle of dread made its way down his spine as the heavy wooden door opened. The only reason that that door opened was when his former master and his followers wanted to play.gSo, my pet, are you ready to tell me what made you believe that you could cross me and live?h came a hiss from the doorwaygScrew you.h He forced himself to rasp at the dark figure.gAh no, I think you are the one that is screwed. And there is no one that can save you from what you so richly deserve.hThe creature who called himself 'The Dark Lord' gave a cold and heartless laugh. Knowing what would come next, the bound man could do nothing more then pray that this time, just like all the other painful times before, he would not break and let lose the information that this sadistic bastard needed to take the life of the eBoy Who Livedf.gCRUCIOh.~~hpss~~All was silent at number 4 Privet Drive until a shrill scream shattered the early morning stillness. The screams, short lived as they were, were those of a 16-year-old boy. The boyfs bedroom door burst open to reveal the boyfs uncle who gripped a handful of the boyfs unruly raven hair moments before the boy retched violently on the floor. gI don't know what is bloody well wrong with you, you little freak, but this will stop. This will be the last time that you will wake any of us up with your screams, do you understand me, boy.h Vernon Dursley said as he dragged his nephew down the stairs, not caring if he hurt the boy. Stopping beside the small door that opened up into a little cupboard under the stairs, he forcefully threw the teen inside. Slamming the door and locking it, he snarled at the still form, gYou will not be allowed out for anything. No food or water until these freakish screaming fits stop completely! You will also not be allowed food or water, until you can prove that this freakish behavior of yours will not be repeated.h Grumbling under his breath about being awoken from his sleep for the sixth night in a row, Vernon made his way back upstairs to his bed and his disturbed sleep.The teen lay still until he was sure that his uncle had gone back to bed, before trying to shift his body into a more comfortable position. He had heard a bone or two break when he hit the ground and the lower stair, and hoped that the damage was not too bad. As he tried to move his shoulder, shooting pain lanced its way through his body and, as his world went black, all he could think of was that he wished that he was far, far away.~~hpss~~High in a tower of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, an old man sat. Eyes that normally sparkled like twin suns of blue flame, with the joy of life were now dull with worry. Two weeks before the end of the school year, Severus Snape was called away to a meeting with Voldemort, and never returned to the school. That had been three weeks ago. He was hoping against all hope that his son, in all but blood, was on a mission for the self-proclaimed Dark Lord, but deep in his heart, he knew that his hopes were in vain. Albus Dumbledore felt that if Severus was not dead already, then he soon would be. All that was left was to pray that if the man was broken, he would still be able to keep any information on the whereabouts of Harry Potter locked within himself.This brought him to his honorary grandson: Harry Potter. He knew that the teen had made it home. Although much later then usual, and that he had not left his aunts house since he walked through the door at Number 4 Privet Drive, but nothing had been heard from him since. Harry was supposed to have owled The Order of the Phoenix every day to make sure everything was okay, and if he had any visions to send an owl immediately to the Headmaster to give them any information that he could. Albus was seriously concerned that he had not heard from the teen. Harry had not wanted to go back to his aunt and unclefs, but in order for the blood protection to work, he needed to spend some time within the house that his aunt called home. The Headmaster knew that the boy was still alive, because the words protecting the house were still intact, but wither or not the boy was safe was a different story. From what he had heard from both Severus and Harry's friends, the boyfs home life was far from easy, but he just could not believe that his Muggle family could treat the boy with such disregard. Finally deciding to take matters in hand, the Headmaster took a pinch of Floo powder from its jar above the fireplace and called for from the most unlikely person to help him find those he loved. ~~hpss~~Gidean Welsh sat motionlessly amongst a clump of bushes, watching as the Death Eaters apparated away. He did his best to contain the growls of anger as he caught the smell of his cousinfs blood on many of them, telling himself over and over again that there would be time for revenge later. Right now, he had to concentrate on getting both himself and his cousin out of the manor house alive. After what seemed like an eternity, the place finally looked deserted. Sending out all of his senses, Gidean tried to find out how many more people were in the house. Finding very few, Gidean stalked silently from his hiding place and moved around the building trying to find a somewhat safe way inside. Finally coming across a broken window, he carefully used his power to smooth out the jagged edges of the glass, and lowered himself into the house. Once inside, he followed the smell of blood as he made his way to the heavy oak door across the room, which had been left slightly ajar. He silently opened the door a bit more to make room for his body to slip out and down the stairs. The sight that reached his eyes when he made it to the bottom almost shattered what little self-control that remained intact to control his temper. Taking to the shadows, he silently moved to the darkest corner of the room, knowing that if he showed himself right away it was the end of both of their lives.Gidean was finding it harder and harder to keep his anger from getting away from himself, as he watched what was happening to the helpless man. It looked like each of the Death Eaters present had drawn numbers to see when they would get their turn of 'playing' with him. As each of them finished doing whatever they wished, they left. After hours of watching the torture, finally only two men were left. They had been given orders by the Dark Lord to take care of the man who was left more dead then alive, before he himself left.Knowing that now he would have a better chance of taking down the two that remained and still being able to walk (or limp) away with his cousin, he decided to take the chance and started to move away from his dark corner. Before he could take three steps though, both of the remaining figures removed the masks that they wore throughout the whole night, revealing nearly identical blond heads. The only real difference between the two, other then age, was their facial expressions. The older one still maintained his emotionless fa?ade, but the younger one made no effort to hide the tears that flowed down his face.Draco Malfoy rushed over to the broken man lying on the cold stone floor of the holding cell, unable to hide his whimpers of distress at not being able to help the man that he considered his uncle. He gently turned the man over unto his back and lifted him up slightly in order to slide his own body under him, hoping that it would ease some of the pressure on his godfather's lungs as he tried to breath. Lucius Malfoy watched as his son did his best to alleviate Severus's discomfort. Instead of going over to help, he turned his body to stare into the darkest corner of the room. Holding himself ready just in case he was indeed wrong, he called softly out into the supposedly empty corner. "Gidean. Please, if you can help him, do so."Being prepared for a magical attack and being prepared for a physical attack are two different things. He did not notice the fist that came almost out of nowhere that connected to his chin. "You bastard. Why didn't you help him sooner? And don't give me that crap about not being able to do anything. I taught you and Severus together the hand signals for silent fighting. All it would have taken was a simple hand movement to let me know that it was you, and we could have taken them all and saved him from most of this.h Gideanfs voice was cracking with anguish as he stared at the man who he once thought of as Severus's brother.Lucius waited calmly for the emotional outburst to be over. From the corner of his eye, he watched as his son pulled his wand and prepared to take on this unknown threat to protect both his father and godfather. Raising his hand to forestall any foolish behavior from his son, he once more turned towards the fury in the violet hued eyes of the man before him. "I did not notice that you where here until almost everyone had left. And the very first lesson that you taught us was to make sure you can succeed before you actually make your move. I for one could not see a clear victory for everyone to escape, so I stayed and did my part. Now if you are done, could we please take him and get out of this hellhole? I really don't want to be here when the Dark Lord finds out that we didn't kill him like we had been ordered to.h With that, Lucius turned and made his way to Severus's side. Sinking gracefully to his knees he took over the burden of holding the heavier man from his son. gI do hope, Gidean, that you have a way out of here. He really cannot stand to walk out, and we cannot carry him for fear of being discovered by the idiots upstairs."Nodding a quick apology towards the elder of the two blonds, Gidean pulled a few vials of potion out of his robes and helped Severus drink them down. When he was sure all that could be done had been done, he pulled from a side pouch a length of rope, and, after instructing everyone to hold on, Gidean activated the portkey and tightened his hold on the rope as the familiar tug at his middle let him know that the first part of his mission had been complete. Severus was now out of the hands of the Dark Lord. The biggest problem that he could see was to make sure that Severus survived to see the sun come up.The portkey brought all four men to a dismal looking shack in the middle of nowhere. Lucius looked around and nodded his head when he noticed that the place was secure. Draco on the other hand sneered as he took in the filthy building in front of him. Receiving a sharp look from his father, he kept his opinions to himself and followed the older men through the front door. Glancing around in amazement, he could not reconcile the fact that the clean and roomy entranceway was indeed the same house that he saw from the outside. Casting a puzzled look at his father, he continued to keep his mouth shut as the strange wizard carried his godfather further into the house and up the stairs.Laying Severus on the bed in the master bedroom, Gidean made his way to the fireplace and took a pinch of Floo powder into the brightly burning flames. When the flames turned a brilliant shade of green, he stuck his head into the flames and called out for Madam Pomfrey. Minutes later, he pulled his head back out and walked back to the bed. Sighing, he took in the still figure of his cousin and summoned a bowl of warm water and a clean cloth. Stripping the battered wizard of the rags covering his body, he carefully started to clean off some of the blood and dirt that covered his whole body. An hour and four bowls of water later, Gidean had most of the filth off, and was waiting on the medi-witch to make her appearance