Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 58 - The Rise of Lord Voldemort

Don't you just love the month of June, when you reach the climax of Harry Potter? :)

 Wormtail hauled Al to her feet, and dragged her to where Harry was, binding her to the gravestone with thick ropes. She only half struggled, feeling weak from her loss. She couldn't believe it. She felt almost numb with sadness.

 Al snapped out of her daze as suddenly as she had got here. Voldemort was here. She could feel it. And she and Harry were in a lot of danger, so she needed a plan. Harry? she thought. She received no reply, but felt a new mix of rage and sorrow. Harry was too emotional to talk through their connection, so she'd just have to tell him what to do and hope he obeyed.

 The first chance one of us gets, Al said, trying to sound calm, we run and get help.

 She only got a short and faint reply. No.

 We have to Harry! It's our only chance. Please, otherwise we'll both die.

 There was a long pause. Then - OK.

 Al now looked around, not as tightly bound as Harry was, so she could move her head. There was a bubbling cauldron in front of her, with the bundle of robes by the bottom. Pettigrew shuffled around and Cedric and the cup lay way out ahead. To her right, and slightly over her shoulder, Al saw a towering iron gate. And where there was a gate, there was a wall. Wall, behind us, she thought to Harry. All that she got in return was him gripping her wrist. Message received.

 Al tensed as a great, dirty snake, slithered around the base of the grave behind them and towards Pettigrew. The water in the giant cauldron began to bubble more fiercely now, and Al watched in horror as Pettigrew picked up the bundle of robes and tossed it into the ferocious waters.

 Pettigrew then raised his wand, and a trail of white dust flew out from the ground on which she was stood, landing softy in the water with a hiss. She then watched as he sliced his hand off and let it fall into the cauldron, feeling a look of horror etched on her face. And then, Pettigrew walked over to them, and cut Harry's wrist, before letting the blood drip into the cauldron.

 The waters bubbled violently, and Al felt a horrible sense of foreboding, her heart thundering in her chest. A figure - taller and more slender than Pettigrew - rose from the cauldron, the water melting into flesh, until there stood a man. He had pale, almost white skin, and deep red eyes. And his nose...well, it was gone, replaced with two snake-like slits. Although she didn't remember his face, this was unmistakably Lord Voldemort. Alive and breathing, when Diggory was not.

 Voldemort inspected his body, and then walked over to Pettigrew and drew back his sleeve, inspecting what looked to be a tattoo of the dark mark. "It is strong," his raspy voice said, "They will come."

 He turned now to where Al and Harry were stood, and Al shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. Harry it seemed, didn't dare. "Alexandra Dursley," Voldemort said softly, "We meet again." She didn't respond, just stared defiantly into his eyes. "And Harry Potter. Stood on the bones of my muggle father," he spat, "The fool who gave me his name. Tom Riddle. A fool...just like your muggle mother, Lily. But they have both had their uses."

 Voldemort paused, stepping back, "Look at me, speaking of my family history. When here comes my true family." Al looked around as people in masks and black cloaks apparated around them, forming a circle. She noticed there were some gaps, but none big enough to dodge through if the time came.

 "Thirteen years, since we have met, Death Eaters," Voldemort said, staring around the circle, "And yet, you arrive so promptly as if it were yesterday. It makes me wonder, why you did not return sooner? Perhaps you have joined the champion of commoners, mudbloods and muggles. Albus Dumbledore."

 One of the Death Eaters fell to his knees, "Please...Master...forgive us..."

 Voldemort laughed, a cold, high laugh. "Crucio!" he shouted, and the Death Eater writhed and shrieked in pain. "I do not forgive, Avery!" he said loudly. "Only Wormtail returned, and out of cowardice. Nevertheless, I will reward him..." A silver metal snaked from the tip of Voldemort's wand, and formed a hand where Pettigrew's had been previously.

 Al watched, disgusted, as Pettigrew grovelled and thanked him. But Voldemort had moved onto the next person in the circle. "Lucius, my slippery friend," he said, and Al realised with a dawning horror that it was Draco's Pa he spoke to. "I hear you have not renounced the old ways...and yet you did not return?"

 "My Lord," Malfoy's voice said from beneath his mask, "If I had heard even a whisper of your whereabouts I would've been at your side immediately. Nothing-"

 "Yet," Voldemort interrupted, "You fled from my mark last summer." Malfoy stopped talking and Voldemort moved further around the circle, but Al continued to watch him, disappointment filling her chest. He had seemed so nice. She had stayed at his house. And Draco - what was Draco going to do? Would he have to join Voldemort too?

 Al was only snapped out of her thinking when another familiar name propped up. Nott. Theo would be in trouble too, if it was his father that stood there. Al fought back tears, not letting herself show any weakness. She was going to make it out of this with Harry, and her friends would be fine. She'd kill Voldemort herself if she had too.

 "And now we reach our young friends," Voldemort said, his lips curling into what Al thought was his idea of a smile. "Harry Potter and his cousin have joined our party," he continued.

 "Master," Malfoy's voice said, and Al felt sick just to hear it, "We crave to know...how this-this miracle came to be."

 "Many of you know that Harry here is widely regarded as my downfall," Voldemort said, "It was his mother's sacrifice that saved him. I could not touch him." He was so close to them now, that Al could feel the warmth emitting from him. He was undoubtedly alive. "But I can now." He pressed his finger to Harry's scar and Harry yelled out in pain like he had before, his grip on Al's wrist now tighter than anything. She feared he may break the bones.

 And then it was over, and Voldemort left Harry panting as he told the tale of how he stood before them. He spoke about possessing Quirrell, and having Crouch Jr infiltrate Hogwarts. He spoke about the plan to have the two of them brought there, to the graveyard. Voldemort raised his wand, and fired the Cruciatus Curse at Harry.

 He cried out in pain, and Al struggled against the ropes that bound her, determined to help him. She felt one loosen, and yanked it forward, causing part of the stone to fall away. But she was free. She dived between Voldemort's wand and Harry, taking the full blow of the curse.

 It was pain beyond all else. Her head was on fire, her blood boiling, her skin tearing apart. She felt her throat go hoarse from screaming, but it didn't matter. Harry was no longer screaming. And this pain - this pain was better.

 It stopped, and Al could smell the earth beneath, feeling its cool dew on her face that was hot with sweat. The Death Eater's laughs rang through the air, but it was okay. A hand pulled her up from the ground, and Al stood in front of Pettigrew, staring into the red eyes of Voldemort. "And then we have Alexandra Dursley. I have brought her before you today, because today, I will show you true power."