Harry was gone.

And Voldemort was upset.

Voldemort had pure red fury in his eyes as he walked towards the exit. He pointed his wand behind him and a huge explosion erupted through the halls of the Ministry right before he was gone with a loud *Crack*

…...

Harry was very uncomfortable as he felt like he was being forcibly squeezed through a small tube. He landed hard, almost falling to the ground but was gently held up by a firm grasp to his arm. He looked up to his headmaster, their eyes connecting for a moment.

"Harry are you alright?" said Dumbledore in a small rushed voice.

Harry looked down trying to think about the question. After a moment he settled on what to say to his headmaster .."I think so Professor.."

Dumbledore looked at the boy with skeptical eyes that seemed to bore into him, Harry didn't like it, he had never seen Dumbledore look so serious before.

"Harry, we need to talk. When I found you, Voldemort was very close to you. I need you to tell me what happened." He said in a low commanding voice.

Harry looked up into blue eyes, his own eyes welling up a bit, flashes of what had occurred over his stay with Voldemort going through his mind. "Sir, I'm not sure what happened. Voldemort didn't seem to want to kill me! I don't know what was happening, he made me take that thing on the shelf then just sort of grabbed me and..." he said in a rushed voice, not knowing how to continue.

Dumbledore lowered his eyes from the boy. He didn't really need Harry to tell him what had happened, he just needed a second to use his powerful Legilimency skills to see everything that had occurred, thanking Merlin that he hadn't seen other advances on the boy.

For he knew what he had seen in the Ministry, even if Harry did not. He saw fully the lustful actions of his enemy, and it made his blood boil. He knew Voldemort was twisted but it never crossed his mind that he would be sexually interested in Harry, or anyone for that matter.

Sighing deeply, he ushered Harry to the door of the house directly in from of them.

Harry then looked around noticing that they were standing on the edge of a street that looked like an ordinary muggle neighborhood. They reached the door and Dumbledore led them into the house.

…..

Harry followed Dumbledore through a dark and dusty hallway that looked like it was once very elegant, but now looked old and neglected. They came to a large sitting room that was a bit cleaner and somewhat lighter feeling due to the large crackling fireplace in the center.

Harry looked around to see the faces of his best friends Ron, and Hermione. He also noticed a couple faces he didn't recognize and his old professor, Remus Lupin. All of which were clearly not expecting Harry to be standing before them.

They stared at him for a few moments with blank expressions on their faces. Then suddenly Hermione was the first to come out of her dumb stupor with a loud scream. She jumped from her place on the couch and gave Harry the tightest bear hug he's ever had in his life. After a few seconds, he wrapped his arm around his friend as well, eyes welling up with tears, he inhaled deeply, smelling the sweet hint of strawberry shampoo, a scent he didn't think he'd ever smell again.

Soon after, Ron got up and joined their hug fest, with tears of his own in his eyes.

The adults in the room didn't move, but were looking at Dumbledore with mixed expressions of disbelief and happiness.

Lupin got up and looked at Dumbledore, still with shock in his eyes..."How?, how can this be? Why did Voldemort let him live this long?" he said hurriedly in a quiet voice.

Dumbledore put his hand up, looking at Remus

"I'm not sure, Remus.. but for now we need to give Harry rest and nourishment, perhaps he will enlighten us in time." He glanced over at Harry as he said the last part, hoping that it would be enough for Remus for the time being.

…...

Voldemort stood in his sitting room,looking down at the pool of blood before him. He hadn't wasted any time before calling upon Lucius, who had been in charge of making sure his trip to the Ministry went smoothly. Lucius was also the only person who knew of his plans to get the prophecy that night so the betrayal could only be his doing.

He had just spent the past hour punishing Lucius for his betrayal before finally ending his annoying screams of agony.

Voldemort still stood in the aftermath of his fury, his mind was still not calm enough for intelligent though as it was still clouded by pure rage. After awhile he finally tried to think of something other than Lucius and murder.

He thought of Harry, and how badly he wanted him..

But he was gone, Dumbledore had taken what was his.

"That bastard will not get away with stealing from me. If he thinks he can take what is mine he is sorely mistaken.." He said in a low dangerous voice as if someone was actually there to hear it.

He then walked across the room and knelt over the mangled corpse of Malfoy Sr. and found his arm, which was surprisingly still attached, and tore away the blood stained sleeve grabbing the charcoal tattoo underneath.

…...

Dumbledore sat at the dining room table, the entire order either sitting around it or standing off to the side. He had just finished briefing them on the rescue of Harry when someone at the table let out a yell of pain that made half the room jump in shock. Everyone was now looking at the man who yelled with curiosity and fear as if something bad was about to happen.

The man in question had jumped to his feet, grabbing his arm in clear pain as he quickly pushed his way out of the crowded room.

The man had long shiny black hair that shadowed his face, which was pasty white. His nose was somewhat crooked and his eyes were blacker than the tattoo he was gripping on his arm. He stopped in the dust covered hallway, his teeth clinched in pain to stop him from yelling again.

"He is angry...very angry...it's never caused such pain like this before.." He thought, panic setting in. He knew the rescue of Potter would upset the dark lord greatly. He looked up at Dumbledore who had swiftly entered the hallway no one else following him, which he was grateful for.

He looked at the old man with eyes filled with fear, and emotion he rarely expressed.

"If I go, I will die." He said flatly.

Dumbledore looked up at his spy, his face looking more tired and old than it had ever been and said "If you do not go, we will lose this war. You are our only advantage, Severus...if there is even a chance you will survive..."

Severus looked down. He knew that he was pretty much the most valuable person they had in this never ending fight against evil, but it still took him by surprise. It hurt that the old man would tell him this while knowing that this time he would surly not make it out alive.

Had the old man not even cared for him? Had he just used him for the war? Something in Severus broke right then. His cold heart clinched up in pain almost rivaling the physical pain in his arm.

He had never known someone to care for him, he had a friend once, but it ended in betrayal and heartbreak.

Snape bent his head down, his face almost covered in a curtain of shiny black hair. The only person he thought might care for him, maybe like a father cared for a son, was now asking him to go to his death. He was glad that his hair was covering his broken face as he shamefully let one tear fall across his cheek.

He didn't let his weakness go on any longer than that, as he roughly whispered to the older man

"I will go"

With that he got to his feet and strode outside disappearing with a *Crack*

Dumbledore stared at the closed door

…...

Voldemort stood from the corpse and waited for a few minutes, getting angrier every second. He wasn't someone who liked to wait, especially now.

Finally, Severus Snape appeared before him.

Snape briefly took in the blood spattered room and the corpse of someone very familiar to him before kneeling to the ground, his head bowed low, hoping that it was a quick death and that his Lord didn't want to draw it out too long, which he doubted very much.

Voldemort walked closer to Snape, wand in hand. "Get up, Severus, I need your assistance."

"Yes, my Lord" Snape said quickly a flicker of hope in his head as he brought himself into a standing position.

"Before we go into that, what is the news on Potter." He asked flatly.

"He is being kept by the Order in their headquarters." He answered honestly, he knew he should lie, or try to fake ignorance about the boys rescue but he didn't feel like giving Voldemort any reason to snap and make him look like the mangled body on the ground. He also knew that telling the truth would make Voldemort trust him more,and he saw no reason to not tell him were Harry was, there was no way he could get to him at the headquarters anyway.

Snape waited for Voldemort to reply, but got no answer. "What is it that I can do for you my Lord?" he finally said, feeling weary.

Voldemort took himself away from his thoughts and looked at his death eater. "Severus, I need you to brew me a love potion." Voldemort said simply.

"...m-my lord?." Severus said in shock. Out of all the things he was expecting to happen on this visit, brewing a love potion was not one of them.

Voldemort ignored Snape's shocked reaction and went on..

"Severus, I need you to brew me a very specific love potion. I do not have the expertise nor the time to brew it myself, so I would like you to do it. I want this potion to induce lust, while creating a deep desire to be with another, make it as strong as is possible, you have one day...Ah, and you will be using my potions lab, the elves will get you the required supplies. Do not leave this manor until you're finished, Severus.." he said dangerously. Knowing that the other would already know full well what would happen to him if he didn't cooperate.

Snape was very curious about who the potion was for but decided that if he finally had some luck on his side he wouldn't waste it, and strode out of the room towards the dungeons, his mind trying to come up with a potion with Voldemort's specifications that would only take a day to brew.

After his death eater was gone, Voldemort sat down in his armchair, taking out his wand he cleaned the room of blood and guts before it started to stink too badly, and he waited, an evil little glimmer in his eye as he looked to the fire.