The Huge Magical Snake Problem

"Nagini, my beautiful sssserpent, we have a new missssssion." Voldemort circled around his followers, his snake slithering behind him. He couldn't see their faces, but he could sense that they were terrified. As usual. They were in a dark forest, illuminated only by his wand, giving out a faint white glow. It cast Voldemort's face in a menacing light, as well as the huge snake behind him. He gave a dark chuckle, and stopped before the robed figure he knew was Lucius Malfoy. "Lucius," he said in a menacingly soft voice. "Tell me again, what we will be doing."

Malfoy bowed his head, hiding his ornate mask under his robes. "We will be attempting to raid an Order house for information on the prophecy, my Lord." After he had said this, he cringed slightly, knowing the mistake he had made.

"Attempting, you say?" Voldemort asked, leaning in farther. "Oh, Lucius. You know that we will have no attempting in the inner circle." He turned his back and looked around the ring of Death Eaters, his eyes resting on one follower slightly taller than the rest. He trusted this individual, an honor not given to everyone. "Severus."

The masked figure inclined his head. "My Lord?" he asked seriously.

"Do you think it is appropriate to punish Lucius, here?" the Dark Lord asked him stretching out his wand hand.

"You shall do whatever you please," Snape said. Voldemort looked satisfied at his reply.

He spun on his heel to look back at Malfoy. He had a slight, sinister smile on his face. "I say that he deserves a Crucio. What do you think, Malfoy?"

The masked figure repeated after Snape. "You shall do whatever you please," but in a slightly shakier voice.

Voldemort hummed, his brow creasing in mock sympathy. He pointed his stark-white, bony-looking wand at him. He said softly, as if consoling a little child, "Crucio."

Miles and miles away from where that was happening, Harry Potter sat up, twitching from the aftereffects of the curse. His scar kept burning, and he shivered and pulled his meager blanket up to his shoulders. He was in his room, locked, of course. The place had a very small bed with the mattress' springs poking into him. The rest of the room was in no better condition, with the paint almost peeling off the walls and creaking floor.

He stood up carefully, as to not let the floor make a sound, and took a pencil from the floor under his bed. He had told Hedwig to stay with the Weasleys', because he knew that the Dursleys would not let her out, like they'd done in previous summers. He also had a packet of notebook paper that he had snatched from the kitchen earlier this summer. Thankfully, no one had suspected it was Harry that had taken it.

He winced at this small movement. His Uncle Vernon had gotten a bit rougher with him, ever since Mad-Eye had told him (or threatened him) to take better care of him. It really wasn't serious, he thought. It wasn't like Vernon went after Harry every night. Usually he just got a few smacks, and on occasion, a punch. Now that there was no looming threat of a 'murderous' godfather--Harry shuddered with guilt--it seemed like he was fair game to everyone.

He pulled out a new paper out of the pack. He had gotten a habit of writing down his dreams, so he could remember them later. Voldemort seemed to have stopped caring if he saw into his nightly evil doings or not, thus resulting in visions that plagued him every time he went to sleep. In earlier dreams, Harry had seen Nagini and he knew that she was at least his familiar.

Harry wrote the dream down, making a point in underlining Snape's name. Harry just knew the man was a Death Eater! It was too bad he couldn't contact Dumbledore--he was probably being betrayed right this second! Harry slid the papers back below the bed, and climbed under his blanket. He needed to find out what was going on.