Story: Slow Cheetah
Author: Veritas Odium Parit
Ratings: MA+ for a very good reason: Mature themes, Strong language, Violence, Sexual content. BDSM. This story contains slash. Pairings: SS/HP eventually, Dom/Sub. Don't like, don't read.

Summary:
The Dark Lord has succeeded in conquering Hogwarts and killing Albus Dumbledore. The Death Eaters are gaining power, the Light side is crumbling, and Lucius Malfoy has kidnapped their only hope: The Saviour, Harry Potter. Harry is forced to play along in a dangerous game of betrayal and seduction: Lord Malfoy keeps him hidden in his manor, forcing him to live in a cage for his entertainment only. Severus Snape, the new headmaster and presumed faithful servant of Lord Voldemort is Harry's only chance at escaping.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. If I did, Severus wouldn't be sleeping alone, Sirius would be alive and Harry would have discovered the advantages of Firewhisky sooner.


Chapter One

-Waking up dead, inside of my head
Would never, never do, there is no med
No medicine to take
I've had a chance to be insane
Asylum from the falling rain
I've had a chance to break- The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Darkness. He remembered nothing but darkness at first.

A heavy cloud surrounded his memories, and Harry felt dizzy and disorientated. He was laying on his back, his eyes shut, he felt twigs digging into his bare neck.

Slowly, he moved his fingers, legs, arms, still refusing to open his eyes.

'Where am I?' he thought. His left leg hurt, burning as if cursed.

Suddenly, brief flashes of the past hours passed his mind: Voices screaming, fighting, a familiar tug, the feeling of apparation, the smell of a damp forest invading his nostrils. The feeling of grass under his bare knees. A cold breeze caressing his cheeks before he'd passed out, falling face first on the ground.

"Stand, Potter."

A rough voice ripped him away from his thoughts.

Strong hands gripped Harry's hair and yanked him upwards. He stumbled, caught his balance just in time and blinked.

Bright sunlight was invading his pupils, a torture after being succumbed to hours and hours of absolute darkness. He snapped his eyes shut again, still struggling to comprehend.
A sharp tug on his arm and someone started dragging him forwards.

"Open your eyes"

He recognized that voice out of thousands, and suddenly, everything came back and hit him with force, he gasped.

It all happened so fast: he had been on his way towards Hagrid's hut after curfew, paying the friendly half-giant a surprise visit, as the screaming began. The unmistakable shouts of tortured students mingled with mad cackling and exclamations of joy and victory.
Explosions, windows shattering, the Dark Mark appeared high up in the ink black sky and Harry immediately turned in his tracks and ran back towards the main entrance of the castle, his invisibility cloak billowing around his ankles.

Questions ran through his head: 'Why now? How could this happen?.'

Driven purely by fear and determination he forced his feet to keep moving, his side hurting and his lungs wheezing in an effort to draw in as much air as possible.

He ran along the west wing, red and green lights shining from behind various windows indicated the vicious killing curses and unforgivables being emitted from Death Eaters' wands.

'He had to stop them, he had to fight Voldemort.' This, accompanied by a great worry about his friends, was the only thought that occupied his mind as he finally reached the green lawn of the courtyard.

He staggered, catching his breath, allowing himself only a few seconds to regain his energy and started moving again.

Just as he'd reached the heavy double doors which parted the courtyard from the hall, the magically amplified high pitched voice of Voldemort resonated all around the castle, freezing Harry in his strides and chilling him to the bone.

"Your beloved headmaster is dead, we have surrounded the castle, succumb or die shamefully."

Before he'd even had the chance to grab his wand and burst through the doors, he felt a silent stinging curse hitting his leg, he lost his balance, his head hit the solid threshold and everything went black.

And now, he was being tugged along by no other than Blaise Zabini, Harry had no idea what was happening to him, how long he'd been unconscious and why he had been kidnapped from Hogwarts and the battle were his presence was required.

"Filthy bastard, let go of me!"

Harry screamed, finally able to think straight again, to realize that he was now at the mercy of a traitorous Slytherin, who was most likely bringing him straight to Voldemort. He searched frantically for his wand, only to notice it had been taken from him, and a brief flash of panic entered his mind.

Zabini was unimpressed by Harry's outburst, he gripped his arm painfully tight and kept on dragging him forward. Harry started to struggle, but with one flick of Zabini's wand his hands were bound behind his back. Undoubtedly the Slytherin had been the one to curse him in the first place and apparate him into this forest, which was gradually turning into a landscape of green hills and slopes.

"Where are you taking me?" Harry demanded, still trying to flee the Slytherin's iron grip. He was pretty sure he was nowhere near Hogwarts, maybe not even in Scotland any more.

'Why was he captured, only to be taken to a, ironically, sunny and quite idyllic scenery, if Tom Riddle was currently invading Hogwarts, probably eager to kill him?'

Blaise didn't answer, only dug his nails painfully into his arm. Harry tried to kick him, but lost his balance, his left leg stung painfully and his companion chuckled.

"Don't even try Potter."

"What the fuck is going on? Where are we going?"

"Shut up or I'll make you." Blaise pushed Harry forward again.

"Y-" Harry couldn't even finish the first word of his sentence as he felt his tongue being stuck to the roof of his mouth. He coughed, desperate to catch some air, unable to talk or utter any other sound.

"I've warned you." Blaise smirked maliciously.

Harry sent him the most filthy glare he possessed, but was not able to voice his insults. Instead, he started on paying more attention to his surroundings, trying focus his attention on escaping, rather then insulting the slimy Slytherin.

Just then they'd reached the top of a hill, and Harry suddenly found himself in front of an impressive iron gate that hadn't been there before. Blaise held up his left arm, forcing Harry trough the gates, which allowed them to move past as if they were moving through thin air.

"Welcome to Malfoy Manor." The tall boy beside him smirked, and Harry felt his heart grow cold.

~~~~SSHP~~~~

A/N: This is my first upload ever, a very short chapter, because I have no idea if my work is good enough to be published; English is not my mother language. I'll search for a beta if there are too many mistakes/grammar errors.