Indelible

I know, I know, I’ve taken my time, haven’t I? But it’s better late than never right?

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Words: 3,068
Chapter 5
Indelible
The last thing any of the Death Eaters expected that evening was that their Lord would summon them all. As far as many of them knew, their Lord was dead, defeated, and other same-meaning word beginning with ‘d’. All except Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape.

Working as a spy had its advantages as far as Snape was concerned. Sure he exposed himself to endless risk and torture, but he always knew more than the other Death Eaters, because Albus told him more than the Dark Lord told his faithful followers. So Snape knew there was a high chance of Voldemort returning that day; especially after the Dark Mark appeared when Ron Weasley disappeared.

Lucius however was not a spy, and so Dumbledore didn’t tell him anything. But he still, to that day, could remember the flash of red that appeared in Harry Potter’s eyes when the boy was arrested. It was almost two years ago, and he, more than anyone, was dreading the returning of Lord Voldemort. He, who should have rescued Harry by now, was more afraid than the traitor Snape, because he had failed to save his Lord’s Horcrux from prison.

And he was terrified that his family – more so his son – would have to pay the price of his failure.

With one last nervous look at his wife, Lucius apparated from his home, straight to the cemetery at Riddle Manor. He was met there by nearly all of the Dark Lords Inner Circle, with the exception of Snape and the Lestranges. Grinning madly beside a cowering Wormtail was Barty Crouch Jr.

“My Lord,” the Death Eaters chorused as they fell to their knees and remained there.

“My Lord, they have come!” Barty cried as he took in the sea of white-masked faces.

“So they have.” The Dark Lord hissed quietly. Lucius swallowed and hesitantly looked up. His eyes met the red orbs of Voldemort, who had been staring at him, and Lucius turned away in submission. “I am most disappointed in you all. None of you even attempted to help me.”

“My Lord,” one called out, jumping to his feet, “I tried my Lord, I swear it!”

“Avery,” Voldemort snarled, “Crucio!” Watching the man writhe in pain was enough of an incentive to keep Lucius’ mouth shut. There was no way the blond was willingly inviting that pain upon himself; he could quite easily wait until the Dark Lord addressed his negligence first.

“Crabbe, Goyle, I expected nothing better. But Lucius, in you I am most disappointed.” The Malfoy patriarch slowly lifted his head, and removed his mask.

“My Lord, I beg of you…”

“Save your breath. I will not punish you now.” He turned to look at Ron. “I have other matters to attend to. But rest assured, there will come a time, very soon, when you will have to prove your loyalty to Lord Voldemort. Or suffer the consequences.”

“I understand my Lord.” Lucius whispered, lowering his head again. “You are most merciful.”

Voldemort didn’t comment, instead his eyes moved over his followers to land on Ron Weasley’s face. He fingers his wand lightly before a smirk blossomed onto his face. “Avery, I present you with the opportunity to redeem yourself.” While the others remained kneeling, Avery was still lying on his side from when he had been tortured. Voldemort had not given him leave to rise. Now though, the man slowly sat up, and then stood. His wand was removed from his pocket and pointed at the bound redhead.

“CRUCIO!” He cried, happily inflicting pain on others, thankful he was not the one in pain. Voldemort delighted in the screams.

“The rest of you may take your turn when Avery is finished. Lucius, you will go last. I expect him to be dead when you are through.”

“Yes my Lord,” the chorused once again. Lucius was use to going first, as his Lord’s favourite, and then being allowed to deal the killing blow. But obviously his failure to free Harry had annoyed Voldemort more than Lucius had assumed it would. He had been delegated to the end of the food chain, so to speak. But no matter, the blond thought, when I prove myself the Malfoy family will be back in our Lords favour.

“Avada Kedavra.” He hissed when his turn came around. He happily took the life of his archenemy’s son.

Voldemort smirked at his followers. He took hold of the redhead’s hair, and yanked, ripping a clump from the dead boys head. With a few waves of his wand, the clump of hair was then transformed into a Portkey. Smirking again, Voldemort attached the hair to the corpse’s head and activated it. The body landed in the same place the Hufflepuff had, right in full view of all the spectators. Only this time, unlike Cedric, Ron was dead.

“Now my loyal followers, as you have noticed, there are a few of us missing. In two days, they will be with us again. Azkaban will not keep them from us!” The Death Eaters cheered wildly. While Lucius cheered along, inside he was trembling. Azkaban was notoriously difficult to escape from – no one had ever managed it – and only fools broke in. But, he supposed, politics wouldn’t quite cover it this time.

They were breaking into Azkaban, and Lucius knew they were doing it for Potter. The Lestranges were just added bonuses.

XXX

“Hey Tom,” no one answered. “Tom, are you awake?”

Inside of Harry’s mind, in a room that looked just like the Chamber of Secrets – except for the bed floating over the lake of water – a figure purposely turned his back to the voice speaking.

“Tom! I said I was sorry!” Harry stamped his foot on the floor.

Across the hallway, in another cell, Sirius Black looked over with his eyebrows raised. “What’s wrong Pup? Is the Dark Lord Half-Blood Boy stropping again?” Harry tried not to giggle.

“I told you NEVER to call me that!”

“He speaks!” Harry was suddenly standing in the Chamber, right beside Tom, a small smile on his face.

“Just go away Harry, I don’t want to speak to you.” Tom turned away again, his back to Harry once more.

“Tooooooooom! I’m sorry ok? It was only a joke. I’ll tell you if you really want me to.”

“No, keep your stupid name a secret. I just wont give you a birthday present this year.” Harry’s face took on a red tint at the reminded of last year’s gift. He was only months away from turning fifteen.

“You’re acting like a child, Tom. It’s unseemly. What would Voldemort say if he say himself acting like this?” Tom spun around so fast it made Harry dizzy. His eyes narrowed and he stalked towards the other, younger boy. Harry was pressed against a wall before he knew it, with Tom’s lips inches from his own. “Can’t we just kiss and make up?”

“I have nothing against the kissing part.” Tom muttered before crushing his lips to Harry’s, revelling in the moan the teenager let out. When they pulled apart, Harry was flushed and panting, and Tom was grinning like the cat that caught the canary. “Are you going to tell me your name now?”

“Nope!” Harry said, jumping away from Tom. Before Tom could say anything, Harry was outside of the Chamber and back in his own body. “You can find out with the rest of the world, Half-Blood Boy.”

“Stop calling me that, Potter!” He turned his back on the brunette again. Sulking.

XXX

Outside Azkaban a day later, ten of Voldemort’s best Death Eaters shivered despite the warming spells on their robes. Not all of them were in the Inner Circle, but Voldemort had called them to his side nonetheless. The hovered together in groups, pressed tightly to one another, trying to fight back the bitter wind and the gathering of Dementors. Their Lord stood alone, in front of them, conversing with the Dementor in charge. His hands waved about to emphasise his words and the Parseltongue made some of the men shiver for other reasons than the cold.

When Voldemort stopped hissing, all of the Dementors – even the ones that were gathering around the Death Eaters, and the ones that were patrolling the Prison – floated above the Prison, and remained there as if suspended. They stared down sightlessly, and the Death Eaters smiled to each other in relief. In groups of two and three they made their way towards the Prison doors and entered the building.

Voldemort waited outside, just in case the Dementors changed their minds.

Lucius was paired with Wormtail – unfortunately – and Barty Jr. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his mask on and nodded to the other two. As one they approached and entered the Prison. Almost as soon as they entered they were attacked by one of the guards. Thankful for his quick reflexes, Lucius stunned one of them before turning to watch as Barty tortured another. Wormtail, as usual, cowered uselessly in the corner.

“Can you smell him?” As an animagus, Wormtail had a heightened sense of smell. And fortunately for Lucius and Barty, Wormtail would make finding their targets easier. As childhood friends of Lupin, Black, and Potter Sr., Wormtail had their scent imprinted on his memory. It just so happened that their group had been sent to find Sirius Black.

“Yes,” Wormtail’s nose twitched. “This way.” Lucius allowed the cowardly man to lead, his own nose wrinkling in distaste. “I smell- I smell- my Lord?” He whispered. Of course he smelt Tom’s essence on Harry, but he didn’t know that, did he? “And James! But he’s-”

“Dead, yes I know. You’re probably smelling Harry. Now, if you don’t mind taking us to him?” In Lucius’ opinion, Black was probably near Potter anyway; especially if Dumbledore assumed it was Voldemort wearing Potter’s body. He’d have used the opportunity to torment Sirius until the man really was insane.

Lucius knew he would have.

“This way!” Wormtail said, before he practically skipped down the corridor. Obviously his betrayal of the Potters’ had weighed heavy on his mind: Lucius supposed that Wormtail thought freeing Harry would make everything ok again. The blond smirked and followed after the other man.

When Lucius and Barty had caught up to Wormtail they found the man cowering the middle of a corridor, muttering that he was ‘sorry’ over and over again. A dark haired man was practically squeezing himself threw the bars of his cell, trying to reach Wormtail to strangle him. In the cell behind Wormtail, a shorter, younger dark haired boy stood, looking on with a frown on his lips.

“Who the hell is he?” Harry asked, brushing his fringe out of his eyes.

“Peter Pettigrew, he betrayed your parents to Voldemort.”

“Oh, so why is Sirius calling him Wormtail?” Harry asked, seemingly talking to himself.

“They were animagi together. Wormtail was Peter’s code name, the same as Padfoot is Sirius’.”

“I see.” Harry took a few steps forward until he was flush to the bars of his cell. “Hello Peter.” The rat-like man almost jumped through the ceiling in fright.

“H-Harry, is that you?” He reached a hand forward, attempting to brush Harry’s hair off of his face.

“Don’t touch him, don’t fucking touch him you bastard!” Sirius screamed, throwing himself at the bars.

Suddenly Harry’s eyes were red, and Tom was glaring alternatively at the two men. “If you would both compose yourself, I believe it is time to leave.” With a wave of his hand, Harry’s holly and phoenix feather wand appeared from thin air. Tom gripped it and waved it at the door of his cell. With a ‘click’ it sprung open. “Alhomora,” he muttered while pointing the wand at Sirius’ cell. “I assume someone is coming to free the Lestranges?”

“Yes,” Lucius said with a frown, “here they come.” Two more Death Eaters appeared in the corridor.

Sirius took a hesitant step out of the cell before looking at Harry. His eyes were green again, and narrowed. “You mean to tell me, you could have opened the god-damned-fucking-bastarding-cunt of a door any time you liked? Because you’ve had my wand on you the WHOLE TIME? Three fucking years, Tom!”

“Language Harry.” He chided, twirling the wand lazily.

“Come here right now so I can hex you. And give me my wand back!” He stamped his foot on the floor in anger.

“Why didn’t we escape sooner?” Sirius whispered, hugging his godson for the first time since he was a year old.

“That’s what I want to know.” The Death Eaters were watching the boy speak to himself, and many took a step back as if he were insane and contagious. “Well Tom? Why didn’t we escape?”

“Where were we to escape to?” Tom Riddle was corporeal again, and standing flush to Harry’s back, his arms around the teenager’s shoulders. “We had no where to run, no one to help us. Why not just wait it out until Voldemort returned?”

“You’re content to free load off of the Dark Lord?”

“It’s not really free loading.”

“Scrounging then?” Harry raised an eyebrow.

Tom sighed, “you realize you’re talking about my future self?”

“So, you are still taking the cheap way out, Half-Blood Boy.”

Tom growled, “don’t call me that!”

“If neither of you mind my interrupting, we really must be leaving.” They turned to look at Lucius, whose mask was off.

“Hey, it’s Malfoys dad. Hi!” Harry gave a small wave, and Tom disappeared with a soft glow. “What now, Tom?” Sirius transformed suddenly, and in his place was a large black dog. “Come on Padfoot.”

Lucius led the way back outside, Harry and his dog following, and the other Death Eaters and freed prisoners behind them. Voldemort, who smirked as he looked Harry up and down, met them.

“You lasted well.” The man’s voice still sounded as if he was hissing slightly.

“So I did.” Bellatrix tried to throw herself forward, landing at Voldemort’s feet. “Can’t say the same for her, though.”

“Is the itty bitty Potter jealous? He is, in’t he?” She was rubbing her head against Voldemort’s leg like a cat. The red eyes had gone wide as he stared down at his minion in shock.

Harry turned to smirk at Rabastian. “Deathly.”

“Harry, if you could explain?” Voldemort inquired.

“That isn’t my name.” The boy waited for Voldemort’s nod, indicating he wished to know. “I tried to anagram it like you but I ended up sounding like a German yoghurt so I decided to do something else. Tom, are you listening?” He received a mental kick in the arse. While rubbing his sore backside, Harry carried on talking. “Tom said there was a Prophecy about us, you and me, marking me out against you. And now I’ve been marked as a murder too.”

“Go on.” Voldemort said. Padfoot gave an impatient whine and nipped Harry’s ankle.

He grinned, almost bouncing on the spot as he unveiled his new name. “It means to be marked, or unable to wash away. I am no longer Harry Potter. To the world, I will be known as Indelible!”

“That is your brilliant name? All of that hype… for that? Idiot!” Tom actually hit himself in the head again.

“Oh shut up Half-Blood Boy, my name is better than yours!” Harry huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting.

Lucius met Bellatrix’s eyes and mouthed ‘half-blood boy’. Bellatrix grinned back. “He’s talking about our Young Lord.”

“How dare you!” Lucius said turning on Harry. “Our Lord is not a half-blood!” Lucius spit the word out like it was poison. Harry’s eyes widened, unsure if he was meant to agree or tell the truth.

“Can we continue this some other time?” Voldemort drawled, drawing their attention to the consignment of Aurors that had just apparated to the edges of the Island. Among them, were members of the Order of the Phoenix.

Remus’ eyes widened as he caught sight of the Grim sitting by Harry’s foot. And Remus knew it was Harry, because the boy smelled just like a mixture of James and Lily, with something darker thrown in.

“We should run now.” Tom said non-pulse. The Order had taken down the wards around the Island, so the Death Eaters disapparated together. Of course, Sirius couldn’t apparate as a dog, and Harry didn’t know how. So the two were left to fend for themselves, and boy would Voldemort be mad when he realized that his Horcrux had once again been left behind.

“Give me control, Harry, now!” Harry didn’t need to be asked twice. His eyes bled to red and Tom whipped out Harry’s wand and began firing spells. One hand knotted into Padfoot’s fur, dragging the grim after him as he made his way to the edge of the Island. With a deep breath he jumped; Padfoot fell after him.

“Swim!” Tom shouted to Sirius. The Grim nodded and began to dog paddle to the other end of the small ocean. Unlike Harry, Tom actually could swim, but he still wasn’t as good as a dog. He didn’t have the natural instinct. “I think we’re far enough away.” They were bobbing half way between Azkaban Island and the other island. “Change back and apparate. On three.”

“One,” Sirius said when he was himself again.

“Two,” whispered Harry who was morbidly afraid of drowning.

“Three,” Tom said and they both disappeared.

“Where the hell are we?” Harry asked when they landed, automatically taking control of his body.

“Woof,” was the only answer he got from his pet Grim. Tom was asleep in the bed floating above the lake of water in the Chamber in Harry’s head. The sixteen-year-old was exhausted.

“Damn.” Harry looked around and frowned. He was in the middle of a forest. But which forest. “You don’t recognize this place do you, Paddy?” The Grim shook its head. “Bugger.”

Harry kind of missed the fact that Tom didn’t chastise him for his language that time. With a small yawn, Harry lay down on the forest floor, curling into a ball and smiling when Padfoot lay down beside him attempting to keep him warm.

“You know what the worst thing is?”

“Woof?”

“Tom has my blood wand again!” Harry could swear that Sirius started laughing at him. But he was just too tired to defend himself. So he went to sleep.

XXX

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Hope you enjoyed it now that I have finally updated. College started, still working, always very, very tired… Excuses, excuses, lol.

Please review, thanks!