Seduced By Darkness

Note : Hi Everyone, here I am with another chapter. This one is Rated R. I am almost amazed to be able to post two nights in a row after not having internet for such a long time due to the storm. Chavela - Thanks so much, I am happy that you are enjoying this so much. Dragon34 - lol I know, but he can\'t never \"really\" be fully lovable lol...

\"Things get damaged
Things get broken
I thought we\'d manage
But words left unspoken
Left us so brittle
There was so little left to give\"
-- \"Precious\" by DePeche Mode

***

Chapter 12 : Faded Illusions


It was a misty morning and most of the leaves in the Forbidden Forest were covered in frostbite. Severus was completely annoyed with Harry and was muttering to himself. \"Going on about the Dark Lord being in love, of all the things…\" He let his voice trail off as he heard a faint sound. He tensed up and wrapped his fingers tightly around his wand, waiting. \"Severus, is wonderful to see you old friend.\" Severus turned and looked into the icy gray eyes of his former friend, Lucius Malfoy. \"Lucius, let\'s make this quick. It\'s too fucking cold to waste any time on useless chit chat.\" Lucius laughed, \"Always one to get to the point. Well then, what is it that you wished to see me about?\"

Frowning, Severus said \"Potter told Dumbledore, among others, that the Dark Lord has gotten married.\" He carefully watched Lucius\'s expression. His eyes had opened a bit wider and his mouth parted slightly before he recovered. If he didn\'t know Lucius as well as he did then he might have missed his reaction. Severus continued, \"Furthermore he said that the Dark Lord is changed. He doesn\'t know how but that he feels … different.\" Lucius made a dismissive gesture, \"We all change at one point or another Severus. The Dark Lord has gone through some changes in the recent months, yes, perhaps that\'s what Potter has been feeling.\" Severus nodded but pressed on, \"So, is it true? Did he marry Claudia Olmo?\" Lucius eyed him skeptically, \"He did, a few days ago. She was taken for that purpose after all.\" The lie flowed flawlessly. Severus doubted that had been the Dark Lord\'s original intent but said nothing on that. \"Do her parents know? How did Caleb take the news?\" Lucius asked, a slight sneer twisting his lips.

\"He\'s in a murderous mood if you must know. If he could find the Dark Lord he would try to kill him with his bare hands, forget wands.\" Lucius smirked at that. \"That man has always been too emotional. His daughter is the same way, although she keeps her emotions controlled for the most part.\" A hint of a smile touched Severus\'s lips in agreement. \"What has he done Lucius? How is he changed? Potter insists that it is as if the Dark Lord isn\'t there anymore and yet he is. The boy makes absolutely no sense but Dumbledore hangs on his every word and takes him seriously.\" Lucius frowned, \"What is he planning on doing?\" Shaking his head Severus said, \"I do not know yet, but I think that he is doubting Potter after the utter stupidity that came out of his mouth a few nights ago.\" Smiling, Lucius asked, \"What did the boy say?\" Shrugging, as if it was nothing but carefully watching Lucius, he said, \"Oh nothing. Only that the Dark Lord is falling in love with his wife.\"

Severus regretted not having a camera as he sorely wanted to capture Lucius\'s stunned expression on film. It wasn’t often that Lucius Malfoy was left speechless. \"The boy\'s mad Severus! In love? Indeed!\" Exclaimed Lucius indignantly. \"It is what I thought. Dumbledore is hard pressed to believe such a thing but yet he\'s unwilling to fully dismiss it. Does … he care for her then?\" Lucius looked up at him, fully composed once more, \"Please Severus. She\'s a possession to him. Nothing more, he wanted her. He now has her. As far as how he\'s changed you will see for yourself soon enough I guess. He\'ll call you to him eventually old friend. But I must go now. If Dumbledore decides on any course of action let me know immediately.\" Before Severus could ask any more questions Lucius disapparated. However, he had given something away and so he rushed from the forest to find Harry.

He caught up to him as he was entering Gryffindor Tower with Ginny. \"A word Mr. Potter.\" Harry turned and frowned up at him, then told Ginny that he\'d be up in just a moment. \"What is it? Sir\" He added, trying to be respectful. \"When you had the vision of the wedding, can you recall how the Dark Lord looked?\" Harry rolled his eyes, \"I cannot see him, as I am inside him. I can only see what he sees.\" Severus ground his teeth, \"Yes I know Mr. Potter, but at any point during the ceremony did you not get a look at any part of him?\" Harry thought for a moment and then his eyes got as wide as tea cups. \"Oh my God… I didn\'t notice before… But how…\" Severus grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him a little, \"Yes? What did you see?\" Harry shook him off and said, \"His hands, when he put the ring on her finger. They were normal looking hands and not the spidery, pale reptilian like fingers. But why would he try to possess another person? Wouldn\'t that diminish his powers?\" Severus didn\'t know and also didn\'t understand why he would do that. Could he have done it to be with the girl? It made no sense. He would have just forced her or put her under imperious. Perhaps he only did it for the ceremony so that the wizard who married them wouldn\'t know who he was? Severus didn\'t know and was tired of thinking about it only to feel like he was running his head into a brick wall that refused to give way. \"I will go to the headmaster and tell him what we have found out Potter, go up to the Tower, tomorrow you can speak to the headmaster.\" Severus said as if reading Harry’s mind and what his intentions were. Harry, who was planning on going to Dumbledore, was about to argue but thought better of it. Perhaps by the time he talked him, he and Snape might have come up with a plausible explanation for everything that was happening with Voldermort.


***


Pacing in the east wing\'s library, Lucius was lost in thought and thus did not hear Tom enter the room. \"Lucius stop, you are making me dizzy. What did Severus want?\" Lucius immediately stopped his pacing, \"Potter, my Lord, you know how he is connected to you and thus has visions of what you see and feel.\" Tom\'s eyes narrowed but he said nothing. \"Well, he\'s told Dumbledore that you\'ve changed, how, he does not know. He also witnessed the wedding. Her parents know and her father would be quite delighted to, err, kill you with his bare hands if he could.\" Tom actually smiled at that comment but still said nothing, \"Also, Dumbledore wants to plan something but has not shared his plans with Severus yet. They are concerned over Potter\'s visions but since they do not know what they mean they can do nothing about them for the time being.\" Running his hands absentmindedly through some book pages Tom asked, \"Was that all?\" Lucius didn\'t think that telling him that Potter felt him falling in love with his wife a wise thing to say at the moment so all he said was, \"Yes my Lord.\"

\"I was thinking of planning something myself. Actually, I have already. Come, let\'s go and talk about it downstairs.\" He moved to the door and led Lucius down the stairs. Claudia moved out of the shadows in the hallway and quietly went into her room. She wondered if Thomas knew that she was there, and if that was why he had so very little to say to what Lucius was telling him. Their voices had carried outside the library because they weren\'t speaking very quietly and had left the door open. She had almost lost her lunch when Lucius had mentioned her father and the fact that both her parents knew of her fate. Claudia wasn’t surprised at her Dad\'s anger, but she also didn\'t want anything to happen to him. ‘What if he fought Tom and ….’ She shook her head and refused to continue to go down this path. Thinking of her father and Tom fighting each other, possibly to the death, turned her insides cold. She was surprised to note that she was equally frightened for both of them. Going into her room she stood in front of her window and wondered what her family and friends where doing. It was Christmas Eve, and it had to be the most miserable she\'d ever spent the holiday. Adding to her misery was her loneliness. It seemed to her that she and Tom had gotten closer after getting married but the closer they became the unhappiness inside her only managed to increased.

Claudia thought it had to do with the fact that he didn\'t love her. Her feelings for him kept growing with no signs of slowing down. She tried to fight them but when she did she ended up hurting more. He seemed aware of her inner struggle. His only response to it, however, was to be gentler and almost loving with her. ‘Didn\'t he know that made it worse?’ Because it made her ache for what she could never have with him. She didn\'t know how long she stayed in her room thinking. After sometime she had become tired and had laid down for just a moment, but promptly fell asleep. Tom went to check on her when he didn\'t find her in his room. He thought she looked adorable, and didn\'t want to wake her but he was not about to let her sleep in her room so he picked her up as gently as he could and took her to his bed. He undressed her and pulled the covers over her.

He was aware that this stupid holiday held meaning for her and that she was missing her family but nothing could be done about that. However, he hoped that she liked the gift he got for her when she woke up in the morning. He smiled as he studied her face, she fought him so hard that she didn\'t realize that she had lost the battle already. It was in the way that she was with him when they were alone, especially when they were together intimately. It was how she had not even stirred awake when he moved her. He was pleased at that, but still stubbornly ignored his own growing feelings for her. Not even pausing to acknowledge that he had any feelings beyond the lust that he always felt for her. He got into bed and took her into his arms while he waited for sleep to claim him.

Waking up from dreaming that she was surrounded by friends and family, people who loved her, Claudia was not too happy to find herself in Tom’s room. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, refusing to get upset. Then she felt a weight settle on her side of the bed, as she slowly opened her eyes Tom’s face came into focus. “Good morning, it’s Christmas.” She looked up at him and shrugged, “So? The day holds no meaning to you.” He nodded, “That’s true but it’s important for you, is it not? Here, I got you something.” Then he dropped on her chest a beautiful snow white kitten with blue eyes and a pink nose. She gasped in delight and smiled brightly at the cute feline baby.

“Well hello there, you’re so beautiful.” She carefully sat up and hugged the kitten to her and kissed the top of its tiny head. She loved cats, she always had. It was always a point of contention in her house since whenever she found a stray she adopted it, making her father not too happy. “I will be gone most of the day, and tomorrow as well.” She looked at him with a slight frown but said nothing, “I have some business to attend to.” He explained then got up to leave but she grabbed his hand and he turned back to her. Claudia’s thumb absentmindedly caressed his hand as she stayed silent for a few seconds before saying, “Thank you Thomas.” They stared at each other for almost a full minute before he leaned down and kissed her full on the lips. After what seemed like forever he broke the kiss, turned and walked out of the room without looking back at her.


***


“My Lord, everything is almost ready. The attack will happen on New Year’s Day.” Lucius was saying to him. Tom looked up, hands clasped behind his back and nodded, “Yes, they will not expect it. A team of eight death eaters each, one headed by you and the other by me. I want Dumbledore to know that I have not gone away. That I am here and just waiting to strike, when those two families are disposed of I think he’ll get my message.” Lucius gave him a malevolent smile, “Indeed my Lord. Do you want me to inform Severus of the plan?” Not stopping from his pacing Tom shook his head, “No. I will test his loyalty to me at another time, make sure that Bellatrix is on your team, I cannot abide her presence.” Lucius understood and so he just nodded, “When all the preparations are set I will send you an Owl the night before to let you know that we are ready my Lord.” Tom stopped pacing, “See that you do. Let’s see what Harry Potter feels that night and how different he believes I’ve become.”


***


Claudia had spent most of the following days playing with her new kitten, he was the most precious thing but naming him was hell. She settled on Honey and knew that wasn’t a very good name for a boy kitten but she thought it was better than calling him “kitty” all the time. It was New Year’s Eve, she continued to hear rumblings of something happening but whenever she was within hearing of any of the death eaters they all forgot how to speak. Tom wouldn’t tell her anything and she didn’t ask, so she was left alone to wonder and imagine what they were planning. Nothing that crossed her mind was at all good. Later that day Tom had come and had teased her mercilessly then drove her to the edge and back. She was currently straddling his waist as he rested his back against the headboard. His eyes were sparkling up at her.

“You named him Honey?” He asked, incredulous. She frowned indignantly, “What’s wrong with that? I think it’s adorable, and he is my cat.” Tom shook his head at her, “Yeah well I think he’s rather strange, as he kept watching us during...” Claudia giggled, “He did not! He was asleep. Honestly Thomas!” He found that he liked her calling him Thomas. “I think that he finds you to be a wanton hussy.” Her loud gasp almost knocked her over but he had a firm hold on her waist, “Oh? You’d like to argue that fact? Who was it that grabbed my face and demanded that I lick...” He didn’t finish his thought as her fingers had settled over his lips, “Stop that Tom! I mean, really!” Her face had gone crimson and he wondered how she could possibly be embarrassed after all they had done together. Instead of asking her he opened his mouth and began sucking on her fingers. Her blush left her as her eyes got misty with passion.

It was at that moment that an owl knocked, with its beak, on their bedroom window. Thomas inwardly cursed and gently moved her off him while he got up and went to get the letter the bird brought. Claudia wrapped a robe around herself and watched Tom intensely. He read the note quickly, walked to the fireplace and threw it in, where it disintegrated in the flames. Her eyes didn’t leave him as he walked back to the bed. He put on silk black pants and began to speak to her. “I am leaving tomorrow. I should be back the following day, most likely.” A painful feeling began to grip her and she finally asked the question that she had been avoiding for days, “Something is happening isn’t it? I’ve heard whisperings. What is it?” He gave her a hard stare, “Do you really want to know?” The look in his eyes was positively chilling and she decided that she most definitely did not want to know. She quickly turned away from him and got off the bed. However, she wasn’t fast enough to hide the look of horror and disgust that passed through her eyes from his alert ones.

Claudia tried to settle her breathing as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Tom quickly came around to her and painfully grabbed her arm as he turned her around to face him. “What? Disappointed that I shattered the little fantasy world you’ve been making for yourself?” He hissed, and she tried to twist out of his grasp which only made him hold on tighter. “I have NEVER had any illusions as to who or what you are. What do you expect me to do? Be happy that I am married to a monster?” Tom was positively livid at her. At the moment all he wanted to do was hurt her. He picked her up and sat her roughly on the dresser and forced himself to stand between her legs threateningly. She tried to push him off but it was useless, “I told you that I would never bend to your will. I made it perfectly clear who I was and that my plans had not changed, just my methods at achieving my goals.” He was speaking very low and softly which only made her cringe and tremble as a cold fear swept down her spine. “I don’t care, do not expect me to stay quiet and pretend that I am ok with what you are doing.”

Tom shook her, he wanted to hit her but he stopped himself. “You do not have to be ok with it Claudia, you know that it makes no difference to me.” Suddenly he let her go, grabbed his robes and left the room, slamming the door behind him. As soon as he was gone she gave an angry scream and threw a vase at the closed door, then she broke down. She knew that he was partially right. In order to bear this life with him she sometimes pretended that he was just a man. A beautiful, gentle man and that he loved her even if he couldn‘t say it. All those illusions came crashing down now. He was going to kill innocent people tomorrow and she couldn’t do anything to warn them or stop him.

***

Tom stayed away from her that entire night and then left early in the next morning without speaking to her again or saying goodbye. He was still too angry with her. Rationally he knew that she was justified in the way she felt, that she would never see things his way. However because of the feelings he was having for her it pissed him off to see her open disapproval and disappointment. For a few moments he had actually wanted to forget the whole thing if it would make her happy. It was then that he had gotten angry, not really with her but because of her. He was disgusted with himself and what caring about her happiness did to him. He resolved to put her out of his mind for at least forty eight hours and focus on the task at hand. He and his team left the castle as Lucius and his team soon followed.

Near the town of Hogsmead, Lucius was going over his plans with McNabe when Lestrange came up to him, “A word Lucius.” Frowning at his brother in law he sent the other man away and asked him what he needed. “Bellatrix is not here. Where the fuck is that bitch? Wasn’t she supposed to come with us or did the Dark Lord take her back again?” But Lucius had not really heard the rest of the man’s question, his eyes were scanning the death eaters, stopping on the slim figure of the eighth one. He quickly strode up to the person only to find the stable boy of the castle, “What the fuck are you doing here? Where is Bellatrix?” The boy looked up at him frightened and looking slightly dazed, “I… I don’t know, she pointed her wand at me and next thing I know I was here... I didn’t mean...” But Lucius quickly moved away from him. “Lestrange, if she comes back detain her and bring her back to the castle. We are postponing this thing tonight but stay here in position in case she returns.” Then he apparated back at the Village but had to get a horse to get to the castle as the wards had been increased and one could not apparate up to the gates. “Oh God, let her be alive.” Lucius had never prayed before but he did now, not wanting to imagine what his Lord would do to them all if Bellatrix killed Claudia.


***


Claudia was in the downstairs study, her day had been miserable. She hated that Tom and her had parted the way they did. Above all she hated that he was about to do or was currently doing. Not thinking about that was impossible, even though she attempted to do countless things to get her mind off it. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she did not hear the door open and close behind her, until the lock fell in place. Hearing an ugly giggle she turned sharply to find Bellatrix pointing her wand at her, “Hello Princess, ready to die?”