Keeping The Dark Lord (on his toes)

Chapter - 17 I would do anything.... ( 1 Jan to 15 June 1994 )

~Voldemort~

He didn't know what to expect as he reached for the second box. Why would his mate be worried about overstepping anything? So far he’d helped him more than any other living being in the world…well, that wasn’t quite true…Nagini had been the one to stay with him and to guide him when he’d been alone, but his mate was different. His mate made him realize that he didn’t have to shoulder everything alone…even if the bloody man hadn’t shown himself yet.

He wasn’t going to say that out loud, of course, otherwise, Nagini might decide to start a merit war. He finally managed to loosen the lid that seemed to have been attached to the bottom with a spell, and he lifted the lid…only to freeze in place.

Surely he wasn’t seeing what he thought he was…right?! Maybe his mate merely thought he had to get rid of some of his frustration or something, but no, a singular spell later, and Voldemort fully established that it was really a miniaturized Dumbledore sitting tied to a chair in the box with a gag in his mouth and the inside of the box had been decorated in a mobster-like theme. Apparently, his mate had a sense of humor.

It took a few seconds for him to realize the full implication of having Dumbledore at his mercy though, but then it clicked…his mate had given him the war. HIS mate had given him Dumbledore, the wizard that had caused him so much pain and suffering, practically on a silver platter!

A glance to the side allowed him to notice a memory vial taped to the side of the box. The last one had been pretty interesting so what could this one hold? He summoned a penceive and poured it in, leaving a worried Dumbledore to thrash in his bonds as he leaned into it and disappeared. He never noticed a curious Nagini coming into the room.

~~~Inside the penceive~~~

The world was dark inside the memory and at first, he thought that the memory had somehow been damaged, but then he noticed that there was a sliver of light coming through what looked like a doorway.

The silence was shattered as running footsteps could be heard and Voldemort felt a slight feeling of dread as they passed by directly overhead. It made him realize just how small the space was and he was about to exit the memory when a light half-blinded him and he was left to blink in shock at what could only be a 10-year-old Harry Potter.

Severus had told him that he was being abused, but it seems that he had forgotten to mention that the boy had been neglected as well. The clothes nearly drowned the boy’s small frame and it was easy to see that he hadn’t eaten properly in years. The skin that managed to show through the too-large clothes showed numerous bruises that were suspiciously shaped like a large hand.

Voldemort felt like he’d taken a fist to the gut…

Was his mate trying to torture him by showing him the results of his attack on the boy’s family? Was his mate blaming him even though he hadn’t been sane after making so many Horcruxes? It’s true that he was still the one to blame because he had been the one to cast the spell, but he’d rather hoped that his mate wouldn’t hold it against him.

He was so distracted with his thoughts that it took him a moment to notice that the scene had changed and he found himself standing in a zoo. He watched as Harry’s ‘family’ wandered through the cages, but then his attention got caught by a familiar figure sneaking towards one of the tanks that held a rather large Boa.

He walked closer and was quite surprised to find that the boy was speaking Parseltongue. Now how did that happen? He really needed to check into the boy’s ancestors. He freed the snake and Voldemort watched in amusement as the snake sailed away merrily.