Harry Potter and the Crystalline Darkness

Katling

Story Summary:
Continues on from Guild of the Night. Harry's sixth year is over, the Battle has been won and he's off for a summer with Sirius and Remus and then the Weasleys before starting his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. Life seems to be pretty good right now - or is it? What has happened to his old enemies? And what is happening with the looming, crystalline darkness?

Chapter 16

Chapter Summary:
The nightmare continues - what happens, how he gets out and what ramifications does it have?
Posted:
02/26/2005
Hits:
4,420


Chapter 16

Sirius was pacing in the living room of the suite he shared with Remus. It was late but he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. He looked over at Remus and gave him a sad half-smile.

"Go to bed, Moony," he said quietly. "Just because I'm a bit screwed up at the moment doesn't mean you should pay for it as well."

Remus snorted from where he was slouched on the couch. "I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, Padfoot. You think very loudly when you're upset and between that and your pacing you'd keep me up. Besides I think I'm not too far away from you in the screwed up stakes at the moment."

Sirius gave a bark of very sour laughter. "Don't say that. One of us has to hold himself together and it sure as shit isn't going to be me." He stopped his pacing and looked over at Remus. "I want to kill that little rat bastard, Moony. I want it so much it's actually scaring the crap out of me. I mean I thought I wanted to kill him four years ago but, Merlin's balls, that's absolutely nothing on how I feel right now."

Remus sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands. "Don't do that, Padfoot," he said wearily. "Harry needs you and you can't do him any good if you really are sent to Azkaban for murder."

The look Sirius gave his friend was solemn and actually managed to scare the werewolf a little. "Believe me, Moony, that is the only thing stopping me right now."

"Peter is going to get what's owing to him," Remus reminded his friend. "The Aurors and Unspeakables have just about finished questioning him. He's due to receive the Dementor's Kiss in about a week."

"Has he given up the ferret?" Sirius asked, copying Harry and Ron's favourite term for Draco Malfoy.

"No," Remus said sourly. "You know what veritaserum's like, you have to answer with the truth but that's all. You don't have to answer with all of the truth and there are generally many versions of the truth. The Auror's haven't hit on the right question to ask yet. Hell, even if they do, it'll be hard to prove."

"What?" Sirius yelped. "It's a confession under veritaserum! What further proof do you need?"

"Padfoot! You know as well as I do that if someone believes something to be true then that's the answer they'll give under veritaserum," Remus said with exasperation. "And that's exactly the defense Draco Malfoy will use if he's accused. The Aurors will need to find further proof and he's got the money to evade them for a while."

Sirius ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Yeah, I know." He looked over at Remus. "I keep changing my mind over whether I want to see him, you know. I know he's asked to see us..."

Remus was just about to answer when a loud banging started. Both men jumped and Sirius leapt over to open the door. A breathless and frightened looking Neville was hopping from foot to foot outside.

"It's Harry!" he gasped.

Sirius didn't wait for anything more, he pushed past the young Gryffindor and sprinted up the corridor. Remus leapt off the couch and grabbed Neville by the shoulders.

"What's happened?" he demanded.

"Harry's having some kind of nightmare or vision," Neville babbled. "He's screaming and thrashing around and we can't wake him up."

Remus swore. "Go down to the dungeons and get Professor Snape," Remus ordered. "Tell him what you just told me. Go!"

Neville didn't hesitate and he took off down the corridor at a dead run. Remus didn't watch him go, he headed after Sirius.

****************************************************

When Sirius burst into the Seventh Year boys' dorm it was immediately obvious what the problem was. Harry was lying on his bed, convulsing and screaming. Ron was standing beside him, trying to keep Harry from throwing himself off the bed and Sirius had passed Dean and Seamus in the stairway outside the room where the two boys were keeping the curious at bay. Hermione was helping Ron and Ginny was kneeling on the side of the bed, deftly avoiding Harry's flailing arms and trying to reach her boyfriend with her words. Sirius threw himself towards the bed and grabbed at his godson's shoulders, ignoring the inadvertent blows that came his way.

"Harry!" he yelled. "Harry, wake up!"

The screams didn't abate and Sirius moved around so that he was behind Harry. He wrapped his arms around his godson and started talking softly into Harry's ear, hoping he could somehow reach the distressed boy that way. He looked up as Remus ran into the room, his eyes full of everything he could not and would not say. Remus came over and sat on the edge of the bed, laying his hand over Sirius' arms and he joined in Sirius' attempts to reach Harry. They were still absorbed in this when Snape arrived, trailing Neville in his wake. The Potions Master took in the scene in front of him then looked around the dormitory. He found what he was looking for on the table beside Harry's bed and walked over.

"Where does his mind go?" he hissed at Orinda in Parseltongue.

"Somewhere dark and sharp," the right head of the Runespoor answered. "We cannot follow. We do not understand what has happened. You have two legs like our Harry, you may understand and follow."

Severus turned away from the Runespoor with an irritated snarl. That had been both useful and incredibly vague. He moved around to the opposite side of the bed from Remus and tapped Ginny on the shoulder sharply. She whipped around and glared at him.

"If you don't mind, Miss Weasley," Snape said sharply, inwardly quite amused at the glare. It was certainly a match for Molly Weasley's glare and with a bit of practice might actually come somewhere near his own. He raised an eyebrow when the girl did not move. "Unless you care to let Potter remain this way?"

Ginny's glare ratcheted up a few notches, gaining a little more of Snape's internal amusement, before she reluctantly climbed off the bed and stepped aside. The Potions Master sat down on the side of the bed and gently placed his fingers on Harry's temples, allowing his mind to insinuate itself inside.

He flinched away from the pain that was washing around Harry's mind then steeled himself and wormed his way through the boy's weakening shields. The moment he was completely inside he found himself grabbed by a strong mental grip and thrown forwards. He stumbled and found himself standing in a room with black crystal walls. That detail quickly became irrelevant when he saw what lay in front of him.

Standing and grinning maliciously was a young Tom Riddle and lying on the ground on the other side of the room was Harry Potter, screaming and writhing in absolute agony. Snape easily recognized the effects of the Cruciatus curse and he strode over to Harry. As he reached the young man, the curse was ended. He gently rolled the young man onto his back and Harry's eyes flickered open.

"Pr'fess'r," he whispered. "Can't stop...help."

Snape looked up at Riddle just as he began to speak.

"Did you enjoy that, Potter?" the insane wizard asked. "Why don't you show yourself so that we can have some more fun. No? Well, perhaps I should continue to have my fun then."

"He can't see us," Harry whispered.

Snape nodded and his eyes narrowed. He pulled his wand out of his robes and leveled it at his former Master. "Stupefy!" he said forcefully.

An odd yellowish light burst out from the end of his wand and slammed into Riddle, throwing him into the crystalline wall behind him with considerable force. Riddle's head hit the wall with a very audible clunking sound and the Dark Lord slumped down to the ground unconscious. Snape slid his wand back into his robes and turned back to Harry. He gently slid an arm under the boy's shoulder and propped him up.

"Can you wake yourself up?" he asked urgently.

Harry blinked at him stupidly for a moment then seemed to pull himself out of his post-Cruciatus exhaustion. "I...I think so," he murmured.

"Good, do so," Snape said. He helped Harry sit up then frowned and reached inside his own mind. He was relieved to find that it was relatively easy to pull himself out of Harry's mind, in spite of his forceful entry and in fairly short order he found himself back in his own body, sitting on the edge of Harry's bed with the realization that the screaming and convulsing had stopped. As he drew his hands back from Harry's temple, the young man's eyes began to flicker and open.

Harry head fell back on the shoulder of whoever was supporting him and he drew in a deep breath. He relaxed further as the scent of his godfather enveloped him. "Si...Sirius?" he rasped.

"Yeah, I'm here, Pronglet," he heard Sirius say in a voice full of sheer relief.

Harry swallowed. "Remus?" he forced out.

A gentle hand ran through his hair. "I'm here," he heard Remus said softly.

"Good," Harry replied and then he allowed himself to fall into unconsciousness.

Sirius tightened his arms around his godson and looked up at Snape. "What the hell happened?" he demanded.

"He seemed to be trapped in some kind of crystalline room with a young version of the Dark Lord," Snape explained. "He was being subjected to Cruciatus. The Dark Lord could not see either of us but he did seem to be aware that Mr Potter was there." Snape paused. "The Dark Lord was...amusing himself."

A low growl escaped from Sirius. Remus placed a soothing hand on his friend's arm then looked over at Snape. "You were able to get him out?"

"No," Snape replied. "I was able to stop the Dark Lord, Mr Potter got himself out."

"You were able to stop Vol...the Dark Lord?" Remus said with surprise, hastily changing his reference to Voldemort when he caught Snape's small flinch. "How?"

"Stupefy," Snape said simply. "Why Mr Potter did not use magic, I do not know."

Remus dismissed this question for the moment and looked down at the young man he had come to love like a son. "We should take him to the Hospital Wing," he said hesitantly.

"No!" Sirius replied firmly. "He hates it there and you know it. We'll take him down to our suite. We can get Poppy to come there."

Remus nodded and he stood up and held out his arms. "Give him to me, Padfoot," he said.

Sirius hesitated for a long moment then carefully maneuvered Harry so that Remus could pick him up. Harry wasn't as thin as he used to be; a summer spent eating properly and running around outside had put some weight on him and Sirius was aware he probably wouldn't be able to carry Harry all the way down to the suite. Remus, on the other hand, was a fair bit stronger than he looked.

Remus settled Harry into his arms and waited while Sirius pushed himself off the bed. The animagus looked over at Snape. "Thank you," he said a little hesitantly.

Snape inclined his head gracefully and pulled two small potion bottles out of his robes. "Give him these when he wakes," he said in a neutral tone. "One is to treat the aftereffects of the Cruciatus and the other is a general pain-relieving potion."

Sirius took the bottles and nodded. He headed over to the door to the dorm and held it open for Remus. The werewolf started walking but paused beside Snape.

"Thank you, Severus," he said quietly.

The Potions Master inclined his head again and followed the two men out of the room. Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny exchanged glances and their expressions became firm. They headed downstairs and quickly caught up with Snape, Sirius and Remus who looked around in surprise to see them there.

"Where do you four think you're going?" the werewolf said sternly.

"With you," Ron replied obstinately.

"No, you're not," Remus replied. "You're going back to bed."

Ron snorted. "Professor Lupin...Remus, do you really think we'll get any sleep if we stay here? At least if we're in the suite we can always curl up on the couch if we get tired but we want to be there for Harry. We always have been before, what makes you think we're going to stop now?"

"Let them come," Sirius said softly. "And don't complain, Moony. You think we wouldn't have done the same for you...hell, we did do the same for you."

Remus blushed a little then nodded to Ron. "I'm sorry. Sirius is right; you do have every right to be there."

Ron relaxed a little and the little procession headed down the stairs. Ahead of them they could hear Dean and Seamus ordering everyone back into their dorms rather ferociously and when they got down to the common room, it was empty except for the two Gryffindor Seventh Year boys. They watched solemnly as the group headed out of the Tower and made its way down the corridor. Snape left them at one point to head back down to the dungeons and the rest made their way to the suite.

Once they got there, Remus settled Harry into the bed in his room which the two men always kept ready for him. He then left the room and quickly flooed Poppy and Albus before returning to watch over Harry.

********************************************************

Draco winced and buried his head in his hands. He had a headache unlike anything he'd ever felt before and he had a strong suspicion it had something to do with the Dark Lord. It had started only a few minutes ago and since it had started he had not been able to get the Dark Lord's attention. He slumped back on the couch and allowed his head to fall back. He was thankful that the common room was empty, everyone else having gone to bed already. He really didn't want any witnesses to this; they would insist that he go to the Hospital Wing and he would struggle to explain this to the mediwitch in a way that she would accept. He certainly didn't want any of the teachers or worse, the Headmaster, poking their noses into this. There were skilled Legilimancers among the staff and he couldn't rely on the small amount of shielding he had learnt from his father holding through any kind of interrogation.

He gasped as a lance of pain assaulted his mind and swore through gritted teeth. He tried to contact the Dark Lord again but between the pain and whatever it was that was taking up the other wizard's attention, he was unsuccessful. He let his breath out in a hissing sigh; he was just going to have to ride this out. He'd managed to survive the Cruciatus curses that had been flung at him by the Dark Lord; he would survive this as well.

It seemed to be an age before the pain finally subsided and he was able to relax. He took a few deep breaths before reached towards the Dark Lord once more.

Lord? he asked, keeping the irritation out of his mental voice.

There was silence for a long moment. What is it, Draco? The Dark Lord's voice was full of frustration.

Is there something wrong? Draco asked in a voice dripping with acid sweetness. Something so important that it was necessary to subject me to a ripping headache for all that time?

There was a startled silence from the passenger in his head. What? came the somewhat unintelligent response.

The pain you saw fit to subject me to, Draco said irritably. The last Merlin knows how many minutes of pain that I had to go through that if it had happened anywhere but here and at anytime but now could have got both of us into a lot of trouble.

You felt that? The Dark Lord said incredulously.

Yes, Draco replied acidly. What was it?

Harry Potter saw fit to invade my mind, Voldemort replied absently. I decided to amuse myself.

Draco paused for a long moment. Potter invaded your mind? How? I'm not sure I like the idea of Potter being able to get into your mind when it is then such a short step to mine.

There was silence from the Dark Lord. He could not get out of my mind, he said carefully. At least not in the short term and now that I know he can enter I can take steps to control it.

Are you sure? Draco asked suspiciously. Because if he gets in and finds out what our plans are then that is a great deal of work down the drain.

Of course I'm sure, Voldemort replied irritably. I know what I am doing. Leave this to me.

Very well, Draco replied reluctantly. But try to give me some warning next time. The consequences would be very unpleasant if this occurs in public in the future.

As you wish, was the slightly sarcastic reply from the Dark Lord and then the wizard's presence faded from Draco's awareness.

Draco scowled and muttered a few maledictions under his breath. He pushed himself to his feet and stretched out the muscles that had been tensed during the Dark Lord's 'playtime'. He ran a hand through his hair and headed off for his room.

*****************************************************************

Harry slowly seeped towards consciousness, fighting it all the way. His last memory was of pain and for the first time in his life, he really didn't want to face any more. His consciousness had others ideas however and in fairly short order he found himself awake. He kept his eyes closed and let himself drift, just listening to what was going on around him. Immediately next to the bed he could hear Ron and Hermione having a low voiced argument about something completely unimportant. Someone was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his hand and chuckling at what Ron and Hermione were saying and Harry quickly identified that person as Ginny. He could smell Luna's distinctive and delicate perfume in the air and assumed that she and Neville must also be here. And underneath the argument being conducted next to the bed, he could hear a discussion in the other corner of the room. He lay still and listened hard before finally identifying the voices as Sirius, Remus and Professors Snape and Dumbledore. He listened a bit harder, trying to determine what they were saying but the argument beside him was too loud. Finally he sighed quietly and opened his eyes, looking up into blackness.

"Harry?" Ginny said softly, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "How are you feeling?"

Her question brought all conversations in the room to a halt.

"You know I get that question a lot," Harry replied with a wan smile.

He felt the other side of the bed dip and then a hand gently ruffled his hair. "Well, you keep scaring us, Pronglet," came Sirius' voice.

"Not my fault," Harry grumbled as he sat up with Ginny and Sirius' help. "Bloody Voldemort keeps screwing around with me."

"So it was Voldemort then," Dumbledore said, patting his feet under the blankets.

"Yeah," Harry said wearily. "Somehow I ended up in his mind again...or Draco's mind or both. He told me the link hadn't been broken, just hidden until he had recovered enough."

"I see. And have you been shielding your mind?" the Headmaster asked.

"Yes," Harry said indignantly. "I always have the shields up. I don't know how I got in there."

"Severus indicated that Voldemort could not see either of you."

"Yeah," Harry said thoughtfully. "He knew I was there after a while but he couldn't see me. I could see him though." He paused. "He looked...young, more like the diary version. Like Tom Riddle rather than Voldemort. And he wasn't very happy about his situation. He thinks Draco's not ambitious enough and is trying to find a way out of what he called his crystalline prison."

"He plans on taking over Draco's mind then?" Remus asked.

"I think so," Harry replied. "It sounded like it anyway."

"That's not good," Ron said dryly.

"What did it look like in the dream?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry frowned in thought. "I kind of...arrived in a crystal corridor that had a lot of bumps and shards all over the walls and floors and the corridor led to a crystal room. Voldemort was in there and he was able to conjure a chair."

"There was nothing in any of the literature I have read about this," Snape said. "Not even Lily's notes mentioned something like this being possible."

"It may be that Voldemort did this inadvertently in his struggle to claim Draco's mind," the Headmaster said wearily. "It is entirely possible that not even he understands what he did."

"Did you want me to try and find out?" Harry ventured tentatively.

"No!" The shouted word came from everyone in the room.

"Okay," Harry said with a small smile. "Maybe not." He then looked towards where his godfather had been sitting quietly. "Where am I? And what time is it?"

There was a moment of silence. "Your room in our quarters," Sirius finally replied. "And it's ten o'clock in the morning."

"Don't worry about your classes," Dumbledore said hastily, patting Harry's feet again. "You and your friends have been excused for the day. Now, I'm afraid I must get back to work. I'm glad you're alright, dear boy."

"We have to get to our classes," Remus said quietly. "Will you be alright on your own?"

"Oy!" Ron said indignantly. "We'll be here!"

Remus chuckled. "I stand corrected."

"I'll be fine," Harry said with a grin. He then heard the sounds of people leaving the room however the presence at his side didn't move and he looked in that direction. "Siri?"

"You haven't got your Oversight active," came the neutral observation.

"I don't need it in here," Harry replied. "And I think after last night I might end up with a headache if I use it right now. I'll activate it later." He paused. "I'm really alright."

He felt Sirius pat his hand and stand up. "Call me if you need anything."

Harry nodded then he heard Sirius leave the room. As soon as the door closed, his friends gathered around the bed. Harry had just opened his mouth to speak when he heard the door to his room open again.

"Shouldn't you lot be in classes?" came a vaguely familiar and cheerful voice.

"Who are you?" Ron asked belligerently as he and the others swiftly took defensive positions between the bed and those who had just entered.

"Ron, it's alright," came Master Nhean's voice.

Harry pushed himself upright and reluctantly activated his Oversight. He immediately found that his prediction to Sirius was correct, as his Oversight appeared so did the first edges of a headache. He grimaced and tried to ignore the pain as colour flooded through the room. He peered around the defensive structure his friends had formed and saw the energy colours and shadowy figure of Master Nhean standing next to the energy colours and vague shadows he recognised as the two Council members he had met in Tokyo during the summer holidays.

"Ron, they're Guild members, Night Warriors, it's fine," he said in a conciliatory tone.

Ron relaxed slightly and the others followed his lead.

"Well, wasn't that fun!" Jun'ko Watanabe said with admiration. "I've never seen a Battle Guard in action before. That was very impressive."

The students goggled at her and Master Nhean chuckled. "I think you've managed to confuse them, Jun'ko."

"Oh, I hope not," she said. "I mean, their reaction was excellent. Just how a Battle Guard should react, if what I've read is right."

Harry's friends slowly settled back into the seats they had originally been in and looked at Harry questioningly.

A slow smile appeared on Harry's face. "Everyone, this is Jun'ko Watanabe and Nyugen Dinh Tien, both Night Warriors and Council members. Jun'ko, Tien, these are my friends and Battle Guard, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom."

The two Council members nodded to each of the students in turn and then looked back at Harry.

"So, are you going to tell us what has happened to cause all of you to be missing your classes?" Tien asked.

"The link between Voldemort and I is still active and somehow I ended up in his mind...or Draco's mind...or both...last night. It...wasn't very pleasant."

"Damn," Jun'ko breathed softly. "Then I think we've arrived in good time then."

"I have to agree with that," Tien said grimly. "Nhean, I think we had better get settled in and then you can start familiarising us with the castle. I think Harry needs the rest and I think we don't have as much time in front of us as we thought."

Nhean raised an eyebrow. "A good idea," he said calmly before looking over at Harry. "Rest well, my apprentice. You shall have some new challenges when your training starts again."

Harry grinned. "I'm sure I will."

The three Guild members left the room and Harry's friends stared at him.

"Wasn't that a bit of an over reaction on the part of the Council members?" Hermione asked in a dubious tone.

"Maybe," Harry replied. "Unless they know something we don't know. I'll probably be able to find out either way tomorrow."

"Why do I get the feeling they do know something we don't know?" Ron grumbled.

"Because that's always the way things seem to work out," Ginny said lightly. "I guess we'll just have to face things as they come."


Author notes: Thanks for all the reviews! Sorry for the delay in getting this up - work has been very busy! As a reward for your patience - two chapters! Yay!