A Future of Hope

Chapter Nine: I Hope That

June

I sit sipping at my scotch while I await the arrival of the infamous Harry Potter. I have no doubt that the foolish boy will bring with him a horde of other pathetic seventeen-year-olds all intent on my demise. I'm so looking foreword to killing each of them one by one. I am debating on whether to kill Harry first to break his companions will or to let him watch them all die one at a time, thus breaking him. Ah, decisions, decisions.

I drain my glass of scotch and throw the glass across the room. It shatters into a thousand pieces and I smile with anticipation. Like the glass, so will Potter break. I have been waiting for this day for many years. This is the end, I can feel it. Our showdown today will result in death. I can't wait to savor that victory when it finally comes.

Speaking of which, what the hell is keeping Saint Potter so long? I stole his whore of a girlfriend hours ago. Why hasn't he barged in with his loyal companions demanding her release? His patience in this matter surprises me. Usually he comes without thinking. I have grown accustomed to his sudden appearances that I am not reacting well to his lack of promptness. Patience has never been my strong-point. I just want to get this over with so I can move on to rule the world and purify it of Muggles and Mudbloods.

The door in front of me creaks open and Lucius enters. He bows and says, "My Lord, Potter and his friends are on their way. They'll be here shortly."

The corners of my lips turn upward. "Very good, Lucius. Please have Ms. Weasley brought in here. I want Potter to see her in my possession when he comes in."

"Yes, my Lord."

Lucius bows once more and closes the door. As soon as I am alone once more, I begin to imagine what to do to Potter. Should I tear him limb from limb? Should I use an ancient spell to slowly suck all the blood out of him? If I felt happiness at all, I'm sure I would be smiling gleefully right now.

The door opens once more and Lucius drags in the only Weasley girl. For being so well protected, she was insanely easy to take, but who cares for the mundane details? She really is such a pretty thing and for the longest time, I wanted to turn her to my side. But her love for Potter kept her from succumbing to my will. Foolish girl, he passed over true power for an emotion that will never be. Lucius bows and forces the girl to bow as well. Then he drags her closer to me, so close in fact, that she is only a mere few feet from myself.

"You will stand beside me, Mrs. Weasley. That is all I ask of you. That you stand still and silently beside my chair until I have Potter in chains. After that you may join him and die or stay beside me and live."

I know I waste my breath, but it is rather enjoyable to see her squirm and get angry. I know her response even before the word leaves her lips. Her face darkens and she hisses, "Never!"

"Too bad," I reply nonchalantly. I turn my eyes to Lucius. "Bring her beside me."

Lucius obeys and once more drags her to where I request. When she's within an arm's grasp, I reach out with my left hand and pull her to me. She fights against my pull, but I am too strong for her. I whisper a few words and chains spring from the floor and clasp her ankles. She faces me but at least she cannot move or see Potter until I say so. It will be torture for her to know her savior is here and yet not be able to see him. My eyes sparkle at the thought.

"You bastard!" she yells at me, still attempting to free her arm from my grasp.

"What language," I comment but not really caring. It shows she has a dark side. I kind of like that. I pause a moment to ponder if I am the reason for her dark side. I did posses her for a school year.

I am about to say something on the topic when the door opens with a bang. All thoughts of the year I possessed her leave my mind. Ah, the moment I've been waiting for has arrived. Potter, Weasley, the Mudblood, Longbottom, and Lovegood are standing with their wands at the ready. Potter's face contorts into one of horror as he sees his precious girlfriend in my grasp. I see the battle in him begin. Come on Potter. Try to kill me. I dare you.

I sneer and welcome them all to my humble home, where they will shortly meet their death. Potter yells something and soon they are firing curses at me. My Death Eaters come in behind them and counter-attack. Ah, chaos. Isn't it simply marvelous?

The fight goes on for a few moments without any incident that wasn't anticipated. The five free Hogwarts students are busy trying to stun my followers but they are severely outnumbered. Earlier I had given the Death Eaters permission to toy with Potter and his friends for at least ten minutes before I would intervene. It pleases me to see that they are doing so well in warding off the insolent teenagers.

Suddenly there is a loud bang and half my home is blown to pieces. There is a shower of sparks as all the wards break from the impact. "Shit!" I mutter under my breath. Ginny Weasley laughs beside me. Without thinking I not only dig my fingers into her arm but swing my right arm across her face. Were it not for my hold on her, she would have fallen to the ground. I glance at her eyes and can tell her head is swimming from the impact. Good. I want her to suffer while Potter is busy attempting to rescue her.

My enjoyment of Ginny Weasley's pain is cut short, much to my dismay. Soon my home is not only in shambles but swarming with Aurors and even that fool Dumbledore. Curses! I can see that fool coming my way and I hurriedly seek out Potter. I find him helping the Mudblood to her feet. Without a second thought, my body dissolves into blackness and I shoot out to Potter, noting the look of horror on Dumbledore's face as he realizes what I am doing.

When the onlookers also see what is going on, all fighting ceases and all eyes turn my way. The Mudblood gets to her feet before I have the opportunity to throw her back on the ground where she belongs. Instead I turn around and survey the damage to my home through the eyes of one I will soon be destroying from the inside out.

I have always loved to take over people and overcoming Harry Potter is the epitome of supreme joy. I can see the pained look on Dumbledore's face as my laughter comes out of Potter's mouth. The moments tick by without reaction from anyone. Potter's power and resistance begins to slow and fade away. Dumbledore knows, as I know, the longer I overpower Potter, the less time there is to save him from my clutches. He also knows, as I know, that if he sends the killing curse at Potter's body that I will live on. So he battles inside himself and I enjoy every second of it. He is weak and a fool. I will win no matter what he does. He knows this; I know this.

"Remember who you are, Harry," he says to this body I inhabit. "Remember Sirius. Remember what we're fighting for."

I laugh and say with Potter's mouth, "You are a fool. He is powerless to stop this."

But somewhere deep inside this teenager's body I can feel the resistance that had lessened since I entered him build up unexpectedly. And suddenly I am gripped by an emotion so strong I feel myself begin to stagger.

Blast! I have to get out. I have to get out. I start to scream as the emotion builds in intensity and am about to leave Potter when his body becomes a different substance. I look around through Potter's eyes in terror. I don't understand what has happened. Then I look around and see he is the shape of a lion. A golden lion with a full mane of fur. Since when did he become an animagus? As I continue to struggle against Potter's form, I know the horrible truth. I cannot leave an animal I do not know. Humans and snakes are a different story. I know how a human works because I am one and I know how a snake works because that is my animagus. But a lion? I do not understand how a lion works. This is my downfall. Dumbledore knows this; I know this.

But still I struggle. The emotion alone is ripping my very soul to shreds. How is it possible that so stupid an emotion as love can cripple the most powerful wizard in less than a minute? Potter suddenly sends my mind back from his own and says in a strange beast-tongue I can only barely understand, "I wanted to thank you Voldemort. It is because of you that I still have the ability to feel any shred of emotion. It is because of you that I found someone I love that even you couldn't even manage to properly take away from me. And as I've fought you these past seven years, I have come to realize that it is not hate that will do this to you. It's love. I loved Sirius and I love Ginny. I will do everything I can to make sure that she will live the life she chooses. A life away from evil and from you. It is my love for her that will ultimately kill you."

"You have not won yet, Potter," I say back to him, also in this strange beast-tongue. Though I know he has. I know it; he knows it. This unfortunate turn of events shows that I am weak if a mere seventeen year old can overpower me.

The pain that I felt when first I sensed the emotion has grown to excruciating. I want it to end, and I need it to end. I despise the emotion of love. This is my end. I can feel it. There is nothing to stop me from dying right now. Potter knows this; I know this. And we both know how I fear it. The fear of death has always been a weakness of mine. This cannot be helped and yet, now that the end is near, my fear grows even more.

My vision through Potter's eyes slowly begins to fade and I feel my powers ebbing away. How could I not have foreseen this? My lack of faith in Potter has been my downfall. Well, Dumbledore, you got your wish. Potter found a way to kill me. I hope that the thought that you have made a seventeen year old kill weight heavily on your mind from now on. I hope he never has a moment's peace about it. I hope that...