The Bitter Hug of Mortality | R | Chapter Eight - Part Two
Part One
Chapter Eight - Part Two
Later that day Harry was sitting in the ballroom, which had stayed empty since Voldemort had left him, and was keeping himself busy by focusing on the bones in the pouch tied to his belt when the door opened once again and someone walked in that Harry couldn't recall having actually met before. Which was odd, given he'd been living there for long enough to surely have met everyone. Though admittedly, most of the Death Eaters did avoid him as much as possible so actually it wasn't all that surprising.
"Er… hello?" Harry asked, looking at the twitchy looking man with hair that reminded him a little of straw who'd just walked into the room and was now staring at him with wide, slightly crazy looking blue eyes.
"This one is crazier than you and without the excuse for being so, careful how you deal with him," Cadmus muttered, staring at the crazy looking man warily and moving closer to Harry - not that they'd be an ounce of help to him should he need it. As already proven by the fact he was currently chained to a wall.
"You speak to the dead?" The man asked him, slowly moving further into the room and nearer to Harry, which made Harry feel even more nervous.
"Apparently so."
"All the dead?"
"Well, unless they've been reincarnated, then yeah. All the dead," Harry confirmed, shooting a sideways glance to Ignotus and Cadmus, both of whom had moved from looking concerned to now looking more amused.
"He's going to eventually, when he stops beating around the bush, ask about me. I assume. I'm Caspar Crouch. His grandfather." Harry looked to where the voice had come from and barely needed to concentrate anymore in order to have a translucent stern looking man appear standing just behind the crazy man.
"Er…"
"I'm Barty, by the way," the man, Barty apparently, told him in a shockingly lucid tone that startled Harry's attention back to him.
"Hi? Er… I'm Harry. I'm sorry, but why are you here?" Harry asked, finally deciding to just bite the bullet and get to the point, because he was chained to a wall, there really was only so much drama, angst and anticipation he could take in one sitting.
"I was intrigued. I haven't gotten a chance to talk to you, yet. Flint keeps all your attention. You unnerve the rest of the Death Eaters though. Did you really insult Mini-Malfoy?" Barty asked him with a grin, moving the final couple of steps to stand in front of him and then quickly moving to sit on the floor facing him.
Harry just stared at him silently for a beat before he grinned and shrugged, "yeah, he was a brat, so I treated him like a brat. Why do you want to know?"
"It amused me when I heard. Not many dare to tell the Malfoy brat that he's not the centre of the universe. It's even more rare that the one that did it was a muggle. What did he do to annoy you so much?"
"He thought he was above me. I disagreed. And then I let him know that I disagreed. So… you're a Death Eater, huh? How come?"
"My father's a bastard. He arrested me."
"Huh. Why'd he do that?"
"I was caught attempting to torture information out of two aurors. Sadly they survived, though one of them probably wished he hadn't survived. Oh well. Still, my bastard of a dad threw me in prison without any real solid proof."
"You mean other than being caught at the scene of the crime?" Harry asked, grinning when Barty actually just looked sheepish, as though he'd been caught with a hand in the biscuit tin as opposed to torturing two people.
"Well, other than that. Still, he was my father!"
"Insanity runs in the family, I'm afraid. I should have argued more when my father arranged a marriage with Charis. The Blacks are all insane."
"I here ya," Harry said, not too sure who he was answering, Barty or Caspar.
"You do?"
"Sure. My dad didn't even acknowledge my existence once he figured out I was completely insane. Dads totally suck," Harry said with a nod, mentally admitting that there was perhaps a small difference in their experiences. He hadn't tortured anyone for example. "Exactly what did happen to the guy who survived but wished he hadn't?"
"Oh, he was tortured into insanity. In all fairness, that wasn't actually me. Bella did that. In fact, I didn't even get to torture anyone! We were stopped before I could even raise my wand!"
"So you were totally innocent then?"
"Yes! I was!"
"You should make your father pay then," Harry said with a small nod, grinning when Caspar just stared at him incredulously before shaking his head and walking over to stand next to a mildly amused Cadmus and an exasperated Ignotus.
"That's what I think! So, enough about me though, how about you?"
"What about me?"
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, you know, hanging around…" Harry said with a quick glance to the manacles on his wrists currently chaining him to the wall behind him and silently wondering if Barty had actually noticed them. "Actually, I'm getting a bit hungry. Been a while since I last ate you see. Don't suppose you know where I could get some food from, do you?"
"I'm not sure if we're allowed to feed the prisoners. I'd have to ask My Lord to find out," Barty told him, somehow managing to sound apologetic about it as well.
"Ah, never mind then," Harry told him with a shrug, he wasn't too sure he wanted Lord Voldemort to remember about him again today and he'd be fine living off his death magic for a few more days at least.
"Why don't you just tell him what he wants to know?"
"I don't want to be controlled," Harry finally admitted out loud, getting sharp looks from all three spirits in the room and Barty.
"I can understand that. My father was a bit too controlling for my liking. It's why I followed the Dark Lord. He gave me freedom. He does listen to his followers, you know. If you told him your limits and what you don't want to do, he's probably going to listen if it's reasonable."
"Maybe."
"He has a point. I've been with my grandson since I died and this Lord Voldemort isn't quite as bad as those light wizards would have you believe. More so now he's realised the folly of having so many horcruxes and has reabsorbed all but one of them now." Caspar told him, making Harry look up at him in alarm.
"Wait, what?"
"What did I say? I didn't say anything. Did I?" Barty asked, looking confused and obviously mentally rethinking anything he might have just said, which amused Harry just a tiny bit before he recalled what had just shocked him.
"No, not you. Your grandfather."
"Er… he's dea-oh. Okay."
"He was a Ravenclaw for a reason. Well, he did lose a little of his mind and intelligence in that dreadful prison my son locked him in. As for what I said, I said the Dark Lord only has one horcrux now."
"Is he insane?!" Harry near shrieked, getting a strange look from Barty though the three spirits all just looked a little uncomfortable.
"You knew there was something off about him, Horatio, why does this shock you?"
"You know… I have no idea," Harry admitted weakly, slumping back down to lean against the wall once more though still a little unnerved by the new information he'd been told.
"What's it like?" Barty suddenly asked from where he'd been sitting silently watching Harry talk to thin air.
"What's what like?"
"Speaking to the dead?"
"Mostly it's bloody annoying. I have no privacy and sometimes they just have no idea how to shut up. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's nice to know that I have family that will always be there for me no matter what, but still annoying. But it's also really useful."
"Huh. I don't think there would be many dead people who'd want to talk to me if I could hear them."
"The dead don't care much about right and wrong, you know. Either way it's not really going to affect them anymore. And your grandfather is currently in here, he's rather interested in you."
"Really? I'm assuming you're talking about Caspar Crouch."
"Yep. That's the one. He's quite an interesting fellow."
"Thank you."
"Should you be in here?" Harry finally asked, looking at Barty curiously and, for some reason, not wanting the strange yet interesting man to be punished for visiting him.
"No one told us we weren't allowed in here so I don't see why not."
"Oh, right. So…" Harry looked around the large room as though it would give him ideas on what he could say. Not that he was feeling uncomfortable or awkward, but he kinda like Barty and actually wanted him to stick around for a bit longer.
"I think you should consider telling the Dark Lord what it is he wants to know. Eventually he's going to get bored and you're currently making this room not available for meetings, so he'll just get rid of you soon."
"What? It's not my fault I'm in here! He bloody chained me in this room! Really, he's only got himself to blame."
"Possibly. But he's the Dark Lord. Not many are willing to tell him when he's wrong," Barty pointed out, showing that the insane could also be intelligent and logical. When they wanted to be.
"You do have a point," Harry conceded, begrudgingly. He then sighed and shifted again to try and get comfortable, mournfully wishing for a cushion or something soft to sit on. "So how important are you in the Death Eater ranks?"
"I'm in the inner circle."
"The… right. Of course. Can't be evil without an inner circle," Harry muttered to himself, ignoring the snort of amusement from Cadmus. "What do you do?"
"Not a lot. I quite like the weird things muggles have invented to get around their lack of magic, so I tend to be asked to do things that involve computers and such. I was asked to look into your past for example."
"Oh? Find anything interesting?"
"Well, apparently your religion is Jedi. What's that?" Barty asked him, looking slightly baffled when Harry burst into laughter.
"Brilliant! Well, to be honest, I don't actually really have a religion. Not really. And being a Jedi sounded more fun that declaring myself an atheist or something. It's the governments fault for allowing it as a religion!" Harry declared finally, still grinning and not looking at all sorry for the fact he'd basically lied on the official census.
"Huh. But what is a jedi?"
"They use the force," Harry told him in his best Alec Guinness impression whilst waving his hand in what he hoped looked slightly mystical.
"The force?"
"Yep."
"And that is?"
"It is what it is. It holds the world together. Still, never mind that, what else did you find out?"
"Not a lot, to be honest. Nothing of interest at least. Though Horatio is a weird name."
"Says Bartemus? Right, hello, Pot, meet Kettle."
"Why did you call me pot?"
"Never mind."
Harry was left alone for a few days after his visit from Barty, not even Voldemort actually coming in to see him, sadly this also meant that no one had thought to feed him either, which quite frankly pissed him off. He was, unfortunately, becoming weaker and his death magic was no longer fully supporting him, though on the upside, he had finished charging his bones so he could focus what little energy he had left into keeping himself conscious. He was getting pretty weak though.
Which was why he didn't really move from his slouched position against the wall when the door swung open, banging against the wall before closing behind whoever had walked in the room. He knew it wasn't Voldemort because he couldn't even sense the Dark Lord in the manor, never mind the room.
"Well well, look at you now, muggle. Not so brave anymore, are you?" Harry groaned as he recognised the whiny, pompous voice of the person now standing over him.
"Good god, I clearly killed a whole room of puppies and kittens in a past life to have to put up with you," Harry whined, shifting to lie on his back and look up at the arrogant face of Draco Malfoy. "You do know you're a dick, right?"
"I don't think you're in the position to be saying anything negative about me. Perhaps, if you grovelled, I would put a good word in to my Lord for you," Draco told him smirking when Harry just stared at him as though he were crazy.
"It's the inbreeding, isn't it? Either that or your magic has just decided it can't stay with you for much longer and has decided to eat away at your braincells. What do you think, Ant?" Harry asked, moving his head to the side to where the three Peverell brothers had been standing pretty much since Harry had been chained in that room.
"Who are you talking to! Muggle, I think it's time you stopped lying to our lord! You are nothing special!"
"Neither are you and yet here you are, thinking you're above me. Strange how I haven't seen a peep of you since I've been here until now, when your lord is no longer on the premises."
"You're a muggle! A pathetic, magic less muggle. Your place is beneath me, begging me for mercy."
"Good gods, you really are delusional, aren't you? Please, please, do go and say that to a muggle that has a gun and an itchy trigger finger."
"I don't know what you mean, but I would say it to anyone."
"Statute of secrecy doesn't actually mean anything to you, does it?" Harry asked, grinning as Draco seemed to get more and more flustered the more Harry refused to bow to his whims. "Here's the deal, you piss off and leave me alone, and I won't tell Voldemort you were in here torturing me with your presence and I also won't sell your family secrets to whatever newspaper you wizards read. Actually, I won't tell the Inland Revinue that you're citizens of this fine country and yet have never paid a penny in taxes for centuries. My god, think of the fines."
"Shut up, muggle!"
"You shut up, inadequate wizardling."
"How dare you!"
"No, how dare you? Stop playing about, pretending to be above everyone when you are in fact nothing but dirt. Leave now before I go hypoglycaemic on your pasty white arse."
"What?!" Draco demanded, indignantly. Standing up straight and glaring down at Harry, who was slowly pushing himself up so he was standing. He wasn't feeling quite so comfortable being lower on the ground to Draco.
"I said, naff off. I don't care about you or your thoughts and ideals. You think I'm below you, I think you're below me. Clearly we were meant to disagree. Now leave, before I do something we'll both probably regret."
"Are you threatening me?!"
"Yes. Is it working?"
"What do you think you can do to me, muggle?" Draco asked, sneering at him. Harry silently admitted that, leaning weakly against the wall as he currently was, he probably wasn't looking at his most threatening.
"Oh, I can do a lot to you. But you'll probably be more receptive to the fact your Lord has just arrived back home. Torturing his victims probably won't go down well without his consent."
"I'm not torturing you!"
"You mere presence is torture, I'm sure he'll agree. Now, seriously, go away," Harry told him, actually wondering if Draco really was mentally deficient, because he didn't seem to be getting the message.
"I belong here more that you do. It's about time My Lord realise you are nothing but a pitiful muggle with no uses at all. He's going to get rid of you and I'll be there to watch."
"Right. That's it. I fucking warned you, you bloody idiot," Harry snapped, pushing himself off from the wall to stand up straight, ignoring the alarmed looks the Peverell's were sending him and instead focusing on Draco.
"Now, now, Horatio. Don't do anything too hasty. His Lord will be here any minute now and he can deal with him."
"Shut up, Ignotus! Let him show that miserable little mortal where his place is! It's about time people knew about Necromancers once more!"
"Antioch, don't encourage him. Harry, at least reconsider what you're about to do."
"No! I've had it up to here with fucking wizards thinking they own the world just because they're freaks of fucking nature that can use magic! Survival of the fittest does not mean survival of only those with magic!" Harry yelled, feeling what little grasp on sanity and calm he had snap as he stepped forward and grabbed Draco Malfoy by the lapels of his robes.
"Unhand me, muggle!"
"One! You miserable waste of life, I am not a fucking muggle! Can a muggle do this?!" Harry hissed, yanking his hands back and pulling out a ghostly replica of Draco, said replica making a startled noise and staring at Harry with dawning apprehension and fear. "Do not push me, wizard! You might have magic and that might mean you can shit all over the laws of physics, but I have a way better grasp on Life and Death! The only reason I won't kill you now is because you'll fucking haunt me and whine until I shoot myself just get rid of your irritating voice!"
"W-what?!"
"Shut up! I didn't say you could talk!" Harry screamed, shaking the spirit of Draco that he now held in his grasp before reaching up and yanking a handful of translucent hair from spirit!Draco's head, grinning maliciously at the pained yelp that brought before forcefully shoving the spirit back into its body.
"W-what are you?"
"I'm your worst fucking nightmare, wizard! I now have a piece of your essence and I can use it to make you do some pretty damned unpleasant things! I am Death's Favoured! I hold His secrets and am gifted with His blood! Don't fucking mess with me again, you snivelling piece of waste, or I'll make sure you don't have enough essence left to die properly! Forever left with enough conscience to know you can't die, and yet can't live. Enough presence to feel the world moving on without you but not enough to make anyone give a flying fuck about you. You won't live. You won't die. You'll just be. So think of that before you try to act above your station!"
Harry slumped back against the wall as all his adrenaline and energy finally left him, breathing heavily but with just enough energy to stay conscious and glare at a white, shaking Draco. He blinked a couple of times to try and stave off the spots of black that were threatening to take over his consciousness, before he glanced past Draco at the sound of clapping. He didn't have the energy left in him to groan in dismay when he saw Lord Voldemort and several masked Death Eaters all standing just inside the doorway and staring at him in slight shock.
"Well, well. It looks like you can do a lot more than just talk to the dead. Perhaps now you will answer my questions." Harry just blinked at Voldemort before he shakily lifted his hand and gave him the finger, then collapsed to the floor and finally passed out.
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A/N - So, Harry snapped. To be fair, he hadn't eaten in at least seven days and if anyone has ever been hypoglycaemic, you'll know you tend to have a short fuse and scream abuse at whoever is near you just before you pass out. My brother says I pass out in order to avoid retaliation. *Snickers*
Let me know what you thought of this chapter! Let's be honest now, Draco totally deserved everything Harry gave him because he's an irritating little shit. Heh.
Oh! And yes, if anyone was wondering, should there be a pairing, then it'll be a toss up between Barty and Marcus. Feel free to let me know your opinions on this but a reason why you're against one/both of them would be nice. You know, something other than 'because I don't like them'. *Grins*
Remember now, reviews mean love! And I'm a shameless review whore… I love all reviews!! Even the ones from the tenacious few that still want this to be Voldemort/Harry… you know who you are! *Grins* (Psst. You're totally gonna be disappointed, btw)
Fact of the chapter: Tigers are generally thought to be to dangerous to humans from the age of about four months… which, according to Bob Peck, is about five months younger than when the same can be said about Velociraptors… (that should really say factoid, shouldn't it? *Snickers*)
Oh… and er… small confession… I've foolishly redownloaded The Sims 2… It's sucked out my soul. I'm terribly sorry.