Pink Mist

In the dark corners of the dusty alleys in the long cold nights where people would huddle together and when things where looking bleak for them they, like all others, turned to the beacon of hope. Praying that he would get them out of these dark times, doing any little thing to make the ministry do something. Unknown to them he was doing something, something that was for change, for the greater good.

He had finally done it and crossed over to the dark side. Dumbledore had died by the ministry’s hand and now there was no chance for the half-breeds and all others who wanted a free wizarding world. This was his only choice and yet he was happy with it, things were going to a plan he chose and one day they would be free.

Harry sat in Riddle manor, three years later, looking around the fine furnishings and smiled as he sipped his drink. This was much better, things were better for him and soon they would bring their final blow. It had taken the Death Eaters awhile to fully trust their former enemy but when their Lord had shown nothing but trust they had no choice but to. They had started change in the Dark Mantra and their world era of power was finally coming after over twenty years of waiting. But there was something wrong, something was stopping him sleeping peacefully next to his partner, something that had been plaguing his mind, a promise, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

So wrapped up in his own thoughts he didn’t hear someone walk in.
“Are you coming to bed yet?”

Harry looked up from his half empty glass and saw his partner, lover looking down on him; small worry lines creased his otherwise smooth forehead.

“I can’t, I’m still thinking.” He looked back down at his glass

“You won’t be able to think if you don’t sleep.”

Harry laughed, cold and harsh making his companion step back slightly.

“My Prince, please.”

Harry looked back up at the reference of his title and studied the older man carefully, he looked tired and worn, he had been through a lot over the past couple of years and Harry realised he had been unfair on the way he had been treating the man, paying attention all he wanted but not of his caring and thoughtful lover. Through his complete arrogance Harry thought that he was invincible, a little voice told him that his partner was right and that he did, in fact, need sleep.

“Okay.” He drained his glass.

The man held out his hand for his Prince and walked them to their room.
Harry pushed the older man roughly against the door as soon as it was closed and started to kiss him roughly grinding his hips hard against his pinned partner. He and his partner moaned as their erections pressed against each other. They moved to the bed ripping each others clothes off as they went moaning, kissing and biting as they went. They tripped and fell onto the bed in a tangle of limbs, kissing each other ferociously. Harry managed to get his partner on his back and once again started to grind his hips, both of them moaning louder. Harry wanted, needed more and pressed his cock into his partner’s entrance and pushed in roughly. His partner crying out in pain making Harry moan all the more and started to move faster and faster till he hit the sweet spot that makes moans fill there bedroom. Harry moved faster and faster using his Quidditch legs to move him in deeper and deeper until they both came; Harry moaning

“Lucius.”

***
Caroline Dursley hated everything about her name. It was so formal. It made her feel like she had to be correct and proper, which she did. Living with her mother, Margery Dursley made every moment hell. In her house there were rules, if you didn’t follow there would be consequences.

Caroline had a small family who she hated, and saw quite regularly, unfortunately. There names were Uncle Vernon, her mother’s brother, Aunt Petunia, her uncle’s wife, cousin Dudley, their too fat child. That was it but Caroline new about ‘the boy.’ He lived there but was never really spoken about except to taunt, scream and order him to do things. His name was Harry Potter and he was very strange.

He was two years older then her and never had she got on with anyone better. He knew her better then anyone ever had. They had the same lives, different homes. While Harry lived in the cupboard under the stairs, while she got the small, cold attic space.

There was something else odd about Caroline, well not so odd more a defection in the gene pool. She was a freak, that’s what she was always told. She was mixed-race. Mostly black and, that to everyone she new, made her less then human and worse then even ‘the boy.’ She never knew her father, she assumed she must have had one at some point but never had met him. She had never even seen another black person before unless it was on the news and even then it was mostly about them being druggies and criminals. Whenever they came on her mother would give her an evil glare as though Caroline herself was responsible before turning over to another channel.

Caroline was good at school. She loved it but a suburban school like hers held no time for her. She had to work very hard to get what she wanted because there was no-one there who was going to cut her any slack at all and most of the time her marks differed from her peers. Even if she got a higher mark the overall grade would be lower. It was unfair but who was she going to complain to? Her mother? That was a laugh and she would have done if she wouldn’t have been beaten for it.

There was only one teacher who was ever, not nice but she gave her a chance. Mrs Sitian. She was American and very strict. Strict but fair. She thought P.E, Physical Education. When Caroline first started at Mearbrooks School for Girls she was so skinny and had no muscle on her at all, but she had good aim and Mrs Sitian saw this, helped her progress and although running was too much for her, football was okay, hockey was a disaster (the other girls would hit her round the shins with the hockey sticks), but in the summer javelin, rounder’s and best of all tennis.

Tennis is where Caroline thrived, it was her favourite sport, putting all the effort she had behind the ball and getting it to the other end of the court. She got private training sessions at lunch, free of charge. It was her favourite time of day and it gave her hope, the only thing that kept her spirits up through the holidays and times at home. When she went to her aunt and uncle’s and they all went out ‘the boy’ and her would often sneak into her cousins room and grab his tennis rackets and play in the back garden, why anyone would buy her fat cousin something that required movement and energy was beyond her, even his Wii that her mother brought him last year was thrown out the window first time in use because he built up too much of a sweat, hyperventilated and lost. She would win every time.

But when Caroline went back for year 11 she was gone, not a goodbye, not a warning just gone. Caroline stopped after that, stopper caring, stopped thinking, and just was; like her soul had been sucked out of her, she just didn’t care. There was no one she could trust, she had trusted Mrs Sitian and she had just left her. Like everyone else, adults were not to be trusted, they couldn’t help you, they didn’t want to help you.

She knew a secret, a big one, a huge one. She would never tell anyone though. He was her only friend. She was 11 and was over at her aunt and uncle’s, they had been told ‘the boy’ went to St Brutus’s Secure Centre for incurably criminal boys. Her mother may believe it but Caroline wasn’t fooled, he was too nice and kind and good. Her mother had spent the whole night insulting ‘the boy’ and his parents, in the end he went slightly mad and something strange happened, he mother started to blow up. It was quite scary but so very funny. She didn’t know whether she should laugh or scream, but she saw ‘the boy’ run to his room and she decided to follow. She had never been in it before, it was bigger then hers and had a bed and a wardrobe just like any other room. But there were some things that were different.

There was an owl, a snowy owl, in a pigeon cage and pictures that were moving? No that couldn’t be right, not moving? But it was true the man and woman were dancing around the frame smiling and laughing at each other, a happiness and love she had never seen before.

“H..Harry?”

“Caroline what are you doing here?”

“I came to see if you were okay, are those people moving?”

“Yes.”

“But how?”

“Magic.” He said simply his eyes boring into the photo.

“But, Harry, magic it can’t exist it just can’t.”

“It does.” He said dumbly. “I’m a wizard and there is a world right here in England that lives intertwining with the one you know. Things are so much more then what they seem and it’s amazing and wonderful and when I enter that world I feel safe, when I enter that world I’m at home.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“I have to come here for the holidays. I have no choice but now I did magic and I’m think I could be arrested or worse expelled.”

“Then go find out. Leave now, you’ve broken rules anyway and find out. Besides when Uncle Vernon gets his hands on you he’s gonna kill you.”

“You’re right!”

Harry suddenly got up and started throwing things into his trunk, seeing what he was doing Caroline helped and soon enough it was full and Harry was dragging it down the stairs, while she watched from the top.

Caroline got in so much trouble for that day but it was worth it, her mother was a little calmer after that but only for a while and then the whole time started again.

Ever since that incident whenever they went to stay at her uncle and aunt’s in the summer holidays Harry would tell her all about the magical world, out of ear-shot of the others. All about this mad man called Voldemort who wanted to kill Harry, about his best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, about the most simple of things like Hermione’s evil cat to the teachers and lessons at Hogwarts. She loved every moment of it and through out the year pretend she was there instead of the life she was forced to live.

When she was in the summer before going back for her final year of compulsory schooling she saw her cousin again but it was different, he was different.

“I’m not coming back.” He said quietly

“I surmised as much.”

“A new word?” Harry tried to smile at his god awful attempt at humour.

Caroline laughed for a second.

“What’s going on? Tell me, it’s not like I can tell anyone.”

“I’m joining him.”

Caroline looked at Harry as though he had gone mad, she knew he was talking about.

“Why?” She whispered.

“We need change, the wizarding world need’s change. And Dumbledore’s dead.”

“Did he...?”

“No!” Harry interrupted fiercely “I would have never joined him if that was the case. It was the
Ministry of Magic and he himself was shocked by it. He respected and feared Dumbledore and always said it would be him who killed him. I know that won’t make sense to you but please try to understand that’s a type of honour for him”

“So you’re just going to leave me?” Caroline said in a small voice.

“No, I’ll come back for you, I promise.”

Harry smiled and gave her a big hug and then went outside. Caroline rushed to the window and in a pop he was gone.

***

That night Harry had horrible dreams full of thick leather straps the hit his bare legs and back; cuts that would bleed and a horrible laugh, a deep booming one that filled the room, suffocating him. He wanted it to stop, the break free of it and e in his own room. But the bounds of the dream were wound too tightly around him and try as he might he could not escape. He could not break free.

Somewhere in front of him Harry saw an image floating lazily past his eyes looking scared and alone, but he couldn’t see it properly, he couldn’t relate to it although he knew it should.

It was screaming at him.

“Harry, you promised you would come back to me! You promised!”

This was whipped away by the leather strap and now he was more clearly who was the wielder of the thing. His Uncle Vernon looked at him with such hatred Harry had come accustomed to his uncle’s face. He shouted at ‘the freak’ and Harry couldn’t stop himself feeling like the little boy from the cupboard, trying to keep the Dursley’s happy.
Harry woke up screaming. He clung to the nearest thing to him and felt long fine hair tickle his hair.

“Harry,” Lucius said calmly while rubbing circles in the smaller ones back “it was just a dream.”

Harry sat up staring daggers at the older man.

“I am weak.” He said defiantly.

“You are not weak.” Lucius said looking his superior in the eye. This had happened at least twice a week, sometimes more, since the beginning of the summer. Something was going on in his Prince’s mind and nothing he could say would change Harry’s mind that he wasn’t weak to be plagued by these dreams.

Harry refused to take any sleeping potions, refused to except that he needed help and wouldn’t even tell the Dark Lord about them. Harry refused to be seen as weak. Lucius was the only one who knew and he knew what would happen if he told ay living or dead soul about his Prince’s nightmares. It was Lucius that forced Harry to go to bed at night, Lucius who would put a silencing charm on the room so no others could hear his screams, Lucius who would calm Harry back to sleep.

But with every night of screams Lucius got more and more worried as the screams got louder and Harry got more scared. He needed to find out what was wrong with his Prince and soon.

“Please, tell me what is wrong with you, you have to tell me. For your own sake.”

“Luc I’m scared.” Harry pressed against his broad chest holding him tightly.

Lucius registered the use of the name Harry used when he wanted to be just Harry, not the Dark Prince.

“It’s okay Harry, really. It’s just us. I want to help you but I can’t when you don’t let me. I want to help but you don’t make it easy.” Lucius carried on rubbing circles on his lower back.
“It’s just I keep seeing things. I know there not real, but they feel it and I remember...”
Lucius didn’t need to tell him what he remembered and he pulled Harry closer to hold him safe.

“...and there’s this face and I keep seeing it and I know it’s important but I can’t remember. Like a promise and I just don’t know what it is.”

Lucius thought over what his Prince had told him. This was one of his jobs in the ranks, to put the pieces of an obscure puzzle together, making it clearer for the others to understand. He carried on mulling over while holding his shaking Prince to him. Slowly he started to piece the picture together coming out with a rough outline of what should be there.

“Is it possible that the two things are related?” He asked carefully lifting the younger man’s head so they could see each other. “That the house with the muggle’s house is part of the promise?”

“No!” Harry said defiantly. “I have no ties to that place.” Harry’s normally green eyes turned an evil red and Lucius realised that he needed to calm him down, fast.

“Hear me out, you may have no ties in a way that I do to my own family Manner or the people inside, but you are still plagued by those people and what happened to you there and it needs to be sorted. Harry you don’t eat, barely sleep, I’m starting to think you would drink your self to death in the library if the Dark Lord and myself didn’t force you out.”
Harry pulled away glaring daggers at the man in front of him. He put on his most evil sneer, the one he used to scare the victim of his next Cruciatus curse.

“Are you telling me that, although I am one of the most powerful wizards in the world, mere muggles would scare me into a little boy?” Harry jumped up and grabbed his blood red dressing gown. “There has to be more to it then just muggles scaring the poor little orphan boy.” He said mockingly.

With that he run out and left Lucius feeling slightly confused as he tried to wrap his head
over what had just happened.

***

Lucius knocked carefully on the Dark Lord’s chambers, hoping against hope that he wasn’t asleep, he would not see morning if he was. It was his lucky day because the great oak door opened to reveal his Lord sitting but the fire on a great back chair reading a small hard backed book.

Lucius bowed as the Dark Lord turned a page of the book disinterested.

“My Lord, I know I ought not to come, but, you see...”

“Spit it out Lucius I haven’t got all night.” The Dark Lord interrupted in a bored voice turning another page.

“It’s the Dark Prince my Lord. He is still being plagued by these nightmares and it *is* to do with the muggles, he won’t hear anything of this matter but I know it to be true, he will not listen to me, but to you....he will.”

The Dark Lord turned a page again.

“Then what do you suppose we do about it?”

Lucius was taken aback by what the Dark Lord had said, he vary rarely asked their opinion with anything. Lucius thought quickly, what would he want to have done in that situation? The answer came instantly he knew exactly what he wanted the only question is that what his Prince would want, he had to really think about how much he really knew about the Prince and then he knew the answer.

“I think we should get the muggles from their house and bring them to the Prince, maybe reminding him that they hold no power over him anymore.”

“Do you think that we should tell the Prince this?” The Dark Lord asked turning another page of his small book.

“Yes but only when he can not stop it, he will not be able to see that this is in his best interest and I believe that it truly is.”

The sound of the pages of the book turning were heard again as for the first time that night Lucius saw some emotion other then boredom in his Master’s eyes.

“Well tell me the team and we’ll do it tonight, but pick carefully, we have never known what went on there, thanks to that fool Dumbledore, you must choose.”

Lucius thought for a moment as the Dark Lord went back to his book.

“Granger and...” he paused for a second as he tried to force himself to say the words “Weasley, they already know a lot of what happened there. Bellatrix she will find this completely enjoyable. And then finally Severus it shall be a perfect.”

“Is that all you wish to take, you do not want more for such an important mission.”

“No my Lord, I think this is perfect number, it is an important mission but I do not want too many people knowing what happened there my Lord. He feels exposed enough as it is.”

“Very well, you may leave now and set it up for tonight. No mistakes because it shall not be my rath you have to fear if this is to go wrong.”

Lucius bowed and walked out thinking hard of how to keep Harry from knowing his thoughts.

***

Caroline was stuck outside working in the heat of the sun beating down on her neck wishing that she could have a drink, but she knew she couldn’t until the garden was finished. It was an evil summer at her Uncle Vernon’s house, because they had finally gotten rid of ‘the boy’ she had all his jobs for the summer, and she felt like she was melting. Wishing the day would go faster she let her mind wonder.

That did little to help as all she could think about was Harry, it had been three years since he had left and she had seen neither hide nor hair of him since. Nothing to indicate that he had remembered her at all. He had forgotten his promise and like all adults he was not to be trusted. He would be twenty this year and he was just like all others. He had abandoned her. All his talk about magic and a new life was forgotten; it was not good to dwell on dreams it only made reality that much more painful.

Caroline finally finished and went into the house, her aunt screaming about dirt in the house. She ignored her shouting and went to get a dustpan and brush to clear up the dried mud that had fallen of her shoes and cloths then went into the cupboard under the stairs where she was to stay until called to make dinner.

Dinner was the usual affair, Ripper bit and clawed her ankles (she only bled slightly), her mother insulted her and Dudley leered at her in a disgusting way. All in all what had turned into a normal night at the Dursley’s.

She had finished clearing up and washing the plates form stuffed aubergines and roasted vegetables, more from Dudley’s failing diet, and cleaned the kitchen in Petunia’s pristine manner and walked back to her cupboard for some well deserve sleep. Walking past the lounge she past all the Dursley’s in there drinking some form of alcoholic beverage or another and talking loudly. She sighed knowing the next day would be painful for her as all of them would have very painful hangovers in the morning.

In her cupboard she let go of her horrible ragged cloths and but on a horrible ragged, oversized tee-shirt of Dudley’s that threatened to drown her. She was small and the whole thing made her feel very exposed because it barely touched her skin and just hung there, stopping just above her knees. She sighed and ducked down, scrunching her knees up to sleep in the child size bed. She closed her eyes and started to fall into a restless sleep.

***

“Now is there any questions?” asked Lucius as he looked at the small group in front of him.
“Has Harry, crap I mean the Dark Prince, authorized this?” asked the Weasley boy in front of him with a frown.

“The Dark Lord has authorized this; there fore it should be satisfactory for you Mr. Weasley.” Lucius said curtly.

“The Dark Prince wouldn’t understand. Not at the moment at least, he’s too wrapped up in his own thoughts and fears.”

“Always have an answer Granger. Seem to be an insufferable know-it-all even out of that school.” Severus said cruelly.

Weasley looked angry and was about to defend Granger when Lucius really thought he should intervene, this had to be done tonight.

“This has to be done now, tonight. I can not have you arguing amongst you’re selves, is that clear?” There was no answer but he didn’t expect one. “There should be the two adults and their son. Bellatrix and Weasley you have the wife, Granger you get the fat son. Severus you and I shall have he husband. None of them are to die but we may have a little bit of fun, Bella I say a little. Alright any more questions?” Lucius glared at them all as though daring them to ask another question.

“What if there are more people there?”

The three others around Granger stared at her as though she was slightly insane for asking a question. Granger looked around.

“What they could have friends or family over. Remember his Aunt Marge he blew up the summer after second year.”

“We bring them in.”

***

Caroline opened her eyes slightly as a crack of light came through the door. She looked around trying to get her bearings, was it morning already? A shadow then blocked the light, a big figure.

“Dudley, what do you want?” Caroline mumbled trying to rub out the sleep out of her eyes.

He carried on walking forward towards her. Caroline drew her legs towards her in the corner of the bed, she couldn’t see his face but she had a feeling she didn’t want to.
With his huge hands he pushed her down on the bed ripping her top in a couple of places, and started to undo his trousers.

“Dudley, please.” She whispered.

He slapped her hard around the face and moved himself above her moving his old tee-shirt up her skinny legs. Caroline tried to push him off her with all her strength she could muster, but it wasn’t enough to move the giant lump above her.

Caroline just closed her eyes and willed herself to be somewhere else. She thought of the long repressed thoughts of Hogwarts and the Wizarding world, she imagined that she was flying a broom or seeing the Irish boy blow things up. She imagined that she was eating with friends in the Great Hall or laughing about Snape with people in the dungeons as he fell over.

Nothing was real to her now she just wanted it all to end, so that nothing could hurt her again, no adults, just complete and utter nothingness.

Abruptly cold light entered the small room and Caroline felt a huge lump fall on her crushing her insides as her large cousin fell on her all of his weight pressing on her tiny frame. Looking at the door she saw a tall woman with wild unruly hair staring at her with a manic gleam in her eye, and then more people entered the room and saw them. She closed her eyes pretending it would all go away.

***

The five looked at the house and Hermione stared and really wished she didn’t have to be here. They looked as the lights went off in the house above them and they went up the front garden path to the door. Lucius opened the door with a wave of his wand and they entered silently. They all headed upstairs and split into their groups. The others went into the master room while Hermione checked the others. In one was just lots of stuff and an average size bed, but stuff was everywhere. There was a 32” TV with a PS 1,2,3, Game Cube, X Box, Nintendo 64, and a Wii, there was so much for one person, poor Harry. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. While there was all this stuff there was no person in this room.

Annoyed Hermione left it and she walked into Snape.

“Lucius said we have to check the other rooms, where’s the boy?” He asked looking around.

“Can’t find him, I’ll keep looking.”

Hermione went in the other room and saw that it too was filled with stuff, but most of it seemed to be broken, and on the bed was a huge figure. Looking around it she found this was a fairly ugly woman. She raised her wand to hex her into next week when a barking came from behind her and a growl, the woman made a grunt and turned to look around and started to scream as she saw the strange woman in front of her. The dog started to bark even more and went to jump at Hermione.

“Stupefy. Avada Kedavra” Blue then green light came from the door and the dog fell down mid jump and so did the woman.

Turning Hermione saw it was Snape. Pointing his wand at the dog.

Hermione breathed slowly for a couple of seconds.

“Thank you Severus.” She whispered.

Snape looked abashed at the use of his first name and turned swiftly and walked down the stairs to a small commotion down there.

Hermione rushed down and saw Bellatrix standing over a fat, fat couldn’t actually sum up what Hermione was; boy and he seemed to be on something. Rushing past a grinning Bellatrix she saw that he was on top of a small girl.

Using a charm to make the obese boy move of her Hermione saw the extent of what had been going on and also saw that the girl was awake, with tears falling down her face.

“Hi. My name is Hermione, who are you?”

The girl didn’t say anything but looked around the room at the others in the room. She tried to move but Hermione was too fast and grabbed her back towards her.

“I’m trying to help but I can’t if you don’t let me.”

The girl just carried on trying to escape.

“I’m sorry.” Hermione pointed her wand at the girl and she fell limp against her body.
Snape walked forward and picked the girl up in his arms, Bellatrix pointed her wand at the fatty and they went outside to join Ron, Malfoy and the other Dursley’s.