A Dark Time For The Light

89

Alice stayed late that night at her Bunker. She turned on her monitor already tuned to the ‘station’. There was a meeting in progress with those that she recognised as the inner circle in attendance, the Lestranges, Draco’s father, the fat boy Goyle and his father, plus Nott senior and his surly son and two other men who she didn’t recognise. The talk was excitable. One of the strangers was feeding back on some spying work he had been doing and was convinced he was getting close to a cadre of people in Liverpool, “You know I’m an Animorph cat, there’s a bunch of people hiding out in the tunnels under the main station there, but in my cat state, I cannot dowse them. I need someone with me”. Voldemort hissed, his back to the camera who’s view Alice was using, “Well done Antonin, you may take young Weasley with you. He is a capable Auror, even while he is an expendable little idiot”.

Voldemort sent the two youngest men from the meeting, “You too, Bella. No, stay. I have a toy or two for you too”. Greg Goyle and Tommy Nott slunk from the room looking surly. In an instant, the large table disappeared and small tables appeared beside the chairs which were transfigured into comfy armchairs then carafes of wine and goblets spun out of thin air landing on each table, “Let us relaxxxx”, their host hissed. “Rodolpho, bring us our toys if you pleassse, they are in the cellar”, the man dropped to his knees and kissed the robe-hem, then rose slightly and planted a kiss in the Evil One’s lap. Alice shifted cameras and grimaced. Voldemort had his cock out and was slowly masturbating himself. Rodolpho rose to do his master’s bidding.

He re-entered the room dragging behind him a long length of steel chain to which were attached five young people, four girls and a boy. All wore blindfolds and all were chained around the ankles and wrists. All moved as if drugged and all were naked. Not one of them was above sixteen. Alice could feel tears form in her eyes as she watched. The boy was made to kneel at Voldemort’s feet as his mouth was raped and one of the girls was positioned beside his chair while he bit and suckled at her breasts and he pounded his cock in the boy’s face. He withdrew at the final moment spraying the poor boy with his come. The edge of the boy’s mouth was bleeding. He kicked the boy to the floor, “There you are, Bella. A little present for you”, he held a hand out with what looked like a small bottle in it. The woman took it and force-fed the contents to the boy on the floor, then had the last few drops herself.

Voldemort grinned and licked his thin lips, “Be careful with the Potion Bella, it is the very last of that brewed by the accursed traitor Snape, damn his hide and Pettigrew was so close to finding him and that accursed Potter brat”. The girl whose breasts he had been mangling, he now dragged into his lap and pushed her to the floor between his legs, pulling her up onto her knees. He grabbed roughly at her bloodied breasts and rested his hard cock between them, thrusting up as he pushed her large breasts together around his cock, “Ssso Ssoft. Beautiful”. He withdrew and pulled the girl’s head down by the hair, “Open wide my pretty”, and he wanked himself off into her open mouth, “Drink me down, bitch”, he ordered. “This one’s for you, Roddy”, and she was passed to Rodolphus.

Alice had seen enough. Her stomach roiling, she turned off the monitor and sent a text message to Hermione,

“Tonight’s viewing very ugly. I hope you do not know any of his victims. I could not watch everything. You have been warned. Take care, A xx”.

And pressed send. A few moments later, her phone trilled and she answered, “Hi, Hermione. I didn’t mean to disturb you or anything, I just meant to warn you before you watched”. Hermione had her phone on speaker and Alice could hear two sets of sniffles. Ginny was with her. “We always knew that these things happened, but to witness it live in your living room....”. “It’s horrible, isn’t it?. Now I know how it may have gone with my mother. I want him dead and soon”. The girls agreed. “The rest of the cadre need to see this, awful though it is. I’ll try to capture faces as stills if I can, but I couldn’t watch any more tonight”.

That weekend there was a major cadre meeting called at Bunker 7. Alice trooped them all into her own bunker and sat everyone on a large rug she transfigured from a piece of paper, then showed them the edited highlights of the orgy. Everyone was appalled. One or two rushed to the toilet and vomited. She switched off the screen as the final child was killed after being repeatedly raped by everyone in the room on screen.

The Bunker was quiet save for the sound of sniffles and muffled sobs. Alice put some lights on and folk blinked, “Now we all have been reminded of why we need to rid the world of this guy, let’s get to work. Not today, however. I think we all need to go home and process this. If there is anyone who would like to leave the fighting force, then please do so now”, Alice was addressing the 70 strong audience. Nobody moved. She did a quick mind-sort on the assembled company, demi’s as well as the trained. She could read Severus’ distress as Remus held him, Harry’s anger as he shook in Draco’s arms, the fear and rage in others and the determination in everybody. She simply said, “We need to bring this to an end, and soon”. Harry staggered to the front of the room, “Thanks, Alice for sparing us the worst of it. Your courage is amazing, given your history”.

There was a voice from the audience, Veronica. “Harry, tell us where he is and we’ll go now. I want to be the one who separates his bollocks from his body then feeds them to him whole. We didn’t know the kids, but I have a son the same age as that poor boy”, her voice cracked and she went silent. Joe spoke up, “I’ve got two nieces that sort of age. That guy has to die. Prison, even Wizard jail, is too good for the likes of him”. Harry managed a weak smile at his boss’ vehemence. “Now you have had a glimpse of the enemy and what he is capable of, we need to work to kill him as a team”. Harry paused a moment, then said to the room at large, “I want to blood-bond with you all”.

Heads shot up all over the room. “Harry?”, quizzed Hermione. He shot her a glance, “’Mione, most of these people are relatively unknown to me. I need to know that everyone will be true”. He spoke out at the whole room, “It’s not barbaric, just a tiny cut on our thumbs and our blood mingles for a second or two, but it protects me from any danger or threat you may pose to me”. He glanced shyly at Alice, “I’d like everyone to blood-bond with Alice as well, as my second”. Ron opened his mouth to protest, to be nudged into silence by Hermione and he subsided reluctantly.

Joe was the first to his feet. He picked his way to Harry and held out his thumb, looking straight into Harry’s eyes. At that, people started scrambling to their feet and forming a line behind Joe. Harry smiled widely as even his closest friends did the same. He murmured, “Alice, do you have a sharp sterile blade here somewhere?”. She grinned and biffed his shoulder lightly, “Me? Have a blade? Heaven forfend”, she rolled her eyes and Harry laughed, the atmosphere lightening slightly. She made her way to the room in the corner, withdrawing her wand and unlocking the room. Harry noticed with a grin. He caught the eye of his friends as they all watched her take down her wards and enter.

She emerged, screwing a fresh blade into the scalpel handle and handed it over to Harry, “What do I have to do, Harry? Kneel at your feet or something?”, her expression showed mild distaste. “No. Nothing like that. We simply make a shallow cut and press our thumbs together. There’s a spell that prevents the blood from coagulating and should allow us to get round everyone. The bond disappears once our mission is done and there is no more obligation. I know it’s a bit much to ask, but I’ll feel better that no-one can betray us or work against us. Will you consent, Alice?”.

She held her left thumb out, “Do your worst, Harry”, and shrugged. He slit his own thumb pad then handed her the knife and she did the same and they pressed their digits together. Alice got sudden memories and random thoughts about the times Voldemort had attacked the boy previously. Her eyes widenend as Harry withdrew his thumb from hers. He knew she’d read him while he had received nothing from her. He closed his eyes momentarily, ‘At least she can do me no harm, now’, he thought as he pressed his thumb one by one to the others in the room. All came willingly and bonded themselves, but Harry and Draco had discussed this, the last barrier to trust with Alice, and Harry was truly content to fight with her at long last. It had pained Remus when the boys had discussed taking this extra step to ensure her loyalty. He believed in her totally, but he could understand Harry’s concern. He knew the rest of the bonds were a bit of a charade, but all stepped up and made them, solemnly and without demur. If it brought the fighting force closer then so much the better.

They all staggered out of the Bunker exhausted. Alice went outside and lit a cigarette as everyone filed out, her hands were shaking. Remus was by her side in an instant, “Are you okay?”. She nodded and blew out a long stream of smoke, “We didn’t need to do all this really, did we?. This was about whether Harry can trust me or not, isn’t it?”. Remus couldn’t lie to her and nodded, “I suspect so. He’s expected it to end up with him facing Voldemort virtually all his life and then here you are....”, he shrugged.

Harry and Draco emerged just then and Alice gripped Harry’s t-shirt and pulled him towards her, “Happy now!?”, she snapped. Harry tried to pull away but she held him easily her eyes boring into his, “Do you trust me now?”, her voice was low and dangerous. “Yes!”, he squeaked, his own eyes saucer round. He realised he’d just pissed off one of his greatest allies and he gulped. She spat, “Don’t you think that what I have done so far is enough?. You had to put me through that charade in there?”, through gritted teeth. “Have you any idea what making that disc cost me tonight?. Any one of those poor girls could have been my mother, damn you!. Well at least now you know I can do you no harm, even though, right now, I could strangle you with my bare hands, and if I can tune him out of my head, then I can probably break a simple blood-oath too. I may be relatively untrained, Harry, but I’m not a fucking idiot”.

He broke away, his face crumpling, “I’m sorry, okay!. I haven’t got your mind-reading skills and I had to know. For fuck’s sake the guy’s your father. What was I supposed to think?. Suppose you were just using us all in some way. I have to protect my ultimate mission which is still to fulfil this fucking prophecy, then up you pop out of nowhere....”.

Her voice was even lower and laced with scorn, “Oh yes, the pretender to the throne. I want nothing out of this but to see my family line die. What do you want out of this, Harry?. I suggest you think about this very seriously”, then she turned her eyes away and let go of Harry’s shirt in disgust, casting him from her with a none-too-gentle shove. “See you tomorrow. Now get out of my sight”.

Draco gathered Harry to him and led him away. They were silent as they made for the bike. Harry was trembling at Draco’s side, “Did I just fuck up big-style?”. Draco caught his lover’s eyes and nodded, “Yes”, was his simple reply. Remus and Severus caught up with them. “Harry, what were you thinking?”, Remus exclaimed. Harry looked up impatiently, “Even you can’t read her Sev. I had to know, that’s all. It just seemed like the best idea on the day.....”, he finished weakly, sinking his head in his hands, thinking of the ways Alice had already helped them, definitely above and beyond the call of duty, and felt a deep shame wash over him. For two pins he would have gone over to apologise, but this time the Slytherins were wisest, advising him to let her sleep her anger off before he approached her the next day.

After everyone had left, she sank to the ground and lit another cigarette still sniffling, but as the last person left, casting her sympathetic glances, which she pretended to ignore, she smiled widely as she waited for her husband to pick her up. “Gotcha now”, she mused as she ground out her cigarette. Tony was just pulling onto the apron of space in front of her Bunker. She locked up and climbed on and headed home.