The Darkness Within

Chapter Nine - Best Laid Plans

Chapter Nine

It was getting colder now as it was approaching the middle of August. Harry pulled on the sleeves of his robes to cover his hands as he set off towards the middle of the grounds. So far, he was not having a good day. He woke up to a splitting headache, thanks to some Death Eater who had delivered some unfortunate news to his father. He then spent most of the morning looking for Bella only to find out she had gone on a raid.

"Typical!" he muttered under his breath.

His silver mask was tucked away inside a pocket of his robes. He didn't need it as most of the Death Eaters had gone to this raid ordered by his father, after hearing whatever the disturbing news was that had awoken him.

Harry walked steadily towards his training grounds. He was bored with nothing to do so he thought it was best to utilise his time by training. He had not yet reached the grounds when he heard something. It was a slithering sound; the leaves on the ground were slightly crunching as if someone or rather something was sliding over them. Harry knew what it was. He turned around slowly to see a huge snake slithering towards him.

"Nagini." he hissed in parseltongue.

"Young Master." she hissed back at him.

Harry walked over to the huge snake who had rested a few steps in front of him. Nagini lifted her large head and sat staring at her young master. Harry reached out, gently stroking her head. He was really fond of her, nearly as much as Lord Voldemort himself. His father had promised him that when he came of age, he would get him a similar snake. Harry had just turned sixteen a fortnight ago, but as usual it was not celebrated. The only birthday of Harry's that would be celebrated would be when he came of age, his seventeenth birthday.

"What are you doing here? You usually don't go anywhere until nightfall." Harry asked in parseltongue.

"I got hungry so I was going to get myself a small…snack!" she hissed at him.

Harry grimaced slightly, he knew that a small snack for Nagini was usually very big by normal standards. Nagini was responsible for the disappearances of most farm animals close by, such as horses, cows, sheep, anything she could find really. She even got herself a few humans many times, but Harry chose not to think about that.

Before he could say anything, Harry felt a searing pain in his scar. His hand shot to his forehead, fingers clutching at the scar to try and ease the fierce burn. He was momentarily blinded by the white hot pain that had erupted in his scar. He blinked away the spots he was seeing and turned in the direction of the manor.

"Wonder what's wrong?" he muttered to himself.

Hissing his goodbyes to Nagini, he set off towards the manor. The pain had gone as fast as it had come. There was the dull throbbing that Harry had gotten used to, as Voldemort usually took a while to calm down completely.

Harry didn't stop until he approached the doors leading to his father's private chambers. He knocked once and entered the room quietly. He saw his father sitting in his high backed chair, head dropped in thought. Without looking up at him, he gestured for Harry to come closer.

"There's been a situation,” Voldemort spoke quietly. “I just received a distress signal.”

“From who?” Harry asked.

Voldemort looked up at Harry, meeting his gaze.

“Bella.”

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. His heart skipped a beat and he felt panic explode in the pit of his stomach.

“Where did the signal come from?” he asked at once.

But Voldemort shook his head, standing up from his seat.