Bound To You

Chapter 1: Drinking The Potion

Harry didn't know what exactly happened.

It was a usual day at first, a day filled with classes and playing around with Ron and Hermione. They were looking forward to the weekend, although not looking forward to doing all the pent-up homeworks they got from the teachers. Both Ron and Hermione were talking, bantering, the usual, as they sat in the Great Hall for dinner. He'd noticed that Ginny had been acting somewhat strange and the looks she sent him had made a shiver run down his spine.

"You okay, mate?" Ron asked, noticing him shiver.

"Yeah, I'm alright... Just that your sister's been looking at me strange and it honestly makes me uncomfortable," he admitted, avoiding eye contact with both Weasleys.

"Relax, mate, she's probably in awe at you, like always," the redhead said, rolling his eyes before wolfing down the food he had on his plate, which significantly decreased the raven haired boy's appetite. But Hermione was watching him with narrowed eyes, and he had to take a few small bites of his dinner before he stood up.

"I'm gonna go get an early night," he said, fidgeting uncomfortably as he noticed that he was still being watched by Ron's little sister.

"At least drink something after you eat," the witch said, pointedly looking at his still-full goblet filled with pumpkin juice. Harry nodded before drinking a few sips, leaving his two friends in the Great Hall for some peace.

On the way to the Gryffindor common rooms, he felt a bit strange. A slight tingle was starting from his belly outwards, and he swore that after a few more steps, he could feel the tingle on his fingertips, getting stronger and stronger as he went. Oddly, the hallway he was walking in was also rising in temperature, and he had a longing feeling to just get out of the castle and walk around in the cool air.

Unable to withstand the heat any longer, he indulged in his desire to walk outside, turning abruptly from where he was standing, and making his way to the entrance door. He didn't walk too far, only a few miles into the Forbidden Forest, before a blinding white heat surged through his whole body, making him abruptly take off his cloak and muggle shirt, along with his worn jeans. He was nearly naked, but it still wasn't enough. It was just too hot--far too hot for it to be natural, but his mind was quickly fogging up.

All he knew was how he felt so empty inside.

A mix between a groan and a whimper escaped his lips as he kept on trying to find a cool temperature. He then began moving.

After a while of agonizing crawling, he fell into flowing water, a small stream which barely drenched him, but it helped cool him down immensely. He then leaned onto a tree with a damp ground, and panted. It was just so, so hot, he thought that his blood might as well be boiling.

Before he knew it, something solid, but noticeably cooler, coiled around him. Hugging him.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the great Harry Potter," he heard the snake hiss. "What brings you here into the Forbidden Forest, hm?"

"V-Voldemort?" he hissed back, his mind far too gone to register the initial panic that came from hearing that voice, saying that name.

"The one and only," he hissed back sarcastically. He then reared back in indignation when he felt a hand grip his long body quite harshly, but stopped an insult or two from being hissed when he heard the boy groan and whimper. His temperature was abnormally high too, and he noticed that the boy was quite naked. Tasting the air, he hissed an angry hiss. "Potter, what do you think you're doing, drinking incomplete potions?!"

"What potions?" he asked rather weakly once the blinding white hotness passed.

"Foolish boy, don't lie to me. I can taste the air, and I taste a bad potion in your system!"