My gaze was desperately searching for anything. Anything. But there was no one there, just me and the most dreaded black mage of all time. Voldemort.
My lips parted, I think involuntarily. His relentless footsteps and his soul-penetrating gaze were enough for me not to move, he didn’t even have to use words to do so. I knew there was no escape, no mouse path. I was a trapped mouse captured by a snake.
I never thought there would be anyone I would hate more than him. This hatred was simple and pure. What I felt for the minister was quite different. Those people I trusted to fight for the good side, were easily thrown me away at this nefarious snake, saying so they would get peace.
They were tied to my life, everything, to this almost non-human being. They were deprived of my will. I snorted deep inside. And they would have expected me to kill the most powerful enemy in the wizarding world in a careless moment. After all. Oh sure. I looked up as he stopped in front of me. That’s when it got to my numb brain that I wasn’t going to be a mouse. Oh, a snake was what I could be. It may be smaller, it may be safer, but I will not be vulnerable prey. I stood defiantly at the other mage's gaze as he caught my chin.
"What are the real intentions of the minister and Dumbledore with this ridiculous move to offer me Alice Potter on a tray?" The mockery and contempt emanating from his voice I didn’t know if it was really for me or Dumbledore. I drew my mouth to a similarly mocking smile, then lowered my occult shield in a second. I let him see in my memories what I wanted to show him.
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••
*Flashback*
"But Albus, will she really be able to kill Him in a situation like this?" I knew I should have waited outside, but a part of me wanted to know why the Minister and Albus Dumbledore were talking about me. My invisibility cloak and a strong disappointing charm had to be enough for them not to notice me. But I froze where I stood when I heard next what they spoke of.
"This is what the prophecy says: The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark her as his equal, but she will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...." Dumbledore says.
"Poor girl..." The Minister has pitied me and sounded almost sincerely. But just almost.
"There's certainly a much better chance of this until the girl not realizes that if one of them dies, the other dies with it. Miss Potter obviously wants to complete the task she faces, as she has so far. Tom and she long for the other to die. It must remain so." The air was stuck inside me. Traitors! They were all traitors. But what hurts the most was the betrayal of Dumbledore. I believed that he cares for me. Well, apparently no. Nobody does. I was alone, just as all my life. I didn't want to hear more any of this...
*Flashback end*
•• ━━━━━ ••●•• ━━━━━ ••
Voldemort let me go, and I forced the safety shield back into my mind. The mocking smile disappeared from the wizard's face, and was replaced by something else. I didn’t even think Voldemort was capable of so many kinds of emotions at once, even if they were negative.
"You lie!" He almost yelled. I looked back again.
"What's the point of lying? Dumbledore betrayed me. The minister betrayed me. They sent me here to die practically." I looked away. "All my life, I was treated like an outsider freak by my aunt and uncle. When I thought I had finally found peace somewhere, everyone wanted me to destroy a black mage that not even Albus Dumbledore himself could. They took advantage of me, since I was born. They would also deprive me of knowing this is my own death sentence." I stared angrily at the snake-like mage, but my anger in a stange way wasn't addressed to him "Well, fuck'em! If the whole wizarding society is so coward, they deserve it. I won't die, even if it means we both stay alive. Not for those who betrayed me." My face flushed. I realized, who I gave my grievances and anger to, was Voldemort himself. The infamous and cruel. I don't care anymore. After all, I was a Gryffindor, or what the hell. I was surprised to watch that cruel marble-like face with a hint of dismay. And maybe a tiny acknowledgment. But I was terrified when he got in front of me. He wanted to read my mind again, but I didn’t let him. I was proud of that. I was a good Occlumens.
"You won't let me in... clever and extremely annoying." A cold shiver ran down my spine when I heard his soft voice. I have never been so close to the Dark Lord. "So are you responding to their betrayal with betrayal? How dramatic." He grabbed my chin again, as if he just investigating what to do with me. "Looks like none of us want to die, and that raises some trouble. What do I do with you, Alice Potter?"
He hissed out my name, almost like a snake. I got goosebumps. I hated the fact that it wasn’t entirely unpleasant... Now I have spoken.
"Dumbledore doesn't know I know about this whole thing. He actually handed me over to you. And no matter how much I am disgusted with all this, I have no intention of going back. And killing me wouldn't be a lucky thing anyway." He looked at me with vile joy.
His face reflected satisfaction. Even before his question, he knew very well what my answer would be. "So, you're mine?"
I sighed. "Yes, it doesn't matter. In the end, nobody cares what I want. I used to it." There was a strange light in his eyes, and he clenched his fingers, which easily held my chin, but it didn't hurt. From such close, I can notice how cold it was the man's entire being, his touch. Maybe it was the way his current body took shape, that was the reason for the frost, what I felt deep within my bone's... or that he tore his soul to pieces? My gaze flickered to his face, and I had to admit, there was some unearthly beauty in the marble-like face. Even if it belonged to a cruel, soulless creature. I shook myself, deep inside. What was on my mind? It was Voldemort, not someone I should admire.
I don't know how and when it happened. Lost in my thoughts, I realized that the frost, which surrounded the man had flickered over my lips. For a few seconds, I didn't even realize what was happening, I just leaned forward, into the cold. It was only long after that my mind was able to realize what I was felt, were cool lips. I was shocked, and my lips parted, unwittingly, and in just that moment I felt his tongue. He kissed me. Yet, just a few minutes ago, he wanted to kill me.
My body didn't respond as I expected. As if I didn't care, who I got the kiss from. Even my own body betrays me... I can't trust myself anymore? I didn't even try to resist the kiss. Why? My first argument, that it wasn’t bad. The second, that it was specifically good. The third? I've already kissed him back.
I slid my hand over the mage's cool, muscular neck. My palm was hot on the ice-cold skin. He froze, maybe because of my touch, and after a moment there, was a step between us. I looked at him in surprise, and he stared at me with an unreadable face. I don't know which one of us was more surprised by what happened. Maybe none of us would know the answer to that. It just happened.