Orb of Destiny - Moment by Moment Book #6 (Harry Potter, Drarry)

The Price of a Soul

Harry tried to follow the conversation between Voldemort and Draco, but his senses were swimming, and he only caught occasional words and mainly emotion. Draco had yelled a lot when their captor had removed the silencing spell, he had yelled until he was hoarse. Voldemort had been much calmer, icily so, but he no longer sounded amused, or indifferent to the proceedings: that much Harry took as encouragement, they were at least making things difficult for their captors. The longer things went on, the greater the chance that the offensive outside would break in. It was a slim hope, but Harry held on to it.

Draco started yelling again, but Voldemort flicked his fingers and Lucius cast the silencing hex once more, cutting off the diatribe. Harry gathered what stamina and courage he had left and waited as his nemesis turned back to him. He was standing like Dumbledore again, but he didn't have the same implicit authority in his manner, it was merely arrogance.

"Don't you want this to be over?" Voldemort asked, his voice hissing with parseltongue.

Vipera whispered to Harry, "You wish it to be over. Relax, My Enemy, let the magic take you."

"No," he growled in return.

"Lucius," Voldemort's voice hardened as he addressed his subordinate, even though he was smiling, "maybe another small reminder."

"Yes, My Lord," Lucius accepted the order with relish.

Harry looked to Draco once more, but Voldemort stepped in his way.

"You cannot ignore me, or rely on him," he was told firmly.

Harry searched his brain for a comeback, but he was too tired to think and so he faced Lucius' 'reminder' silently. Lucius joined his Lord a few feet behind the orb and bowl, and levelled his wand at Harry. The spell that came at him made Harry whine in fear before the false fire touched his body, and when the invisible flames touched his left foot, he screamed. They needed no tricks with this curse this time, no matter how fake its effects; the pain and the smell of his own burning flesh sent Harry spiralling into a panic. He pulled at the ties on his arms and legs, desperate to get away from the terror as well as the agony. His heart thundered in his ears, threatening to burst out of his chest, and he couldn't breathe properly, and then, suddenly, it was over.

The pain which had caused his writhing gone, Harry collapsed again, but this time, he shifted weakly, his body strained and his psyche unwilling to settle from the assault. He shrunk away from his torturers, scared, wanting no more, but he bit his lip as the temptation to beg crossed his mind.

"Surrender, My Enemy," Vipera sung in his ear, her powers taking full advantage of his fragility.

Harry growled and shook his head, unable to be more coherent. His refusal was immediately met with flame; his right arm erupted with the agony of burning. His whole hand was instantly engulfed in flame, but it only slowly spread up over his wrist, towards his elbow, and it made no difference to Harry that when he turned his head to look at the blistering attack he could see nothing, the divergence of mind and reality only intensified the horror. His beleaguered senses could not take the conflict, and Harry fainted.

~*~

Each limb had felt the flames at least once, but Lucius seemed to prefer Harry's reactions when he targeted his legs, and Harry screamed as both suffered at once. The curse was coming in small blasts, each enough to reduce him to a cowering wreck, but, after the first mistake, if Lucius could help it, he did not let Harry pass out. However, the repetition was having a strange effect on the false fire's victim: the hallucinogenic nature of the spell meant that its effects never changed, it was always the same pain, the same intensity, the same creeping feeling of destruction, and, however much it distracted his mind, Harry's brain was becoming accustomed to the agony. It did not have the maddening edge of Cruciatus, nor the rawness of hexes for physical injury, and within the surreality, Harry's thoughts had begun to drift.