Alone

Chapter 25:

"Let the games begin," he repeated mockingly, his voice sending shivers down everyone's spines.

Jake watched with a detached sort of interest. His brain was telling him to do two things at once. One wanted to obey his master. The other, the smaller part, wanted him to stand up for his friends. Yes, they had hurt him, but they were still his friends. Don't let this monster walk all over you! The small part shouted in a surprisingly loud voice.

Clutching his head, Jake fell to his knees as the two halves of his brain battled for control over his movements and thoughts.

"Harry," Voldemort whispered soothingly, his hand resting on Jake's head. "It's okay. Just give in to me. Then all the pain will go away."

"No, Harry! Don't! Can't you see he's using you!?" Hermione shouted, running forward.

"Silence!" Voldemort bellowed and with a wave of his hand, Hermione was sent crashing into the wall.

Jake's head snapped up as soon as he heard Hermione's voice. His green eyes blazed for a moment as his will started to fight the curse, but when Voldemort's hand came to rest on his head again, the sudden flare of Harry's old temper and defiance disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Harry," Voldemort continued in a gentle voice. "Give into the voice. Do as it says and I promise all your pain will be gone."

Jake closed his eyes as the thoughts and pains of his last year at Hogwarts swam through his brain. Peace, no more pain. He would like that. Maybe he should give into the voice. After all, he would feel no more pain.

Letting the light, free feeling wash and envelope him, Harry threw his consciousness to the curse and felt his control over his body slip into Voldemort's hands.

No more pain.

~~*~~

Voldemort grinned mentally as he felt Harry give his will to him. Now that he had control over the Potter brat, no one could beat him. He'd have some fun with him first and then he'll kill him. After all, Harry Potter was too dangerous to just keep around.

Besides, he still had an old score to settle with the boy.

~~*~~

Lucy watched the proceedings with tormented eyes. She didn't want to do as her "father" said, but she seemed to have no control over what her body was doing at the moment. She was fighting against the curse, but it was no use. It was too strong for her and she couldn't break it.

It's not fair! Her mind cried out, fighting, or attempting to fight, the ever-present feeling of the curse.

Her eyes slid over the trapped people of the Order and lingered on a black haired man with blue eyes. She saw him look back at her and she struggled to remember why he made her feel all fuzzy and warm.

Who was he?

~~*~~

Blaise raised his head in time to meet Lucy's tormented eyes. His heart soared as he saw, clearly, in her eyes that she was trying to fight the curse. He watched as something that resembled defiance flew across her face as their eyes met. She was trying to remember who he was, he was sure of it.

~~*~~

"Blaise," Lucy mouthed the name, her eyes never leaving the man. She saw as he broke out into a grin and his eyes light up.

Blaise.

She tried whispering the name and found that it rolled off her tongue, as if she'd said the same thing a thousand times before.

Blaise.

The man she loved.

~~*~~

Voldemort glanced sharply at Lucy. She was fighting the curse, he could feel it.

"Lucy," he barked, a little sharper than he intended. He watched as Lucy ripped herself a little more away from his curse because of his tone.

"Lucy," Voldemort tried again, his voice softer this time. Lucy jerked violently and started to turn to look at her father.

"Look at me."

Lucy struggled against the request and fought to keep her eyes on Blaise. She saw panic rise in the man's eyes and felt her own emotions mirror his.

"Kill Zabini!" Voldemort suddenly shouted at the Death Eaters, momentarily relaxing his force on the curse. Lucy felt it and wretched herself from the curse.

"NO!" she screamed, running for Blaise. Pushing him to the ground in the nick of time, Lucy felt the curse rush over her head and hit someone else.

Raising her head, she watched as a Death Eater dropped to the ground, his mask falling from his hand.

Neville Longbottom.

Voldemort was beyond livid.

"Kill them!" he shouted, but the Death Eaters hesitated.

"But sire, she's your daughter," a heavy looking man said uncertainly.

"I don't care! Kill them!" Voldemort hissed, his eyes narrowing until they were slits in his face. "How dare you question me? Crucio!"

As the man fell to the ground, screaming in pain, the Avada Kedavra curse was shouted time and time again, flying over the heads of the people of the Order as they dropped to the ground. Lucy twisted and watched as two curses hit each other and the light shattered. She knew who she loved and that was all that mattered at the moment. She looked down at Blaise to find him looking up at her. She smiled and he smiled back. They would be all right, as long as they were together.

~~*~~

Jake watched the chaotic scene in front of him with disinterested eyes. He was getting bored. Couldn't the Death Eaters just kill the Order and be done with it? He ignored the small voice in his mind that told him to fight against the curse, to be free, to not listen to Voldemort. What did the voice know anyway?

Stretching with catlike grace, Jake leaned against the wall behind him and let his eyes drift over the people. He felt the urge to roll his eyes. God, the Death Eaters were stupid. Couldn't they see that the people of the Order were on the ground and not at their height? If they pointed their wands down, they might actually hit something. Tossing his wand in the air and catching it, Jake let his attention wander.

"LUCY!"

The panicked voice jerked Jake from his thoughts. His wand clattered to the ground, but Jake didn't notice. Lucy? The name sounded familiar. His eyes roamed the crowd until they found the unmoving girl. The curses stopped as everybody turned to watch the commotion. Jake straightened and frowned as something akin to concern rose in his chest.

"NO! Lucy, you can't do this to me! Please, wake up," Blaise shouted desperately, clutching Lucy's body close to his. The girl, however, remained motionless and didn't respond.

Jake tried to take a step forward, but the curse stopped him. Frowning, Jake tried again, and again the curse didn't let him.

"Stay," Voldemort ordered. Jake opened his mouth to protest, but he couldn't. He didn't know why he was so desperate to see the dead girl, but he was. He felt a connection to her. She was important to him, he was sure of it.

The warm fuzzy feeling in his head was starting to lift and shift into something else, something more sinister. The pain was returning.

"No." Even though Jake had uttered the word softly, it still vibrated around the room. Everybody turned to watch him.

"Let me go. I want to see her."

Whatever Voldemort was about to say, it was cut off by Blaise.

"You want to see her?! And why is that, oh mighty Boy-Who-Lived!?" Blaise shouted angrily, his sorrow turning into rage. "You don't care about her! If you did you wouldn't be standing next to Voldemort like the lap dog you are! You are a traitor. It's a shame that they didn't throw you in Azkaban in the first place! Stop pretending that you're human and that you have feelings! Admit it! You wanted to join Voldemort so you use the curse as a mask to hide behind. You never did have the intention of joining the Light Side. You were always evil!"

Jake gaped at the young man who was throwing insults at him like there was no tomorrow. He didn't know what to say. Blaise made absolutely no sense at all. He didn't want to join Voldemort. He wasn't evil. He was human and he did have feelings and right now, his feelings were urging him to snap Blaise's neck in half. How dare Blaise say that he didn't care about Lucy? Even though his memories concerning her were fuzzy, he knew he cared a great deal for her too.

The grip Voldemort had on him was loosening. Jake struggled against the curse and fought to regain his control over himself.

"Silence!" Voldemort called out. He glared at Blaise.

"Crucio," he said softly and Blaise dropped to the ground, writhing in pain. However, he didn't scream. He *refused* to scream.

"Harry," Voldemort said gently. "It's all right." Harry glanced at Voldemort and bit his lip uncertainly. He didn't know what was right anymore. Blaise screaming at him had brought back memories of Lucy and his other friends and the good times they'd had. But Voldemort's voice was so soothing.

Shaking his head, Jake tried to clear his head of thoughts. God, he needed an aspirin.

"If you join him Harry James Potter, then you are not James Potter's son!" Sirius suddenly shouted.

Immediately Voldemort straightened and glared at the man.

"For that, the whole Order is going to pay. CRUCIO!"

This time, the curse wasn't only restricted to one person. It spread over the prisoners like fire over wood. Everybody felt the crucio curse and many screamed.

Jake watched the man that had called out before and remembered. He remembered all the people that were in his old life.

Sirius Black.

Warm. Doggy. Godfather.

Remus Lupin.

Chocolate. Werewolf. Friend.

Hermione Granger.

Book worm. Strict. Best Friend.

Ron Weasley.

Hot-headed. Bad temper. Best Friend.

Ginny Weasley.

Ex-girlfriend. Friend.

Draco Malfoy.

Annoying. Sarcastic. Git. Ally.

Voldemort.

Evil. Parents' murderer. Enemy.

And now, all these people were getting hurt by Voldemort. Getting hurt because he couldn't fight off a damn curse. Getting hurt because he was too scared to face the people that had hurt him. Getting hurt because he thought it would be easier and less painful to give in than to fight. Getting hurt because of him.

All of a sudden, his mind cleared. Sure, he was still emotionally in pain, but surrendering to a curse wasn't going to make the pain go away. It might make him feel better for a while, but then he would hurt more than he did before. It was time to face his past instead of running from it. He was not a coward and he was James Potter's son.

"NO!"

Jake's shout rose above all the screams in the hall. The curse controlling his mind shattered like glass. His green eyes blazed with anger and defiance. No one told him what to do.

Harry Potter was back.

~~*~~