Seduction of Darkness

Seduction of Darkness
Poisoned Ink
Chapter Twenty-Five
Turning of the Tide

*

It took Harry a minute to come to his senses in the morning. For one moment he couldn’t remember what happened last night, and the next moment the memories came flooding like a river with a released dam.

Voldemort was just longing in the bedroom, trying to plan his next attack when Harry banged into the room.

“What did you do?” He claimed accusingly.

Voldemort frowned and put down the scroll in his hand.

“What?”

“What did you do?” Harry repeated. “What did you do last night?”

Voldemort smirked at the memory.

“Why, you don’t remember?” He purred and moved closer. “Well, let me recall…”

“Don’t you dare!” Harry exclaimed and stepped back. “You did something last night. I know it. What did you do?”

Voldemort stopped and scowled.

“I didn’t do anything that you didn’t’ want me to do, Harry.”

Harry stood there for a minute and stared at Voldemort in disbelief.

“You don’t know?”

Voldemort looked at him with concern.

“Are you feeling ill?”

It only took a moment before Harry hardened his eyes again.

“I don’t believe you,” he spat, backing away a few more steps until his back pressed against the door. “There is no way that I could have done it without your drugging me.”

Voldemort stared at his mate in shock.

“Drug? Harry, you started it.”

Harry shook his head in mock amusement. “Oh, don’t even try. Did you fuck me so hard that I couldn’t remember a thing until five minutes ago?” he ranted furiously. “You tell me that’s not magic!”

“I can’t give you any answers,” Voldemort admitted, his eyes fixed upon Harry’s enraged face.

Harry muttered something under his breath and clichéd the folds of his robes with sweaty hands. He watched Voldemort with cold eyes, silently cursing his fate.

Voldemort opened his mouth, but reversed the movement when an elf appeared in front of him with an echoing pop.

The elf twitched uncomfortably under the gaze from Voldemort. It looked back and forth between Harry and Voldemort nervously.

“Draco Malfoy is here, requesting to see Lord Potter.” It squeaked and disappeared with a pop in a hurry, leaving the clearly irritated members of the room alone.

Harry sent Voldemort one last glare before sweeping out of the room in a manner that would have made Severus Snape proud.

Voldemort slowly retreated back further into the room and kept still for a very long time aside for his hand which traced the stitching on his robe absentmindedly.

*

The dark sitting room of the Riddle Manor flickered and traces of candle light climbed onto the flourish walls, creating shadows in the corners of the room that haven’t been blessed with the light. A slender figure sat restlessly on one of the armchairs, his finger tapping the leathery surface of the seat in impatience. Several more minutes of waiting and fidgeting resulted the slight opening of the heavy-looking door in front of him.

“Draco.” Harry opened the door just enough for his body to sneak in and closed it delicately.

“Finally.” Draco sighed in exaggeration and made his way towards the shorter teen. “What took you so long? Never mind. I have to show you something.”

Harry allowed Draco to drag him across the room and into a plush armchair. He was about to ask why he was being dragged around when the blond pulled out a piece of parchment, its edges torn and frayed.

Harry took a sharp intake of breath when he saw the familiar parchment.

“Is that…”

Draco grinned in response.

“The one and only.”

Harry reached a tentative hand towards the paper and felt its rough texture under his fingers.

“How did you find it? I thought I lost it ages ago…”

Draco’s grin widened and he handed the parchment towards Harry.

“Some people should be more careful about what they leave in the Malfoy Manor.”

The parchment was gently lifted off of Draco’s grip and he was smothered in a hug.

“Thank you so much!” Harry squeaked excitedly.

Draco chuckled lightly and hugged Harry back.

“One more thing,” He shrugged Harry out of the hug and held the map in front of him. “I don’t know where you got this, but this is really amazing.”

Harry blinked and stared at the map.

“What about it? You knew what it does…it’s the map of Hogwarts.”

Draco straightened the map slightly and caressed the folds of the map with the back of his knuckles.

“I found it yesterday and I wanted to make sure it was yours,” Draco started and reached into his robes for his wand. “I solemnly swear I am up to no good.”

The map waited a moment before showing its marks. It wasn’t until much later when Harry realized that it wasn’t Hogwarts that showed on the map.

“This isn’t Hogwarts,” Harry whispered and pulled the map closer. The map on the parchment was unfamiliar now; the lines of ink seemed to run off randomly, making Harry dizzy. It was the dots that made the map recognizable.

“It’s here!” Harry exclaimed. “It’s the Riddle Manor!”

Draco grinned and Harry turned his gaze from the map to the blond in front of him.

“You knew about this?” his voice was curious.

Draco’s eyebrow twitched slightly. “I tested it in Malfoy Manor. Quite a useful little thing, I’d say. It helped me to find some rooms that my father didn’t even know in the Manor.” He turned his gaze onto the current map the parchment was showing. “This Manor has two underground dungeons?”

Harry traced the ink markings on the parchment, scanning quickly over the frayed document until his eyes rested on one particular marking.

“I bet he doesn’t even know it.” Harry whispered excitedly, a mischievous light illuminating his green eyes. “D you suppose we could go? We could go and see what’s in there…it looks quite big on the map.”

Draco straightened his back and let one of his hands rest on the wall. He raised an eyebrow in amusement.

“Curious, aren’t we?” Draco drawled, and made an act of inspecting his fingernails.

His remark was only met by a hearty laugh and a light tug on his sleeves.

*

Let the scene shift now. The objects in front of you shift and change. From the darkened waiting room of the Riddle Manor to its bright gardens outside, filled with lilies and rosemary and roses, to the sharp hills of the Riddle grounds. Northeast now, the hills become gentler and a magnificent castle stands, surrounded by forests and lakes. Look closer and you can see the pained cracks within the stone walls and the crumbled stone thrown on the ground in the courtyard. The crumbled and defeated state of the castle seemed to add a dark lining into its atmosphere. You know this place. Hogwarts.

Look through the thick stone walls and don’t let the ruins distract you – this is a common result of battle and can be fixed with a simple flick of the wrist. Into the castle now, into the circular room that is the headmaster’s office.

Dumbledore sat stiffly in his high chair. It was not a strange sight a month ago, but you reminded yourself of the attack. Hogwarts has been taken. And to Dumbledore this was no longer home, but merely another shadow of the Dark Lord’s conquers. Oh, no. He wouldn’t have comfort in a place like this. Why is he here at all, you might ask? Look closer. To you he is Dumbledore, the former headmaster who wears twinkling blue eyes and half moon glasses, but to others, he was the arrogant blond that always wore an aristocrat posture.

It was a simple deception. Getting Lucius Malfoy’s hair had been easier than he thought, especially with Tonks at his side. For almost two hours now, he had been walking around the castle as Voldemort’s right hand man. There was little risk of running into the real Malfoy, since he was sure that he was kept away at an important event at the Ministry. But all those reassurances had made him more nervous, and he found his perfectly gloved hands shake as he reached for the white covered book in front of him. It had been in this office, at his keep for years, the map of Riddle Manor. It had been no use to him for he did not know the location of the stronghold. But Voldemort made a huge mistake when he took them there as prisoners…and now, he knew exactly where it stands.

A flick of the wrist and the map was copied. He must go back to hiding now, and figure out a way into the Riddle Manor. They can not fight in the open now, especially when Voldemort controlled the veelas. He had not formed a solid counterattack but one thing was certain and held more importance than anything else. They had to get Harry Potter back.

*

“Here?” A voice squeaked indignantly.

They were in a room of silver and gold. It looked grave, despite its riches. Black silk curtains, laced with gold, hung flourishingly around the marble room. The single furniture that occupied the room was at the other end, placed upon several steps coated in black and gold. A throne. The throne room in Riddle Manor.

“Harry…we shouldn’t be in here.” Draco whispered and cringed as one of the black curtains caressed his shoulder.

Harry gave a sign of frustration. “He won’t hurt you here. He couldn’t do a thing as long as I’m in here with you.”

Draco grumbled something under his breath and shifted his foot.

Harry sighed and promptly ignored the whining blond behind him. He looked at the map again, careful to trace the gaps between the ink markings that indicated an entrance.

“Let’s see…” Harry murmured and circled the throne. “It’s the throne. The entrance is marked right on the spot, but…”

“The throne!” Draco squeaked again and promptly corrected his voice. “Are you out of your mind?”

Harry shrugged. “He’s not that bad, you know.” He said in reassurance.

Draco scoffed. “That’s because you’re shagging him.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Come on, you bit baby. You have nothing to be afraid of.” He turned to the throne once again and inspected its glittering gems. “Do you suppose you have to speak parseltongue to it? Just like the chamber of secrets?”

Draco shrugged. “Maybe there is a password.” He took the map into his hand and tapped the entrance with his wand. The gap glinted, but no password appeared beside it.

“Hmm…nothing.” Draco frowned, and handed the map back. “What does it mean when it flashes?”

Harry frowned and stared at the map in his hands. “Flash? It flashed?”

Draco tapped the map again, scowling slightly at the flash of the tiny entry.

Harry blinked uncertainly. “Well, it’s never done that before. Do you suppose there’s a hidden door somewhere?”

Draco shrugged and looked around the throne. There was perhaps hundreds of gems in the throne. If you looked at it for long enough you couldn’t even tell which gem you laid your eyes on in the first place. But among all the tiny treasures, one was different.

“Harry!” Draco whispered, and nudged Harry slightly. “Do you see this?”

Harry looked at the blond in irate. “A bunch of shiny stones?” Harry laughed under his breath. “Really, for a Malfoy, I thought you’ve already seen enough of gems and gold.”

“No. Look at this one. Near the leg of the chair.” Draco pointed to a tiny red ruby. “It’s much darker than the rest. Almost black. And there seem to be something in there…”

Harry leaned more closely to that particular ruby and ran his finger over the gem. “Feels different than the others, too.”

“Wait,” Draco interrupted. “See how it’s loose? The gold around it seems loose, It’s almost like it was a…”

“Button of some kind.” Harry finished with his eyes wide. “Well, there goes nothing.” He pressed the ruby down into the chair, surprised by the metal clicking sounds the gem made as it sunk into the chair.

He stumbled back as the stone floor beside the throne began to rise. The floor was surprisingly thin and was strangely silent as it levitated itself in the air. Soon it was over 6 feet in the air, revealing a stone stairway that led underground.

“There it is,” Harry chirped happily and walked towards the stairs, aware of the big block of stone hovering over his head. “Better get going if we don’t want the throne to drop again.”

Draco mumbled something under his breath and followed the dark haired teen into the dark stairway. Torches on the walls lightened as they passed by, and they could faintly hear the lowering of the stone floor as they walked further into the tunnel.

“Harry?” Draco whispered after awhile. “It’s been a long time since we turned. Do you think we’re…oh my god.”

In front of them was a huge library. The books and chairs were coated thickly in dust, but the ashes weren’t able to hide the elegant silver chairs embedded with gold. There was no doubt that the books in here were beyond valuable.

“That is…one hell of a library.” Draco whispered and ran excitedly towards one of the book shelves and grabbed a thick volume. He gently brushed the dust away from the dark red cover, revealing the silver title.

“Merlin…The Book of Dark Arts by Slytherin himself…it was supposed to be destroyed centuries ago…”

“Hermione would love this,” Harry said sadly. “She would probably spend days in here…”

“And I don’t blame her.” Draco commented, eyes glinting in excitement. “Imagine how powerful we’ll be if we read all of this! To regain the long lost ancient arts of magic…”

Harry rolled his eyes.

“Ever the true Malfoy. Is power all you think about?”

Draco smirked and put the book back on the shelf. “I merely know the best way to use what I have on my hand, Harry.”

Harry scoffed and turned to the room again, noticing the couches and armchairs surrounding the fireplace in the other end of the room.

“There is a rather cozy place if we can clean it up.” Harry concluded. “A good hiding place, even. Somewhere Voldemort won’t find me.”

“Oh no,” Draco groaned. “If you want to clean, bring a house-elf down here. I’m not touching those dirty tables.”

Harry merely grinned and pouted at the blond and Draco knew he was undone. This was going to be a very long day.

*

“Albus!” McGonagall exclaimed as Dumbledore stepped into the house. “Well? Do we have it?”

The twinkle in Dumbledore’s eyes answered her question clearly. “Gather everyone up. It’s an urgent meeting.”

Twenty minutes later, the entire order was gathered in the living room. Dumbledore pulled out the copy of the map and laid it on the table.

“As you know, we can not risk open war,” He started, blue eyes scanning every face in the room. “Before we can do anything, we must make sure that Harry gets here safe and unharmed.”

“Albus,” Molly interrupted, her worried brown eyes gazing into clear blue. “How are we going to get him back? We know where the Riddle Manor is, but we can not defeat the guards that defend it…”

“There are two ways into the Manor, Molly.” Dumbledore smiled, and pointed to the map. “The front entrance, which will be heavily guarded by guards. But here,” His finger traced to a small entrance at the far south corner of the map. “A tunnel. A tunnel that leads to the second dungeon of the Riddle Manor and into its great library. It also connects to the throne room of the Manor. This is the path we must take to get Harry back.”

Hermione bit her lip. “Professor, are you certain that this is the most discrete way possible? If You-Know-Who know the gate…”

“I assure you, Ms. Granger, that he does not.” Dumbledore said in confidence. “The pathway was created centuries ago when Slytherin resided in the Manor. In the underground library he stored books that contained the most powerful of magic. Only Slytherin himself knew about the library. Before he died, he drew this map and meant to pass this on to his heir, but it was lost through the generations. No, Voldemort does not know about this. I am certain.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Ron chirped, placing his hands on the map and leaned towards the audience in the room. “Let’s go get Harry!”