The Darker Side of Me

Chapter Ten

The cool linen on the hospital wing cot welcomed Harry as he sank gingerly beneath the top sheet. Every inch of his body ached, and changing into his pajamas had been a chore in itself. With some, somewhat embarrassing, help from Madam Pomfrey, he'd managed to slip on a pair of checkered trousers and remove his shirt, leaving his heavily bandaged torso exposed. The chill of the sheets was, admittedly, nice against his bare flesh.

Dumbledore had escorted Harry as far as the Hospital Wing door before excusing himself. The walk back had been filled with silence punctuated by the slap of hard shoe soles against the stone floor. Harry was grateful for the lack of conversation, however, his head had become increasingly painful and tears had begun to cloud his vision. He was more than ready to surrender to what he hoped would be a blissful sleep.

Collapsing back into the fluffy pillow, he removed his glasses and set them on the bedside table where his nightly potion usually awaited him. Tonight, however, the table was empty. The look of confusion must have been evident on his face because Madam Pomfrey answered his concern.

"No sleep aide tonight, I'm afraid," she said, bustling around the edge of the bed as she drew privacy curtains with a wave of her wand. "You'll be free to leave in a few days and we need to wean you off of them before then."

Harry opened his mouth to protest but was silenced by a soft pat on his leg and a sympathetic smile. " I know it won't be easy on you, Harry; but it's necessary for you to learn to sleep on your own again. I'll be right at the end of the ward if you need me." She gave him another comforting pat before disappearing behind the curtain ring.

Closing his eyes tightly, Harry took several deep breaths to steady his nerve. He'd spent every night since his return in a dreamless sleep thanks to a potion he'd been taking. Now, without it, he feared what gruesome scenes would be waiting for him when he drifted off. However, the pounding of his head was more than enough encouragement to brave the unknown of sleep.

When Harry opened his eyes again, he immediately knew something was wrong. He was lying on his back, staring up at an overcast sky. A full moon shone through a break in the clouds, casting an eery white light on the rest of his surroundings. Rolling to his side, the first thing he realized was the lack of pain across his previously broken body. It was as if he had miraculously healed in the course of a few seconds. Second, was how real everything else felt. The dying grass beneath his hands, the cool September wind on his face, even the crisp smell of autumn leaves that clung to the wind was as real as if he'd been transported from his bed.

A voice, icy and soft, accompanied the breeze, causing Harry to scramble to his feet. "I am glad to see you can finally join me, Harry."

Voldemort was leaning against a nearby headstone, his arms crossed over his chest and a look of pure anger adorned his face. Peering past him, Harry immediately recognized the surrounding graveyard. Just a few feet away was the grave he'd been tied to while he watched those red eyes rise from the cauldron. Beneath his very feet was the spot Cedric had taken his last breath. A wave of emotions swept him into a panic as his knees threatened to buckle.

"H..h.. how," Harry's voice weakly tried to form a sentence around his heavy tongue.

With an impatient sigh, Voldemort pushed himself away from his rough stone seat and took a few approaching steps, long pale fingers tracing the tops of headstones along the way. "Just like before. I can use the connections between our minds to project any image I want to you. However," he paused here, a wicked smile crossing his this lips. "We are going to see just how real these visions are for you."

"What do you mean," Harry asked, his confusion overcoming his fear.

The Dark Lord let out a small laugh that sent a shiver down Harry's spine. " Oh, we will get to that. But first, you have something to explain." The man's eyebrows raised slightly as the burning anger returned to his red eyes. "Dumbledore was about to tell you everything he knows and speculates on the bond between you and I. Despite my order for you to listen, you fought me." The aggravation was palpable in every word that passed through Voldemort's clenched teeth.