A Change of Heart

Chapter Two

Harry wondered what was going to happen to him. Would anyone notice their absence? Would Dumbledore realize what had happened? If so, then Harry could hope for a rescue.
The logical part of his brain told him that he was being foolish. Even if Dumbledore or anyone else were to find out what happened, it was not likely that they could find them. How could anyone guess that Voldemort was back? Or that he had abducted him? Or that he was in Little Hangleton?
Cedric Diggory's eyes were still open. Harry closed his own eyes so he won't have to look at him. Wormtail had put Cedric in the same room. And he had put him where Harry had to look at him. Guilt clawed at Harry's insides. It was his fault. Cedric did not have to die. If Harry had not asked him to take the cup with him, Cedric might have still been alive.
And, whispered a part of his mind, he would have alerted Dumbledore immediately. Though whether Dumbledore might have been able to find him was still doubtful. Harry did not know if it was possible to track portkeys.
His mind wandered to the moment when he saw Voldemort step out of the cauldron. He could still see it behind his closed eyes. He opened his eyes and saw the staring eyes of Cedric.
Harry closed his eyes again. He did not want to look at Cedric. He would rather see the nightmare that was Voldemort. He remembered the way his scar had hurt when Voldemort had touched him. And then suddenly, the pain had stopped and he had felt a rush as if of wind. There was also a light that seemed to cocoon both him and Voldemort.
It was there for only an instant, but when it faded, Voldemort's features were different. He looked less snakelike and more human. He had a nose and he looked somewhat like the Tom Riddle he remembered from the diary, though older.
Harry wondered if that was part of the spell too. Voldemort's voice too had changed. It sounded more human, not high or cold as it had been previously.
Harry did not hear the door open nor the whispered sleep spell cast on him.