Next Time Around

Impending Doom

Harry, shaking his head lightly in both amusement and irritation, got up to get the ingredients for him and his partner Draco.

Knowing the potion by heart already, Harry had to seriously restrain himself from being too obvious in his knowledge. He decided to let Draco do most of the work, only cutting in where he deemed necessary.

After a good hour they had a decent, if not a bit syrupy, potion ready to be bottled up. Refraining from making any more comments to Snape, Harry merely poured the substance in the designated bottles and handed it in. Even though it didn't seem so, he did know when to stop.

Snape, knowing it was Draco's potion as well as Harry's, grudgingly accepted it and let them go.

Outside the classroom, Harry exhaled quietly. That had gone better than he had expected. Also, since they had no classes anymore until dinner, Harry could easily claim wanting some privacy and attend a meeting Voldemort had asked for under the disguise of Elias.

Saying his goodbyes to Draco, who had been walking with him to the Slytherin common room, Harry easily slipped through the maze of hallways in the dungeons. As he remembered very well the times he had been here in his previous life, Harry walked towards a specific secret passage way leading to the greenhouses. From there, it was child's play to slip past the few students hanging around and through the secret passage leading to Hogsmeade.

Dawning his glamours on his way out, he made quick work of feeling where Hogwarts' wards ended, and Apparating to a few random places throughout London. If anyone was trying to track him down, they would have a hard time doing so. After all, Elias and Harry mustn't ever be connected like that.

After one last trip to the Ministry atrium, Elias finally popped through to the foyer of Voldemort's admittedly very, very nice headquarters. He mockingly wondered if that was what might have given them the little push to victory the first time.

Harry shuddered, momentarily overcome with memories and the emotions attached to them. Waiting for his episode to end, he stood very still. When it became evident that this would not be a quick matter of simply using a little Occlumency, he rushed to an abandoned alcove. He fell to his knees.

No, no, no! Now was not the time! Of any times he could have an actual breakdown, this was just about the worst time to experience one.

He retreated to his mindscape as fast as he could. Mentally shivering a bit at the overwhelming sensations he felt, he paid no heed to the turmoil his mind was going through. Ignoring the mess he saw forming with all the traumatic memories piling up over each other, Elias' self-preservation kicked in.

Firstly, he reaffirmed the glamours on his body. If everything else failed, at least his identity would be secure.

Secondly, he ruthlessly batted away the memories, back into their metaphorical cages. Meanwhile, he erected his biggest, strongest shield right in the front of his mind. At the same time, he tried to bundle up his emotions. Pushing them away as far as he could, he finally focused back on his body.

It was shivering and spasming uncontrollably. Elias felt cold sweat in the back of his neck and on his back.

Elias himself, having successfully buried his entire sense of emotion and feeling behind a vast wall of cold nothingness, felt nothing. He merely locked his limbs and, after the worst of his trembling ceased, stood up.

His movements sluggish and his mind a mere shell of what it could be, he absently cast a scourify and then a tempus. He was late. He supposed that normally he would have maybe sighed with annoyance or huffed in exasperation, but he didn't feel anything, and merely walked quicker towards the main meeting room.