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Disclaimer

I own nothing of the Harry Potter franchise.

Glad to clear that up

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The dark lord finished the last line in his circle of runes, using diamond dust, unicorn blood and the elixir of life created with his own philosopher's stone. The paste resulted was used in a cluster, with the size of one hundred feet in diameter. The man rose and beheld his work. The markings were perfectly designed, the result of years of work, of uncounted trials and errors, of decades of study, leading to that moment. The depressions in the floor were designed in a way that the liquids spilled in the periphery would flow into the center, where the dark lord would be. The dark lord, an old man, aged nearly a hundred and who didn't look older than forty looked to his back and noticed the presence of his most loyal servant, the one who had stood with him through nearly ninety years of life, wars, happiness, loss and death. His servant looked at him and held his head, as his master had ordered him all those years ago. He too, was old. The difference between him and his master was that he was an elf. He once had been a house elf but after making a bond of friendship, allegiance and loyalty, he became much more than that. He was a dark elf, his life and the dark lord's merged for all time. He alone held his master's ear. He alone was the banner man of his master, ruling at his master's side in his lord's name over wizards, goblins, elfs and other magical creatures.

Both he and his master were tyrants, but they had peace for nearly seventy years, both in the wizarding world and between wizarding and muggle.

The elf grinned. It wasn't an amused grin, but a cruel one. He knew what his master was thinking. He shared the very same thoughts.

- Send them in. - his master ordered, in a ragged voice. His lord hadn't speak in days.

- Wouldn't be wise to rest, my lord? - asked the elf, not out of defiance but care - You should eat and rest before the next step.

The dark lord simply sighed. He truly was weary. He simply nodded and levitated himself from the center of the rune cluster, sitting on his throne, next to his servant who gave him a plate filled with fruits and a cup of water. The dark lord ate, drink and closed his eyes.

He knew he was asleep when he saw a blue eyed blond beauty, smiling sadly at him. In his dream he wanted to catch her. He wanted to hold her in his arms and never let her go but he would never catch her. Even his dreams mocked him. For nearly eighty years he had that dream. Every night he would run after her until he couldn't run anymore. By then, he would wake up. What was worse, she called for him, as if she begged him to catch her. To find her. To held her. To save her. TO SAVE HER!

The dark lord's eyes flared. A green light filled the room, coming from his eyes, revealing his true power and he rose from his seat.

- Bring them in! - he ordered. At once, the dark elf popped out from the room and moments later, a door opened. Through it, thirty people came, taking their positions in pre-determined positions around the rune's cluster. They crossed their arms behind their back and waited their master's commands. Those thirty were under the imperious curse, of course. There was no reason why the dark lord would allow stupidity or disloyalties to ruin the ritual, important as it was for him. He had been preparing this for decades and he would not allow any flaws. The dark lord picked his wand and levitated himself to the center of the rune cluster.

- Come, my loyal friend. It is time. - the dark lord called his servant, who popped in front of his master, kneeling.

- I will be forever indebted to you for this gift, master. - the dark elf said, looking at his lord. The dark lord smiled and handed his second wand to his friend who took it. As an elf, he didn't need a wand, but as the dark lord learned elfin magic, so did the elf learned human magic. Besides, there was no spell in elfin magic for what they needed.

- Slit your own throats and bleed into the cavities before you. - the dark lord ordered to the thirty people around them. At once, they reached silver daggers and took them to their throats. Some simply opened a gash and let the blood flow others mutilated themselves so that the blood could flow better. In minutes, everyone had bled to death. The blood flowed into the center of the cluster and surrounded both the dark lord and the dark elf, both beginning to chant in a long forgotten language. More people came in, taking the positions of those who had entered before them. As them, they too slit their own throats, letting the crimson liquid flow. The pattern was repeated several times and the corpses piled around the rune cluster. The runes started to shine in red and the blood began to be absorbed by them, powering the cluster. When the dark lord and his servant finished chanting, the runes were incandescent in the floor, giving the entire room a blood red glow, looking eary in the midst of the corpses and black magic.

- See you in the other side, my friend. - the dark lord said, hope in his voice.

- I shall be there, my lord. - the dark elf replied, equally hopeful. Both smiled and pointed their wands at themselves:

- AVADA KEDAVA! - both intoned, green light coming out of their wands, hitting them in the chests. However, they did not die. They felt a great pain taking hold of them, as if they were being ripped apart and found themselves watchung their own bodies wither and become dust, quickly vanished by the winds that lifted in the room. They, or their souls, as the dark lord theorized, were in excruciating pain, as they too were ripped from existence, being absorbed by the blood powered rune cluster. The last thing the dark lord saw before everything became void was a blue eyed blonde beauty.

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