An Ally

Chapter 3

It was far worse than he could have imagined.

The smell hit his nose first. The entire room stunk, most of the smell coming from a bucket in the corner. It wasn't until he managed to set aside that smell and it's origins before he recognized it. The distinct smell of sex and blood. His head jerked to the corner he had last seen him in, and repressed the urge to vomit once more.

Harry Potter, the saviour of the Wizarding World, was passed out cold and bleeding profusely from his arm. A broken vial was hanging loosely from his right hand as blood steadily trickled down his arm and dripped on the floor. Inwardly, Voldemort cursed at the situation. Everything about this was wrong. Here was the person who was supposed to defeat him, lying on a poor excuse of a bed and on a very short path to ultimate self destruction. And to make matters worse, he would be taking his horcrux with him if he should succeed in it.

His mind flew through his options a million miles a second. He could just kill the boy, but then he would be short a piece of his soul. He could just take him and apparate them away, but then suspicions would be raised. Besides, Harry wasn't likely to be enthusiastic about that just yet. He could give him the means to get out, although that would trip off the anti-magic wards. The only logical conclusion he could come to was to get the bleeding to stop, and to send him medical supplies so he could regain strength. He would have to get him to tell him the truth sooner than he had anticipated.

Harry awoke to find that his arm wasn't bleeding anymore. It stung though, more than any of the other times. He had gone deeper this time, adding a few extras in for good measure. The pain was the only thing keeping him sane. The sun wasn't up yet; as a matter of fact, the position of the moon in the sky would suggest two or three in the morning.

He sat up to dig beneath the bed for his journal. He felt terrible for stopping their conversation the way that he did.

Hello? I'm sorry for leaving the way I did earlier, but I'm back now. I know you're probably not awake, seeing as it's so early in the morning. A few minutes trailed by without so much as a single stroke of a quill back. He was just about to give up when the writing started.

You know, I've been thinking about that game we started and never got to finish. I suppose I shall just out with it, shall I? There are a great many things I have done in my lifetime, and most of them are horrible things. I guess I'm at an impasse. I no longer wish to continue down the path I was once walking and yet I have gone so far, I have no way to change the course.

Harry thought on these words for a moment, before replying.

I believe that even though we sometimes cannot see the way in our lives, others who care for us will light the way to where we wish to be.

Those are wise words, well beyond your years. Tell me, do you take your own advice? Or is this something you have learned by observing others?

Note quite. I have a...unique position. I am able to understand the way life goes for most as I've had many tales told to me. Things like this sort of come to you when you least expect it the more you hear about other people's lives and how they have overcome darkness. He thought for a few more minutes while ink started appearing. He only started to read once it had stopped writing.

I believe that we each have to walk our own paths and that those who share a path are fools. But it seems I am made to be the fool now. I have to do what I have set out to do, only to find out I have unknowingly prevented myself from doing exactly that. And now, I am finding that I am reluctant to move forward. But enough about me, I have shared enough secrets. Harry stared at the page wondering if this person was thoughtless enough to really think he was going to be so open. Not everyone was a bloody open book.