Harry's' health scare
Chapter seven
"Draco? Are you in here?"
Silence met Harry's call. It seemed as though the room was empty. He reached out further with his hearing, just as he had the day he met Shauna. He was rewarded with the sound of soft breathing. Draco was hiding in his bathroom. But why?
"Draco? I know that you're in there. Why are you hiding? Are you okay?" Harry called again
"Go away" rang a pitifully quiet voice from the bathroom.
Harry walked towards the bathroom and placed a hand on the door.
"Why? Why do you want me to leave, Draco?" Harry called through the door
"I don't want to talk to you!" Draco replied
Harry frowned and pressed his forehead to the door in an attempt to feel closer to Draco.
"Draco? Okay, I'm worried now. If you don't let me in I'll break the door down!" Harry threatened
There was no reply except for the breathing speeding up again.
"Draco, you have three seconds and then you had better move away from the door" Harry informed
Draco still refused to answer.
"Three, two, this is your last chance Draco. ONE!" Harry shouted
He lifted a trainer clad foot and delivered a swift, powerful kick to the door. The wood splintered under the strain and fell off its hinges. Harry stepped into the room and looked around for Draco. The blond veela was curled in on himself, knees drawn up to his chest and his chin resting heavily on them.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked
"No" came the reply
Panic seeped slowly and viscously into Harry's mind. What had happened? Was Draco hurt?
"What happened to you?" Harry asked
"I don't want to talk about it" Draco deadpanned
Harry sat down on the ground beside the blond boy. He frowned when he noticed Draco lean away from him.
"What's wrong with you?" Harry asked again
Draco ignored him and actually moved away from him this time. Harry reached out and grabbed his arm.
"What's your problem?" Harry asked a little more angrily
Draco shook his arm free from Harry's grip and stood.
"YOU! YOU ARE MY PROBLEM, HARRY!" Draco screamed
"Me? What the hell did I do?" Harry asked incredulously
Draco didn't answer. He just stood there and stared at Harry's corset clad chest. Harry was a patient person but decided that after almost four minutes of silence and non stop staring, enough was enough.
"Draco? Hello? Wizarding world to Draco, come in Draco!" Harry called to the boy
"Huh?" Draco asked, still not completely focused Harry
Harry chuckled and placed his hands on either side if Draco's face.
"Are you okay?" he asked the blond slowly
Draco nodded and reached out towards Harry's chest. Harry was puzzled at the action but let Draco do as he wished. The blond took Harry's new necklace into his palm
"This is... this is…" Draco stuttered and trailed off
"It's a necklace, some friends gave it to me and Bellatrix made me wear it. She said it's something to do with my mate. And get this! The bloody thing gave me a great big tattoo on my back! Well. It's more of a burn or a scar than a tattoo, but still!" Harry said enthusiastically, glad that Draco was at least making an effort to talk to him
"No, no, no. Don't you know what this is? Harry, this is a promise charm!" Draco exclaimed
"A what?" Harry asked
"Have you ever seen those tacky little promise rings that idiotic muggle couples give each other?" Draco asked
"Erm, yeah, it's like promising that they belong to the other person, right? Saying that they'll marry them and won't ever cheat or sleep with anyone else?" Harry asked
"Yes! Those! But those rings don't force you to do it! You see that necklace right there? You can't take it off. It stops you from cheating on your mate! If you try to, it causes a curse a thousand times more painful than a Cruciatus curse to course through your veins! And if you refuse to be with your mate, it kills you. I mean, you'd die anyway because vampires can't live without their mates, but this would be so much worse than dying of heartbreak." Draco explained solemnly
"Oh my God! Draco! I can't die like that! I just can't!" Harry exclaimed as he stood
He started to panic and reached for the necklace before Draco could stop him. He grabbed the necklace and yanked as hard as he could. He used all of his supernatural strength, expecting the chain to snap. But it didn't, the chain tightened. Harry panicked and pulled harder. The chain tightened again and cut off the air getting to his lungs. Harry fell back to the ground and fought futilely for air. He gasped and choked and sputtered. His pulse was thumping so loudly in his ears that he couldn't hear Draco screaming his name and yelling for help when didn't respond as he fired every spell he knew at the necklace.
Harry's world went black
…..
"Harry? Harry? Can you hear me?"
The familiar voice pierced the darkness that engulfed Harry's mind.
He came back to awareness slowly. He tried to move his fingers, open his eyes, tried do something to let the voice know he was okay. But the darkness refused to let him.
He fought the darkness as hard as he could. He inwardly cheered as the darkness began to recede and the weight pressing down all over his body lessened.
His eyes opened and the light in the room immediately caused pain to flood his mind. He hissed at the pain coursing throughout his head and closed his eyes again. The owner of the voice had evidently heard Harry's pained hiss or had seen his eyes open briefly.
Harry felt a slightly cold hand grasp his own and squeeze firmly.
"Harry, can you hear me?" asked the voice again, much more clearly this time
Harry moaned as another spike of pain pierced through his head due to the increased volume of the voice.
"Harry?" the voice asked again
Harry groaned and tried to curl in on himself, but cried out as his muscles protested the movement.
"Where does it hurt?" the voice whispered concernedly
"Everywhere" Harry hissed through his teeth
Harry heard footsteps leading away from him, then the light he could see behind his eyes disappeared and the pain in his head became less overpowering. He chanced opening his eyes and sighed in relief when the pain remained bearable.
…
Tom Riddle smiled as he saw his charge's open eyes. The Dark Lord had rushed to young Draco Malfoy's room when he heard the young veela scream for help, anguish painfully evident in his voice. He was met with a sight which would haunt the dark wizard for life. The young vampire whom he had come to think of as a son and protégé, sprawled on the ground, his face as blue as a forget-me-not petals and unconscious with a necklace tightened around his throat.
The Dark Lord had used a powerful loosening charm to allow Harry to breathe. But Harry's chest remained still. Tom was forced to resort to muggle methods. Whilst pushing air from his own lungs into Harry's, he ordered a distraught and borderline hysterical Draco to run ahead to the infirmary and tell the Mediwitch what was happening as well as sending someone to help Harry.
Once he got the boy to the infirmary and had been assured that he would be taken care of, Tom went to find out where that necklace had come from. He managed to calm Draco down enough to discover that Harry claimed Bellatrix had made him put the necklace on. Draco denied knowing who had given Harry the necklace in the first place, he insisted that Harry hadn't told him who they were, only that there was more than one person.
"I'll be right back Harry, I have to go have a little chat with a few people" Tom whispered softly as Harry's eyes closed and the boy fell into a restful sleep
Tom left the room and went looking for Bellatrix. She was in Harry's room, conversing with a half breed Death Eater and two identical, red headed teenage boys. The Dark Lord did not pause before he fired a Cruciatus at the witch. The younger Death Eater and the ginger twins jumped away from the screaming woman. Tom lifted the curse and smirked cruelly as the woman immediately crawled to kneel at his feet.
"Master?" she whimpered pitifully
"You gave Harry a necklace that almost killed him" Voldemort stated
"N-no master, the necklace I gave Harry wouldn't have killed him! It was to help him find his mate!" She reasoned
"It choked him into unconsciousness!" The Dark Lord hissed furiously
Bellatrix paused in her grovelling. No, that necklace couldn't be dangerous, she had tested it the most extensive diagnostic spells she knew!
"My Lord, I don't know how this possibly could've happened!" Bellatrix exclaimed hysterically
"Rest assured Bellatrix, this will not go unpunished" Tom said coldly
"Y-yes My Lord" she relented as she kissed the hem of his robes and crawled away again
"Shauna?" Tom asked the young feline hybrid
"Yes, My Lord?" she replied as she bowed to kiss the hem of his robes
"What do you know of this?" He asked
"Of the necklace, My Lord? Nothing. I was with Draco all morning, I arrived and informed Harry that the young Malfoy was upset and he left immediately" She told him respectfully
"Thank you" Tom dismissed the girl subtly
She nodded solemnly and retreated to sit on the bed.
"You two! Come here" Tom addressed the twins
They looked at each other before they walked forward and knelt before The Dark Lord.
"Yes sir?" they asked in unison as they imitated Shauna's action of kissing the hem of Tom's robes
"What do you know of the necklace?" Voldemort asked
The twins looked at each other and swallowed hard
"We were ordered to bring it here" Fred answered
"By whom?" Voldemort asked
"The Order of the Phoenix" George replied
The Dark Lord snarled at the mention of the organisation, they had attempted to ruin his plans and now they attempt to kill his protégé? This was not going to go unpunished.
"Any specific member?" Tom asked coolly
"Professor Dumbledore" Fred confirmed Tom's suspicion
"Of course, the old codger cannot stand a single one of his pawns being out of his control!" Voldemort grumbled
"Pawns? Sir!" Fred added the title hastily
"Yes, pawns. That is all Dumbledore sees anyone on the side of the light as. Pawns are disposable and weak compared to any other chess piece. The first sacrificed and the first killed" Voldemort spit in explanation
"Really? We've thought that for years, haven't we Fred?" George asked informally
"Yes sir! And now with everything Harry has told us, we don't trust him as far as we can throw him!" Fred agreed wholeheartedly
"Which coincidentally, isn't very far!" George added helpfully
"We're you aware of what this necklace was?" Voldemort asked the boys
"No sir! Professor Dumbledore just told us that Harry was here against his will and that the necklace was a portkey to get him to the Hogwarts express next week!" Fred clarified
"We never would have given it to him if we had known that it could hurt him!" George promised
"Very well, you will not be punished" Tom informed
"Thank you sir" both boys said sincerely
"May I ask of Harry's wellbeing sir?" George questioned tentatively
"Harry is asleep in the infirmary, but he will be fine" Tom replied
"May we see him?" Shauna asked, concern seeping into her voice
"I shall summon all three of you when he awakes again and is deemed healthy. Until then, the Mediwitch and I shall be the only ones permitted entrance to the infirmary" Tom told them
"Thank you sir" all three replied.
Bellatrix remained silent, still afraid of what her Lord could do.
Lord Voldemort turned to leave the room.
"Bellatrix? I believe you are needed in the dungeons for your punishment" he told the witch with a cruel smirk
The obviously scared woman whimpered and followed the Dark Lord out the door and out of sight.
"Well, that was…terrifying" George said as he let out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding
Shauna let out a slightly hysterical giggle.
"Yes, The Dark Lord tends to be protective of Harry. He has been since Harry joined him" she explained
"Joined him? So Harry really is a Death Eater?" Fred asked
"Yes, one of The Dark Lord's favourites actually" Shauna stated calmly
"Does he have the dark mark?" Fred questioned
"Not yet, but I assume he will soon" Shauna told him
"Oh, well that changes the plan a little bit" The twins said in unison
"What plan?" Shauna asked suspiciously
"Well, the Order of the Phoenix had a plan-" Fred began
"And we had a plan" George finished
The girl waited for them to elaborate and sighed when they didn't. Clearly they were teasing her.
"What was their plan?" she asked
"They wanted us to get Harry the necklace" Fred told her
"Why?" She asked
"They didn't tell us much, only that it would get him back to them and get him to the Hogwarts Express" George answered
"Yeah, and at the time we thought he was being held captive!" Fred added
"And what was your plan?" Shauna asked
"Right from the start we just wanted Harry to be safe" George insisted
"Yes. And now that we know he's happy and safe here? Well, we'll just have to find a way to make sure he stays safe" Fred told her honestly
"And just how do you plan to do that?" Shauna asked curiously
"We plan to join The Dark Lord" the twins said in unison
…
"Emerald? Do you remember what happened?" asked the Mediwitch
"I was talking to Draco. A-and I panicked about something he told me and my necklace tightened. I tried to get it off, but it wouldn't break or even loosen a little bit! Where is Draco?" Harry whispered, unable to speak any louder because of his sore throat
"Hmm? Oh, he was very upset about you being hurt, hysterical even. I believe he was given a sleeping draught and put to bed for a while. Is this the necklace?" the Mediwitch asked as she pointed to the little set of diamond wings nestled in the hollow of Harry's throat.
"Yes, how did you loosen it?" Harry asked
"I didn't. The Dark Lord did" She replied
"He did?" Harry questioned
"Yes. My Lord found you unconscious on young Draco's bedroom floor. He managed to loosen the chain and keep it loose, but you had already stopped breathing and you didn't start again when he loosened the chain." The Mediwitch said solemnly
"How am I alive then?" Harry asked
"He used the muggle method of mouth to mouth to get you to breathe again. He sent Draco to find me and we got you here to the infirmary to make sure you were okay" she explained kindly
"He used a muggle First aid method? Where is he now? I would very much like to thank him!" Harry asked, awe clear in his tone
"My Lord went to find whoever was responsible for hurting you and punish them" the Mediwitch told him
"What? Oh no! The twins!" Harry croaked in despair
"Who?" the Mediwitch asked
"My friends! They were ordered to give me the necklace!" Harry replied
"Oh dear! Were they aware that the necklace was dangerous?" she asked
"No, Bellatrix took it from them, analyzed it and made me put it on" Harry replied
"And did it do anything then?" she asked
"Yes, it burned me; it was horrible, like someone set every inch of me on fire. But then it just concentrated on my back and got even worse. And then… I stopped breathing. Just like in Draco's room. And then Bellatrix put the necklace on me and I could breathe again" Harry explained to the witch
"Well, that is odd. We'll have to look into what exactly the necklace is and what we should do to stop you getting hurt again. But as far as I can tell, it'll hold off unless you do something to activate the charm" she told him
"Oh, can I leave?" Harry asked, eager to make sure the twins were okay.
"The Dark Lord was adamant that you not be permitted to leave until he has seen you again" the Mediwitch told Harry softly
"Oh, when will he be here?" Harry questioned in a pained whisper
"Right about now" answered a voice from the door of the infirmary
Harry turned and grinned
"Tom!" he croaked
"Hello Emerald!" Tom answered
Harry smiled as Tom turned to the Mediwitch
"How is he?" The Dark Lord asked the plump young woman
"He has bruises, deep cuts and possible scarring around his neck which the charms on the necklace refuse let me heal and his voice has been weak due to a sore throat, but I wanted to wait for your permission to heal that" she told him, amazed that the child hadn't been punished for calling her lord by his muggle name
"Heal it" The Dark Lord demanded
The Mediwitch nodded and pressed the tip of her wand lightly to Harry's throat. With a whispered word, a comforting heat spread through his vocal cords and the pain in his throat disappeared.
Harry smiled as he cleared his throat.
"Thank you" He told the Mediwitch
"No problem at all, Love" she replied
"You are dismissed" The Dark Lord instructed
The woman bowed before backing out of the room. Tom turned to Harry.
"You are an idiot!" he told the boy
Harry looked down in shame. Tom sighed and hugged the teenager to his chest.
"I thought I'd lost you" he murmured into Harry's raven locks
"I'm sorry" Harry replied
"Don't worry about it. But, if you feel up to it, there are some people who would like to see you" Tom told him
"Really? Who?" Harry asked
"Shauna and two redheaded twins whom I have yet to be properly introduced to" Tom replied
"Those are the Weasley twins, Fred and George" Harry informed
"Of the blood traitor family? Can they be trusted?" Tom asked seriously
"Completely, they are two of the few people who I know aren't happy on the light side or are not loyal to Dumbledore" Harry answered
"There are more? Would you be able to convince them to join? A spy is a useful thing, Harry" Tom told him insightfully
"Of course, I have been intending to speak to you about that actually. The necklace has a portkeying charm on it to take me to the Hogwarts Express next week. Am I to go or shall we find a way to break the spell?" Harry asked
Tom thought for a moment before he answered.
"I believe it would be a good idea for you to go. We do not wish for the Order of the Phoenix to find out you are here by choice or that you have joined me. We shall think of a story for you to tell them and whilst you are at Hogwarts you can gather information on the light side and get me some new recruits. You will be the perfect spy. None of them will suspect Dumbledore's little golden boy!" Tom rejoiced
"Of course they won't. Little Harry Potter is far too sweet and innocent for that type of thing! I would never join the mean, old Dark Lord!" Harry mocked
Tom threw his head back and laughed. He ran his hand through Harry's hair and squeezed the boy one last time before he pulled back.
Tom raised his wand and thought for a moment.
"Expecto Patronum" he said
A translucent silver snake shot from the tip of The Dark Lord's wand
"Find Shauna Cross, Fred Weasley and George Weasley, tell them they can come visit Harry and lead them here" Tom commanded in Parseltongue
"Of course, Speaker" the snake replied in Parseltongue
The shimmering serpent faded out of the room and Tom and Harry were left alone once more.
Their comfortable silence was broken when Shauna pelted into the room at full speed a moment later. Fred and George a millisecond behind her.
Shauna stood in front of the bed as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. An expectant look painted across her features and her hands clasped together at her chest. Harry chuckled.
"Go ahead" he told the feline girl
Shauna squealed wordlessly and launched herself onto his chest. They both bounced a little bit and giggled. She curled up on his chest and kissed one of the chain link shaped cuts on his neck.
"Are you okay?" she questioned in a whisper
"I'm fine" Harry replied
Shauna nodded, satisfied with his answer and pushed her glasses up to rest more firmly on her nose. She curled up more comfortably on Harry's chest and fell asleep.
"Alright, Mate?" The twins asked in unison
"Yeah, I'm okay" Harry replied
The silence that followed was awkward. Harry bit his lips and the twins scratched their heads, they both looked as if they wanted to ask something. Harry grinned.
"Get in here, both of you!" He told them
The twins cheered and jumped into the bed beside Harry and Shauna. Well, they were actually laying half on the bed and half on Harry himself, seeing as the bed was only made for one person.
Tom chuckled at the sight and left them to their reunion.
"So…Harrison James Potter becomes Emerald!" George exclaimed dramatically
"Are you happy here?" Fred asked
Harry thought for a moment. He had never been happy with the Dursleys, not even before the abuse got physical. Dudley had made him feel loved and cared for, but not happy.
He thought he was happy at Hogwarts, but he realised that he was constantly being watched and monitored. His every move at Hogwarts was controlled; Dumbledore had made sure he did everything he had done at Hogwarts. Harry was put off of Slytherin house before he even set foot inside Hogwarts.
Dumbledore had left the school to force Harry to go and rescue the philosopher's stone. He had sent an obviously inadequate teacher to fight the basilisk and save Ginny Weasley. Harry hadn't really cared about what happened to Ginny, but the basilisk had attacked Hermione. Harry wanted revenge.
And then there was third year, Dumbledore knew that the Potters had changed their secret keeper to Peter Pettigrew, but he let Sirius go to Azkaban. And he kept Harry away from his own godfather. And after Harry had gotten to Sirius, Dumbledore fully intended to let Sirius receive the Dementor's kiss. He probably didn't think Harry and Hermione could save Sirius and Buckbeak with the time turner.
He allowed Harry to be entered in the Triwizard Tournament, even though he was fully aware that competitors had been killed in the past. He even let Harry be coached by a Death Eater. That was when Harry realised that The Dark Lord was far superior to Dumbledore. A mere minion of Tom's was able to infiltrate the castle right under Dumbledore's nose and remain undetected. He was able to get Harry alone; he could have killed him at any given time. And Dumbledore didn't even know that the man wasn't his old friend. The imposter was even trusted alone with the Triwizard cup, which he was then able to turn into a portkey to send Harry straight to Tom. Harry's blood was taken and his first crush was killed. Harry had nightmares about Cedric's blank stare for a year.
By his fifth year, Harry's loyalty to Dumbledore had faded almost completely, but he didn't let anyone know, he acted just as he always had, even going as far as standing up to a teacher about Voldemort's return. Hermione got the idea to teach the students how to defend themselves so she and Harry started the 'Dumbledore's Army' defence group. Harry despised the name, but knew it would raise suspicion if he called it something that wasn't in favour of Dumbledore. So he went with it, he taught them everything they wanted to know. But nothing that would actually be of any use against Tom. He didn't want them rising up and helping the light side to win the war. Not whilst Dumbledore was leading them.
Harry was kissed by Cho Chang that year and ended up dating her for a while, but the experience just cemented his sexuality. Girls were horrid creatures to date, demanding ridiculous things and going mad when you didn't notice the slightest change! Harry loved having girls as friends. Girls liked the things he liked and weren't always trying to one up the rest of their group to appear dominant like boys were.
Then he lost Sirius, Harry knew in his gut that the visions were fake, but that wasn't going to stop him, if his godfather was killed because he was wrong, Harry could never forgive himself. As it turned out, he was right, the visions were fake. Sirius wasn't there and he had just led a group of school children into mortal danger. He got to the prophecy and it was eventually broken. In the confusion of the Order of the Phoenix arriving and Sirius falling through the veil, Harry was the only person who heard it. But he never told anyone what he heard and claimed to Dumbledore that he hadn't heard it.
The old wizard had sprouted off some nonsense about Severus Snape hearing the prophecy the night it was made. He had claimed that the prophecy predicted
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ..."
Harry, having heard the real prophecy, was well aware of the fact that the old man was lying through his crooked, yellow teeth. The real prophecy had, in fact, said
"The one with the power to rule with The Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and The Dark Lord will mark him as his equal…believed to be light but he shall stand at The Dark Lord's side… he shall give up his humanity and change in ways the light know not… they will believe him to be theirs… but he belongs to The Dark Lord… the one with the power to rule with The Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…"
None the less, Harry had gone back to the Dursley's home with Dumbledore believing that he was well and truly prepared to kill Tom.
When Harry joined the Fallen Angels, he felt like a part of something, almost part of a family. But it didn't last, thanks to Pierce. Harry had felt so threatened and afraid for Hermione's safety in the first place he had truly felt at home. He was actually looking for an apartment in muggle London when he had met Shauna.
The girl turned out to be a godsend, as soon as he had gotten her and Hermione to Tom; he was able to speak with The Dark Lord, who offered Harry a place within the ranks and a place to live. Harry had graciously accepted both. And since then, he was happier than he'd ever been in his life.
"Yes, I'm really happy. I love it here" Harry replied with a grin
"Well, if you're happy-" Fred began
"We're happy" George finished
"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked
"Where do we sign up?" the twins asked in unison
"Seriously?" Harry asked, in awe of what the boys were willing to do for him
"Of course, Harry" George answered
"We'll do whatever we can to keep you safe and happy" Fred told the boy seriously
Harry grinned and hugged them both tightly to his side before sitting up quickly. The twins let out a united squawk of outrage as they were thrown from the bed onto the floor. Shauna managed to hang on by digging her nails into Harry's corset. He laughed at the matching expressions of shock on the twins' faces.
"Since when are you strong enough to throw us off of you?" Fred asked
"Yeah, does this mean our dog-piles wont work anymore?" George asked downheartedly
"Yeah, they'll work, but not if I've just fed" Harry said with a giggle
"Oh, that's okay then" George said
"When was the last time you fed?" Fred asked curiously
"This morning, I helped Tom with some new recruits" Harry revealed
"What does that mean?" George asked
"The new recruits fight me. Those who win join the ranks, those who fail are feasted upon" Harry said
"Well, that's not morbid at all" George said sarcastically
"This is the Dark side" Harry told him
A shimmering doe patronus cantered into the room and opened its mouth.
"The Dark Lord has given his permission for Harry to leave the infirmary. There is to be a meeting at seven o'clock and Harry, Miss Cross and the Weasley twins are to attend. Mr Potter is to dress the Weasleys appropriately and please do ensure they do not look like street rats in hand me down rags" it said in an echoing version of Severus Snape's voice
Shauna and Harry looked at each other, then at the twins, then back to each other.
"George, I'm scared" Fred said quietly
"You should be, Fred, you should be" replied his brother
"Come on boys, we have to get you ready!" Harry told them excitedly
"But the meeting isn't for an hour and a half!" Fred exclaimed
"I know! We're running behind already!" Shauna told them
Fred and George looked at each other. What had they gotten themselves into? But then they saw the look on Harry's face. His grin was practically splitting his face in half. What could it hurt? If Harry dressing them made him happy, well, who were they to deny him?
"Okay, lets go" Fred declared
Harry and Shauna squealed with joy before leading the way out of the room. Fred and George shared a still slightly fearful look before they followed.
….
They emerged from Harry's room a mere hour and ten minutes later. Fully dressed and ready to attend a Death Eater meeting, something Fred and George never thought they would be able to say.
Shauna had gone simple with her outfit, determined to spend most if her time helping the twins. She was wearing a pair of pink skinny jeans, a black lace top, black kitten pumps and a heavy black robe with the hood pulled up over her face. She had covered her feline assets to avoid sticking out.
Harry had loyally stuck by his corset and trainers, but had taken the fishnet tights off and transfigured the acid green shorts into acid green skinny jeans. He had tied his hair back into a ponytail, leaving a long strand on each side hanging down, one red and one green.
George wore a royal blue button up shirt, black skinny jeans, black combat boots and a lightweight black robe. Harry had helped him dye his ginger hair black with a single purple streak at the front.
Fred wore a purple button up shirt, black skinny jeans, black combat boots and a lightweight black robe. His hair was now black with a single royal blue streak at the front.
Harry had insisted that they all wear make up. Fred had fought for a moment but Harry had just frozen him and carried on. So Fred now had blusher on his cheeks and black eye shadow smeared artfully on his eyelids.
George hadn't fought and just gone with the flow. He now had blue eye shadow neatly brushed onto his eyelids and clear lip gloss smeared delicately onto his lips.
Shauna had pink eye shadow on her eyelids and a little rainbow painted onto her cheek which she had done simply because she had finished getting ready before anybody else and was bored.
Harry had wiped his own make up off and replaced it with something much more dramatic. He had drawn black tribal designs down the whole left side of his face and made his green eyes stand out by circling them with black eyeliner.
"Are we ready?" George asked as he took one last look at himself in a mirror in the hall to make sure he didn't look like a 'street rat in hand me down rags' as Severus had put it
"Yes, follow me" Harry replied
He led them down three flights of stairs and through countless hallways and dizzying amounts of twists and turns. The came to a stop outside a pair of tightly shut wooden doors. Harry turned to the twins as Shauna continued into the room.
"You two will need to stand alongside the other recruits who have made it this far. Once you have been inducted, you will come and sit by me, I will be at Tom's side. Understood?" Harry asked
The twins nodded in unison.
"Why are we being admitted so easily and so quickly?" Fred asked
"Because, I told Tom you were trustworthy and that you were loyal to me" Harry replied
"Why are we doing this so soon?" George asked with a little bit of apprehension in his tone
"Do you not want to do this anymore? I can erase your memories now and send you home before anyone else sees you. You can honestly say that you gave me the necklace and can't remember anything after that" Harry told them
"No, I don't want to live my life as a pawn. I'm doing this, with or without you George" Fred declared almost immediately after Harry had finished speaking
George bit on his lip for a moment. If he had doubts before, they were gone now. If his twin was so willing to do this, then it couldn't possibly be a bad thing. He looked into Harry's eyes and all traces of worry were wiped from his mind.
"I'm doing it too" He told the boy proudly
Harry felt pride and happiness well up inside him and smiled briefly but didn't wait to see if the boys had anymore questions. He threw the heavy doors open as if they weighed nothing and strode into the room. Fred and George followed after him and walked straight to a small group of people standing in a huddle in one corner. They stood silently amongst the chatter of the Death Eaters.
The Dark Lord entered the room and all noise faded immediately. Everyone stood out of respect and most bowed. The twins noticed that Harry was not among those who bowed. Tom strode to the head of the table and took his seat beside Harry, everyone else sat down again once he was fully seated.
"Have we any news from Hogwarts, Severus?" asked The Dark Lord
Snape stood and bowed.
"Yes My Lord, Dumbledore is becoming more and more frantic in his search for Harry Potter. He has sent Mr Potter a portkey to Kings Cross Station on the first of September" Severus informed
"Of course, Harry is a valuable asset to him" Tom said with a subtle look at the boy next to him
Harry smiled under the hood of his cloak at the subtle praise.
A masked Death Eater stood and bowed, just as Severus had.
"Master, Dumbledore is getting desperate and has been recruiting within the students of Hogwarts in an attempt to increase the numbers of the Order of the Phoenix, I am aware of a number of students who have agreed, as well as those who have not" said the familiar female voice
"Continue, Sybill" Tom told the witch
So that's why the voice was familiar! It was Professor Trelawney! She never seemed dark to Harry, but then again she was out of it quite a lot.
"Of course, My Lord. Of the students asked, Mr Ron Weasley, Ms Katie Bell, Ms Lavender Brown, Ms Marietta Edgecombe, Mr Anthony Goldstein, Ms Angelina Johnson, Mr Ernie Macmillian, Ms Padma Patil, Ms Parvati Patil and Ms Ginny Weasley have accepted and joined the Order of the Phoenix" Trelawney continued
"And has any possibly useful student not joined Dumbledore and his troop of deranged freedom fighters?" Tom asked, the mocking title earned a few giggles from around the room
"Ms Hermione Granger, Mr Terry Boot, Ms Cho Chang, Mr Colin Creevey, Mr Dennis Creevey, Mr Justin Finch-Fletchley, Mr Seamus Finnigan, Mr Lee Jordan, Mr Fred Weasley, Mr George Weasley, Mr Neville Longbottom, Ms Luna Lovegood and Mr Dean Thomas have all declined and show promise, Master" the witch replied
Harry was surprised at a few of the names and proud of others. He never did picture most of the students the seer had mentioned as dark or even neutral, he thought they were firmly light, blindly following Dumbledore like most of the wizarding population of Britain and Ireland.
"Excellent, we shall attempt to recruit them once the school year starts. Speaking of which, I believe we have some new recruits?" The Dark Lord directed the question at Emerald
"Yes, My Lord" Harry replied
The boy stood and made his way over to the group huddled in the corner. He motioned for them to follow and explained briefly that they would be called forward and made to swear an oath on their knees before Lord Voldemort; they would then be given a rank and the Dark Mark.
They all moved to line up to the side of The Dark Lord's chair. Fred and George moved to stand beside Harry when he didn't move away from the group as they expected him to. As the Death Eaters were occupied watching the first recruit being marked Fred spoke as quietly as he could.
"Erm… Emerald?" He whispered
"Yes?"
Fred jumped as Harry's voice rang through his mind. He glared as Harry snickered quietly beside him. Fred tried to send a message back to him.
"That was not funny! Why are you still standing with us?" he asked mentally
"I haven't been marked yet, Tom still feared for my wellbeing. He wanted his Mediwitch to declare me to be well and strong enough to be marked" Harry replied through the link
"Oh, why wouldn't you be strong enough?" Fred asked
"After the abuse, my magic was drained quite a bit, the transformation only made me weaker for a while until I came to terms with it and got used to it, he just wanted to be sure" Harry replied
Fred nodded subtly and turned to face The Dark Lord.
"Fred and George Weasley?"
The twins walked to The Dark Lord and dropped to their knees before him.
"Do you swear on your magic, your lives and the lives of your loved ones that you will be loyal to me and obey me to the best of your abilities?" Tom asked them
"We do" the replied in unison
A strand of silver magic stretched from each of the twins' hearts, joined into one and continued to Lord Voldemort's heart and hung there.
"Do you swear to keep secret what you have seen here this day? And to protect the identities of your fellow Death Eaters?" Tom asked
"We do" the twins swore together
The strand of magic turned a brilliantly glowing gold before fading away. Tom smiled softly; he had the perfect position for them.
"You shall be Emerald's personal carers. You two will be responsible for keeping him safe and happy. Do you accept this position?" Tom asked
"We accept it proudly" they chorused together
"Hold out your left arms" Tom told them
The twins did as they were told. Tom placed the tip of his wand on Fred's left forearm.
"Morsemordre" he hissed gently
Fred yelled out as a burning pain spread through his arm. Once it pulled back and faded away the dark mark was displayed proudly on his arm. The little snake hissed quietly as it settled into its new home.
George received the same treatment but took it a little bit more childishly. He rubbed at his arm and pouted like a five year old who had just received an injection once he had his own mark. They both retreated to stand back in line again.
"Emerald?" was called
Harry smirked and sauntered up to Tom and sank to his knees gracefully before the man. He took the same oath as Fred and George had and was marked without making a sound. It was his rank that surprised them all.
"You shall be my second in command. Do you accept?" Tom asked
Harry looked up at the other man with a strange light in his eyes and smirked.
"I accept" he declared proudly