Better Than Cookies {COMPLETE}

I don't have a beta so any mistakes are my own. FYI. Sorry, I was a tad late with my update. Love.
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Voldemort paced back and forth in front of his throne. When that didn’t help to relieve the tension, he increased his pacing to cover the full length of the room.

“Milord?” Lucius voice cut through the buzz of Voldemort’s angry magic.

“Yes, Lucius?” The older wizard growled in annoyance.

Lucius easy stepped out of the path Voldemort was cutting across the floor. “Could I be of assistance?”

Voldemort paused beside him. “I…” he fidgeted with his wand, “I’m not sure what’s wrong. I’ve felt worried for a week now and today…” He began pacing again. “I don’t think these are my feelings. I think they are Mr. Potter’s. If so, we all have reason to be worried.” He looked up from the floor in front of him to see Lucius nodding somberly. “Contact your son. Tell him to check on Potter.”

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Harry stared out the window trying to ignore the growing feeling of dread in his stomach. He shifted uncomfortably and glanced to the right where Hermione’s reflection appeared in the glass beside his. He turned to smile brightly at her, trying to hide his thoughts from his all-seeing friend. He knew he had failed as her brow knit and she leaned forward to whisper to him.

“Are you alright, Harry?”

“Er…yeah. Why?”

As she opened her mouth to lay into him, the compartment door slammed open. Harry exhaled in relief. It was short lived as the door revealed the figure of the Slytherin Prince. All his thoughts about his problems faded to the back of his mind and Harry stood to face Draco Malfoy.

He narrowed his eyes at the blonde. “What do you want, Malfoy?” He squared his shoulders and made sure his wand was visible in his hand.

Ron shoved his bag aside to stand beside him.

Draco sneered and sauntered further into the room, his eyes flicking to Harry’s wand before meeting his gaze. “I heard you’ll be having a fun summer, Potter.” He raised one pale eyebrow.

Harry swallowed hard and kept his eyes focused on the arrogant Slytherin. “I expect it will be the same as every other summer.” Harry kept his voice from wavering and gave himself a mental pat on the back.

Draco gave him an unreadable look and spun on his heel. “I’ll be seeing you, Potter.” The door closed softly behind him.

Harry stared at the closed door blankly, briefly wondering what Malfoy was plotting. The sound of Ron’s voice drew his attention back to the present.

“Not bloody likely!” Ron spat the moment the door had closed fully. “What a prat. Hermione!” Ron clutched at the back of his head where Hermione’s book had collided with a solid thump.

“Watch your language, Ronald.” She turned to Harry with a frown. “Are you alright, Harry?”

Harry saw Ron look at him from the corner of his eye. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” He gave her what he hoped was a assuring smile.

She nodded doubtfully but let the subject drop as she flipped open Famous Wizards of the Eighteenth century and began reading again, still glancing at him every few sentences.

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When the train pulled in to platform 9 ¾ less than ten minutes later, Harry had worked himself up to near panic. A little light headed, Harry followed Ron and Hermione off the train. He looked around quickly for his bags.

After giving Mrs. Weasley a quick hug, he nearly ran out into the non-magical section of the train station. He raced toward the front doors only to groan in defeat. His uncle stood alone beside the car, his face already a worrying shade of puce. Harry quickly shoved his trunk in the boot and slid into the back behind the passengers seat.

The first few minutes of the trip went well, then Vernon spoke. “I had to wait outside that station for twenty minutes, boy. I’m sure everyone knew I was there to pick up one of the freaks. You with your owl…”

“I didn’t bring her,” Harry interrupted. He didn’t have time to duck as his uncle’s fist caught him across the left cheek. Harry fell back against the seat, cradling the side of his face and staring hard at the seat in front of him.

“Don’t you ever interrupt me, boy! Do you understand me?” Vernon jerked the wheel to avoid a collision with an oncoming car and glared at Harry in the rearview mirror.

“Yes, Uncle Vernon,” Harry mumbled quietly. His face felt like it was on fire and his eye was staring to swell shut. It would be black and blue by the time they pulled in the driveway.

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Voldemort froze mid-sentence and growled at the vague feeling of pain in his left cheek. His death eaters whispered quietly amongst themselves as he turned his attention inward. Fear, pain, worry, sadness. Potter. He raised his eyes to Bellatrix. She nodded and he strode quickly from the room.

After descending three separate staircases and giving five passwords, the Dark Lord entered the rooms of his potions master. He pushed open the door to the potions lab and scanned the room quickly. A bright flash of blonde drew his gaze. Lucius and Severus glanced up from the heavy tome they were perusing. Voldemort nodded in their direction and fixed his eyes on Severus, who quickly walked to his side.

“Milord?” Severus gave him a small bow.

“Severus, how is the potion coming? I have been receiving disturbing feelings through the bond.” Voldemort looked over Severus’ shoulder at the sound of a book slamming shut.

“Found it!” Lucius smiled brightly and moved across the room to flip through another book.

Severus nodded, a ghost of a smile on his lips, and answered the question. “Very close, Milord. I expect it will be finished in less than month.”

Voldemort frowned, but nodded.

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Harry pulled his trunk from the boot and drug it into the house. He started up the stairs only to hear his uncle’s angry voice yell from the hall beside the stairs. He shoved his trunk in the closet and watched dejectedly as Vernon snapped a padlock on the door. Vernon turned to smile at him nastily before clamping a meaty paw on his shoulder and half dragging him into the kitchen.

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Harry spent the first couple weeks of summer the same way he always did. His aunt woke him at five o’clock to make breakfast, which he made perfectly because anything less earned him a slap or punch, and he spent the rest of the day doing an impossibly long list of chores. The list always contained more chores than could possibly get done in a day, which was the point. It gave Vernon a perfect excuse to beat him senseless.

Harry rolled out of bed at the first sound of movement in the house. A few minutes later, his aunt unlocked his door and shrieked at him.

“Go make duddiekins breakfast. Now!” With two fingers, she picked his shirt up off the chair where it was folded and threw it at him before walking back toward her bedroom.

Harry sighed and tugged the garment on. He padded down the stairs still wiping the last of sleep from his eyes and started breakfast. Just as he placed the plate on the table, his cousin and uncle stampeded into the room. His nearly emaciated aunt followed behind speaking in an annoyingly perky voice.

“Hurry and eat your breakfast, Dudley. The mall opens in an hour. We can be first.” She smiled down at her enormous son’s enthusiastic expression.

Harry rolled his eyes and pushed up his sleeves to wash the breakfast dishes. Moment’s later, Dudley dropped his plate over Harry’s shoulder into the water, sending soap suds and water splashing all over Harry and the floor. The smaller boy’s quiet gasp was lost when his uncle began to yell.

“What are you doing, boy?” Vernon’s hand grabbed Harry’s ear roughly and jerked him away from the sink. “You will clean this up right this minute,” Vernon shouted, shoving Harry toward the sink. Dudley laughed as Harry slipped and nearly fell on the wet tiles.

The sounds slowly faded from the house as Harry sopped up the water from the floor and scrubbed the remaining dishes in the sink. He finally let the water out and arched his back, stretching the sore muscles. Sweeping the room with his gaze, he nodded to himself that the room was presentable.

Harry moved through the house checking each room on the ground floor until he found his aunt’s list of chores. He scanned the list, mentally separating it into outside chores and inside chores. A pen sat on a table nearby and he reached for it. A floorboard squeaked behind him. He turned in time to see a huge fist heading toward his face before everything went dark.

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Voldemort shot up from his throne and nearly ran from the room, shocking the members of his inner circle. He apparated to the potions lab, startling Severus and Lucius who looked up at him in surprise.

“Milord?” They chorused together.

Voldemort ignored Lucius completely. “Go get Potter, now. I don’t care what you tell the Order, just do it.”

Severus nodded quickly and headed for the door. He paused when Voldemort yelled after him.

“I let down the wards so you can apparate. Take him somewhere safe and kill the muggles.” After a moment of thought Voldemort added, “Painfully.”

Severus nodded his understanding and disappeared with a pop.

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Harry woke with a splitting headache and instantly wished he was still unconscious. Vernon jerked roughly at his clothing, creating even more bruises on Harry’s aching body. The hardwood floor slid under Harry’s cheek as he struggled to crawl out from under his uncle’s immovable bulk. His hands, covered in blood from his broken nose, kept slipping on the highly polished surface. He felt his trousers rip and cool air touch his backside, covered only by the threadbare cotton of his pants. Harry finally found his voice and screamed. He was rewarded with Vernon grabbing a handful of his hair and bashing his head against the floor until he blacked out.

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Severus heard a scream from inside the house and blasted the back door open. The sight of a horribly obese muggle attempting to gain entrance to the unconscious Harry Potter made him see red. He quickly blasted the disgusting man off the thin boy and proceeded to Crucio him while he checked on Potter. Beneath the thick covering of blood, the boy was covered in bruises and scrapes. He obviously had at least six broken bones and was bleeding heavily from his head. Severus quickly cast a mild general healing charm. He smiled slightly as Harry’s breathing eased somewhat. He would have to look him over completely once they were at a secure location.

Severus thanked every god he could think of that the boys underpants were still intact, showing he had not yet been violated. The thought brought his fury back with a vengeance and he turned his wand on the muggle. Severus smirked as the muggle’s screams raised in volume and then abruptly stopped. He considered waiting for the other muggles to return home but a soft groan from Harry made his decision for him. He scooped up the boy, frowning at how light he was, and walked back through the smoldering remains of the door.

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Severus shoved open the front door of 12 Grimauld Place with a black clad shoulder and bellowed for help. The front hall echoed with the sound of people thundering down the stairs. Remus and Tonks appeared at the bottom of the staircase and the kitchen door flew open to reveal Arthur Weasley and Moody. Tonks gasped and the group ran down the hall toward him. The noise obviously startled Harry, who began to struggle in Severus’ arms.

“Stop! Let go! Please, stop!” Harry’s voice faded as he got a look as his surroundings. “I’m at headquarters?”

The people blocking the hall nodded.

Severus grunted before pushing his way down the hall. “I’m putting him in a room. He’s got some wounds that need to be healed. Someone call Poppy and Albus.” Without waiting for a response, he started up the stairs. At the top, Severus heard Arthur’s voice yell to him.

“What happened?”

Severus paused for a beat to shove open the door of the first bedroom he found. “Death eaters attacked the Dursley’s. There wasn’t time to alert The Order so I acted alone. I might have lost my standing in the inner circle.” Severus looked down at the boy in his arms who stared at him in confusion. He shook his head and slammed the bedroom door.